2010-06-08
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, prior to calling on business this morning I wish to make a few comments regarding member behaviour.
Over the past few weeks I have received a significant number of complaints regarding member behaviour. The complaints are not simply about the loudness of debate; they are mainly about rude and sometimes vulgar behaviour - in the words of many, childish behaviour.
As members would be aware, I have met with both the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition regarding member behaviour, and to express my concerns about the reputation of the House.
I remind honourable members it is my duty to uphold the dignity of the parliament, and it is my intention to use the rules of the House to do so, whether that be by warnings, asking members to withdraw from the Chamber or, in more serious cases, naming members.
Of particular concern are the low-level interjections which have been reported to me, which I am unable to hear, that appear to be of a personal, vulgar, and abusive nature towards members speaking. This is unacceptable and unparliamentary. If this is drawn to my attention, those members will be asked to leave the Chamber.
In addition, I am concerned about the number of frivolous points of order being called. I remind all members a point of order must refer to a standing order. It is not an opportunity to stand and speak on frivolous matters. Members doing so will be placed on a warning and will then be asked to leave the Chamber if they persist.
I also note in the last sittings the level of digression from the topic before the Chair was significant. While a few minutes of digression will always be expected, digression which relates to a member’s entire speech, or the majority of the speech, is out of order. I refer you to Standing Order 67. If a point of order is called in relation to this, a member will be warned twice then asked to resume their seat and another member will be called to speak.
I also remind members they should refer to other members by their appropriate titles and not by their personal names or a pejorative term.
Finally, reflections on the Chair will not be tolerated and will result in immediate withdrawal from the Chamber. More serious cases will result in the naming of a member under Standing Order 239. I refer you to 239, Naming of member:
I also remind members we each have been elected to high office to represent the people of the Northern Territory; people expect us to behave with maturity and to represent them.
I thank you, honourable members.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from His Honour the Administrator Message No 19 notifying assent to bills passed in the April/May sittings of the Assembly.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 19 petitioners praying that a facility for high-risk behaviour people is not built on the corner of Cotterill Road and Ross Highway in Alice Springs. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Madam Speaker, I move the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Secure Care Facility,
Cotterill Road, Alice Springs
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition not conforming with standing orders from 39 petitioners relating to the proposed development of the secure care facility at Lot 9374 No 10 Cotterill Road, Alice Springs.
Madam Speaker, I move the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a bill without notice titled Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (Serial 108).
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, I move the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of the bill is to amend the Building Act and Building Regulations to resolve impasses which can occur in the building certification process. The provisions of the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 cover work that is carried out by builders and owner/builders.
As the House is aware, the cases of failed builders have brought to light a deficiency in the Building Act. Building certifiers and affected house owners have been advised the government is addressing the deficiency as a matter of urgency. They have also been advised on how building works may continue in the meantime. It is important to point out that more than 99% of building work is completed without any problems, but there is room for improvement. The deficiency relates to the inability to obtain a builder’s declaration at the end of a project when the original builder is no longer operating. A builder’s declaration must exist before an occupancy permit can be issued. An occupancy permit closes the certification process. In the past, the Building Appeals Board has used its powers to vary the regulations on at least a couple of occasions to deal with any impasse related to the lack of a builder’s declaration.
Given we have recently had three failed building companies, legal advice was requested and the board was found not to have the power, as the requirement is in the act and not the regulations. The board can vary the regulations, hence, the bill before the House.
By way of background, in 1993 the building certification process was outsourced to registered practitioners. This was expanded in 2006 with the registration of residential builders; unlike the circumstances when government was the certifier where a registered practitioner ceased to exist or ceased to be able to discharge a function, leading to an impasse in relation to finalising certification of buildings. There are many people, as well as the builder, who have to participate in the building certification process, including those doing structural design, window design and installation, termite treatment, plumbing work and electrical work. Some are required to be registered practitioners and some are not. These persons are required to sign certificates that cover the part of the process for which they have responsibility. Some of the requirements to sign certificates are in the act and others in the regulations.
In signing the required certificates, people are stating that the work has been done in accordance with the technical requirements. Obviously, they may not have been present to oversee the workers every moment of every day; therefore they should have in place training programs for workers, quality control processes, and critical inspection stages to give them confidence when signing certificates that it is reasonable to do so.
The building certifiers rely on the certificates and also required inspections that they, or their nominated competent persons, have carried out at various stages of construction. They must have the certificates before issuing occupancy permits.
The bill proposes that the Director of Building Control, appointed under the Building Act, be given the power to issue exemption certificates to allow the certification process to continue when any of the required certificates are unable to be obtained. The director will need to be satisfied, based on the documentation presented with the application, it is reasonable to issue an exemption. If the director is not satisfied, the director may require more intrusive investigation, partial demolition, or additional works.
The bill describes the grounds for an impasse as a prescribed event. A prescribed event can be where the relevant person has died, cannot be found, or becomes so severely incapacitated that he or she is unable to complete the prescribed certification. It can also be where there is bankruptcy or insolvency, where a registered practitioner is no longer registered, where a building contract is terminated, or where the prescribed certification has been destroyed or cannot be found, such as through fire, storm or theft.
Of note is that contractual failure is a ground, but contractual dispute is not, as the parties are still in contract and there are other processes by which they can resolve the matter.
As I mentioned earlier, the provisions cover work that is carried out by builders and owner/builders. The work must have physically commenced on the land and must be covered by a building permit.
If there are grounds, and a required certificate cannot be obtained, an application for an exemption certificate can be made to the director on an approved form that will state what supporting information is required with the application.
An application will not attract a fee because the main expense will be related to providing the technical reports to support the application at cost to the applicant. This expense would not have been anticipated as the event requiring the exemption was not foreseen.
The draft bill defines the particular certificates that may be the subject of an impasse.
The director may request more information, including reports from competent persons such as a structural engineer. The applicant would be required to meet the costs of any report.
The director will be required to have regard to the technical reports supporting the application, inspection reports to date and, if a registered building practitioner was required to sign the missing certificate, the past performance of the registered building practitioner. This last matter is relevant, as it may determine the level of supporting information required.
If the director is satisfied that information provided indicates the work to date has been carried out materially in accordance with the building permit, the director may issue a certificate of exemption.
If the director refuses to issue an exemption certificate, the applicant may appeal to the Building Appeals Board. The normal application appeal fees will apply, and the board will have the power to determine the appeal.
An exemption certificate removes the requirement for the missing certificate causing the impasse, and the certification process may continue through to the issue of an occupancy permit by a building certifier.
If there is a change in the building practitioner during a building project, including a nominee or competent person for a company, the bill requires the practitioner makes a declaration for the portion of work for which he or she was responsible. It also allows the company to resolve the matter in the case of a change of nominee and the original nominee being unwilling or unable to sign for the work already carried out. Allowing corporations to manage such cases within their corporate structures will reduce the number of cases that otherwise would generate applications for exemptions.
The bill validates past decisions of the Building Appeals Board in waiving requirements of the Building Act. In Tier 2 building control areas - that is all areas other than Darwin, Alice Springs and Lake Bennett - a builder’s declaration completes the certification process for houses. The exemption certificate will complete the process for houses in Tier 2.
The bill includes schedules and regulations, and allows further regulations to be made in the event of circumstances unforeseen at this time. What, on the face of it, appears a relatively simple matter has translated to a series of amendments that are interwoven. This is because building regulation is primarily within the private sector and the processes and responsibilities of the practitioners need to cover all possibilities.
The amendments are a response to real life experiences with builders, certifiers and others in the building industry. While the majority of building work is done by competent persons acting in good faith, the regulatory regime must cover the circumstances where this is not the case.
The building regulation regime in the Territory only applies to the Building Act, to declared building areas and, even then, parts of the act are applied differently to areas known as Tier 2. Only residential builders require registration and can be sole traders or companies with registered nominees. Further, residential builders can be restricted to building houses and units to two storeys, or unrestricted, and are able to build houses and units to any height. Owner/builders require a certificate and can build one house every six years. New residential extensions under $12 000, verandahs, and internal alterations of any value, require building permits but can be done by anyone.
The amendments seek to cover all these combinations under all possible circumstances. They are necessarily thorough in order to provide owners of buildings who have been subject to exemption certificates the same level of certification certainty as owners of buildings who have gone through the normal certification process.
The amendments also clarify some related matters of practice and take the opportunity to make minor corrections to the act and regulations. Let me say government does not claim to have a building regulation regime that cannot be improved. Anyone familiar with building control in the Northern Territory will know that, historically, it divides into many eras: pre-cyclone 1974, post-cyclone 1974, from Commonwealth ordinance to the NT Building Act in 1983, introduction of Building Code of Australia and private certification in 1993, and reforms including builders’ registration in 2006. Each era has taken us forward; each era has required further improvements as weaknesses become apparent. Today is no different.
In recognition of the need for improvements, my predecessor released a discussion paper in 2009 on building regulation in the NT and established a Building Industry Representative Group to manage the community and industry consultation process. I now have a report from the Industry Representative Group. There are improvements that can be made to the building regulation regime, and I am committed to doing just that.
There are demands to expand building regulation beyond the declared building areas of today, and there are also calls to increase the matters covered by regulation. It would be desirable to make any appropriate improvements before any expansion.
In the meantime, we need to address the matter of there being an impasse in the building certification process. The overarching principle behind the bill is that property owners are entitled to have confidence in the building regulation regime in that, having commenced a building in accordance with the Building Act, the process can be closed as required by the act and regulations. The process should be able to be closed even when a step in that process reaches an impasse due to unexpected circumstances.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a bill without notice, titled Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Amendment Bill 2010 (Serial 107).
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I move the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to remove a consequential amendment from the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Act 2010. The consequential amendment would insert a new provision for the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act that would link authorisations under that act to health practitioner’s registration under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the ‘National Law’) being endorsed for scheduled medicines by the relevant national board.
It was envisaged health practitioners would be endorsed under section 94 of the national law to deal with scheduled medicines, and that an authorisation under the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act should be subject to this endorsement. This was seen to be a mechanism for ensuring our health practitioners met national standards when dealing with scheduled medicines.
It has now become apparent endorsements under section 94 of the national law would not operate as broadly as expected. An endorsement for scheduled medicines will only be issued for extended and/or advanced practice that is over and above a health practitioner’s professional qualification. As is current practice, health practitioners will continue to operate under the scope of their professional qualification, with section 94 endorsements granted only where advanced or extended qualifications related to scheduled medicines have been obtained.
Consequential amendments were intended to ensure the national scheme operates effectively and achieves its principal objective of protecting the public within the Northern Territory; they were never meant to place unnecessary requirements on health practitioners.
Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 6 May 2010.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, this bill was designed to achieve a number of objectives with respect to some legislation. There are two in particular the opposition says are troubling; one particularly troubling - although we do not oppose this bill. I will come back to the two acts we have some concerns about.
In relation to the Land Title Act the bill seeks to amend that act to allow legal practitioner and licensed conveyancing agents acting for an owner to sign an application for a title certificate. The amendments are also introduced to require only the first registered mortgagee to sign for a certificate rather than all registered mortgagees. It also seeks to amend the Retirement Villages Act and Regulations introduced so restrictions on land registered for use as a retirement village can be removed if that land is no longer going to be utilised as a retirement village. I have been advised by the minister’s office there are currently six parcels of land in that category.
The regulations are also amended to include a reference to the Unit Title Scheme Act. The bill also seeks to amend the Sale of Land (Rights and Duties of Parties) Act. As the Attorney-General said in her second reading speech on 6 May:
Interestingly, this bill was debated in February so this is, clearly, another ‘oops’ bill which seeks to correct a number of anomalies, typos and so on. It is pretty interesting that a bill passed only a few months ago is now back before us seeking to be amended. The bill before us also seeks to amend the Unit Titles Act and removes the ability of land to be subdivided under section 10 of the act.
There are two other areas of legislation to which this bill applies, and I thank the Attorney-General’s Office for their assistance in answering some questions I had in relation to this bill. I have given them the heads up, if you like, about what I was going to say in my response. We have worked cooperatively and I thank them for it.
In relation to the Criminal Code, this bill seeks to reverse a change made in 2007 that substituted ‘serious harm’ or ‘bodily harm’ for ‘harm’ in section 177(a) of the Criminal Code. I e-mailed and received yesterday a letter from the Attorney-General which did not really specifically answer my questions. I will quote the question I asked:
The response from the Attorney-General was the Deputy DPP advised that, historically, section 177(a) is a provision that is rarely used.
It then referred to a case - and out of respect for the young man involved, and his family, I will not refer to that case by name. An indictment was presented early in 2009. It raises this question: if the reason for this amendment was solely in response to this case, why has it taken a year-and-a-bit for this part of the Criminal Code to be amended? Also, perhaps by now the Attorney-General may well have received some advice from those at the DPP, but how many times has the loophole identified come into play? In other words, how many defendants have had their sentences reduced from a maximum of 14 years to five years? These are a couple of aspects of the Criminal Code which is encapsulated in the bill, and I thought it was appropriate to put them on the record.
The second bill we are somewhat concerned about - although we do not oppose this current bill, it is appropriate for us to put our concerns on the Parliamentary Record - relate to the Public Interest Disclosure Act. The amendments in this bill seek - and I stress seek - to clarify a number of matters. It seeks to clarify what is a breach of the public’s trust, and what is considered improper conduct. It removes the restriction to disclose identifying information when disclosing confidential information under section 53 of the act. It also provides for confidential information to be disclosed in a sudden or extraordinary emergency and allows the commissioner to direct a person not to disclose confidential or identifying information in certain circumstances. Further, it allows a Chief Executive to delegate some of his or her functions or powers under the act.
I wrote an e-mail to the Attorney-General and sought clarification of what purports to be a bill clarifying the Public Interest Disclosure Act:
The response came back that an amendment will be moved in the committee stage. That is welcome, and I was pleased to see the Attorney-General’s office pick that up.
I also asked, in relation to proposed new section 53A:
I received the Attorney-General’s response, yesterday afternoon, in which she said:
I am sorry for anyone listening to this broadcast; none of this will make sense unless the person has read the bill before us and parts of the Public Interest Disclosure Act. However, the important point is made and, after an exchange of e-mails, we are in a position where the definition of ‘prescribed person’ is not contained in the bill. That is odd, it is undesirable, and all we have - which is partly why I read it onto the Parliamentary Record - is a paragraph in a letter from the Attorney-General which explains or defines what a prescribed person is.
I am concerned this bill, having passed through the various checks and balances I can only assume exist on the other side of the parliament, and having gone through, presumably, the rigorous processes of Parliamentary Counsel, we are in a position where the bill seeks to amend parts of the act, and provides a term, namely ‘a prescribed person’, which it is not defined in the bill, nor is it defined in the Public Interest Disclosure Act itself. Life is just full of mysteries and this seems to be one of them. I do not think I will pursue this any more.
Madam Speaker, I stress this may not be of any interest whatsoever to many people, but it is of interest to me, because it should be defined, and I am troubled it is not. However, we are not going to die in the ditch over it. I will make something of a prediction: at some point over the next couple of years, we will be coming back and looking at this act again.
With those comments, we support the bill and look forward to the Attorney-General’s response.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support of this bill, although I do note they have some troubling concerns with two elements within the bill. I thank the member for Araluen, the shadow Attorney-General, for her interest and questions that have been provided to me through my office. The responses I have seen have been flowing thick and fast in the last few days, particularly where the intensive workload has occurred in getting the information back.
I will not bother dealing with the parts of the bill where there is no contention; they are laid out in the second reading speech and are purely the subject of a Justice Legislation Amendment Bill, a JLA, which clarifies aspects of legislation passed previously. All governments seek to get their legislation before the House absolutely 100% correct but, at times, it does take the passage of the bill, a thorough analysis, and the running and testing of legislation to see areas you go back and fix as a JLA. So, the ‘oops’ element I will take on board in terms of the Unit Titles Scheme Act. Yes, that is new legislation, and I believe the discussion about the extension to de facto came up in debate during that legislation. We are happy to go back today and fix the ‘oops’ element of that.
As Auditor-General, I have no issue with clarifying and improving legislation; I see that as an important part of my role. It is good to leave your ego and pride aside and get on with the job of fixing and improving legislation where it should be fixed or improved.
I will go directly to the areas which are troubling the opposition and address their concerns. I will deal with the simplest first in public interest disclosure and the omission of a definition. You are right; it is often the practice, particularly with Parliamentary Counsel, in how they go about drafting legislation on behalf of government, with instructions from government. They are normally quite pedantic when it comes to applying definitions but, on this occasion, a definition was not used for ‘prescribed person’.
That being said, this is a matter of drafting and I am not particularly troubled by that, but I understand the member opposite is troubled by it, which is why I was very happy to provide an appropriate response to the member. The member for Araluen has read it into the public record, and I will also read it into the public record so there can be no ambiguity about the definition of a ‘prescribed person’.
Whilst there is no definition in this bill or the head act itself, there is no ambiguity in the definition of a prescribed person. It is on the Parliamentary Record and, who knows, in a future JLA we may see it pop up. I am not a betting person, even though I am the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing, and I daresay the ones most enjoying this debate are Parliamentary Counsel. I will move on.
I guess the issue that troubles the member opposite most is the issue of our clarification by inserting the intention of serious harm, an act of causing serious harm, into this JLA. This matter was raised by the DPP, and I can advise the DPP formally raised what he considered was the problem with section 177(a) to the Department of Justice by e-mail on 10 June 2009. There followed, over the next few weeks, discussions between the DPP, the Department of Justice, and Parliamentary Counsel as to whether an amendment was needed.
So, the first issue really was the question of whether or not an amendment to the legislation was needed. The department then notified the DPP by e-mail on 8 July 2009 that consideration was being given to including an amendment to section 177(a) in the next JLA – the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill. The matter was brought to my attention, as Attorney-General, in September 2009, and the amendments were given the go-ahead to be developed and introduced through the usual process of a JLA, and have been undergoing the normal processes since that time. So, that is the direct response in terms of timing.
Regarding how many prosecutions have been affected by the matter highlighted by the DPP which they perceived as a concern in section 177(a), I have been seeking the same information as the shadow. I am advised as recently as this morning that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions advises it is very difficult to say how many matters have been affected by this provision. There have been perhaps four or five matters in which the DPP might have charged under section 177, and did not. However, the Deputy Director has pointed out in so many cases where serious harm is caused, intoxication is a major consideration, which is why the intent tends not to be a charge they proceed with; rather, they proceed with the charge of causing serious harm which, of course, has a maximum 14 years and is the charge the DPP relies on.
This is the question of intent. We know from our own crimes statistics something like 60%-plus assaults are caused by alcohol. You can see the high degree to which you would not, as a matter of course, seek to apply intent, because intoxication is a major consideration in trying to prove intent.
If the harm is clearly serious harm, but intoxication is an issue, it is most likely an indictment will be presented charging an offence of serious harm under section 181 of the Criminal Code. That is because of the difficulty of proving specific intent, which is an element under section 177 when the defendant was intoxicated.
The problem of the wording of section 177 is a secondary consideration in deciding what charge should be proceeded with as an indictment. That is the advice I have received from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and I am happy to put that advice on the Parliamentary Record. I thank the DPP for their assistance in this matter. I believe it is important they work to provide information to parliament when we are considering the matters before us - the view the DPP held regarding section 177 of the Criminal Code has led us to the amendments we have before us today.
I make no apology for clarifying any area where the DPP, or other practitioners, bring concerns with interpretation of the legislation as it exists. Sometimes, we get that from the magistracy, sometimes from the Supreme Court, sometimes from the DPP; on this occasion, from the DPP.
Clarifying the issue about inserting serious harm for intention, I believe, is useful. However, I want to assure the public anyone who has caused serious harm would have been charged and dealt with under causing serious harm in section 188 of the Criminal Code, which applies the penalty of a maximum of 14 years imprisonment. Appropriately, they have been pinged on that particular provision if they have been committing the serious crime of serious harm.
I thank the opposition for their support of this JLA. I recognise there is always imperfection within a body of work and that is the point of a JLA, and why we have it before us today. I thank the DPP for raising their concerns about section 177(a), which is why we are here with the Criminal Code regarding serious harm. It did come to light in a particular case in 2009, and I thank the member opposite for not going into specific details of that case.
I reassure people charges for causing serious harm have been used since then. As I say, the advice from the DPP is most of these matters include the issue of intoxication and, therefore, the charge of intent tends not to come into play at all. They are the ones who determine what charges are laid, not the government.
That clarifies the two matters which I know were outstanding as a result of correspondence between my office and the member for Araluen. I thank the members of the Department of Justice for the hard work they have put into bringing forward the JLA; and I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Madam CHAIR: Honourable members, the committee has before it the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (Serial 100) together with schedule of amendments No 39 circulated by the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Ms Lawrie.
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Chair, I move the amendments the Chamber has before it under Schedule No 39 in regard to clause 10.
I thank the member for Araluen for drawing this to government’s attention; it is her work which has brought this amendment before us, and I am happy to pick that up.
The reason for this amendment is the terms of confidential information in proposed section 53A should have the same meaning as in section 53(5) of the Public Interest Disclosure Act which, as introduced, it does not. The definition of ‘confidential information’ in section 53(5) applies only in relation to section 53. I thank the member for Araluen for pointing this out.
Amendment agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
Bill reported, report adopted.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Continued from 6 May 2010.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, speaking in relation to the Appropriation Bill, perhaps a little surprisingly, I do not propose take an inordinate amount of time because, although we never seem to have quite as much time in estimates as we would like, I propose to highlight and pursue some of the issues I believe need to be pursued at estimates rather than going through them in great detail currently.
Having said that, I will talk as a local member about some matters in Alice Springs, and will also go through, briefly, areas of my portfolio.
Several days ago, a media release was issued by the member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, announcing the federal government was kicking in $200 000, and confirming the Northern Territory government was kicking in $100 000, for lane widening on Larapinta Drive. This is the old issue of the desired roundabout on the corner of Larapinta Drive and Lovegrove Drive in Alice Springs.
I am sure the Minister for Transport will recall a motion was passed in the November sittings in Alice Springs. Whilst it was amended by the member for Nelson, it pulled up a little short of asserting a roundabout was required. However, the motion did say the government would undertake a survey and, on the basis of that survey, it would determine whether a roundabout was needed. Interestingly, the minister has seen fit not to release the details of that survey, so we only have his word a roundabout is not required.
It might not seem like a big issue for those not affected by this intersection but, as a local member, I can tell you it is a very serious issue. Not only do people continue to talk to me about it, but I actually drive down Larapinta Drive most days and I see it with my own eyes. However, we now have a situation where the Northern Territory government has weaselled out of responsibility. They are not going to give us a roundabout; they are going to do some curb changing and lane widening, and they are kicking in $100 000.
It is not often I say thank God for the federal government, Madam Speaker, but thank God Warren Snowdon managed to scrounge $200 000 so more than a few bits of paint could be put on the road. We are now going to have $300 000 worth of lane widening. Something is better than nothing, but it is a long way from what is actually needed and what is desired.
It is appropriate, as a local member, along with my colleague, the member for Braitling, I put that issue on the Parliamentary Record. It was disappointing there was not, in this year’s budget, a significant allocation for the roundabout.
I now move on to Anzac Oval. Again, there was a motion at the Alice Springs sittings in November calling for upgrades to Anzac Oval. It is not technically in my electorate, but it is very close to it and, of course, so many of my constituents use the facility. Part of the wording of the motion in November was Anzac Oval be made into a first-class facility. It is, and should be, a premier facility for Alice Springs. We have the opening and closing ceremonies there for the Masters Games, which are only months away, and throughout the year there are numerous concerts and other events. It is currently host to Rugby, but late last year it was revealed the ground has potential for other sports, such as soccer.
We have a situation where the minister for Sport, who is also the Minister for Central Australia, opposed the motion to upgrade Anzac Oval at the Alice Springs sittings. We were astonished by that; nevertheless, the motion got up, so we were perhaps naively optimistic there might be something for Anzac Oval in this budget. However, in typical arrogant fashion, the government has ignored the motions of the parliament and seen fit not to provide the allocation necessary to make this facility the type of facility it should be. Certainly, the town council has provided some upgrades and, by God, they were needed. I went to the facility recently, and for the minister for Sport’s information, I encourage him to go and have a look. I can assure him the repairs are an improvement, but it really is still a long way short of what is required, notwithstanding the very good efforts of those particular council workers.
Last week, or the week before, the Sport minister, who is also the Minister for Central Australia, announced something in the order of $33m to upgrade various sporting facilities in the Top End, particularly in Palmerston, from memory, and the words ‘first-class facilities’ were used. I was struck that the local bloke from Alice Springs, the one who sits in Cabinet, was determined to make various facilities in the Top End first class. I am sure my constituents do not begrudge their Top End friends improvements to their sporting facilities by their Sport minister and Minister for Central Australia, but many people would be disappointed a similar push was not made in respect of Anzac Oval. It is needed and it should be done. It is not in this year’s budget - perhaps it will be in next year’s budget.
The third significant aspect of this year’s budget, insofar as my constituents are concerned, and the subject of talk around town, is the new police station. I spoke with the Attorney–General towards the end of the last sittings, and I am very glad I did. I asked her: ‘Tell me the story about the police station’, because it received very little in the way of publicity, it did not consume any media releases, there was not a great deal on it, so I really wanted to know what the rationale was.
I am glad I had that conversation. To paraphrase the ever unpopular Kevin Rudd: ‘I get it’. I well understand why the police station will be moved and that it will take some time. I am not opposed to it and neither, in my view, are many people.
It is interesting only last year there was a $6m allocation, or thereabouts, for upgrades to the Alice Springs Police Station. My point is, a year ago the government kicked in $6m to upgrade the police station; a year down the track, no, we are going to have a new police station and it is going to be over the road. It says a great deal about this government, its processes, and its incompetence when it comes to planning.
I go to the police station reasonably regularly and have seen some upgrades particularly to the reception area – I wonder how much of the $6m has been spent? If it was all spent, was it a good use of money given that, presumably, in one to two years they will be moving over the road to a new facility? Also, what is the cost of that new facility?
I make the point that the government is, as usual, all over the shop, unfortunately,. Having said that, please do not misunderstand me, Minister for Central Australia, I am certainly not opposed to the new police station and I look forward to watching its progress.
Now, to some portfolio issues - child protection, in particular. I note in the minister’s budget reply speech he trumpeted, as his predecessors have, additional spending on the area which has been a hallmark of the government: lots of money but too few results. One need only refer to various comments made by the Ombudsman, and others, late last year or early this year about that; yes, there was a great deal of money spent on the area but it was difficult to see great improvements. In regard to the Ombudsman, members will recall she is undertaking her own inquiry, as she should, in my view.
The government’s performance, generally, in child protection has been just awful, with a couple of exceptions. The member for Arafura, whilst not always getting it right, was very motivated to achieve good results; I am not sure she overwhelmingly figured in that task, but I do know of her personal commitment. I wish I could say the same of some of her colleagues.
It is devastating to see the mess the system is in. As I said on radio last night, the system was clearly in crisis late last year, and it was known to be in crisis before then. There are, in particular, two Coronial inquests I have read, which I hope the minister has read. Those inquests clearly outline the type of difficulties that have faced the department. What happened in the court when those workers and so on gave evidence was a fundamentally different picture from the picture painted in this public building.
For years, Labor ministers have been standing on the other side of this Chamber gloating about how much money they are spending and, yet, negligently stood by and did not ask how it was being spent and whether it was achieving the right results. You should have asked, and you failed to. I do not believe there can be a more damaging indictment on a government.
It was a scandalous situation, it is unforgivable, and minister after minister knew or must have known about the problems. With one or two exceptions, next to nothing was done - except allocating more money, but no one was tracking the money, no one was seeing how the senior bureaucrats were going. If the minister’s defence is: ‘I was not told’, then I say: ‘You should have asked; that is what you are paid for’. Increasingly, I am getting the impression that ministers of the Crown, under this administration, simply do not ask. You should have asked many questions and, sadly, you did not. Yes, there has been more money, but we continue to have a system in crisis.
I do not believe, in the context of my budget response, it is necessary to go into the delays of the inquiry, except it should be said the government clearly has bad form when it comes to these issues, because I remember the sexual abuse inquiry in late 2006/early 2007. The report was provided to the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, who sat on it for two months before government gave a response. What is concerning are the delays which are now evident may have an impact on government which is not only budgetary, but a broader impact; namely, government will not be able to assess the recommendations before the end of this year or early next year.
It will be interesting to see what allocations are made in the area of child protection in next year’s budget. You would think significant allocations need to be made; however, running parallel to that, we need a change of mindset from the government. If you continue to put in more money, you equally have an obligation to track that money to see where it is being spent, how it is being spent, and whether the results match the expenditure.
Having said that, in this budget the government provided a total of $14.7m in this area which included, according to the minister’s reply speech: ‘76 child protection and support staff, and expanded services for children and young people, and improvements to the case management system’. From memory – and I do not have it in front of me - in the minister’s budget reply, he talked about $3m provided for additional child support officers and associated staff. I will go back - the sentences I quoted were probably from either a media release or the Treasurer’s budget speech. The minister then let the cat out of the bag and said: ‘$3m to be provided for additional child protection officers and associated support staff’; that is not an enormous amount, and one wonders how many you can get for that money. Government says 76. I do not have a particularly well-tuned mathematical brain and I am not sure if $3m provides many workers - 76 child protection workers, some of whom you would expect, or hope, to be highly qualified. I would like some details at estimates regarding the basis of the number 76; whether they are administration staff or child protection workers, the breakdown of both, and over what period.
I was somewhat concerned by the minister’s language. He talked about additional child protection officers. I would like to know exactly what that means. Are we talking child protection workers; namely, those with the appropriate level of training and qualification, university educated social workers etcetera? I see him enthusiastically nodding. I am happy to have an informal conversation at any time about that as well: how many associated support staff, where will they be, and so on. They are some issues which leapt out of the minister’s budget reply on child protection, and I look forward to asking him so many more questions at estimates.
In the area of Corrections, if the budget day media release is anything to go on, the minister did not really have much to add to his usual line of ‘new era’. He did a joint media release, I think with the Attorney-General and the Chief Minister, and Corrections only got two paragraphs, and I think the media release was about three pages. This new era of Corrections only scored two paragraphs in the budget day media release.
There was a little cutting and pasting, I thought, from last year’s media release, so the new era, minister - which is not so new after all, because it is still with us 12 months after the last one, or the same one – does illustrate the incompetent way in which you present, with respect, your case. It is no longer a new era. I do not have a dictionary with me, but a dollar says a new era probably has an end point. I am not sure we have seen much in the new era in any event.
I note the government really is going to hang its hat on the work camp at Tennant Creek, and I wish it well in that regard. I note the prison officers opposed that location and know our position very well.
I note, with interest, there was an allocation of $7.6m or $7.7m additional funding in this budget, and about $7.5m or thereabouts was for the work camp in Tennant Creek - about $5m for construction and $2m for the operation. That does lead to the question: what was the other extra stuff for? Obviously, if I can, I will be asking you questions about that in estimates. So, that is Corrections - many questions as you would expect in Corrections, but I always feel very time poor, in essence, trying to roll through as quickly as we can so we can get good information for our fellow Territorians.
With respect to the Justice portfolio, with the exception of some policing announcements, I did not think there was a great deal in the budget for the area of Justice. I noticed the standard line in the budget speech about how the Northern Territory has twice as many police officers per head of population than the rest of Australia. I have said it before, I will say it again: this is not a badge of honour. We have extremely high crime rates; we need more police officers per head of population than anywhere else. It has struck me, over some years now, that this government trumpets the fact we have, in the Territory, more police per head than anywhere else. You should not be happy about that because we have more police because of our very high crime rate. It is one of those things for which this government is well known.
My own view is Territorians are increasingly onto it. I am somewhat amazed - and I am sure many Territorians are - the government still spins the line about what an achievement it is to have twice as many police officers per head of population than anywhere else. So, there is that. That was, I suppose, a standard thing in the budget packaging and spinning.
Regarding additional expenditure, there was an additional $2.56m to increase funding to the Crime Victims Support Scheme and the Crimes Victims Services Unit. I am keen to know - and I am sure the Attorney-General’s staff are listening to this; here is a heads-up - how the costs of this scheme compare to the one Labor abolished. We all remember, in about 2002, there were some amendments to relevant legislation. There were some further amendments in 2005. The line pressed by the government at the time was the old scheme was costing too much; so much of it was being spent on paying for lawyers and those opposite had a pretty fundamental objection to that. I concede the legal costs were high and should have been, in my view, reined in. That did not, however, mean the entire scheme needed to be abolished and a new one in its place.
I have not heard - and if ministers have said something in the parliament I stand corrected - one ministerial report, a reference in a ministerial statement, or an answer to a question about how the new scheme is going. I believe legislators have an obligation to track how the changes are going. The changes made in 2002 and 2005 were much heralded by government, and much time was spent pumping out media releases telling everybody the scheme had changed. I believe you are obliged to tell us how it is going, how it is tracking, and how it compares to the previous system; how many people are availing themselves of the counselling services; how much is being paid; there is still money spent on lawyers - what are those costs; and are there counselling facilities in all of the regional centres? The list goes on.
Having said that, the additional $2.56m to increase funding to the scheme is obviously welcome but, in reviewing the budget books, I cannot find how much the scheme costs. I am hoping to ask that question at estimates, time permitting. If you people are not prepared to do it, I am happy to do it. The scheme at the time - I have the figures somewhere - I think was costing $5m or $6m a year, or thereabouts. I would like to know, and you should know, how much it is costing these days.
I note there was $2m for an increase in juvenile detention facilities. Obviously, we are keen to know the details and, with luck, we will get some at estimates. I note and welcome the $2.7m allocation to modernise the IJIS system. No doubt my colleagues - those who were police officers before they became members of parliament - were deliriously happy to see that, finally, IJIS is going to be modernised. I know it has been difficult for police and others who worked in the justice system for some years. My own view is the modernisation of IJIS is probably long overdue. I raise the point however: is $2.7m enough? I do not think it sounds like it is but no doubt others will pursue that at estimates.
That is a glide through of issues of concern and interest to my constituents. I also canvassed some of the areas that affect my three shadow portfolios, to the extent I was willing to give government ministers the heads-up on the areas I propose to pursue at estimates.
Ms McCARTHY (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak today in support of Budget 2010-11, a budget that continues our agenda of supporting Territory families across the Northern Territory, planning for growth and creating jobs. However, most importantly, for me, as Minister for Regional Development and Indigenous Development, Budget 2010-11 marks the start of our investment plan across the Northern Territory, working with the Australian government and with local people to develop our regional growth towns and to build a very strong working future for all Territorians, particularly Indigenous Territorians across our regions.
Budget 2010-11 kick starts our A Working Future investment plan with a record $980m plan of action across all program areas, funding new infrastructure and improved services to underpin the development of prosperous regional towns and maximise opportunities for every Territorian, no matter where they live, to pursue their dreams and choices for themselves and their families.
As Minister for Indigenous Development, my role is to work with the Chief Minister, the Treasurer, and my ministerial colleagues to build a coherent and sustainable plan for delivering A Working Future. Work of this importance and magnitude necessarily involves working with our colleagues in the Australian government, with local government, and with local community leaders and elders in developing plans and prioritising the work that has to be done. It also means working with the Australian government to ensure our fair share of revenue collected by that government, through the GST and other revenue sources, will address the service and infrastructure gaps holding back the development and wellbeing of the regions of the Northern Territory.
We have already heard, and will continue to hear from my ministerial colleagues, the specific details of individual contributions to A Working Future, but I would like to give an overview of our commitment through Budget 2010-11 to A Working Future.
Safe secure housing is a fundamental requirement required to support healthy, happy, working families, and Budget 2010-11 continues our drive, working with the Australian government, to address decades of neglect in this area through $354m for remote Indigenous housing and related infrastructure under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program; $236.5m to provide land servicing and essential services infrastructure in Territory growth towns, including a capital grant of $6.7m for water treatment systems in Yuelamu, Kintore and Ali Curung; and $125.3m to continue upgrades to remote Indigenous housing and related infrastructure.
Road and transport services are critical to the conduct of business, creating new jobs and connecting residents of the regions with regional service centres and our major towns and cities. Without strong transport connections for local people the potential of our regions will never be realised. This is a big job with a need for investments beyond the capacity of the Territory to deliver on its own. The Henderson government understands that requirement, and is constantly lobbying the Australian government for more support to address our transport infrastructure needs. At the same time, we are showing the Commonwealth our plans for the people of the Northern Territory.
As a starting point, I am very pleased to note that Budget 2010-11 is making investments such as $49.2m to upgrade roads in remote regions; $7.5m to upgrade airstrips including Utopia, Canteen Creek and Yarralin communities; a $6.2m three-year program to upgrade barge landing facilities at Nguiu, Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Maningrida and Galiwinku; and $3.1m over the next two years for regional bus trials in Central Australia and the Top End. Public transport is a key factor in enabling people to access services, commerce, entertainment, sport and family. Our government will be extending the current trials of public transport in the regions, as well as working with other externally funded programs such as the Nitmiluk Tours and Dyson’s transport trial in Katherine.
As well as safe and secure housing, all Territorians have a right to live in safe and secure communities. Budget 2010-11 provides $73m for additional police in remote areas, and the completion of five new police stations at Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Yarralin, Alparra, and Imanpa, supported by the Commonwealth. $11.7m has been provided for health, hospital and clinic services in remote communities, and I know that is a much-needed investment.
This budget is about growth and economic wellbeing, but it is also about supporting strong, healthy, and well-educated Territory families. As we all know there is a great need for that support in our regional growth centres, and Budget 2010-11 provides $31m for early childhood and education services in remote communities, and $21.4m as part of the Commonwealth’s five-year commitment to fund 200 additional teachers.
A Working Future is about a future connecting people in the bush to services people in other places take for granted. It is about proper infrastructure, and about supporting growth and wellbeing for people in the bush. It is also about developing local economies, and economic wellbeing for families through support for business and creation of real jobs. The Territory government is also working with business to advance A Working Future and over the next couple of years we will see that connection and partnership grow. Just the other day, I had a meeting with businesses which immediately responded to our infrastructure upgrade announcements. They want to come on board to work with us, to build their business in regional communities, value adding to the infrastructure developments, employing local people, and increasing the quality of the service and, potentially, reducing the costs. One of the core principles of our government in A Working Future is it is not just about businesses finding a place to invest in the bush, it is about local people on their local lands and country determining which way they want to go in growing their regions.
Recently, the Treasurer noted that in the Territory we have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. This is good news, but we all know unemployment and underemployment in the bush remains one of our greatest challenges. A Working Future will address that key issue, focusing on support for education and training and working in company with Aboriginal land councils to encourage business development and new leasing arrangements for businesses in townships on Aboriginal land. Budget 2010-11 helps to build momentum in this work, providing $7.45m to boost Indigenous training and employment programs.
I am also pleased to note our continuing support of Aboriginal Interpreter Services. The AIS is an invaluable service in health and justice. It is also important for ensuring good communication with local people as we develop local priorities for each growth town as part of A Working Future. In fact, our government has already begun the implementation of bringing the budget to the bush through the travels to the 20 growth towns by the Treasurer, the Chief Minister, and local members, talking about the budget and A Working Future. We want to show this is important - so important our leadership team is going across the Territory talking about the budget not as a one-off, but as something that is a substantial investment into the future of families across the Territory, that will continue for years to come.
Last, I note in the context of A Working Future, Budget 2010-11 also provides $28m to construct and upgrade government employee housing in remote communities. New housing is not just necessary for citizens, it is also necessary in recruitment and training of staff and providing improved services in our growth towns.
I will certainly continue working with the Chief Minister and all my colleagues to build on this start to A Working Future and deliver transformational change, building, creating a new social fabric across the Northern Territory where each and every individual and family has a choice and real hope for a better future wherever they live.
This important intra-government and inter-government work is being coordinated by the Service Delivery Coordination Unit within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services under the oversight of the Coordinator General for Remote Services, Mr Bob Beadman. The STCU is doing great work across our agencies, across governments between us and the federal government, and with local people building the local implementation plans for each town.
Budget 2010-11 provides continued funding of $2m to support the management and coordination arrangements for Territory growth towns managed by the STCU. For the first time in the history of the Northern Territory there is an absolutely committed, concerted and determined effort to work in these regions at a Territory, federal and ministerial level of government to ensure this coordinated level is solid. Most importantly, it has to be about local people determining the way they wish their areas to grow.
Last, in the context of A Working Future, I make particular mention of a new commitment starting with $1.5m this year to fund priority projects identified in local implementation plans that are being developed for each growth town.
Northern Territory government funding will be in addition to the Territory’s share of a three-year $46m fund provided by the Australian government for priority projects in remote Indigenous communities across Australia. Our new flexible funding core will give us capacity to rapidly respond to proposals for small scale projects local people have identified as a priority for them, and projects that, whilst small in scale, will make a big difference in day-to-day life for local people.
The new fund will also give us capacity for more partnerships, both with local government and the private sector, to give life to local community projects. As well as our commitment of A Working Future, Budget 2010-11 provides for continued focused by our government on business development in the regions through continued funding of our Indigenous Regional Development Program and Regional Economic Development Fund.
Budget 2010-11 also includes an increase of $6.45m in Commonwealth funding related to financial assistance grants for local government, and new funding of $450 000 to support operations of the Freds Pass Reserve. In local government, we have provided for continued funding of $1m for support of local community boards working in our new shires to foster community representation in local government.
The Henderson government well understands the significance of tourism as a key economic driver of the Northern Territory economy, and the positive impact of tourism on other industry sectors. The tourism industry provides real job opportunities and, currently, supports some 18 000 jobs across the Territory. That accounts for 16.3% of total employment in the Northern Territory, and represents around one in six Territorians who are employed as a result of the tourism sector. Tourism’s contribution to the NT’s gross state product totalled $1.7bn, or 11% of total gross state product.
This government has a strong record of supporting the tourism industry of the Northern Territory, and Budget 2010-11 has an allocation of $42.6m for Tourism NT. This stabilises funding, after managing the impacts of the global financial crisis, and represents a 55% increase since 2001. Our continuing strong funding of Tourism NT in a tight fiscal environment is a clear demonstration of our ongoing commitment to the industry. We recognise we have come through the global financial crisis, and have talked specifically with tourism operators across the Territory advising that our focus, as a government, is on the regions and we expect to see tourism very much a part of A Working Future policy within our growth towns.
Budget 2010-11 funding will be used by Tourism NT in a number of areas, but with particular focus on strengthening the development of new tourism products, and to support and assist local tourism operators across the Territory. The funding will underpin innovative and integrated marketing campaigns, support airline services, and enhance the development of new products from emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs.
The recent challenges for the tourism industry are well known, and it is vital the Territory remains in the minds of consumers the world over as we move through our recovery phase from the global financial crisis. Key initiatives for the 2010-11 financial year include: $30.9m for marketing output including campaigns; $1.3m to develop Indigenous entrepreneurial products; $2.1m for aviation – a 15% increase on last year; $600 000 to attract infrastructure investment; and $400 000 to enhance environmental sustainability.
We have certainly enjoyed a relatively strong 12 months in a very challenging, ever-changing environment worldwide, but the number of visitors to the Northern Territory, domestic and international, increased in 2009, which was a significant achievement and against the tide in comparison to other jurisdictions. This was achieved by the tireless efforts of so many people in the industry, so many of my staff in Tourism NT across the Northern Territory and, indeed, overseas. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of Tourism NT staff last week at the ATE, the Australian Tourism Exchange, in Adelaide. It was a terrific opportunity to join with 26 Territory tourism operators who were in Adelaide to showcase their wares and to network with the states and overseas interested travel agents to sell their wares. It was quite an exciting time.
I had the opportunity to also meet staff with Tourism NT based in our overseas offices. They are the ones who are doing the terrific work to continue to send travellers to the Territory. Budget 2010-11 builds on maintaining our market share nationally, and focuses on innovative and integrated marketing campaigns, as well as making sure we work smarter, ensuring more efficient, effective spending of the funding allocation.
In the area of women’s policy, I note our funding continues for the work of the Office of Women’s Policy. It identifies issues affecting women in the Territory and sets priorities for government through plans such as Building on Our Strengths, A Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012. We are currently engaging in parliamentary debate about women’s policy in the Territory, and I am looking forward to hearing the views in that debate, and using those views to assist in our directions and activities into the future, especially noting next year is quite a significant year, with the 100th year of International Women’s Day across the world.
In terms of statehood, for which I am the responsible minister, I note the budget provides $1.1m to continue the work of the Statehood Steering Committee, chaired by yourself, Madam Speaker, and co-chaired by Fran Kilgariff. The statehood forums, from all reports, are progressing across the Territory. I am hearing very important feedback, some very good, some very questionable, but it is terrific to see the passion and interest statehood is exacting across the Northern Territory. It is certainly giving Territorians from all walks of life the opportunity to participate and, no doubt, have their say on statehood issues and the way they would like to see the Northern Territory grow.
I note Wednesday’s NT News reported the Opposition Leader saying he was disappointed in recent commentary the budget did not reflect an underlying narrative to address the real issues the Territory has to deal with. I beg to differ; this budget has been an incredibly historic opportunity for the people of the Northern Territory across our regions. We cannot say enough about the important direction we are driving the Northern Territory in the future, in choices for all families, wherever they may live across the Northern Territory.
In my portfolio, responsibility is taking the first steps to realise A Working Future for all Territory families living across the regions. It is about improving regional services in our growth towns, assisting our new shires develop a strong, vibrant organisation; fostering regional development and jobs for our young people; and continuing to build the tourism industry and helping it continue to grow in an ever-changing and challenging marketplace.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Treasurer for her budget.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, today I talk on this year’s budget. I have listened intently to many of the speakers opposite, and the Treasurer’s budget speech. I heard the plumes and feathers getting plucked and bandied about of their record spend. What has not been talked about enough is their record failure to deliver on last year’s budget, their failure to deliver for Territory families. A quick flip through Budget Paper No 4, the infrastructure program, and we can quickly see a picture, an historic narrative begins to fall in place, a story of a government willing to stand with their plumes high, prance around the Chamber, and at various budget breakfasts and the like talk of their record spend.
What they do not talk about is their record revoted works. A brief description would be to say that revoted works would be stuff planned in last year’s budget or, as some of my colleagues will point out over the estimates week, that is from the budget before, and the budget before that. These are budgetary allocations the Labor government should have delivered for Territory families in years past; they should not be part of the budget to brag about what you want to claim will be the future. When you talk of some $800m-odd of failed delivery by this Labor government in the past year, it tells a very historic narrative. It tells a story of failed delivery, a failure to plan, and a failed outcome - a totally failed government. Yet, they will pluck their feathers, put on some more spin, and say they have done a record spend. What they have delivered is a record failed delivery process.
We will flick through some of the more notable failures to deliver in the past 12 months. They are in Budget Paper No 4 for anyone in the public who wishes to read any of the budget outcomes, and I implore people to have a look at Budget Paper No 4. It is difficult to follow any budget paper. It is difficult to see where they have particularly failed to deliver on individual areas, but there are generic outlines and, under each departmental heading or subheading, there are allocations of revoted works which demonstrate the level of failure of this Labor government ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, do you mind if I acknowledge someone in the gallery?
Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of former minister and member for Sanderson, Daryl Manzie, who, members would be aware, started a parliamentary broadcast this morning from Parliament House.
On behalf on honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you very much, member for Drysdale.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker, that was certainly worth mentioning because the former member would understand the problems associated with revoted works and the demonstration of a government’s failure to deliver for the public. That is why I suggested, if the public has time, have a quick flick through this one; it is one of the smaller books amongst the many budget volumes, but it does show a very daunting picture of why so many businesses are struggling in the Northern Territory, and why so many of our services have come under fire from various Coronial reports and other inter-agency reports. It demonstrates clearly why this government has failed Territorians.
I said this will not be a discussion on the totality of all revoted works, but some of the more notable ones which have direct implementation problems which will be felt on the street. The first one is the Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget. We see a revote of works of some $32m of failed spending in the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services portfolios. I am sure that money, if spent properly, could have given us a new high-level firefighting appliance to replace the ageing Bronto. I am sure it would have delivered more firemen to man those appliances which may save lives when called in to work.
I am sure $32m, if it had been spent as was promised - you promised to spend it last year; how can you be trusted to spend it this year? - would have given greater resources to targeted hot spots in the Northern Territory where crime has spiralled out of control. It would have delivered real benefits, real comfort, to mums and dads who are constantly being abused in hot spots such as Parap, in the member for Fannie Bay’s electorate. Let us say it how it is. They are constantly being abused as they walk the streets, or if you happen to drive your car past that region, you may even have rocks thrown at your car. It may have been better spent to target this gross antisocial behaviour occurring in the member for Fannie Bay’s electorate, of which he has been made abundantly aware, but has failed to deliver for his electorate. He failed to ensure that $32m was delivered to make life in his electorate, the homes of the Fannie Bay and Parap residents, a safer and more enjoyable community to be in.
We will move to the education budget. We see a revote of works of over $137m. We have the worst NAPLAN results in the country and you failed to spend on education, which is the vital link to the future of the Northern Territory’s population; the people, the youth - give them tangible outcomes, the ability to strive and succeed in their life. It is all linked to our education and your Labor government failed to deliver $137m. That is many teachers, many support staff for classrooms to help those students with particular needs. That is a $137m failure from this government, yet we hear very little of it. It is shameful to think this government failed to deliver on education last year. How can they be trusted to deliver into the future?
I move to the department of Housing - a $17m revote on public housing. Can anyone explain, with the worst housing crisis we are facing - our residents, our people of the Territory, our most at risk – how this Labor government failed to deliver $17m of works under public housing? If we look at SIHIP, which is budgeted separate to this, at some of the outcomes where they spent maybe $1m on a house, that is still 17 homes. Let us take it back to reality; that could have been over 30 new homes for our most needy Territory families.
We see in the member for Fannie Bay’s electorate a vacant block of land that was once Housing Commission units with no homes on it. I agree that they were old and they needed to be replaced, but you would have thought they would have planned to deliver new homes straightaway because real Territory families need support now. We see no plan to replace those, yet we see a failure to deliver $17m worth of public housing spend last year by this government.
As members, we speak with some of our elderly residents in Housing Commission homes or units. They have termite damage, but it is taking a long time to be repaired. In fact, there has not been any termite treatment in some cases, so there is no preventative maintenance on our homes which are part of our Territory assets. Houses and units within the Territory Housing system have not been painted for decades. The government sat there for the last 10 years and failed to deliver, last year alone, $17m. That is many homes that could have been upgraded, maintained, better serviced so they did not become a liability, so they stayed in a state that was sufficient, good and well kept. No, they failed to deliver on that.
While we are on housing, look at the inclusion of all the SIHIP money to really puff up those beautiful plumes of the Treasurer so she looked even better in the public eye - that she had more money in the kitty than she did. That is over $500m worth of federal money she has, probably quite rightly, claimed is hers. They have poorly managed it; they have not delivered for Territory people, for the remote communities. They have not delivered it for the Indigenous people in our remote communities who need housing support now. Six houses now, I think, $200m down the tube - not a good record; they cannot be trusted. Their ability to deliver has been poor and has been a massive failure.
For the Department of Health and Families, we see revoted works of $149m. For the public, that covers several areas including Family and Children’s Services, Disability Services and our hospitals, and remote. It covers many areas. You cannot escape the fact this Labor government failed to deliver $149m, yet, we hear very little of that. We certainly do not hear the government talking about their failures; they talk about what a great job they are doing. They have done a great job. They fluff their little feathers like a peacock. That is a lot of money when we have waiting lists which are unacceptable. If you visit accident and emergency – unfortunately you will be unwell if you are going there - you will see some great staff doing their very best. However, you will exceed the national average of waiting time whilst you are there – three to four hours.
This government failed to spend $149m on the health system. We have hospitals that are still understaffed and, as I said, waiting times that are unacceptable. We are, unfortunately, seeing mistakes happen. We are seeing Coroners criticising the government for their failure in such services as Family and Children’s’ Services. We see deaths. We see no real delivery on dental services. I am asked by some of my constituents: ‘When are we going to get a good old dental service like we used to have?’ This government has had 10 years to deliver all these services. In the last year they failed to spend $149m on our health system. As your loved one struggles with the pain and agony of some ailment, you can rest assured this government is failing to deliver on the services which may help them.
We see no services for people who suffer from Asperger’s or autism in the Northern Territory - the only state left to not have a service support for those with autism. We see an agency within the Northern Territory funded wholly by the private sector trying to do the best it can, whilst we see families at the brink of despair trying to deal with their autistic family member, or member suffering from Asperger’s. There is no real support. The only way they can get that support is by twisting and adjusting the services so it appears to be something else. It is shameful that this government has failed to deliver on that, and they failed to deliver $149m in the Department of Health and Families. It is shameful the public have not been made aware, through the media more so, of your horrific failures.
We see the services of SIDS and Kids in the Northern Territory, a vital support service, at the brink of folding because you have failed to fund it, you have failed to give them support. They support the families of Northern Territory people and you failed to support them.
We see a $35m revote for the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport. There are portions of that spread everywhere. Recently we saw the peacocks in Palmerston supporting my electorate. I appreciate they are supporting us. They promised to deliver a $13.57m water park for Palmerston. That was originally a $5m commitment during the election campaign. Their crayon drawings back then failed to include the phone call to the landowner on which they proposed to put the water park. This Labor government stumbled; their $5m plan hit its first hurdle, not a drop of water to include in it. Now we see an explosion to $13.57m for the cost of the water park.
It is a great spend in Palmerston, but what we need to see are genuine plans. There is the pretty crayon drawing in the Chief Minister’s office in Palmerston that even tells you, down the bottom - I cannot remember the exact words - it basically says: ‘You cannot trust this drawing. It is a representation’. How can we trust the government?
As I said, they failed to deliver over $140m into the health system last year. The federal government is saying, ‘We have to take over the health system’, yet this government failed to even spend on it entirely, and we have to trust another pretty crayon drawing, to the tune of $13.57m. We need to see the detailed plans for the public. Until we see the plans, the costing, and the consultation with the community, you cannot be trusted.
We look at the environment and we see the massive spills and sewage washing up onto our beaches in recent days. However, we see an underspend; a failure to spend $35m. I believe some of the spills in the harbour could have been dealt with better under other areas where they failed to spend. We see in today’s paper someone sitting on a porcelain pan, a demonstration perhaps of this government’s failure to deal with the sewage outflow. Yet, I think it was last night I watched the ABC News and heard the minister saying: ‘No, no, no, this is from the drains, this is just the water coming off the streets’.
For those who have not looked around Darwin lately, yes, we did have rain during the sprint car titles. They were well over a week ago. There has been a time lapse since then. Since then, it has been beautiful blue skies, great mornings, fantastic cool nights, no need to use the air-conditioner so you can reduce your power bill. There was no stormwater flow. But the minister in the news last night blamed the E. coli on stormwater flow. It beggars belief to even consider where he got his advice from. I really do not know, because I am sure most Territorians would notice we have not had rain in the last week or so. So, that hardly washed, like the effluent which has washed onto our beaches.
Lands and Planning is another area of disgrace with revoted works to the tune of some $203m, with an infrastructure development revote amongst that of $85m. We have the worst housing crisis ever seen in the Northern Territory, perhaps since the bombing of Darwin when many homes were damaged yet we are failing to spend, be serious and deliver.
We see a failure to put the pipes in the right location when it came to Bellamack, which has delayed titles being released for the much-needed homes. We see time tick by and more families struggle under the strain of increased rent, increased housing prices, and no land availability. We see businesses in the building industry struggle because there is no dirt, as they put it; the industry refers to it as dirt. This government can preen their feathers, dance around like peacocks as much as they like, and say: ‘Yes, we have released land. Bellamack is out there, Johnston is out there, Muirhead - you name it, we have done it’.
Until the piece of paper gives you title to that land, you have nothing. You have no ability to build a home. We have seen the Treasurer backflip in regard to Buildstart because all those people who applied for Buildstart in Bellamack would have lost their entitlement this month. Failed to deliver on land - the Labor government cannot be trusted in its ability to do so. We see businesses under huge pressure. I know businesses that once had 30-plus staff now about to put their workers onto forced leave, give them six weeks’ leave to go away because, ‘I do not have any work for you. I do not have any work for you, because there is no dirt out there’.
It is an absolute shame this government cannot deliver for Territory people, yet they gloat like peacocks and dance around with their magical infrastructure spend, but what is true and saddening is their failure to deliver over the last year and beyond. That is truly hurting the families in the Northern Territory.
The member for Daly might joke about my comments and reference to peacocks in this Chamber, but the reality is that it is the public which is hurting, not the 25 members in this Chamber particularly. It is the mums and dads who are hurting because of your lies and deception.
Madam Speaker, I withdraw that comment.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, thank you, member for Drysdale.
Mr BOHLIN: This prancing around is hurting families. How can people afford $600-a-week rent for a modest family home because the government has failed to release the land? It will take time to build those homes to relieve this pressure.
We know the member for Barkly uses the roads a great deal. But, there is revoted works of $76m for the federally funded roads - the national roads, the highways, the main arterial access for the Northern Territory. They failed to deliver by $76m. On a recent trip with my school for a camp to Katherine, I noticed again continuing problems with our road: the drop-offs on the edges, on our verges, that make travelling on our roads, at times, dangerous. We can see they failed to spend by $76m on our roads. They failed to spend and ensure the safety of our tourists - our vital tourism industry. They failed to spend to ensure the safety of our residents. For regional local roads, there was a $42m failure to spend. That is disgraceful. You should hang your head in shame and seriously think about your failure to deliver, and what you are going to do. You cannot prance around anymore like peacocks and say you are doing a great job because people have noticed, people are hurting, and you are putting people’s lives at risk in some circumstances.
We see the port, where you have failed to deliver over $58m. We see environmental spills into our harbour. Some of these projects would have alleviated those risks. We see engineering companies under pressure because of the failure to deliver on these projects that could have saved and prevented some of the spills in our environment. We see those companies winding back their businesses ...
A member interjecting.
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Can these people be quiet or leave.
Madam SPEAKER: Standing Order 51. It was not really an interjection. If you wish to have a conversation could you go outside, please.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will finish up with the fact that whilst they prance around like peacocks we see businesses - building companies, engineering companies - all under pressure, all coming to their knees because they have failed to deliver. The infrastructure revotes are appalling, their plan to deliver has been dismal, and they should be ashamed of their outcomes.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Charles Darwin University Certificate III in Spoken and Written English, Australian Studies students, accompanied by Mr William Kelly and Ms Tahlo Rooke. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also acknowledge in the Chamber today a Deputy Clerk in training, Mr Michael Tatham. Members may be aware that this Thursday will be the current Deputy Clerk’s last full sitting day. On the record, I say thank you very much to the Deputy Clerk.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: We wish Mr Tatham all the best. I hope he is going to be very quiet sitting in front of me.
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of the 2010-11 Budget delivered by our Treasurer, the member for Karama, during the last sittings on 14 May.
We always knew this was going to be a tough budget to deliver; in fact, tough for every jurisdiction and government in Australia in the wake of the global financial crisis and the worst downturn we have seen in the global economy since World War II. However, I feel confident this budget is responsible in its focus and will benefit Territorians across the board, whether they be Indigenous or non-Indigenous, and whether they live in urban or remote areas. Importantly, as with previous Labor budgets, there is investment in the Territory which will deliver benefits for all Territory families, with a record infrastructure spend of $1.8bn. This government continues to build on its commitment to provide jobs and keep people as best we can in jobs, and to support families to keep children, regardless of where they live, at school.
I start by highlighting, for the first time in the history of the Territory, that of the total budget figure of just over $5bn, $980m is earmarked for infrastructure spending in the bush to support this government’s A Working Future policy, to improve the lives of Indigenous Territorians and to continue the goal of closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.
As a bush member elected to represent the people of north-east Arnhem Land, where around 50% of the population is Indigenous, and living between Nhulunbuy, Yirrkala, Galiwinku and Elcho Island, and the many homelands residents who are under the umbrella of Laynhupuy or Marthakal homelands, this spend in the bush is absolutely critical - and is unprecedented. It is critical because we are committed to supporting those 20 larger communities designated as growth towns, so people who live, work and raise their families in those communities can eventually expect to receive and benefit from the services one would expect delivered in other same sized towns anywhere else in Australia.
In turn, growth towns with improved services are in a better position to deliver services in the surrounding homelands or outstations which they support. Like the rest of the Territory, remote communities and homelands continue to grow, and government is committed to meeting the needs that come with that growth and, I add, committed to supporting Indigenous people who wish to remain and raise their children on their traditional homeland and clan communities.
Education and training are at the core of people’s lives, especially our children’s lives. I have a little red asterisk here in my notes, because I saw red when I was listening to the member for Drysdale talking about the budget and responding to education. There was one thing which really rankled with me, quite apart from the fact that he kept talking about peacocks and plucking feathers, when I think the word he was looking for was preening, member for Drysdale, not plucking. Anyway, that is a moot point.
You made reference, member for Drysdale, to autism, and you said it was shameful this government provides no support to people with children with autism in schools ...
Mr Bohlin: No, I did not say in schools.
Ms WALKER: You could not be further from the truth there. We heard in Question Time from our Education minister about the significant investment in special needs students. He quoted a number of figures, and I caught the first couple: $5.65m for Nemarluk School; and in your own electorate, $2m to expand the special annex at Palmerston High School. Member for Drysdale, you need to research a little more carefully before you open your mouth.
I happen to be a member of the Autism Association of the Northern Territory, because I am the parent of a 14-year-old boy who is autistic. He has been incredibly well supported by our education system since he started school, and is funded for many hours a week for an inclusion support assistant to assist with his disability. I find it quite offensive when you single out a particular disability as one this government does not support when, in fact, you could not be further from the truth.
We constantly hear the member for Drysdale banging on in this Chamber. He fancies himself as a bit of a shining wit. If you know anything about spoonerisms, you know what I mean, Madam Speaker.
I will get back to the point about education and how this government supports all children in our community, whether they be Indigenous or non-Indigenous, and whether they be able-bodied or disabled.
Without an education, without fluency in written and spoken English, without the skills to be numerate, we will always have people who are disempowered and disengaged, and relegated to a life of welfare dependency. The people I speak to tell me emphatically they do not want this life of welfare dependency. They want opportunities for their children and their grandchildren. They want their children to receive an education to be better positioned to enter the world of work; to be role models for others and to contribute to their communities, or even move away from their communities. Importantly, people tell me they have a strong desire to see their young people able to walk strongly and confidently in both worlds; to have jobs and, with it, economic independence.
As a government, we can only see this happen by investing heavily in education infrastructure, and by resourcing that infrastructure with quality teachers and programs. This includes recognition of the importance of capturing children early in the education net, and recognising the strong and formative role parents and families play in this process. Hence, the huge focus on this government’s Families as First Teachers program. To this end, I welcome the $17.6m to build children and family centres at Yuendumu, Gunbalanya, Maningrida and Ngukurr, along with $42.5m for mobile preschools and, further, $3.6m for 20 virtual early childhood integrated service hubs, and Families as First Teachers programs in the growth towns, which we know will be supported by the creation and establishment of an early childhood coordinator in each of these 20 growth towns.
I met recently with a lovely lady, Shirley Shepherd, a librarian normally based at the Nhulunbuy Community Library. She has been seconded for a 12-month period to the East Arnhem Shire to build library services in the regional communities and, with it, a reading program funded by Families as First Teachers. This program not only provides resources and materials in places like Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Milingimbi, Galiwinku, Ngukurr and Umbakumba, to name a few, but also involves certificate training programs for Yolngu people in those communities to be trained and confident to run these programs. Shirley passed on to me some beautiful photographs of children and parents actively engaged in the reading programs in these communities. I doubt there would be a person in this Chamber who has not read books with little ones, and has seen children delighted, spellbound, and engaged in the interactive process of sharing a picture book. It is about scaffolding language and building the engagement that book reading and storytelling is. It is something we value and can share regardless of age or culture; that is, the beginning of lifelong learning and the love of books.
If I look specifically to my electorate in the area of schools, obviously, my constituents and I are delighted to see $2m for Yirrkala School which will build four additional classrooms, as well as a further $600 000 for further upgrades and refurbishments. At the start of next term, I will be attending the annual graduation ceremony at Yirrkala School which will celebrate the achievements of Year 12 graduates, including a young woman by the name of Yilkingiwuy Guyula who was the top Year 12 student from a remote area in 2009 for her NTCE; as well as those graduates who will be passing through in the Indigenous Education Worker program.
As part of the 2008 election commitments, $300 000 will now be going to primary schools at Shepherdson College at Elcho Island, and also at Nhulunbuy Primary School, with the latter intending to use those funds to refurbish classrooms with carpet, a coat of paint, and some new cupboards. The earlier $200 000, which Nhulunbuy Primary School received from the federal government’s Building Education Revolution program in 2009, has set this program under way.
I recently visited the now completed new library at Nhulunbuy Christian School, also built under the federal government’s BER scheme. The new building is a wonderful and modern asset for the school community and its students, providing library space and additional classroom space as well.
This budget also delivers much-needed funding support to provide significant upgrades to homeland learning centres, Birany Biranyand Rurangala under the banner of Yirrkala Homelands School, and Mirrnatja under the banner of Shepherdson College, will each receive around $300 000 - a significant sum of money.
There has been some ill-founded fear surrounding A Working Future policy that governments at federal and Territory level are, somehow, trying to draw people away from homelands and have them settle in the growth towns. This could not be further from the truth. This government, and the federal government, will continue to invest in core services, including education in homelands, recognising that homelands are strong, safe and healthy places, and it is the strong desire of homeland residents to raise their children and grandchildren on the land and country that supports and nurtures them.
Why else would we have spent $2m to build, last year, a new school building for the secondary program at Baniyala School at Yilpara? Why else would this government have built two teacher houses at this community to enable this school to have small school status with full-time teachers living and working within the community? Why is it currently we are investigating the possibility and viability, through some thorough consultation with community residents at the homelands of Burrawuy, Dhalinybuy and GanGan, the possibility of progressing their homelands learning centres, which each received $200 000 for classroom updates in last year’s budget, to small school status. The reason is this government recognises we must work together with the desires and aspirations of homeland residents and their representative bodies like Laynhapuy Homelands, to do what we can to keep these people on homelands.
Across the Territory there are some 40 homeland learning centres providing education to around 600 students. Whether a student lives remotely or in an urban area, whether it is Wanguri Primary or Wandawuy Homeland Learning Centre, whether it is Braitling Primary or Birany Birany Homeland Learning Centre, students need access to the right tools and infrastructure if we are to support their learning. The icing on the cake was the announcement on Friday, at a community meeting at Yirrkala, that the federally funded secondary boarding facility for the East Arnhem region will be located at the Laynhapuy Homeland of Garthalala, situated on the picturesque coastline about a two-hour drive from Nhulunbuy.
There were some six communities which nominated to host the secondary boarding facility, one of three to be built in the Northern Territory. A thorough and independent consultation process was held with meetings at each of the communities which included Yirrkala, Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Yilpara, Milingimbi, and of course Garthalala. At Friday’s meeting, we were advised of the pros and cons of each location, which included two growth towns. Ultimately, Garthalala was identified as the most desirable location for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that a successful secondary program currently operates there with accommodation for visiting students from neighbouring homelands who come into the school for the week and return to their families for weekends. Importantly, we have seen a key measure of success at Garthalala, and that includes seeing students complete their Year 12 NTCE. Of course, there was disappointment expressed by those communities which had missed out, but what we have to remember is this is the beginning of a process and, as populations continue to grow, we may well, in the years to come, need to look to another community within the East Arnhem region to host another secondary boarding facility.
I cannot tell you how pleased I was to learn that Gove District Hospital’s bid for funding to build six duplexes on its campus to house medical and allied health staff was successful. The Chief Minister and Health Minister know only too well one of the big issues we face in Nhulunbuy is available land to build additional housing for public servants. For that matter, there is a fairly high level of interest from the non-government sector to access land and build affordable housing. Given the township, like the mining operations, exists on special purpose leases, land is not currently available as Rio Tinto Alcan renegotiate, under commercial-in-confidence arrangements, the renewal of the second period of a 42-year lease from May 2011.
It is difficult enough to attract and retain health professionals to remote areas but, when you do not have suitable accommodation available, it is a double whammy. The $3.8m to build these duplexes on land already available on the hospital ground is a smart move, and I certainly acknowledge Doug Gilchrist, the General Manager and Director of Nursing at Gove District Hospital, who developed this strategy some time ago. All being well, these duplexes will be built by July 2011, and also relieve, to a small degree at least, some of the pressure on government employee housing until we see Rio Tinto Alcan’s lease negotiations with traditional owners successfully completed and land more readily available.
The other reason we have a housing shortage is we have considerably increased the number of public servants, particularly in health and education over the years Labor has been in government.
With roads and transport, the north-east Arnhem region has faired well, but not before time. There is $14m for the Central Arnhem Road, the main arterial road which connects residents to the Stuart Highway and, at the other end, connects homeland residents and several growth towns to Nhulunbuy as currently their main service centre. I certainly welcome - as I know the member for Arnhem does because it is in her electorate - the slow but sure evolution of Gapuwiyak as a growth town, given it is only a short 20 km off the Central Arnhem Road and ideally suited for service delivery to that part of north-east Arnhem Land, being only a 200 km drive from Nhulunbuy.
For those who are not familiar with it, the Central Arnhem Road is about 700 km long through to the Stuart Highway. It is a reasonably well maintained dirt road, with a recurrent budget of about $1.1m for repairs and maintenance. The first 400 km between Nhulunbuy and Bulman is on Aboriginal Land Trust, so it is not a government asset. It is not a gazetted road, but we certainly invest heavily in maintaining it. From Bulman to the Stuart Highway, there are some small stretches of single-lane sealed road but, with access for cattle trucks from Bulman, it is certainly not ideal, which is why the Mainoru Crossing is part of that $14m upgrade.
The other significant part of the spend of $14m will be on upgrading the Goyder River Crossing, this being the single biggest crossing on the Central Arnhem Road. It does have water in it year round but, in the Wet Season, becomes impassable, seeing road access cut from anything from five to six months of the year. My understanding is these upgrades will not keep the road open year round, but will keep the road open longer, and will certainly minimise the hazards associated with these river crossings, especially the Goyder and, therefore, make it much safer for road users.
The process to scope, implement and construct these upgrades - and there are more to come in the next financial year, including the Little Goyder Crossing and the Donydji Creek Crossing - is significant in working with traditional landowners to ensure their wishes and expectations are met in minimising disruption to country, and steering clear of sacred sites. To assist with that process, an officer from the Department of Planning and Construction is currently seconded to the Northern Land Council to ensure this process is closely followed.
Upgrades to this road not only allows safer travel for residents, but also opens up and makes safer access for freight services, and is more likely to attract travellers or tourists who come to the region for either the wonderful fishing they will find at Gove, or to visit the small but growing number of cultural ecotourism businesses operating in homelands such as Bawaka, Yilpara, Nyinyikay, and Marparu, not to mention, of course, the visitors to Australia’s largest cultural Indigenous festival, Garma, held in August each year, for which this government continues to provide significant support.
Speaking of festivals, I am really hoping the Central Arnhem Road will be open in time for the many people who will want to drive to Barunga, which sits in the member for Stuart’s electorate, very close to Katherine. There will be many Katherine residents visiting the annual sport and cultural festival on the next long weekend. So, fingers crossed for the Nhulunbuy people that the Goyder is passable. There is a contingent going from the community of Yilpara or Baniyala, with Gurranali Band from that community being the headline act on the musical side of the agenda.
Funding for barge landings also features in this budget, with $6.2m to be delivered over the next three years. Nguiu, Maningrida, Ramingining, as well as Galiwinku and Gapuwiyak in my electorate will all benefit from this investment. While I am not familiar with all these landings, because they are not all in my electorate, I do know the landings at Galiwinku and Gapuwiyak, and they are simply inadequate - have been for years. They need hard-stand areas, lighting, a fenced secure area to stow goods and containers which arrive on barges where landings are subject to tidal movements, which means they can berth for unloading at any time of the day or night. To highlight this need, my constituents at the homeland of Marparu were recently devastated to find several thousand dollars of goods delivered to Galiwinku and destined for their community store were stolen during the night. While I know police are following up this matter, a secure area at that barge landing will prevent this sort of thing occurring in future. This $6.2m to upgrade barge landings will make them safer and more accessible and, obviously, improve services for the communities and their residents.
At the same time, I also hope improvements to the infrastructure – and I can assure you at Gapuwiyak, which is in the member for Arnhem’s electorate, there is little more than a muddy river bank on the edge of a tidal river - will open up freight services to more competition, and encourage other barge freight companies to enter the market and see costs reduced for communities.
Transport access and costs are a real issue in the bush and one which this government is working hard to tackle. In my electorate, where there are such low levels of vehicle ownership, it has long been an issue for Yolngu people to access affordable travel between Yirrkala and Nhulunbuy, a distance of about 20 km, and into the other side of Nhulunbuy another 10 km or 12 km out to the Gumatj communities of Gunyangara, or Ski Beach as it is better known, as well as Galupa and also Birrtjimi, which is also known as Wallaby Beach.
For any of these residents travelling into Nhulunbuy, it is a one-way fare of $40 to $50 in a minibus. This is why this government is investing in a two-year pilot program to run a bus service between these communities. With a proposed four runs a day between these communities, and a flat $5 fee for adults, it will provide people with the mobility they need to be able to access shops, services, recreation, events, to be able to get to work, to get to training, or perhaps just to visit family and friends. $5 versus $50 will clearly provide more affordable and convenient travel.
I should also add this project sees the Northern Territory government partner with the Commonwealth government, Rio Tinto Alcan, and YBE, a wholly owned Indigenous company which will be operating the service, providing unique employment and training opportunities to its employees, whilst also meeting the need that they have, like Rio Tinto Alcan, to get employees to and from work.
Data collected from the trial will inform the viability of a permanent service into the future. The trial will cost government up to $180 000, and this will support up to $100 000 in the first year and $80 000 on operational shortfall to support the second year of service. This, of course, is part of a total funding commitment of $3.1m to fund pilot bus services across the Territory, with other trials occurring in the Top End and Central Australia.
We will continue to see this government, in partnership with the federal government, roll out SIHIP to address the incredible deficit we see in remote housing across the Northern Territory, with its main aim being to improve the lives of Indigenous people by addressing those issues of overcrowding and environmental health.
As I bring my comments to a close, I just add, in keeping with the practice of this government in previous years, we have seen the Treasurer tour the Northern Territory with the 2010-11 Budget Road Show. Indeed, Nhulunbuy was the very first cab off the rank this year. Immediately after the last sittings on Monday, 10 May, we had the budget visit to Nhulunbuy.
However, what we have done differently this year is extended those forums to the growth towns to enable people to hear firsthand about the $980m spend to support people in the bush and the A Working Future policy. I have accompanied the Treasurer to Yirrkala, Galiwinku, and Gapuwiyak, and can say residents welcomed this opportunity to be able to ask questions of the Treasurer about how and why government spends money. In fact, after we finished the meeting at Galiwinku on Elcho Island, we called into the takeaway shop to grab some lunch before we headed to Gapuwiyak, and we had one of the senior men from that community who had been at the meeting approach us to say how grateful people were the Treasurer had taken time out to come to this small community to talk face-to-face with people and, what is more, how impressed they were that it was a woman in this senior position taking on this role.
People will always have a view and are happy to ask questions and challenge what they are told, as they should. I believe I can say, out of at least three growth towns I have been to with the Treasurer, people were grateful for her presence and the fact she had taken the time to travel and speak with people.
This government does work hard at meeting the needs of Territorians, to listen to Territorians, whether they are in Darwin or in some of the remotest parts of the Northern Territory. Above all, this government will continue to work hard to improve the lives of Territorians - children, families, senior citizens, adults, able-bodied or disabled. Even in the most challenging of financial times, this budget endeavours to achieve this.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Treasurer and this bill to the House.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the 2010-11 Budget as well, and highlight very serious issues, not just of the government’s failure to fund Central Australia properly and take into consideration the problems in Central Australia and in remote Aboriginal communities, but in education, safety of children - and the list goes on. For Central Australia, and I guess for Territorians and Indigenous Territorians, it is like this great big mirage when you are travelling the desert. As you are travelling on that vast landscape, you will always see a mirage. As you get closer, the mirage vanishes. That is exactly what this budget is; it is a mirage.
People hear what the government is saying, but there is nothing being delivered to improve the lives of Territorians, the lives of Indigenous children, to improve education, overcrowding, and the health of all Territorians, specifically Indigenous Territorians.
I specifically want to talk about child protection and highlight the issue. I did this in amendments to legislation last year. I asked the then minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, to ensure, when there are changes to any kind of legislation regarding child protection or child protection issues, that there must be a campaign or some kind of media strategy to allow people to understand the changes. There has not been any kind of media strategy put towards any kind of child safety, child protection, overcrowding, or education – none whatsoever. We can boast as much as we like about the amount of money we are putting into child protection, but if we do not have the education strategy to allow people to absorb the changes government put in through legislation in this House, people will not know the difference.
I go back to a young boy - and everyone knows what was on PM last night - who is 10 years old who tried to commit suicide in one of the schools in Central Australia. The grandparents are in Alice Springs. The grandmother is on renal dialysis and the mother is a drinker in Alice Springs. There is no education strategy for the parents. There is no engagement to see how important it is to raise children, and for people to think about child protection, the safety of the child, a child’s education, the child’s wellbeing, or the child’s health in anything the government puts out.
As I said - and I will keep reiterating this in the 30 minutes or so I have - we can develop any kind of policy in this House, but if we do not have material to educate people, and talk about how important their children are ...
Ms PURICK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam SPEAKER: I think there is a quorum. There is a quorum already. Member for Macdonnell, please continue, there is a quorum.
Ms ANDERSON: It is so important to have education materials go out to people in the Northern Territory to ensure people understand there are changes happening. Whether they are good changes or bad changes, people need to be informed and need to know. I feel sorry for this young fellow, this little 10-year-old in this Central Australian community, because he has just been thrown out there, and the teachers at that community have not become teachers just to teach him, but they have also become social workers who have to care for him day-to-day, hour after hour, minute after minute, five days a week, while they have him inside the school. A teacher has to leave a classroom with seven, 13 or 20 children inside that classroom if the boy walks out to go to the bathroom, in order to protect him and ensure he is not going to try to commit suicide again.
It is very unfortunate we have come to this time in our lives, as a government that is supposed to be governing for the whole of the Northern Territory, we are pushing our teachers to now be psychiatrists and social workers for one individual child, and leave a number of children inside a classroom while they are protecting one child from trying to commit suicide again.
The other problem I wanted to raise is this little boy has two siblings. One of the other siblings is on injections every day. It is the time of the year for that community to try to stop this child being admitted into hospital. They have seen a pattern of this child being admitted into hospital every winter. These children are vulnerable. We can say it is so great this government is building a school here, building a school there. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, you have been a teacher in a remote Aboriginal community. I would like to see the statistics from when you were a teacher to see if any Year 12 graduates came out of that community - to see if the skills you took into that community achieved some results.
It is really easy for us to stand in this House and point fingers and say things did not happen under 27 years of the CLP. Well, nothing is happening, nothing - you are not closing the gap in 10 years of power. You are not closing the gap; the gap is getting wider. The gap is getting wider in poor education, in literacy and numeracy, poor housing results, the different kinds of housing repairs and maintenance that is comparable from remote Aboriginal communities like Santa Teresa to the town camp Alice Springs, house 3 at Palmer Village in Alice Springs. You see the floors inside those houses getting tiled, inside and outside painted properly, stainless steel benches put in, cupboard spaces put in. Yet, if you go to Santa Teresa, you cannot see that. You barely see $20 000 being spent on houses at Santa Teresa. The inside is done - not even tiled - and the buildings outside not even renovated, not even touched.
How can we be closing the gap when we are doing this double shonky business with two sectors of Territorians? One is remote Aboriginal communities, and the other is in town. I guess it is because it is so close to the eyes of the non-Indigenous people; the media in Alice Springs. You want them to see the houses have been done properly in the town camps.
One of the houses which was handed over to a certain person I will not name here tonight, was to five people who live in the house. This family group also has an outstation 30 km north. Has the government changed its view and turned the corner on people owning two homes? Are we really catering for the disadvantaged? Are we really catering for those living in overcrowded houses? Are we really catering for and thinking about the child safety element of living in an overcrowded house? If you go to the middle section of that camp, you will see how the Rubuntjas live. These are the great-grandchildren and grandchildren of the late Eli Rubuntja and Wenten Rubuntja, great advocates of growing the town and having good relationships with people. This is their great-great-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, grandchildren, nieces and nephews living in absolute squalor.
This government proclaims Budget 2010-11 is helping to close the gap, but it is all talk. Closing the gap would mean things are getting better for Indigenous people, but I have been travelling widely in my electorate over the past few months and can tell you things are not getting better for Indigenous people. There is not one remote community member in the Northern Territory who would say their life has become easier lately and they would like to thank the government for its help. Indigenous people are still asking for basic government services to be delivered. The only exceptions are the people who have given up and stopped even asking.
The government should not make Indigenous Territorians beg for a proper house to live in, a proper education for their children, proper health services for their elderly, or an open airstrip or a safe road to access their community. Indigenous people should not have to make unsavoury deals in order to get those things most citizens take for granted. I am not reassured about the major improvements supposedly being made in Indigenous health when I am informed the incidents of scabies has increased at Docker River, or when a recent study demonstrated Central Australian Indigenous children have the highest rate of potentially fatal severe pneumonia in the world. This government’s budget offers Indigenous Territorians so little, yet its members proudly state they are closing the gap. It is a disgrace. Even the most basic services are not being provided to Indigenous Territorians. And let me tell you, Indigenous Territorians are still suffering.
Let us take off those rose-coloured glasses for a moment and look clearly at the current situation in our remote communities. It is time to consider whether the recent local government reform has produced any real benefits. The current structures of the shires - certainly MacDonnell Shire and Central Desert Shire - are too top heavy and are not able to efficiently deliver services to remote communities. Both of these shires have their main office in Alice Springs. The cost of the building in which they are housed takes a big bite out of their overall budget, when shire administration could easily have been located in one of their larger shire communities at a lesser cost. But, the main administration putters away in Alice Springs while things are getting worse out in remote communities.
The quality of housing repairs and maintenance is at an all-time low. I visited Docker River community recently and I was horrified; it was the worst I have seen in my six years as a member. Community members advised me no routine housing maintenance is being done at all. At one residence, there was no functioning electricity on one entire side of the house. However, people were still living in it, and they were running extension cords from the other side of the house for power. This is an extremely dangerous practice, but there is no choice; there is nowhere else to live and no repairs forthcoming.
At another residence located near the main shire office, a water leak from a broken pipe remained un-repaired for at least three months. At yet another house, the sink was broken and clogged for weeks, so the residents had to bucket out the dirty water that accumulated every day. Throughout the community, there were large puddles of water due to overflow leaking from the air-conditioners on the roofs. I suppose at least Docker River had air-conditioners in their houses. At Engawala, even air-conditioning is not being provided in most of the community houses. Those residents who do have air-conditioners have been advised that when these units break down, they will be replaced with ceiling fans.
It is lucky we are now in the cooler months of the year. There is still time to fix this urgent health and safety issue. In a climate where there are many successive days over 40C, people need to have an efficient way to cool their living spaces. Small children and the elderly will especially suffer next summer if there is no working air-conditioning. Rents are increasing for community members, but the amenity of the housing continues to decrease. This is what I keep talking about. Who is going out to Aboriginal communities to say the rents will increase? What will it increase to? Can people pay for it? Will they pay for it with the half-shonky work that has been done out at Santa Teresa? Are the people there now going to pay $120 for $10 000 or $20 000 worth of work that has been done?
Waste management is another area where the shires are failing. In April, I visited Ampilatwatja community in Barkly Shire. During this visit, I was made aware that the shire had disposed of approximately 3000 L of septic waste in the community dump not far from the community itself. This waste was left uncovered and accessible to animals. Septic sludge is a listed waste under the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act. It is harmful to people and the environment if disposed of incorrectly, as has occurred at Ampilatwatja. Even more concerning is that several days later, I visited Harts Range, administered by the Central Desert Shire, and the same practice had occurred there. The government needs to provide and support the oversight necessary to ensure the shires immediately cease this dumping of septic waste. Waste management practice must not be at a lower standard in small remote communities than which is expected in our larger regional centres. Shires servicing remote communities need to be aware of their responsibilities, both legal and environmental.
However, out on our remote communities, even the absolute basic of waste management is not being delivered. At Docker River, I recently observed rubbish bins in storage at the shire works compound. These bins have been sitting in the compound for the better part of the year, yet there are no rubbish bins provided at the houses for community residents to use. Unfortunately, Docker River is not the only community to lack residential rubbish bins. Kintore is another example of what is likely a widespread problem in the Northern Territory’s remote communities. The lack of appropriate household waste management naturally results in accumulation of litter on the community, as well as the burning of rubbish within the residential area, both of which produce serious environmental health hazards. Should residents continue to tolerate this treatment? No, they should not. If they should, we will never close the gap.
Another grave concern which is not addressed in Budget 2010-11 is the high number of remote community rubbish tips which are not up to standard. Within the last six weeks, a check on Barkly Shire tips found many did not comply with environmental health regulations. Again, this is indicative of a much bigger problem stretching across the remote shires, yet the shires do not have the funding to bring their tips up to standard. Meanwhile, there is the potential for water quality to be affected if the tips leak into the local water tables. This problem needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed in this budget.
What planning and provisions have been made to truly improve lives on remote Territory communities? Shires are funded for and are responsible for providing other community services as well. An example is childcare. In Central Australia, childcare services are floundering. For example, in the last few months, at Docker River and Papunya, childcare services have been patchy and irregular, with the facilities being closed for up to a week at a time with no notice. If we are serious about providing equal services on remote communities, this can no longer be tolerated.
In another community, a Family Services team leader has recently been sacked, seemingly for attempting to assist the local Indigenous staff in achieving their training and development goals. Indigenous people can fill the jobs on remote communities. They need to be given responsibility, as well as the training and support to fulfil their job requirements. In many cases, local workers have never received a duty statement, and their idea of what their job entails is very different from that of their supervisors. Expectations must be raised, both for Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers. It is not okay to operate on a remote community in a manner different than you would operate in Alice Springs just because you think no one cares what happens on Indigenous communities. The government must start to care, not least of all because what happens on remote communities affects what happens in the Territory’s towns and cities as well.
Caring about remote communities begins with effective government lobbying to retain the matching funds grants scheme, which would keep at least 500 Indigenous people employed across the shires. What does the government plan to do when these people lose their jobs? The Northern Territory government cannot play the blame game and leave the fault on the shoulders of the shires for their woeful lack of service provision. The government is responsible for setting up the shires and for appropriately funding them. The shires are an important partner which will help determine whether or not the goals of the government’s A Working Future policy will be met. It is time to review the structure of the shires and assist them to improve the efficiency of their service delivery.
It is distressing how little is allocated to Central Australia in this budget when our communities are in such dire need. As part of child protection services, the government needs to deliver an education strategy to new parents to prevent family violence and neglect. Without an education strategy about the responsibility of parents and the rights of children, you can flood the child protection system with money, but you will not stop the neglect and abuse of the Territory’s children. Where is the funding for prevention?
I will deviate and talk about my cousin who had a baby recently. I think that baby is about three, four, or five months old. Because she lives underneath the main bridge at Alice Springs, she thought it appropriate for her to hand over the child to Family and Children’s Services until she can get her act together and is in a position where she can go back to the community and have family support on the community. She is only a young mum, but she has chosen the easy way. Even Family and Children’s Services has now become a welfare system, where they are now taking children as a childcare agency to look after these children while the mums are drinking.
Furthermore, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander placement policy needs to be revoked. Culture cannot be a priority over the safety of a child. Where is the funding to recruit, train and support more carers? The government has such a bad reputation in this area that new carers are going to be difficult to come by. The stories are out there in the wider community about how badly carers are being treated, and this perception will be hard to change. It will require a major investment and a complete change of culture in the department.
I will deviate again. A couple who live just behind me help children with disabilities. They have always given up their time to look after Indigenous children with disabilities because their children have now grown up. They looked after my nephew’s little boy who died recently. These people have been put through the wringer by Department of Health and Families. These are genuine people with good hearts who put their hand up to the department and said: ‘I will care for these children. I will take the time. I have grown up children. I will provide the energy, the love, and compassion these children need’. That is the thanks they get from the department.
Road upgrades are another major area in which central Australia misses out again. Whatever happened to completing the sealing of the Mereenie Loop Road? I remember the former Chief Minister, Clare Martin, saying in 2001 that the Mereenie Loop Road would be sealed. I went to the election as a candidate for the Labor Party in 2005 and promised the electorate of Macdonnell the Mereenie Loop would be sealed. We are now in 2010 and the Mereenie Loop has still not been sealed.
We can talk about opportunities for Indigenous people in the tourism industry, and employment in that area but, until we have that road sealed, it is an opportunity lost due to this government’s lack of vision to see the possibilities of getting real employment and real tourism partnerships with Indigenous people, not just at Hermannsburg but at Areyonga, Kings Canyon, Ulpanyali, and Wanmarra. There are Aboriginal people in those outstations in that area who would love to have the opportunity to work with these people. I guess if you are a visionless government that just spins out rhetoric – and it is like that mirage that I spoke about at the beginning that disappears as you come towards it - then nothing will change; you will not close the gap on employment, tourism or anything.
Where is the investment to complete the sealing of the Tanami Road? The government has invested time and money in creating and advertising tourist routes like the Binns Track and the Red Centre Way, yet where is additional funding to keep these roads in good repair? While expensive signs have now been erected to declare the Red Centre Way, access to the sites along these tourist roads is often restricted due to the quality of road repairs and maintenance. The state of Central Australian’s roads is currently limiting Central Australian development. A real investment in our roads is needed to support all our local industries - the cattle industry, mining and tourism. Just as important, improved roads result in better road safety for tourists and locals. The government needs to develop the partnership, and access the required funding to seal the regional roads in the Territory as a priority.
The $80m for road repairs and maintenance, little of which we will see in Central Australia, is but a drop in the bucket of need. It is a drop in a leaking bucket when you think of the lack of durability of repairs on dirt roads.
Infrastructure precedes development, so where is the planning for the future? The government’s A Working Future strategy supposedly focuses on the development of 20 growth towns. In this budget, the allocation for improved access to these towns is $21m over five years. When spread over 20 communities and five years and, then, adding in a few more years for those projects that never seem to get off the ground, there is little for the 20 town residents to be happy about. This paltry allocation demonstrates the serious lack of investment in even our growth towns. I hate to think of what our more remote residents are left with - nothing.
Remote housing allocation under SIHIP is not worth the paper it is written on. Promises were made to community members and these promises are not being kept. The waste at all levels of administration of this project will result in less houses being built for more money. The scale of refurbishments being conducted on houses has already been cut back, cut back, and cut back again. Houses not up to Territory Housing standard after refurbishments are being returned to remote tenants. It is immoral to move people back into housing with a decreased level of amenity and charge them more rent. It would not happen in our regional centres, and it should not happen in our remote communities.
The reaction of people on remote communities was initially one of disbelief and astonishment. As we move into the fourth year of expenditure on SIHIP, this has evolved into resignation of the fact the government has lied again. Some people are moving out of their communities to make a stand and protest this treatment. Others are simply developing a deepening distrust of authority, and of a government which treats them with so little respect.
I do not believe distrust of this government is exclusive to our remote communities. In Alice Springs and Darwin, it has been demonstrated time and time again this government does not exercise appropriate oversight, and does not take responsibility for its mistakes. We have seen this clearly with the recent environment protection failures in the Top End, and around the Randal Carey building debacle in Alice Springs.
Even more frustrating is the government’s lack of ability to consult with its constituents or other service providers. A good example is the government’s recent attempt to slide under the radar with its proposal for a secure care facility on the Ross Highway outside Alice Springs. None of the relevant stakeholders, be they rural residents near the proposed site or the non-government help and social services sector, were consulted about this development or policy shift. Even now, weeks later, the government has yet to explain how it arrived at the decision to invest in secure care facilities. Upon what research was this decision based? It is hard to believe this is a cheaper option than adequately funding the residential services already available. Is it not strange to build a facility in an area which is relatively isolated from the services clients will need to access? What does the facility clientele mean? It could be male, female, children, young people, adults, people with chronic disability, people with mental health conditions, people with high behavioural needs, people with psychological trauma, or people with substance abuse. Will this facility really be able to provide for the needs of this wide-ranging clientele, or is it just a stop-gap place to detain people the government does not know how to deal with? Is this the best use of $5.9m? It is not reassuring to Territorians that we still do not have the answers to these questions.
The result is several petitions have circulated requesting the government consult appropriately prior to moving ahead with this proposal. There have been hundreds of individual submissions to the Development Consent Authority against the secure care facility. In addition, a coalition of community services organisations and professionals in Central Australia has written to the Chief Minister and asked for the proposal to be put on hold. This episode leaves Territorians wondering whether the government is interested in listening to the community it supposedly serves. I am left wondering has there been any kind of research to allow you to talk to people, have the input of people, I thought …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move that the member for Macdonnell be granted an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms ANDERSON: When putting facilities such as this next to residents there is supposed to be consultation and planning. You do not need someone driving home past a pink sign scratching their head thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what is happening here?’, then do all the foot work trying to bring it to the surface for residents in that town, or residents living in that area. This is about openness, transparency, and having contact with people. In this case, there was no contact with these people, or the town of Alice Springs at all. It is good to see the Alice Springs Town Council going against the decision to have a secure care facility based where there are Indigenous people not far - in my electorate at Amoonguna - and also non-Indigenous people in my electorate who live in that area.
If this is the trouble this government has in planning for one small facility, then imagine the trouble we will be in when they have to negotiate the complexities of the Rudd government’s health and hospital reform program. This reform promises to be the greatest change in the NT health system since self-government. It will radically alter the organisation and governance of our health service - Alice Springs Hospital services, an area of 800 000 km2 in the Northern Territory, as well as areas in Western Australia and South Australia comprising over an additional 350 000 km2. Currently, 25% of the patients admitted to Alice Springs Hospital are Indigenous people from the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in the NPY areas of South Australia and Western Australia. It only makes sense that a Central Australian local hospital network be created which incorporates the current service areas in the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.
The precursor to this arrangement is a suggested agreement between the same three parties for the provision of renal dialysis services due to the cultural links among the people in these areas. This is highly likely to be the best service model under the new reform. However, it is necessary this local hospital network be properly funded to deliver health services across such a large area. My main point is it will be extremely important for the current government to consult widely prior to putting forward recommendations for the composition of local hospital networks in the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory and Alice Springs cannot afford to be disadvantaged by a lack of funding or insufficient organisation of health services. The Chief Minister and the government must take a solid, well-researched proposal to the negotiating table. The government must learn to consult and collaborate with all stakeholders in this process. This is an essential part of closing the gap on Indigenous health, as well as an important element in improving the quality of healthcare for all Territorians. However, it is doubtful this government has the ability to get a good deal for Territorians, especially with its track record of slip-shod planning and negotiating.
Budget 2010-11 is another disappointment to Territorians, especially to Central Australians. This government has not delivered for Central Australia; in fact, it lacks the capacity to deliver the services we so desperately need. Territorians are tired of empty promises and waiting, waiting, waiting for action on their communities. They have lost faith in the government.
The $20 000 budgeted for projects to improve social cohesion and harmony is nothing but a sick joke. Social cohesion and harmony will only come about when all Territorians have equal opportunities to education, housing, jobs, and healthy communities. Currently, frustration and anger is all that is grown in our growth towns. There is a warning here for the future of the Territory and this government, but who will listen to it, Madam Deputy Speaker? Who will heed it?
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Appropriation Bill delivered by the Treasurer, the member for Karama. I was listening to the member for Macdonnell’s speech and I need to pick up on a number of the allegations and issues she raised. It was quite interesting, because I have recently done a trip through, and spent some time in, Central Australia. I visited a number of communities, particularly the growth towns about which the member for Macdonnell purports all is doom and gloom and nothing is happening. Well, it has been interesting to talk to residents in those growth towns who are part of the member for Macdonnell’s electorate, and to get their responses to A Working Future, and Territory 2030, a strategy about which I have certainly been consulting far and wide in the Northern Territory as Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister.
If you listened to the member for Macdonnell’s speech, you would think nothing ever happened in Alice Springs and all is doom and gloom. There are some decent and good people in Alice Springs. I enjoy going to Alice Springs because, whilst one side of my family is from the Tiwi Islands, I also have a very strong link with the Centre, and I am certainly enjoying reconnecting because of my father - from the Stolen Generations - and his family in Central Australia.
Recently, on my trip to Central Australia, I had a stall set up in the Yeperenye centre in Alice Springs. I stood there for a couple of hours, and a couple of members from the other side of politics went past and saw me talking to the public, walking around that great town of Alice Springs and up the mall. As with everywhere, we see the social challenges that have to be addressed and overcome - in Katherine, Tennant Creek, and certainly in Darwin - and it is no different in Alice Springs. Those challenges can only be approached when the community and government - and I am not just talking about the Territory government, the most important part of that government is local government; all three stakeholders in that whole process with the community - works together to overcome some of these social issues and challenges we see in places like Alice Springs.
Recently we went to communities like Santa Teresa and Hermannsburg. I have to acknowledge - and I was trying to find the list of names, and I will get the list - those women in the community of Santa Teresa who met with the members of the CTC and went through some of the issues, particularly in relation to the refurbished houses and the issues they are confronting working with the shires and the Department of Housing.
Often, when you go into these communities, you think about your own electorate. As an elected member of parliament, what is your responsibility? When people elect you, and you are a member of the parliament, your responsibility is to bring to the attention of government issues in those communities. It is not just government members, but it is imperative on all members, whether they are CLP or Independent members, to raise issues in these communities. Whether it is housing, child protection, policing services, or education services, it is imperative, as an elected member of parliament, that every member has a responsibility to bring those issues to the attention of the minister and the government.
I do not share the member for Macdonnell’s doom and gloom that nothing has happened over the nine years this government has been in power. The member for Macdonnell was also a part of this government for nigh on four years and, suddenly, has amnesia regarding her role and responsibility in A Working Future. Also, when we work through the issues about the shires and the reform that needed to happen with local government - and I am not going to that everything is hunky-dory and great with the shires – all of us know there are problems and challenges, but it is imperative we all accept our responsibility.
I know with two shires in my electorate, the Tiwi Islands Shire and also West Arnhem Shire, it would be easy to stand here and constantly say it is all doom and gloom and nothing is working. Sure, there are problems out there. Sure, with West Arnhem there has been a high turnover of staff. Sure, they are on to their third CEO. However, it is about working with the elected members, with those shires, to ensure they can build their capacity, and we can work together to make a strong, stable third tier of government, which is what the shires will be - and they will become effective.
It is two years, and we would be kidding ourselves if we said within two years those shires were going to be the answer to what was out there. We still need to work through those issues with them. It is an area that the CTC, of which the member for Macdonnell is part - and I think, apart from one trip to Groote Eylandt, she has not come to any of the other meetings, let alone participated in working through issues, not just in Central Australia, throughout the Northern Territory. I acknowledge the CLP members, the members for Katherine and Port Darwin, as well as you, Madam Deputy Speaker, the member for Nhulunbuy, and the member for Nelson. For you and me, it is not easy; we are members of government and we have to confront these big policy issues. When we get witnesses in - representatives from the public service, senior public servants – the members of the government - I as the member for Arafura, and you, Madam Deputy Speaker - with the CLP members, have some robust questioning with regard to looking across these issues we know are of great importance, particularly in the regions and for the electorates we represent.
The member for Macdonnell also talked about child protection; nothing is happening. It would be so easy to get caught up in this. I have often said in this House that if there is one member of the opposition whom I have always felt has addressed or looked at this issue and is very passionate about this issue it is the member for Araluen. I look at the budget and what we have allocated - and the government recently announcing $14.6m into the child protection system – it is building on significant investment we have been making since 2001. Is it a perfect system? No, it is not. If you look across Australia, every child protection system at different times, is in crisis. The inquiry that is happening which has sought an extension until September, will be interesting to see where things are at. Recently, I was listening to Dr Howard Bath in an interview, and he was predicting all is not good.
However, regarding the dollars and the investment, there has been more money allocated. $6m will be directed out of that $14.6 to out-of-home care. The $6m will be focused on providing carers with enhanced access to resources and financial support to meet the needs of children in their care. The member for Macdonnell was talking about an incident where she knows someone who is having problems with the department and support. I urge the member for Macdonnell to advocate, as I have advocated for a number of carers who have come to see me. It is vital we advocate as strongly as we can for people who put their hands up to become carers, particularly in this system. To talk about it is one thing, but you have to take that next step and bring it to the attention of the minister; to advocate so whatever circumstance or situation the people the member for Macdonnell is talking about, hopefully, if she brings it to the attention of the minister, their support structures may need to change.
The member for Macdonnell was bleating that there are people who need support. I encourage her to bring it to the attention of the minister rather than say nothing has happened when she should be responsible for ensuring it comes to the attention of the minister.
A fundamental necessity in ensuring a strong child protection service is supporting frontline staff to get on with the job. There are 76 positions created. We heard from the Minister for Health and Children and Families, of the 76 positions, 12 will be committed to ensuring frontline workers have administration and supervisory support. In addition to the 12 support staff, 64 new positions will be created to work directly with clients; 23 of these positions will be earmarked for Indigenous workers, and $2m will be used to establish three new services.
A new after-hours service will be established in Alice Springs to respond proactively to youth identified as at risk and on the streets at night, which brings me to that issue. When I was recently in Alice Springs, it was amazing going around the town camps. I had a really good trip around the town camps and talked to people in those camps. I met with Tangentyere, and I thank Willy Tilmouth for the meeting. It is interesting when you talk to people in Alice Springs; some people were saying: ‘You mob in the Top End get more money’.
It is clear when the CTC went through the meetings in Alice Springs - I think they were talking about an extra investment on top of the youth funding already committed in Alice Springs. I believe it was something like a $25m extra investment to deal with youth at risk and other programs in Alice Springs. To say nothing is happening in and around Alice Springs is not true.
There is a transitional housing development happening there to deal with many people who come in from the remote communities and stay in and around Alice Springs. There will be different levels of accommodation in the care facility.
Yes, there are issues in Alice Springs and we need to work towards them as a government. That is something which has to be confronted. In all my trips there, I received about three letters which I have passed on to the Minister for Health from people voicing their disapproval or concern about the secure care facility. Standing in the Yeperenye centre talking to people, walking around the town, talking to people in the town camps, talking to various members of the sector, the secure care facility was not raised. I acknowledge the people I did receive a letter from who were concerned about the lack of consultation. Before I went to Alice Springs the Minister for Health had gone there to meet with people in and around Alice Springs to talk about that issue.
Regarding Budget 2010-11 and Central Australia, there was $38m for the Alice Springs Hospital, which is fantastic. Alice Springs people, and those in that region of Central Australia, deserve state-of-the-art facilities and a hospital which can respond to them. There is $19.6m for the emergency department. There is $10m for headworks for residential development of the Arid Zone Research Institute site; the Central Australian Middle School and establishing a youth hub at ANZAC Hill; $5.9m for a two, eight-bed secure transitional care facility; $5.6m to construct a Larapinta seniors village; and $2.8m for the Acacia School special education infrastructure upgrade. That was part of the minister for Education’s fantastic announcement for education infrastructure upgrades for children with special needs.
In A Working Future, there is $32.2m for land servicing and essential service infrastructure in all Territory growth towns; $9.4m for new multipurpose police stations and officer accommodation at Imanpa; $2.59m for Indigenous power, water and sewerage services; $2.05m to remove excessive nitrate in the water at Kintore; $2m to upgrade the Sandover Highway; $2m to upgrade the Tanami Road; $1.9m to secure a long-term potable water source at Yuelamu; $1.25m to upgrade Ntaria school; and $800 000 to construct bus turnaround areas at town camps in Alice Springs.
When you read through the figures for Central Australia, and look at the commitment from the government, that does not read as a government which treats Central Australia or Centralians with contempt. It is a government that recognises the importance of Territorians who live through Central Australia and the Barkly. The member for Barkly, who is a proud member, can talk about his own areas and commitment from the government. But, it is significant and about recognising Central Australia as an important part of the Northern Territory, not just through our growth towns, our communities, the capital works that happen, but recognising the pastoral movement, and all contributions. I have always said Central Australia, particularly Alice Springs, has probably one of the most creative and vibrant art movements. People from Central Australia should be proud of that.
In A Working Future, it is around $980m across the board, across the Northern Territory, in this government’s future commitment to the bush. As I said, it is not perfect; we have still a lot of work to do. No one is saying there are not issues out there. Again, I say to the member for Macdonnell, if there are issues in your electorate - and travelling through your electorate recently, there are certainly some issues. On your behalf, I am willing to share some of those issues I picked up. I have brought some of those issues affecting your constituents to the attention of various ministers across government, and we will address them. It is important to say to your constituents, even though you are not a member of the Labor government, this government is for all Territorians and, if issues in your electorate come to our attention, we will certainly make sure we address them.
Recently, it was pleasing recently to see the community of Minjilang in my electorate. It was fantastic to be able to land at Warruwi community, or south Goulburn Island, and see an old election commitment of mine finally delivered; that is, the airstrip at Warruwi had finally been sealed. Within three years, we have delivered on that. At Minjilang, the community was gearing up for that airstrip to finally be sealed as well. That will make, since 2001, all the airstrips across my electorate such as Garden Point and Warruwi, which were all unsealed prior to 2001, now safe for Wet Season medical evacuations, which is a major issue, particularly in the Top End of the Northern Territory where, once the Wet Season sets in, evacuating people from those communities is virtually impossible. I know of incidents people have talked about, prior to 2001, where people did die; where they have had people pass away because aeromedical was unable to land on those airstrips. So, it was great to get out to both Minjilang and Warruwi and see we have delivered on that.
There is $4.5m over five years for reporting officers and, at Maningrida, there will be a couple of positions put in there. Budget 2010-11 gives the people in Arafura more police and more police stations in remote areas, and more money to fight child abuse and keep our kids safe.
When I went to Maningrida for three days, it was great to sit down with the child safety team and all of the women who are part of that. Also, it was fantastic to see the senior traditional owner, Reggie Wurridjal, who has set up the male safety area and has a number of men working with him. Reggie has become a big part of Men Locking Arms, and Men Against Violence. A big community like Maningrida has had its fair share of issues, particularly with child abuse and child sexual abuse, where a couple of highly publicised cases have come out of that community. I sat down with Reggie and a number of the men, and saw what they are doing to work together with the police to get greater education, but work amongst Aboriginal men in these communities to try to deal with stamping out child abuse, child sexual abuse, and violence.
For a community like Maningrida, that has been fantastic, because it has been an issue for a long time. I have been waiting to see how the men were going to take it up. To see Reggie leading the way with those senior traditional men is worth noting. He is in a full-time position, funded by the Northern Territory government - I think it is part funded and some of the resources are picked up by the Attorney-General’s Office, and the Night Patrol services are all Attorney-General with some funding from the Northern Territory government.
It was great to see $700 000 continues to be committed to fix the damaged wetlands and protect the Mary River. I do not know if any members have flown over that area, or driven through, but the Mary River area is probably the most spectacular wetlands you will see in the Top End. That $700 000 continues the environmental work to stop the saltwater intrusion into those wetlands. That will further protect and ensure the wetlands are going to be there. I was quite pleased the $700 000 will continue.
Building on Budget 2010-11, with the extra 105 teachers on top of the extra 330 teacher positions created since 2002 - it has been a great three weeks for me because I was able to touch base with not only Central Australia but to visit the best electorate in the Northern Territory, Arafura, and went to Gunbalanya, Maningrida, Warrawi, Minjilang, and then the Tiwi Islands. I always have to finish my visits with my mob on the Tiwi Islands.
I looked at how we have built the infrastructure at Gunbalanya. I have photos of Gunbalanya prior to 2001, when I stood as a candidate. To see the school and the teaching staff and the change it has created within that community is just amazing.
Yes, there are issues with the shire – anywhere there are issues - but we have made change by building the infrastructure. This government has built infrastructure in that school, not the BER. They did get some BER funding but it has been our government’s funding - nearly $3m into that school - which was an election commitment. I thank the Treasurer, the Chief Minister, and all my ministerial colleagues, for those commitments which have been forthcoming because schools are fundamental in our communities. We know, if we are going to get kids back to school, we have to build that school infrastructure. With Gunbalanya, we are seeing that change happening.
Recently I went to Gunbalanya with the new Police Commissioner, John McRoberts, and the Chief Minister. It was great to see the new commissioner and these young men, and hear the discussion between them. Many of our young men grow up with suspicion, and they have an issue with police officers …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move the member to be granted an extension of time.
Motion agreed.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Thank you, and I thank the member for Katherine for giving me an extension of time.
The commissioner and the Chief Minister were in the classroom with many of these young men and the commissioner asked these young fellows: ‘Which one of you wants to be a police officer?’ Not many put their hands up, but one little boy put his hand up and said: ‘I want to be a police officer’. I was talking to that young fellow and his teacher when I was at Gunbalanya last week for the funeral of the senior traditional owner. In two week’s time the teacher and the young fellow will be coming in and the boy will be spending time at the academy during his school holidays getting familiarised and learning about the police, in the hope that one day he will follow this career. Many of our kids do have dreams, and this young fellow’s dream is to be a police officer. If we and the new commissioner, through the schools and our funding and support, can make this young kid’s dream of becoming a police officer come true, that will be fantastic.
It was good to have the commissioner and the Chief Minister talk to the local police at the community, to see and address some of the issues in those communities and to promote our budget and to hand out Budget 2010-11 on A Working Future, and talk to many of the communities out there, particularly Gunbalanya.
There is a $1.25m upgrade for Maningrida to improve the primary school block and teacher area. I was there last week looking at the school and the infrastructure. That is building on giving that school and community the capacity to deal with the increase in student numbers. There is $300 000 for the Jabiru Area School and $300 000 for Warruwi Primary School.
When I was at Maningrida it was fantastic to see nine or 10 houses - the new houses that have been under way. I also was able to look at some of the refurbishments. The issue of the refurbishments is something I and members of the CTC will continue to work towards with the government. However, the federal government needs to get on board and look at this.
I should mention quickly - I know the contractor has been approved - finally we will see a custom made cyclone shelter constructed for Maningrida. Thank you, Treasurer. I know that has been let, and the person will be talking to the community today, to look at when construction will start.
There was also funding the minister for Transport and Infrastructure talked about in his speech - $2m for upgrading of various barge landings. I am glad to say one barge landing approved for immediate construction is Nguiu on the Tiwi Islands. I can let the minister and the Treasurer know that went down very well. People in Nguiu are certainly over the moon they will be getting a barge landing constructed. If anyone has been over there, that is quite a busy area and that barge landing has been a long time coming. It certainly has been well received on the Tiwi Islands.
Madam Deputy Speaker, this has been a budget which does deliver for Territorians. It supports A Working Future. It supports and puts Aboriginal people and their communities front and centre - $980m for A Working Futures; record spending. I commend the Treasurer and support the Appropriation Bill.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is traditional for members in this House to speak in reply to the budget regarding matters relating to both their shadow portfolio areas, and also their electorates. I shall not disappoint by departing that tradition.
What I can safely say is if I limited this reply to speaking on the scraps thrown to the Katherine electorate by this rather pathetic and insipid Labor government, this reply would, indeed, be very brief. In fact, for what this budget is worth to Katherine, I could sit down right now and not bother to waste my breath. However, it is the people of my electorate for whom I speak. Indeed, that can never be a waste of breath. The people of Katherine need to know there is someone willing to stand in this House, argue for more money to be spent in our town, and to represent their interests. For that reason, I intend to outline just what has been provided to my electorate and, more importantly, just what has not been provided in this budget for Katherine.
I first turn my thoughts to the budget for the current financial year, and I need to do that to set the scene. I move to the infrastructure highlights in the Regional Highlights book, at page 11. What I see is a list - I suppose, it is an expectation, a promise - of certain things to happen in the electorate; certain things the people of Katherine would expect, and expect the government to remain committed to, given they have outlined these areas in their budget paper.
I will run through those infrastructure highlights quickly. For the current financial year, we see $11.99m for primary schools, which is federal money, some of which has been revoted to the current or the next financial year. The revoting part is the important part at this point of time.
The next item on the list is the $10m Stuart Highway diversion around Katherine - also federal money and revoted to the next financial year. I see $7.7m for Buntine Highway - also federal money revoted to next year; $7m for the Woollogorang Road, which is the bridge over the McArthur River which has been promised for many years - still waiting for that. That is a combination of federal and NT money that is also revoted to next year, having being revoted from the previous year as well. I see $6.41m to continue Victoria Highway works which was revoted from last year - that is also federal money. I see $2.59m for the Katherine sobering-up shelter, which is also federal money, some of which has been revoted to next year.
Then, there is a list of other things. There is School’s Pride which seems to be completed; new classrooms for Lajamanu; $1m for Nitmiluk National Park to have upgrades to its utilities - that is now revoted to next year; and $0.35m for the Katherine Main Street upgrade that is also revoted to next year.
If I calculate the totals of those infrastructure highlights, I come to something in the vicinity of $58m to be spent in the Katherine region on those infrastructure highlights. However, $39m of that money is being revoted to next year - which leaves a total of, apparently, $19m being spent in Katherine in the current financial year.
Then, if I move on to the Regional Highlights again for Budget 2010-11, I can see a number of things which are also federal. We have $6m for the Cullen River Bridge, $2m for beef roads, $1.2m to replace the Jasper Creek Bridge at the Buchanan Highway, more money for the Katherine Main Street, and $.3m for refurbishment of 54 Acacia Drive unit complex, which is also federal money - and I will come back to that in a moment.
I also see under A Working Future close to $70m for SIHIP - I am not going to touch on SIHIP because I probably will not have time to do that today; and $23m for land services and essential service infrastructure in growth towns - which is also related to SIHIP. There are a few other things there but, if I add those things up, it will come to $120m. If I then deduct the program money for the broader SIHIP program, I come up with a measly $17m being spent in the region for the next financial year.
Then, as I looked at Budget Paper No 4, which is The Infrastructure Program for the Northern Territory, I browsed through some of this stuff and came up with an immediate question. It was under the Police, Fire and Emergency Service banner in this Budget Paper No 4. I wondered, when I looked back to the current financial year’s budget, there was an entry – let us start with that one. The current financial year, Budget Paper No 4, page 22, talks about capital works under the Police, Fire and Emergency Services heading.
In East Arnhem, the project is called the Numbulwar Police Post, and there has been $2m allocated to that. Then I flick over to next financial year budget and, lo and behold, I find, not under East Arnhem, but under Katherine and A Working Future, the Numbulwar Police Post, which has now been reduced in cost from $2m down to $1.5m cost. The reduction in the expenditure, I suppose, is a question all in itself, but it does make me wonder why Numbulwar has suddenly slipped from one region to another. I can only imagine, because Numbulwar does not really sit within the broader Katherine region, it is probably more likely to be in the East Arnhem region, which is where it was last year. However, the only reason I can really come up with for shifting projects like that, from year to year, from budget to budget, from region to region, is as an illusion that - for those who would give these budget papers a cursory glance - Katherine is benefiting more than it is in reality.
If I look at the budget paper for next year, Budget Paper No 4, and work through the program details by agency, and look at what is in here for Katherine and the region - and I will start at the front, even though there is nothing in the front that is really relevant to Katherine - there are some interesting points that come out of it.
NT Electoral Commission, going through the capital works, 91% of that expenditure next year is revoted from this year; the Department of the Chief Minister, likewise, 52% of the capital works money is revoted from the current year; and Department of the Legislative Assembly, 42%. If I look through the Police, Fire and Emergency Services, I see 55% of the entire capital works program for next year is revoted from the current financial year. When you are talking a total infrastructure program of nearly $65m, that is a fair bit of money. Treasury does not have any revoted work; Department of Justice has revoted works of a significant amount, probably around 60%, looking at that; and the Department of Education and Training, 76% of works revoted from this year to next financial year.
I might take one step back quickly and talk about the Department of Justice entries here. I see that, for Katherine - Katherine rates its first mention there on page 22 - it says expanding accommodation for Katherine, Alice Springs and Nhulunbuy Community Corrections Offices to the tune of $298 000. I hope that does get spent in Katherine, because I understand this work, which was actually revoted from last year, has not yet been completed in Katherine.
Back to Education and Training, I see Katherine features here again. Kintore Street School is receiving an infrastructure upgrade for $200 000, which is most welcome for our very special children in a very special school.
I look further down the page and I see Nation Building and Jobs Plan, Primary Schools in the 21st Century - that is the old BER I guess; multipurpose halls for $12m throughout the Katherine region. We all know about the BER program. That is the federal money that has been the rorted Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan spend-a-thon, where our tax dollars have been pumped into school halls and science buildings that, in some cases – and, in fact, many cases - were neither needed nor wanted. We all know the stories about the $1m demountable buildings that have been rorted out of that system.
On a brighter note, I had an opportunity recently to inspect the new building at the Katherine South Primary School. This is not an unneeded library or hall. This new building will be a new preschool, an additional resource area, and a combined after-school care facility. I commend the principal, the school council, and all those involved in securing that type of building for Katherine South. It is something they will get some use from and is much better value for money than much of the expenditure we have seen through the BER program, not only in the Territory but across Australia.
As I continue through the expenditure, there is nothing else in education and training for Katherine. For the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services, I see 33% of all the infrastructure spending is revoted from the current financial year. This department is a combined department; it has a couple of ministers in charge of it, one of whom is the redoubtable minister for affordable housing, the member for Johnston. I have interjected with this comment before, but I really must say, in the context of this government, I do not think I have ever come across two more mutually exclusive words than ‘affordable housing’ ...
Mr Giles: Incompetent government.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: They go together, member for Braitling, but these ones do not. Affordable housing is unbelievable when used in the context of this government. In the Northern Territory, Darwin’s rank bounces around from the top spot to maybe No 2 spot in all Australian capital cities as the most unaffordable place in which to live and purchase a house or pay rent. In fact, the term ‘affordable housing’ is probably one of the greatest oxymorons I have come across in my life. I looked up oxymoron because I wanted to make sure I understood the meaning of the word, and the definition behind it. I came up with a few others such as ‘dark sunshine’, ‘happy depression’, ‘amazing dullness’, ‘cold sun’. ‘Living dead’ was another I liked. All these could probably describe this government but I do not want to get too embroiled in the apt terminology debate.
A member interjecting.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: I have not got to the member for Daly yet. I have not got to talking about the Daly River bridge.
So, through local government and regional services nothing more for Katherine I notice. Then, I come to Health and Families, where we have money for the sobering-up shelter revoted from last year, some stuff Minyerri, Jilkminggan and Ngukurr, even though it is not strictly in my electorate. Then, I move on to something I am quite pleased to see, and I am happy to give credit where credit is due. We have $2.8m-odd for upgrade of renal facilities at the Katherine Hospital. I am very pleased about that. It will be great to have that new infrastructure in the Katherine Hospital. However, I remind the Minister for Health we will need to have staff to go with that, because I do not think the existing staff will be able to cope with the additional demands that will be placed on them through having those additional resources at the hospital. But anyway, I am sure the Minister for Health will be working on that.
I move to the department of Resources; there is nothing in here for Katherine - 76% of that money is revoted from last year. It then goes on through, and most of the rest of it does not particularly affect Katherine. Oh, yes, there are a few more things here. The department of Natural Resources and Environment and Arts - 78% of the money for next year has been revoted from the current year. I know I am talking about revoted works quite a bit, and the reason why will become apparent in a little while. Under that banner, I see Katherine Nitmiluk National Park will receive some upgraded electrical distribution - $2.3m revoted again from last year.
Then we move on to the Department of Lands and Planning; 54% of the money being spent on infrastructure next year is revoted from this year. We have the Katherine Regional Cultural Precinct headworks of $400 000. There are some other items for Lajamanu and Pigeon Hole - all very important to have that money spent in our bush communities.
I move to National Network - revoted works again. There is the heavy vehicle diversion which is causing a little angst amongst some people in Katherine, for $9.9m, say $10m. I move further on to Katherine again: community, beef and mining roads, the Buntine Highway Stages 1 and 2, and community, beef and mining roads, Wollogorang Road, bridge over the McArthur River, which was mentioned in the Regional Highlights.
We have the Katherine Main Street initiative, A Working Future. This is now new works, which constitutes the smallest part, I notice, of the works program for the Northern Territory. Further on, we have the Cullen Bridge - covered that. Beef roads again in the Douglas Daly area; Jasper Creek Bridge, and Buchanan Highway, I notice. That is about all that is in here for the Katherine region under Lands and Planning - we are talking about roads upgrades.
I notice this falls way short of the needs and expectations of regional Territorians. The Cattlemen’s Association has estimated some $2bn needs to be spent on the regional road network in the Northern Territory in the not-too-distant future to bring those roads up to a state so cattle can be transported in a more timely fashion, in better condition, and with less wear and tear on the vehicles carrying them. This falls way short of the expectations of the cattle industry.
I have said in this House before and I will say it again: Ramadan each year falls some 12 days earlier than the previous year. Ramadan, in the countries which celebrate it, is a time of fasting followed by a time of feast. At that time, there is an exceptional call for our live export cattle …
Ms Purick: And goats.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: And goats. If the Northern Territory does not address its capacity to get cattle out of remote parts of the Territory in the lead up to, and then into, the Wet Season, we are going to run into strife. If we cannot fulfil orders to those countries during those wet periods we experience in the November to April/May times of the year, we may very well see ourselves excluded from those markets. That concerns me a great deal. I hope the minister for Resources puts his case very strongly to the Minister for Lands and Planning with respect to the urgency in dealing with the remote and regional roads issue.
As I move forward through Budget Paper No 4, to the Land Development Corporation, 58% of that work is revoted; Darwin Port Corporation - this is an interesting one - 94% of the current year’s money is being revoted to next year, which includes $33m to construct an overland conveyer to improve bulk ship loading operation in environment and traffic safety. Interesting that, isn’t it? The money is sitting in the bank, yet we are having all sorts of unpleasant chemicals pour into our harbour as a result of, probably, not spending this money. For the Department of Construction and Infrastructure, 36% of that money is revoted from this year to next year.
I want to slip back to talk a little about Katherine and housing. I had the pleasure - if you could call it the pleasure - of driving around some parts of my town last week and looking at the state of housing in Katherine and how many vacant Northern Territory Housing houses we have in Katherine. Without trying too hard, I came across 34 Acacia Drive, followed by 39 Acacia Drive, followed by 7 Needham Court, followed by 2 Fomin Place, followed by 8 Fordham Court - that is two dwellings because that is a duplex. That is the Katherine East area. Then, there is 17 Tindal Street, 18 Tindal Street, 20 Tindal Street, 14 Shaw Street, 8 Shaw Street. It left me wondering how long some of these houses have been vacant. It is difficult to get definitive answers on those sorts of questions because the department would be unlikely to embrace a question like that. However, what I can do …
Dr Burns: Try writing to the minister. I have not received any letters from you, mate, not like the member for Braitling. At least he writes and communicates.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: I pick up the interjection from the member for Johnston. Sometimes, I do not need to write to you, minister, because I know how long places have been vacant.
I draw the House’s attention to the units at 54 Acacia Drive. These units are Northern Territory Housing units. They have been vacant for not one year, not two years, but almost four years. In fact, I can show you some photos of what some of them used to look like. There you go – they have boarded-up windows. That is how they sat in Katherine.
Katherine, reportedly, has the highest rate of homelessness in the Northern Territory, and we have had housing sitting like that for almost four years, and this government cannot get off its backside and do something about it. It is absolutely reprehensible. Not only that, when they do fix them up, they do not even use Northern Territory money. There they are; some of them are fixed. $0.3m has been allocated to it - that is a nice photo of them. Where does the money come from? Not from the repairs and maintenance budget of NT Housing, but from the federal government. This is federal government money that has come to the Northern Territory to try to solve some of our homelessness problems.
I do not think this situation is likely to change. The reason I say that, if I turn to Budget Paper No 4 for 2009-10, and 2010-11, and look at the R&M programs for those years for Housing, R&M for government housing remains unchanged at $3.3m, and there is a modest rise in R&M for public housing. The question I ask out of this is: will Katherine see any extra money? Again, I have to reach the conclusion it is unlikely. The reason I can confidently say that is because, throughout this year, there will be more NT public housing stock coming online because of the beleaguered SIHIP. So, as rebuilds and refurbs come online, there will be an increase of public housing stock on the books - not in Katherine but in remote areas affected by SIHIP.
I know I have said a lot, and other people have said it in this House too, with respect to the revoted work in this budget. I was left wondering, I have to admit, just what percentage of this budget is revoted from last year. There are other questions, of course, that flow out of that, but I will come back to that in a minute.
The Treasurer has stood in this House, and many of the other members on the other side also, and crowed and patted themselves on the back, saying: ‘We have a record spend of $1.8bn for infrastructure in this budget’. What people might not know is that $842.545m of that work has been revoted from last year. If you deduct from the $1.8bn the R&M component which is contained within the Infrastructure budget, the figure you arrive at is that 52% of this budget is revoted work from last year - 52%. The next question I asked myself, I have to admit, was: how did that stack up against previous years? It prompted me to do the research, or have the research done, and I found that, in 2002-03, there was …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move that the member for Katherine be given an additional 10 minutes to finish his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, member for Braitling. What I discovered in 2002-03, 30% of the budget was revoted; 2003-04 was 35%; 2004-05 was 35% - there is a little trend jumping in here; 2005-06, it dropped down to 30%; 2006-07 it was 37% of the budget that was revoted; in 2007-08, it jumped to 45%; in 2008-09, it was a staggering 58% of the entire infrastructure budget that was revoted from the previous year; last year, 53% and, of course, this year, 52%.
Madam Deputy Speaker, clearly there is a trend by this government to increase revoted works almost year upon year, and the question is: why? Why is this is happening? Why do they do it? What is the thinking behind it? The only reason I can think of is so the government can effectively perpetrate a fraud upon the people of the Northern Territory by misleading them, by lying to them, and saying ‘We are going to spend; this is a record infrastructure spend’. More than half of it is just money that was not spent last year. It is high time the government stopped patting itself on the back so beautifully and wishing itself all the very best and, instead, started telling Territorians what it is doing.
If I bring that back to a Katherine perspective, because I digressed from my electorate a little, and look at this year’s infrastructure program for Katherine, 74% of it is federal money and 80% of the $25m that has been directed to Katherine is revoted from last year. It is no wonder the people in Katherine despise this government because, not only do they treat us as second-class citizens down there but, when they do promise something, they do not damn well deliver it. It is no surprise at all this government faces probably its greatest period of unpopularity in, not only Katherine, but the remaining regions of the Northern Territory. I can assure you, if I go through this budget and outline that same program right across the Northern Territory you will see everybody is in the same boat ...
A member interjecting.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Reprehensible isn’t it?
It got me wondering about the context of this government driving the Territory into a black hole of deficit. If I recall what the Treasurer said, something along the lines of: ‘We are having to go into deficit to counter the downturn in the economy’ and, in the same breath uttering ‘increased government expenditure will keep the Northern Territory economy afloat’.
Last year, the Territory’s growth was predicted to be in the order of 2%, yet the government’s own figures, I believe, put that growth at only 0.4%. If the Treasurer’s premise for taking this budget into the red is correct, then I pose this question: had the $842.5m been spent in this current financial year - that is the revoted money that was not spent - or at least a large portion of it because I realise there are reasons sometimes why programs cannot go ahead, could our growth have, in fact, exceeded that 0.4%?
If the Treasurer says government spending to this degree will help bolster the Northern Territory’s economy, I will be happy to take that on face value. Then, it goes back to that question of: had that money been spent in the current financial year would we be in the position of having only 0.4% growth, and would we have needed to go into deficit? Effectively, the Treasurer said: ‘Well, we are going to go into deficit because we need it and we need it because we did not spend the money’.
A couple of other points quickly before I resume my seat which relate to my portfolio area. I notice under the Local Government section on page 114 of Budget Paper No 3 - and I will dig that out - there is significant decrease in funding for local government in this coming financial year. It is explained away - and I will read that out - under Key Variations. The change, of course, is from $87.5m down to $74.5m. The Key Variation says:
Unless I am mistaken, that is a topic canvassed today in Question Time; that is, the loss of somewhere between 500 and 800 jobs in Indigenous communities as a result of the funding cut by the Commonwealth to the CDEP transitional jobs program. Yet, when the Minister for Local Government was asked about this, she did everything in her power to avoid answering it, and had no answer whatsoever.
If we talk about that cut in funding to local government, the difference between the current financial year and the next financial year is about $13m. If you take that $8.5m out, which is the CDEP transition program, it leaves about $4.5m less for Local Government, in an environment where Local Government can least afford to take any further budget cuts. The shires are bleeding, and this government is either incompetent, cannot help the shires, or simply does not care - I do not know what it is.
The resources area also does not fare well. If I turn to page 153 of Budget Paper 3, I see a cut in the budget allocation from $84.5m last year down to $73m this year and, if I refer that to the previous year, that comes down from $90m. In the last two years, Resources has been cut from $90m to $73m, which works out to close to 25%. In each case, there are thin attempts to justify these cuts by blaming Commonwealth expenditure cuts and the carryovers from previous years. Perhaps the government should explain to the people in the shires, the employees of the departments I have mentioned, and all the primary producers and the fishermen, just where their priorities lie. It is certainly not with the regions of the Northern Territory.
It would be nice to congratulate the Treasurer on a great budget. Of course, that will not happen given the contents of the budget this year. One day, I hope to have the very pleasing duty of being able to do that. I live in hope it will occur under the current Labor government, but it will be more likely to happen under a Country Liberals government. We will have a view beyond election cycles, and a view right into the heart of the Northern Territory. A Country Liberals budget in the future will most certainly deliver for all Territorians.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support Budget 2010-11, another responsible budget delivered in difficult circumstances. As most members realise, the global financial crisis has dominated headlines for a while now. Australia has been largely able to avoid a technical recession, thanks in a large part to timely and targeted temporary investment decisions by the federal government.
Some states have been harder hit than others by the current ongoing global difficulties. In the Territory in particular, we have been able to avoid much of the turbulence that has affected states like New South Wales. I know of several local businesses, but one in particular I am thinking of, works both here and down south. They have noticed there has been minimal change in spending patterns by locals, but there has been a significant change, still, in how people are spending in Sydney - they are spending less.
One thing which has happened over the last year or so has been a slowing in consumption in southern states. A slowing in consumption means a slowing in the amount of money collected through the GST and, that obviously, affects our budget.
Most Territorians enjoyed the benefits of our strong economy in 2009, where the Territory led the nation in a number of economic indicators such retail trade, employment growth, unemployment, job ads, business confidence, and gross state product; and we saw 6000 new jobs created.
Despite the Territory economy withstanding a buffeting by the global financial crisis, our economy is still dependant, and will be for a long time, on the condition of our national economy. This put a test on our budget, as the Treasurer explained in her speech, to ensure spending met some core criteria on how we deliver now and invest in the future. The most obvious area which satisfied this test is our capital works program and accelerated land release program, and the subsequent impact those decisions and investments will have on residential construction.
There is still a critical need for the Territory government to continue our record investments in capital works. We are between major projects in the Territory, but we need to keep our skilled workforce here in the Territory and to protect those jobs. We are growing strongly, we need new roads and schools, and new suburbs and infrastructure like the Palmerston sports investment. In Budget 2010-11, we broke last year’s record infrastructure spend - and we needed to - with a $1.8bn infrastructure budget which delivers jobs now and invests in the Territory’s future.
I went with the Treasurer to five budget functions; there is, obviously, a lot of interest every year in the budget, and there are always a number of functions associated with the delivery of the budget. The investment in infrastructure was a decision warmly welcomed at every function, from the Chamber of Commerce to the Master Builders, to the Property Council, to the unions. It was clear each group recognised the importance of continued government spending in infrastructure to keep jobs, to continue to attract skilled workers, and provide the services to match the growth we have in the Territory.
The Territory is a great place, and it is easy to understand why people want to stay here longer than they have in the past. The Territory has often been a transitional place for people in their careers, and it is easy to understand why more and more people want to move here. It sometimes is a case of moving back here. We have seen in the statistics released in Territory 2030 the changing demographics in the Territory and the growth we are expecting, for example, in senior Territorians. That is something already happening; there are more Territorians choosing to retire in the Territory, and more senior Territorians choosing to stay close to their grandchildren. That has seen some people actually moving to the Territory where, in the past, we have seen the opposite - young families moving south to be with their grandparents. Now, we are seeing grandparents moving to Darwin - obviously speaking about my patch - to be near their grandchildren.
The continued growth in the Territory and the changing nature of that growth has seen us make some new decisions around stamp duty. This budget will put in place a stamp duty discount of $8500 for senior Territorians who downsize. In effect, we are encouraging senior Territorians to move out of their three- or four-bedroom homes and into something smaller, which should see some churn through the market and the opening up of more homes for families. There has already been some interest created in this decision. I have had conversations with people involved in the real estate industry, agents and conveyancers, who have seen senior Territorians think about downsizing for a number of years, but have never quite got around to moving. They are now looking at that discount and are making decisions about moving into something smaller.
This is something of significant interest in my electorate. I know a number of people, not all seniors, who have seen their children without a home and have made that decision to move out of my electorate and often, into the member for Port Darwin’s electorate, to places like Pandanus or Evolution. I am sorry to see them go, but they have made that decision to change their lifestyle. They now enjoy spending their mornings over a coffee rather than a lawnmower and, while they have a spare room for guests, they are confident having a unit rather than a house means their kids will not boomerang home. I know in my electorate, where people have thought about it, the decision is already making an impact. The decision to provide a stamp duty cut for seniors is already working. I have seen it in Stuart Park, Parap, and Fannie Bay; it was an innovative decision and I commend the Treasurer for it.
We are seeing some changes in my electorate; a growing number of people moving in around Parap Shopping Village, whether that is during the day in new offices that are going up or have already gone up, or for good in a growing number of places like Kingston Green going up on the old Ross Smith guest house site. One of the outcomes we will see from more people moving in is Parap Shopping Village providing more shopping, more restaurants, and after-hours dining. Talking to traders, they are aware of the growing demand, and something they are certainly looking at is how they cater for that extra demand in the shopping village precinct.
We now have a preferred proponent for the old Wirrina site, with Sitzler chosen through a tender process. The Sitzler project is called Village at Parap. The complex is on a major road, Parap Road; it is on a public transport route and is across the road from shops. That is the right site, we believe, to put a four-storey unit complex, with 100 units. The advantage of going to four storeys is the project can feature basement car parking; putting car parking spaces underground means the complex can have a green top rather than an asphalt top. Obviously, there will be attractive landscaping and generous outdoor living areas, and a heavy focus on pedestrian links to the nearby shops. They will be able to keep some of the existing trees; there is a lot of interest in trees and a couple of big trees on the block they will be able to keep. This is possible because basement car parking frees up public space, and there will be some barbecue areas and a children’s playground.
Pedestrian entrances will be all through the complex which means Parap Road, Gregory Street and Drysdale Street. The buildings will be one unit deep, not back-to-back with other units, and with windows on either side for the breeze. That is, obviously, a great decision.
The project is DCA compliant; it is not seeking any variations. There had been some interest before the project was announced from residents and traders worried about on-street parking and people absorbing car parks at the Parap Shopping Village. There will be two car parks per unit and an on-site visitor car park for 20 cars. I have met with several traders already and there will be a briefing with the traders formally at their regular meeting this Wednesday. The traders I have talked to so far are comfortable with the on-site parking and they do not think it is going to affect parking in the shopping village. The residents I have talked to so far are happy with that as well. There are some off-street car parking issues already, separate to this project, and that is something we are working on with Darwin City Council.
It is a mixed development of private, public, and affordable housing. It is part of our efforts, as a government, to find a better housing model than the old 100% public housing model we believe does not work - we know it does not work, we have seen it. Ten of the units, mainly on the ground floor, and some on the first floor, peppered through the complex, are for senior public housing tenants, and 35 units, also peppered, will be for the affordable housing rental company government is in the process of establishing. Those units will be for rent at 80% of the market rate.
The affordable housing rental company attracts Commonwealth money and accesses Commonwealth rental assistance; it rents to low-income workers, essentially. The income levels are set through the Australian Tax Office and they have some guidelines on that. By doing that, you also get GST exemption, so it is a good housing model that we found brings more money into housing and has worked in other parts of Australia. The Territory and our market needs have an affordable housing rental company. Over the last few years we have all seen the changes in our housing market. There was a time when the market catered to people of all incomes, but we have seen the gap grow between social housing and the market, and the affordable housing rental company is part of the solution to fill that gap.
There has been interest from many people about the size and the cost of the units. I believe they are good sized units for a good price. We are not aiming at prestige units, that is an area of the market catered for already.
The opposition is saying we should build them bigger and sell cheaper. I am not quite sure how that works as, obviously, a great deal of time and effort has gone into the size and the costing of these units. They will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms; the likely floor space of the units will be: one-bedroom, 55 m2 to 57 m2 internal, plus a balcony of 20 m2 to 25 m2 - a good sized balcony - and is one reason Sitzler is going ahead on that site, because they will put really good balconies on all these units, and many people I know in the Territory love to spend time on their balconies - I certainly do. The two-bedroom unit is 75 m2 to 80 m2 internal, and balconies are 20 m2 to 30 m2; the three-bedroom is 95 m2 to 97 m2 internal, and balconies are 25 m2 to 30 m2. They are still working on that, but that is pretty close to what it is going to be. By the same token, the prices which are being finalised are likely to be in the range of $340 000 to $540 000.
As part of this debate, I have a friend who rang me and said: ‘I have a unit, 66 m2 internal.’ He said: ‘You have been here, you know what it looks like, it is 66 m2 internal, and I have quite tiny balconies’. I know his place, it is quite liveable, it is a great house. He said: ‘A lot of this debate is being confused with a part of the market that is already claimed as a prestige market’. His unit is two-bedroom with two people in it, and he is quite comfortable with his 66 m2 unit. One day he will probably buy something bigger, but right now he is quite happy with that; it is his way of breaking into the market.
Last week, I visited homes in Drysdale Street and Gregory Street with the developers. They are the two streets the complex will be on, and people were positive. There will be a meeting of the Parap Residents Association this Thursday, and Sitzler will be there; and Sitzler will also be at the Parap Markets this Saturday. They are quite happy to talk with residents about the project and discuss any concerns people have on a number of issues that come up.
One of them is drainage, which, in some respects, is a Darwin City Council issue, and people are asking about the impact of the block. Drainage to the area is actually as bad as it is going to get at the moment, because it is an empty block with rock on top. Once the units go up and catch the rain off the roof, and there is grass that absorbs rain, drainage from that end of the street will be much better. Obviously, these questions can be answered, which is one reason we are having a meeting on Thursday, and Sitzler will be available for anyone who wants to talk about it. That is one of the things people are talking about in my electorate at the moment.
Another topic of much interest is the new Police Beat we are locating at the Parap shops. Police on the beat will work from the Parap shops up through the Fannie Bay shops and the Stuart Park shops. They will be on foot; on bikes; and they will have a patrol car. The patrols are starting this week, I understand, and the shopfront will be ready in August.
The shopfront will be in Vimy Lane next door to 24HR Art, just down from Saffron Restaurant. The Police Beat will go some way towards addressing concerns people have of antisocial behaviour around shopping villages. Unfortunately, shopping villages are hot spots and attract antisocial behaviour. That is why the Police Beat has worked at Casuarina, and it will work at Parap, Fannie Bay and Stuart Park too, I believe.
Problems of antisocial behaviour do not have a quick fix, we know that; it takes a great deal of hard work and the police are the ones who do much of that hard work. I thank them for their efforts they make every day in my electorate. The Police Beat at Parap shops will give more confidence to business to open after hours, for restaurants and shopping because there is growing demand as more people move in; I touched on that before. We are supporting that growth by recognising challenges we have, and the Police Beat has been welcomed with open arms. It starts this week, as I said, and is part of our plan to make Parap, Fannie Bay and Stuart Park better places to live, better places to work, and better places to raise a family. Everyone says they have the best electorate; I have a great electorate and we have a great sense of community.
It is important as Parap, Fannie Bay, and Stuart Park grow and more people move in, we need to ensure we maintain our strong sense of community, and a large part of that is how we use our green space. This debate is happening more vocally now in the Parap/Fannie Bay area than the Stuart Park area, and there is a consultation process going on right now for a master plan of the old Parap netball court and the Parap pool. The Parap pool is going nowhere - that is important to state - but there is consultation happening about how we use that area; it is quite a large area now, with the netball courts moved to Marrara, and there is much interest in that consultation process.
We have a strong community in Parap and Fannie Bay, and there are some excellent ideas of how we can use that space to increase the amount of land available to the preschool next door. An aquatic centre has often been mooted for Casuarina, but we now have space at Parap with the netball courts gone; there is also interest in tennis using that space, and people have put forward the idea of community gardens and exercise equipment for seniors. There is a range of things people are talking about for that space.
So there is an important decision looming for council, as it is their land. Government is part of the consultation process and we are paying for half the master plan, but there is an important decision to be made about how we use that community space to service the number of people moving in.
There are a number of areas not necessarily being used at the moment where I believe we can create space that can be used in my electorate. One is the triangle at the end of Urquhart Street on Ross Smith next to the school, which is a bit of a quirk. There has been a very long conversation going on between the school council, Darwin City Council, and the government about how we can incorporate that land into Parap Primary School which would make a considerable difference to the school’s oval. The space belongs to Darwin City Council, as do the roads on either side of the triangle, so it does require some work by council, which we have tried to hasten.
We have put $300 000 on the table as a capital grant to Darwin City Council, and we met on-site last week with Heather Sjoberg, a local alderman, who was also representing Helen Galton and Roger Dee, the other local aldermen from the area who could not be there. I have discussed this before with all three aldermen and, as I said, we have had a long conversation about this. Heather will be taking that offer, hopefully, through the Darwin City Council process and we await a decision from council.
It is not a new idea; it has come up in the past how we can incorporate it and split the costs. Government has now made a formal offer; it is on the table and council is considering it. The incorporation of that triangle will make a big difference to Parap Primary School, which is not the biggest primary school in Darwin and is constrained by those roads on either side. There is nowhere they can grow, and that triangle will add an important bit of land to the site. The aldermen are on board, I believe; the school council is on board, the local community is on board, and I am sure council will get on board.
There is another small but important project in my electorate at Stuart Park Primary School, which is a great school and a busy school. Like many schools, when children are dropped off in the morning it gets busy, and the concerns parents have about parking actually featured the other day in the paper. It has been a concern for a while now, and we have had long conversations between school council, Darwin City Council and government about roads in that area.
In an effort to get things moving, we have put some money towards A Safe Route to School strategy. I met with council on-site and talked through the different spots. There is an engineering solution possible which would see diagonal parking on Ashley Street; but Darwin City Council is wary of that option. There is diagonal parking at other schools, but they think it is a safety issue with traffic reversing around the school; however, I believe we can work through that. We have diagonal parking in Urquhart Street, and school council believes we can work through that. Darwin City Council still has some concerns and thought A Safe Route to School strategy was better to do first. So we have taken that on board and have put $111 000 aside towards the cost of whatever comes out of that survey.
Small projects – small in comparison with the $1.8bn infrastructure budget - can often make the greatest difference to a local community. The Parap and Stuart Park Primary Schools investments will make a difference. We have seen outcomes of similar investments in the area, and the positive impact they have had.
We have put $200 000 towards the cost of rebuilding the Railway Club, which has a strong membership base and they have done much volunteer work getting the place back together. We helped meet the cost between insurance and the cost of fixing the place up. This is another example of a small amount of money to a community group in the local community can make a massive difference.
There are many volunteers at the Railway Club who need to be thanked for the work they have done, especially: Hopper, Alan Patton, Mick Huddy from CFMU, Trevor Gould from ETU, and a large bunch of their members too long to list. I asked them for a list and they said there are too many; however they did give me a few names of people who particularly need to be thanked: Steve Biggs; Slim; Steve Holliday; Rex Maxwell; Ropehead – I apologise, that is the name they gave me; Dylan; Colin Holt, Jacinta Hewitt, and many other tradies who have done so much work.
The last few events there have all been fantastic. They have not yet had their official opening, they are waiting for a switchboard, but they have been able to do a few things on-site. Last Saturday they had a CD launch of a local Japanese punk band, Semi Shigure, supported by Triple J winners, Jess Ribiero and the Bone Collectors - a great night supporting local musos. Every Wednesday night - there might be a few members interested in this - they have a 17-piece swing band called Hot and Cold. They have excellent attendance; everyone is getting into it, and they like the music.
There is much more in the pipeline; for example, a rock quiz fundraiser and, hopefully, a small festival in September which will include much of Parap. I have had some very productive conversations with the Railway Club about that and they have some excellent ideas for a festival in Parap. I am very happy to help them in whatever way, as I am happy to help others in the area. They are having monthly quiz nights - the first one is tonight - obviously, I am not going to make it as parliament is on.
They have a fantastic floor for ballroom dancing. There is a shortage of good wooden floors in Darwin for dancing – but the Railway Club has one. The kitchen is just about ready to go into full service. I have been there for a few functions and they have done some great food out the back, but with the kitchen finished it is going to be a fantastic spot. Everyone who has been there knows it has one of the best beer gardens in Darwin, and with the Dry Season here, I encourage everyone to get there; it is a fantastic spot to spend some of your time.
The official opening is probably in a few weeks - once that switchboard is ready it is up and away. Anna Stewart, Secretary of the Railway Club, had a few things to say: ‘Everyone absolutely loves the new Railway Club. It is described as welcoming, at the same time as being very cool. Often we are told it is the new place to be in Darwin. The future, I believe, is very positive. There is still more work to be done and we cannot rest on our laurels. With positive energy from members, including the committee, the club will easily do another 35 years, excluding unforeseen disasters, of course. We are taking bookings, so get in early for your Christmas functions’. Thanks, Anna, I have not thought about Christmas yet; maybe I should.
This is another example of a great community group; a community area that needed a little time and money and has been able to come good and get through a really difficult circumstance when the fire hit. I do not know how many people saw it, but the kitchen was basically gone and the girders had melted in the roof. They had a special meeting to discuss whether they go on, pull up stumps, or what would they do. Membership was keen to keep going, which was great. The government was able to help and, now, the community is flourishing again. That is fantastic.
I have an electorate full of clubs; probably the reason I believe I have the best electorate. It is also the reason we have a very strong sense of community. The Darwin Sailing Club and Trailer Boat Club are next to each other on Vestey’s Beach. I assume, over the 50 years they have been there, there have been times when they have been cooperative and times they have not. However, at the moment, they are working together, which is really good to see.
They came and saw us about an issue crucial to the future of both their clubs; the rock wall which protects their clubs from tidal action was being taken apart; you could see rocks being washed out down the beach 30 m or 40 m. That wall will stop tidal surges and turns waves into a trickle when they hit those rocks, and stops the erosion of that land. Without the rock wall, the clubs would not be there, so they were very worried about the state of the rock wall. They put together a very professional submission, and I commend them on it. When they came to the government and said, ‘What do you think?’, government said: ‘We think you are right. This is a big issue. We do not want those clubs to go. We will put $1.6m in for the construction of a new rock wall’.
The clubs advise hundreds upon hundreds of visitors to the clubs have said only good things about the changes to the rock wall. That is a lot of visitors in the last couple of months, but I will take them at their word. Members were grateful for the efforts of the government to get the wall completed, the same with the foreshore. They say the rock wall has added greatly to the aesthetics of the beach; and I certainly agree with that. It looks a million bucks; it cost a million bucks – fantastic! The Sailing Club has taken clippings of salt tolerant shrubs they have cultivated, and are going to use them to replant and revegetate that area right to the very edge of the rock wall where the grass is, to stop any erosion from water that comes over the top and washes out that little area there. It will also act as a safety hedge for kids, as a deterrent to them climbing on the wall. Knowing kids, I am not quite sure how much of a deterrent that will be, but they are putting it up. A great community area, great community clubs, and another great result. If you work with people, you get a good outcome – and we have a great sense of community in our electorate.
I wanted to talk about some small investments. Obviously, Budget 2010-11 delivered some very big investments, and ministers have spoken to those. I wanted to talk about some of the small things happening in my electorate; targeted investments that make a big difference to the sense of community we have in my electorate, and the positive impact. It is fantastic, and that is why I am very happy to commend Budget 2010-11.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak on Budget 2010-11 submitted by the Treasurer to this House. Before I go on to some of the topics I would like to discuss, I heard on numerous occasions the Treasurer say to this House the Henderson government has spent more money than the CLP has spent – ‘We have increased spending on this and we have increased spending on that’.
At the outset, I put on the record it is all very well for the Treasurer to say that, but the Treasurer received substantially more in revenue than the CLP ever did. In fact, with some of the issues she refers to, she now receives over twice the budget the CLP ever had when they were in government doing some of the projects she refers to. The Treasurer, and the Henderson government, have been in receipt of a GST windfall of in excess of $1bn. You can, if you have windfalls like that, spend enormous amounts of extra money on a range of issues you would like to fix, and into projects you would like to see come to fruition.
The other part of what I hear on a regular basis in this House is the amount of money they put in. People on this side of the House have often reminded the Treasurer, as I have, that money and cash is an input; it is not an outcome. When we look at some of the outcomes we are achieving - in fact, when you go back through the records, you will see, in many instances, we are actually going backwards in relation to outcomes, even though more money is being spent. It is in that light I speak about a number of things.
I welcome the government spending more money, but I ask them to do so responsibly. Of course, it is our job on this side of the House to hold the government to account and be responsible for the taxpayers’ money they spend - in some cases without too much concern about the outcomes.
First, I go to a subject that is fairly close to my heart in relation to many people who live in my electorate, in the northern suburbs, and who come to my office. At the moment, it is probably the No 1 issue of my constituents and their children - the matter of housing. I welcome the changes the government has brought in with Homestart for young people, but the housing issue goes across a number of my portfolios, mainly Multicultural Affairs, Seniors, Youth and, of course, some of those things are very dear to some of my constituents. Many of my constituents have children who are getting married, commencing families and who, for various reasons, are unable to find themselves in public housing or the rental market, because of the high cost.
A number of times in this House when we quote figures in relation to the amount of public housing government has sold off - I have provided these figures to them - they are public figures. Between 2001 and 2007 the government has sold in excess of 2000 Territory dwellings, and the member for Daly raised the issue and said we sold 730. In actual fact, it is around that figure the Country Liberals did sell off, but we did so at a time when we did not have a housing crisis. We did it at a time when we did not have a land crisis. We did it to help low-income Territory families get themselves into the market. Now, many families who were on low incomes and who got themselves into the housing market have a very valuable asset they can borrow against, use, or put towards their retirement or whatever, when they start to downsize to, perhaps, smaller premises.
When you have sold off that many homes - I hear a number of figures put to this House - in fact, I heard the figure of 150 homes being replaced in the very near future; I have heard the government announce 200 homes are going to be built in Coconut Grove. However, that still does not go to replacing the 2000 the government sold off …
Mr Knight: Rubbish! You are so dumb, aren’t you? You are so dumb. You just do not get it.
Mr STYLES: … and we wonder why the waiting lists are up around about the 3500 mark.
Mr Knight: How did you ever make a police officer, you are so dumb.
Mr STYLES: That when they put …
Dr Burns: We will talk about it next week. I am looking forward to it.
Mr Knight: You are such an idiot.
Mr STYLES: I pick up on the interjections, Madam Speaker. I refer the member for Daly to the sheets and the figures that are publicly available, figures that he can have …
Dr Burns: A bit like school-based police officers. We can believe you on that as well, hey?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of Government Business, order!
Mr STYLES: Yes, I pick up on the interjection.
Mr Knight: You are so thick.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Daly, I ask you to withdraw that comment.
Mr KNIGHT: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I pick up on the interjection from the member for Johnston. I am saving school-based policing for an entirely separate issue.
We have some pretty horrific waiting lists of people out there - young Territorians, and even senior Territorians, who are on waiting lists because of the mismanagement of the entire Housing portfolio by a number of members on the government side.
The member for Nelson raised an issue a bit earlier I had planned to discuss this afternoon, in relation to demolishing homes located at Larrakeyah. I take note the member for Barkly mentioned these homes were 30-years old, had 30-year-old bathrooms, etcetera. The house I live in is approaching 30 years of age and I am wondering whether people would suggest I demolish it; I can assure you it is still a fine home. It may not meet the standards of some senior officers in the Australian Defence Forces, and whatever reason they are putting up for demolishing these homes. However, I am sure if I spoke to some of the young people in my electorate, and some of the parents of those people, and the people who have had to live in cars and tents as a result of not being able to get a hand up from the Territory government, they would love any home where they could actually lock the door.
It is very interesting when you have people come into your office very disappointed about their children living in tents, who cannot sleep because they are in fear of people coming to get them - when you have a single mother and a daughter living in a tent, neither of whom can feel safe at night because they cannot secure themselves. I am sure, if you said to those people: ‘Here is a 30-year-old home with a 30-year-old bathroom’, they would be grateful for anything they could get.
I wonder whether the government is prepared to put up some land so these places could be moved. It is an easy process these days to actually move homes and if they are going to be demolished anyway, I am sure the Australian Defence Force might even donate them to a worthy cause. The cost of getting into those homes would be simply the cost of removal, restumping, and the cost of the land.
It would appear the government is reluctant to do this, or even talk to their colleagues in Canberra and see if they could do that. It would be a great way of getting some of the 3500 families off the waiting list. In fact, you could probably sell these homes at considerably less than it would cost to buy a block of land and build a new one. If you can get one of these blocks of land in Palmerston it would be substantially less, and it could be affordable housing.
There is an idea. I assume the government probably does not want to listen to me, though. However, I am sure there are people out there who may read this, and people I talk to and tell I did raise this in parliament and it is up to the government to choose whether or not they react to it.
People come to my office who, through no fault of their own, payments made from their workplace to Territory Housing has gone amiss, and here is a mum with a whole pile of kids about to be evicted from a home. It is interesting, you have these people who are struggling out there with the high cost of living and rent, and Territory Housing wants to put them out of their home. I am assuming once they go, they will immediately go onto an emergency housing list which, I believe, is anything up to nine months before you are given something. They are in and out of housing. I cannot quite understand; the only thing I can put it down to is due to the number of properties they have sold off, the pressure is on Territory Housing to find places anywhere to reduce the number of people on that waitlist. It seems like a vicious circle, ongoing, in relation to housing.
I would like to continue on with housing, but I have a number of other issues I would like to talk about. There are two particular aspects that run right through all my portfolios and electorate matters. There are two phrases - one is called ‘early intervention’, and the other one is an old adage: ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’.
My mother taught me it was better to protect oneself rather than spend an awful lot of money on cure. The other old adage was ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. I just wonder whether the government has ever heard of those things, whether their mothers taught them those things early in life. They are things I have taken right through my life, and I still subscribe to those sayings.
Early intervention: when one picks up any report these days on any matter you find those words ‘early intervention’ appearing on an ongoing basis; it is a theme which runs through all these things. With housing, if you got in there early and talked to people at Larrakeyah base about trying to get a few houses moved so you can get a few families housed - I am sure those families would be forever grateful to any government of any persuasion who could pull off something like that. Single families on limited income have problems - kids are living in tents - they would be very grateful for anything they could lock, somewhere they could feel safe and secure.
I come to youth, one of my shadow portfolio responsibilities. There are a number of things in relation to youth, and again I use the phrases ‘an ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure’, and ‘early intervention’. It seems the government is moving away from early intervention and prevention and hitting everything with a cure.
I received a letter in relation to youth matters I would like to read out. It relates to the Wongabilla Equestrian Centre, run by the PCYC. This facility not only gives many disadvantaged kids, low-income kids juvenile diversion - a whole range of people use this facility. It appears the Police and Citizens Youth Club might lose this facility. I would like to place on the public record a letter from a life member of the Police and Citizens Youth Club, was President of the organisation for some years and, currently, is on the committee. The letter says:
It gives the web address and continues:
Then it goes on to say:
And it gives government e-mail addresses, Chief Minister’s e-mail address, etcetera.
It also asked that people contact radio stations and ask for support of all members and friends that the Wongabilla Equestrian Centre survive, whatever.
It is interesting, because this is indicative of some of the issues that have happened in relation to youth services. It would appear the government is pulling back from any sort of proactive youth engagement. We hear the rhetoric coming from them, but the actual reality seems to be pulling back. My fear is for young people. I know there a number of people out there who require a great deal of attention, who have a high rate of recidivism. However, there are many young people out there who simply make mistakes. It is these people who are dealt with, who go out to places like Wongabilla where they do juvenile diversion.
Many of these kids go out there and have to build relationships with animals. It is a well-known fact, when you are young, if you can build positive and loving relationships with any animal - cat, dog, horse – it augurs well for your future development and relationships you might have as you go into teenage years and later in life. It is also suggested you reduce the amount of domestic violence in your community if you can have these positive relationships as you are growing.
If you take Wongabilla as an example of the government seeming to pull back in so many areas of youth engagement and proactive work - that is, the early intervention issues - we see the old adage of an ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure going out the window.
It is with concern I raise this issue here. As I talk with people I know in the community, I am sure there are people on the government side who also have contacts out there, who also go to barbecues and talk to people. However, in relation to juvenile diversion, for instance, there are people in Correctional Services who will tell you it is far better if other people, especially with some of the police issues, deal with juvenile diversion before it gets to Correctional Services. They say once it actually gets to Correctional Services, it is hard for many young people to get out because they have been that far they do not understand whether it is or is not a deterrent from their perspective.
We need good, positive role models, and I encourage the government to work on these proactive programs and reconsider their attitude towards any proactive program, be it Wongabilla, community policing, or any positive engagement such as the sporting arena. That is another issue we will be discussing tomorrow in this House, supporting families to get their kids into sport. There is an old saying: ‘into sport out of court’. As a former police officer and school-based police officer, I can assure members of this House, especially those in the government, this actually works. When you have been part of the system to divert young people and turn young people, it is a wonderful thing to be able to do, and to show people in the community you can. If you care enough and work hard at it, you can actually turn young people. Many young people simply make mistakes; they are not bad people, they simply make poor choices and make mistakes. It is great to be part of a system where you can actually turn those kids to be great kids. I have seen it and done it, personally, on hundreds of occasions where good kids have got into the wrong crowd, made a bad decision, or done something they have regretted; you can get them back on track.
I now see them around town; they have kids of their own; they are responsible parents, and they are forever grateful to the community and to those in the community who assisted them. That is what makes good citizens; people who look back and at the community and say: ‘Gee whiz, thank you very much to all those community people who helped me get back on track, because I am now grown and have kids of my own, and I now understand what my mum and dad were saying to me’ - or whoever looked after them, or raised them and gave good advice to them when they were younger. It all pays off in the end, because all that stuff is in the back of their head; the things parents or whoever has raised them put in there all comes out eventually. We just have to help people to get through, we need to give them a hand up to get back on track.
There are issues in relation to sporting facilities. Young people come and talk to me; I have taught nearly 40 000 of them, and many still come and see me and talk about their issues. They talk about trying to get affordable housing; they cannot afford to rent, they are crammed. I know a place where eight of them live in a unit to share the rent. This is where we get, not so much overcrowding in Aboriginal communities, which is a major issue, but this is happening in middle-income northern suburbs; people just cannot afford the incredibly high rents which have been brought about by the systemic policy failures of the government in relation to land release pushing up of price of houses and land.
So it is with electricity costs. Young people say one of the killers is the electricity costs; and there is no rebate for some of these young people. I know seniors get a hand. When we get to the seniors portfolio, I am encouraged at least the government has done something in relation to freezing electricity prices, and have contributed to looking after pensioners.
However, at the other end of the scale, there are young people in our community who are really struggling; they are still living at home. There are a number of families - we are not talking about the bottom end of the socioeconomic scale, we are talking about middle-income families - where kids just cannot afford to leave home. If those kids are in relationships and kids come along, then they are putting all sorts of pressures on mum and dad. Mum and dad may want to downsize. I note the government has given concessions of $8500 to assist senior Territorians and Pensioner and Carer Concession Cardholders to downsize from a larger home into perhaps a smaller unit. The problem is there are many parents who do not want to downsize, or not for some years; they want to be able to provide a bolthole for their kids. I had the same issue. I promised my wife, prior to her death, I would ensure I always had a bolthole for the kids to come home to.
I am sure, Madam Speaker, you and other members in this House who have kids would promise their kids, if it all became too hard, or they were about to fall over, they could come home for a while. There are many people in my area and in the northern suburbs who have come home. The problem is, due to the high cost of living in the Territory now, they have not been able to leave, and they are stuck at home. There are many pressures when you leave home; you go out and get into a relationship; you have a couple of kids; things get pretty tough and you have to go back home. Then you have overcrowding in middle-income Australia.
These issues are brought about by systemic policy failures of the government. I am sure the government would say: ‘There are some people who bring that upon themselves’. I am sure there are a number of people where this is true, but the large number of people who come into my office and sit there with tears coming out of their eyes are good, solid, decent folk, who are having a struggle with the high cost of living in the Territory, the high cost of rent, and the unavailability of public housing ...
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77 for the member to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank my colleague.
Youth are our future. I believe the statistics are 18% of our population are youth, but they make up 100% of our future. It has always been said to me by my mother, the wonderful lady she was, who taught me so many things - that we only have this place on loan for our kids, and they, in turn, only have it on loan for theirs. In so many matters we are required to look after, to protect and provide for the next generation to ensure they too can benefit from the fantastic experiences our generation has been able to experience, not only in Australia, but in the Northern Territory.
The Territory is a great place to live. Unfortunately, at the moment, it is getting to be a very expensive place to live. Someone texted me the other day with some figures on the rental market for units - it is about $500-plus per square metre. We are now, I think they said, officially the most expensive place to rent a unit in Australia; more expensive than New York City. That was quite an alarming text message. I thought: this is really serious stuff when we get to the point of being more expensive than Sydney or New York to rent unit floor space. It makes it hard. I am not saying that is actually the case, but when you start looking at figures like that and people in the community are starting to express concern, then it is a real issue, and an issue for our youth.
There are plenty more youth issues, but I should move on; there are a couple of other things I would like to say about different portfolios.
With regard to seniors, it is interesting because we get a great influx of seniors into the Territory. As the southern winter approaches, the so-called Grey Nomads, people recently retired, pack up their caravans, their campers, their buses, and head north. In fact, there are clubs of people who get together and drive up and have a wonderful time. They are an interesting group of people, many of whom are extremely well educated and still contribute to the community. Not only do they contribute to our community economically by being here and spending, consuming, using services etcetera, they are also the Dry Season workforce. In many instances, they provide extra labour- and skilled labour – required due to the influx of tourists and people in general who come here for the Dry Season for sightseeing and to experience the warmer weather.
There are some interesting issues in relation to their ability to stay as tourists in one particular place - some want to stay longer than five months. I know Alice Springs has an issue where some caravan parks do not going to take these people, they think they are permanents; so they have to keep moving all the time. Some people say it is an inconvenience; others are not particularly concerned about it. However, many are.
Seniors are amongst those who not only visit us during the Dry Season, but who remain because they have families here, or choose the lifestyle here. They make up a huge number of volunteers in our community who provide not only basic services in a range of areas, but save the taxpayer, and the government, an enormous amount of money by providing volunteer services. They take up the slack in the workforce, and they contribute economically to the jobs my kids have.
Regarding the Pensioner Carer and Concession Scheme, I note there are some small increases; however, it needs a major overhaul which it has not had for many years, to make it fair, some figures we did suggested about $8.5m would be required to bring most rebates up to currency on today’s dollar value. The other thing, by keeping the very people here this would help, would keep about $200m in the Territory. If we lose those pensioners, we lose the $200m they contribute to the Northern Territory economy each year.
Not only are we talking about maintaining the social fabric by keeping parents here so their children and grandchildren have access to parents and grandparents, there is a range of things we need to do as a community to provide services for seniors. We have to provide a new hospital, or at least a commitment to a new hospital, at Palmerston; hospital extensions required in Alice Springs and other work done on the hospital in Alice Springs.
We need specialist services. I had a gentleman come into my office recently who was concerned about the coronary unit at the hospital. It is sporadic in relation to people who have been there. I am sure the Minister for Health would say it is a great unit - and there are wonderful people at work there; public servants who work very hard and are very dedicated. I do not knock any public servants; public servants are required to work hard these days to meet all sorts of targets. It is really about government policy, and how much governments want to put in, and where they want to spend their health dollars.
Transport systems – we need to work out good bus routes, good transport systems and, for those who are ill, taxi concessions and things like that. One of the things I note is pensioners have free travel on buses, and most pensioners I know are very grateful for that.
We need security. Between six and nine months ago a young fellow was bashed and robbed at the ATM at Northlakes shops, where my office is located. That gets around the community, and a number of old ladies said to me: ‘If young blokes cannot go there and get money out of the ATM, how do you think we feel? We have to go to the bank and we have to pay a fee just to use the staff of the bank to withdraw money’. These are things governments are required to look at - security for these people. Unfortunately, many do not feel safe, sadly, and a number of people have said to me they are actually leaving town because they do not feel safe ...
Mr Knight: Rubbish! You are full of it.
Mr STYLES: I hear the interjection.
Mr Knight: You are just scaremongering.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STYLES: It is interesting because, when I was talking to these people, I did not see the member for Daly standing there listening. I find it amazing. I am not just making assertions here; I am actually repeating conversations I have had with seniors. It is interesting you can say it is ‘rubbish’. I do not believe the member for Daly was there; he was obviously peeking through the window or hiding in the shadows somewhere.
We need early intervention for seniors.
In Multicultural Affairs; it was March before people got the Multicultural Affairs calendar out. There is a range of issues, but I mention the efforts the Police Ethnic Advisory Group and the Multicultural Council NT make. They do a fabulous job.
In relation to Racing, Gaming and Licensing - I note I am out of time, Madam Speaker - there are a number of people who provide volunteer services and do a great job and contribute to the fantastic place the Northern Territory is ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, your time has expired.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 5 May 2010.
Madam SPEAKER: I note the Minister for Business and Employment has two minutes remaining, and that you have not had an extension.
Mr KNIGHT (Business and Employment): Madam Speaker, I commend the minister for this statement. As has been highlighted in previous contributions to the House, from this side especially, a great deal is going into the Women’s Policy area, such as the work that goes on in the seniors’ area with Janet Durling of the Senior Territorians Advisory Council; she does a great job with that. Also, young people, especially the young ladies on the Youth Round Table. I have met with them on several occasions, and only a couple of weeks ago I met with them on Sunday when they had their last meeting at the Airport Resort. They give up a lot of their personal time and we value their contribution to the round table. They have certainly taken on a whole chunk of policy area around not only youth but with young women in those projects they have taken on.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister for bringing this statement forward; it is certainly an area where we are working hard, but we need to continue and expand that work, because there are certainly many challenges ahead. I commend the statement to the House.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on achievements in developing and progressing Women’s Policy in the Northern Territory. I welcome this opportunity to outline what has been achieved across my portfolio responsibilities in developing and progressing women’s policy, and advancing the status of women in the Northern Territory. It is important to recognise the government’s achievements in women’s policy here in the Territory.
By way of background, the then Minister for Women’s Policy, the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, launched her own road map for progressing issues important to women in the Northern Territory. This plan, Building on Our Strengths: a Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012, sets out key actions in five priority areas including health and wellbeing, safety, economic security, leadership and participation, and life balance. Members would be aware the plan emanated from issues raised and discussions held through Community Cabinet women’s forums across the Territory.
When it comes to health and wellbeing, women are the largest consumers of health services due to specialist health requirements, and through their important roles as mothers and primary care givers. To ensure we have a healthy Territory, we need to ensure women of the Territory have access to appropriate health services.
When it comes to measuring health outcomes, one of the most significant and reported statistics is life expectancy. Significant improvements have been made in the life expectancy of Indigenous women in the Northern Territory. Since 2000, Indigenous women’s health expectancy has climbed 3.2 years, from 65 years to 68.2 years. This jump can be attributed to improvements made in chronic disease management and reduced cancer deaths.
There has been a reduction in deaths from cervical cancer in the Territory. These are positive outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and their families. Cervical cancer detection and treatment for Indigenous women in the Territory has now achieved equivalent outcomes as for non-Indigenous women in the rest of Australia.
The Territory government’s work in preventative healthcare has seen outcomes for Indigenous women in cervical cancer screening and treatment. By 2005, the regional women’s health educators, through the Well Women’s Screening Program, has resulted in 50% of Indigenous women participating in two-yearly Pap smears. In 1991, the Well Women’s Screening Program was introduced to screen and educate women in cervical cancer in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory as part of the new National Cervical Cancer Screening Program. Many women in remote areas had not previously had a Pap smear screen test. Through these efforts, the Pap smear coverage for women in remote areas has increased significantly. The rate of cervical cancer for Indigenous women has decreased by 68% over this time, and deaths have decreased significantly by 92% over this period.
The partnership between the Territory and Australian government has established a purpose-built mobile clinic, the Women’s Health on Wheels, or WHOW truck. The WHOW truck has recently commenced operations and will increase the capacity of remote centres in Central Australia to offer the Well Women’s screening services in a private and secure space.
In recognition of these services, the Well Women’s Cancer Screening Program won the 2009 Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in the Public Sector in the Strengthening Regional and Remote Northern Territory Category.
Another key women’s health issue is breast cancer. Breast cancer screening is a public health program aimed at detecting cancers early, so morbidity and mortality are reduced. The breast screening program has been found to be most effective targeting women aged 50 to 69-years old, when over 70% of breast cancers occur. In the last 10 years, the Northern Territory program has increased the number of women screened in this target group. Between 1999 and 2009, the number of women screened in the target age range has increased from 67% to 84%. This achievement is testament to the hard work of the Northern Territory Well Women’s Cancer Screening service.
The Northern Territory Maternity Services review recommendations continue to be progressed. The Midwifery Group Practice in Darwin and Alice Springs has been established. The Alice Springs’ practice is able to offer a midwifery service to remote and urban women, and to women in Alice Springs wanting to give birth at home. During the Alice Springs practice first year of operation, 162 babies were born through the practice, including 75 babies to remote Indigenous women, and nine home births. The Darwin Midwifery Group Practice commenced in September 2009, and has had 100 babies born through the practice in the first six months. Five remote area midwife positions have been established and are based in communities in Central Australia and the Top End. These innovative midwifery positions allow midwives to develop best practice community-based maternal and child health programs in collaboration with senior Indigenous women. A comprehensive maternity service information leaflet has been developed for consumers across the Northern Territory, and the Northern Territory will be the only jurisdiction to have maternity care options, ranging from obstetrics care to home birth service, outlined in one information source.
In January 2010, the Antenatal Clinic at Royal Darwin Hospital was remodelled to become more women-centred. This has allowed increased midwifery care for women falling into normal birth risk category, and improved communication between remote and acute maternity services. With the support of the Territory government and Congress in Alice Springs, five Indigenous women have enrolled in a three-year Bachelor of Midwifery Course through the Brisbane Catholic University. This marks the beginning of addressing a shortage of Indigenous maternity care workers and ensuring cultural safety for Indigenous women in the Northern Territory.
Our innovative maternity services will be showcased when Alice Springs hosts the National Collaborative Midwifery Conference called ‘Breathing New Life into Maternity Care’ in July 2010.
The progress of the Northern Territory maternity services review is also seen in the development of a program for maternity care and community-based workers such as the Strong Women Workers. The program will assist in the provision of best practice maternity care for Indigenous women, particularly young women. In addressing the specific maternal health needs of Indigenous women, the Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture program has been developed and delivered over many years in the Northern Territory. This bicultural community development program respects and supports the Aboriginal way of promoting good health for women and babies during pregnancy and early parenting.
Indigenous women deliver the program to Indigenous women, combining traditional and contemporary knowledge. Indigenous grandmothers and identified younger women use the program to promote health and wellbeing through passing on traditional ways to pregnant mothers and keeping the grandmothers’ law alive. The program is operational in nine communities, including Yirrkala, Borroloola, Galiwinku, Nguiu, Jabiru, Milingimbi, Canteen Creek, Utopia and Wadeye.
The Strong Women Worker for Wadeye divides her time between the community and the Royal Darwin Hospital where she supports women during sit down, labour, birth, and the early postnatal period. Recruitment is also under way for community-based workers in Maningrida to undertake the Strong Women program.
The program is developed to strengthen and progress its goal to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous women and their babies. The coordinator positions have been evaluated and recent recruitment resulted in the employment of three Strong Women coordinators in the Top End. A process is currently under way to fill two more positions in Central Australia. A similar recruitment process is under way to offer Strong Women Workers in communities permanent positions within the Department of Health and Families.
Core of Life is another innovative program operating in the Northern Territory seeking to improve women’s health, particularly that of young women. The Core of Life program is a unique hands-on life education program. It is an effective model designed by midwives to improve knowledge and attitudes. The Core of Life program provides adolescents and other groups factual information about becoming pregnant, giving birth, and parenting a newborn. The model is designed to improve young people’s understanding of the importance of nutrition, healthcare, and the impacts of alcohol and drugs during pregnancies. The issues associated with early parenting including breastfeeding, care of a newborn, and where to go for support and assistance, are also addressed. Core of Life facilitators are providing training courses across the Top End of the Northern Territory. These courses will train community-based health staff, teachers, and midwives to conduct Core of Life programs in schools and with adolescent groups through girls and boys camps.
The Women’s Information Service called WISe, based in Alice Springs, provides free confidential information and a referral service to women across the Northern Territory with a focus on Central Australia. The WISe coordinator’s role is to know and engage with all key services, programs, and activities relevant to women in the Northern Territory. The coordinator maintains a high profile in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek and also coordinates and promotes a range of events relevant to women, including White Ribbon Day.
Minister McCarthy has provided the details related to the $15m the Northern Territory government has invested into domestic and family violence initiatives. Building on Our Strengths: a Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012 also highlights, as a priority action, the need to ensure safety of women and families. As a government, we are fully committed to a safe Territory. Our family violence initiative is one example of this, and our investment in the child protection system is another.
I have recently announced a major boost to child protection services. An additional 76 child protection staff will be employed as part of the $14.7m funding boost to Northern Territory Families and Children in 2010-11. For the benefit of the member for Araluen, 64 of these 76 child protection staff will be fully and appropriately qualified to meet the challenges in their profession.
This funding provides the single largest boost, in the history of any Territory government, towards staff to improve our child protection system. The funds will deliver additional staff to every Family and Children’s Service office across the Territory. This investment will increase capacity for frontline tertiary child protection workers. However, it also provides the capacity to strengthen our early intervention services. These services work directly with families to prevent families becoming involved in the tertiary system.
The additional staff is an immediate measure before the Independent Board of Inquiry into Child Protection in the Northern Territory makes its recommendations in June. The Northern Territory government called for the broadest and most comprehensive inquiry possible into child protection last year to pave the way forward for a stronger system into the future. My announcement demonstrated the Henderson’s government commitment to boosting child protection services, supporting frontline workers, and delivering now for families and children. There can be no greater priority than to protect our children. We will act on the board’s recommendations to ensure our system is strengthened.
This increase builds on the extra 112 child protection and support workers funded by the Labor government since 2002-03, as well as tripling of the child protection services budget since 2001. Recruitment will be fast-tracked to ensure as many new staff as possible can be recruited to commence immediately in the new financial year.
Funding will also go towards improving service delivery within out-of-home care. This will support provision of professional services, including supporting children and foster carers. Women make up the largest component of our primary carers, both within the family system and as foster carers. This investment will directly impact on the service provided to carers to keep their families safe, and to provide safety for children who are unable to remain with their families.
Earlier, minister McCarthy provided an overview of women’s participation in the workforce. The Minister for Women’s Policy outlined the achievements so far under Building on Our Strengths: a Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012. The points she highlighted as priority areas are economic security, leadership and participation, and life balance.
Primary Industry, Fisheries and Minerals and Energy have historically been viewed as male dominated fields and, at times, we have not appropriately recognised the considerable contribution women make. My departments actively encourage and support participation of women. This is clearly represented in the number of women currently employed, and the positions women hold within the industry. Female employees currently represent 50% of departmental staff but, more significantly, they are extremely well represented in the professional and technical streams. Approximately 40% of professional positions and over 60% of technical positions are held by women.
This year, two female staff members, Ms Sarah Streeter and Ms Cassie Duggan were major winners in a closely contested category of the STAR Awards. The STAR Awards are popular and highly-prized annual staff awards which recognise special effort in leadership in particular areas of endeavour. As members of the Primary Industry Pastoral Production Group, Ms Streeter and Ms Duggan worked in partnership to bring together the Barkly Herd Management Forum which was directed at overseers and head stockmen, but also included station managers. This is an achievement due to the skills and attributes of talented staff; it is not due to gender, although one must agree it is being recognised for your achievements in what is truly a male dominated environment - as head stockmen. Those two staff members, operating in a relatively isolated area from our Tennant Creek office, ran a challenging major event and, throughout, demonstrated professionalism and team spirit. The successful management forum demonstrated an outstanding contribution in assisting the department to provide targeted extension services to industry. The forum contributed to sustainable development and demonstrated service excellence to the department’s clients.
Ms Streeter is also leading a five-year project on Northern Territory live weight gain in cattle that commenced in 2007. Ten commercial stations across the Katherine and Barkly regions are participating in the field study component of the project. The University of Queensland is collaborating with the project team in a pen study in 2010 to determine whether underlying nutritional factors influence variations in weight gain on Dry Season pastures. Ms Streeter leads this group, and illustrates the progress and invaluable contribution of women to the sector.
Another area of recognition is the Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation’s Rural Women’s Award. This award recognises the strength and skills of rural women and provides an opportunity to develop their contribution to agriculture, primary industries, resource development, and rural Australia. The award also links networks of like-minded women across the country who are passionate about making a difference. The Rural Women’s Award has been running since 2000, and provides a bursary of $10 000 to each state and Territory winner. My department has coordinated this award in the Northern Territory since its inception. Past award winners have represented the primary industry sectors from across the regions of the Territory, emphasising the critical involvement of women Territory-wide, and across all facets of this industry sector. This year’s Territory Award winner, Ms Carmel McCaskill-Ball, is the first to represent the fisheries industry, and she will go on to represent the Northern Territory in the national awards in Canberra in May.
Women contribute to the Territory’s success across the Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mineral and Energy portfolio. Helen Cribb is the leader of the Aquatic Biosecurity Group. This group was recently recognised as the national leader in environmental aquatic biosecurity at the Australian Seafood Industry Awards in Melbourne. This achievement is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of the Aquatic Biosecurity Group in the Territory.
My department is committed to supporting all staff by actively encouraging training and career development. This is done by ensuring access and support is available to staff to participate in courses and training programs that will equip them to perform at their best, and contribute to the overall productivity and efficiency of the department. Women are also encouraged to participate in gender-specific training programs to build on opportunities for career advancement, especially leadership.
An example of training women are encouraged to access is the Saving the Future in a Changing Environment Program, where young women from across Australia involved in agriculture join their peers to develop valuable leadership skills and establish important networks.
My department collaborated with the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and the Australian government Women’s Leadership Program to roll out a series of workshops in September 2009 aimed at building capacity amongst the women in the pastoral industry. Participants were challenged to improve their self-efficacy and communication skills. The response was extremely positive, with over 100 women attending the workshop held across the Territory. Further funding has been secured for 2010, and planning is under way for the next series of workshops to be held in October this year.
This government encourages women to fully participate in their workplace, to pursue career advancement, and to take on leadership roles. We are committed to the real development of opportunities, training and leadership for women.
Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to outline the real action undertaken by this government to celebrate the Territory we all enjoy today, with a particular focus on Territory women who have achieved much. It is true to say, in the past, we have often overlooked the contribution women have made to the history of the Territory. It is for this reason I wish to thank the Minister for Women’s Policy for bringing this statement to this House.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, my thanks to minister Malarndirri McCarthy for her statement regarding achievements in developing and progressing Women’s Policy in the Northern Territory. Perhaps one of the important elements of the statement is, until the statement was made, many would be largely unaware that Women’s Policy had been progressed in any way, shape, or form.
It is important to gain at least some objective view on what has occurred in the Northern Territory, so I need to take members back 27 years to when the Women’s Advisory Council to the Chief Minister was established by Chief Minister, Mr Paul Everingham ...
Mr Bohlin: How many years ago?
Mr MILLS: That is 27 years ago. That must be very difficult for members opposite to grasp because the way in which they regard that which happened in the past is almost akin to the requirement for some war crimes tribunal or something.
However, 27 years ago, the Women’s Advisory Council to the Chief Minister was established. The council was subsequently supported by Chief Minister Shane Stone, and provided a real mix of women’s voices raised across the Northern Territory - radical at times, robust when confronting challenges, proactive in many ways, and highly respected. It was considered a privilege to be considered for nomination to the council. Many too humble to be known beyond their immediate circles matured into excellent advocates for women. I believe the importance of this is it was not tainted in any way with tokenism; it was the real deal based on sound principles.
The then president of the Women’s Advisory Council, Mrs Wendy James, represented the Northern Territory in Canberra as a member of Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s National Women’s Council, contributing on behalf of the Territory to the development of a national agenda for women. The Country Liberal Party’s Looking Beyond 2000, Women in the Northern Territory Action Plan recognised the very significant part Territory women played in our development, and a supplementary budget paper that year outlined the direct impact of the government’s expenditure on women across departments and agencies. Yes, things did occur before the great and glorious arrival of the Australian Labor Party in 2001. It is a shame history is required to be written by those champions of the left.
That document totalled 114 pages of size 10 font, not a mere two dozen pages of size 18 font with double spacing ...
Mr Bohlin: How many pages?
Mr MILLS: Just a dozen with size 18 - big print, double spacing. Create the right impression; do not worry about the underlying principal or value behind the objective. The objective is to create an impression and to pander to tokenism.
This minuscule ministerial statement has caused a strong response but, perhaps, not what the minister might expect. I will take this in two stages.
First, I will paint the scene. I do not think people would know the makeup of my office; those charged with every aspect of support for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. Not that all of us always take their sage advice but, still, this team is genuinely motivated to provide support - a strong cohesive team; we have an excellent team. But, nearly 70% of that team is women – 70%.
Second, here I will share with you the words the minister read out:
How many new action plans can they have? There is another one. Okay so far, I suppose, but I have to go on. This plan will:
Well, you may have been able, if you had tuned in, to hear the reaction from my office. Do they think, if I am going to follow through on this desire for an equitable balance, I should then sack 20% of my office and then we would all be happy …
Dr Burns: You sacked a few in the last week.
Mr MILLS: Sorry?
Dr Burns: You sacked a few in the last week.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Elferink: God, you are a grub. You really are the lowest form of amoebic life.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Port Darwin!
Mr Elferink: Well, goodness gracious me.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Port Darwin!
Mr MILLS: The need for such a quota which, once again, panders to the need for an appearance of tokenism is, in my view, utterly offensive, Madam Speaker.
That sort of tokenism, in fact, it is my strong belief, actually disenfranchises and degrades competent women. That principle, applied in any area, does exactly the same. It arrives at the very place we do not want to go: the disenfranchisement and the degrading of the value of that which brings a person to a position, and not superficial measures.
In fact, it reminds me of a successful businesswoman in this town who recently, politely pointed out an oversight in attributing her contribution to a local organisation by members of government. She noticed it was lumped in with the name of her spouse. She received a totally unbelievable response to her inquiry: ‘Oh well, it would have been his money anyway’.
Why do these attitudes continue? Surely, what we should be doing is identifying the differences and the needs, and not contriving artificial and superficial targets. The very best people to advise us are the women who are successful in their towns and communities across the Northern Territory, and willing to contribute.
On that note, I return to the minister’s statement, which then made mention of the Women’s Register developed to enable women to register interest and availability for board positions. Register, as in ‘record, or to make aware of’. I have my suspicions it could not really be called a register. Perhaps it is a token gesture, a clearing house, an opportunity for a box to be ticked - all being able to be registered so there has been some response, because that is exactly what some women I know have encountered when they have tried to use the process. Yes, they have been registered, but it does not amount to anything. Since registering, and then some years later, again re-registering, they have heard not one single thing in response; their information had literally disappeared into a black hole despite the urgent need for competent, active, and committed people to act in board positions across the Territory. So, what is this register? What purpose does it, in fact, serve? I still believe the preoccupation of members opposite is to be driven by things that appear rather than things as they are or should be on merit.
I know, as I am sure do my colleagues, many a committee meeting of an association or board, large or small, where the minutes repeatedly record, ‘the question of a new chairman remains unresolved at this time’. Of course it does, unless those who have registered their skills of commitment to this voluntary leadership role are actually contacted. WordStorm, the Festival of Australasian Writing, was held in Darwin not so long ago and, of course, we were all looking forward to Germaine Greer coming along. She has had her imprint on our nation, come and gone, and it is almost predictable what was going to happen. There are so many in our community who have contributed in such genuine and profound ways on a continuing basis, and a genuine approach of genuine recognition on the merit of that contribution and valuing it honestly would take us to a completely different place than we had when we had processes of mechanisms in place to try to tick some arbitrary box.
These are the ones who do not run for political positions themselves, unfortunately, because of the sheer cost to the individual - families, jobs, multitasking to the nth degree. Women, sadly, often find it too difficult to think of a political position in these days when some one in five Australians currently work more than 50 hours a week. Their choices, instead, are to enjoy parenting and prioritising what is right for them and their family unit. They should be respected for those decisions. There should also be respect for those who actually make those other steps and take a career, and recognise that additionally - but not at the devaluing of the others who have made different decisions.
Many women want a forum and it may well be time to consider something again, similar to the Women’s Advisory Council. In the same way that the youth round table can have a proactive voice, a women’s round table will bring together dynamic members representing diverse views and interests. I believe that is what our community is wanting; these kinds of forums that are real which can be controversial, challenging and, in fact, encourage that kind of role - rather than managing to create a vehicle just to satisfy some leftish-type notion of equality or gender balance. It is much deeper than that.
We should have these women debate the rough with the smooth, the importance of early learning and competent childcare; discrimination in the workplace that often occurs in relation to career responsibilities; the lack of practical support for women who return to university following the birth of their children; the consequences suffered by females as a result of rape, a confronting subject for all of us, but particularly for the victim who suffers not only for the violence of this crime but also for the lack of credibility when giving evidence, which is a concern; and the girl who suffers indecent assault by a family member, who then claims she had been knowing, wilful and complicit - it is terrible.
The impacts of progress need to be debated. In the European Union, for instance, the effect of the impact of the new EU gender equity law on Turkish labour laws has resulted in many legislative changes. We need proactive, robust and real systems to allow us to change and to respond to that which is of concern, rather than that which is fluffy and nice, but not real and effective.
We need powerful lobby groups. I can say that the Country Liberals would allow powerful lobby groups, and we would encourage that community debate and contribution. In fact, that is what we need if we are going to develop as a community. Just as it was 27 years ago, there will be a return to that approach where we want to hear people speak up with diverse views; we want that controversy, we want to have that public debate, that disagreement so, finally, we can come to a better place where we, perhaps, have made some concessions and there is progress; we have moved to a new spot.
There are these powerful lobby groups. One I particularly appreciate is the role of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association. They do a magnificent job. Having grown up remote, I know how difficult it is - particularly for families and, specifically, for the mothers raising children in remote communities - and the needs of education and health. These ladies are far more remote than I have experienced. They do an outstanding job, and I believe that is the sort of thing you need. You need brave, courageous women who are able to be given that space, that respect, to be able to speak. I take this opportunity to commend them for their outstanding work and lobbying for the interests of those who are remote. How easy it is for many in our community to make their voices heard in urban communities, but not for them.
The NT Cattlemen’s Association embraces women of the bush. Terry Underwood served as an inaugural member of the Women’s Advisory Committee in 1983.
Madam Speaker, we commend the minister for bringing forward this statement. However, once again, we identify there will be a different approach under the Country Liberals; that being to allow that space for robust engagement, genuine recognition, and not to disenfranchise or devalue it by pursuing some societal goal rather than something based in principle.
Debate adjourned.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Department of the Legislative Assembly portfolio budget statement 2010-11.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program June 2010 report to the Legislative Assembly.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move the Assembly take note of the report and that I have leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received the following letter from the member for Braitling:
It is signed by the member for Braitling.
Honourable members, is the proposed discussion supported? The proposal is supported.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, it is very much a matter of public importance. Those of us in this Chamber would recall, in 2006, the start of an inquiry into child abuse in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and the tabling of the Little Children are Sacred report. One of the key recommendations was action to be taken on housing. I will speak this evening on comments I provided earlier.
Indigenous affairs in the Northern Territory is almost a government on its own - health, housing, education, law and order, and children’s services. Many claim they know the solutions to Indigenous affairs, but it has been around a long time. Everyone has a thought on how to fix it. Territorians themselves have a deep-seated and passionate desire to help Indigenous Territorians. There is support for spending taxpayers’ dollars in the interests of protecting the most vulnerable, especially children. Our polling tells us this. Equally and unanimously, there is no support for corrupt or mismanaged programs spending money and delivering nothing.
In August 2006, the Northern Territory government appointed a board of inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. As is well known, the final report, the Little Children are Sacred, had drastic consequences. On 25 June 2007, then Prime Minister, John Howard did not hold back - he was strong; he led; he intervened. He said the report:
He did not mention the words ‘black camp’.
I quote from an article I wrote in The Australian:
It is no surprise to see little action being taken in the years since 2007 when that report was tabled, or the subsequent time since. I quote a little of a story from the ABC news posted on 23 July 2008; on comments made by the Labor Senator for the Northern Territory, Senator Crossin in a speech in parliament. It says:
When you take the perspective that only 50 children have been abused - according to the comments on ABC news by Senator Crossin - we can understand why little action has been taken by Labor. It is actually quite interesting when you go through and do a search for the last 10 years on the member for Lingiari and the Senator for Labor for the Northern Territory, and see how many times they have spoken about child abuse and child sexual abuse. You will understand why they have not done anything.
The chapter in The Little Children are Sacred report on housing went further to state:
I am not saying every house should be built by government. I am not saying every housing response needs to be provided by government. They have to provide the frameworks for these things to be done. People will say - and they say it in the community and here in this Chamber, I am sure: ‘Well, the Howard government was in for 11 years, why did they not fix the housing situation?’ The point is it is the responsibility of the local member to take action on issues within their electorate.
The member for Lingiari has been in his position for 23 years, give or take a couple. The previous member for Bennelong or the current member for Warringah, or the previous member for Bradfield - all leaders of government or opposition from the Coalition - do not live in the Northern Territory; they do not live in Lingiari. Brendan Nelson, Tony Abbott, and John Howard do not live in the Northern Territory. The member for Lingiari sees this, he lives it, he breathes it every day, and has done so for the last 23 years while he has been a member of parliament in Canberra, give or take a year or two.
It is not good enough for people to say the previous Liberal government did not do it. Liberal politicians from all around the country have not been to all these areas in the Northern Territory to see what the issues are - to understand all those issues. It is the job of a local member to stand up and fight; the same way I fight for the people who are victims of the Northern Territory government in relation to Carey Builders. That is the job of the local member.
I have six pages here of a 10-year search on these speeches by Snowdon and Crossin - six pages in 10 years; that is all they said.
Again I quote from my article in The Australian:
Oh, how this has changed, Madam Speaker. First, it was rolled back to about $600m. Then, it was raised to $672m by the incoming federal government, and the program was completely outsourced to the Northern Territory government to run. It would appear Prime Minister Rudd and Indigenous Affairs minister, Macklin, have made a grave mistake handing this over to the Northern Territory administration. The Northern Territory government’s record has been disastrous: cost overruns, missing funds, administrative chaos, ministerial resignations, and minority government.
Listen carefully: 11 houses have been built and 160 repaired in two-and-a-half years for more than $200m. That is not a joke; that is real. We throw numbers around: 11 houses for $200m. That is not a furphy, there are no made up numbers there. At the government’s own valuation of $450 000 on average for a new house, with no land - you do not buy the land - and with $75 000 for a refurbishment, the sum spent should be only $16.85m. So, where is the missing $183m?
It should be going to protecting children. It should be going to the things that were identified in the Little Children are Sacred report, where it talks about addressing overcrowding to help deal with the issues of sexual violence. There are some alarming things in here. We often hear the government talking about the old CLP days - there was never a house built, never any of this. Well, I can tell you, when this government came to power and when the report was tabled, between 2001 and 2007, the estimate of unmet housing need went from $800m to $1.2bn. In six years, it went up 50%, and that is straight out of the report. It is right here in the report.
We have talked about $75 000 for housing and refurbishment. Let me show you; I do not agree with them spending $75 000, that is a complete furphy. Here we have a refurbishment on a house. They take the air-conditioners out of houses and do not put them back in. They tell tenants it is bad luck; ‘You cannot have your air-conditioning back in; you can go to the shire council and pay $88 to have your air-conditioner put back in’. That might not seem like a big issue, but we, apparently, are spending $75 000 to fix these houses. You can have a look at this. They have not painted the outside here; it still has strips of tin, it has dodgy fencing, it has not been painted on the outside. That is just one. I will show you another one. This is what you get for $75 000. You get a blue wall, a little shelf and a tiny silver bench top.
I remember the member for Daly, when he was the Housing minister, complaining about the previous member for Longman, the former federal Indigenous Affairs minister, Mal Brough, saying they were putting in steel benches and no cupboards, and he made fun of Mal Brough. It is right there, and it is smaller - it is smaller for $75 000 …
A member: How much? How much did he pay?
Mr GILES: $75 000. You can buy that furniture for $600 in Alice Springs. They were delivered and installed in Santa Teresa for $600 - and they are spending $75 000 …
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: The house was painted internally, no floor paint - that is the bench top there. It had two ceiling fans, a fluoro, about five new light switches - for $75 000 …
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr GILES: That is our taxpayers’ money.
Madam Speaker, I will show you another one. This house has just been completed. This is house No 206 in Ali Curung. The minister would know it well. This one is not made for dogs. There is a dog in the picture, I know. It is not made for dogs, but that is it. Another kitchen - you do not even get shelves in this one. You get a nice shiny oven, and somewhere for the dog. That, I believe, cost $150 000. I heard recently - and I cannot quote, as I do not have the quote here - but I understand the Housing minister was talking about holes in the walls of this house, No 206 at Ali Curung, being put there after it was refurbished. Well, it is quite funny - we cannot quite see there - when you see the paint on the inside of the hole. I do not really know how they knocked the hole there and put the paint inside. That is a $150 000 house.
Here is the same house. I will show you again. You can see here - not the wires hanging down, that is not why I have it here; that is an antenna by the look of it – there are wooden window panes. You cannot get windows for $150 000, you get lumps of wood stuck in there - no screens to keep the flies out of the kid’s ears. You know these kids get ear disease. I showed you the kitchen. This is what you call ‘before’, and this is what you call ‘two weeks after’. It is very hard to see from there, I know. That is two weeks. In the lounge room, that is four weeks. These people have been put into their house. I do not blame the people who are in their house. There are social circumstances and these people need to be assisted with living skills. I know the Housing minister knows this too. These people are being put back in a $150 000 refurbished property with nothing.
Look at this! This is a growth town! You cannot even get a fence fixed! Would anyone even know that has had $75 000 to $150 000 spent on it? What a disgrace! You should go to the back of that place.
This is the one we have had so much trouble with. You will see, for the benefit of the minister for Housing, who now sends housing officials to Ali Curung once a week just in case I am there to tackle a problem. This here is the septic tank. There are two road signs. I am not sure what you call those things; they are road barricades. Behind those barricades there are two doors that have been taken down from the refurbished $150 000 house for dogs. There are two boards lying over the top of an open sewer pit. Pick them up and the kid falls straight in there. The reason that the grass is all green there - this is the desert - is because there is sewage everywhere! This has been this way for months. I had a briefing from Housing the other day and I said: ‘Please will you send someone down? A kid will die falling into the septic tank if you do not fix it!’ The CEO of Housing knows this. He has heard my language so, hopefully, he fixes it.
Announcements have since been made regarding funding extra infrastructure and tenancy management separately from the national partnership agreement of remote Indigenous housing which funded SIHIP in the first place. It is an informal top-up to the SIHIP scheme which is a five-year scheme from 2008 to 2013, while the national partnership agreement adds an extra five years to 2018.
It is interesting when you go through the costs - and there are all different costs. We have sheets here showing the end of March, end of April, then I heard at a briefing the other day that $200m or more than $200m - they could not tell exactly because they did not know, which I find amazing; that they did not know how much money they have spent.
We have $672m. Out of the national partnership agreement for five years we are getting $200m for tenancy management services, trying to improve the management of houses like the one we just saw. We saw $46.5m from the current financial year’s budget as at the end of March spent on land servicing. We have seen a commitment of $246.6m spent for land servicing this coming financial year. The $672m five-year program between 2008 and 2013 has now blown out to $1.23bn, and we have not included the last two years of land servicing. It is in the billions! We are now going to have no money left between 2013 and 2018.
Indigenous employment should increase, but most Indigenous workers have either switched jobs or are working for the dole with no salary, no holiday pay, no superannuation, and no future - unlike the member for Arnhem who does not have a clue. The train workers in Alice Springs have been laid off for three or four weeks with no work because they only put the tender out for eight of the houses in the town camps rather than the 85. They changed 46 workers on no pay and have laid them all off. They have 46 Indigenous workers who have been laid off in Alice Springs who are supposed to work on the town camps, who came into my office complaining because the government cannot get it right. In Ali Curung they had no employees so they decided to buy an extra house and get the CDEP gang to work. We have Dopey over here, the Minister for Indigenous affairs …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I ask you to withdraw that comment.
Mr GILES: Withdrawn. We have Loopy over here, the member for Arnhem …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, just refer to them …
Mr GILES: I withdraw. We have the Indigenous affairs minister who is completely incompetent, saying: ‘We support real wages and real jobs with long service leave’. You have everyone in Ali Curung - every person who is working there, all six of them - on CDEP not receiving any of those benefits. You are spending $3.9m on bringing up dodgy places I showed you before, and you are not putting any money into salaries. Most of us understand the correlation between unemployment, boredom, and substance abuse. It was an emergency in 2006 but, now, it is situation normal for these morons on this side here. Unfortunately, for Indigenous Territorians …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I ask you to withdraw that comment, please.
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not think he was referring to an individual; he was pointing to a group of people as being a group of morons. I do not think there is anything that defies the standing orders in that sort of statement.
Madam SPEAKER: Indeed, when you are referring to the government and use a group like that …
Mr GILES: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. Continue.
Mr GILES: I wonder what the role of the CTC is? I wonder what the purpose of this agreement between the member for Nelson and the Chief Minister is? It says on page 1 that he will provide support to government provided all Labor government MLAs continue to support the government, vote in favour of this legislation and Paul Henderson retains the position of Chief Minister. Mr Wood shall vote against any no confidence motion against the government except in a proven case of corruption or serious maladministration. I tell you, this is serious maladministration - $1.35bn. They have spent more than $200m on 11 houses. This is sheer maladministration! The member for Nelson needs to have a hard look at it. This is not good enough - not good enough at all.
The story does not end there. The NT government recently admitted it only has plans to build 480 houses between now and 2030. It talks about 750. If you go through their public document from 14 May, they talk about building 621 houses. Three days later, they have a written question on notice from 17 May 2010, and they talk about only building 480 houses. They say they will not even be done by 2013. That is what it says in the question on notice the minister sent back to me. What about all those growth towns and other communities? You have to note the change of language when they talk now. They are not talking about building houses, they are talking about dwellings including one-bedroom units, pensioner apartments, and only 50% of them could be three-bedroom.
The Little Children are Sacred report identified Elliott as having one of the worst cases of child abuse in numbers. They are not even going to get any houses; they are not even on the list. Despite hundreds of communities in the Territory, only a minimum of six and a maximum of 15 will get new dwellings. Read through the community list. Many will get no housing services at all. Most communities in the Territory will not have any semblance of housing solutions for the protection of children. One wonders how the Territory Labor government can get it so wrong.
I will draw my comments to an end, but I will say, after looking at the Little Children are Sacred report, the need to provide housing, look at a place like this which is a caravan park in Northern Territory …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Madam SPEAKER: There are no extensions in an MPI.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, the old lady who has lived in the humpy for 50 years does not have a housing solution. She is not a child, I know, but there are children living around that community. She does not have a housing solution. She has never had anyone talk to her about housing - never seen Warren Snowdon, the local member, never seen the Housing Minister, never had any bureaucrat talk to her about providing houses. It is simply not good enough, and it is not responding to the needs of the Little Children are Sacred report, or the children of the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, your time has expired.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I too welcome this matter of public importance. I have a prepared speech; however, I comment on some of the things the member for Braitling alluded to. He has alluded, within the framework of this matter of public importance, to the Little Children are Sacred report. That was the basis of the intervention he alluded to, and the strong leadership from John Howard and Mal Brough he also alluded to.
When someone looks dispassionately and objectively at the intervention, and the basis for the intervention, it did not carry out any of the 90-odd recommendations made in the Little Children are Sacred report. It used the report, and the emotive aspects of the report, as the basis of the intervention. However, it certainly did not carry out the recommendations of that report. One of the authors of the report, Rex Wild, commented publicly on that aspect. If the member for Braitling cared to look up the comments by Rex Wild, he would find that out. I also suggest the intervention was borne out of political motives ...
Members interjecting
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr BURNS: I quote from an interview with Alexander Downer by Barry Cassidy on 25 November 2007. Here is the guts of it:
So, it was all about the opinion polls. It was all about getting …
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order, member for Fong Lim!
Dr BURNS: It was all about the re-election of John Howard and what he had done before, and they did not get the lift they wanted. It is a bit rich for the member for Braitling - I could call him the member for Longman or the member for Lingiari, because that is who he is emulating: huff and puff Brough. I ask him to remember that Mal Brough lost his seat in the last federal election. Why did he lose his seat? Because he did not attend to his own electorate; he was out there wafting off, wallowing in publicity. My advice for you, member for Braitling, is to attend to the electorate of Braitling, otherwise you may be following your old mate, Mal Brough, the former member for Longman. However, I digress, Madam Speaker ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling! Member for Braitling, cease interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I am a bit surprised by his decision to debate this particular topic. The member for Braitling is fully aware of the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program …
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you are on a warning!
Dr BURNS: … and the national partnership on remote Indigenous housing. This is a $1.7bn program to improve housing for Indigenous Territorians in the bush. It is the single largest infrastructure program ever taken to improve housing in our remote communities and address overcrowding in homes. It is a very necessary program to fix decades of CLP neglect and underfunding of our Indigenous communities …
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: And I will back that up ...
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! You are already on a warning.
Dr BURNS: Overcrowding of housing does not happen overnight; it is the result of long-term neglect. Like everything outside the urban centres, Indigenous housing was neglected. For many years, the only Indigenous housing funding was sourced from the Commonwealth. For many years, through the 1980s and 1990s, the CLP did not contribute significant Territory funding for housing in the bush. In your last budget …
Mr Conlan: They built thousands of houses.
Dr BURNS: In your last budget - listen, you might learn something.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: In your last budget, you spent a shameful $25m on Indigenous housing, and we all know how much that bought. A miserable $25m, and it actually gets worse …
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: It actually gets worse, Madam Speaker. Of that $25m, only $4m was Northern Territory government funding; the rest came from the Commonwealth. There it is: $25m and, of that, $4m was Northern Territory government funding.
On top of that, over the previous five years, the CLP increased the budget for Indigenous housing from $24.36m to $25.9m. That is an increase over five years of a measly $1.5m. That is shameful, but not surprising. It formed a part of an overall neglect of people living in the bush.
The position adopted by the member for Braitling is remarkably hypocritical. He is criticising the only government in the Territory’s history that has attempted to address the concerns and needs of housing Indigenous people ...
Mr Giles: You have been dragged kicking and screaming.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you will withdraw from the Chamber.
Mr Giles: Kicking and screaming.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: He is saying you are putting in $1.7bn with the Commonwealth, but that is not good enough ...
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, minister. Member for Braitling, withdraw from the Chamber! You have been warned twice. Minister, you have the call.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yet, the party he chooses to represent in this place, and his party’s federal government, both neglected to do anything significant about the issue when they were in office. It is not as if they were not warned about it. For years, report after report into housing out bush showed that population growth was outstripping the supply of housing by a country mile. The CLP government was warned by its bureaucracy and public service that health issues were mounting up as a result of overcrowding. I know the Menzies School of Health Research spoke regularly about the problems in Indigenous health and the problems resulting from a lack of funding and overcrowding in houses - problems such as rheumatic heart disease, pulmonary problems, otitis media; a whole range of issues associating with overcrowding in housing.
Instead of acting on that, the party the member for Braitling chooses to represent used and neglected the bush; their favouritism of the town areas, the political badge of honour, was their wedge. After all, who can forget the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Shane Stone, referring to ‘whingeing, whining, carping blacks’? Who can forget the political football the political party the member for Braitling chooses to represent made of Indigenous issues? Who can forget that they ran their 1994 campaign on a scare that Labor would introduce two laws, one for the urban areas and one for Aboriginal people? Who can forget the campaign they ran in every election scaring the urban vote about Labor and spending out bush? The political party the member for Braitling chooses to represent used Aboriginal people as a wedge and a political football to keep them in office for 26 years. They backed this up with a deliberate policy of neglect in every area - housing, health, and education - and today we are still paying the price of these policies ...
In contrast, this government’s budget for Indigenous housing in 2010-11 is $618.47m. Even if we remove the Commonwealth contribution, this government is investing $56m in addressing overcrowding and improving housing in our remote communities. That is a huge difference from the miserly $4m in the CLP’s 2001-02 budget ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I can remember the first Assembly I attended in 2001, when the current member for Port Darwin was the member for Macdonnell. I cannot recall him once talking about Indigenous housing in any detailed way or any emphasis, but I may stand corrected ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: I may stand corrected. No doubt, he will correct it. I will certainly compliment the member for Braitling. He is focused on this issue; he is out there working on it; he is bringing it to the public attention. That is why I welcome him bringing this matter of public importance into this place. However, I ask him to reflect on some of the issues I have raised here today, because they are very important in history.
A major component of our plans to improve Indigenous housing and overcrowding is the National Partnership on Remote Indigenous Housing. As I said before, our partnership with the federal government is worth $1.7bn over 10 years. The Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program, SIHIP, is a $672m component of that program. It will deliver 750 new houses, 230 rebuilds and 2500 refurbishments by 2013 ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I do not want to pre-empt the debate about the Auditor-General’s report, but it makes very interesting reading. I find it quite heartening what the Auditor-General has said in his report about this particular program.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I will be pleased to debate that particular report.
By the end of this year, the program aims to have 150 new houses completed and 1000 refurbishments and rebuilds finished. Work is now being undertaken in 30 communities; 350 refurbishments and rebuilds are now complete or under way. This includes 223 complete refurbishments and rebuilds, and 127 under way. There are now 94 new houses complete or under way. Of these, 11 new houses are complete and handed over to tenants.
This is an important program the CLP is continually trying to tear apart. It is so important I will outline what has been done, community by community, Madam Speaker ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Tiwi Islands, nine new houses.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Drysdale! Member for Greatorex!
Dr BURNS: Get out to the town camps and have a look. You might have to with the redistribution ...
Mr Conlan: There are none there. None have been built, Bungles.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: You might have to with the redistribution ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, resume your seat.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, resume your seat. Member for Greatorex, I ask you to withdraw that comment, the reference to the minister, please.
Mr Conlan: What reference was that, Madam Speaker?
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw it, thank you.
Mr CONLAN: I withdraw if I have offended Bungles, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, that is what I would like you to withdraw, thank you.
Mr CONLAN: I will withdraw that then, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you very much.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, you have the call.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
On the Tiwi Islands 90 new houses will be constructed. The first five new houses are complete at Nguiu. Work is under way on the construction of another 12 houses, and 46 rebuilds and refurbishments are complete, and work is continuing on 41 houses.
On Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island 80 new houses will be constructed. Construction of six new houses is under way at Umbakumba, and 11 new houses at Angurugu. The first 31 rebuilds and refurbishments have been completed, with another eight under way. In Tennant Creek, 78 houses will be rebuilt as requested by the community; 24 houses have been rebuilt, work continues on a further seven. In Wadeye and Peppimenarti the program will deliver 105 new houses through New Future Alliance. Five new houses have been completed and tenanted at Wadeye. Work is under way on the construction of another 14 new houses. Six refurbishments at Palumpa have been completed.
In Maningrida, Warrawi and Minjilang, 109 new houses will be delivered through Territory Alliance. Construction of the first 11 new houses is under way at Maningrida, nine refurbishments have been complete, and work is under way on a further seven. In Gunbalanya, Acacia, Larrakeyah and Belyuen, construction of new houses is under way at Gunbalanya …
Mr Tollner: None complete.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: … 62 will, ultimately, be constructed, 19 refurbishments and rebuilds have been completed, and work is continuing on another 13 at Gunbalanya and Belyuen.
Southern Shire refurbishments: works in the 29 communities in the MacDonnell, Barkly and Central Desert Shires is being delivered by New Future Alliance. Refurbishment works have begun at Ali Curung, Wilora, Ntaria, Jutunta, Tara, Amoonguna, Santa Teresa and Willowra. Eighty-six refurbishments have been completed and work is continuing on a further 34.
At Galiwinku, the program will deliver 90 new houses through Territory Alliance, a Territory company. Construction of the first 11 houses is under way at Galiwinku, one refurbishment is complete, and work continues on a further 13. In Alice Springs town camps, SIHIP will deliver 85 new houses through Territory Alliance. The first house has been handed over and tenanted at Larapinta Valley …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Bohlin: What did you see when you went to Alice Springs?
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Drysdale!
Dr BURNS: … construction continues on a further seven new houses. Work is under way on five new builds at Palmers Camp at Ilparpa, Nguiu and Maningrida; subdivision clearing is due to commence in Nguiu and Maningrida in the next few weeks.
Indigenous employment – this is an important aspect ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Indigenous employment and workforce development is a fundamental aspect of the program and each of the alliances is committed to at least 20% of the local workforce being Indigenous. Currently, the project is tracking at 36%. More than 200 local Indigenous people are in the training and employment program.
SIHIP has attracted some negative comments in the past. It is important to remember that SIHIP is an important first step in the long journey we have to make to deliver housing improvements in the bush.
As the Auditor-General’s June report has found - and the report was tabled a short while ago - SIHIP is on track to deliver its targets ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I will say it again: SIHIP is on track to deliver its target ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: We will debate that. It does acknowledge the issues that needed to be worked through initially and some of the history of SIHIP. But, as I said before, it is on track, and is acknowledged as on track to deliver its targets.
But there will be challenges, and I am not resiling from that. There are challenges but I and the government are very focused on delivering the targets of SIHIP. The opposition keeps on knocking this program. Why they continually whinge and carp from the sidelines is just beyond me.
We have the vision, as a government, for a better Northern Territory. We are making real efforts to address the massive backlog in housing resulting from years of CLP neglect. I come back to that paltry $4m they had, more or less yearly, over the last five years of their tenure here. It is obvious from the way they go on in this place they would knock it back, probably, to less than $4m a year if they had a chance.
We are delivering to the national partnership by building new houses and upgrading existing houses to alleviate overcrowding. Overcrowding is a problem within Indigenous communities where extended family groups tend to live together and the notion of accommodating families is a strong one. I have acknowledged publicly, with the introduction of the remote rental framework, that overcrowding is not going to be fixed overnight. We are going to have to work through this issue. We are going to have to work with those communities, with those families, to deliver that stock. I believe SIHIP and the national partnership has to be the first step in a very long journey to redress the arrears in Indigenous housing built up over many decades.
I have already mentioned the 200 Indigenous people who are in employment remotely. The alliances have committed to at least 20% of the local workforce being Indigenous. I believe we are exceeding that target significantly with Indigenous employees making up 36% of the workforce. It is interesting to hear the member for Braitling on this issue. He just wants to criticise but, as this program moves on, as we reach our targets, he will have less and less to hang his hat on. I really implore him to be constructive about this program; to make constructive non-emotive criticism. It is a step, it is a long journey.
Madam Speaker, the objective of 2030 is to achieve two people per bedroom by the year 2030. It is a big aim, it is a big ask; we are going to have to work with the Commonwealth. It is going to be a long haul, but this government has a plan. We have the resources; we have the will, I believe the CLP so sorely lack, to make a difference in this area. I thank the member for Braitling for bringing on this MPI.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I also welcome this matter of public importance; it is a very important issue. There are several things which upset me about the late hour of this debate. I believe this matter is so important the normal business of the parliament should have been set aside to debate this issue properly. Rather than sitting here at this late hour of night, following a day of puff pieces from members opposite and debates on statements, this matter of public importance is so urgent we should have done it immediately following Question Time. However, at least it is being debated. With the silly hours we seem to work now, many MPIs tend to fall off the Notice Paper.
The minister jumped up and tried to defend the indefensible. He always does his best and tries to put a positive spin on it for the government; wants people to get behind this project. I have to say, minister, we all want to be able to get behind this project; we all want to see these houses built properly. However, it is a little hard to get behind you with the spirit of cooperation you so desire when we see failure upon failure all around us.
The minister commenced by talking about the Little Children Are Sacred report. In the House, we all know about the Little Children Are Sacred; it was a damning report. It highlighted things I do not think even the most hardened of us were prepared for. We all knew there were problems in remote communities. We all knew there were major problems in remote communities, but I do not think any one suspected they were quite as bad as the authors of that report found. They found every single Indigenous community across the Northern Territory had cases where there were problems with children, and all types of deviant sexual molestation going on. That really shocked us all.
The minister said the intervention was politically motivated; John Howard somehow invoked the Northern Territory intervention to get some sort of political bounce in the polls ...
Dr Burns: With an eye to an election.
Mr TOLLNER: With an eye to an election, I think the minister said.
The reality of the situation - and it is worth revisiting this point - is the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, sat on this Little Children Are Sacred report for some months. She did everything she possibly could to sweep it under the table.
First, we talked about the federal member for Longman, Mal Brough. Mal Brough only received a copy of that report by going on the Internet. This is an issue of such importance that he had to dig up the information for himself on the Internet rather than having the Northern Territory Chief Minister, or the Indigenous affairs minister in the Northern Territory at the time, send him a copy. One would think something of such magnitude would immediately be brought to the attention of the federal minister, as well as the Prime Minister. No. Mal Brough made every effort at the time - and I know very well the efforts Mal Brough went to, because I was there - to cooperate and work with Clare Martin. She was invited to go to a summit on the issue, and refused to go. She told everyone that ‘these fellas in Canberra are just being silly’ ...
Mr Conlan: Grandstanding.
Mr TOLLNER: ‘They are grandstanding. It is not a problem’. And we still have ministers and members opposite who do not believe in the intervention. They say there is not a problem, there is not an issue; we are all beating it up. We saw the silly minister for Indigenous affairs, the member for Arnhem, jumping up in Question Time saying: ‘Oh, no, we are doing a great job here in the Northern Territory. We are fixing all these problems of this horrible legacy that was left to us by those evil racists, the CLP government, after 27 years of neglect, racism and unprovoked attacks on Aboriginal people’. What absolute nonsense!
What a silly effort that is to try to rewrite history. It is as if, up until 10 years ago, there was not a single house in remote communities; the Aboriginal people were foraging and living off - I do not know – witchetty grubs, and no one in the government here even remotely cared about them. That just flies in the face of reality.
The fact is members opposite hate the intervention. We saw the member for Arafura run around talking about the black kids’ Tampa. She still thinks that way, deep in her heart of hearts. She does not support it. None of the members on the opposite side support the intervention ...
Ms SCRYMGOUR: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member for Fong Lim often makes these scurrilous statements without any substance or basis. The member should withdraw ...
Mr Elferink: There is no point of order.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please pause, member for Fong Lim! Member for Arafura, if you wish you might approach the Speaker later with regard to a personal explanation. Member for Fong Lim, you have the call …
Ms Scrymgour: I will, because he constantly lies.
Mr TOLLNER: As I was saying, it is as obvious as the nose on our faces the member for Arafura does not support the intervention. Why would you toddle off to Sydney and run a line, talking about a black kids’ Tampa? What absolute, utter nonsense! She has done nothing to assist Aboriginal people getting into houses. As far as these people are concerned, it has to be a socialist model or no model.
She was opposed to allowing private investment in Indigenous communities. She was opposed to allowing access to remote townships via highways. She was opposed to plans to allow Aboriginal people to privately own their own houses. This is a person - and I am not knocking her; it is a political view and good on her for that view – who comes in here, and I do not know how they do this wriggle worm stuff: ‘Oh, well, now we have a federal Labor government, we support it’. And you know they do not. They do not at all; they see it as a big slush fund for every ex-Labor hack who has ever hung around. If you go through this report from the Auditor-General, it is interesting to see the minute the member for Braitling stands to make his comment and get into this matter of public importance, all of a sudden, this very important document is distributed making sure he has no opportunity to have a look at that ...
Mr Elferink: It has a few things to say too, by the way. I have read it.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, exactly. You hear all this nonsense about how great this is for Aboriginal jobs and, if you look at the Auditor-General’s report, out of total expenditure of $203m, $5m, $4.748m, $4.6m was spent on wages – 2.3%. How much of that 2.3% has gone to Indigenous employees? 20% or so. Around $1m has employed Indigenous Territorians out of the total package of $203m. Meanwhile, we have consultants in there picking up a nice little $20m - $19.607m has gone into consultants. Great Indigenous employment program this is turning out to be: nearly three years, nearly $0.75bn, and nearly 11 houses! We had the minister jump up and carry on about all the houses that are going to be built. Let us go through and have a look at some of the things the Auditor-General has pointed out.
Tiwi Islands new builds: there is to be 90 new builds. The minister said that, 90 new builds. How many houses have actually been done? Three - three houses out of a total of 90. Tennant Creek, two new builds, no houses done. Southern region, not applicable. Groote Eylandt, none. Maningrida, none. Wadeye, four houses have been completed. Gunbalanya, none. Galiwinku, none. Alice Springs, none - zero. No refurbs even completed in Alice Springs. We saw these pictures the member for Braitling held up demonstrating what a refurb is. Goodness me, I would not have realised that painting the inside of a hole in the wall is considered a refurb but, that is what this minister is prepared to hang his hat on, and then have the audacity to stand up and say we will not support him in a spirit of cooperation. Goodness me!
Mr Elferink: The hat stand is another refurb by the way.
Mr TOLLNER: The hat stand is a refurb, well, there you go.
Madam Speaker, the question is, how long are we prepared to put up with this absolute nonsense? We have a slush fund here for every ex-Labor hack in the country who seems to be able to get his snout in the trough. We have houses that are just not being built. We have this national debate going on about building the education revolution funds that have gone to schools, and some of the disasters there. They are talking about projects that actually might cost twice their real value. Goodness me! They should get up here and check out this SIHIP stuff, and see how poorly they are getting value for money in the Northern Territory. This is an absolute disgrace.
This money is important money; this money should be building shelters and houses because, ultimately, what it comes back to is protecting children, creating economies in remote communities, and actually getting things done. But, what we have in this case is a government resisting all of that. For nothing but purely ideological reasons, they are resisting all of that. They are doing everything in their power ensure this program does not work. You want to talk about being politically motivated! Well, we know what motivates these guys politically; they want to be able to stand up and say John Howard failed on the intervention; that is what they want to say: John Howard failed on in the intervention; he got it completely wrong; he could not get a house built; he could not do anything in Aboriginal communities; he was a failure. That is what is motivating these guys. By hook or by crook, they will make sure this program fails.
We come to this place and see the member for Nelson actually supporting this rort, this scurrilous crooked, fraud on Territorians; how he can support it through his council of love, as we call it on this side - what is it called?
Mr Conlan: The CTC.
Mr TOLLNER: The CTC, the Council of Territory Cooperation - the great group where we are all going with a spirit of cooperation. It does not seem to have done a hell of a lot in regard to fixing this program.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand how the minister can, in all seriousness, say this program is on track, when they have spent $200m and they have just 11 houses to show for it. That has to be one of the greatest scandals on the face of the earth. It comes back to this government - everything comes back to this government.
It started with Clare Martin trying to sweep this issue under the table, under the rug, get it out of sight, out of mind: ‘Forget the poor old black fellas living out there in remote areas, the media cycle will change, people will forget about them, we can just move on, business as usual’. Well, it did not happen like that, unfortunately for Ms Martin. She lost her job and she felt the wrath of the Australian people. Fortunately, we had a government that was prepared to act and do something.
Madam Speaker, there is much more work that needs to be done to get to the bottom of the rorts in this program. Again, I thank the member for Braitling for bringing on this matter of public importance; it is an important issue; it does need to be debated. We need to get to the bottom of this to find out where all this money is just disappearing. We do not need ministers standing up telling us how much more money they are going to spend; we know they are good at spending money. We actually want to see some results. That is all anyone wants to see, some results - and it is about time we got some.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I am surprised to be on my feet at this odd moment of members speaking. Thank you for the call, and I acknowledge the minister’s courtesy to me.
I have had a chance now - whilst this matter was delivered, before the member for Braitling was able to read this book - to peruse some of its pages. I do, however, want to address a couple of the issues raised by that rather startling and voluminous – I mean in decibels not in substance - contribution by the Leader of Government Business. I understand the idea is to play politics with these issues but, as the former member for Macdonnell, I have seen some of the products of the housing issues out there. I know what happens in these remote Aboriginal communities; I have seen it and I am disappointed by it. It also disappoints me we have a program which is, in essence, a welfare-based program - we are going to build houses and give them away to people who need them.
Perhaps it is reality of the history we have all inherited as a Territory jurisdiction, but it saddens me there is still, in these remote Aboriginal communities, an incapacity for the people to purchase their own homes by the sweat of their own brows. I believe that would be an eminently preferable outcome, and should be the outcome we are striving for because, in such an environment, the Aboriginal people who live in these remote places would actually be participants in the overall economy, not merely an addendum tacked to the side.
I listened carefully to the ejaculations by the minister, and I was concerned he was so quick to point out the $4m contribution by the former government. Whilst that was true, it formed part of an organisation called the IHANT program. The IHANT program was an annual program of about $50m or a little less, depending on the year, which collected into one bucket contributions from governments - plural - including the Northern Territory government. The Territory government kicked in some $4m and, I note, so did this government when IHANT was running; it only put about $4m or $5m into the same bucket and continued to follow the same funding philosophy. The rest of the bucket was made up from CHIP funding and NARS funding and those sorts of things. It was meant to build houses.
I listened to the description of the desolation left behind by the Country Liberals before the change of government, and the sun came up for the first time in the Northern Territory. I am struck by one fairly anomalous problem in the argument. We are repairing all these thousands of houses which were a legacy of the decay left behind by the Country Liberals who never built a house. I am somewhat surprised to hear that argument because the question follows: if the Country Liberals did not build a house, where did those thousands of houses come from that you guys are repairing? Martians came down from another planet and built them? Or were they all built during the pre-self-government era when the Country Liberals did not do anything for 28 years, did not build any houses?
That is just arrant nonsense and not helpful to little Ambrose, a young kid I know at Kintore. It does not help him. It may be winning a point, but how does that help little Ambrose? He would be eight by now, I think. I remember him because I pulled him out from under a car at an accident, because of some of the other social problems that happen in some remote communities. I am concerned, with all the yelling and screaming, that little Ambrose is being simply forgotten in this. I am concerned the process of trying to build these houses – which, in my opinion, are a poorer outcome than we should be striving for - is an attempt to address a housing need in remote communities where there is insufficient wealth locally generated for the purchase of houses.
The government has identified all these problems with remote housing; and it is true, there have been problems, there is no doubt about it. They have determined they have the answer. Up until 2009, the Northern Territory government was the organisation in charge of SIHIP. This is where we have the first of our problems. I was really hoping someone would deliver some of these houses so, perhaps, other things could happen in these remote communities. Unfortunately, not many people are aware the Northern Territory has had two interventions in the last five or six years - the one we all know as the intervention, and the second one which was the intrusion by the federal government on the Northern Territory’s conduct in relation to SIHIP.
I heard the Leader for Government Business say he was very happy with the Auditor-General’s report. I am surprised. These are some of the things the Auditor-General has said in relation to how the Northern Territory managed the program:
unreliable initial estimates of the cost of building new houses and refurbishing existing houses. Those estimates have since been revised;
By that time, $42m - if the figure is correct - was spent by this Northern Territory government, and they have not addressed those fundamental and straightforward issues. It is reprehensible for the government to point the finger at others when they, sadly, had not positioned themselves at all well. So excruciatingly embarrassing was this outcome, we saw the division which resulted in the departure of the member for Macdonnell from the government ranks, and from the ranks of the Australian Labor Party - that was the level of her disgust. The level of Jenny Macklin’s disgust was to intervene on the way the Northern Territory was managing this program.
As a result of that intervention - and you have to remember by this stage it had been two years since SIHIP was announced - two years had passed, $42m had been spent, and they had not even allocated the packages for the rebuilds. That can only cause one deep concern about how this program has been managed.
Moreover, it becomes clear on page 23 of this report, of the $672m originally intended for SIHIP, the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program - the second ‘I’ has dropped away; it is now SIHP, because infrastructure is no longer a component of SIHIP. That component is now picked up by the Northern Territory government. There are two issues here: of the whole package of $672m, the Northern Territory had to contribute $100m to the development of this program. Subsequent to the poor management of this program, the second ‘I’ dropped out of SIHIP and, as a consequence, the infrastructure component has to be picked up - and I quote from the Auditor-General: ‘… increases in cost will need to be met from other sources’.
From the Territory taxpayer’s component, you now have $140m extra being pumped into this program. The original SIHIP was to build the sewerage pipe from the toilet, down under the floor, out to the garden, down through the gate, down to the headworks, where it would be picked up. Not anymore. Now, the sewerage pipe, as far as SIHIP is concerned, stops at the fence. The sewerage pipe from the fence to the headworks, so it can meet the rest of the infrastructure needs of the community, has to be sourced from elsewhere. $140m is the bill that goes with the $20m last year, $50m in this budget - $70m still to be sourced. How many Aboriginal houses can you build for $140m, which will not now be due to the mismanagement of the program at that stage?
Macklin came and intervened; it is an intervention. It is ‘nominally a joint arrangement’ - my eye - it is an intervention. But, still, it does not bode well for the future. I draw members’ attention to page 47 of this report where the Auditor-General makes three observations. The first observation is:
So, there you go. Other sources of money will have to be found; that is, money that could have gone to other programs – hopefully, job creation programs in Aboriginal communities. I remind honourable members, as we speak, the government has not yet found a solution to the 500 Aboriginal people who are about to be fired because, once again, agreements were not put in place. That is a disgrace. To hear the member for Johnston, the Leader of Government Business, talk about Aboriginal employment in this place today and not mention the 500 Aboriginal people, at least, who are going to be fired in the next three weeks is a disgrace. Those are real jobs. They are the people who, I was hoping, would actually buy some houses. Well, now they are back on the dole. This is part of the legacy of poor planning.
Point 2:
By the way, this is a good result according to the member for Johnston. He has just stood up in this place and said he is looking forward to debating this because he thinks it is a great report. My goodness, I would hate to see his yardstick of a bad review.
Finally, the third observation in the conclusions:
The Auditor-General has said: (1) you are going to need more money; (2) you have not factored in indexation so, as these delays occur, your percentage, your capacity, of that 672 is cut by 3%, which is the current inflation rate or thereabouts; and (3) you do not have the governance systems in place with which to identify the shortcomings coming your way - the very issues which caused SIHIP to fail under the tutelage and care of the Northern Territory government exclusively.
That sends a shiver up my spine. It concerns me because, at the end of all of this, how does this help little Ambrose who is still sitting out in Kintore expecting something to happen? I do not think they are building any houses in Kintore – but I could stand corrected on that. How does this help the kids in my old electorate of Macdonnell? How does it help any of these kids?
Whilst it is all about satisfying the public need and the conscience of the Australian public to deliver houses in the bush, that is all it has become about. Jenny Macklin, Mal Brough, and a few of the others, stood up and made huge announcements of what this program was going to achieve. They have steadfastly stuck to these benchmark numbers. The houses have become smaller, the standards of the refurbs have gone down, it is now no longer clear what a refurb and a rebuild is - it is all morphed in this nebulous blob. But, so long as we reach the targets so the people in Toorak, St Ives, and on the north shore of Sydney can rest well in their beds at night, being convinced and believing they have delivered X number of houses. If those houses turn out to be substandard, if those refurbs turn out not to be refurbs at all, it does not matter. Thank goodness, we have managed to convince the people on the north shore of Sydney and in Toorak they can sleep well at night because we have housed Indigenous people.
Madam Deputy Speaker, that is the real travesty of this. This is not about Aboriginal people; this is about winning votes in those other locations.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support this matter of public importance brought to the House by the member for Braitling. I would also like to put on record the passion I see in someone who does not even come from the Northern Territory. This is an Aboriginal kid, born and bred in New South Wales, who became a politician in the Northern Territory in the seat of Braitling, and has more passion to talk about Indigenous issues - the lack of housing and child protection, because it is all related, education and health - than any member sitting across on that side of the House.
I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Braitling for bringing this matter of public importance, and I say to the member for Johnston, who said the member for Braitling needs to watch his seat so he does not lose it as Mal Brough did; let me tell you, as a colleague of his who lives in Alice Springs - he works his electorate - he always has time to go into town camps; he always has time to travel out to remote Aboriginal communities. It does not matter whose electorate it is in – Stuart, Barkly, Arnhem, Arafura, Macdonnell - he does all that, plus service his electorate of Braitling. He is a fantastic member for the seat of Braitling, and fantastic for the people of Alice Springs.
I go on to talk about the MPI and how important this is. I believe we should bring a matter of public importance that relates to how Indigenous people, Indigenous children, the safety of Indigenous children, are connected to housing; it all happens from housing. A child cannot get an education unless they live in a house that is not overcrowded. A child cannot be healthy unless they live in a normal house that is not overcrowded. A child’s safety is at risk if the house is overcrowded.
Yes, the intervention came into the Northern Territory because of the failure of the Northern Territory government. I was with government then. We sat on the report of the Little Children are Sacred for six weeks. We all know that, and we cannot deny it. We hid that report for six weeks. Of course, the federal government was up in arms; it is absolutely disgraceful. As part of that review, an Indigenous woman, Pat Anderson, looked into all the issues to do with child safety and alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory. The member for Johnston said this was all politically motivated; the federal government had come in because it was political that they talk about these issues. No, it was not. Are you now trying to say that a person like Pat Anderson made up these things? This was evidence given to the inquiry by Indigenous people, by Indigenous organisations. And, let us not kid ourselves, these things are still happening.
There was an eight-year-old girl in a nearby community only a couple of months ago. I will not name the community and I will not name the little girl who said she had been abused. I am still in the process of finding out whether that case has been closed. That is only a couple of months ago - an eight-year-old child. That same child is back in the community with the perpetrator.
Are we going to stand here and deny it in this House, because we put the blame on someone else’s political ambition? We are denying these things are happening. We can stand up in this House and say things are okay out there in the remote Aboriginal community. We know literacy and numeracy is appalling, we all know that; they have been telling us that for decades now.
Let us not start blaming someone who governed the Northern Territory for 21 years, 10 years ago. You have now been in power for 10 years and you are failing. You are not just failing the people of the Northern Territory, but the children of the Northern Territory. If we are to get education and health right, then we have to begin with good housing that is safe for children to study in, to live in. It should be safe enough for a child to get out of the bedroom and go to the bathroom without being taken by a perpetrator between the bedroom and the bathroom. This is the kind of things we have to talk about. As I said, we can stand in this House and deny it, but there is an eight-year-old girl, only a couple of months ago, who was abused. Are we going to stand there and deny these things ever happen?
Do we think it is acceptable that it happened to one child? No, it should not be, not to any of us, because we are all grandfathers, grandmothers, aunties, uncles, and parents of children. Is it okay it happened to this child? No, it is not. It is not acceptable in this society, whether it is black or white society. We have to fight harder for Indigenous kids to have the safety of a home, a good home that can be locked, where the bedroom can be locked so they cannot be abused. They need safety where they cannot be got at in the lounge room while they are going from the bathroom back to their rooms or going to the kitchen to get nibblies.
We have to protect these children. If we are talking about good education and good health, we have to start by giving them good homes, not homes with 25 to 35 people living in them. We need to give them homes that children can call homes because just their family live there.
These are the kinds of things we have to talk about and be honest about. We cannot blame other people for something they did 21 years ago; because you are now in government and you have been in government, with all the flow of federal money for the last 10 years. You are still failing, and you are not closing any gap. You are not closing the gap of education; you are not closing the gap of housing; you are not closing the gap of health.
Child protection is still an issue. Yes, it is still an issue when you have a perpetrator in a community and a little eight-year-old child is sent back to that same community to live with the perpetrator, and the perpetrator walks around in that community abusing the mother of the eight-year-old and saying whatever she tells the police or Family and Community Services is not true. The community ridicules her and tells her she is mad because she did not know what she was saying. Are we going to deny what that little eight-year-old girl disclosed? Are we going to say she lied or she made it up? We should not; we should listen to her, because she is the future of that community, the future of the Northern Territory, the future of Central Australia. She has a right to be safe, to be educated and to be healthy.
Let us not stand in this House and point fingers. Let us not say these things are not happening, or someone instigated an intervention because it was politically motivated. I am sure Rex Wild and Pat Anderson, in their report, would not have thought it was politically motivated when they wrote their recommendations to the Labor Party. It is really sad that we, as a government, back then when I was with you, sat on that report for six weeks. That is what caused the intervention; it was because we tried to hide it. Let us be honest about it. We tried to hide it, and the fact of the matter was there had to be an intervention because we were sitting on a major report important to the future of Territory children for six weeks - six weeks!
Housing is a key element in any form of social fabric in a community. A child cannot be healthy unless they live in a good home. A child cannot be educated unless they come from a good and safe home.
I take this opportunity to thank the member for Braitling for bringing this MPI to the House because it shows you are sincere. As I said, you are a New South Wales black kid who has more feeling for Territory black kids and Territory housing than any member sitting on that side - whether they are Tiwi, Warlpiri, Yanyula, or whatever. I do not know whether the member for Arafura is Anmatjere or Tiwi. She claims she is Tiwi, but she also claims she is Anmatjere. That will be one of the interesting subjects we will have to discuss in the future, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Ms McCARTHY (Indigenous Development): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak to this matter of public importance brought on by the member for Braitling. Before starting it is important, after listening to the member for Macdonnell, if there are issues she has raised in this House regarding the care of children, I certainly urge any member of this House to use their responsibility as an adult in the Northern Territory, to report immediately those concerns to the relevant authorities. I urge each and every member of parliament to recognise our responsibilities regarding any child we are aware of in our travels as elected members and officials, whether in our electorate or anywhere across the Northern Territory.
When we talk about the Little Children are Sacred report, what we are really talking about is decades of neglect. As the authors, Pat Anderson and Rex Wild said, we needed a long-term plan to overcome the disadvantage and gloom experienced by Indigenous Territorians as a result of that neglect. Importantly, we are talking about building local leadership and maximising opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to build strong families and sustain strong and safe communities.
The development of local leadership was a crucial theme of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, which culminated in the Little Children are Sacred report. More specifically, the board of inquiry and the Little Children are Sacred report highlighted:
That is a crucial part of our government’s policy direction; it does not matter how much money governments put in at either Northern Territory or federal level, and it does not matter if the people on the ground are not a part of that process. It was highlighted by Pat Anderson and Rex Wild, and we recognise it within our policies, in particular A Working Future for the regions across the Northern Territory.
In recognition of this important objective of building local leadership and strong families, the Little Children are Sacred report proposed Aboriginal women and men be supported and assisted to take responsibility participating in planning the future for their communities and to improve child, family, and community wellbeing. The other key messages from the report were a long-term commitment to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage was required, and a strong partnership between the government and Indigenous people was absolutely essential to future success.
In response to the report, our government released our Closing the Gap generational plan of action. As our Chief Minister said at the time:
Yes, at the time there was no doubt, no question, of the incredible emotion as members worked together to see what we could do for the people of the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory government’s Closing the Gap intergenerational plan of action aimed to build a partnership between governments and Indigenous people, and commit all parties to consult and accept their responsibilities for a better future. The Northern Territory government then, as it is now, was absolutely committed to this work, because this work needs a long-term plan and sustained effort. We also know we would need to adapt and improve our plans over time, and to align investments with the priorities established in local plans at the local level.
Strong local governments have been critical to this important partnership between governments and Indigenous people. Our new shires have helped foster community representation in local government, promote Indigenous leadership, and provide the basis for Indigenous people to help build a better future for their children and for themselves. Let us not forget the reasons for our local government reform: the cycle of function and dysfunction in local community government councils, and inconsistency in service delivery.
All of this was very much a part of the Little Children Are Sacred report in the holistic approach to the 97 recommendations in that report, which did not just focus on one issue in trying to improve the lives of Aboriginal people but, most importantly, the care of our children.
An important element of our Closing the Gap plan of action was the provision of grants to shire councils to develop local community input in council decision-making. The grants program has also assisted the development of community-based local boards, and supports local Closing the Gap projects. For example, this year I announced the funding for the Tiwi Island Shire to support the development of an Indigenous women’s group. Other projects have focused on relating to families and children. In this way, our government is working towards proper engagement with Indigenous Territorians in designing policy and service delivery, and in helping all of us develop capacity to meet our obligations and responsibilities in building a better future for all people across the Territory.
Since the time this report was released, we have experienced the intervention phase of the Northern Territory Emergency Response. A review of that phase highlighted, for all governments, a need to move forward from top down intervention, and focus on resetting our relationships with local people to build the strong, healthy, and enduring future we all know is necessary for the wellbeing of all Territorians.
Continuing the theme of working in partnership with the need for local plans that everyone can commit to, our government in 2009 took a very big step in developing a new policy direction, A Working Future - a vital part of this government’s long-term commitment. At every step of this journey there have been important milestones in the future of the people of the Northern Territory. A Working Future is the next step in that journey to improve the lives of Aboriginal Territorians.
It is important for all of us to get this right. The key to success, as highlighted by the Little Children Are Sacred report and encompassed by the Closing the Gap long-term plan, is working with local people in the development of each growth town’s local implementation plan. These plans are built with local people – plans that identify the gaps and the people’s priorities. That is what we have to do; that is what governments have to do at the higher end of the level. But, it is the coordination of the federal and Northern Territory governments that is absolutely crucial to assisting the development of what the local people on the ground want.
I am pleased the work is well advanced in A Working Future, especially as we have been travelling across the Northern Territory talking to residents of local towns, and to the shires. There is optimism for the future that it provides for all our families in our remote communities. In fact, in my own electorate of Arnhem, in Umbakumba in particular, there is an incredible change in the people in Umbakumba – in the development of the people. What I said before in this parliament, and I will continue to say, is we are not only growing our regions in houses and jobs, we are growing our own in local people taking an active part in decision-making for their lives. In Umbakumba, there is one rebuilt and 12 refurbished houses handed back so far to the people and the families in Umbakumba - an extraordinary difference in their lives. Three have been, and more will be, completed in the near future. That is a total of 17 in Umbakumba alone.
The significant social change, the attitudinal change in the very families who live in these homes, and the sense of strong community for Umbakumba is quite overwhelming, wonderful, optimistic, and breathtaking in the fact that here, something terrific is happening.
The first refurbished house was handed over to one family who has a daughter in a wheelchair, and this work included a disabled bathroom, widened doorways and wheelchair access ramp; and all that has made a significant difference to the lives of this family. I am so pleased to see the difference it makes just to this one family’s life, and to the children who are growing up in this home; it is already impacting on their way of life in the very positive and constructive way they wanted to happen.
There is another family which has taken possession of a refurbished house and signed a Territory Housing tenancy agreement, and they take great pride in keeping their houses the way they want them, whether it is significant gardening or fencing, it is the way they want it. Each family to shape their own house, their yard, the way they want it to be seen, in their neighbourhood, in their street, in their town. It is no different to a family in Fannie Bay, Malak, or Woodroffe, who take pride in their respective places.
These families in Umbakumba are now repairing their fences, planting lawns, shrubs and flowerbeds to improve and maintain their yards; something which was not the case only months ago. I recall coming in as the member for Arnhem five years ago and now seeing the enormous difference in the lives of families here. I am very proud of the work being done in this particular community because I know the families have grabbed the opportunities they want, and are moulding and shaping them the way they want. It does not mean they always agree with government, that they always say the Territory government is right, or the federal government was right - none of that matters. What matters is these families are taking an active interest in deciding how they want their children to grow up, and the children are responding in that environment.
A Working Future is not just about planning and infrastructure, it is about building local economies, creating jobs, supporting strong families, building strong local leadership, and supporting family wellbeing. It is about a strong and prosperous future for all Territorians living in our regions. Our government has also established the Indigenous Affairs Advisory Council of senior Indigenous leaders from across the Territory to complement the work of the local community boards who are working in the regions and the shires.
Having the ability to connect and listen to the resources and expertise of the people on the IAAC, as well as the local boards, is also about empowering at a local level. Again, it comes back to government and, in our case, our government encouraging local people at the local level to take affirmative action about where they want to go. It is about each town setting the direction and determining the future. It is also about engendering an investment environment, working with the land councils and local people to streamline leasing arrangements, and to encourage and develop local economies, creating training opportunities and real jobs for our young people which will take generational change, but positive generational change. Having a work ethic is very much what our government is about; we are about the long haul and the journey that sees this change, not only today, not only tomorrow, but so the people, the young babies, the kids who are growing up today, do have a better future.
The Indigenous Economic Development Strategy set targets for achievement by 2012 to generate increased Indigenous participation and economic development through growing Indigenous employment, business and wealth. With these targets, 3000 more Indigenous Territorians will commence employment across the private and public sectors - 10% Indigenous employment in the Northern Territory Public Service - and 200 new Indigenous businesses.
This is part of the overall plan we have to have. We cannot just focus on a house or a school; it has to be a collective decision, a whole-of-government approach and plan, wanting to improve the lives of Indigenous Territorians.
As I told the House this morning, two major businesses have already indicated they want to work with us to build their business in regional communities. Again, I stress, the emphasis will always be that each of these growth towns, each of these communities, must feel confident about determining their future, and about the businesses they would like to see come in, and the opportunities - whether it is in tourism, private business, or in other areas with the public service.
The Little Children Are Sacred report highlighted the need for long-term commitment to overcome Indigenous disadvantage. What is required is a strong partnership between governments at both federal and Territory level, but in particular, a strong partnership between government and Indigenous people is absolutely essential.
I will reference the comments of Mr Gary Banks, Chairman of the Productivity Commission, who, in the most recent Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report, identified four factors common to many of the things that work: (1) cooperative approaches between Indigenous people and government; (2) community involvement in program design and decision-making; (3) ongoing government support - human, financial and physical; and (4) good governance which must be nurtured and supported.
These four factors are at the crux of our Closing the Gap long-term plan and our A Working Future initiative. We have a plan for the long term. Our new shires have helped foster good governance through community representation. A Working Future is a strong investment plan, working with the Australian government and local people. Our A Working Future initiative will provide ongoing government support to these growth towns. Budget 2010-11 kick starts this investment plan with a record $980m plan of action across all program areas.
The Little Children Are Sacred report highlighted the vital role of local leadership in overcoming Indigenous disadvantage. The report also sent the Northern Territory government a clear message that a partnership between the government and Indigenous people is essential to future success.
Madam Deputy Speaker, that is exactly what we are embarking on. That is exactly the journey we have begun, and it is the journey we will continue to take to improve the lives of all people across the Northern Territory but, most importantly, the children of the Northern Territory.
Discussion concluded.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak briefly this evening on an issue which has been debated in this House and the media, which is the proposal by the government to put a secure care facility not only in the rural area but also the rural area of Alice Springs in Cotterill Road. I have tabled a petition with over 400 signatures in regard to this issue. Earlier today the member for Macdonnell tabled a petition with concerns about the planning proposal.
We had a public meeting in the rural area and I thank the minister for having departmental staff address the meeting. It was disappointing the minister could not attend even though his office knew about the meeting. The departmental people did very well under somewhat heated questioning by residents who are understandably upset that this proposed facility, planned to house people with high risk behaviour, is to be put in a residential area.
The Bees Creek area is within 2 km of an educational hub, which is of great concern not only to me, but also to the establishments which operate in that educational hub; namely, two major primary schools, one of which is moving towards having a middle school; there is a preschool centre; and there is a day care centre. The government has spent tens of millions of dollars developing that centre and educational hub and, from a planning point of view, it is quite alarming to consider putting a quasi-medical, quasi-detention facility just down the road.
I am also concerned at the conflicting advice from the departmental people and from the minister. In a briefing I had with departmental people they said they had looked at different sites; however, from discussions with constituents I have two different reports that some departmental staff have said they have only looked at one site, which is the Bees Creek site, and other staff have said they have looked at many sites. In Darwin they have looked at Berrimah Farm, sites near the hospital, and sites in the rural area.
It is very concerning there does not seem to be a consistent message and there is sometimes inaccurate information given. It should be of note to government the large number of submissions, particularly in the Top End, in regard to this development application. I understand there have been 50 or 60 submissions put in to the Development Consent Authority and three or four consultations appear to have taken submissions from constituents who did not have the opportunity the first time. No doubt that number would have risen quite substantially. The hearing before the Development Consent Authority is going to be a big hearing, and I hope they book a larger room than Whitewood hall.
The other concern is in some of the informal discussions between the minister and constituents. There seems to be some conflicting and different groups, and I am not quite sure I understand it. The minister’s was on radio saying the government could not put it at the AZRI site in Alice Springs because that was too far from a medical facility, the hospital, which is 10 km, but it is obviously okay to put a site 40 km from the Royal Darwin Hospital, at the Lowther Road site. I do not understand the logic of that.
One of my constituents informally met with the minister at the airport, and she suggested the minister and the government should look at land closer to Royal Darwin Hospital, perhaps the Lyons area. His comment was: ‘No, we cannot put it there because it is residential’. I am not really sure what people living on five acres blocks or two-and-a-half blocks are if they are not residential. It seems the minister has a different level or description that people who live in urban areas are residential, but people who live on blocks in Lowther Road are not residential at all. That concerns me quite a bit.
Departmental staff did say at the public meeting that it was only a proposed site, and during the course of the meeting they said they would prefer the site to be closer to town. We welcome those comments. Obviously a final, conclusive decision has not been made on that site, which is a poor site. It is a bad site and it is not good planning.
My constituent also asked the minister why the facility could not be built on part of Berrimah Farm as these people apparently need a lovely, bush setting. The minister advised my constituent this was not possible as the soil was contaminated and it was only possible to put light industrial there. So that puts an end to Berrimah Farm being turned into a development for housing because, by the minister’s own admission, the area is contaminated and not suitable for residential buildings.
The minister talked to my constituent in a general way and agreed that if he was a resident he would be angry as well if this pink sign went up and the necessary consultation not undertaken. In the media release in December 2009 there were assurances that there would be adequate consultation for all sites selected before the pink signs were put up, but, clearly, this did not happen. The minister then stated this is why he did not attend the meeting in the rural area, and I quote: ‘… as the Health department had made such a blip-blip-blip of it, they had to deal with it’. If that is not abdicating responsibility, I do not know what is. We commented on the fact the two departmental officials who came by themselves and, as I said, had some heated questions put to them, acquitted themselves very well; and I thank them for that.
The minister said the departmental people had made a mess of it, and they had had to deal with it and come back to him with a solution. It seems he is trying to step away from the problem he created through lack of consultation in matters of planning, and it disturbs me he is putting out information that it is okay to look after the town people, but it is not okay to look after rural people: Blow you people; the fact you have chosen to live in the rural area is of no real concern to us, and you are just going to have to suffer. Quite clearly, from the large number of strong objections to this proposal, the Development Consent Authority will have to take into consideration all the issues put in those submissions. It is not supported accommodation; it is a quasi-medical centre, a quasi-detention centre and it is in complete conflict with the planning of that area, rural living.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I dissect the so-called recent polling which I believe was fabricated and rewritten by the Labor Party. It is a sign of Labor’s desperation to deflect attention away from their internal problems. Those on this side of the House have a greater understanding of the numbers than those of the Australian Labor Party. Usually, we do not talk publicly about our polling due to our respect for shadow Cabinet confidentiality and solidarity; however, on this occasion I have sought and been granted permission from my colleagues to say a few words about what was placed in the newspaper last week and over the weekend. I cannot let it pass unaddressed.
By way of setting the scene, let me go back to the previous Chief Minister. Polling set out that in early 2007 the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, was quite popular, with a nett approval rating in the teens in Darwin. That was not the case in Alice Springs where Ms Martin was well into negative territory. By the time the 2007 federal election came round, Clare Martin’s popularity had also fallen in Darwin, where she was tracking in negative double figures. It is times like this political parties look around and say: ‘Shall we go with this one or get another one?’ Fortunately for the Labor Party, the member for Wanguri had already done much of the spade work when it came to digging Clare Martin’s political grave.
The federal November 2007 polling started a feeding frenzy within the Labor government with Clare Martin’s carcass on the menu. Her replacement, the member for Wanguri, had a higher approval rating at the time, somewhere around the high 20s. But the numbers did not stay that way for long as Territorians realised that Hendo was a complete dud. Just months before the Territory election, and not long into his reign, his numbers started to fall. The slide had begun as had voter support for Labor. The member for Wanguri arrogantly ignored the polling and called an election which did not quite go the way he had expected. Curiously, days out from that election, in a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from their own issues, Labor apparatchiks called journalists to tell them that Terry Mills was in deep trouble in his own seat. They provided no evidence for this and to correct the record, our side provided a look into a number of seats to show what the real numbers were from real polling taken only a few days before. It set out the fact that Terry would win his seat comfortably and we were on track to win somewhere between 10 and 12 seats. History showed that our numbers were accurate within a couple of percent.
But what of the fictitious Labor polling; what of the person who sat in front of a computer, opened up an Excel spreadsheet and started dreaming up Hendo’s alternative reality? We, on this side, thought that after the Territory election polling debacle they would have, or that person would have gone into permanent retirement, but no, he or she emerged last week even more pathetically than the last time.
Let us look at the poll rating scale from the research done last May. Top of the ladder was, yes, you guessed it, Terry Mills; then came the Chief Minister, Paul Henderson; then close behind, the member for Karama; then myself, tied with the member for Arafura. Since then, the slide has continued for the Chief Minister. Last year, we had another look, and again, yes, you guessed it, Terry Mills was on top of the charts; Kevin Rudd was in second place …
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker!
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim …
Mr TOLLNER: … followed by Kezia Purick …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, please pause …
Mr TOLLNER: … then Delia Lawrie; Warren Snowdon …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, would you please pause and resume your seat? Thank you. We have a point of order.
Mr KNIGHT: The member well knows he needs to refer to members by their electorate names.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: If you could, please, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: … Warren Snowdon, then me; Chief Minister Henderson; Trish Crossin and way down the bottom, well into negative territory, was Damian Hale.
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member well knows he needs to refer to members by their electorate names.
A member: No, not federal members.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Deputy Speaker, I am talking federal members here. What is the point …
Mr Knight: No, you were talking about Chief Minister Henderson.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is either Chief Minister or member for Wanguri, to be accurate. Thank you, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: So the slide continues for the member for Wanguri. Territorians could see he was not up to the job, that his government stood for nothing and does nothing. They were seeing how inept he was as the Chief Minister, and the member for Blain was a clear alternative and it was a time for change within Labor.
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: But, courtesy of the agreement Hendo stitched up with the member for Nelson, Labor has no choice; they had to keep flogging the dead horse of the Henderson government. For government members to stay on the fine leather couches of the fifth floor they have to continue to support the member for Wanguri, despite the deeply negative impact he is having on their electoral standing. How frustrating it must be for the member for Karama and Warren Snowdon who are the most popular Labor politicians in the Northern Territory. This brings us to Labor’s most recent attempt at polling.
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Last week, we again saw that little boffin upstairs punching away at the spreadsheet making up the next set of numbers in a desperate attempt to prop up the member for Wanguri’s blighted bungling and hopeless leadership. What we saw was fabricated polling constructed in a desperate attempt to attack and undermine the member for Blain. But you know what? It does not wash! It does not wash on this side of the House because we do our own polling and we are aware of the real story. I suspect the whole set of numbers was made up.
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Although, a little birdie on the Labor side did say all they had done was swap a few names around. According to the numbers released last week, I am up the top of the charts, closely followed by the Chief Minister, and then Terry Mills.
We, on this side, have had much data over the years and, I am sorry, but your little boffin has overcooked this one too badly for it to be even remotely believable. In setting this out I am guided by a real poll taken last week and over the weekend. What did it say? You would never guess: way up front was the member for Blain, then a drop to the member for Karama, Warren Snowdon, then the member for Goyder, then a drop to the member for Wanguri, and then me, Crossin and Rudd.
On our side, we know we have a winner with the member for Blain. The public sees his genuineness, his decency and his style of leadership, and they like it. The same cannot be said for the member for Wanguri, and it will only be by dint of his dirty deal with the member for Nelson that the member for Wanguri leads you to the next election.
The real issue though is not about the Labor Party falsifying polling - that is just a given, and they have a track record to prove it - in doing this, they have committed a fraud on the media and the public, by extension. I wonder who it was in the Labor Party who said: ‘We need to do a number on Terry. I will construct some bogus polling and that will do the trick’. Well, it is clear those opposite and those within their party are so devoid of ethics and morality that falsifying such material and misleading journalists, and attempting to do the same with the wider Territory community, matters not a jot. One can only hope next time there will be some level of appropriate scrutiny applied, and the level of due diligence we would expect from the media. I would hope, in future, the paper will seek out alternative polling - and ours has shown to be accurate in the past. It is curious to note the polling we have given to the newspapers has barely rated a mention.
Of course, no amount of bogus polling will hide the truth: you are all rotten to the core and your deeply unpopular leader is driving you all to political oblivion. You are a moribund government, devoid of ideas, devoid of any action, and you have the audacity to think the public like it. It is just a pathetic attempt to divert attention for your own misgivings and your own misguided ideas, and your own failures, and the pathetic effort you make as a government.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am glad I had the opportunity to correct the record.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I wish to talk about a wonderful school camp I had the pleasure of attending last week or the week before - I cannot remember – in the last couple of weeks.
I went to the Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit. This is the fourth school camp I have been to, and the first to Batchelor. All the others have been to Jabiru Peaks. There are great facilities there; the team is excellent, and the 81 students who went from Bakewell School were extremely polite and active, as one might expect when young people go on camps.
I pay tribute to Shannon Birch, Michael Kerris, Brianna, Bonnie, Colleen, Nicole, Vicky and Julie Graham, a bunch of teachers, and the Inclusion Support Assistants who where there; and also to Carol and Leanne, parents who graciously provided their time during the day. I also pay tribute to Michael Kerris, who had an accident on one of the bike outings; he had to brake very severely and went over the handlebars. A couple of ribs and the collarbone went, I think. All the kids thought he would die when the ambulance came to take him away, but I hear Michael is on the mend and I wish him well.
I had to take over a group of students; Group One we were of these 81 students. I, perhaps, do not have the patience teachers have today and, with my whistle around my neck, I pulled them into line pretty quickly. I enjoyed the experience, and I am sure they enjoyed the experience just as much.
To those children: Keith Barclay; Jake Baptista; Taylor Hall, who I named Taylor Swift or Swifty; Jemma Fosdick; Jayden Probert; April Magnum, Chloe Webber; Sandy Tran; Jonathon Catidja Connop, Nicki Boulton, Jessika Lewis, Joseph Chin, Donella Young, Ashane Atendorff, Almada Boucadis and Shania Brewster. I take my hat off to you guys because you were left without your teacher, left in the hands of an amateur, and you pulled it off very well. They went on to win the team events, the team that was most neat and tidy, paid attention - you can achieve a lot with a whistle.
It was my first time at Batchelor, and it was a wonderful experience. They did not quite get me up on the high ropes. Like at Jabiru Peaks, I refused to go on the flying fox because I was led to believe the speed is characterised by your weight. It was not a nice idea to go on the flying fox; I was not certain the brakes at the bottom would pull me up.
It was a great time. The Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit is a wonderful facility. One thing I think is very relevant and important to note is one of the questions I asked teachers later in the evening: some of the kids who, in school, are perhaps, terrors, do they find a difference with that group at a place like Batchelor? The answer was an absolute, yes, they do. Kids who often play up at school seem to blossom in an environment like the outdoor entertainment centre. That is quite interesting, and it demonstrates to me how different people learn different activities, and I think school camps are an amazing thing.
I can remember going to places like Lake Keepit and Myuna Bay in northern New South Wales and away for up to two weeks at time. I still remember singing songs like Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, because I wanted to go home – I really did. I take my hat off to the teachers who take our children …
Mr Elferink: I still know the words to that.
Mr CHANDLER: You used to know the words?
Mr Elferink: I still do.
Mr CHANDLER: Oh, no!
I take my hat off to the parents and teachers who get involved in these camps, particularly the ones interstate, because that takes on a whole new dimension. It is a great responsibility for teachers and parents who take groups of children to Melbourne and Sydney. In this case, it was also an absolute pleasure to deal with the teachers involved. I take my hat off to those people who get involved, particularly on interstate trips. That is a big responsibility. I wish them well. Bakewell School, like other schools, will be going on other camps this year and interstate trips and I wish them well. Enjoy the experience.
Mr WESTRA VAN HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is with much pleasure I speak about an annual event in Katherine held on this past weekend, 5 June 2010. I am referring to a special event that has its roots, as far as I can tell, in aristocratic Europe of the 17th century. The origins of the name of this event come from a French word dbuter, which means ‘to begin’. I am of course, referring to the 2010 Katherine Debutante Ball.
The history of this event revolves around a young woman, usually aged 17 or 18, who is formally introduced to society at a ball or coming out party. The original purpose of the debut was to announce that young women of prominent social standing were available for courtship by eligible young men. This social ritual was necessitated by the traditional upper-class practice of sending girls away to boarding school where they were virtually hidden from view, prohibited from dating, attending parties with mixed company, or socialising with adults. A formal announcement thus introduced the debutante to her social peers and potential suitors. The custom has been long established amongst the aristocracy and the upper classes in England where debutantes were, until the mid-twentieth century, presented at court.
In America, the debutante ball derived from the formal etiquette of the 19th century, but the ritual has been transformed by each generation’s evolving notions about the proprieties of class, sexual freedom, and the role of women.
According to the 1883 etiquette reference, The Manners That Win, a debutante should have graduated school, sing or play an instrument gracefully, dance with elegance, and know the rules governing polite society. Having mastered these essential skills, she was presumed ready for courtship, leading, of course, to marriage - at the time, the single vocational avenue open to well-to-do women. It is good that things have changed.
By the 1920s some latitude had relaxed the rules of the debut and by then, the debut had migrated across oceans to America and also to Australia. After World War II, the debutante ball spread to almost every city in America and enjoyed a heyday during many conservative years. Yet, a decade later, anti-establishment sentiment led many young women even of the most affluent status to abandon the event, dismissing it as an anachronistic snobbery. In addition, sexual liberation and the feminist movement challenged the very basis of this centuries-old convention.
Notwithstanding anything that might have changed, there is one rule which has not changed over the years, and that is the debutante’s dress. She is to wear a white gown, though a pastel shade may be acceptable; loud colours or black have always remained inappropriate.
In Australia, and certainly in Katherine, the debutante ball has witnessed a popular resurgence. I have been to four debutante balls in Katherine, and I know they have been held years prior to that.
This year’s debutante ball was a gala affair. Twenty-two young ladies, along with their partners on the night, were presented to society in a beautiful ceremony. The young ladies were presented to me, as the member for Katherine, and my wife. Emerging from an arch of floral garlands and along a carpet of red, each lady dressed in white was presented with a sash as a symbol and memento of the evening. How beautiful the young ladies of Katherine are and - dare I say - how handsome the young men.
Much effort was put into the evening by many people, including hours of dance practice by the debutantes and their partners; energy directed into home-stitched dresses and, of course, the effort of a group of volunteers in putting the whole evening together. I pass on my personal thanks and recognise those who were involved by entering their names into the Parliamentary Record of this parliament.
My thanks go to Jodie Locke, the organiser of the 2010 Katherine Debutante Ball; Josephine and Frank Jennings, the dance tutors; Terry Ross; Ned Singh; Karen Craven; Vicki Higgins and Henry Higgins, who assisted also with the dancing; Janine Morrow and Margaret Price and the ladies of St Paul’s Anglican Church for catering the evening, and special thanks to them for getting a hot meal to the tables on what was a rather chilly night. On the bar were Fiona Crawford, Rick Crawford, and Jeanie O’Connor and they performed very important duties. Fay Miller, the former member for Katherine, took care of all the table decorations.
The debutantes and their partners were: Emily Hearnden with Kieran Charter; Natalie Dobell with Hayden Atkins; Meaghan Pike with James Hurrell; Shannen Taylor with Wason Heyworth; Ashley Rosas with Nathanyal Hunter; Tamika Marshall with Maxwell David; Stevie Kelly with Jackson Durbidge; Keely AhChin with Brett Woods - Alum; Meg Jennings with Jonathan Rioli; Cassie Berto partnered by Jamie Walker; Madina Hayman with John Bretten; Sara Ducey with Hayden Morrison; Kaysie Dawson with Scott Westra van Holthe; Jessica Kretschmer partnered by Alex Heyworth; Nadia Menmuir partnered by Matthew Brennan; Zoe Knight with Michael Roe; Tara Meldrum with Justin Giumelli; Stephanie Masters with Silas Durcell; Christine Morrison partnered by Alessandro Lucchese; Suzannah Fowler with Dean Callaghan; Georgia Knight with Chevy Brown; and Jacinta Phillips partnered with Ashley Jennison.
It was a very special night, and it is an event I hope continues in Katherine. It holds significance through its tradition, but also an opportunity for the young ladies of Katherine to be recognised in a very special way. In a small town, I guess, it is difficult, unusual, or not too often in circumstance where ladies can be dressed as our young ladies were on Saturday night, and presented to society in a way which really dignifies their coming of age and their coming out to society.
I wholeheartedly congratulate the debutantes and their partners, and thank parents, friends, and families for their contributions to making the evening such a special event.
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the following websites: www.bookrags.com; wikipedia.org; and google.com.au for the historical research contained in this debate.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am going to break with tradition a little tonight in this House, and name a public servant, and I hope the Health minister is listening to this, because it is an important issue.
As members will be aware, I have a young family - five-year-old and three-and-a-half-year-old daughters. My three-and-a-half-year-old daughter recently came down with a head cold, which got worse and worse and led to constant vomiting, dehydration, and very high temperatures which were barely controlled with the usual array of off-the-shelf drugs. So my wife took my daughter to a doctor in town who quickly assessed my daughter as having a mere head cold, because there were no unusual or pronounced chest sounds, and sent my daughter on her way. The vomiting got worse and the condition of my daughter became increasingly bad, to the point where she was not holding down even water, and it was regular; it was awful. I have to say, it was quite distressing.
In our desperation, my wife and I rang around a few other surgeries in town, but they could not fit us in, and on advice of what was happening with our daughter and how my wife related the symptoms, we ended up taking my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter to the Royal Darwin Hospital where, once again, my daughter, whilst presenting with many of the symptoms of a bad infection, was not presenting with the usual chest sounds you would expect to hear with a bad flu. At that point, my daughter was seen at the Royal Darwin Hospital in the emergency section by a Dr Toni Levang.
I did not have a great deal to do with it because I had to pick up my other daughter, and there is no reason Dr Levang had any indication of who I was, and I do not think it would have mattered if she had known who I was, but she looked at my daughter, took a guess, took some further advice and, as a consequence of that advice, determined a chest X-ray would be in place.
Dr Levang’s care and courage to take that extra step, and understand the important rule of medicine that, just because you are not presented with all the symptoms, does not mean disease is not present and, as a result of that chest X-ray, my daughter’s pneumonia was detected - just about to start pneumonia.
I would like to thank, in this House, personally, Dr Levang, because I can only say to you that I have a great sense of relief that such fine doctors work in our hospital system. Her willingness to take the time - and I know how busy accident and emergency, or casualty sections get - there was no reason she had to take those extra steps, but it just goes to demonstrate the professionalism we do have in our hospitals. I hope my personal gratitude is communicated to the doctor at the hospital. I wish to place on the public record of the Northern Territory that she is a fine doctor, and I am enormously grateful to her for what she has done for my family. It has not been forgotten. My message to the minister: that one is a keeper.
I also speak on another issue tonight in relation to my own electorate, and that is the piece of land between Frances Bay Drive and Tiger Brennan Drive, in the area of Tipperary Waters. Essentially, its function is that of a stormwater drain; however, it is a large piece of open space and even when it is raining heavily it only fulfils that function to a limited degree. The design problems in the area of Tipperary Waters suggest that that space could be used for a host of other reasons which would help to alleviate the pressure of design issues which surround the whole Tipperary Waters area. A large open space is begging for a bit of grass, and maybe a small area, which has been suggested to me, for a dog park because many of the dogs that live in the area are the toy dog type varieties, the shih tzus, the chihuahuas, that sort of thing.
The area could also be used for angle parking along the length of Frances Bay Drive which would alleviate traffic congestion in the smaller courts like Tipperary Court and Dinah Court, and in Gonzales Road. A boat parking overflow for the boat ramp could also fit in the area, and even community gardens. It is a very substantial piece of land. Some of the land could not be used for anything other than a storm water function, but much of the rest of that area could be used to enhance the quality of the community.
On several occasions, I have discussed this issue in this House only to discover these pleas fall on deaf ears. I acknowledge the government’s efforts in relation to the bicycle path and its subsequent repair or correction a little further down the road near the Duck Pond, but I am disappointed one of the major thoroughfares into the capital city of the Northern Territory is still, essentially, a large vacant lot.
I certainly hope the government will find some time and money to attend to these essentially cosmetic issues.
While I am speaking on this issue, I am deeply concerned about the intersection of Gonzales Road and Tiger Brennan Drive. It has been repeatedly drawn to my attention by the residents of the area that there are dangerous issues with that particular intersection. It is an accident waiting to happen. I would not be at all surprised if some have already occurred there.
Whilst the minister is thinking about that particular intersection, I have noticed in recent times some work seems to be going on there. I do not know what it is, but I also ask the minister to turn his attention to the number of people who have to cross the road near Tipperary Waters, particularly kids going to Stuart Park School from Tipperary Waters. They have to cross the road during peak hour, in an 80 km/h zone, when people are coming from Palmerston into the CBD. Whether it is an overpass or, if the traffic management systems could handle some sort of pedestrian crossing in the area or ultimately, if it has to be an underpass, I urge the minister in the strongest possible terms to connect in a much safer and comprehensive fashion the area of Tipperary Waters to the rest of Stuart Park.
This matter has now been raised with me on about a dozen occasions. People are used to seeing me in various locations around the city, next to my little van. I sit at Tipperary Waters from time to time, and many residents tell me about that specific concern. I note the minister scribbling a note. I take heart from the fact that he is paying attention to this issue. I will be grateful to see his response sooner or later in relation to this as it presents what I consider to be an unnecessary threat to the people who drive through that area, as well as those kids who have to cross the road.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight in Adjournment I wish to raise a matter of great concern. It relates to the Territory’s political history and how some people wish to turn back the clock. It is important to understand our history in the hope we do not revisit past mistakes. This is all about the CLP, the old CLP, and how they operate, and the knowledge, increasingly coming to the fore, that the same old CLP are still there and they still work in the same old ways. They may have the member for Blain as their current front man, but the old guard is very much still in charge, they are still pulling the strings, the same old group of cronies still clinging on waiting for the old trough to reappear, still waiting to call the shots.
Let us run through a bit of history for those who may have come to the Territory in more recent times.
Many Territorians would remember, when the CLP were in power prior to 2001, allegations were made - they were certainly raised with me at the time - there was a silver circle, a group of chosen ones who allegedly got the vast majority of government work through a system of influence and preferment. The processes were always said to be working and worked out among a very few people. A silver circle is what locals called them, and the suggestion was strong that favours were done and things were not fair and above board. Once again, a system of influence and preferment.
When Labor came to power in 2001, I was approached by many business people who were thrilled the Labor party had won government. All they asked for was a level playing field and everyone considered equally – that is all they wanted.
Successive Labor governments have delivered a fair and practical system. We now have strict procurement processes in place which ensure government contracts are fairly awarded. Many business people still tell me it is one of the great achievements of the Labor party that we have made the system fair and transparent; and we are justifiably proud of this achievement.
You can imagine my alarm when my attention was drawn to this media report today: Former CLP Chief Minister and Liberal Party President, Shane Stone, is quoted as saying he now directs some of his commercial income as a consultant directly into the CLP’s fundraising coffers.
I feel genuine alarm at this development, and appeal to all members to consider the potential of what could happen if a CLP government was returned. The old cronies would be back. Mr Stone proposes contracts he gets as a consultant ensure at least some payments are made directly to the CLP fundraising company, CLP Gifts and Legacies. In other words, those companies who contract him for his services are making a political donation directly to the CLP.
A member: And we are covering it up by putting it in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Dr BURNS: The danger is private companies bidding for government work would feel compelled to also give work to consultants they knew would donate money to the CLP Gifts and Legacies. This would, in some people’s minds, create a natural advantage to their bid. This spells a real return to the practice of the old CLP, a return to the old silver circle.
I table this article from The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2010: ‘Liberals raise cash by going commercial’, Mark Davis. National Editor.
We also know a former senior public servant, the architect of cuts to the public service in the 1990s, is working with the CLP again to prepare their secret plan to cut the public service. We also know the former Chief Minister, Shane Stone, is devising a new way to put the silver circle back in the driver’s seat.
These are alarming developments and the member for Blain needs to come clean on these matters; he needs to stand up to the old cronies - he needs to say ‘no’ to the silver circle.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Member Behaviour in the Chamber
Member Behaviour in the Chamber
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, prior to calling on business this morning I wish to make a few comments regarding member behaviour.
Over the past few weeks I have received a significant number of complaints regarding member behaviour. The complaints are not simply about the loudness of debate; they are mainly about rude and sometimes vulgar behaviour - in the words of many, childish behaviour.
As members would be aware, I have met with both the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition regarding member behaviour, and to express my concerns about the reputation of the House.
I remind honourable members it is my duty to uphold the dignity of the parliament, and it is my intention to use the rules of the House to do so, whether that be by warnings, asking members to withdraw from the Chamber or, in more serious cases, naming members.
Of particular concern are the low-level interjections which have been reported to me, which I am unable to hear, that appear to be of a personal, vulgar, and abusive nature towards members speaking. This is unacceptable and unparliamentary. If this is drawn to my attention, those members will be asked to leave the Chamber.
In addition, I am concerned about the number of frivolous points of order being called. I remind all members a point of order must refer to a standing order. It is not an opportunity to stand and speak on frivolous matters. Members doing so will be placed on a warning and will then be asked to leave the Chamber if they persist.
I also note in the last sittings the level of digression from the topic before the Chair was significant. While a few minutes of digression will always be expected, digression which relates to a member’s entire speech, or the majority of the speech, is out of order. I refer you to Standing Order 67. If a point of order is called in relation to this, a member will be warned twice then asked to resume their seat and another member will be called to speak.
I also remind members they should refer to other members by their appropriate titles and not by their personal names or a pejorative term.
Finally, reflections on the Chair will not be tolerated and will result in immediate withdrawal from the Chamber. More serious cases will result in the naming of a member under Standing Order 239. I refer you to 239, Naming of member:
- If any Member has –
(a) persistently and wilfully obstructed the business of the Assembly;
(b) been guilty of disorderly conduct;
(c) used objectionable or disorderly words, which they have refused to withdraw;
(d) persistently and wilfully refused to conform to any Standing Order; or
(e) persistently and wilfully disregarded the authority of the Chair,
they may be named by the Speaker, or, if the above-named offences has been committed by a Member in committee, by the Chair.
I also remind members we each have been elected to high office to represent the people of the Northern Territory; people expect us to behave with maturity and to represent them.
I thank you, honourable members.
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message No 19
Message No 19
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from His Honour the Administrator Message No 19 notifying assent to bills passed in the April/May sittings of the Assembly.
PETITIONS
Secure Care Facility,
Cotterill Road, Alice Springs
Secure Care Facility,
Cotterill Road, Alice Springs
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 19 petitioners praying that a facility for high-risk behaviour people is not built on the corner of Cotterill Road and Ross Highway in Alice Springs. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders.
Madam Speaker, I move the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- Residents of the Amoonguna community draw attention to the Department of Lands and Planning that we object to the proposed development of the secure care facility for the reasons which are detailed in our attached letter of submission.
We, therefore, request that the Department of Lands and Planning does not allow the development to go ahead.
Secure Care Facility,
Cotterill Road, Alice Springs
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition not conforming with standing orders from 39 petitioners relating to the proposed development of the secure care facility at Lot 9374 No 10 Cotterill Road, Alice Springs.
Madam Speaker, I move 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 our very strong concerns of the department of Health’s intention to build and operate a secure care centre that will cater for ‘high risk behaviour’ people who will reside, on a non-voluntary basis, in the facility which is similar to a conventional gaol. The location on the corner of Cotterill Road and Ross Highway, Alice Springs, is completely unacceptable especially given the absolute lack of consultation with the residents of this area and the potential for detrimental impact on their amenity.
Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that the Northern Territory government provide full details as to why this location has been chosen and rescind the decision to develop a secure care facility in a rural location consisting solely of residential homes of NT families,
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
BUILDING LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 108)
(Serial 108)
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a bill without notice titled Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (Serial 108).
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, I move the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of the bill is to amend the Building Act and Building Regulations to resolve impasses which can occur in the building certification process. The provisions of the Building Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 cover work that is carried out by builders and owner/builders.
As the House is aware, the cases of failed builders have brought to light a deficiency in the Building Act. Building certifiers and affected house owners have been advised the government is addressing the deficiency as a matter of urgency. They have also been advised on how building works may continue in the meantime. It is important to point out that more than 99% of building work is completed without any problems, but there is room for improvement. The deficiency relates to the inability to obtain a builder’s declaration at the end of a project when the original builder is no longer operating. A builder’s declaration must exist before an occupancy permit can be issued. An occupancy permit closes the certification process. In the past, the Building Appeals Board has used its powers to vary the regulations on at least a couple of occasions to deal with any impasse related to the lack of a builder’s declaration.
Given we have recently had three failed building companies, legal advice was requested and the board was found not to have the power, as the requirement is in the act and not the regulations. The board can vary the regulations, hence, the bill before the House.
By way of background, in 1993 the building certification process was outsourced to registered practitioners. This was expanded in 2006 with the registration of residential builders; unlike the circumstances when government was the certifier where a registered practitioner ceased to exist or ceased to be able to discharge a function, leading to an impasse in relation to finalising certification of buildings. There are many people, as well as the builder, who have to participate in the building certification process, including those doing structural design, window design and installation, termite treatment, plumbing work and electrical work. Some are required to be registered practitioners and some are not. These persons are required to sign certificates that cover the part of the process for which they have responsibility. Some of the requirements to sign certificates are in the act and others in the regulations.
In signing the required certificates, people are stating that the work has been done in accordance with the technical requirements. Obviously, they may not have been present to oversee the workers every moment of every day; therefore they should have in place training programs for workers, quality control processes, and critical inspection stages to give them confidence when signing certificates that it is reasonable to do so.
The building certifiers rely on the certificates and also required inspections that they, or their nominated competent persons, have carried out at various stages of construction. They must have the certificates before issuing occupancy permits.
The bill proposes that the Director of Building Control, appointed under the Building Act, be given the power to issue exemption certificates to allow the certification process to continue when any of the required certificates are unable to be obtained. The director will need to be satisfied, based on the documentation presented with the application, it is reasonable to issue an exemption. If the director is not satisfied, the director may require more intrusive investigation, partial demolition, or additional works.
The bill describes the grounds for an impasse as a prescribed event. A prescribed event can be where the relevant person has died, cannot be found, or becomes so severely incapacitated that he or she is unable to complete the prescribed certification. It can also be where there is bankruptcy or insolvency, where a registered practitioner is no longer registered, where a building contract is terminated, or where the prescribed certification has been destroyed or cannot be found, such as through fire, storm or theft.
Of note is that contractual failure is a ground, but contractual dispute is not, as the parties are still in contract and there are other processes by which they can resolve the matter.
As I mentioned earlier, the provisions cover work that is carried out by builders and owner/builders. The work must have physically commenced on the land and must be covered by a building permit.
If there are grounds, and a required certificate cannot be obtained, an application for an exemption certificate can be made to the director on an approved form that will state what supporting information is required with the application.
An application will not attract a fee because the main expense will be related to providing the technical reports to support the application at cost to the applicant. This expense would not have been anticipated as the event requiring the exemption was not foreseen.
The draft bill defines the particular certificates that may be the subject of an impasse.
The director may request more information, including reports from competent persons such as a structural engineer. The applicant would be required to meet the costs of any report.
The director will be required to have regard to the technical reports supporting the application, inspection reports to date and, if a registered building practitioner was required to sign the missing certificate, the past performance of the registered building practitioner. This last matter is relevant, as it may determine the level of supporting information required.
If the director is satisfied that information provided indicates the work to date has been carried out materially in accordance with the building permit, the director may issue a certificate of exemption.
If the director refuses to issue an exemption certificate, the applicant may appeal to the Building Appeals Board. The normal application appeal fees will apply, and the board will have the power to determine the appeal.
An exemption certificate removes the requirement for the missing certificate causing the impasse, and the certification process may continue through to the issue of an occupancy permit by a building certifier.
If there is a change in the building practitioner during a building project, including a nominee or competent person for a company, the bill requires the practitioner makes a declaration for the portion of work for which he or she was responsible. It also allows the company to resolve the matter in the case of a change of nominee and the original nominee being unwilling or unable to sign for the work already carried out. Allowing corporations to manage such cases within their corporate structures will reduce the number of cases that otherwise would generate applications for exemptions.
The bill validates past decisions of the Building Appeals Board in waiving requirements of the Building Act. In Tier 2 building control areas - that is all areas other than Darwin, Alice Springs and Lake Bennett - a builder’s declaration completes the certification process for houses. The exemption certificate will complete the process for houses in Tier 2.
The bill includes schedules and regulations, and allows further regulations to be made in the event of circumstances unforeseen at this time. What, on the face of it, appears a relatively simple matter has translated to a series of amendments that are interwoven. This is because building regulation is primarily within the private sector and the processes and responsibilities of the practitioners need to cover all possibilities.
The amendments are a response to real life experiences with builders, certifiers and others in the building industry. While the majority of building work is done by competent persons acting in good faith, the regulatory regime must cover the circumstances where this is not the case.
The building regulation regime in the Territory only applies to the Building Act, to declared building areas and, even then, parts of the act are applied differently to areas known as Tier 2. Only residential builders require registration and can be sole traders or companies with registered nominees. Further, residential builders can be restricted to building houses and units to two storeys, or unrestricted, and are able to build houses and units to any height. Owner/builders require a certificate and can build one house every six years. New residential extensions under $12 000, verandahs, and internal alterations of any value, require building permits but can be done by anyone.
The amendments seek to cover all these combinations under all possible circumstances. They are necessarily thorough in order to provide owners of buildings who have been subject to exemption certificates the same level of certification certainty as owners of buildings who have gone through the normal certification process.
The amendments also clarify some related matters of practice and take the opportunity to make minor corrections to the act and regulations. Let me say government does not claim to have a building regulation regime that cannot be improved. Anyone familiar with building control in the Northern Territory will know that, historically, it divides into many eras: pre-cyclone 1974, post-cyclone 1974, from Commonwealth ordinance to the NT Building Act in 1983, introduction of Building Code of Australia and private certification in 1993, and reforms including builders’ registration in 2006. Each era has taken us forward; each era has required further improvements as weaknesses become apparent. Today is no different.
In recognition of the need for improvements, my predecessor released a discussion paper in 2009 on building regulation in the NT and established a Building Industry Representative Group to manage the community and industry consultation process. I now have a report from the Industry Representative Group. There are improvements that can be made to the building regulation regime, and I am committed to doing just that.
There are demands to expand building regulation beyond the declared building areas of today, and there are also calls to increase the matters covered by regulation. It would be desirable to make any appropriate improvements before any expansion.
In the meantime, we need to address the matter of there being an impasse in the building certification process. The overarching principle behind the bill is that property owners are entitled to have confidence in the building regulation regime in that, having commenced a building in accordance with the Building Act, the process can be closed as required by the act and regulations. The process should be able to be closed even when a step in that process reaches an impasse due to unexpected circumstances.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
HEALTH PRACTITIONER (NATIONAL UNIFORM LEGISLATION)
IMPLEMENTATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 107)
IMPLEMENTATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 107)
Mr VATSKALIS (Health)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a bill without notice, titled Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Amendment Bill 2010 (Serial 107).
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I move the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to remove a consequential amendment from the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Act 2010. The consequential amendment would insert a new provision for the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act that would link authorisations under that act to health practitioner’s registration under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (the ‘National Law’) being endorsed for scheduled medicines by the relevant national board.
It was envisaged health practitioners would be endorsed under section 94 of the national law to deal with scheduled medicines, and that an authorisation under the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act should be subject to this endorsement. This was seen to be a mechanism for ensuring our health practitioners met national standards when dealing with scheduled medicines.
It has now become apparent endorsements under section 94 of the national law would not operate as broadly as expected. An endorsement for scheduled medicines will only be issued for extended and/or advanced practice that is over and above a health practitioner’s professional qualification. As is current practice, health practitioners will continue to operate under the scope of their professional qualification, with section 94 endorsements granted only where advanced or extended qualifications related to scheduled medicines have been obtained.
Consequential amendments were intended to ensure the national scheme operates effectively and achieves its principal objective of protecting the public within the Northern Territory; they were never meant to place unnecessary requirements on health practitioners.
Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members, and table the explanatory statement to accompany the bill.
Debate adjourned.
JUSTICE LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 100)
(Serial 100)
Continued from 6 May 2010.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, this bill was designed to achieve a number of objectives with respect to some legislation. There are two in particular the opposition says are troubling; one particularly troubling - although we do not oppose this bill. I will come back to the two acts we have some concerns about.
In relation to the Land Title Act the bill seeks to amend that act to allow legal practitioner and licensed conveyancing agents acting for an owner to sign an application for a title certificate. The amendments are also introduced to require only the first registered mortgagee to sign for a certificate rather than all registered mortgagees. It also seeks to amend the Retirement Villages Act and Regulations introduced so restrictions on land registered for use as a retirement village can be removed if that land is no longer going to be utilised as a retirement village. I have been advised by the minister’s office there are currently six parcels of land in that category.
The regulations are also amended to include a reference to the Unit Title Scheme Act. The bill also seeks to amend the Sale of Land (Rights and Duties of Parties) Act. As the Attorney-General said in her second reading speech on 6 May:
- This corrects an anomaly in the Sale of Land (Rights and Duties of Parties) Act 2010 and removes, prior to the commencement of that act, an inadvertent distinction between married persons and persons in a de facto relationship.
Interestingly, this bill was debated in February so this is, clearly, another ‘oops’ bill which seeks to correct a number of anomalies, typos and so on. It is pretty interesting that a bill passed only a few months ago is now back before us seeking to be amended. The bill before us also seeks to amend the Unit Titles Act and removes the ability of land to be subdivided under section 10 of the act.
There are two other areas of legislation to which this bill applies, and I thank the Attorney-General’s Office for their assistance in answering some questions I had in relation to this bill. I have given them the heads up, if you like, about what I was going to say in my response. We have worked cooperatively and I thank them for it.
In relation to the Criminal Code, this bill seeks to reverse a change made in 2007 that substituted ‘serious harm’ or ‘bodily harm’ for ‘harm’ in section 177(a) of the Criminal Code. I e-mailed and received yesterday a letter from the Attorney-General which did not really specifically answer my questions. I will quote the question I asked:
- Given the loophole identified are you able to advise how many offenders have, in the last three years since the section was last amended, had their sentences reduced from a maximum of 14 years to five years? I suspect there have been very few, if any, but I would like to know in any event.
The response from the Attorney-General was the Deputy DPP advised that, historically, section 177(a) is a provision that is rarely used.
It then referred to a case - and out of respect for the young man involved, and his family, I will not refer to that case by name. An indictment was presented early in 2009. It raises this question: if the reason for this amendment was solely in response to this case, why has it taken a year-and-a-bit for this part of the Criminal Code to be amended? Also, perhaps by now the Attorney-General may well have received some advice from those at the DPP, but how many times has the loophole identified come into play? In other words, how many defendants have had their sentences reduced from a maximum of 14 years to five years? These are a couple of aspects of the Criminal Code which is encapsulated in the bill, and I thought it was appropriate to put them on the record.
The second bill we are somewhat concerned about - although we do not oppose this current bill, it is appropriate for us to put our concerns on the Parliamentary Record - relate to the Public Interest Disclosure Act. The amendments in this bill seek - and I stress seek - to clarify a number of matters. It seeks to clarify what is a breach of the public’s trust, and what is considered improper conduct. It removes the restriction to disclose identifying information when disclosing confidential information under section 53 of the act. It also provides for confidential information to be disclosed in a sudden or extraordinary emergency and allows the commissioner to direct a person not to disclose confidential or identifying information in certain circumstances. Further, it allows a Chief Executive to delegate some of his or her functions or powers under the act.
I wrote an e-mail to the Attorney-General and sought clarification of what purports to be a bill clarifying the Public Interest Disclosure Act:
- In relation to the Public Interest Disclosure Act, can you clarify the intent of section 50(a)? Does confidential information have the same meaning as in section 53?
The response came back that an amendment will be moved in the committee stage. That is welcome, and I was pleased to see the Attorney-General’s office pick that up.
I also asked, in relation to proposed new section 53A:
- Section 53A does not stipulate who a prescribed person is. There are no other uses of the phrase in the act or the regulations, nor does it specify who the prescribed person can make a disclosure to. Does it allow the prescribed person to make a disclosure to a journalist? Can you clarify this please?
I received the Attorney-General’s response, yesterday afternoon, in which she said:
- A prescribed person is any person who makes a disclosure of confidential information in accordance with the proposed section 53A. The definition is created as a result of including ‘a prescribed person’ after ‘a person’ in subsection (1). The purpose of defining the person who makes a disclosure of confidential information in accordance with section 53A as a prescribed person is to distinguish between a disclosure of confidential information and a disclosure of public interest information as both were referred to in that section.
I am sorry for anyone listening to this broadcast; none of this will make sense unless the person has read the bill before us and parts of the Public Interest Disclosure Act. However, the important point is made and, after an exchange of e-mails, we are in a position where the definition of ‘prescribed person’ is not contained in the bill. That is odd, it is undesirable, and all we have - which is partly why I read it onto the Parliamentary Record - is a paragraph in a letter from the Attorney-General which explains or defines what a prescribed person is.
I am concerned this bill, having passed through the various checks and balances I can only assume exist on the other side of the parliament, and having gone through, presumably, the rigorous processes of Parliamentary Counsel, we are in a position where the bill seeks to amend parts of the act, and provides a term, namely ‘a prescribed person’, which it is not defined in the bill, nor is it defined in the Public Interest Disclosure Act itself. Life is just full of mysteries and this seems to be one of them. I do not think I will pursue this any more.
Madam Speaker, I stress this may not be of any interest whatsoever to many people, but it is of interest to me, because it should be defined, and I am troubled it is not. However, we are not going to die in the ditch over it. I will make something of a prediction: at some point over the next couple of years, we will be coming back and looking at this act again.
With those comments, we support the bill and look forward to the Attorney-General’s response.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support of this bill, although I do note they have some troubling concerns with two elements within the bill. I thank the member for Araluen, the shadow Attorney-General, for her interest and questions that have been provided to me through my office. The responses I have seen have been flowing thick and fast in the last few days, particularly where the intensive workload has occurred in getting the information back.
I will not bother dealing with the parts of the bill where there is no contention; they are laid out in the second reading speech and are purely the subject of a Justice Legislation Amendment Bill, a JLA, which clarifies aspects of legislation passed previously. All governments seek to get their legislation before the House absolutely 100% correct but, at times, it does take the passage of the bill, a thorough analysis, and the running and testing of legislation to see areas you go back and fix as a JLA. So, the ‘oops’ element I will take on board in terms of the Unit Titles Scheme Act. Yes, that is new legislation, and I believe the discussion about the extension to de facto came up in debate during that legislation. We are happy to go back today and fix the ‘oops’ element of that.
As Auditor-General, I have no issue with clarifying and improving legislation; I see that as an important part of my role. It is good to leave your ego and pride aside and get on with the job of fixing and improving legislation where it should be fixed or improved.
I will go directly to the areas which are troubling the opposition and address their concerns. I will deal with the simplest first in public interest disclosure and the omission of a definition. You are right; it is often the practice, particularly with Parliamentary Counsel, in how they go about drafting legislation on behalf of government, with instructions from government. They are normally quite pedantic when it comes to applying definitions but, on this occasion, a definition was not used for ‘prescribed person’.
That being said, this is a matter of drafting and I am not particularly troubled by that, but I understand the member opposite is troubled by it, which is why I was very happy to provide an appropriate response to the member. The member for Araluen has read it into the public record, and I will also read it into the public record so there can be no ambiguity about the definition of a ‘prescribed person’.
- A prescribed person is any person who makes a disclosure of confidential information in accordance with proposed section 53A. This definition is created as a result of including ‘a prescribed person’ after ‘a person’ in subsection (1). ,The purpose of defining a person who makes a disclosure of confidential information in accordance with section 53A as a prescribed person, is to distinguish between a disclosure of confidential information and a disclosure of public interest information, as both are referred to in that section.
Whilst there is no definition in this bill or the head act itself, there is no ambiguity in the definition of a prescribed person. It is on the Parliamentary Record and, who knows, in a future JLA we may see it pop up. I am not a betting person, even though I am the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing, and I daresay the ones most enjoying this debate are Parliamentary Counsel. I will move on.
I guess the issue that troubles the member opposite most is the issue of our clarification by inserting the intention of serious harm, an act of causing serious harm, into this JLA. This matter was raised by the DPP, and I can advise the DPP formally raised what he considered was the problem with section 177(a) to the Department of Justice by e-mail on 10 June 2009. There followed, over the next few weeks, discussions between the DPP, the Department of Justice, and Parliamentary Counsel as to whether an amendment was needed.
So, the first issue really was the question of whether or not an amendment to the legislation was needed. The department then notified the DPP by e-mail on 8 July 2009 that consideration was being given to including an amendment to section 177(a) in the next JLA – the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill. The matter was brought to my attention, as Attorney-General, in September 2009, and the amendments were given the go-ahead to be developed and introduced through the usual process of a JLA, and have been undergoing the normal processes since that time. So, that is the direct response in terms of timing.
Regarding how many prosecutions have been affected by the matter highlighted by the DPP which they perceived as a concern in section 177(a), I have been seeking the same information as the shadow. I am advised as recently as this morning that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions advises it is very difficult to say how many matters have been affected by this provision. There have been perhaps four or five matters in which the DPP might have charged under section 177, and did not. However, the Deputy Director has pointed out in so many cases where serious harm is caused, intoxication is a major consideration, which is why the intent tends not to be a charge they proceed with; rather, they proceed with the charge of causing serious harm which, of course, has a maximum 14 years and is the charge the DPP relies on.
This is the question of intent. We know from our own crimes statistics something like 60%-plus assaults are caused by alcohol. You can see the high degree to which you would not, as a matter of course, seek to apply intent, because intoxication is a major consideration in trying to prove intent.
If the harm is clearly serious harm, but intoxication is an issue, it is most likely an indictment will be presented charging an offence of serious harm under section 181 of the Criminal Code. That is because of the difficulty of proving specific intent, which is an element under section 177 when the defendant was intoxicated.
The problem of the wording of section 177 is a secondary consideration in deciding what charge should be proceeded with as an indictment. That is the advice I have received from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and I am happy to put that advice on the Parliamentary Record. I thank the DPP for their assistance in this matter. I believe it is important they work to provide information to parliament when we are considering the matters before us - the view the DPP held regarding section 177 of the Criminal Code has led us to the amendments we have before us today.
I make no apology for clarifying any area where the DPP, or other practitioners, bring concerns with interpretation of the legislation as it exists. Sometimes, we get that from the magistracy, sometimes from the Supreme Court, sometimes from the DPP; on this occasion, from the DPP.
Clarifying the issue about inserting serious harm for intention, I believe, is useful. However, I want to assure the public anyone who has caused serious harm would have been charged and dealt with under causing serious harm in section 188 of the Criminal Code, which applies the penalty of a maximum of 14 years imprisonment. Appropriately, they have been pinged on that particular provision if they have been committing the serious crime of serious harm.
I thank the opposition for their support of this JLA. I recognise there is always imperfection within a body of work and that is the point of a JLA, and why we have it before us today. I thank the DPP for raising their concerns about section 177(a), which is why we are here with the Criminal Code regarding serious harm. It did come to light in a particular case in 2009, and I thank the member opposite for not going into specific details of that case.
I reassure people charges for causing serious harm have been used since then. As I say, the advice from the DPP is most of these matters include the issue of intoxication and, therefore, the charge of intent tends not to come into play at all. They are the ones who determine what charges are laid, not the government.
That clarifies the two matters which I know were outstanding as a result of correspondence between my office and the member for Araluen. I thank the members of the Department of Justice for the hard work they have put into bringing forward the JLA; and I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Madam CHAIR: Honourable members, the committee has before it the Justice Legislation Amendment Bill 2010 (Serial 100) together with schedule of amendments No 39 circulated by the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, Ms Lawrie.
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Chair, I move the amendments the Chamber has before it under Schedule No 39 in regard to clause 10.
I thank the member for Araluen for drawing this to government’s attention; it is her work which has brought this amendment before us, and I am happy to pick that up.
The reason for this amendment is the terms of confidential information in proposed section 53A should have the same meaning as in section 53(5) of the Public Interest Disclosure Act which, as introduced, it does not. The definition of ‘confidential information’ in section 53(5) applies only in relation to section 53. I thank the member for Araluen for pointing this out.
Amendment agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
Bill reported, report adopted.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
APPROPRIATION (2010-2011) BILL
(Serial 99)
(Serial 99)
Continued from 6 May 2010.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, speaking in relation to the Appropriation Bill, perhaps a little surprisingly, I do not propose take an inordinate amount of time because, although we never seem to have quite as much time in estimates as we would like, I propose to highlight and pursue some of the issues I believe need to be pursued at estimates rather than going through them in great detail currently.
Having said that, I will talk as a local member about some matters in Alice Springs, and will also go through, briefly, areas of my portfolio.
Several days ago, a media release was issued by the member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon, announcing the federal government was kicking in $200 000, and confirming the Northern Territory government was kicking in $100 000, for lane widening on Larapinta Drive. This is the old issue of the desired roundabout on the corner of Larapinta Drive and Lovegrove Drive in Alice Springs.
I am sure the Minister for Transport will recall a motion was passed in the November sittings in Alice Springs. Whilst it was amended by the member for Nelson, it pulled up a little short of asserting a roundabout was required. However, the motion did say the government would undertake a survey and, on the basis of that survey, it would determine whether a roundabout was needed. Interestingly, the minister has seen fit not to release the details of that survey, so we only have his word a roundabout is not required.
It might not seem like a big issue for those not affected by this intersection but, as a local member, I can tell you it is a very serious issue. Not only do people continue to talk to me about it, but I actually drive down Larapinta Drive most days and I see it with my own eyes. However, we now have a situation where the Northern Territory government has weaselled out of responsibility. They are not going to give us a roundabout; they are going to do some curb changing and lane widening, and they are kicking in $100 000.
It is not often I say thank God for the federal government, Madam Speaker, but thank God Warren Snowdon managed to scrounge $200 000 so more than a few bits of paint could be put on the road. We are now going to have $300 000 worth of lane widening. Something is better than nothing, but it is a long way from what is actually needed and what is desired.
It is appropriate, as a local member, along with my colleague, the member for Braitling, I put that issue on the Parliamentary Record. It was disappointing there was not, in this year’s budget, a significant allocation for the roundabout.
I now move on to Anzac Oval. Again, there was a motion at the Alice Springs sittings in November calling for upgrades to Anzac Oval. It is not technically in my electorate, but it is very close to it and, of course, so many of my constituents use the facility. Part of the wording of the motion in November was Anzac Oval be made into a first-class facility. It is, and should be, a premier facility for Alice Springs. We have the opening and closing ceremonies there for the Masters Games, which are only months away, and throughout the year there are numerous concerts and other events. It is currently host to Rugby, but late last year it was revealed the ground has potential for other sports, such as soccer.
We have a situation where the minister for Sport, who is also the Minister for Central Australia, opposed the motion to upgrade Anzac Oval at the Alice Springs sittings. We were astonished by that; nevertheless, the motion got up, so we were perhaps naively optimistic there might be something for Anzac Oval in this budget. However, in typical arrogant fashion, the government has ignored the motions of the parliament and seen fit not to provide the allocation necessary to make this facility the type of facility it should be. Certainly, the town council has provided some upgrades and, by God, they were needed. I went to the facility recently, and for the minister for Sport’s information, I encourage him to go and have a look. I can assure him the repairs are an improvement, but it really is still a long way short of what is required, notwithstanding the very good efforts of those particular council workers.
Last week, or the week before, the Sport minister, who is also the Minister for Central Australia, announced something in the order of $33m to upgrade various sporting facilities in the Top End, particularly in Palmerston, from memory, and the words ‘first-class facilities’ were used. I was struck that the local bloke from Alice Springs, the one who sits in Cabinet, was determined to make various facilities in the Top End first class. I am sure my constituents do not begrudge their Top End friends improvements to their sporting facilities by their Sport minister and Minister for Central Australia, but many people would be disappointed a similar push was not made in respect of Anzac Oval. It is needed and it should be done. It is not in this year’s budget - perhaps it will be in next year’s budget.
The third significant aspect of this year’s budget, insofar as my constituents are concerned, and the subject of talk around town, is the new police station. I spoke with the Attorney–General towards the end of the last sittings, and I am very glad I did. I asked her: ‘Tell me the story about the police station’, because it received very little in the way of publicity, it did not consume any media releases, there was not a great deal on it, so I really wanted to know what the rationale was.
I am glad I had that conversation. To paraphrase the ever unpopular Kevin Rudd: ‘I get it’. I well understand why the police station will be moved and that it will take some time. I am not opposed to it and neither, in my view, are many people.
It is interesting only last year there was a $6m allocation, or thereabouts, for upgrades to the Alice Springs Police Station. My point is, a year ago the government kicked in $6m to upgrade the police station; a year down the track, no, we are going to have a new police station and it is going to be over the road. It says a great deal about this government, its processes, and its incompetence when it comes to planning.
I go to the police station reasonably regularly and have seen some upgrades particularly to the reception area – I wonder how much of the $6m has been spent? If it was all spent, was it a good use of money given that, presumably, in one to two years they will be moving over the road to a new facility? Also, what is the cost of that new facility?
I make the point that the government is, as usual, all over the shop, unfortunately,. Having said that, please do not misunderstand me, Minister for Central Australia, I am certainly not opposed to the new police station and I look forward to watching its progress.
Now, to some portfolio issues - child protection, in particular. I note in the minister’s budget reply speech he trumpeted, as his predecessors have, additional spending on the area which has been a hallmark of the government: lots of money but too few results. One need only refer to various comments made by the Ombudsman, and others, late last year or early this year about that; yes, there was a great deal of money spent on the area but it was difficult to see great improvements. In regard to the Ombudsman, members will recall she is undertaking her own inquiry, as she should, in my view.
The government’s performance, generally, in child protection has been just awful, with a couple of exceptions. The member for Arafura, whilst not always getting it right, was very motivated to achieve good results; I am not sure she overwhelmingly figured in that task, but I do know of her personal commitment. I wish I could say the same of some of her colleagues.
It is devastating to see the mess the system is in. As I said on radio last night, the system was clearly in crisis late last year, and it was known to be in crisis before then. There are, in particular, two Coronial inquests I have read, which I hope the minister has read. Those inquests clearly outline the type of difficulties that have faced the department. What happened in the court when those workers and so on gave evidence was a fundamentally different picture from the picture painted in this public building.
For years, Labor ministers have been standing on the other side of this Chamber gloating about how much money they are spending and, yet, negligently stood by and did not ask how it was being spent and whether it was achieving the right results. You should have asked, and you failed to. I do not believe there can be a more damaging indictment on a government.
It was a scandalous situation, it is unforgivable, and minister after minister knew or must have known about the problems. With one or two exceptions, next to nothing was done - except allocating more money, but no one was tracking the money, no one was seeing how the senior bureaucrats were going. If the minister’s defence is: ‘I was not told’, then I say: ‘You should have asked; that is what you are paid for’. Increasingly, I am getting the impression that ministers of the Crown, under this administration, simply do not ask. You should have asked many questions and, sadly, you did not. Yes, there has been more money, but we continue to have a system in crisis.
I do not believe, in the context of my budget response, it is necessary to go into the delays of the inquiry, except it should be said the government clearly has bad form when it comes to these issues, because I remember the sexual abuse inquiry in late 2006/early 2007. The report was provided to the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, who sat on it for two months before government gave a response. What is concerning are the delays which are now evident may have an impact on government which is not only budgetary, but a broader impact; namely, government will not be able to assess the recommendations before the end of this year or early next year.
It will be interesting to see what allocations are made in the area of child protection in next year’s budget. You would think significant allocations need to be made; however, running parallel to that, we need a change of mindset from the government. If you continue to put in more money, you equally have an obligation to track that money to see where it is being spent, how it is being spent, and whether the results match the expenditure.
Having said that, in this budget the government provided a total of $14.7m in this area which included, according to the minister’s reply speech: ‘76 child protection and support staff, and expanded services for children and young people, and improvements to the case management system’. From memory – and I do not have it in front of me - in the minister’s budget reply, he talked about $3m provided for additional child support officers and associated staff. I will go back - the sentences I quoted were probably from either a media release or the Treasurer’s budget speech. The minister then let the cat out of the bag and said: ‘$3m to be provided for additional child protection officers and associated support staff’; that is not an enormous amount, and one wonders how many you can get for that money. Government says 76. I do not have a particularly well-tuned mathematical brain and I am not sure if $3m provides many workers - 76 child protection workers, some of whom you would expect, or hope, to be highly qualified. I would like some details at estimates regarding the basis of the number 76; whether they are administration staff or child protection workers, the breakdown of both, and over what period.
I was somewhat concerned by the minister’s language. He talked about additional child protection officers. I would like to know exactly what that means. Are we talking child protection workers; namely, those with the appropriate level of training and qualification, university educated social workers etcetera? I see him enthusiastically nodding. I am happy to have an informal conversation at any time about that as well: how many associated support staff, where will they be, and so on. They are some issues which leapt out of the minister’s budget reply on child protection, and I look forward to asking him so many more questions at estimates.
In the area of Corrections, if the budget day media release is anything to go on, the minister did not really have much to add to his usual line of ‘new era’. He did a joint media release, I think with the Attorney-General and the Chief Minister, and Corrections only got two paragraphs, and I think the media release was about three pages. This new era of Corrections only scored two paragraphs in the budget day media release.
There was a little cutting and pasting, I thought, from last year’s media release, so the new era, minister - which is not so new after all, because it is still with us 12 months after the last one, or the same one – does illustrate the incompetent way in which you present, with respect, your case. It is no longer a new era. I do not have a dictionary with me, but a dollar says a new era probably has an end point. I am not sure we have seen much in the new era in any event.
I note the government really is going to hang its hat on the work camp at Tennant Creek, and I wish it well in that regard. I note the prison officers opposed that location and know our position very well.
I note, with interest, there was an allocation of $7.6m or $7.7m additional funding in this budget, and about $7.5m or thereabouts was for the work camp in Tennant Creek - about $5m for construction and $2m for the operation. That does lead to the question: what was the other extra stuff for? Obviously, if I can, I will be asking you questions about that in estimates. So, that is Corrections - many questions as you would expect in Corrections, but I always feel very time poor, in essence, trying to roll through as quickly as we can so we can get good information for our fellow Territorians.
With respect to the Justice portfolio, with the exception of some policing announcements, I did not think there was a great deal in the budget for the area of Justice. I noticed the standard line in the budget speech about how the Northern Territory has twice as many police officers per head of population than the rest of Australia. I have said it before, I will say it again: this is not a badge of honour. We have extremely high crime rates; we need more police officers per head of population than anywhere else. It has struck me, over some years now, that this government trumpets the fact we have, in the Territory, more police per head than anywhere else. You should not be happy about that because we have more police because of our very high crime rate. It is one of those things for which this government is well known.
My own view is Territorians are increasingly onto it. I am somewhat amazed - and I am sure many Territorians are - the government still spins the line about what an achievement it is to have twice as many police officers per head of population than anywhere else. So, there is that. That was, I suppose, a standard thing in the budget packaging and spinning.
Regarding additional expenditure, there was an additional $2.56m to increase funding to the Crime Victims Support Scheme and the Crimes Victims Services Unit. I am keen to know - and I am sure the Attorney-General’s staff are listening to this; here is a heads-up - how the costs of this scheme compare to the one Labor abolished. We all remember, in about 2002, there were some amendments to relevant legislation. There were some further amendments in 2005. The line pressed by the government at the time was the old scheme was costing too much; so much of it was being spent on paying for lawyers and those opposite had a pretty fundamental objection to that. I concede the legal costs were high and should have been, in my view, reined in. That did not, however, mean the entire scheme needed to be abolished and a new one in its place.
I have not heard - and if ministers have said something in the parliament I stand corrected - one ministerial report, a reference in a ministerial statement, or an answer to a question about how the new scheme is going. I believe legislators have an obligation to track how the changes are going. The changes made in 2002 and 2005 were much heralded by government, and much time was spent pumping out media releases telling everybody the scheme had changed. I believe you are obliged to tell us how it is going, how it is tracking, and how it compares to the previous system; how many people are availing themselves of the counselling services; how much is being paid; there is still money spent on lawyers - what are those costs; and are there counselling facilities in all of the regional centres? The list goes on.
Having said that, the additional $2.56m to increase funding to the scheme is obviously welcome but, in reviewing the budget books, I cannot find how much the scheme costs. I am hoping to ask that question at estimates, time permitting. If you people are not prepared to do it, I am happy to do it. The scheme at the time - I have the figures somewhere - I think was costing $5m or $6m a year, or thereabouts. I would like to know, and you should know, how much it is costing these days.
I note there was $2m for an increase in juvenile detention facilities. Obviously, we are keen to know the details and, with luck, we will get some at estimates. I note and welcome the $2.7m allocation to modernise the IJIS system. No doubt my colleagues - those who were police officers before they became members of parliament - were deliriously happy to see that, finally, IJIS is going to be modernised. I know it has been difficult for police and others who worked in the justice system for some years. My own view is the modernisation of IJIS is probably long overdue. I raise the point however: is $2.7m enough? I do not think it sounds like it is but no doubt others will pursue that at estimates.
That is a glide through of issues of concern and interest to my constituents. I also canvassed some of the areas that affect my three shadow portfolios, to the extent I was willing to give government ministers the heads-up on the areas I propose to pursue at estimates.
Ms McCARTHY (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak today in support of Budget 2010-11, a budget that continues our agenda of supporting Territory families across the Northern Territory, planning for growth and creating jobs. However, most importantly, for me, as Minister for Regional Development and Indigenous Development, Budget 2010-11 marks the start of our investment plan across the Northern Territory, working with the Australian government and with local people to develop our regional growth towns and to build a very strong working future for all Territorians, particularly Indigenous Territorians across our regions.
Budget 2010-11 kick starts our A Working Future investment plan with a record $980m plan of action across all program areas, funding new infrastructure and improved services to underpin the development of prosperous regional towns and maximise opportunities for every Territorian, no matter where they live, to pursue their dreams and choices for themselves and their families.
As Minister for Indigenous Development, my role is to work with the Chief Minister, the Treasurer, and my ministerial colleagues to build a coherent and sustainable plan for delivering A Working Future. Work of this importance and magnitude necessarily involves working with our colleagues in the Australian government, with local government, and with local community leaders and elders in developing plans and prioritising the work that has to be done. It also means working with the Australian government to ensure our fair share of revenue collected by that government, through the GST and other revenue sources, will address the service and infrastructure gaps holding back the development and wellbeing of the regions of the Northern Territory.
We have already heard, and will continue to hear from my ministerial colleagues, the specific details of individual contributions to A Working Future, but I would like to give an overview of our commitment through Budget 2010-11 to A Working Future.
Safe secure housing is a fundamental requirement required to support healthy, happy, working families, and Budget 2010-11 continues our drive, working with the Australian government, to address decades of neglect in this area through $354m for remote Indigenous housing and related infrastructure under the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program; $236.5m to provide land servicing and essential services infrastructure in Territory growth towns, including a capital grant of $6.7m for water treatment systems in Yuelamu, Kintore and Ali Curung; and $125.3m to continue upgrades to remote Indigenous housing and related infrastructure.
Road and transport services are critical to the conduct of business, creating new jobs and connecting residents of the regions with regional service centres and our major towns and cities. Without strong transport connections for local people the potential of our regions will never be realised. This is a big job with a need for investments beyond the capacity of the Territory to deliver on its own. The Henderson government understands that requirement, and is constantly lobbying the Australian government for more support to address our transport infrastructure needs. At the same time, we are showing the Commonwealth our plans for the people of the Northern Territory.
As a starting point, I am very pleased to note that Budget 2010-11 is making investments such as $49.2m to upgrade roads in remote regions; $7.5m to upgrade airstrips including Utopia, Canteen Creek and Yarralin communities; a $6.2m three-year program to upgrade barge landing facilities at Nguiu, Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Maningrida and Galiwinku; and $3.1m over the next two years for regional bus trials in Central Australia and the Top End. Public transport is a key factor in enabling people to access services, commerce, entertainment, sport and family. Our government will be extending the current trials of public transport in the regions, as well as working with other externally funded programs such as the Nitmiluk Tours and Dyson’s transport trial in Katherine.
As well as safe and secure housing, all Territorians have a right to live in safe and secure communities. Budget 2010-11 provides $73m for additional police in remote areas, and the completion of five new police stations at Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Yarralin, Alparra, and Imanpa, supported by the Commonwealth. $11.7m has been provided for health, hospital and clinic services in remote communities, and I know that is a much-needed investment.
This budget is about growth and economic wellbeing, but it is also about supporting strong, healthy, and well-educated Territory families. As we all know there is a great need for that support in our regional growth centres, and Budget 2010-11 provides $31m for early childhood and education services in remote communities, and $21.4m as part of the Commonwealth’s five-year commitment to fund 200 additional teachers.
A Working Future is about a future connecting people in the bush to services people in other places take for granted. It is about proper infrastructure, and about supporting growth and wellbeing for people in the bush. It is also about developing local economies, and economic wellbeing for families through support for business and creation of real jobs. The Territory government is also working with business to advance A Working Future and over the next couple of years we will see that connection and partnership grow. Just the other day, I had a meeting with businesses which immediately responded to our infrastructure upgrade announcements. They want to come on board to work with us, to build their business in regional communities, value adding to the infrastructure developments, employing local people, and increasing the quality of the service and, potentially, reducing the costs. One of the core principles of our government in A Working Future is it is not just about businesses finding a place to invest in the bush, it is about local people on their local lands and country determining which way they want to go in growing their regions.
Recently, the Treasurer noted that in the Territory we have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. This is good news, but we all know unemployment and underemployment in the bush remains one of our greatest challenges. A Working Future will address that key issue, focusing on support for education and training and working in company with Aboriginal land councils to encourage business development and new leasing arrangements for businesses in townships on Aboriginal land. Budget 2010-11 helps to build momentum in this work, providing $7.45m to boost Indigenous training and employment programs.
I am also pleased to note our continuing support of Aboriginal Interpreter Services. The AIS is an invaluable service in health and justice. It is also important for ensuring good communication with local people as we develop local priorities for each growth town as part of A Working Future. In fact, our government has already begun the implementation of bringing the budget to the bush through the travels to the 20 growth towns by the Treasurer, the Chief Minister, and local members, talking about the budget and A Working Future. We want to show this is important - so important our leadership team is going across the Territory talking about the budget not as a one-off, but as something that is a substantial investment into the future of families across the Territory, that will continue for years to come.
Last, I note in the context of A Working Future, Budget 2010-11 also provides $28m to construct and upgrade government employee housing in remote communities. New housing is not just necessary for citizens, it is also necessary in recruitment and training of staff and providing improved services in our growth towns.
I will certainly continue working with the Chief Minister and all my colleagues to build on this start to A Working Future and deliver transformational change, building, creating a new social fabric across the Northern Territory where each and every individual and family has a choice and real hope for a better future wherever they live.
This important intra-government and inter-government work is being coordinated by the Service Delivery Coordination Unit within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services under the oversight of the Coordinator General for Remote Services, Mr Bob Beadman. The STCU is doing great work across our agencies, across governments between us and the federal government, and with local people building the local implementation plans for each town.
Budget 2010-11 provides continued funding of $2m to support the management and coordination arrangements for Territory growth towns managed by the STCU. For the first time in the history of the Northern Territory there is an absolutely committed, concerted and determined effort to work in these regions at a Territory, federal and ministerial level of government to ensure this coordinated level is solid. Most importantly, it has to be about local people determining the way they wish their areas to grow.
Last, in the context of A Working Future, I make particular mention of a new commitment starting with $1.5m this year to fund priority projects identified in local implementation plans that are being developed for each growth town.
Northern Territory government funding will be in addition to the Territory’s share of a three-year $46m fund provided by the Australian government for priority projects in remote Indigenous communities across Australia. Our new flexible funding core will give us capacity to rapidly respond to proposals for small scale projects local people have identified as a priority for them, and projects that, whilst small in scale, will make a big difference in day-to-day life for local people.
The new fund will also give us capacity for more partnerships, both with local government and the private sector, to give life to local community projects. As well as our commitment of A Working Future, Budget 2010-11 provides for continued focused by our government on business development in the regions through continued funding of our Indigenous Regional Development Program and Regional Economic Development Fund.
Budget 2010-11 also includes an increase of $6.45m in Commonwealth funding related to financial assistance grants for local government, and new funding of $450 000 to support operations of the Freds Pass Reserve. In local government, we have provided for continued funding of $1m for support of local community boards working in our new shires to foster community representation in local government.
The Henderson government well understands the significance of tourism as a key economic driver of the Northern Territory economy, and the positive impact of tourism on other industry sectors. The tourism industry provides real job opportunities and, currently, supports some 18 000 jobs across the Territory. That accounts for 16.3% of total employment in the Northern Territory, and represents around one in six Territorians who are employed as a result of the tourism sector. Tourism’s contribution to the NT’s gross state product totalled $1.7bn, or 11% of total gross state product.
This government has a strong record of supporting the tourism industry of the Northern Territory, and Budget 2010-11 has an allocation of $42.6m for Tourism NT. This stabilises funding, after managing the impacts of the global financial crisis, and represents a 55% increase since 2001. Our continuing strong funding of Tourism NT in a tight fiscal environment is a clear demonstration of our ongoing commitment to the industry. We recognise we have come through the global financial crisis, and have talked specifically with tourism operators across the Territory advising that our focus, as a government, is on the regions and we expect to see tourism very much a part of A Working Future policy within our growth towns.
Budget 2010-11 funding will be used by Tourism NT in a number of areas, but with particular focus on strengthening the development of new tourism products, and to support and assist local tourism operators across the Territory. The funding will underpin innovative and integrated marketing campaigns, support airline services, and enhance the development of new products from emerging Indigenous entrepreneurs.
The recent challenges for the tourism industry are well known, and it is vital the Territory remains in the minds of consumers the world over as we move through our recovery phase from the global financial crisis. Key initiatives for the 2010-11 financial year include: $30.9m for marketing output including campaigns; $1.3m to develop Indigenous entrepreneurial products; $2.1m for aviation – a 15% increase on last year; $600 000 to attract infrastructure investment; and $400 000 to enhance environmental sustainability.
We have certainly enjoyed a relatively strong 12 months in a very challenging, ever-changing environment worldwide, but the number of visitors to the Northern Territory, domestic and international, increased in 2009, which was a significant achievement and against the tide in comparison to other jurisdictions. This was achieved by the tireless efforts of so many people in the industry, so many of my staff in Tourism NT across the Northern Territory and, indeed, overseas. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of Tourism NT staff last week at the ATE, the Australian Tourism Exchange, in Adelaide. It was a terrific opportunity to join with 26 Territory tourism operators who were in Adelaide to showcase their wares and to network with the states and overseas interested travel agents to sell their wares. It was quite an exciting time.
I had the opportunity to also meet staff with Tourism NT based in our overseas offices. They are the ones who are doing the terrific work to continue to send travellers to the Territory. Budget 2010-11 builds on maintaining our market share nationally, and focuses on innovative and integrated marketing campaigns, as well as making sure we work smarter, ensuring more efficient, effective spending of the funding allocation.
In the area of women’s policy, I note our funding continues for the work of the Office of Women’s Policy. It identifies issues affecting women in the Territory and sets priorities for government through plans such as Building on Our Strengths, A Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012. We are currently engaging in parliamentary debate about women’s policy in the Territory, and I am looking forward to hearing the views in that debate, and using those views to assist in our directions and activities into the future, especially noting next year is quite a significant year, with the 100th year of International Women’s Day across the world.
In terms of statehood, for which I am the responsible minister, I note the budget provides $1.1m to continue the work of the Statehood Steering Committee, chaired by yourself, Madam Speaker, and co-chaired by Fran Kilgariff. The statehood forums, from all reports, are progressing across the Territory. I am hearing very important feedback, some very good, some very questionable, but it is terrific to see the passion and interest statehood is exacting across the Northern Territory. It is certainly giving Territorians from all walks of life the opportunity to participate and, no doubt, have their say on statehood issues and the way they would like to see the Northern Territory grow.
I note Wednesday’s NT News reported the Opposition Leader saying he was disappointed in recent commentary the budget did not reflect an underlying narrative to address the real issues the Territory has to deal with. I beg to differ; this budget has been an incredibly historic opportunity for the people of the Northern Territory across our regions. We cannot say enough about the important direction we are driving the Northern Territory in the future, in choices for all families, wherever they may live across the Northern Territory.
In my portfolio, responsibility is taking the first steps to realise A Working Future for all Territory families living across the regions. It is about improving regional services in our growth towns, assisting our new shires develop a strong, vibrant organisation; fostering regional development and jobs for our young people; and continuing to build the tourism industry and helping it continue to grow in an ever-changing and challenging marketplace.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Treasurer for her budget.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, today I talk on this year’s budget. I have listened intently to many of the speakers opposite, and the Treasurer’s budget speech. I heard the plumes and feathers getting plucked and bandied about of their record spend. What has not been talked about enough is their record failure to deliver on last year’s budget, their failure to deliver for Territory families. A quick flip through Budget Paper No 4, the infrastructure program, and we can quickly see a picture, an historic narrative begins to fall in place, a story of a government willing to stand with their plumes high, prance around the Chamber, and at various budget breakfasts and the like talk of their record spend.
What they do not talk about is their record revoted works. A brief description would be to say that revoted works would be stuff planned in last year’s budget or, as some of my colleagues will point out over the estimates week, that is from the budget before, and the budget before that. These are budgetary allocations the Labor government should have delivered for Territory families in years past; they should not be part of the budget to brag about what you want to claim will be the future. When you talk of some $800m-odd of failed delivery by this Labor government in the past year, it tells a very historic narrative. It tells a story of failed delivery, a failure to plan, and a failed outcome - a totally failed government. Yet, they will pluck their feathers, put on some more spin, and say they have done a record spend. What they have delivered is a record failed delivery process.
We will flick through some of the more notable failures to deliver in the past 12 months. They are in Budget Paper No 4 for anyone in the public who wishes to read any of the budget outcomes, and I implore people to have a look at Budget Paper No 4. It is difficult to follow any budget paper. It is difficult to see where they have particularly failed to deliver on individual areas, but there are generic outlines and, under each departmental heading or subheading, there are allocations of revoted works which demonstrate the level of failure of this Labor government ...
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Distinguished Visitor
Mr Daryl Manzie
Mr Daryl Manzie
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, do you mind if I acknowledge someone in the gallery?
Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of former minister and member for Sanderson, Daryl Manzie, who, members would be aware, started a parliamentary broadcast this morning from Parliament House.
On behalf on honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you very much, member for Drysdale.
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Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker, that was certainly worth mentioning because the former member would understand the problems associated with revoted works and the demonstration of a government’s failure to deliver for the public. That is why I suggested, if the public has time, have a quick flick through this one; it is one of the smaller books amongst the many budget volumes, but it does show a very daunting picture of why so many businesses are struggling in the Northern Territory, and why so many of our services have come under fire from various Coronial reports and other inter-agency reports. It demonstrates clearly why this government has failed Territorians.
I said this will not be a discussion on the totality of all revoted works, but some of the more notable ones which have direct implementation problems which will be felt on the street. The first one is the Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget. We see a revote of works of some $32m of failed spending in the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services portfolios. I am sure that money, if spent properly, could have given us a new high-level firefighting appliance to replace the ageing Bronto. I am sure it would have delivered more firemen to man those appliances which may save lives when called in to work.
I am sure $32m, if it had been spent as was promised - you promised to spend it last year; how can you be trusted to spend it this year? - would have given greater resources to targeted hot spots in the Northern Territory where crime has spiralled out of control. It would have delivered real benefits, real comfort, to mums and dads who are constantly being abused in hot spots such as Parap, in the member for Fannie Bay’s electorate. Let us say it how it is. They are constantly being abused as they walk the streets, or if you happen to drive your car past that region, you may even have rocks thrown at your car. It may have been better spent to target this gross antisocial behaviour occurring in the member for Fannie Bay’s electorate, of which he has been made abundantly aware, but has failed to deliver for his electorate. He failed to ensure that $32m was delivered to make life in his electorate, the homes of the Fannie Bay and Parap residents, a safer and more enjoyable community to be in.
We will move to the education budget. We see a revote of works of over $137m. We have the worst NAPLAN results in the country and you failed to spend on education, which is the vital link to the future of the Northern Territory’s population; the people, the youth - give them tangible outcomes, the ability to strive and succeed in their life. It is all linked to our education and your Labor government failed to deliver $137m. That is many teachers, many support staff for classrooms to help those students with particular needs. That is a $137m failure from this government, yet we hear very little of it. It is shameful to think this government failed to deliver on education last year. How can they be trusted to deliver into the future?
I move to the department of Housing - a $17m revote on public housing. Can anyone explain, with the worst housing crisis we are facing - our residents, our people of the Territory, our most at risk – how this Labor government failed to deliver $17m of works under public housing? If we look at SIHIP, which is budgeted separate to this, at some of the outcomes where they spent maybe $1m on a house, that is still 17 homes. Let us take it back to reality; that could have been over 30 new homes for our most needy Territory families.
We see in the member for Fannie Bay’s electorate a vacant block of land that was once Housing Commission units with no homes on it. I agree that they were old and they needed to be replaced, but you would have thought they would have planned to deliver new homes straightaway because real Territory families need support now. We see no plan to replace those, yet we see a failure to deliver $17m worth of public housing spend last year by this government.
As members, we speak with some of our elderly residents in Housing Commission homes or units. They have termite damage, but it is taking a long time to be repaired. In fact, there has not been any termite treatment in some cases, so there is no preventative maintenance on our homes which are part of our Territory assets. Houses and units within the Territory Housing system have not been painted for decades. The government sat there for the last 10 years and failed to deliver, last year alone, $17m. That is many homes that could have been upgraded, maintained, better serviced so they did not become a liability, so they stayed in a state that was sufficient, good and well kept. No, they failed to deliver on that.
While we are on housing, look at the inclusion of all the SIHIP money to really puff up those beautiful plumes of the Treasurer so she looked even better in the public eye - that she had more money in the kitty than she did. That is over $500m worth of federal money she has, probably quite rightly, claimed is hers. They have poorly managed it; they have not delivered for Territory people, for the remote communities. They have not delivered it for the Indigenous people in our remote communities who need housing support now. Six houses now, I think, $200m down the tube - not a good record; they cannot be trusted. Their ability to deliver has been poor and has been a massive failure.
For the Department of Health and Families, we see revoted works of $149m. For the public, that covers several areas including Family and Children’s Services, Disability Services and our hospitals, and remote. It covers many areas. You cannot escape the fact this Labor government failed to deliver $149m, yet, we hear very little of that. We certainly do not hear the government talking about their failures; they talk about what a great job they are doing. They have done a great job. They fluff their little feathers like a peacock. That is a lot of money when we have waiting lists which are unacceptable. If you visit accident and emergency – unfortunately you will be unwell if you are going there - you will see some great staff doing their very best. However, you will exceed the national average of waiting time whilst you are there – three to four hours.
This government failed to spend $149m on the health system. We have hospitals that are still understaffed and, as I said, waiting times that are unacceptable. We are, unfortunately, seeing mistakes happen. We are seeing Coroners criticising the government for their failure in such services as Family and Children’s’ Services. We see deaths. We see no real delivery on dental services. I am asked by some of my constituents: ‘When are we going to get a good old dental service like we used to have?’ This government has had 10 years to deliver all these services. In the last year they failed to spend $149m on our health system. As your loved one struggles with the pain and agony of some ailment, you can rest assured this government is failing to deliver on the services which may help them.
We see no services for people who suffer from Asperger’s or autism in the Northern Territory - the only state left to not have a service support for those with autism. We see an agency within the Northern Territory funded wholly by the private sector trying to do the best it can, whilst we see families at the brink of despair trying to deal with their autistic family member, or member suffering from Asperger’s. There is no real support. The only way they can get that support is by twisting and adjusting the services so it appears to be something else. It is shameful that this government has failed to deliver on that, and they failed to deliver $149m in the Department of Health and Families. It is shameful the public have not been made aware, through the media more so, of your horrific failures.
We see the services of SIDS and Kids in the Northern Territory, a vital support service, at the brink of folding because you have failed to fund it, you have failed to give them support. They support the families of Northern Territory people and you failed to support them.
We see a $35m revote for the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, The Arts and Sport. There are portions of that spread everywhere. Recently we saw the peacocks in Palmerston supporting my electorate. I appreciate they are supporting us. They promised to deliver a $13.57m water park for Palmerston. That was originally a $5m commitment during the election campaign. Their crayon drawings back then failed to include the phone call to the landowner on which they proposed to put the water park. This Labor government stumbled; their $5m plan hit its first hurdle, not a drop of water to include in it. Now we see an explosion to $13.57m for the cost of the water park.
It is a great spend in Palmerston, but what we need to see are genuine plans. There is the pretty crayon drawing in the Chief Minister’s office in Palmerston that even tells you, down the bottom - I cannot remember the exact words - it basically says: ‘You cannot trust this drawing. It is a representation’. How can we trust the government?
As I said, they failed to deliver over $140m into the health system last year. The federal government is saying, ‘We have to take over the health system’, yet this government failed to even spend on it entirely, and we have to trust another pretty crayon drawing, to the tune of $13.57m. We need to see the detailed plans for the public. Until we see the plans, the costing, and the consultation with the community, you cannot be trusted.
We look at the environment and we see the massive spills and sewage washing up onto our beaches in recent days. However, we see an underspend; a failure to spend $35m. I believe some of the spills in the harbour could have been dealt with better under other areas where they failed to spend. We see in today’s paper someone sitting on a porcelain pan, a demonstration perhaps of this government’s failure to deal with the sewage outflow. Yet, I think it was last night I watched the ABC News and heard the minister saying: ‘No, no, no, this is from the drains, this is just the water coming off the streets’.
For those who have not looked around Darwin lately, yes, we did have rain during the sprint car titles. They were well over a week ago. There has been a time lapse since then. Since then, it has been beautiful blue skies, great mornings, fantastic cool nights, no need to use the air-conditioner so you can reduce your power bill. There was no stormwater flow. But the minister in the news last night blamed the E. coli on stormwater flow. It beggars belief to even consider where he got his advice from. I really do not know, because I am sure most Territorians would notice we have not had rain in the last week or so. So, that hardly washed, like the effluent which has washed onto our beaches.
Lands and Planning is another area of disgrace with revoted works to the tune of some $203m, with an infrastructure development revote amongst that of $85m. We have the worst housing crisis ever seen in the Northern Territory, perhaps since the bombing of Darwin when many homes were damaged yet we are failing to spend, be serious and deliver.
We see a failure to put the pipes in the right location when it came to Bellamack, which has delayed titles being released for the much-needed homes. We see time tick by and more families struggle under the strain of increased rent, increased housing prices, and no land availability. We see businesses in the building industry struggle because there is no dirt, as they put it; the industry refers to it as dirt. This government can preen their feathers, dance around like peacocks as much as they like, and say: ‘Yes, we have released land. Bellamack is out there, Johnston is out there, Muirhead - you name it, we have done it’.
Until the piece of paper gives you title to that land, you have nothing. You have no ability to build a home. We have seen the Treasurer backflip in regard to Buildstart because all those people who applied for Buildstart in Bellamack would have lost their entitlement this month. Failed to deliver on land - the Labor government cannot be trusted in its ability to do so. We see businesses under huge pressure. I know businesses that once had 30-plus staff now about to put their workers onto forced leave, give them six weeks’ leave to go away because, ‘I do not have any work for you. I do not have any work for you, because there is no dirt out there’.
It is an absolute shame this government cannot deliver for Territory people, yet they gloat like peacocks and dance around with their magical infrastructure spend, but what is true and saddening is their failure to deliver over the last year and beyond. That is truly hurting the families in the Northern Territory.
The member for Daly might joke about my comments and reference to peacocks in this Chamber, but the reality is that it is the public which is hurting, not the 25 members in this Chamber particularly. It is the mums and dads who are hurting because of your lies and deception.
Madam Speaker, I withdraw that comment.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, thank you, member for Drysdale.
Mr BOHLIN: This prancing around is hurting families. How can people afford $600-a-week rent for a modest family home because the government has failed to release the land? It will take time to build those homes to relieve this pressure.
We know the member for Barkly uses the roads a great deal. But, there is revoted works of $76m for the federally funded roads - the national roads, the highways, the main arterial access for the Northern Territory. They failed to deliver by $76m. On a recent trip with my school for a camp to Katherine, I noticed again continuing problems with our road: the drop-offs on the edges, on our verges, that make travelling on our roads, at times, dangerous. We can see they failed to spend by $76m on our roads. They failed to spend and ensure the safety of our tourists - our vital tourism industry. They failed to spend to ensure the safety of our residents. For regional local roads, there was a $42m failure to spend. That is disgraceful. You should hang your head in shame and seriously think about your failure to deliver, and what you are going to do. You cannot prance around anymore like peacocks and say you are doing a great job because people have noticed, people are hurting, and you are putting people’s lives at risk in some circumstances.
We see the port, where you have failed to deliver over $58m. We see environmental spills into our harbour. Some of these projects would have alleviated those risks. We see engineering companies under pressure because of the failure to deliver on these projects that could have saved and prevented some of the spills in our environment. We see those companies winding back their businesses ...
A member interjecting.
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Can these people be quiet or leave.
Madam SPEAKER: Standing Order 51. It was not really an interjection. If you wish to have a conversation could you go outside, please.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will finish up with the fact that whilst they prance around like peacocks we see businesses - building companies, engineering companies - all under pressure, all coming to their knees because they have failed to deliver. The infrastructure revotes are appalling, their plan to deliver has been dismal, and they should be ashamed of their outcomes.
Debate suspended.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Charles Darwin University Certificate III in Spoken and Written English, Australian Studies students, accompanied by Mr William Kelly and Ms Tahlo Rooke. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Position of Deputy Clerk
Position of Deputy Clerk
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also acknowledge in the Chamber today a Deputy Clerk in training, Mr Michael Tatham. Members may be aware that this Thursday will be the current Deputy Clerk’s last full sitting day. On the record, I say thank you very much to the Deputy Clerk.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: We wish Mr Tatham all the best. I hope he is going to be very quiet sitting in front of me.
APPROPRIATION (2010-2011) BILL
(Serial 99)
(Serial 99)
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of the 2010-11 Budget delivered by our Treasurer, the member for Karama, during the last sittings on 14 May.
We always knew this was going to be a tough budget to deliver; in fact, tough for every jurisdiction and government in Australia in the wake of the global financial crisis and the worst downturn we have seen in the global economy since World War II. However, I feel confident this budget is responsible in its focus and will benefit Territorians across the board, whether they be Indigenous or non-Indigenous, and whether they live in urban or remote areas. Importantly, as with previous Labor budgets, there is investment in the Territory which will deliver benefits for all Territory families, with a record infrastructure spend of $1.8bn. This government continues to build on its commitment to provide jobs and keep people as best we can in jobs, and to support families to keep children, regardless of where they live, at school.
I start by highlighting, for the first time in the history of the Territory, that of the total budget figure of just over $5bn, $980m is earmarked for infrastructure spending in the bush to support this government’s A Working Future policy, to improve the lives of Indigenous Territorians and to continue the goal of closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.
As a bush member elected to represent the people of north-east Arnhem Land, where around 50% of the population is Indigenous, and living between Nhulunbuy, Yirrkala, Galiwinku and Elcho Island, and the many homelands residents who are under the umbrella of Laynhupuy or Marthakal homelands, this spend in the bush is absolutely critical - and is unprecedented. It is critical because we are committed to supporting those 20 larger communities designated as growth towns, so people who live, work and raise their families in those communities can eventually expect to receive and benefit from the services one would expect delivered in other same sized towns anywhere else in Australia.
In turn, growth towns with improved services are in a better position to deliver services in the surrounding homelands or outstations which they support. Like the rest of the Territory, remote communities and homelands continue to grow, and government is committed to meeting the needs that come with that growth and, I add, committed to supporting Indigenous people who wish to remain and raise their children on their traditional homeland and clan communities.
Education and training are at the core of people’s lives, especially our children’s lives. I have a little red asterisk here in my notes, because I saw red when I was listening to the member for Drysdale talking about the budget and responding to education. There was one thing which really rankled with me, quite apart from the fact that he kept talking about peacocks and plucking feathers, when I think the word he was looking for was preening, member for Drysdale, not plucking. Anyway, that is a moot point.
You made reference, member for Drysdale, to autism, and you said it was shameful this government provides no support to people with children with autism in schools ...
Mr Bohlin: No, I did not say in schools.
Ms WALKER: You could not be further from the truth there. We heard in Question Time from our Education minister about the significant investment in special needs students. He quoted a number of figures, and I caught the first couple: $5.65m for Nemarluk School; and in your own electorate, $2m to expand the special annex at Palmerston High School. Member for Drysdale, you need to research a little more carefully before you open your mouth.
I happen to be a member of the Autism Association of the Northern Territory, because I am the parent of a 14-year-old boy who is autistic. He has been incredibly well supported by our education system since he started school, and is funded for many hours a week for an inclusion support assistant to assist with his disability. I find it quite offensive when you single out a particular disability as one this government does not support when, in fact, you could not be further from the truth.
We constantly hear the member for Drysdale banging on in this Chamber. He fancies himself as a bit of a shining wit. If you know anything about spoonerisms, you know what I mean, Madam Speaker.
I will get back to the point about education and how this government supports all children in our community, whether they be Indigenous or non-Indigenous, and whether they be able-bodied or disabled.
Without an education, without fluency in written and spoken English, without the skills to be numerate, we will always have people who are disempowered and disengaged, and relegated to a life of welfare dependency. The people I speak to tell me emphatically they do not want this life of welfare dependency. They want opportunities for their children and their grandchildren. They want their children to receive an education to be better positioned to enter the world of work; to be role models for others and to contribute to their communities, or even move away from their communities. Importantly, people tell me they have a strong desire to see their young people able to walk strongly and confidently in both worlds; to have jobs and, with it, economic independence.
As a government, we can only see this happen by investing heavily in education infrastructure, and by resourcing that infrastructure with quality teachers and programs. This includes recognition of the importance of capturing children early in the education net, and recognising the strong and formative role parents and families play in this process. Hence, the huge focus on this government’s Families as First Teachers program. To this end, I welcome the $17.6m to build children and family centres at Yuendumu, Gunbalanya, Maningrida and Ngukurr, along with $42.5m for mobile preschools and, further, $3.6m for 20 virtual early childhood integrated service hubs, and Families as First Teachers programs in the growth towns, which we know will be supported by the creation and establishment of an early childhood coordinator in each of these 20 growth towns.
I met recently with a lovely lady, Shirley Shepherd, a librarian normally based at the Nhulunbuy Community Library. She has been seconded for a 12-month period to the East Arnhem Shire to build library services in the regional communities and, with it, a reading program funded by Families as First Teachers. This program not only provides resources and materials in places like Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Milingimbi, Galiwinku, Ngukurr and Umbakumba, to name a few, but also involves certificate training programs for Yolngu people in those communities to be trained and confident to run these programs. Shirley passed on to me some beautiful photographs of children and parents actively engaged in the reading programs in these communities. I doubt there would be a person in this Chamber who has not read books with little ones, and has seen children delighted, spellbound, and engaged in the interactive process of sharing a picture book. It is about scaffolding language and building the engagement that book reading and storytelling is. It is something we value and can share regardless of age or culture; that is, the beginning of lifelong learning and the love of books.
If I look specifically to my electorate in the area of schools, obviously, my constituents and I are delighted to see $2m for Yirrkala School which will build four additional classrooms, as well as a further $600 000 for further upgrades and refurbishments. At the start of next term, I will be attending the annual graduation ceremony at Yirrkala School which will celebrate the achievements of Year 12 graduates, including a young woman by the name of Yilkingiwuy Guyula who was the top Year 12 student from a remote area in 2009 for her NTCE; as well as those graduates who will be passing through in the Indigenous Education Worker program.
As part of the 2008 election commitments, $300 000 will now be going to primary schools at Shepherdson College at Elcho Island, and also at Nhulunbuy Primary School, with the latter intending to use those funds to refurbish classrooms with carpet, a coat of paint, and some new cupboards. The earlier $200 000, which Nhulunbuy Primary School received from the federal government’s Building Education Revolution program in 2009, has set this program under way.
I recently visited the now completed new library at Nhulunbuy Christian School, also built under the federal government’s BER scheme. The new building is a wonderful and modern asset for the school community and its students, providing library space and additional classroom space as well.
This budget also delivers much-needed funding support to provide significant upgrades to homeland learning centres, Birany Biranyand Rurangala under the banner of Yirrkala Homelands School, and Mirrnatja under the banner of Shepherdson College, will each receive around $300 000 - a significant sum of money.
There has been some ill-founded fear surrounding A Working Future policy that governments at federal and Territory level are, somehow, trying to draw people away from homelands and have them settle in the growth towns. This could not be further from the truth. This government, and the federal government, will continue to invest in core services, including education in homelands, recognising that homelands are strong, safe and healthy places, and it is the strong desire of homeland residents to raise their children and grandchildren on the land and country that supports and nurtures them.
Why else would we have spent $2m to build, last year, a new school building for the secondary program at Baniyala School at Yilpara? Why else would this government have built two teacher houses at this community to enable this school to have small school status with full-time teachers living and working within the community? Why is it currently we are investigating the possibility and viability, through some thorough consultation with community residents at the homelands of Burrawuy, Dhalinybuy and GanGan, the possibility of progressing their homelands learning centres, which each received $200 000 for classroom updates in last year’s budget, to small school status. The reason is this government recognises we must work together with the desires and aspirations of homeland residents and their representative bodies like Laynhapuy Homelands, to do what we can to keep these people on homelands.
Across the Territory there are some 40 homeland learning centres providing education to around 600 students. Whether a student lives remotely or in an urban area, whether it is Wanguri Primary or Wandawuy Homeland Learning Centre, whether it is Braitling Primary or Birany Birany Homeland Learning Centre, students need access to the right tools and infrastructure if we are to support their learning. The icing on the cake was the announcement on Friday, at a community meeting at Yirrkala, that the federally funded secondary boarding facility for the East Arnhem region will be located at the Laynhapuy Homeland of Garthalala, situated on the picturesque coastline about a two-hour drive from Nhulunbuy.
There were some six communities which nominated to host the secondary boarding facility, one of three to be built in the Northern Territory. A thorough and independent consultation process was held with meetings at each of the communities which included Yirrkala, Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Yilpara, Milingimbi, and of course Garthalala. At Friday’s meeting, we were advised of the pros and cons of each location, which included two growth towns. Ultimately, Garthalala was identified as the most desirable location for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that a successful secondary program currently operates there with accommodation for visiting students from neighbouring homelands who come into the school for the week and return to their families for weekends. Importantly, we have seen a key measure of success at Garthalala, and that includes seeing students complete their Year 12 NTCE. Of course, there was disappointment expressed by those communities which had missed out, but what we have to remember is this is the beginning of a process and, as populations continue to grow, we may well, in the years to come, need to look to another community within the East Arnhem region to host another secondary boarding facility.
I cannot tell you how pleased I was to learn that Gove District Hospital’s bid for funding to build six duplexes on its campus to house medical and allied health staff was successful. The Chief Minister and Health Minister know only too well one of the big issues we face in Nhulunbuy is available land to build additional housing for public servants. For that matter, there is a fairly high level of interest from the non-government sector to access land and build affordable housing. Given the township, like the mining operations, exists on special purpose leases, land is not currently available as Rio Tinto Alcan renegotiate, under commercial-in-confidence arrangements, the renewal of the second period of a 42-year lease from May 2011.
It is difficult enough to attract and retain health professionals to remote areas but, when you do not have suitable accommodation available, it is a double whammy. The $3.8m to build these duplexes on land already available on the hospital ground is a smart move, and I certainly acknowledge Doug Gilchrist, the General Manager and Director of Nursing at Gove District Hospital, who developed this strategy some time ago. All being well, these duplexes will be built by July 2011, and also relieve, to a small degree at least, some of the pressure on government employee housing until we see Rio Tinto Alcan’s lease negotiations with traditional owners successfully completed and land more readily available.
The other reason we have a housing shortage is we have considerably increased the number of public servants, particularly in health and education over the years Labor has been in government.
With roads and transport, the north-east Arnhem region has faired well, but not before time. There is $14m for the Central Arnhem Road, the main arterial road which connects residents to the Stuart Highway and, at the other end, connects homeland residents and several growth towns to Nhulunbuy as currently their main service centre. I certainly welcome - as I know the member for Arnhem does because it is in her electorate - the slow but sure evolution of Gapuwiyak as a growth town, given it is only a short 20 km off the Central Arnhem Road and ideally suited for service delivery to that part of north-east Arnhem Land, being only a 200 km drive from Nhulunbuy.
For those who are not familiar with it, the Central Arnhem Road is about 700 km long through to the Stuart Highway. It is a reasonably well maintained dirt road, with a recurrent budget of about $1.1m for repairs and maintenance. The first 400 km between Nhulunbuy and Bulman is on Aboriginal Land Trust, so it is not a government asset. It is not a gazetted road, but we certainly invest heavily in maintaining it. From Bulman to the Stuart Highway, there are some small stretches of single-lane sealed road but, with access for cattle trucks from Bulman, it is certainly not ideal, which is why the Mainoru Crossing is part of that $14m upgrade.
The other significant part of the spend of $14m will be on upgrading the Goyder River Crossing, this being the single biggest crossing on the Central Arnhem Road. It does have water in it year round but, in the Wet Season, becomes impassable, seeing road access cut from anything from five to six months of the year. My understanding is these upgrades will not keep the road open year round, but will keep the road open longer, and will certainly minimise the hazards associated with these river crossings, especially the Goyder and, therefore, make it much safer for road users.
The process to scope, implement and construct these upgrades - and there are more to come in the next financial year, including the Little Goyder Crossing and the Donydji Creek Crossing - is significant in working with traditional landowners to ensure their wishes and expectations are met in minimising disruption to country, and steering clear of sacred sites. To assist with that process, an officer from the Department of Planning and Construction is currently seconded to the Northern Land Council to ensure this process is closely followed.
Upgrades to this road not only allows safer travel for residents, but also opens up and makes safer access for freight services, and is more likely to attract travellers or tourists who come to the region for either the wonderful fishing they will find at Gove, or to visit the small but growing number of cultural ecotourism businesses operating in homelands such as Bawaka, Yilpara, Nyinyikay, and Marparu, not to mention, of course, the visitors to Australia’s largest cultural Indigenous festival, Garma, held in August each year, for which this government continues to provide significant support.
Speaking of festivals, I am really hoping the Central Arnhem Road will be open in time for the many people who will want to drive to Barunga, which sits in the member for Stuart’s electorate, very close to Katherine. There will be many Katherine residents visiting the annual sport and cultural festival on the next long weekend. So, fingers crossed for the Nhulunbuy people that the Goyder is passable. There is a contingent going from the community of Yilpara or Baniyala, with Gurranali Band from that community being the headline act on the musical side of the agenda.
Funding for barge landings also features in this budget, with $6.2m to be delivered over the next three years. Nguiu, Maningrida, Ramingining, as well as Galiwinku and Gapuwiyak in my electorate will all benefit from this investment. While I am not familiar with all these landings, because they are not all in my electorate, I do know the landings at Galiwinku and Gapuwiyak, and they are simply inadequate - have been for years. They need hard-stand areas, lighting, a fenced secure area to stow goods and containers which arrive on barges where landings are subject to tidal movements, which means they can berth for unloading at any time of the day or night. To highlight this need, my constituents at the homeland of Marparu were recently devastated to find several thousand dollars of goods delivered to Galiwinku and destined for their community store were stolen during the night. While I know police are following up this matter, a secure area at that barge landing will prevent this sort of thing occurring in future. This $6.2m to upgrade barge landings will make them safer and more accessible and, obviously, improve services for the communities and their residents.
At the same time, I also hope improvements to the infrastructure – and I can assure you at Gapuwiyak, which is in the member for Arnhem’s electorate, there is little more than a muddy river bank on the edge of a tidal river - will open up freight services to more competition, and encourage other barge freight companies to enter the market and see costs reduced for communities.
Transport access and costs are a real issue in the bush and one which this government is working hard to tackle. In my electorate, where there are such low levels of vehicle ownership, it has long been an issue for Yolngu people to access affordable travel between Yirrkala and Nhulunbuy, a distance of about 20 km, and into the other side of Nhulunbuy another 10 km or 12 km out to the Gumatj communities of Gunyangara, or Ski Beach as it is better known, as well as Galupa and also Birrtjimi, which is also known as Wallaby Beach.
For any of these residents travelling into Nhulunbuy, it is a one-way fare of $40 to $50 in a minibus. This is why this government is investing in a two-year pilot program to run a bus service between these communities. With a proposed four runs a day between these communities, and a flat $5 fee for adults, it will provide people with the mobility they need to be able to access shops, services, recreation, events, to be able to get to work, to get to training, or perhaps just to visit family and friends. $5 versus $50 will clearly provide more affordable and convenient travel.
I should also add this project sees the Northern Territory government partner with the Commonwealth government, Rio Tinto Alcan, and YBE, a wholly owned Indigenous company which will be operating the service, providing unique employment and training opportunities to its employees, whilst also meeting the need that they have, like Rio Tinto Alcan, to get employees to and from work.
Data collected from the trial will inform the viability of a permanent service into the future. The trial will cost government up to $180 000, and this will support up to $100 000 in the first year and $80 000 on operational shortfall to support the second year of service. This, of course, is part of a total funding commitment of $3.1m to fund pilot bus services across the Territory, with other trials occurring in the Top End and Central Australia.
We will continue to see this government, in partnership with the federal government, roll out SIHIP to address the incredible deficit we see in remote housing across the Northern Territory, with its main aim being to improve the lives of Indigenous people by addressing those issues of overcrowding and environmental health.
As I bring my comments to a close, I just add, in keeping with the practice of this government in previous years, we have seen the Treasurer tour the Northern Territory with the 2010-11 Budget Road Show. Indeed, Nhulunbuy was the very first cab off the rank this year. Immediately after the last sittings on Monday, 10 May, we had the budget visit to Nhulunbuy.
However, what we have done differently this year is extended those forums to the growth towns to enable people to hear firsthand about the $980m spend to support people in the bush and the A Working Future policy. I have accompanied the Treasurer to Yirrkala, Galiwinku, and Gapuwiyak, and can say residents welcomed this opportunity to be able to ask questions of the Treasurer about how and why government spends money. In fact, after we finished the meeting at Galiwinku on Elcho Island, we called into the takeaway shop to grab some lunch before we headed to Gapuwiyak, and we had one of the senior men from that community who had been at the meeting approach us to say how grateful people were the Treasurer had taken time out to come to this small community to talk face-to-face with people and, what is more, how impressed they were that it was a woman in this senior position taking on this role.
People will always have a view and are happy to ask questions and challenge what they are told, as they should. I believe I can say, out of at least three growth towns I have been to with the Treasurer, people were grateful for her presence and the fact she had taken the time to travel and speak with people.
This government does work hard at meeting the needs of Territorians, to listen to Territorians, whether they are in Darwin or in some of the remotest parts of the Northern Territory. Above all, this government will continue to work hard to improve the lives of Territorians - children, families, senior citizens, adults, able-bodied or disabled. Even in the most challenging of financial times, this budget endeavours to achieve this.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Treasurer and this bill to the House.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the 2010-11 Budget as well, and highlight very serious issues, not just of the government’s failure to fund Central Australia properly and take into consideration the problems in Central Australia and in remote Aboriginal communities, but in education, safety of children - and the list goes on. For Central Australia, and I guess for Territorians and Indigenous Territorians, it is like this great big mirage when you are travelling the desert. As you are travelling on that vast landscape, you will always see a mirage. As you get closer, the mirage vanishes. That is exactly what this budget is; it is a mirage.
People hear what the government is saying, but there is nothing being delivered to improve the lives of Territorians, the lives of Indigenous children, to improve education, overcrowding, and the health of all Territorians, specifically Indigenous Territorians.
I specifically want to talk about child protection and highlight the issue. I did this in amendments to legislation last year. I asked the then minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, to ensure, when there are changes to any kind of legislation regarding child protection or child protection issues, that there must be a campaign or some kind of media strategy to allow people to understand the changes. There has not been any kind of media strategy put towards any kind of child safety, child protection, overcrowding, or education – none whatsoever. We can boast as much as we like about the amount of money we are putting into child protection, but if we do not have the education strategy to allow people to absorb the changes government put in through legislation in this House, people will not know the difference.
I go back to a young boy - and everyone knows what was on PM last night - who is 10 years old who tried to commit suicide in one of the schools in Central Australia. The grandparents are in Alice Springs. The grandmother is on renal dialysis and the mother is a drinker in Alice Springs. There is no education strategy for the parents. There is no engagement to see how important it is to raise children, and for people to think about child protection, the safety of the child, a child’s education, the child’s wellbeing, or the child’s health in anything the government puts out.
As I said - and I will keep reiterating this in the 30 minutes or so I have - we can develop any kind of policy in this House, but if we do not have material to educate people, and talk about how important their children are ...
Ms PURICK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam SPEAKER: I think there is a quorum. There is a quorum already. Member for Macdonnell, please continue, there is a quorum.
Ms ANDERSON: It is so important to have education materials go out to people in the Northern Territory to ensure people understand there are changes happening. Whether they are good changes or bad changes, people need to be informed and need to know. I feel sorry for this young fellow, this little 10-year-old in this Central Australian community, because he has just been thrown out there, and the teachers at that community have not become teachers just to teach him, but they have also become social workers who have to care for him day-to-day, hour after hour, minute after minute, five days a week, while they have him inside the school. A teacher has to leave a classroom with seven, 13 or 20 children inside that classroom if the boy walks out to go to the bathroom, in order to protect him and ensure he is not going to try to commit suicide again.
It is very unfortunate we have come to this time in our lives, as a government that is supposed to be governing for the whole of the Northern Territory, we are pushing our teachers to now be psychiatrists and social workers for one individual child, and leave a number of children inside a classroom while they are protecting one child from trying to commit suicide again.
The other problem I wanted to raise is this little boy has two siblings. One of the other siblings is on injections every day. It is the time of the year for that community to try to stop this child being admitted into hospital. They have seen a pattern of this child being admitted into hospital every winter. These children are vulnerable. We can say it is so great this government is building a school here, building a school there. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, you have been a teacher in a remote Aboriginal community. I would like to see the statistics from when you were a teacher to see if any Year 12 graduates came out of that community - to see if the skills you took into that community achieved some results.
It is really easy for us to stand in this House and point fingers and say things did not happen under 27 years of the CLP. Well, nothing is happening, nothing - you are not closing the gap in 10 years of power. You are not closing the gap; the gap is getting wider. The gap is getting wider in poor education, in literacy and numeracy, poor housing results, the different kinds of housing repairs and maintenance that is comparable from remote Aboriginal communities like Santa Teresa to the town camp Alice Springs, house 3 at Palmer Village in Alice Springs. You see the floors inside those houses getting tiled, inside and outside painted properly, stainless steel benches put in, cupboard spaces put in. Yet, if you go to Santa Teresa, you cannot see that. You barely see $20 000 being spent on houses at Santa Teresa. The inside is done - not even tiled - and the buildings outside not even renovated, not even touched.
How can we be closing the gap when we are doing this double shonky business with two sectors of Territorians? One is remote Aboriginal communities, and the other is in town. I guess it is because it is so close to the eyes of the non-Indigenous people; the media in Alice Springs. You want them to see the houses have been done properly in the town camps.
One of the houses which was handed over to a certain person I will not name here tonight, was to five people who live in the house. This family group also has an outstation 30 km north. Has the government changed its view and turned the corner on people owning two homes? Are we really catering for the disadvantaged? Are we really catering for those living in overcrowded houses? Are we really catering for and thinking about the child safety element of living in an overcrowded house? If you go to the middle section of that camp, you will see how the Rubuntjas live. These are the great-grandchildren and grandchildren of the late Eli Rubuntja and Wenten Rubuntja, great advocates of growing the town and having good relationships with people. This is their great-great-grandchildren, great-grandchildren, grandchildren, nieces and nephews living in absolute squalor.
This government proclaims Budget 2010-11 is helping to close the gap, but it is all talk. Closing the gap would mean things are getting better for Indigenous people, but I have been travelling widely in my electorate over the past few months and can tell you things are not getting better for Indigenous people. There is not one remote community member in the Northern Territory who would say their life has become easier lately and they would like to thank the government for its help. Indigenous people are still asking for basic government services to be delivered. The only exceptions are the people who have given up and stopped even asking.
The government should not make Indigenous Territorians beg for a proper house to live in, a proper education for their children, proper health services for their elderly, or an open airstrip or a safe road to access their community. Indigenous people should not have to make unsavoury deals in order to get those things most citizens take for granted. I am not reassured about the major improvements supposedly being made in Indigenous health when I am informed the incidents of scabies has increased at Docker River, or when a recent study demonstrated Central Australian Indigenous children have the highest rate of potentially fatal severe pneumonia in the world. This government’s budget offers Indigenous Territorians so little, yet its members proudly state they are closing the gap. It is a disgrace. Even the most basic services are not being provided to Indigenous Territorians. And let me tell you, Indigenous Territorians are still suffering.
Let us take off those rose-coloured glasses for a moment and look clearly at the current situation in our remote communities. It is time to consider whether the recent local government reform has produced any real benefits. The current structures of the shires - certainly MacDonnell Shire and Central Desert Shire - are too top heavy and are not able to efficiently deliver services to remote communities. Both of these shires have their main office in Alice Springs. The cost of the building in which they are housed takes a big bite out of their overall budget, when shire administration could easily have been located in one of their larger shire communities at a lesser cost. But, the main administration putters away in Alice Springs while things are getting worse out in remote communities.
The quality of housing repairs and maintenance is at an all-time low. I visited Docker River community recently and I was horrified; it was the worst I have seen in my six years as a member. Community members advised me no routine housing maintenance is being done at all. At one residence, there was no functioning electricity on one entire side of the house. However, people were still living in it, and they were running extension cords from the other side of the house for power. This is an extremely dangerous practice, but there is no choice; there is nowhere else to live and no repairs forthcoming.
At another residence located near the main shire office, a water leak from a broken pipe remained un-repaired for at least three months. At yet another house, the sink was broken and clogged for weeks, so the residents had to bucket out the dirty water that accumulated every day. Throughout the community, there were large puddles of water due to overflow leaking from the air-conditioners on the roofs. I suppose at least Docker River had air-conditioners in their houses. At Engawala, even air-conditioning is not being provided in most of the community houses. Those residents who do have air-conditioners have been advised that when these units break down, they will be replaced with ceiling fans.
It is lucky we are now in the cooler months of the year. There is still time to fix this urgent health and safety issue. In a climate where there are many successive days over 40C, people need to have an efficient way to cool their living spaces. Small children and the elderly will especially suffer next summer if there is no working air-conditioning. Rents are increasing for community members, but the amenity of the housing continues to decrease. This is what I keep talking about. Who is going out to Aboriginal communities to say the rents will increase? What will it increase to? Can people pay for it? Will they pay for it with the half-shonky work that has been done out at Santa Teresa? Are the people there now going to pay $120 for $10 000 or $20 000 worth of work that has been done?
Waste management is another area where the shires are failing. In April, I visited Ampilatwatja community in Barkly Shire. During this visit, I was made aware that the shire had disposed of approximately 3000 L of septic waste in the community dump not far from the community itself. This waste was left uncovered and accessible to animals. Septic sludge is a listed waste under the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act. It is harmful to people and the environment if disposed of incorrectly, as has occurred at Ampilatwatja. Even more concerning is that several days later, I visited Harts Range, administered by the Central Desert Shire, and the same practice had occurred there. The government needs to provide and support the oversight necessary to ensure the shires immediately cease this dumping of septic waste. Waste management practice must not be at a lower standard in small remote communities than which is expected in our larger regional centres. Shires servicing remote communities need to be aware of their responsibilities, both legal and environmental.
However, out on our remote communities, even the absolute basic of waste management is not being delivered. At Docker River, I recently observed rubbish bins in storage at the shire works compound. These bins have been sitting in the compound for the better part of the year, yet there are no rubbish bins provided at the houses for community residents to use. Unfortunately, Docker River is not the only community to lack residential rubbish bins. Kintore is another example of what is likely a widespread problem in the Northern Territory’s remote communities. The lack of appropriate household waste management naturally results in accumulation of litter on the community, as well as the burning of rubbish within the residential area, both of which produce serious environmental health hazards. Should residents continue to tolerate this treatment? No, they should not. If they should, we will never close the gap.
Another grave concern which is not addressed in Budget 2010-11 is the high number of remote community rubbish tips which are not up to standard. Within the last six weeks, a check on Barkly Shire tips found many did not comply with environmental health regulations. Again, this is indicative of a much bigger problem stretching across the remote shires, yet the shires do not have the funding to bring their tips up to standard. Meanwhile, there is the potential for water quality to be affected if the tips leak into the local water tables. This problem needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed in this budget.
What planning and provisions have been made to truly improve lives on remote Territory communities? Shires are funded for and are responsible for providing other community services as well. An example is childcare. In Central Australia, childcare services are floundering. For example, in the last few months, at Docker River and Papunya, childcare services have been patchy and irregular, with the facilities being closed for up to a week at a time with no notice. If we are serious about providing equal services on remote communities, this can no longer be tolerated.
In another community, a Family Services team leader has recently been sacked, seemingly for attempting to assist the local Indigenous staff in achieving their training and development goals. Indigenous people can fill the jobs on remote communities. They need to be given responsibility, as well as the training and support to fulfil their job requirements. In many cases, local workers have never received a duty statement, and their idea of what their job entails is very different from that of their supervisors. Expectations must be raised, both for Indigenous and non-Indigenous workers. It is not okay to operate on a remote community in a manner different than you would operate in Alice Springs just because you think no one cares what happens on Indigenous communities. The government must start to care, not least of all because what happens on remote communities affects what happens in the Territory’s towns and cities as well.
Caring about remote communities begins with effective government lobbying to retain the matching funds grants scheme, which would keep at least 500 Indigenous people employed across the shires. What does the government plan to do when these people lose their jobs? The Northern Territory government cannot play the blame game and leave the fault on the shoulders of the shires for their woeful lack of service provision. The government is responsible for setting up the shires and for appropriately funding them. The shires are an important partner which will help determine whether or not the goals of the government’s A Working Future policy will be met. It is time to review the structure of the shires and assist them to improve the efficiency of their service delivery.
It is distressing how little is allocated to Central Australia in this budget when our communities are in such dire need. As part of child protection services, the government needs to deliver an education strategy to new parents to prevent family violence and neglect. Without an education strategy about the responsibility of parents and the rights of children, you can flood the child protection system with money, but you will not stop the neglect and abuse of the Territory’s children. Where is the funding for prevention?
I will deviate and talk about my cousin who had a baby recently. I think that baby is about three, four, or five months old. Because she lives underneath the main bridge at Alice Springs, she thought it appropriate for her to hand over the child to Family and Children’s Services until she can get her act together and is in a position where she can go back to the community and have family support on the community. She is only a young mum, but she has chosen the easy way. Even Family and Children’s Services has now become a welfare system, where they are now taking children as a childcare agency to look after these children while the mums are drinking.
Furthermore, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander placement policy needs to be revoked. Culture cannot be a priority over the safety of a child. Where is the funding to recruit, train and support more carers? The government has such a bad reputation in this area that new carers are going to be difficult to come by. The stories are out there in the wider community about how badly carers are being treated, and this perception will be hard to change. It will require a major investment and a complete change of culture in the department.
I will deviate again. A couple who live just behind me help children with disabilities. They have always given up their time to look after Indigenous children with disabilities because their children have now grown up. They looked after my nephew’s little boy who died recently. These people have been put through the wringer by Department of Health and Families. These are genuine people with good hearts who put their hand up to the department and said: ‘I will care for these children. I will take the time. I have grown up children. I will provide the energy, the love, and compassion these children need’. That is the thanks they get from the department.
Road upgrades are another major area in which central Australia misses out again. Whatever happened to completing the sealing of the Mereenie Loop Road? I remember the former Chief Minister, Clare Martin, saying in 2001 that the Mereenie Loop Road would be sealed. I went to the election as a candidate for the Labor Party in 2005 and promised the electorate of Macdonnell the Mereenie Loop would be sealed. We are now in 2010 and the Mereenie Loop has still not been sealed.
We can talk about opportunities for Indigenous people in the tourism industry, and employment in that area but, until we have that road sealed, it is an opportunity lost due to this government’s lack of vision to see the possibilities of getting real employment and real tourism partnerships with Indigenous people, not just at Hermannsburg but at Areyonga, Kings Canyon, Ulpanyali, and Wanmarra. There are Aboriginal people in those outstations in that area who would love to have the opportunity to work with these people. I guess if you are a visionless government that just spins out rhetoric – and it is like that mirage that I spoke about at the beginning that disappears as you come towards it - then nothing will change; you will not close the gap on employment, tourism or anything.
Where is the investment to complete the sealing of the Tanami Road? The government has invested time and money in creating and advertising tourist routes like the Binns Track and the Red Centre Way, yet where is additional funding to keep these roads in good repair? While expensive signs have now been erected to declare the Red Centre Way, access to the sites along these tourist roads is often restricted due to the quality of road repairs and maintenance. The state of Central Australian’s roads is currently limiting Central Australian development. A real investment in our roads is needed to support all our local industries - the cattle industry, mining and tourism. Just as important, improved roads result in better road safety for tourists and locals. The government needs to develop the partnership, and access the required funding to seal the regional roads in the Territory as a priority.
The $80m for road repairs and maintenance, little of which we will see in Central Australia, is but a drop in the bucket of need. It is a drop in a leaking bucket when you think of the lack of durability of repairs on dirt roads.
Infrastructure precedes development, so where is the planning for the future? The government’s A Working Future strategy supposedly focuses on the development of 20 growth towns. In this budget, the allocation for improved access to these towns is $21m over five years. When spread over 20 communities and five years and, then, adding in a few more years for those projects that never seem to get off the ground, there is little for the 20 town residents to be happy about. This paltry allocation demonstrates the serious lack of investment in even our growth towns. I hate to think of what our more remote residents are left with - nothing.
Remote housing allocation under SIHIP is not worth the paper it is written on. Promises were made to community members and these promises are not being kept. The waste at all levels of administration of this project will result in less houses being built for more money. The scale of refurbishments being conducted on houses has already been cut back, cut back, and cut back again. Houses not up to Territory Housing standard after refurbishments are being returned to remote tenants. It is immoral to move people back into housing with a decreased level of amenity and charge them more rent. It would not happen in our regional centres, and it should not happen in our remote communities.
The reaction of people on remote communities was initially one of disbelief and astonishment. As we move into the fourth year of expenditure on SIHIP, this has evolved into resignation of the fact the government has lied again. Some people are moving out of their communities to make a stand and protest this treatment. Others are simply developing a deepening distrust of authority, and of a government which treats them with so little respect.
I do not believe distrust of this government is exclusive to our remote communities. In Alice Springs and Darwin, it has been demonstrated time and time again this government does not exercise appropriate oversight, and does not take responsibility for its mistakes. We have seen this clearly with the recent environment protection failures in the Top End, and around the Randal Carey building debacle in Alice Springs.
Even more frustrating is the government’s lack of ability to consult with its constituents or other service providers. A good example is the government’s recent attempt to slide under the radar with its proposal for a secure care facility on the Ross Highway outside Alice Springs. None of the relevant stakeholders, be they rural residents near the proposed site or the non-government help and social services sector, were consulted about this development or policy shift. Even now, weeks later, the government has yet to explain how it arrived at the decision to invest in secure care facilities. Upon what research was this decision based? It is hard to believe this is a cheaper option than adequately funding the residential services already available. Is it not strange to build a facility in an area which is relatively isolated from the services clients will need to access? What does the facility clientele mean? It could be male, female, children, young people, adults, people with chronic disability, people with mental health conditions, people with high behavioural needs, people with psychological trauma, or people with substance abuse. Will this facility really be able to provide for the needs of this wide-ranging clientele, or is it just a stop-gap place to detain people the government does not know how to deal with? Is this the best use of $5.9m? It is not reassuring to Territorians that we still do not have the answers to these questions.
The result is several petitions have circulated requesting the government consult appropriately prior to moving ahead with this proposal. There have been hundreds of individual submissions to the Development Consent Authority against the secure care facility. In addition, a coalition of community services organisations and professionals in Central Australia has written to the Chief Minister and asked for the proposal to be put on hold. This episode leaves Territorians wondering whether the government is interested in listening to the community it supposedly serves. I am left wondering has there been any kind of research to allow you to talk to people, have the input of people, I thought …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move that the member for Macdonnell be granted an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms ANDERSON: When putting facilities such as this next to residents there is supposed to be consultation and planning. You do not need someone driving home past a pink sign scratching their head thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what is happening here?’, then do all the foot work trying to bring it to the surface for residents in that town, or residents living in that area. This is about openness, transparency, and having contact with people. In this case, there was no contact with these people, or the town of Alice Springs at all. It is good to see the Alice Springs Town Council going against the decision to have a secure care facility based where there are Indigenous people not far - in my electorate at Amoonguna - and also non-Indigenous people in my electorate who live in that area.
If this is the trouble this government has in planning for one small facility, then imagine the trouble we will be in when they have to negotiate the complexities of the Rudd government’s health and hospital reform program. This reform promises to be the greatest change in the NT health system since self-government. It will radically alter the organisation and governance of our health service - Alice Springs Hospital services, an area of 800 000 km2 in the Northern Territory, as well as areas in Western Australia and South Australia comprising over an additional 350 000 km2. Currently, 25% of the patients admitted to Alice Springs Hospital are Indigenous people from the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands in the NPY areas of South Australia and Western Australia. It only makes sense that a Central Australian local hospital network be created which incorporates the current service areas in the Northern Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia.
The precursor to this arrangement is a suggested agreement between the same three parties for the provision of renal dialysis services due to the cultural links among the people in these areas. This is highly likely to be the best service model under the new reform. However, it is necessary this local hospital network be properly funded to deliver health services across such a large area. My main point is it will be extremely important for the current government to consult widely prior to putting forward recommendations for the composition of local hospital networks in the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory and Alice Springs cannot afford to be disadvantaged by a lack of funding or insufficient organisation of health services. The Chief Minister and the government must take a solid, well-researched proposal to the negotiating table. The government must learn to consult and collaborate with all stakeholders in this process. This is an essential part of closing the gap on Indigenous health, as well as an important element in improving the quality of healthcare for all Territorians. However, it is doubtful this government has the ability to get a good deal for Territorians, especially with its track record of slip-shod planning and negotiating.
Budget 2010-11 is another disappointment to Territorians, especially to Central Australians. This government has not delivered for Central Australia; in fact, it lacks the capacity to deliver the services we so desperately need. Territorians are tired of empty promises and waiting, waiting, waiting for action on their communities. They have lost faith in the government.
The $20 000 budgeted for projects to improve social cohesion and harmony is nothing but a sick joke. Social cohesion and harmony will only come about when all Territorians have equal opportunities to education, housing, jobs, and healthy communities. Currently, frustration and anger is all that is grown in our growth towns. There is a warning here for the future of the Territory and this government, but who will listen to it, Madam Deputy Speaker? Who will heed it?
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Appropriation Bill delivered by the Treasurer, the member for Karama. I was listening to the member for Macdonnell’s speech and I need to pick up on a number of the allegations and issues she raised. It was quite interesting, because I have recently done a trip through, and spent some time in, Central Australia. I visited a number of communities, particularly the growth towns about which the member for Macdonnell purports all is doom and gloom and nothing is happening. Well, it has been interesting to talk to residents in those growth towns who are part of the member for Macdonnell’s electorate, and to get their responses to A Working Future, and Territory 2030, a strategy about which I have certainly been consulting far and wide in the Northern Territory as Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister.
If you listened to the member for Macdonnell’s speech, you would think nothing ever happened in Alice Springs and all is doom and gloom. There are some decent and good people in Alice Springs. I enjoy going to Alice Springs because, whilst one side of my family is from the Tiwi Islands, I also have a very strong link with the Centre, and I am certainly enjoying reconnecting because of my father - from the Stolen Generations - and his family in Central Australia.
Recently, on my trip to Central Australia, I had a stall set up in the Yeperenye centre in Alice Springs. I stood there for a couple of hours, and a couple of members from the other side of politics went past and saw me talking to the public, walking around that great town of Alice Springs and up the mall. As with everywhere, we see the social challenges that have to be addressed and overcome - in Katherine, Tennant Creek, and certainly in Darwin - and it is no different in Alice Springs. Those challenges can only be approached when the community and government - and I am not just talking about the Territory government, the most important part of that government is local government; all three stakeholders in that whole process with the community - works together to overcome some of these social issues and challenges we see in places like Alice Springs.
Recently we went to communities like Santa Teresa and Hermannsburg. I have to acknowledge - and I was trying to find the list of names, and I will get the list - those women in the community of Santa Teresa who met with the members of the CTC and went through some of the issues, particularly in relation to the refurbished houses and the issues they are confronting working with the shires and the Department of Housing.
Often, when you go into these communities, you think about your own electorate. As an elected member of parliament, what is your responsibility? When people elect you, and you are a member of the parliament, your responsibility is to bring to the attention of government issues in those communities. It is not just government members, but it is imperative on all members, whether they are CLP or Independent members, to raise issues in these communities. Whether it is housing, child protection, policing services, or education services, it is imperative, as an elected member of parliament, that every member has a responsibility to bring those issues to the attention of the minister and the government.
I do not share the member for Macdonnell’s doom and gloom that nothing has happened over the nine years this government has been in power. The member for Macdonnell was also a part of this government for nigh on four years and, suddenly, has amnesia regarding her role and responsibility in A Working Future. Also, when we work through the issues about the shires and the reform that needed to happen with local government - and I am not going to that everything is hunky-dory and great with the shires – all of us know there are problems and challenges, but it is imperative we all accept our responsibility.
I know with two shires in my electorate, the Tiwi Islands Shire and also West Arnhem Shire, it would be easy to stand here and constantly say it is all doom and gloom and nothing is working. Sure, there are problems out there. Sure, with West Arnhem there has been a high turnover of staff. Sure, they are on to their third CEO. However, it is about working with the elected members, with those shires, to ensure they can build their capacity, and we can work together to make a strong, stable third tier of government, which is what the shires will be - and they will become effective.
It is two years, and we would be kidding ourselves if we said within two years those shires were going to be the answer to what was out there. We still need to work through those issues with them. It is an area that the CTC, of which the member for Macdonnell is part - and I think, apart from one trip to Groote Eylandt, she has not come to any of the other meetings, let alone participated in working through issues, not just in Central Australia, throughout the Northern Territory. I acknowledge the CLP members, the members for Katherine and Port Darwin, as well as you, Madam Deputy Speaker, the member for Nhulunbuy, and the member for Nelson. For you and me, it is not easy; we are members of government and we have to confront these big policy issues. When we get witnesses in - representatives from the public service, senior public servants – the members of the government - I as the member for Arafura, and you, Madam Deputy Speaker - with the CLP members, have some robust questioning with regard to looking across these issues we know are of great importance, particularly in the regions and for the electorates we represent.
The member for Macdonnell also talked about child protection; nothing is happening. It would be so easy to get caught up in this. I have often said in this House that if there is one member of the opposition whom I have always felt has addressed or looked at this issue and is very passionate about this issue it is the member for Araluen. I look at the budget and what we have allocated - and the government recently announcing $14.6m into the child protection system – it is building on significant investment we have been making since 2001. Is it a perfect system? No, it is not. If you look across Australia, every child protection system at different times, is in crisis. The inquiry that is happening which has sought an extension until September, will be interesting to see where things are at. Recently, I was listening to Dr Howard Bath in an interview, and he was predicting all is not good.
However, regarding the dollars and the investment, there has been more money allocated. $6m will be directed out of that $14.6 to out-of-home care. The $6m will be focused on providing carers with enhanced access to resources and financial support to meet the needs of children in their care. The member for Macdonnell was talking about an incident where she knows someone who is having problems with the department and support. I urge the member for Macdonnell to advocate, as I have advocated for a number of carers who have come to see me. It is vital we advocate as strongly as we can for people who put their hands up to become carers, particularly in this system. To talk about it is one thing, but you have to take that next step and bring it to the attention of the minister; to advocate so whatever circumstance or situation the people the member for Macdonnell is talking about, hopefully, if she brings it to the attention of the minister, their support structures may need to change.
The member for Macdonnell was bleating that there are people who need support. I encourage her to bring it to the attention of the minister rather than say nothing has happened when she should be responsible for ensuring it comes to the attention of the minister.
A fundamental necessity in ensuring a strong child protection service is supporting frontline staff to get on with the job. There are 76 positions created. We heard from the Minister for Health and Children and Families, of the 76 positions, 12 will be committed to ensuring frontline workers have administration and supervisory support. In addition to the 12 support staff, 64 new positions will be created to work directly with clients; 23 of these positions will be earmarked for Indigenous workers, and $2m will be used to establish three new services.
A new after-hours service will be established in Alice Springs to respond proactively to youth identified as at risk and on the streets at night, which brings me to that issue. When I was recently in Alice Springs, it was amazing going around the town camps. I had a really good trip around the town camps and talked to people in those camps. I met with Tangentyere, and I thank Willy Tilmouth for the meeting. It is interesting when you talk to people in Alice Springs; some people were saying: ‘You mob in the Top End get more money’.
It is clear when the CTC went through the meetings in Alice Springs - I think they were talking about an extra investment on top of the youth funding already committed in Alice Springs. I believe it was something like a $25m extra investment to deal with youth at risk and other programs in Alice Springs. To say nothing is happening in and around Alice Springs is not true.
There is a transitional housing development happening there to deal with many people who come in from the remote communities and stay in and around Alice Springs. There will be different levels of accommodation in the care facility.
Yes, there are issues in Alice Springs and we need to work towards them as a government. That is something which has to be confronted. In all my trips there, I received about three letters which I have passed on to the Minister for Health from people voicing their disapproval or concern about the secure care facility. Standing in the Yeperenye centre talking to people, walking around the town, talking to people in the town camps, talking to various members of the sector, the secure care facility was not raised. I acknowledge the people I did receive a letter from who were concerned about the lack of consultation. Before I went to Alice Springs the Minister for Health had gone there to meet with people in and around Alice Springs to talk about that issue.
Regarding Budget 2010-11 and Central Australia, there was $38m for the Alice Springs Hospital, which is fantastic. Alice Springs people, and those in that region of Central Australia, deserve state-of-the-art facilities and a hospital which can respond to them. There is $19.6m for the emergency department. There is $10m for headworks for residential development of the Arid Zone Research Institute site; the Central Australian Middle School and establishing a youth hub at ANZAC Hill; $5.9m for a two, eight-bed secure transitional care facility; $5.6m to construct a Larapinta seniors village; and $2.8m for the Acacia School special education infrastructure upgrade. That was part of the minister for Education’s fantastic announcement for education infrastructure upgrades for children with special needs.
In A Working Future, there is $32.2m for land servicing and essential service infrastructure in all Territory growth towns; $9.4m for new multipurpose police stations and officer accommodation at Imanpa; $2.59m for Indigenous power, water and sewerage services; $2.05m to remove excessive nitrate in the water at Kintore; $2m to upgrade the Sandover Highway; $2m to upgrade the Tanami Road; $1.9m to secure a long-term potable water source at Yuelamu; $1.25m to upgrade Ntaria school; and $800 000 to construct bus turnaround areas at town camps in Alice Springs.
When you read through the figures for Central Australia, and look at the commitment from the government, that does not read as a government which treats Central Australia or Centralians with contempt. It is a government that recognises the importance of Territorians who live through Central Australia and the Barkly. The member for Barkly, who is a proud member, can talk about his own areas and commitment from the government. But, it is significant and about recognising Central Australia as an important part of the Northern Territory, not just through our growth towns, our communities, the capital works that happen, but recognising the pastoral movement, and all contributions. I have always said Central Australia, particularly Alice Springs, has probably one of the most creative and vibrant art movements. People from Central Australia should be proud of that.
In A Working Future, it is around $980m across the board, across the Northern Territory, in this government’s future commitment to the bush. As I said, it is not perfect; we have still a lot of work to do. No one is saying there are not issues out there. Again, I say to the member for Macdonnell, if there are issues in your electorate - and travelling through your electorate recently, there are certainly some issues. On your behalf, I am willing to share some of those issues I picked up. I have brought some of those issues affecting your constituents to the attention of various ministers across government, and we will address them. It is important to say to your constituents, even though you are not a member of the Labor government, this government is for all Territorians and, if issues in your electorate come to our attention, we will certainly make sure we address them.
Recently, it was pleasing recently to see the community of Minjilang in my electorate. It was fantastic to be able to land at Warruwi community, or south Goulburn Island, and see an old election commitment of mine finally delivered; that is, the airstrip at Warruwi had finally been sealed. Within three years, we have delivered on that. At Minjilang, the community was gearing up for that airstrip to finally be sealed as well. That will make, since 2001, all the airstrips across my electorate such as Garden Point and Warruwi, which were all unsealed prior to 2001, now safe for Wet Season medical evacuations, which is a major issue, particularly in the Top End of the Northern Territory where, once the Wet Season sets in, evacuating people from those communities is virtually impossible. I know of incidents people have talked about, prior to 2001, where people did die; where they have had people pass away because aeromedical was unable to land on those airstrips. So, it was great to get out to both Minjilang and Warruwi and see we have delivered on that.
There is $4.5m over five years for reporting officers and, at Maningrida, there will be a couple of positions put in there. Budget 2010-11 gives the people in Arafura more police and more police stations in remote areas, and more money to fight child abuse and keep our kids safe.
When I went to Maningrida for three days, it was great to sit down with the child safety team and all of the women who are part of that. Also, it was fantastic to see the senior traditional owner, Reggie Wurridjal, who has set up the male safety area and has a number of men working with him. Reggie has become a big part of Men Locking Arms, and Men Against Violence. A big community like Maningrida has had its fair share of issues, particularly with child abuse and child sexual abuse, where a couple of highly publicised cases have come out of that community. I sat down with Reggie and a number of the men, and saw what they are doing to work together with the police to get greater education, but work amongst Aboriginal men in these communities to try to deal with stamping out child abuse, child sexual abuse, and violence.
For a community like Maningrida, that has been fantastic, because it has been an issue for a long time. I have been waiting to see how the men were going to take it up. To see Reggie leading the way with those senior traditional men is worth noting. He is in a full-time position, funded by the Northern Territory government - I think it is part funded and some of the resources are picked up by the Attorney-General’s Office, and the Night Patrol services are all Attorney-General with some funding from the Northern Territory government.
It was great to see $700 000 continues to be committed to fix the damaged wetlands and protect the Mary River. I do not know if any members have flown over that area, or driven through, but the Mary River area is probably the most spectacular wetlands you will see in the Top End. That $700 000 continues the environmental work to stop the saltwater intrusion into those wetlands. That will further protect and ensure the wetlands are going to be there. I was quite pleased the $700 000 will continue.
Building on Budget 2010-11, with the extra 105 teachers on top of the extra 330 teacher positions created since 2002 - it has been a great three weeks for me because I was able to touch base with not only Central Australia but to visit the best electorate in the Northern Territory, Arafura, and went to Gunbalanya, Maningrida, Warrawi, Minjilang, and then the Tiwi Islands. I always have to finish my visits with my mob on the Tiwi Islands.
I looked at how we have built the infrastructure at Gunbalanya. I have photos of Gunbalanya prior to 2001, when I stood as a candidate. To see the school and the teaching staff and the change it has created within that community is just amazing.
Yes, there are issues with the shire – anywhere there are issues - but we have made change by building the infrastructure. This government has built infrastructure in that school, not the BER. They did get some BER funding but it has been our government’s funding - nearly $3m into that school - which was an election commitment. I thank the Treasurer, the Chief Minister, and all my ministerial colleagues, for those commitments which have been forthcoming because schools are fundamental in our communities. We know, if we are going to get kids back to school, we have to build that school infrastructure. With Gunbalanya, we are seeing that change happening.
Recently I went to Gunbalanya with the new Police Commissioner, John McRoberts, and the Chief Minister. It was great to see the new commissioner and these young men, and hear the discussion between them. Many of our young men grow up with suspicion, and they have an issue with police officers …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move the member to be granted an extension of time.
Motion agreed.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Thank you, and I thank the member for Katherine for giving me an extension of time.
The commissioner and the Chief Minister were in the classroom with many of these young men and the commissioner asked these young fellows: ‘Which one of you wants to be a police officer?’ Not many put their hands up, but one little boy put his hand up and said: ‘I want to be a police officer’. I was talking to that young fellow and his teacher when I was at Gunbalanya last week for the funeral of the senior traditional owner. In two week’s time the teacher and the young fellow will be coming in and the boy will be spending time at the academy during his school holidays getting familiarised and learning about the police, in the hope that one day he will follow this career. Many of our kids do have dreams, and this young fellow’s dream is to be a police officer. If we and the new commissioner, through the schools and our funding and support, can make this young kid’s dream of becoming a police officer come true, that will be fantastic.
It was good to have the commissioner and the Chief Minister talk to the local police at the community, to see and address some of the issues in those communities and to promote our budget and to hand out Budget 2010-11 on A Working Future, and talk to many of the communities out there, particularly Gunbalanya.
There is a $1.25m upgrade for Maningrida to improve the primary school block and teacher area. I was there last week looking at the school and the infrastructure. That is building on giving that school and community the capacity to deal with the increase in student numbers. There is $300 000 for the Jabiru Area School and $300 000 for Warruwi Primary School.
When I was at Maningrida it was fantastic to see nine or 10 houses - the new houses that have been under way. I also was able to look at some of the refurbishments. The issue of the refurbishments is something I and members of the CTC will continue to work towards with the government. However, the federal government needs to get on board and look at this.
I should mention quickly - I know the contractor has been approved - finally we will see a custom made cyclone shelter constructed for Maningrida. Thank you, Treasurer. I know that has been let, and the person will be talking to the community today, to look at when construction will start.
There was also funding the minister for Transport and Infrastructure talked about in his speech - $2m for upgrading of various barge landings. I am glad to say one barge landing approved for immediate construction is Nguiu on the Tiwi Islands. I can let the minister and the Treasurer know that went down very well. People in Nguiu are certainly over the moon they will be getting a barge landing constructed. If anyone has been over there, that is quite a busy area and that barge landing has been a long time coming. It certainly has been well received on the Tiwi Islands.
Madam Deputy Speaker, this has been a budget which does deliver for Territorians. It supports A Working Future. It supports and puts Aboriginal people and their communities front and centre - $980m for A Working Futures; record spending. I commend the Treasurer and support the Appropriation Bill.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is traditional for members in this House to speak in reply to the budget regarding matters relating to both their shadow portfolio areas, and also their electorates. I shall not disappoint by departing that tradition.
What I can safely say is if I limited this reply to speaking on the scraps thrown to the Katherine electorate by this rather pathetic and insipid Labor government, this reply would, indeed, be very brief. In fact, for what this budget is worth to Katherine, I could sit down right now and not bother to waste my breath. However, it is the people of my electorate for whom I speak. Indeed, that can never be a waste of breath. The people of Katherine need to know there is someone willing to stand in this House, argue for more money to be spent in our town, and to represent their interests. For that reason, I intend to outline just what has been provided to my electorate and, more importantly, just what has not been provided in this budget for Katherine.
I first turn my thoughts to the budget for the current financial year, and I need to do that to set the scene. I move to the infrastructure highlights in the Regional Highlights book, at page 11. What I see is a list - I suppose, it is an expectation, a promise - of certain things to happen in the electorate; certain things the people of Katherine would expect, and expect the government to remain committed to, given they have outlined these areas in their budget paper.
I will run through those infrastructure highlights quickly. For the current financial year, we see $11.99m for primary schools, which is federal money, some of which has been revoted to the current or the next financial year. The revoting part is the important part at this point of time.
The next item on the list is the $10m Stuart Highway diversion around Katherine - also federal money and revoted to the next financial year. I see $7.7m for Buntine Highway - also federal money revoted to next year; $7m for the Woollogorang Road, which is the bridge over the McArthur River which has been promised for many years - still waiting for that. That is a combination of federal and NT money that is also revoted to next year, having being revoted from the previous year as well. I see $6.41m to continue Victoria Highway works which was revoted from last year - that is also federal money. I see $2.59m for the Katherine sobering-up shelter, which is also federal money, some of which has been revoted to next year.
Then, there is a list of other things. There is School’s Pride which seems to be completed; new classrooms for Lajamanu; $1m for Nitmiluk National Park to have upgrades to its utilities - that is now revoted to next year; and $0.35m for the Katherine Main Street upgrade that is also revoted to next year.
If I calculate the totals of those infrastructure highlights, I come to something in the vicinity of $58m to be spent in the Katherine region on those infrastructure highlights. However, $39m of that money is being revoted to next year - which leaves a total of, apparently, $19m being spent in Katherine in the current financial year.
Then, if I move on to the Regional Highlights again for Budget 2010-11, I can see a number of things which are also federal. We have $6m for the Cullen River Bridge, $2m for beef roads, $1.2m to replace the Jasper Creek Bridge at the Buchanan Highway, more money for the Katherine Main Street, and $.3m for refurbishment of 54 Acacia Drive unit complex, which is also federal money - and I will come back to that in a moment.
I also see under A Working Future close to $70m for SIHIP - I am not going to touch on SIHIP because I probably will not have time to do that today; and $23m for land services and essential service infrastructure in growth towns - which is also related to SIHIP. There are a few other things there but, if I add those things up, it will come to $120m. If I then deduct the program money for the broader SIHIP program, I come up with a measly $17m being spent in the region for the next financial year.
Then, as I looked at Budget Paper No 4, which is The Infrastructure Program for the Northern Territory, I browsed through some of this stuff and came up with an immediate question. It was under the Police, Fire and Emergency Service banner in this Budget Paper No 4. I wondered, when I looked back to the current financial year’s budget, there was an entry – let us start with that one. The current financial year, Budget Paper No 4, page 22, talks about capital works under the Police, Fire and Emergency Services heading.
In East Arnhem, the project is called the Numbulwar Police Post, and there has been $2m allocated to that. Then I flick over to next financial year budget and, lo and behold, I find, not under East Arnhem, but under Katherine and A Working Future, the Numbulwar Police Post, which has now been reduced in cost from $2m down to $1.5m cost. The reduction in the expenditure, I suppose, is a question all in itself, but it does make me wonder why Numbulwar has suddenly slipped from one region to another. I can only imagine, because Numbulwar does not really sit within the broader Katherine region, it is probably more likely to be in the East Arnhem region, which is where it was last year. However, the only reason I can really come up with for shifting projects like that, from year to year, from budget to budget, from region to region, is as an illusion that - for those who would give these budget papers a cursory glance - Katherine is benefiting more than it is in reality.
If I look at the budget paper for next year, Budget Paper No 4, and work through the program details by agency, and look at what is in here for Katherine and the region - and I will start at the front, even though there is nothing in the front that is really relevant to Katherine - there are some interesting points that come out of it.
NT Electoral Commission, going through the capital works, 91% of that expenditure next year is revoted from this year; the Department of the Chief Minister, likewise, 52% of the capital works money is revoted from the current year; and Department of the Legislative Assembly, 42%. If I look through the Police, Fire and Emergency Services, I see 55% of the entire capital works program for next year is revoted from the current financial year. When you are talking a total infrastructure program of nearly $65m, that is a fair bit of money. Treasury does not have any revoted work; Department of Justice has revoted works of a significant amount, probably around 60%, looking at that; and the Department of Education and Training, 76% of works revoted from this year to next financial year.
I might take one step back quickly and talk about the Department of Justice entries here. I see that, for Katherine - Katherine rates its first mention there on page 22 - it says expanding accommodation for Katherine, Alice Springs and Nhulunbuy Community Corrections Offices to the tune of $298 000. I hope that does get spent in Katherine, because I understand this work, which was actually revoted from last year, has not yet been completed in Katherine.
Back to Education and Training, I see Katherine features here again. Kintore Street School is receiving an infrastructure upgrade for $200 000, which is most welcome for our very special children in a very special school.
I look further down the page and I see Nation Building and Jobs Plan, Primary Schools in the 21st Century - that is the old BER I guess; multipurpose halls for $12m throughout the Katherine region. We all know about the BER program. That is the federal money that has been the rorted Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan spend-a-thon, where our tax dollars have been pumped into school halls and science buildings that, in some cases – and, in fact, many cases - were neither needed nor wanted. We all know the stories about the $1m demountable buildings that have been rorted out of that system.
On a brighter note, I had an opportunity recently to inspect the new building at the Katherine South Primary School. This is not an unneeded library or hall. This new building will be a new preschool, an additional resource area, and a combined after-school care facility. I commend the principal, the school council, and all those involved in securing that type of building for Katherine South. It is something they will get some use from and is much better value for money than much of the expenditure we have seen through the BER program, not only in the Territory but across Australia.
As I continue through the expenditure, there is nothing else in education and training for Katherine. For the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services, I see 33% of all the infrastructure spending is revoted from the current financial year. This department is a combined department; it has a couple of ministers in charge of it, one of whom is the redoubtable minister for affordable housing, the member for Johnston. I have interjected with this comment before, but I really must say, in the context of this government, I do not think I have ever come across two more mutually exclusive words than ‘affordable housing’ ...
Mr Giles: Incompetent government.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: They go together, member for Braitling, but these ones do not. Affordable housing is unbelievable when used in the context of this government. In the Northern Territory, Darwin’s rank bounces around from the top spot to maybe No 2 spot in all Australian capital cities as the most unaffordable place in which to live and purchase a house or pay rent. In fact, the term ‘affordable housing’ is probably one of the greatest oxymorons I have come across in my life. I looked up oxymoron because I wanted to make sure I understood the meaning of the word, and the definition behind it. I came up with a few others such as ‘dark sunshine’, ‘happy depression’, ‘amazing dullness’, ‘cold sun’. ‘Living dead’ was another I liked. All these could probably describe this government but I do not want to get too embroiled in the apt terminology debate.
A member interjecting.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: I have not got to the member for Daly yet. I have not got to talking about the Daly River bridge.
So, through local government and regional services nothing more for Katherine I notice. Then, I come to Health and Families, where we have money for the sobering-up shelter revoted from last year, some stuff Minyerri, Jilkminggan and Ngukurr, even though it is not strictly in my electorate. Then, I move on to something I am quite pleased to see, and I am happy to give credit where credit is due. We have $2.8m-odd for upgrade of renal facilities at the Katherine Hospital. I am very pleased about that. It will be great to have that new infrastructure in the Katherine Hospital. However, I remind the Minister for Health we will need to have staff to go with that, because I do not think the existing staff will be able to cope with the additional demands that will be placed on them through having those additional resources at the hospital. But anyway, I am sure the Minister for Health will be working on that.
I move to the department of Resources; there is nothing in here for Katherine - 76% of that money is revoted from last year. It then goes on through, and most of the rest of it does not particularly affect Katherine. Oh, yes, there are a few more things here. The department of Natural Resources and Environment and Arts - 78% of the money for next year has been revoted from the current year. I know I am talking about revoted works quite a bit, and the reason why will become apparent in a little while. Under that banner, I see Katherine Nitmiluk National Park will receive some upgraded electrical distribution - $2.3m revoted again from last year.
Then we move on to the Department of Lands and Planning; 54% of the money being spent on infrastructure next year is revoted from this year. We have the Katherine Regional Cultural Precinct headworks of $400 000. There are some other items for Lajamanu and Pigeon Hole - all very important to have that money spent in our bush communities.
I move to National Network - revoted works again. There is the heavy vehicle diversion which is causing a little angst amongst some people in Katherine, for $9.9m, say $10m. I move further on to Katherine again: community, beef and mining roads, the Buntine Highway Stages 1 and 2, and community, beef and mining roads, Wollogorang Road, bridge over the McArthur River, which was mentioned in the Regional Highlights.
We have the Katherine Main Street initiative, A Working Future. This is now new works, which constitutes the smallest part, I notice, of the works program for the Northern Territory. Further on, we have the Cullen Bridge - covered that. Beef roads again in the Douglas Daly area; Jasper Creek Bridge, and Buchanan Highway, I notice. That is about all that is in here for the Katherine region under Lands and Planning - we are talking about roads upgrades.
I notice this falls way short of the needs and expectations of regional Territorians. The Cattlemen’s Association has estimated some $2bn needs to be spent on the regional road network in the Northern Territory in the not-too-distant future to bring those roads up to a state so cattle can be transported in a more timely fashion, in better condition, and with less wear and tear on the vehicles carrying them. This falls way short of the expectations of the cattle industry.
I have said in this House before and I will say it again: Ramadan each year falls some 12 days earlier than the previous year. Ramadan, in the countries which celebrate it, is a time of fasting followed by a time of feast. At that time, there is an exceptional call for our live export cattle …
Ms Purick: And goats.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: And goats. If the Northern Territory does not address its capacity to get cattle out of remote parts of the Territory in the lead up to, and then into, the Wet Season, we are going to run into strife. If we cannot fulfil orders to those countries during those wet periods we experience in the November to April/May times of the year, we may very well see ourselves excluded from those markets. That concerns me a great deal. I hope the minister for Resources puts his case very strongly to the Minister for Lands and Planning with respect to the urgency in dealing with the remote and regional roads issue.
As I move forward through Budget Paper No 4, to the Land Development Corporation, 58% of that work is revoted; Darwin Port Corporation - this is an interesting one - 94% of the current year’s money is being revoted to next year, which includes $33m to construct an overland conveyer to improve bulk ship loading operation in environment and traffic safety. Interesting that, isn’t it? The money is sitting in the bank, yet we are having all sorts of unpleasant chemicals pour into our harbour as a result of, probably, not spending this money. For the Department of Construction and Infrastructure, 36% of that money is revoted from this year to next year.
I want to slip back to talk a little about Katherine and housing. I had the pleasure - if you could call it the pleasure - of driving around some parts of my town last week and looking at the state of housing in Katherine and how many vacant Northern Territory Housing houses we have in Katherine. Without trying too hard, I came across 34 Acacia Drive, followed by 39 Acacia Drive, followed by 7 Needham Court, followed by 2 Fomin Place, followed by 8 Fordham Court - that is two dwellings because that is a duplex. That is the Katherine East area. Then, there is 17 Tindal Street, 18 Tindal Street, 20 Tindal Street, 14 Shaw Street, 8 Shaw Street. It left me wondering how long some of these houses have been vacant. It is difficult to get definitive answers on those sorts of questions because the department would be unlikely to embrace a question like that. However, what I can do …
Dr Burns: Try writing to the minister. I have not received any letters from you, mate, not like the member for Braitling. At least he writes and communicates.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: I pick up the interjection from the member for Johnston. Sometimes, I do not need to write to you, minister, because I know how long places have been vacant.
I draw the House’s attention to the units at 54 Acacia Drive. These units are Northern Territory Housing units. They have been vacant for not one year, not two years, but almost four years. In fact, I can show you some photos of what some of them used to look like. There you go – they have boarded-up windows. That is how they sat in Katherine.
Katherine, reportedly, has the highest rate of homelessness in the Northern Territory, and we have had housing sitting like that for almost four years, and this government cannot get off its backside and do something about it. It is absolutely reprehensible. Not only that, when they do fix them up, they do not even use Northern Territory money. There they are; some of them are fixed. $0.3m has been allocated to it - that is a nice photo of them. Where does the money come from? Not from the repairs and maintenance budget of NT Housing, but from the federal government. This is federal government money that has come to the Northern Territory to try to solve some of our homelessness problems.
I do not think this situation is likely to change. The reason I say that, if I turn to Budget Paper No 4 for 2009-10, and 2010-11, and look at the R&M programs for those years for Housing, R&M for government housing remains unchanged at $3.3m, and there is a modest rise in R&M for public housing. The question I ask out of this is: will Katherine see any extra money? Again, I have to reach the conclusion it is unlikely. The reason I can confidently say that is because, throughout this year, there will be more NT public housing stock coming online because of the beleaguered SIHIP. So, as rebuilds and refurbs come online, there will be an increase of public housing stock on the books - not in Katherine but in remote areas affected by SIHIP.
I know I have said a lot, and other people have said it in this House too, with respect to the revoted work in this budget. I was left wondering, I have to admit, just what percentage of this budget is revoted from last year. There are other questions, of course, that flow out of that, but I will come back to that in a minute.
The Treasurer has stood in this House, and many of the other members on the other side also, and crowed and patted themselves on the back, saying: ‘We have a record spend of $1.8bn for infrastructure in this budget’. What people might not know is that $842.545m of that work has been revoted from last year. If you deduct from the $1.8bn the R&M component which is contained within the Infrastructure budget, the figure you arrive at is that 52% of this budget is revoted work from last year - 52%. The next question I asked myself, I have to admit, was: how did that stack up against previous years? It prompted me to do the research, or have the research done, and I found that, in 2002-03, there was …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move that the member for Katherine be given an additional 10 minutes to finish his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, member for Braitling. What I discovered in 2002-03, 30% of the budget was revoted; 2003-04 was 35%; 2004-05 was 35% - there is a little trend jumping in here; 2005-06, it dropped down to 30%; 2006-07 it was 37% of the budget that was revoted; in 2007-08, it jumped to 45%; in 2008-09, it was a staggering 58% of the entire infrastructure budget that was revoted from the previous year; last year, 53% and, of course, this year, 52%.
Madam Deputy Speaker, clearly there is a trend by this government to increase revoted works almost year upon year, and the question is: why? Why is this is happening? Why do they do it? What is the thinking behind it? The only reason I can think of is so the government can effectively perpetrate a fraud upon the people of the Northern Territory by misleading them, by lying to them, and saying ‘We are going to spend; this is a record infrastructure spend’. More than half of it is just money that was not spent last year. It is high time the government stopped patting itself on the back so beautifully and wishing itself all the very best and, instead, started telling Territorians what it is doing.
If I bring that back to a Katherine perspective, because I digressed from my electorate a little, and look at this year’s infrastructure program for Katherine, 74% of it is federal money and 80% of the $25m that has been directed to Katherine is revoted from last year. It is no wonder the people in Katherine despise this government because, not only do they treat us as second-class citizens down there but, when they do promise something, they do not damn well deliver it. It is no surprise at all this government faces probably its greatest period of unpopularity in, not only Katherine, but the remaining regions of the Northern Territory. I can assure you, if I go through this budget and outline that same program right across the Northern Territory you will see everybody is in the same boat ...
A member interjecting.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Reprehensible isn’t it?
It got me wondering about the context of this government driving the Territory into a black hole of deficit. If I recall what the Treasurer said, something along the lines of: ‘We are having to go into deficit to counter the downturn in the economy’ and, in the same breath uttering ‘increased government expenditure will keep the Northern Territory economy afloat’.
Last year, the Territory’s growth was predicted to be in the order of 2%, yet the government’s own figures, I believe, put that growth at only 0.4%. If the Treasurer’s premise for taking this budget into the red is correct, then I pose this question: had the $842.5m been spent in this current financial year - that is the revoted money that was not spent - or at least a large portion of it because I realise there are reasons sometimes why programs cannot go ahead, could our growth have, in fact, exceeded that 0.4%?
If the Treasurer says government spending to this degree will help bolster the Northern Territory’s economy, I will be happy to take that on face value. Then, it goes back to that question of: had that money been spent in the current financial year would we be in the position of having only 0.4% growth, and would we have needed to go into deficit? Effectively, the Treasurer said: ‘Well, we are going to go into deficit because we need it and we need it because we did not spend the money’.
A couple of other points quickly before I resume my seat which relate to my portfolio area. I notice under the Local Government section on page 114 of Budget Paper No 3 - and I will dig that out - there is significant decrease in funding for local government in this coming financial year. It is explained away - and I will read that out - under Key Variations. The change, of course, is from $87.5m down to $74.5m. The Key Variation says:
- The Local Government output decrease in 2010-11 is largely due to Commonwealth funding for the Indigenous Employment Program ending in 2009-10’.
Unless I am mistaken, that is a topic canvassed today in Question Time; that is, the loss of somewhere between 500 and 800 jobs in Indigenous communities as a result of the funding cut by the Commonwealth to the CDEP transitional jobs program. Yet, when the Minister for Local Government was asked about this, she did everything in her power to avoid answering it, and had no answer whatsoever.
If we talk about that cut in funding to local government, the difference between the current financial year and the next financial year is about $13m. If you take that $8.5m out, which is the CDEP transition program, it leaves about $4.5m less for Local Government, in an environment where Local Government can least afford to take any further budget cuts. The shires are bleeding, and this government is either incompetent, cannot help the shires, or simply does not care - I do not know what it is.
The resources area also does not fare well. If I turn to page 153 of Budget Paper 3, I see a cut in the budget allocation from $84.5m last year down to $73m this year and, if I refer that to the previous year, that comes down from $90m. In the last two years, Resources has been cut from $90m to $73m, which works out to close to 25%. In each case, there are thin attempts to justify these cuts by blaming Commonwealth expenditure cuts and the carryovers from previous years. Perhaps the government should explain to the people in the shires, the employees of the departments I have mentioned, and all the primary producers and the fishermen, just where their priorities lie. It is certainly not with the regions of the Northern Territory.
It would be nice to congratulate the Treasurer on a great budget. Of course, that will not happen given the contents of the budget this year. One day, I hope to have the very pleasing duty of being able to do that. I live in hope it will occur under the current Labor government, but it will be more likely to happen under a Country Liberals government. We will have a view beyond election cycles, and a view right into the heart of the Northern Territory. A Country Liberals budget in the future will most certainly deliver for all Territorians.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support Budget 2010-11, another responsible budget delivered in difficult circumstances. As most members realise, the global financial crisis has dominated headlines for a while now. Australia has been largely able to avoid a technical recession, thanks in a large part to timely and targeted temporary investment decisions by the federal government.
Some states have been harder hit than others by the current ongoing global difficulties. In the Territory in particular, we have been able to avoid much of the turbulence that has affected states like New South Wales. I know of several local businesses, but one in particular I am thinking of, works both here and down south. They have noticed there has been minimal change in spending patterns by locals, but there has been a significant change, still, in how people are spending in Sydney - they are spending less.
One thing which has happened over the last year or so has been a slowing in consumption in southern states. A slowing in consumption means a slowing in the amount of money collected through the GST and, that obviously, affects our budget.
Most Territorians enjoyed the benefits of our strong economy in 2009, where the Territory led the nation in a number of economic indicators such retail trade, employment growth, unemployment, job ads, business confidence, and gross state product; and we saw 6000 new jobs created.
Despite the Territory economy withstanding a buffeting by the global financial crisis, our economy is still dependant, and will be for a long time, on the condition of our national economy. This put a test on our budget, as the Treasurer explained in her speech, to ensure spending met some core criteria on how we deliver now and invest in the future. The most obvious area which satisfied this test is our capital works program and accelerated land release program, and the subsequent impact those decisions and investments will have on residential construction.
There is still a critical need for the Territory government to continue our record investments in capital works. We are between major projects in the Territory, but we need to keep our skilled workforce here in the Territory and to protect those jobs. We are growing strongly, we need new roads and schools, and new suburbs and infrastructure like the Palmerston sports investment. In Budget 2010-11, we broke last year’s record infrastructure spend - and we needed to - with a $1.8bn infrastructure budget which delivers jobs now and invests in the Territory’s future.
I went with the Treasurer to five budget functions; there is, obviously, a lot of interest every year in the budget, and there are always a number of functions associated with the delivery of the budget. The investment in infrastructure was a decision warmly welcomed at every function, from the Chamber of Commerce to the Master Builders, to the Property Council, to the unions. It was clear each group recognised the importance of continued government spending in infrastructure to keep jobs, to continue to attract skilled workers, and provide the services to match the growth we have in the Territory.
The Territory is a great place, and it is easy to understand why people want to stay here longer than they have in the past. The Territory has often been a transitional place for people in their careers, and it is easy to understand why more and more people want to move here. It sometimes is a case of moving back here. We have seen in the statistics released in Territory 2030 the changing demographics in the Territory and the growth we are expecting, for example, in senior Territorians. That is something already happening; there are more Territorians choosing to retire in the Territory, and more senior Territorians choosing to stay close to their grandchildren. That has seen some people actually moving to the Territory where, in the past, we have seen the opposite - young families moving south to be with their grandparents. Now, we are seeing grandparents moving to Darwin - obviously speaking about my patch - to be near their grandchildren.
The continued growth in the Territory and the changing nature of that growth has seen us make some new decisions around stamp duty. This budget will put in place a stamp duty discount of $8500 for senior Territorians who downsize. In effect, we are encouraging senior Territorians to move out of their three- or four-bedroom homes and into something smaller, which should see some churn through the market and the opening up of more homes for families. There has already been some interest created in this decision. I have had conversations with people involved in the real estate industry, agents and conveyancers, who have seen senior Territorians think about downsizing for a number of years, but have never quite got around to moving. They are now looking at that discount and are making decisions about moving into something smaller.
This is something of significant interest in my electorate. I know a number of people, not all seniors, who have seen their children without a home and have made that decision to move out of my electorate and often, into the member for Port Darwin’s electorate, to places like Pandanus or Evolution. I am sorry to see them go, but they have made that decision to change their lifestyle. They now enjoy spending their mornings over a coffee rather than a lawnmower and, while they have a spare room for guests, they are confident having a unit rather than a house means their kids will not boomerang home. I know in my electorate, where people have thought about it, the decision is already making an impact. The decision to provide a stamp duty cut for seniors is already working. I have seen it in Stuart Park, Parap, and Fannie Bay; it was an innovative decision and I commend the Treasurer for it.
We are seeing some changes in my electorate; a growing number of people moving in around Parap Shopping Village, whether that is during the day in new offices that are going up or have already gone up, or for good in a growing number of places like Kingston Green going up on the old Ross Smith guest house site. One of the outcomes we will see from more people moving in is Parap Shopping Village providing more shopping, more restaurants, and after-hours dining. Talking to traders, they are aware of the growing demand, and something they are certainly looking at is how they cater for that extra demand in the shopping village precinct.
We now have a preferred proponent for the old Wirrina site, with Sitzler chosen through a tender process. The Sitzler project is called Village at Parap. The complex is on a major road, Parap Road; it is on a public transport route and is across the road from shops. That is the right site, we believe, to put a four-storey unit complex, with 100 units. The advantage of going to four storeys is the project can feature basement car parking; putting car parking spaces underground means the complex can have a green top rather than an asphalt top. Obviously, there will be attractive landscaping and generous outdoor living areas, and a heavy focus on pedestrian links to the nearby shops. They will be able to keep some of the existing trees; there is a lot of interest in trees and a couple of big trees on the block they will be able to keep. This is possible because basement car parking frees up public space, and there will be some barbecue areas and a children’s playground.
Pedestrian entrances will be all through the complex which means Parap Road, Gregory Street and Drysdale Street. The buildings will be one unit deep, not back-to-back with other units, and with windows on either side for the breeze. That is, obviously, a great decision.
The project is DCA compliant; it is not seeking any variations. There had been some interest before the project was announced from residents and traders worried about on-street parking and people absorbing car parks at the Parap Shopping Village. There will be two car parks per unit and an on-site visitor car park for 20 cars. I have met with several traders already and there will be a briefing with the traders formally at their regular meeting this Wednesday. The traders I have talked to so far are comfortable with the on-site parking and they do not think it is going to affect parking in the shopping village. The residents I have talked to so far are happy with that as well. There are some off-street car parking issues already, separate to this project, and that is something we are working on with Darwin City Council.
It is a mixed development of private, public, and affordable housing. It is part of our efforts, as a government, to find a better housing model than the old 100% public housing model we believe does not work - we know it does not work, we have seen it. Ten of the units, mainly on the ground floor, and some on the first floor, peppered through the complex, are for senior public housing tenants, and 35 units, also peppered, will be for the affordable housing rental company government is in the process of establishing. Those units will be for rent at 80% of the market rate.
The affordable housing rental company attracts Commonwealth money and accesses Commonwealth rental assistance; it rents to low-income workers, essentially. The income levels are set through the Australian Tax Office and they have some guidelines on that. By doing that, you also get GST exemption, so it is a good housing model that we found brings more money into housing and has worked in other parts of Australia. The Territory and our market needs have an affordable housing rental company. Over the last few years we have all seen the changes in our housing market. There was a time when the market catered to people of all incomes, but we have seen the gap grow between social housing and the market, and the affordable housing rental company is part of the solution to fill that gap.
There has been interest from many people about the size and the cost of the units. I believe they are good sized units for a good price. We are not aiming at prestige units, that is an area of the market catered for already.
The opposition is saying we should build them bigger and sell cheaper. I am not quite sure how that works as, obviously, a great deal of time and effort has gone into the size and the costing of these units. They will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedrooms; the likely floor space of the units will be: one-bedroom, 55 m2 to 57 m2 internal, plus a balcony of 20 m2 to 25 m2 - a good sized balcony - and is one reason Sitzler is going ahead on that site, because they will put really good balconies on all these units, and many people I know in the Territory love to spend time on their balconies - I certainly do. The two-bedroom unit is 75 m2 to 80 m2 internal, and balconies are 20 m2 to 30 m2; the three-bedroom is 95 m2 to 97 m2 internal, and balconies are 25 m2 to 30 m2. They are still working on that, but that is pretty close to what it is going to be. By the same token, the prices which are being finalised are likely to be in the range of $340 000 to $540 000.
As part of this debate, I have a friend who rang me and said: ‘I have a unit, 66 m2 internal.’ He said: ‘You have been here, you know what it looks like, it is 66 m2 internal, and I have quite tiny balconies’. I know his place, it is quite liveable, it is a great house. He said: ‘A lot of this debate is being confused with a part of the market that is already claimed as a prestige market’. His unit is two-bedroom with two people in it, and he is quite comfortable with his 66 m2 unit. One day he will probably buy something bigger, but right now he is quite happy with that; it is his way of breaking into the market.
Last week, I visited homes in Drysdale Street and Gregory Street with the developers. They are the two streets the complex will be on, and people were positive. There will be a meeting of the Parap Residents Association this Thursday, and Sitzler will be there; and Sitzler will also be at the Parap Markets this Saturday. They are quite happy to talk with residents about the project and discuss any concerns people have on a number of issues that come up.
One of them is drainage, which, in some respects, is a Darwin City Council issue, and people are asking about the impact of the block. Drainage to the area is actually as bad as it is going to get at the moment, because it is an empty block with rock on top. Once the units go up and catch the rain off the roof, and there is grass that absorbs rain, drainage from that end of the street will be much better. Obviously, these questions can be answered, which is one reason we are having a meeting on Thursday, and Sitzler will be available for anyone who wants to talk about it. That is one of the things people are talking about in my electorate at the moment.
Another topic of much interest is the new Police Beat we are locating at the Parap shops. Police on the beat will work from the Parap shops up through the Fannie Bay shops and the Stuart Park shops. They will be on foot; on bikes; and they will have a patrol car. The patrols are starting this week, I understand, and the shopfront will be ready in August.
The shopfront will be in Vimy Lane next door to 24HR Art, just down from Saffron Restaurant. The Police Beat will go some way towards addressing concerns people have of antisocial behaviour around shopping villages. Unfortunately, shopping villages are hot spots and attract antisocial behaviour. That is why the Police Beat has worked at Casuarina, and it will work at Parap, Fannie Bay and Stuart Park too, I believe.
Problems of antisocial behaviour do not have a quick fix, we know that; it takes a great deal of hard work and the police are the ones who do much of that hard work. I thank them for their efforts they make every day in my electorate. The Police Beat at Parap shops will give more confidence to business to open after hours, for restaurants and shopping because there is growing demand as more people move in; I touched on that before. We are supporting that growth by recognising challenges we have, and the Police Beat has been welcomed with open arms. It starts this week, as I said, and is part of our plan to make Parap, Fannie Bay and Stuart Park better places to live, better places to work, and better places to raise a family. Everyone says they have the best electorate; I have a great electorate and we have a great sense of community.
It is important as Parap, Fannie Bay, and Stuart Park grow and more people move in, we need to ensure we maintain our strong sense of community, and a large part of that is how we use our green space. This debate is happening more vocally now in the Parap/Fannie Bay area than the Stuart Park area, and there is a consultation process going on right now for a master plan of the old Parap netball court and the Parap pool. The Parap pool is going nowhere - that is important to state - but there is consultation happening about how we use that area; it is quite a large area now, with the netball courts moved to Marrara, and there is much interest in that consultation process.
We have a strong community in Parap and Fannie Bay, and there are some excellent ideas of how we can use that space to increase the amount of land available to the preschool next door. An aquatic centre has often been mooted for Casuarina, but we now have space at Parap with the netball courts gone; there is also interest in tennis using that space, and people have put forward the idea of community gardens and exercise equipment for seniors. There is a range of things people are talking about for that space.
So there is an important decision looming for council, as it is their land. Government is part of the consultation process and we are paying for half the master plan, but there is an important decision to be made about how we use that community space to service the number of people moving in.
There are a number of areas not necessarily being used at the moment where I believe we can create space that can be used in my electorate. One is the triangle at the end of Urquhart Street on Ross Smith next to the school, which is a bit of a quirk. There has been a very long conversation going on between the school council, Darwin City Council, and the government about how we can incorporate that land into Parap Primary School which would make a considerable difference to the school’s oval. The space belongs to Darwin City Council, as do the roads on either side of the triangle, so it does require some work by council, which we have tried to hasten.
We have put $300 000 on the table as a capital grant to Darwin City Council, and we met on-site last week with Heather Sjoberg, a local alderman, who was also representing Helen Galton and Roger Dee, the other local aldermen from the area who could not be there. I have discussed this before with all three aldermen and, as I said, we have had a long conversation about this. Heather will be taking that offer, hopefully, through the Darwin City Council process and we await a decision from council.
It is not a new idea; it has come up in the past how we can incorporate it and split the costs. Government has now made a formal offer; it is on the table and council is considering it. The incorporation of that triangle will make a big difference to Parap Primary School, which is not the biggest primary school in Darwin and is constrained by those roads on either side. There is nowhere they can grow, and that triangle will add an important bit of land to the site. The aldermen are on board, I believe; the school council is on board, the local community is on board, and I am sure council will get on board.
There is another small but important project in my electorate at Stuart Park Primary School, which is a great school and a busy school. Like many schools, when children are dropped off in the morning it gets busy, and the concerns parents have about parking actually featured the other day in the paper. It has been a concern for a while now, and we have had long conversations between school council, Darwin City Council and government about roads in that area.
In an effort to get things moving, we have put some money towards A Safe Route to School strategy. I met with council on-site and talked through the different spots. There is an engineering solution possible which would see diagonal parking on Ashley Street; but Darwin City Council is wary of that option. There is diagonal parking at other schools, but they think it is a safety issue with traffic reversing around the school; however, I believe we can work through that. We have diagonal parking in Urquhart Street, and school council believes we can work through that. Darwin City Council still has some concerns and thought A Safe Route to School strategy was better to do first. So we have taken that on board and have put $111 000 aside towards the cost of whatever comes out of that survey.
Small projects – small in comparison with the $1.8bn infrastructure budget - can often make the greatest difference to a local community. The Parap and Stuart Park Primary Schools investments will make a difference. We have seen outcomes of similar investments in the area, and the positive impact they have had.
We have put $200 000 towards the cost of rebuilding the Railway Club, which has a strong membership base and they have done much volunteer work getting the place back together. We helped meet the cost between insurance and the cost of fixing the place up. This is another example of a small amount of money to a community group in the local community can make a massive difference.
There are many volunteers at the Railway Club who need to be thanked for the work they have done, especially: Hopper, Alan Patton, Mick Huddy from CFMU, Trevor Gould from ETU, and a large bunch of their members too long to list. I asked them for a list and they said there are too many; however they did give me a few names of people who particularly need to be thanked: Steve Biggs; Slim; Steve Holliday; Rex Maxwell; Ropehead – I apologise, that is the name they gave me; Dylan; Colin Holt, Jacinta Hewitt, and many other tradies who have done so much work.
The last few events there have all been fantastic. They have not yet had their official opening, they are waiting for a switchboard, but they have been able to do a few things on-site. Last Saturday they had a CD launch of a local Japanese punk band, Semi Shigure, supported by Triple J winners, Jess Ribiero and the Bone Collectors - a great night supporting local musos. Every Wednesday night - there might be a few members interested in this - they have a 17-piece swing band called Hot and Cold. They have excellent attendance; everyone is getting into it, and they like the music.
There is much more in the pipeline; for example, a rock quiz fundraiser and, hopefully, a small festival in September which will include much of Parap. I have had some very productive conversations with the Railway Club about that and they have some excellent ideas for a festival in Parap. I am very happy to help them in whatever way, as I am happy to help others in the area. They are having monthly quiz nights - the first one is tonight - obviously, I am not going to make it as parliament is on.
They have a fantastic floor for ballroom dancing. There is a shortage of good wooden floors in Darwin for dancing – but the Railway Club has one. The kitchen is just about ready to go into full service. I have been there for a few functions and they have done some great food out the back, but with the kitchen finished it is going to be a fantastic spot. Everyone who has been there knows it has one of the best beer gardens in Darwin, and with the Dry Season here, I encourage everyone to get there; it is a fantastic spot to spend some of your time.
The official opening is probably in a few weeks - once that switchboard is ready it is up and away. Anna Stewart, Secretary of the Railway Club, had a few things to say: ‘Everyone absolutely loves the new Railway Club. It is described as welcoming, at the same time as being very cool. Often we are told it is the new place to be in Darwin. The future, I believe, is very positive. There is still more work to be done and we cannot rest on our laurels. With positive energy from members, including the committee, the club will easily do another 35 years, excluding unforeseen disasters, of course. We are taking bookings, so get in early for your Christmas functions’. Thanks, Anna, I have not thought about Christmas yet; maybe I should.
This is another example of a great community group; a community area that needed a little time and money and has been able to come good and get through a really difficult circumstance when the fire hit. I do not know how many people saw it, but the kitchen was basically gone and the girders had melted in the roof. They had a special meeting to discuss whether they go on, pull up stumps, or what would they do. Membership was keen to keep going, which was great. The government was able to help and, now, the community is flourishing again. That is fantastic.
I have an electorate full of clubs; probably the reason I believe I have the best electorate. It is also the reason we have a very strong sense of community. The Darwin Sailing Club and Trailer Boat Club are next to each other on Vestey’s Beach. I assume, over the 50 years they have been there, there have been times when they have been cooperative and times they have not. However, at the moment, they are working together, which is really good to see.
They came and saw us about an issue crucial to the future of both their clubs; the rock wall which protects their clubs from tidal action was being taken apart; you could see rocks being washed out down the beach 30 m or 40 m. That wall will stop tidal surges and turns waves into a trickle when they hit those rocks, and stops the erosion of that land. Without the rock wall, the clubs would not be there, so they were very worried about the state of the rock wall. They put together a very professional submission, and I commend them on it. When they came to the government and said, ‘What do you think?’, government said: ‘We think you are right. This is a big issue. We do not want those clubs to go. We will put $1.6m in for the construction of a new rock wall’.
The clubs advise hundreds upon hundreds of visitors to the clubs have said only good things about the changes to the rock wall. That is a lot of visitors in the last couple of months, but I will take them at their word. Members were grateful for the efforts of the government to get the wall completed, the same with the foreshore. They say the rock wall has added greatly to the aesthetics of the beach; and I certainly agree with that. It looks a million bucks; it cost a million bucks – fantastic! The Sailing Club has taken clippings of salt tolerant shrubs they have cultivated, and are going to use them to replant and revegetate that area right to the very edge of the rock wall where the grass is, to stop any erosion from water that comes over the top and washes out that little area there. It will also act as a safety hedge for kids, as a deterrent to them climbing on the wall. Knowing kids, I am not quite sure how much of a deterrent that will be, but they are putting it up. A great community area, great community clubs, and another great result. If you work with people, you get a good outcome – and we have a great sense of community in our electorate.
I wanted to talk about some small investments. Obviously, Budget 2010-11 delivered some very big investments, and ministers have spoken to those. I wanted to talk about some of the small things happening in my electorate; targeted investments that make a big difference to the sense of community we have in my electorate, and the positive impact. It is fantastic, and that is why I am very happy to commend Budget 2010-11.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak on Budget 2010-11 submitted by the Treasurer to this House. Before I go on to some of the topics I would like to discuss, I heard on numerous occasions the Treasurer say to this House the Henderson government has spent more money than the CLP has spent – ‘We have increased spending on this and we have increased spending on that’.
At the outset, I put on the record it is all very well for the Treasurer to say that, but the Treasurer received substantially more in revenue than the CLP ever did. In fact, with some of the issues she refers to, she now receives over twice the budget the CLP ever had when they were in government doing some of the projects she refers to. The Treasurer, and the Henderson government, have been in receipt of a GST windfall of in excess of $1bn. You can, if you have windfalls like that, spend enormous amounts of extra money on a range of issues you would like to fix, and into projects you would like to see come to fruition.
The other part of what I hear on a regular basis in this House is the amount of money they put in. People on this side of the House have often reminded the Treasurer, as I have, that money and cash is an input; it is not an outcome. When we look at some of the outcomes we are achieving - in fact, when you go back through the records, you will see, in many instances, we are actually going backwards in relation to outcomes, even though more money is being spent. It is in that light I speak about a number of things.
I welcome the government spending more money, but I ask them to do so responsibly. Of course, it is our job on this side of the House to hold the government to account and be responsible for the taxpayers’ money they spend - in some cases without too much concern about the outcomes.
First, I go to a subject that is fairly close to my heart in relation to many people who live in my electorate, in the northern suburbs, and who come to my office. At the moment, it is probably the No 1 issue of my constituents and their children - the matter of housing. I welcome the changes the government has brought in with Homestart for young people, but the housing issue goes across a number of my portfolios, mainly Multicultural Affairs, Seniors, Youth and, of course, some of those things are very dear to some of my constituents. Many of my constituents have children who are getting married, commencing families and who, for various reasons, are unable to find themselves in public housing or the rental market, because of the high cost.
A number of times in this House when we quote figures in relation to the amount of public housing government has sold off - I have provided these figures to them - they are public figures. Between 2001 and 2007 the government has sold in excess of 2000 Territory dwellings, and the member for Daly raised the issue and said we sold 730. In actual fact, it is around that figure the Country Liberals did sell off, but we did so at a time when we did not have a housing crisis. We did it at a time when we did not have a land crisis. We did it to help low-income Territory families get themselves into the market. Now, many families who were on low incomes and who got themselves into the housing market have a very valuable asset they can borrow against, use, or put towards their retirement or whatever, when they start to downsize to, perhaps, smaller premises.
When you have sold off that many homes - I hear a number of figures put to this House - in fact, I heard the figure of 150 homes being replaced in the very near future; I have heard the government announce 200 homes are going to be built in Coconut Grove. However, that still does not go to replacing the 2000 the government sold off …
Mr Knight: Rubbish! You are so dumb, aren’t you? You are so dumb. You just do not get it.
Mr STYLES: … and we wonder why the waiting lists are up around about the 3500 mark.
Mr Knight: How did you ever make a police officer, you are so dumb.
Mr STYLES: That when they put …
Dr Burns: We will talk about it next week. I am looking forward to it.
Mr Knight: You are such an idiot.
Mr STYLES: I pick up on the interjections, Madam Speaker. I refer the member for Daly to the sheets and the figures that are publicly available, figures that he can have …
Dr Burns: A bit like school-based police officers. We can believe you on that as well, hey?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Leader of Government Business, order!
Mr STYLES: Yes, I pick up on the interjection.
Mr Knight: You are so thick.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Daly, I ask you to withdraw that comment.
Mr KNIGHT: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I pick up on the interjection from the member for Johnston. I am saving school-based policing for an entirely separate issue.
We have some pretty horrific waiting lists of people out there - young Territorians, and even senior Territorians, who are on waiting lists because of the mismanagement of the entire Housing portfolio by a number of members on the government side.
The member for Nelson raised an issue a bit earlier I had planned to discuss this afternoon, in relation to demolishing homes located at Larrakeyah. I take note the member for Barkly mentioned these homes were 30-years old, had 30-year-old bathrooms, etcetera. The house I live in is approaching 30 years of age and I am wondering whether people would suggest I demolish it; I can assure you it is still a fine home. It may not meet the standards of some senior officers in the Australian Defence Forces, and whatever reason they are putting up for demolishing these homes. However, I am sure if I spoke to some of the young people in my electorate, and some of the parents of those people, and the people who have had to live in cars and tents as a result of not being able to get a hand up from the Territory government, they would love any home where they could actually lock the door.
It is very interesting when you have people come into your office very disappointed about their children living in tents, who cannot sleep because they are in fear of people coming to get them - when you have a single mother and a daughter living in a tent, neither of whom can feel safe at night because they cannot secure themselves. I am sure, if you said to those people: ‘Here is a 30-year-old home with a 30-year-old bathroom’, they would be grateful for anything they could get.
I wonder whether the government is prepared to put up some land so these places could be moved. It is an easy process these days to actually move homes and if they are going to be demolished anyway, I am sure the Australian Defence Force might even donate them to a worthy cause. The cost of getting into those homes would be simply the cost of removal, restumping, and the cost of the land.
It would appear the government is reluctant to do this, or even talk to their colleagues in Canberra and see if they could do that. It would be a great way of getting some of the 3500 families off the waiting list. In fact, you could probably sell these homes at considerably less than it would cost to buy a block of land and build a new one. If you can get one of these blocks of land in Palmerston it would be substantially less, and it could be affordable housing.
There is an idea. I assume the government probably does not want to listen to me, though. However, I am sure there are people out there who may read this, and people I talk to and tell I did raise this in parliament and it is up to the government to choose whether or not they react to it.
People come to my office who, through no fault of their own, payments made from their workplace to Territory Housing has gone amiss, and here is a mum with a whole pile of kids about to be evicted from a home. It is interesting, you have these people who are struggling out there with the high cost of living and rent, and Territory Housing wants to put them out of their home. I am assuming once they go, they will immediately go onto an emergency housing list which, I believe, is anything up to nine months before you are given something. They are in and out of housing. I cannot quite understand; the only thing I can put it down to is due to the number of properties they have sold off, the pressure is on Territory Housing to find places anywhere to reduce the number of people on that waitlist. It seems like a vicious circle, ongoing, in relation to housing.
I would like to continue on with housing, but I have a number of other issues I would like to talk about. There are two particular aspects that run right through all my portfolios and electorate matters. There are two phrases - one is called ‘early intervention’, and the other one is an old adage: ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’.
My mother taught me it was better to protect oneself rather than spend an awful lot of money on cure. The other old adage was ‘a stitch in time saves nine’. I just wonder whether the government has ever heard of those things, whether their mothers taught them those things early in life. They are things I have taken right through my life, and I still subscribe to those sayings.
Early intervention: when one picks up any report these days on any matter you find those words ‘early intervention’ appearing on an ongoing basis; it is a theme which runs through all these things. With housing, if you got in there early and talked to people at Larrakeyah base about trying to get a few houses moved so you can get a few families housed - I am sure those families would be forever grateful to any government of any persuasion who could pull off something like that. Single families on limited income have problems - kids are living in tents - they would be very grateful for anything they could lock, somewhere they could feel safe and secure.
I come to youth, one of my shadow portfolio responsibilities. There are a number of things in relation to youth, and again I use the phrases ‘an ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure’, and ‘early intervention’. It seems the government is moving away from early intervention and prevention and hitting everything with a cure.
I received a letter in relation to youth matters I would like to read out. It relates to the Wongabilla Equestrian Centre, run by the PCYC. This facility not only gives many disadvantaged kids, low-income kids juvenile diversion - a whole range of people use this facility. It appears the Police and Citizens Youth Club might lose this facility. I would like to place on the public record a letter from a life member of the Police and Citizens Youth Club, was President of the organisation for some years and, currently, is on the committee. The letter says:
- Dear members,
My name is Glen Lynch - I am a life member of PCYC and was president of this organisation for some years. Currently, I represent Wongabilla Equestrian Centre on the PCYC committee. Since you have a child or children involved at Wongabilla, I am sure that you too have a vested interest in doing your best to ensure that the centre continues to operate under the guidance of a sworn police officer.
You may be aware of the recent proposal made by the Commissioner of Police, Mr John McRoberts, to remove police from the PCYC and have a fire station built on a substantial portion of land that Wongabilla Equestrian Centre currently operates on. This proposal also includes the removal of other police resources from crime prevention programs, including Junior Police Rangers, in order to have all police members serving on ‘the front line’ as operational police. Mr McRoberts made it clear on a morning talk back show on ABC radio on Thursday 27 May that his main priority was to move all ‘non-operational’ sworn police officers into operational positions. Mr McRoberts received numerous calls that morning from the public, criticising his decision to remove police from activities that involve positive police engagement with youth. Callers were of the opinion that crime prevention is just as important as reactive policing. The podcast is available online until Thursday …
It gives the web address and continues:
- Removing police resources, which includes all staff currently at Wongabilla (employed by police), would cause the demise of the centre due to operational costs. Wongabilla currently provides a service for youth at risk, disengaged youth, disadvantaged youth, as well as a variety of educational services (school groups and VET students). These are all programs that operate during the day and have received very positive feedback from organisations utilising the programs. The public group lessons held in the afternoons are run by the same staff who operate the centre during the day, as well as employing casual instructors. The lesson prices are kept to a minimum in an effort to make equestrian activities affordable for all. Members of Wongabilla and their families participate in activities such as holiday programs and fundraising events, promoting community involvement and leadership skills. There are no longer any private enterprises in Darwin offering the services Wongabilla provides in the way of equestrian activities.
The Commissioner of Police has stated that the fire station is best suited to the Wongabilla site. The proposed location would see the uptake of the portion of land that runs alongside Tivendale Road - gone would be the improved pasture paddock and the hay shed would have to be relocated. The top arena would also go and the current work areas would back onto the site of the fire station. Wongabilla would then have to operate on about half the area it currently utilises, requiring consideration as to the number of horses and ponies able to be kept on the property - reductions would have a huge impact on current activities, as well as any future development of the centre. There are several other suitable sites for the proposed fire station earmarked for consideration; however, the commissioner remains adamant that the Wongabilla site is his preference.
The Commissioner of Police is unable to make these decisions. It is the current Cabinet ministers who ultimately make the final decision on the location of the fire station and the removal of police resources. We anticipate that this decision will be made very soon, as the next round of sittings take place at parliament prior to the conclusion of the financial year.
The Chief Minister, Mr Paul Henderson, is aware of these issues and the Police Advisor to the Chief Minister, Mr Charlie Phillips, has been out to Wongabilla recently, viewing the facilities and receiving a briefing on the programs that are currently operating.
The Commissioner of Police appears to have made his mind up over these issues and the only chance we have to prevent these changes is to lobby government. This is where your input is imperative.
A petition has been developed and we urge you to sign it and assist in gathering as many signatures as you can before Friday, 5 June. Petitions may be accessed at Wongabilla, Saddleworld, or Kezia Purick’s office at Coolalinga. All signed petitions are required by Thursday, 3 June - completed or not.
Then it goes on to say:
- Please lobby the government …
And it gives government e-mail addresses, Chief Minister’s e-mail address, etcetera.
It also asked that people contact radio stations and ask for support of all members and friends that the Wongabilla Equestrian Centre survive, whatever.
It is interesting, because this is indicative of some of the issues that have happened in relation to youth services. It would appear the government is pulling back from any sort of proactive youth engagement. We hear the rhetoric coming from them, but the actual reality seems to be pulling back. My fear is for young people. I know there a number of people out there who require a great deal of attention, who have a high rate of recidivism. However, there are many young people out there who simply make mistakes. It is these people who are dealt with, who go out to places like Wongabilla where they do juvenile diversion.
Many of these kids go out there and have to build relationships with animals. It is a well-known fact, when you are young, if you can build positive and loving relationships with any animal - cat, dog, horse – it augurs well for your future development and relationships you might have as you go into teenage years and later in life. It is also suggested you reduce the amount of domestic violence in your community if you can have these positive relationships as you are growing.
If you take Wongabilla as an example of the government seeming to pull back in so many areas of youth engagement and proactive work - that is, the early intervention issues - we see the old adage of an ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure going out the window.
It is with concern I raise this issue here. As I talk with people I know in the community, I am sure there are people on the government side who also have contacts out there, who also go to barbecues and talk to people. However, in relation to juvenile diversion, for instance, there are people in Correctional Services who will tell you it is far better if other people, especially with some of the police issues, deal with juvenile diversion before it gets to Correctional Services. They say once it actually gets to Correctional Services, it is hard for many young people to get out because they have been that far they do not understand whether it is or is not a deterrent from their perspective.
We need good, positive role models, and I encourage the government to work on these proactive programs and reconsider their attitude towards any proactive program, be it Wongabilla, community policing, or any positive engagement such as the sporting arena. That is another issue we will be discussing tomorrow in this House, supporting families to get their kids into sport. There is an old saying: ‘into sport out of court’. As a former police officer and school-based police officer, I can assure members of this House, especially those in the government, this actually works. When you have been part of the system to divert young people and turn young people, it is a wonderful thing to be able to do, and to show people in the community you can. If you care enough and work hard at it, you can actually turn young people. Many young people simply make mistakes; they are not bad people, they simply make poor choices and make mistakes. It is great to be part of a system where you can actually turn those kids to be great kids. I have seen it and done it, personally, on hundreds of occasions where good kids have got into the wrong crowd, made a bad decision, or done something they have regretted; you can get them back on track.
I now see them around town; they have kids of their own; they are responsible parents, and they are forever grateful to the community and to those in the community who assisted them. That is what makes good citizens; people who look back and at the community and say: ‘Gee whiz, thank you very much to all those community people who helped me get back on track, because I am now grown and have kids of my own, and I now understand what my mum and dad were saying to me’ - or whoever looked after them, or raised them and gave good advice to them when they were younger. It all pays off in the end, because all that stuff is in the back of their head; the things parents or whoever has raised them put in there all comes out eventually. We just have to help people to get through, we need to give them a hand up to get back on track.
There are issues in relation to sporting facilities. Young people come and talk to me; I have taught nearly 40 000 of them, and many still come and see me and talk about their issues. They talk about trying to get affordable housing; they cannot afford to rent, they are crammed. I know a place where eight of them live in a unit to share the rent. This is where we get, not so much overcrowding in Aboriginal communities, which is a major issue, but this is happening in middle-income northern suburbs; people just cannot afford the incredibly high rents which have been brought about by the systemic policy failures of the government in relation to land release pushing up of price of houses and land.
So it is with electricity costs. Young people say one of the killers is the electricity costs; and there is no rebate for some of these young people. I know seniors get a hand. When we get to the seniors portfolio, I am encouraged at least the government has done something in relation to freezing electricity prices, and have contributed to looking after pensioners.
However, at the other end of the scale, there are young people in our community who are really struggling; they are still living at home. There are a number of families - we are not talking about the bottom end of the socioeconomic scale, we are talking about middle-income families - where kids just cannot afford to leave home. If those kids are in relationships and kids come along, then they are putting all sorts of pressures on mum and dad. Mum and dad may want to downsize. I note the government has given concessions of $8500 to assist senior Territorians and Pensioner and Carer Concession Cardholders to downsize from a larger home into perhaps a smaller unit. The problem is there are many parents who do not want to downsize, or not for some years; they want to be able to provide a bolthole for their kids. I had the same issue. I promised my wife, prior to her death, I would ensure I always had a bolthole for the kids to come home to.
I am sure, Madam Speaker, you and other members in this House who have kids would promise their kids, if it all became too hard, or they were about to fall over, they could come home for a while. There are many people in my area and in the northern suburbs who have come home. The problem is, due to the high cost of living in the Territory now, they have not been able to leave, and they are stuck at home. There are many pressures when you leave home; you go out and get into a relationship; you have a couple of kids; things get pretty tough and you have to go back home. Then you have overcrowding in middle-income Australia.
These issues are brought about by systemic policy failures of the government. I am sure the government would say: ‘There are some people who bring that upon themselves’. I am sure there are a number of people where this is true, but the large number of people who come into my office and sit there with tears coming out of their eyes are good, solid, decent folk, who are having a struggle with the high cost of living in the Territory, the high cost of rent, and the unavailability of public housing ...
Mr CHANDLER: A point of order Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77 for the member to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I thank my colleague.
Youth are our future. I believe the statistics are 18% of our population are youth, but they make up 100% of our future. It has always been said to me by my mother, the wonderful lady she was, who taught me so many things - that we only have this place on loan for our kids, and they, in turn, only have it on loan for theirs. In so many matters we are required to look after, to protect and provide for the next generation to ensure they too can benefit from the fantastic experiences our generation has been able to experience, not only in Australia, but in the Northern Territory.
The Territory is a great place to live. Unfortunately, at the moment, it is getting to be a very expensive place to live. Someone texted me the other day with some figures on the rental market for units - it is about $500-plus per square metre. We are now, I think they said, officially the most expensive place to rent a unit in Australia; more expensive than New York City. That was quite an alarming text message. I thought: this is really serious stuff when we get to the point of being more expensive than Sydney or New York to rent unit floor space. It makes it hard. I am not saying that is actually the case, but when you start looking at figures like that and people in the community are starting to express concern, then it is a real issue, and an issue for our youth.
There are plenty more youth issues, but I should move on; there are a couple of other things I would like to say about different portfolios.
With regard to seniors, it is interesting because we get a great influx of seniors into the Territory. As the southern winter approaches, the so-called Grey Nomads, people recently retired, pack up their caravans, their campers, their buses, and head north. In fact, there are clubs of people who get together and drive up and have a wonderful time. They are an interesting group of people, many of whom are extremely well educated and still contribute to the community. Not only do they contribute to our community economically by being here and spending, consuming, using services etcetera, they are also the Dry Season workforce. In many instances, they provide extra labour- and skilled labour – required due to the influx of tourists and people in general who come here for the Dry Season for sightseeing and to experience the warmer weather.
There are some interesting issues in relation to their ability to stay as tourists in one particular place - some want to stay longer than five months. I know Alice Springs has an issue where some caravan parks do not going to take these people, they think they are permanents; so they have to keep moving all the time. Some people say it is an inconvenience; others are not particularly concerned about it. However, many are.
Seniors are amongst those who not only visit us during the Dry Season, but who remain because they have families here, or choose the lifestyle here. They make up a huge number of volunteers in our community who provide not only basic services in a range of areas, but save the taxpayer, and the government, an enormous amount of money by providing volunteer services. They take up the slack in the workforce, and they contribute economically to the jobs my kids have.
Regarding the Pensioner Carer and Concession Scheme, I note there are some small increases; however, it needs a major overhaul which it has not had for many years, to make it fair, some figures we did suggested about $8.5m would be required to bring most rebates up to currency on today’s dollar value. The other thing, by keeping the very people here this would help, would keep about $200m in the Territory. If we lose those pensioners, we lose the $200m they contribute to the Northern Territory economy each year.
Not only are we talking about maintaining the social fabric by keeping parents here so their children and grandchildren have access to parents and grandparents, there is a range of things we need to do as a community to provide services for seniors. We have to provide a new hospital, or at least a commitment to a new hospital, at Palmerston; hospital extensions required in Alice Springs and other work done on the hospital in Alice Springs.
We need specialist services. I had a gentleman come into my office recently who was concerned about the coronary unit at the hospital. It is sporadic in relation to people who have been there. I am sure the Minister for Health would say it is a great unit - and there are wonderful people at work there; public servants who work very hard and are very dedicated. I do not knock any public servants; public servants are required to work hard these days to meet all sorts of targets. It is really about government policy, and how much governments want to put in, and where they want to spend their health dollars.
Transport systems – we need to work out good bus routes, good transport systems and, for those who are ill, taxi concessions and things like that. One of the things I note is pensioners have free travel on buses, and most pensioners I know are very grateful for that.
We need security. Between six and nine months ago a young fellow was bashed and robbed at the ATM at Northlakes shops, where my office is located. That gets around the community, and a number of old ladies said to me: ‘If young blokes cannot go there and get money out of the ATM, how do you think we feel? We have to go to the bank and we have to pay a fee just to use the staff of the bank to withdraw money’. These are things governments are required to look at - security for these people. Unfortunately, many do not feel safe, sadly, and a number of people have said to me they are actually leaving town because they do not feel safe ...
Mr Knight: Rubbish! You are full of it.
Mr STYLES: I hear the interjection.
Mr Knight: You are just scaremongering.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STYLES: It is interesting because, when I was talking to these people, I did not see the member for Daly standing there listening. I find it amazing. I am not just making assertions here; I am actually repeating conversations I have had with seniors. It is interesting you can say it is ‘rubbish’. I do not believe the member for Daly was there; he was obviously peeking through the window or hiding in the shadows somewhere.
We need early intervention for seniors.
In Multicultural Affairs; it was March before people got the Multicultural Affairs calendar out. There is a range of issues, but I mention the efforts the Police Ethnic Advisory Group and the Multicultural Council NT make. They do a fabulous job.
In relation to Racing, Gaming and Licensing - I note I am out of time, Madam Speaker - there are a number of people who provide volunteer services and do a great job and contribute to the fantastic place the Northern Territory is ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, your time has expired.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Note Statement - Achievements in Developing and Progressing Women’s Policy in the Northern Territory
Note Statement - Achievements in Developing and Progressing Women’s Policy in the Northern Territory
Continued from 5 May 2010.
Madam SPEAKER: I note the Minister for Business and Employment has two minutes remaining, and that you have not had an extension.
Mr KNIGHT (Business and Employment): Madam Speaker, I commend the minister for this statement. As has been highlighted in previous contributions to the House, from this side especially, a great deal is going into the Women’s Policy area, such as the work that goes on in the seniors’ area with Janet Durling of the Senior Territorians Advisory Council; she does a great job with that. Also, young people, especially the young ladies on the Youth Round Table. I have met with them on several occasions, and only a couple of weeks ago I met with them on Sunday when they had their last meeting at the Airport Resort. They give up a lot of their personal time and we value their contribution to the round table. They have certainly taken on a whole chunk of policy area around not only youth but with young women in those projects they have taken on.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister for bringing this statement forward; it is certainly an area where we are working hard, but we need to continue and expand that work, because there are certainly many challenges ahead. I commend the statement to the House.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on achievements in developing and progressing Women’s Policy in the Northern Territory. I welcome this opportunity to outline what has been achieved across my portfolio responsibilities in developing and progressing women’s policy, and advancing the status of women in the Northern Territory. It is important to recognise the government’s achievements in women’s policy here in the Territory.
By way of background, the then Minister for Women’s Policy, the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, launched her own road map for progressing issues important to women in the Northern Territory. This plan, Building on Our Strengths: a Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012, sets out key actions in five priority areas including health and wellbeing, safety, economic security, leadership and participation, and life balance. Members would be aware the plan emanated from issues raised and discussions held through Community Cabinet women’s forums across the Territory.
When it comes to health and wellbeing, women are the largest consumers of health services due to specialist health requirements, and through their important roles as mothers and primary care givers. To ensure we have a healthy Territory, we need to ensure women of the Territory have access to appropriate health services.
When it comes to measuring health outcomes, one of the most significant and reported statistics is life expectancy. Significant improvements have been made in the life expectancy of Indigenous women in the Northern Territory. Since 2000, Indigenous women’s health expectancy has climbed 3.2 years, from 65 years to 68.2 years. This jump can be attributed to improvements made in chronic disease management and reduced cancer deaths.
There has been a reduction in deaths from cervical cancer in the Territory. These are positive outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous women and their families. Cervical cancer detection and treatment for Indigenous women in the Territory has now achieved equivalent outcomes as for non-Indigenous women in the rest of Australia.
The Territory government’s work in preventative healthcare has seen outcomes for Indigenous women in cervical cancer screening and treatment. By 2005, the regional women’s health educators, through the Well Women’s Screening Program, has resulted in 50% of Indigenous women participating in two-yearly Pap smears. In 1991, the Well Women’s Screening Program was introduced to screen and educate women in cervical cancer in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory as part of the new National Cervical Cancer Screening Program. Many women in remote areas had not previously had a Pap smear screen test. Through these efforts, the Pap smear coverage for women in remote areas has increased significantly. The rate of cervical cancer for Indigenous women has decreased by 68% over this time, and deaths have decreased significantly by 92% over this period.
The partnership between the Territory and Australian government has established a purpose-built mobile clinic, the Women’s Health on Wheels, or WHOW truck. The WHOW truck has recently commenced operations and will increase the capacity of remote centres in Central Australia to offer the Well Women’s screening services in a private and secure space.
In recognition of these services, the Well Women’s Cancer Screening Program won the 2009 Chief Minister’s Award for Excellence in the Public Sector in the Strengthening Regional and Remote Northern Territory Category.
Another key women’s health issue is breast cancer. Breast cancer screening is a public health program aimed at detecting cancers early, so morbidity and mortality are reduced. The breast screening program has been found to be most effective targeting women aged 50 to 69-years old, when over 70% of breast cancers occur. In the last 10 years, the Northern Territory program has increased the number of women screened in this target group. Between 1999 and 2009, the number of women screened in the target age range has increased from 67% to 84%. This achievement is testament to the hard work of the Northern Territory Well Women’s Cancer Screening service.
The Northern Territory Maternity Services review recommendations continue to be progressed. The Midwifery Group Practice in Darwin and Alice Springs has been established. The Alice Springs’ practice is able to offer a midwifery service to remote and urban women, and to women in Alice Springs wanting to give birth at home. During the Alice Springs practice first year of operation, 162 babies were born through the practice, including 75 babies to remote Indigenous women, and nine home births. The Darwin Midwifery Group Practice commenced in September 2009, and has had 100 babies born through the practice in the first six months. Five remote area midwife positions have been established and are based in communities in Central Australia and the Top End. These innovative midwifery positions allow midwives to develop best practice community-based maternal and child health programs in collaboration with senior Indigenous women. A comprehensive maternity service information leaflet has been developed for consumers across the Northern Territory, and the Northern Territory will be the only jurisdiction to have maternity care options, ranging from obstetrics care to home birth service, outlined in one information source.
In January 2010, the Antenatal Clinic at Royal Darwin Hospital was remodelled to become more women-centred. This has allowed increased midwifery care for women falling into normal birth risk category, and improved communication between remote and acute maternity services. With the support of the Territory government and Congress in Alice Springs, five Indigenous women have enrolled in a three-year Bachelor of Midwifery Course through the Brisbane Catholic University. This marks the beginning of addressing a shortage of Indigenous maternity care workers and ensuring cultural safety for Indigenous women in the Northern Territory.
Our innovative maternity services will be showcased when Alice Springs hosts the National Collaborative Midwifery Conference called ‘Breathing New Life into Maternity Care’ in July 2010.
The progress of the Northern Territory maternity services review is also seen in the development of a program for maternity care and community-based workers such as the Strong Women Workers. The program will assist in the provision of best practice maternity care for Indigenous women, particularly young women. In addressing the specific maternal health needs of Indigenous women, the Strong Women, Strong Babies, Strong Culture program has been developed and delivered over many years in the Northern Territory. This bicultural community development program respects and supports the Aboriginal way of promoting good health for women and babies during pregnancy and early parenting.
Indigenous women deliver the program to Indigenous women, combining traditional and contemporary knowledge. Indigenous grandmothers and identified younger women use the program to promote health and wellbeing through passing on traditional ways to pregnant mothers and keeping the grandmothers’ law alive. The program is operational in nine communities, including Yirrkala, Borroloola, Galiwinku, Nguiu, Jabiru, Milingimbi, Canteen Creek, Utopia and Wadeye.
The Strong Women Worker for Wadeye divides her time between the community and the Royal Darwin Hospital where she supports women during sit down, labour, birth, and the early postnatal period. Recruitment is also under way for community-based workers in Maningrida to undertake the Strong Women program.
The program is developed to strengthen and progress its goal to improve the health and wellbeing of Indigenous women and their babies. The coordinator positions have been evaluated and recent recruitment resulted in the employment of three Strong Women coordinators in the Top End. A process is currently under way to fill two more positions in Central Australia. A similar recruitment process is under way to offer Strong Women Workers in communities permanent positions within the Department of Health and Families.
Core of Life is another innovative program operating in the Northern Territory seeking to improve women’s health, particularly that of young women. The Core of Life program is a unique hands-on life education program. It is an effective model designed by midwives to improve knowledge and attitudes. The Core of Life program provides adolescents and other groups factual information about becoming pregnant, giving birth, and parenting a newborn. The model is designed to improve young people’s understanding of the importance of nutrition, healthcare, and the impacts of alcohol and drugs during pregnancies. The issues associated with early parenting including breastfeeding, care of a newborn, and where to go for support and assistance, are also addressed. Core of Life facilitators are providing training courses across the Top End of the Northern Territory. These courses will train community-based health staff, teachers, and midwives to conduct Core of Life programs in schools and with adolescent groups through girls and boys camps.
The Women’s Information Service called WISe, based in Alice Springs, provides free confidential information and a referral service to women across the Northern Territory with a focus on Central Australia. The WISe coordinator’s role is to know and engage with all key services, programs, and activities relevant to women in the Northern Territory. The coordinator maintains a high profile in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek and also coordinates and promotes a range of events relevant to women, including White Ribbon Day.
Minister McCarthy has provided the details related to the $15m the Northern Territory government has invested into domestic and family violence initiatives. Building on Our Strengths: a Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012 also highlights, as a priority action, the need to ensure safety of women and families. As a government, we are fully committed to a safe Territory. Our family violence initiative is one example of this, and our investment in the child protection system is another.
I have recently announced a major boost to child protection services. An additional 76 child protection staff will be employed as part of the $14.7m funding boost to Northern Territory Families and Children in 2010-11. For the benefit of the member for Araluen, 64 of these 76 child protection staff will be fully and appropriately qualified to meet the challenges in their profession.
This funding provides the single largest boost, in the history of any Territory government, towards staff to improve our child protection system. The funds will deliver additional staff to every Family and Children’s Service office across the Territory. This investment will increase capacity for frontline tertiary child protection workers. However, it also provides the capacity to strengthen our early intervention services. These services work directly with families to prevent families becoming involved in the tertiary system.
The additional staff is an immediate measure before the Independent Board of Inquiry into Child Protection in the Northern Territory makes its recommendations in June. The Northern Territory government called for the broadest and most comprehensive inquiry possible into child protection last year to pave the way forward for a stronger system into the future. My announcement demonstrated the Henderson’s government commitment to boosting child protection services, supporting frontline workers, and delivering now for families and children. There can be no greater priority than to protect our children. We will act on the board’s recommendations to ensure our system is strengthened.
This increase builds on the extra 112 child protection and support workers funded by the Labor government since 2002-03, as well as tripling of the child protection services budget since 2001. Recruitment will be fast-tracked to ensure as many new staff as possible can be recruited to commence immediately in the new financial year.
Funding will also go towards improving service delivery within out-of-home care. This will support provision of professional services, including supporting children and foster carers. Women make up the largest component of our primary carers, both within the family system and as foster carers. This investment will directly impact on the service provided to carers to keep their families safe, and to provide safety for children who are unable to remain with their families.
Earlier, minister McCarthy provided an overview of women’s participation in the workforce. The Minister for Women’s Policy outlined the achievements so far under Building on Our Strengths: a Framework for Action for Women in the Northern Territory 2008-2012. The points she highlighted as priority areas are economic security, leadership and participation, and life balance.
Primary Industry, Fisheries and Minerals and Energy have historically been viewed as male dominated fields and, at times, we have not appropriately recognised the considerable contribution women make. My departments actively encourage and support participation of women. This is clearly represented in the number of women currently employed, and the positions women hold within the industry. Female employees currently represent 50% of departmental staff but, more significantly, they are extremely well represented in the professional and technical streams. Approximately 40% of professional positions and over 60% of technical positions are held by women.
This year, two female staff members, Ms Sarah Streeter and Ms Cassie Duggan were major winners in a closely contested category of the STAR Awards. The STAR Awards are popular and highly-prized annual staff awards which recognise special effort in leadership in particular areas of endeavour. As members of the Primary Industry Pastoral Production Group, Ms Streeter and Ms Duggan worked in partnership to bring together the Barkly Herd Management Forum which was directed at overseers and head stockmen, but also included station managers. This is an achievement due to the skills and attributes of talented staff; it is not due to gender, although one must agree it is being recognised for your achievements in what is truly a male dominated environment - as head stockmen. Those two staff members, operating in a relatively isolated area from our Tennant Creek office, ran a challenging major event and, throughout, demonstrated professionalism and team spirit. The successful management forum demonstrated an outstanding contribution in assisting the department to provide targeted extension services to industry. The forum contributed to sustainable development and demonstrated service excellence to the department’s clients.
Ms Streeter is also leading a five-year project on Northern Territory live weight gain in cattle that commenced in 2007. Ten commercial stations across the Katherine and Barkly regions are participating in the field study component of the project. The University of Queensland is collaborating with the project team in a pen study in 2010 to determine whether underlying nutritional factors influence variations in weight gain on Dry Season pastures. Ms Streeter leads this group, and illustrates the progress and invaluable contribution of women to the sector.
Another area of recognition is the Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation’s Rural Women’s Award. This award recognises the strength and skills of rural women and provides an opportunity to develop their contribution to agriculture, primary industries, resource development, and rural Australia. The award also links networks of like-minded women across the country who are passionate about making a difference. The Rural Women’s Award has been running since 2000, and provides a bursary of $10 000 to each state and Territory winner. My department has coordinated this award in the Northern Territory since its inception. Past award winners have represented the primary industry sectors from across the regions of the Territory, emphasising the critical involvement of women Territory-wide, and across all facets of this industry sector. This year’s Territory Award winner, Ms Carmel McCaskill-Ball, is the first to represent the fisheries industry, and she will go on to represent the Northern Territory in the national awards in Canberra in May.
Women contribute to the Territory’s success across the Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mineral and Energy portfolio. Helen Cribb is the leader of the Aquatic Biosecurity Group. This group was recently recognised as the national leader in environmental aquatic biosecurity at the Australian Seafood Industry Awards in Melbourne. This achievement is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of the Aquatic Biosecurity Group in the Territory.
My department is committed to supporting all staff by actively encouraging training and career development. This is done by ensuring access and support is available to staff to participate in courses and training programs that will equip them to perform at their best, and contribute to the overall productivity and efficiency of the department. Women are also encouraged to participate in gender-specific training programs to build on opportunities for career advancement, especially leadership.
An example of training women are encouraged to access is the Saving the Future in a Changing Environment Program, where young women from across Australia involved in agriculture join their peers to develop valuable leadership skills and establish important networks.
My department collaborated with the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association and the Australian government Women’s Leadership Program to roll out a series of workshops in September 2009 aimed at building capacity amongst the women in the pastoral industry. Participants were challenged to improve their self-efficacy and communication skills. The response was extremely positive, with over 100 women attending the workshop held across the Territory. Further funding has been secured for 2010, and planning is under way for the next series of workshops to be held in October this year.
This government encourages women to fully participate in their workplace, to pursue career advancement, and to take on leadership roles. We are committed to the real development of opportunities, training and leadership for women.
Madam Speaker, I welcome the opportunity to outline the real action undertaken by this government to celebrate the Territory we all enjoy today, with a particular focus on Territory women who have achieved much. It is true to say, in the past, we have often overlooked the contribution women have made to the history of the Territory. It is for this reason I wish to thank the Minister for Women’s Policy for bringing this statement to this House.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, my thanks to minister Malarndirri McCarthy for her statement regarding achievements in developing and progressing Women’s Policy in the Northern Territory. Perhaps one of the important elements of the statement is, until the statement was made, many would be largely unaware that Women’s Policy had been progressed in any way, shape, or form.
It is important to gain at least some objective view on what has occurred in the Northern Territory, so I need to take members back 27 years to when the Women’s Advisory Council to the Chief Minister was established by Chief Minister, Mr Paul Everingham ...
Mr Bohlin: How many years ago?
Mr MILLS: That is 27 years ago. That must be very difficult for members opposite to grasp because the way in which they regard that which happened in the past is almost akin to the requirement for some war crimes tribunal or something.
However, 27 years ago, the Women’s Advisory Council to the Chief Minister was established. The council was subsequently supported by Chief Minister Shane Stone, and provided a real mix of women’s voices raised across the Northern Territory - radical at times, robust when confronting challenges, proactive in many ways, and highly respected. It was considered a privilege to be considered for nomination to the council. Many too humble to be known beyond their immediate circles matured into excellent advocates for women. I believe the importance of this is it was not tainted in any way with tokenism; it was the real deal based on sound principles.
The then president of the Women’s Advisory Council, Mrs Wendy James, represented the Northern Territory in Canberra as a member of Prime Minister Bob Hawke’s National Women’s Council, contributing on behalf of the Territory to the development of a national agenda for women. The Country Liberal Party’s Looking Beyond 2000, Women in the Northern Territory Action Plan recognised the very significant part Territory women played in our development, and a supplementary budget paper that year outlined the direct impact of the government’s expenditure on women across departments and agencies. Yes, things did occur before the great and glorious arrival of the Australian Labor Party in 2001. It is a shame history is required to be written by those champions of the left.
That document totalled 114 pages of size 10 font, not a mere two dozen pages of size 18 font with double spacing ...
Mr Bohlin: How many pages?
Mr MILLS: Just a dozen with size 18 - big print, double spacing. Create the right impression; do not worry about the underlying principal or value behind the objective. The objective is to create an impression and to pander to tokenism.
This minuscule ministerial statement has caused a strong response but, perhaps, not what the minister might expect. I will take this in two stages.
First, I will paint the scene. I do not think people would know the makeup of my office; those charged with every aspect of support for the Office of the Leader of the Opposition. Not that all of us always take their sage advice but, still, this team is genuinely motivated to provide support - a strong cohesive team; we have an excellent team. But, nearly 70% of that team is women – 70%.
Second, here I will share with you the words the minister read out:
- The Office of Women’s Policy will be developing a new action plan for the Territory government ...
How many new action plans can they have? There is another one. Okay so far, I suppose, but I have to go on. This plan will:
- … raise awareness and gain support across government to reach the desired equitable representation of 50% men and 50% women reflecting the Territory’s population on all government boards and committees.
Well, you may have been able, if you had tuned in, to hear the reaction from my office. Do they think, if I am going to follow through on this desire for an equitable balance, I should then sack 20% of my office and then we would all be happy …
Dr Burns: You sacked a few in the last week.
Mr MILLS: Sorry?
Dr Burns: You sacked a few in the last week.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Elferink: God, you are a grub. You really are the lowest form of amoebic life.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Port Darwin!
Mr Elferink: Well, goodness gracious me.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Port Darwin!
Mr MILLS: The need for such a quota which, once again, panders to the need for an appearance of tokenism is, in my view, utterly offensive, Madam Speaker.
That sort of tokenism, in fact, it is my strong belief, actually disenfranchises and degrades competent women. That principle, applied in any area, does exactly the same. It arrives at the very place we do not want to go: the disenfranchisement and the degrading of the value of that which brings a person to a position, and not superficial measures.
In fact, it reminds me of a successful businesswoman in this town who recently, politely pointed out an oversight in attributing her contribution to a local organisation by members of government. She noticed it was lumped in with the name of her spouse. She received a totally unbelievable response to her inquiry: ‘Oh well, it would have been his money anyway’.
Why do these attitudes continue? Surely, what we should be doing is identifying the differences and the needs, and not contriving artificial and superficial targets. The very best people to advise us are the women who are successful in their towns and communities across the Northern Territory, and willing to contribute.
On that note, I return to the minister’s statement, which then made mention of the Women’s Register developed to enable women to register interest and availability for board positions. Register, as in ‘record, or to make aware of’. I have my suspicions it could not really be called a register. Perhaps it is a token gesture, a clearing house, an opportunity for a box to be ticked - all being able to be registered so there has been some response, because that is exactly what some women I know have encountered when they have tried to use the process. Yes, they have been registered, but it does not amount to anything. Since registering, and then some years later, again re-registering, they have heard not one single thing in response; their information had literally disappeared into a black hole despite the urgent need for competent, active, and committed people to act in board positions across the Territory. So, what is this register? What purpose does it, in fact, serve? I still believe the preoccupation of members opposite is to be driven by things that appear rather than things as they are or should be on merit.
I know, as I am sure do my colleagues, many a committee meeting of an association or board, large or small, where the minutes repeatedly record, ‘the question of a new chairman remains unresolved at this time’. Of course it does, unless those who have registered their skills of commitment to this voluntary leadership role are actually contacted. WordStorm, the Festival of Australasian Writing, was held in Darwin not so long ago and, of course, we were all looking forward to Germaine Greer coming along. She has had her imprint on our nation, come and gone, and it is almost predictable what was going to happen. There are so many in our community who have contributed in such genuine and profound ways on a continuing basis, and a genuine approach of genuine recognition on the merit of that contribution and valuing it honestly would take us to a completely different place than we had when we had processes of mechanisms in place to try to tick some arbitrary box.
These are the ones who do not run for political positions themselves, unfortunately, because of the sheer cost to the individual - families, jobs, multitasking to the nth degree. Women, sadly, often find it too difficult to think of a political position in these days when some one in five Australians currently work more than 50 hours a week. Their choices, instead, are to enjoy parenting and prioritising what is right for them and their family unit. They should be respected for those decisions. There should also be respect for those who actually make those other steps and take a career, and recognise that additionally - but not at the devaluing of the others who have made different decisions.
Many women want a forum and it may well be time to consider something again, similar to the Women’s Advisory Council. In the same way that the youth round table can have a proactive voice, a women’s round table will bring together dynamic members representing diverse views and interests. I believe that is what our community is wanting; these kinds of forums that are real which can be controversial, challenging and, in fact, encourage that kind of role - rather than managing to create a vehicle just to satisfy some leftish-type notion of equality or gender balance. It is much deeper than that.
We should have these women debate the rough with the smooth, the importance of early learning and competent childcare; discrimination in the workplace that often occurs in relation to career responsibilities; the lack of practical support for women who return to university following the birth of their children; the consequences suffered by females as a result of rape, a confronting subject for all of us, but particularly for the victim who suffers not only for the violence of this crime but also for the lack of credibility when giving evidence, which is a concern; and the girl who suffers indecent assault by a family member, who then claims she had been knowing, wilful and complicit - it is terrible.
The impacts of progress need to be debated. In the European Union, for instance, the effect of the impact of the new EU gender equity law on Turkish labour laws has resulted in many legislative changes. We need proactive, robust and real systems to allow us to change and to respond to that which is of concern, rather than that which is fluffy and nice, but not real and effective.
We need powerful lobby groups. I can say that the Country Liberals would allow powerful lobby groups, and we would encourage that community debate and contribution. In fact, that is what we need if we are going to develop as a community. Just as it was 27 years ago, there will be a return to that approach where we want to hear people speak up with diverse views; we want that controversy, we want to have that public debate, that disagreement so, finally, we can come to a better place where we, perhaps, have made some concessions and there is progress; we have moved to a new spot.
There are these powerful lobby groups. One I particularly appreciate is the role of the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association. They do a magnificent job. Having grown up remote, I know how difficult it is - particularly for families and, specifically, for the mothers raising children in remote communities - and the needs of education and health. These ladies are far more remote than I have experienced. They do an outstanding job, and I believe that is the sort of thing you need. You need brave, courageous women who are able to be given that space, that respect, to be able to speak. I take this opportunity to commend them for their outstanding work and lobbying for the interests of those who are remote. How easy it is for many in our community to make their voices heard in urban communities, but not for them.
The NT Cattlemen’s Association embraces women of the bush. Terry Underwood served as an inaugural member of the Women’s Advisory Committee in 1983.
Madam Speaker, we commend the minister for bringing forward this statement. However, once again, we identify there will be a different approach under the Country Liberals; that being to allow that space for robust engagement, genuine recognition, and not to disenfranchise or devalue it by pursuing some societal goal rather than something based in principle.
Debate adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Department of the Legislative Assembly Portfolio Budget Statement 2010-11
Department of the Legislative Assembly Portfolio Budget Statement 2010-11
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Department of the Legislative Assembly portfolio budget statement 2010-11.
TABLED PAPER
Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program
June 2010 Report
Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program
June 2010 Report
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program June 2010 report to the Legislative Assembly.
MOTION
Print Paper – Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program June 2010 Report
Print Paper – Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program June 2010 Report
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Paper – Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program June 2010 Report
Note Paper – Auditor-General’s Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program June 2010 Report
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move the Assembly take note of the report and that I have leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Failure to Reduce Overcrowding
in Indigenous Housing
Failure to Reduce Overcrowding
in Indigenous Housing
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received the following letter from the member for Braitling:
- Madam Speaker,
I propose for discussion this day the following definite matter of public important: the failure of the Northern Territory government to effectively reduce overcrowding in Indigenous housing identified in the Little Children are Sacred report.
It is signed by the member for Braitling.
Honourable members, is the proposed discussion supported? The proposal is supported.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, it is very much a matter of public importance. Those of us in this Chamber would recall, in 2006, the start of an inquiry into child abuse in Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and the tabling of the Little Children are Sacred report. One of the key recommendations was action to be taken on housing. I will speak this evening on comments I provided earlier.
Indigenous affairs in the Northern Territory is almost a government on its own - health, housing, education, law and order, and children’s services. Many claim they know the solutions to Indigenous affairs, but it has been around a long time. Everyone has a thought on how to fix it. Territorians themselves have a deep-seated and passionate desire to help Indigenous Territorians. There is support for spending taxpayers’ dollars in the interests of protecting the most vulnerable, especially children. Our polling tells us this. Equally and unanimously, there is no support for corrupt or mismanaged programs spending money and delivering nothing.
In August 2006, the Northern Territory government appointed a board of inquiry into the protection of Aboriginal children from sexual abuse. As is well known, the final report, the Little Children are Sacred, had drastic consequences. On 25 June 2007, then Prime Minister, John Howard did not hold back - he was strong; he led; he intervened. He said the report:
- … documents in sickening detail the human misery and dysfunction in many remote communities.
- The emergency response plan I announced … is radical, comprehensive and highly interventionist.
He did not mention the words ‘black camp’.
I quote from an article I wrote in The Australian:
So, three years on, let me revisit the chapter on housing which reads in part: The shortage of Indigenous housing in remote, regional, and urban parts of the Territory is nothing short of disastrous and desperate. The present level of overcrowding in houses has a direct impact on family and sexual violence, substance abuse, and chronic illness.
It is no surprise to see little action being taken in the years since 2007 when that report was tabled, or the subsequent time since. I quote a little of a story from the ABC news posted on 23 July 2008; on comments made by the Labor Senator for the Northern Territory, Senator Crossin in a speech in parliament. It says:
- … the dramas and the charades and the attention that was sought by the previous government in relation to child sexual abuse and child neglect, I believe, was severally overstated. I am not denying they are there, but when you have only 50 … we really need to redefine what we are trying to achieve through this intervention and exactly what goals we are trying to achieve.
When you take the perspective that only 50 children have been abused - according to the comments on ABC news by Senator Crossin - we can understand why little action has been taken by Labor. It is actually quite interesting when you go through and do a search for the last 10 years on the member for Lingiari and the Senator for Labor for the Northern Territory, and see how many times they have spoken about child abuse and child sexual abuse. You will understand why they have not done anything.
The chapter in The Little Children are Sacred report on housing went further to state:
- It is estimated that the Territory needs another 4000 dwellings to adequately house its present population. Into the future, more than 400 houses will be needed each year for 20 years to keep pace with demand.
I am not saying every house should be built by government. I am not saying every housing response needs to be provided by government. They have to provide the frameworks for these things to be done. People will say - and they say it in the community and here in this Chamber, I am sure: ‘Well, the Howard government was in for 11 years, why did they not fix the housing situation?’ The point is it is the responsibility of the local member to take action on issues within their electorate.
The member for Lingiari has been in his position for 23 years, give or take a couple. The previous member for Bennelong or the current member for Warringah, or the previous member for Bradfield - all leaders of government or opposition from the Coalition - do not live in the Northern Territory; they do not live in Lingiari. Brendan Nelson, Tony Abbott, and John Howard do not live in the Northern Territory. The member for Lingiari sees this, he lives it, he breathes it every day, and has done so for the last 23 years while he has been a member of parliament in Canberra, give or take a year or two.
It is not good enough for people to say the previous Liberal government did not do it. Liberal politicians from all around the country have not been to all these areas in the Northern Territory to see what the issues are - to understand all those issues. It is the job of a local member to stand up and fight; the same way I fight for the people who are victims of the Northern Territory government in relation to Carey Builders. That is the job of the local member.
I have six pages here of a 10-year search on these speeches by Snowdon and Crossin - six pages in 10 years; that is all they said.
Again I quote from my article in The Australian:
- The response included emergency housing initiatives to try to ensure every child in the Territory would have a safe place to sleep: ‘The Australian government is investing $813m in remote Indigenous housing and infrastructure in the NT, including $793m over the next four years as part of a joint agreement with the NT government’.
Oh, how this has changed, Madam Speaker. First, it was rolled back to about $600m. Then, it was raised to $672m by the incoming federal government, and the program was completely outsourced to the Northern Territory government to run. It would appear Prime Minister Rudd and Indigenous Affairs minister, Macklin, have made a grave mistake handing this over to the Northern Territory administration. The Northern Territory government’s record has been disastrous: cost overruns, missing funds, administrative chaos, ministerial resignations, and minority government.
Listen carefully: 11 houses have been built and 160 repaired in two-and-a-half years for more than $200m. That is not a joke; that is real. We throw numbers around: 11 houses for $200m. That is not a furphy, there are no made up numbers there. At the government’s own valuation of $450 000 on average for a new house, with no land - you do not buy the land - and with $75 000 for a refurbishment, the sum spent should be only $16.85m. So, where is the missing $183m?
It should be going to protecting children. It should be going to the things that were identified in the Little Children are Sacred report, where it talks about addressing overcrowding to help deal with the issues of sexual violence. There are some alarming things in here. We often hear the government talking about the old CLP days - there was never a house built, never any of this. Well, I can tell you, when this government came to power and when the report was tabled, between 2001 and 2007, the estimate of unmet housing need went from $800m to $1.2bn. In six years, it went up 50%, and that is straight out of the report. It is right here in the report.
We have talked about $75 000 for housing and refurbishment. Let me show you; I do not agree with them spending $75 000, that is a complete furphy. Here we have a refurbishment on a house. They take the air-conditioners out of houses and do not put them back in. They tell tenants it is bad luck; ‘You cannot have your air-conditioning back in; you can go to the shire council and pay $88 to have your air-conditioner put back in’. That might not seem like a big issue, but we, apparently, are spending $75 000 to fix these houses. You can have a look at this. They have not painted the outside here; it still has strips of tin, it has dodgy fencing, it has not been painted on the outside. That is just one. I will show you another one. This is what you get for $75 000. You get a blue wall, a little shelf and a tiny silver bench top.
I remember the member for Daly, when he was the Housing minister, complaining about the previous member for Longman, the former federal Indigenous Affairs minister, Mal Brough, saying they were putting in steel benches and no cupboards, and he made fun of Mal Brough. It is right there, and it is smaller - it is smaller for $75 000 …
A member: How much? How much did he pay?
Mr GILES: $75 000. You can buy that furniture for $600 in Alice Springs. They were delivered and installed in Santa Teresa for $600 - and they are spending $75 000 …
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: The house was painted internally, no floor paint - that is the bench top there. It had two ceiling fans, a fluoro, about five new light switches - for $75 000 …
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr GILES: That is our taxpayers’ money.
Madam Speaker, I will show you another one. This house has just been completed. This is house No 206 in Ali Curung. The minister would know it well. This one is not made for dogs. There is a dog in the picture, I know. It is not made for dogs, but that is it. Another kitchen - you do not even get shelves in this one. You get a nice shiny oven, and somewhere for the dog. That, I believe, cost $150 000. I heard recently - and I cannot quote, as I do not have the quote here - but I understand the Housing minister was talking about holes in the walls of this house, No 206 at Ali Curung, being put there after it was refurbished. Well, it is quite funny - we cannot quite see there - when you see the paint on the inside of the hole. I do not really know how they knocked the hole there and put the paint inside. That is a $150 000 house.
Here is the same house. I will show you again. You can see here - not the wires hanging down, that is not why I have it here; that is an antenna by the look of it – there are wooden window panes. You cannot get windows for $150 000, you get lumps of wood stuck in there - no screens to keep the flies out of the kid’s ears. You know these kids get ear disease. I showed you the kitchen. This is what you call ‘before’, and this is what you call ‘two weeks after’. It is very hard to see from there, I know. That is two weeks. In the lounge room, that is four weeks. These people have been put into their house. I do not blame the people who are in their house. There are social circumstances and these people need to be assisted with living skills. I know the Housing minister knows this too. These people are being put back in a $150 000 refurbished property with nothing.
Look at this! This is a growth town! You cannot even get a fence fixed! Would anyone even know that has had $75 000 to $150 000 spent on it? What a disgrace! You should go to the back of that place.
This is the one we have had so much trouble with. You will see, for the benefit of the minister for Housing, who now sends housing officials to Ali Curung once a week just in case I am there to tackle a problem. This here is the septic tank. There are two road signs. I am not sure what you call those things; they are road barricades. Behind those barricades there are two doors that have been taken down from the refurbished $150 000 house for dogs. There are two boards lying over the top of an open sewer pit. Pick them up and the kid falls straight in there. The reason that the grass is all green there - this is the desert - is because there is sewage everywhere! This has been this way for months. I had a briefing from Housing the other day and I said: ‘Please will you send someone down? A kid will die falling into the septic tank if you do not fix it!’ The CEO of Housing knows this. He has heard my language so, hopefully, he fixes it.
Announcements have since been made regarding funding extra infrastructure and tenancy management separately from the national partnership agreement of remote Indigenous housing which funded SIHIP in the first place. It is an informal top-up to the SIHIP scheme which is a five-year scheme from 2008 to 2013, while the national partnership agreement adds an extra five years to 2018.
It is interesting when you go through the costs - and there are all different costs. We have sheets here showing the end of March, end of April, then I heard at a briefing the other day that $200m or more than $200m - they could not tell exactly because they did not know, which I find amazing; that they did not know how much money they have spent.
We have $672m. Out of the national partnership agreement for five years we are getting $200m for tenancy management services, trying to improve the management of houses like the one we just saw. We saw $46.5m from the current financial year’s budget as at the end of March spent on land servicing. We have seen a commitment of $246.6m spent for land servicing this coming financial year. The $672m five-year program between 2008 and 2013 has now blown out to $1.23bn, and we have not included the last two years of land servicing. It is in the billions! We are now going to have no money left between 2013 and 2018.
Indigenous employment should increase, but most Indigenous workers have either switched jobs or are working for the dole with no salary, no holiday pay, no superannuation, and no future - unlike the member for Arnhem who does not have a clue. The train workers in Alice Springs have been laid off for three or four weeks with no work because they only put the tender out for eight of the houses in the town camps rather than the 85. They changed 46 workers on no pay and have laid them all off. They have 46 Indigenous workers who have been laid off in Alice Springs who are supposed to work on the town camps, who came into my office complaining because the government cannot get it right. In Ali Curung they had no employees so they decided to buy an extra house and get the CDEP gang to work. We have Dopey over here, the Minister for Indigenous affairs …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I ask you to withdraw that comment.
Mr GILES: Withdrawn. We have Loopy over here, the member for Arnhem …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, just refer to them …
Mr GILES: I withdraw. We have the Indigenous affairs minister who is completely incompetent, saying: ‘We support real wages and real jobs with long service leave’. You have everyone in Ali Curung - every person who is working there, all six of them - on CDEP not receiving any of those benefits. You are spending $3.9m on bringing up dodgy places I showed you before, and you are not putting any money into salaries. Most of us understand the correlation between unemployment, boredom, and substance abuse. It was an emergency in 2006 but, now, it is situation normal for these morons on this side here. Unfortunately, for Indigenous Territorians …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I ask you to withdraw that comment, please.
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not think he was referring to an individual; he was pointing to a group of people as being a group of morons. I do not think there is anything that defies the standing orders in that sort of statement.
Madam SPEAKER: Indeed, when you are referring to the government and use a group like that …
Mr GILES: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you. Continue.
Mr GILES: I wonder what the role of the CTC is? I wonder what the purpose of this agreement between the member for Nelson and the Chief Minister is? It says on page 1 that he will provide support to government provided all Labor government MLAs continue to support the government, vote in favour of this legislation and Paul Henderson retains the position of Chief Minister. Mr Wood shall vote against any no confidence motion against the government except in a proven case of corruption or serious maladministration. I tell you, this is serious maladministration - $1.35bn. They have spent more than $200m on 11 houses. This is sheer maladministration! The member for Nelson needs to have a hard look at it. This is not good enough - not good enough at all.
The story does not end there. The NT government recently admitted it only has plans to build 480 houses between now and 2030. It talks about 750. If you go through their public document from 14 May, they talk about building 621 houses. Three days later, they have a written question on notice from 17 May 2010, and they talk about only building 480 houses. They say they will not even be done by 2013. That is what it says in the question on notice the minister sent back to me. What about all those growth towns and other communities? You have to note the change of language when they talk now. They are not talking about building houses, they are talking about dwellings including one-bedroom units, pensioner apartments, and only 50% of them could be three-bedroom.
The Little Children are Sacred report identified Elliott as having one of the worst cases of child abuse in numbers. They are not even going to get any houses; they are not even on the list. Despite hundreds of communities in the Territory, only a minimum of six and a maximum of 15 will get new dwellings. Read through the community list. Many will get no housing services at all. Most communities in the Territory will not have any semblance of housing solutions for the protection of children. One wonders how the Territory Labor government can get it so wrong.
I will draw my comments to an end, but I will say, after looking at the Little Children are Sacred report, the need to provide housing, look at a place like this which is a caravan park in Northern Territory …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Madam SPEAKER: There are no extensions in an MPI.
Mr GILES: Madam Speaker, the old lady who has lived in the humpy for 50 years does not have a housing solution. She is not a child, I know, but there are children living around that community. She does not have a housing solution. She has never had anyone talk to her about housing - never seen Warren Snowdon, the local member, never seen the Housing Minister, never had any bureaucrat talk to her about providing houses. It is simply not good enough, and it is not responding to the needs of the Little Children are Sacred report, or the children of the Northern Territory ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, your time has expired.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I too welcome this matter of public importance. I have a prepared speech; however, I comment on some of the things the member for Braitling alluded to. He has alluded, within the framework of this matter of public importance, to the Little Children are Sacred report. That was the basis of the intervention he alluded to, and the strong leadership from John Howard and Mal Brough he also alluded to.
When someone looks dispassionately and objectively at the intervention, and the basis for the intervention, it did not carry out any of the 90-odd recommendations made in the Little Children are Sacred report. It used the report, and the emotive aspects of the report, as the basis of the intervention. However, it certainly did not carry out the recommendations of that report. One of the authors of the report, Rex Wild, commented publicly on that aspect. If the member for Braitling cared to look up the comments by Rex Wild, he would find that out. I also suggest the intervention was borne out of political motives ...
Members interjecting
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr BURNS: I quote from an interview with Alexander Downer by Barry Cassidy on 25 November 2007. Here is the guts of it:
When we intervened in the Northern Territory in the Indigenous communities, the actual initiative was very popular with the public but it didn’t shift the opinion polls.
So, it was all about the opinion polls. It was all about getting …
Mr Tollner interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order, member for Fong Lim!
Dr BURNS: It was all about the re-election of John Howard and what he had done before, and they did not get the lift they wanted. It is a bit rich for the member for Braitling - I could call him the member for Longman or the member for Lingiari, because that is who he is emulating: huff and puff Brough. I ask him to remember that Mal Brough lost his seat in the last federal election. Why did he lose his seat? Because he did not attend to his own electorate; he was out there wafting off, wallowing in publicity. My advice for you, member for Braitling, is to attend to the electorate of Braitling, otherwise you may be following your old mate, Mal Brough, the former member for Longman. However, I digress, Madam Speaker ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Braitling! Member for Braitling, cease interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I am a bit surprised by his decision to debate this particular topic. The member for Braitling is fully aware of the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program …
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you are on a warning!
Dr BURNS: … and the national partnership on remote Indigenous housing. This is a $1.7bn program to improve housing for Indigenous Territorians in the bush. It is the single largest infrastructure program ever taken to improve housing in our remote communities and address overcrowding in homes. It is a very necessary program to fix decades of CLP neglect and underfunding of our Indigenous communities …
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: And I will back that up ...
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! You are already on a warning.
Dr BURNS: Overcrowding of housing does not happen overnight; it is the result of long-term neglect. Like everything outside the urban centres, Indigenous housing was neglected. For many years, the only Indigenous housing funding was sourced from the Commonwealth. For many years, through the 1980s and 1990s, the CLP did not contribute significant Territory funding for housing in the bush. In your last budget …
Mr Conlan: They built thousands of houses.
Dr BURNS: In your last budget - listen, you might learn something.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: In your last budget, you spent a shameful $25m on Indigenous housing, and we all know how much that bought. A miserable $25m, and it actually gets worse …
Mr Giles interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: It actually gets worse, Madam Speaker. Of that $25m, only $4m was Northern Territory government funding; the rest came from the Commonwealth. There it is: $25m and, of that, $4m was Northern Territory government funding.
On top of that, over the previous five years, the CLP increased the budget for Indigenous housing from $24.36m to $25.9m. That is an increase over five years of a measly $1.5m. That is shameful, but not surprising. It formed a part of an overall neglect of people living in the bush.
The position adopted by the member for Braitling is remarkably hypocritical. He is criticising the only government in the Territory’s history that has attempted to address the concerns and needs of housing Indigenous people ...
Mr Giles: You have been dragged kicking and screaming.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you will withdraw from the Chamber.
Mr Giles: Kicking and screaming.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling! Member for Braitling!
Dr BURNS: He is saying you are putting in $1.7bn with the Commonwealth, but that is not good enough ...
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause, minister. Member for Braitling, withdraw from the Chamber! You have been warned twice. Minister, you have the call.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. Yet, the party he chooses to represent in this place, and his party’s federal government, both neglected to do anything significant about the issue when they were in office. It is not as if they were not warned about it. For years, report after report into housing out bush showed that population growth was outstripping the supply of housing by a country mile. The CLP government was warned by its bureaucracy and public service that health issues were mounting up as a result of overcrowding. I know the Menzies School of Health Research spoke regularly about the problems in Indigenous health and the problems resulting from a lack of funding and overcrowding in houses - problems such as rheumatic heart disease, pulmonary problems, otitis media; a whole range of issues associating with overcrowding in housing.
Instead of acting on that, the party the member for Braitling chooses to represent used and neglected the bush; their favouritism of the town areas, the political badge of honour, was their wedge. After all, who can forget the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, Shane Stone, referring to ‘whingeing, whining, carping blacks’? Who can forget the political football the political party the member for Braitling chooses to represent made of Indigenous issues? Who can forget that they ran their 1994 campaign on a scare that Labor would introduce two laws, one for the urban areas and one for Aboriginal people? Who can forget the campaign they ran in every election scaring the urban vote about Labor and spending out bush? The political party the member for Braitling chooses to represent used Aboriginal people as a wedge and a political football to keep them in office for 26 years. They backed this up with a deliberate policy of neglect in every area - housing, health, and education - and today we are still paying the price of these policies ...
In contrast, this government’s budget for Indigenous housing in 2010-11 is $618.47m. Even if we remove the Commonwealth contribution, this government is investing $56m in addressing overcrowding and improving housing in our remote communities. That is a huge difference from the miserly $4m in the CLP’s 2001-02 budget ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I can remember the first Assembly I attended in 2001, when the current member for Port Darwin was the member for Macdonnell. I cannot recall him once talking about Indigenous housing in any detailed way or any emphasis, but I may stand corrected ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: I may stand corrected. No doubt, he will correct it. I will certainly compliment the member for Braitling. He is focused on this issue; he is out there working on it; he is bringing it to the public attention. That is why I welcome him bringing this matter of public importance into this place. However, I ask him to reflect on some of the issues I have raised here today, because they are very important in history.
A major component of our plans to improve Indigenous housing and overcrowding is the National Partnership on Remote Indigenous Housing. As I said before, our partnership with the federal government is worth $1.7bn over 10 years. The Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program, SIHIP, is a $672m component of that program. It will deliver 750 new houses, 230 rebuilds and 2500 refurbishments by 2013 ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I do not want to pre-empt the debate about the Auditor-General’s report, but it makes very interesting reading. I find it quite heartening what the Auditor-General has said in his report about this particular program.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I will be pleased to debate that particular report.
By the end of this year, the program aims to have 150 new houses completed and 1000 refurbishments and rebuilds finished. Work is now being undertaken in 30 communities; 350 refurbishments and rebuilds are now complete or under way. This includes 223 complete refurbishments and rebuilds, and 127 under way. There are now 94 new houses complete or under way. Of these, 11 new houses are complete and handed over to tenants.
This is an important program the CLP is continually trying to tear apart. It is so important I will outline what has been done, community by community, Madam Speaker ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Tiwi Islands, nine new houses.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Drysdale! Member for Greatorex!
Dr BURNS: Get out to the town camps and have a look. You might have to with the redistribution ...
Mr Conlan: There are none there. None have been built, Bungles.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: You might have to with the redistribution ...
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, resume your seat.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, resume your seat. Member for Greatorex, I ask you to withdraw that comment, the reference to the minister, please.
Mr Conlan: What reference was that, Madam Speaker?
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw it, thank you.
Mr CONLAN: I withdraw if I have offended Bungles, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, that is what I would like you to withdraw, thank you.
Mr CONLAN: I will withdraw that then, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you very much.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, you have the call.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
On the Tiwi Islands 90 new houses will be constructed. The first five new houses are complete at Nguiu. Work is under way on the construction of another 12 houses, and 46 rebuilds and refurbishments are complete, and work is continuing on 41 houses.
On Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island 80 new houses will be constructed. Construction of six new houses is under way at Umbakumba, and 11 new houses at Angurugu. The first 31 rebuilds and refurbishments have been completed, with another eight under way. In Tennant Creek, 78 houses will be rebuilt as requested by the community; 24 houses have been rebuilt, work continues on a further seven. In Wadeye and Peppimenarti the program will deliver 105 new houses through New Future Alliance. Five new houses have been completed and tenanted at Wadeye. Work is under way on the construction of another 14 new houses. Six refurbishments at Palumpa have been completed.
In Maningrida, Warrawi and Minjilang, 109 new houses will be delivered through Territory Alliance. Construction of the first 11 new houses is under way at Maningrida, nine refurbishments have been complete, and work is under way on a further seven. In Gunbalanya, Acacia, Larrakeyah and Belyuen, construction of new houses is under way at Gunbalanya …
Mr Tollner: None complete.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: … 62 will, ultimately, be constructed, 19 refurbishments and rebuilds have been completed, and work is continuing on another 13 at Gunbalanya and Belyuen.
Southern Shire refurbishments: works in the 29 communities in the MacDonnell, Barkly and Central Desert Shires is being delivered by New Future Alliance. Refurbishment works have begun at Ali Curung, Wilora, Ntaria, Jutunta, Tara, Amoonguna, Santa Teresa and Willowra. Eighty-six refurbishments have been completed and work is continuing on a further 34.
At Galiwinku, the program will deliver 90 new houses through Territory Alliance, a Territory company. Construction of the first 11 houses is under way at Galiwinku, one refurbishment is complete, and work continues on a further 13. In Alice Springs town camps, SIHIP will deliver 85 new houses through Territory Alliance. The first house has been handed over and tenanted at Larapinta Valley …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Bohlin: What did you see when you went to Alice Springs?
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Drysdale!
Dr BURNS: … construction continues on a further seven new houses. Work is under way on five new builds at Palmers Camp at Ilparpa, Nguiu and Maningrida; subdivision clearing is due to commence in Nguiu and Maningrida in the next few weeks.
Indigenous employment – this is an important aspect ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: Indigenous employment and workforce development is a fundamental aspect of the program and each of the alliances is committed to at least 20% of the local workforce being Indigenous. Currently, the project is tracking at 36%. More than 200 local Indigenous people are in the training and employment program.
SIHIP has attracted some negative comments in the past. It is important to remember that SIHIP is an important first step in the long journey we have to make to deliver housing improvements in the bush.
As the Auditor-General’s June report has found - and the report was tabled a short while ago - SIHIP is on track to deliver its targets ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I will say it again: SIHIP is on track to deliver its target ...
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: We will debate that. It does acknowledge the issues that needed to be worked through initially and some of the history of SIHIP. But, as I said before, it is on track, and is acknowledged as on track to deliver its targets.
But there will be challenges, and I am not resiling from that. There are challenges but I and the government are very focused on delivering the targets of SIHIP. The opposition keeps on knocking this program. Why they continually whinge and carp from the sidelines is just beyond me.
We have the vision, as a government, for a better Northern Territory. We are making real efforts to address the massive backlog in housing resulting from years of CLP neglect. I come back to that paltry $4m they had, more or less yearly, over the last five years of their tenure here. It is obvious from the way they go on in this place they would knock it back, probably, to less than $4m a year if they had a chance.
We are delivering to the national partnership by building new houses and upgrading existing houses to alleviate overcrowding. Overcrowding is a problem within Indigenous communities where extended family groups tend to live together and the notion of accommodating families is a strong one. I have acknowledged publicly, with the introduction of the remote rental framework, that overcrowding is not going to be fixed overnight. We are going to have to work through this issue. We are going to have to work with those communities, with those families, to deliver that stock. I believe SIHIP and the national partnership has to be the first step in a very long journey to redress the arrears in Indigenous housing built up over many decades.
I have already mentioned the 200 Indigenous people who are in employment remotely. The alliances have committed to at least 20% of the local workforce being Indigenous. I believe we are exceeding that target significantly with Indigenous employees making up 36% of the workforce. It is interesting to hear the member for Braitling on this issue. He just wants to criticise but, as this program moves on, as we reach our targets, he will have less and less to hang his hat on. I really implore him to be constructive about this program; to make constructive non-emotive criticism. It is a step, it is a long journey.
Madam Speaker, the objective of 2030 is to achieve two people per bedroom by the year 2030. It is a big aim, it is a big ask; we are going to have to work with the Commonwealth. It is going to be a long haul, but this government has a plan. We have the resources; we have the will, I believe the CLP so sorely lack, to make a difference in this area. I thank the member for Braitling for bringing on this MPI.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I also welcome this matter of public importance; it is a very important issue. There are several things which upset me about the late hour of this debate. I believe this matter is so important the normal business of the parliament should have been set aside to debate this issue properly. Rather than sitting here at this late hour of night, following a day of puff pieces from members opposite and debates on statements, this matter of public importance is so urgent we should have done it immediately following Question Time. However, at least it is being debated. With the silly hours we seem to work now, many MPIs tend to fall off the Notice Paper.
The minister jumped up and tried to defend the indefensible. He always does his best and tries to put a positive spin on it for the government; wants people to get behind this project. I have to say, minister, we all want to be able to get behind this project; we all want to see these houses built properly. However, it is a little hard to get behind you with the spirit of cooperation you so desire when we see failure upon failure all around us.
The minister commenced by talking about the Little Children Are Sacred report. In the House, we all know about the Little Children Are Sacred; it was a damning report. It highlighted things I do not think even the most hardened of us were prepared for. We all knew there were problems in remote communities. We all knew there were major problems in remote communities, but I do not think any one suspected they were quite as bad as the authors of that report found. They found every single Indigenous community across the Northern Territory had cases where there were problems with children, and all types of deviant sexual molestation going on. That really shocked us all.
The minister said the intervention was politically motivated; John Howard somehow invoked the Northern Territory intervention to get some sort of political bounce in the polls ...
Dr Burns: With an eye to an election.
Mr TOLLNER: With an eye to an election, I think the minister said.
The reality of the situation - and it is worth revisiting this point - is the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, sat on this Little Children Are Sacred report for some months. She did everything she possibly could to sweep it under the table.
First, we talked about the federal member for Longman, Mal Brough. Mal Brough only received a copy of that report by going on the Internet. This is an issue of such importance that he had to dig up the information for himself on the Internet rather than having the Northern Territory Chief Minister, or the Indigenous affairs minister in the Northern Territory at the time, send him a copy. One would think something of such magnitude would immediately be brought to the attention of the federal minister, as well as the Prime Minister. No. Mal Brough made every effort at the time - and I know very well the efforts Mal Brough went to, because I was there - to cooperate and work with Clare Martin. She was invited to go to a summit on the issue, and refused to go. She told everyone that ‘these fellas in Canberra are just being silly’ ...
Mr Conlan: Grandstanding.
Mr TOLLNER: ‘They are grandstanding. It is not a problem’. And we still have ministers and members opposite who do not believe in the intervention. They say there is not a problem, there is not an issue; we are all beating it up. We saw the silly minister for Indigenous affairs, the member for Arnhem, jumping up in Question Time saying: ‘Oh, no, we are doing a great job here in the Northern Territory. We are fixing all these problems of this horrible legacy that was left to us by those evil racists, the CLP government, after 27 years of neglect, racism and unprovoked attacks on Aboriginal people’. What absolute nonsense!
What a silly effort that is to try to rewrite history. It is as if, up until 10 years ago, there was not a single house in remote communities; the Aboriginal people were foraging and living off - I do not know – witchetty grubs, and no one in the government here even remotely cared about them. That just flies in the face of reality.
The fact is members opposite hate the intervention. We saw the member for Arafura run around talking about the black kids’ Tampa. She still thinks that way, deep in her heart of hearts. She does not support it. None of the members on the opposite side support the intervention ...
Ms SCRYMGOUR: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member for Fong Lim often makes these scurrilous statements without any substance or basis. The member should withdraw ...
Mr Elferink: There is no point of order.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please pause, member for Fong Lim! Member for Arafura, if you wish you might approach the Speaker later with regard to a personal explanation. Member for Fong Lim, you have the call …
Ms Scrymgour: I will, because he constantly lies.
Mr TOLLNER: As I was saying, it is as obvious as the nose on our faces the member for Arafura does not support the intervention. Why would you toddle off to Sydney and run a line, talking about a black kids’ Tampa? What absolute, utter nonsense! She has done nothing to assist Aboriginal people getting into houses. As far as these people are concerned, it has to be a socialist model or no model.
She was opposed to allowing private investment in Indigenous communities. She was opposed to allowing access to remote townships via highways. She was opposed to plans to allow Aboriginal people to privately own their own houses. This is a person - and I am not knocking her; it is a political view and good on her for that view – who comes in here, and I do not know how they do this wriggle worm stuff: ‘Oh, well, now we have a federal Labor government, we support it’. And you know they do not. They do not at all; they see it as a big slush fund for every ex-Labor hack who has ever hung around. If you go through this report from the Auditor-General, it is interesting to see the minute the member for Braitling stands to make his comment and get into this matter of public importance, all of a sudden, this very important document is distributed making sure he has no opportunity to have a look at that ...
Mr Elferink: It has a few things to say too, by the way. I have read it.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, exactly. You hear all this nonsense about how great this is for Aboriginal jobs and, if you look at the Auditor-General’s report, out of total expenditure of $203m, $5m, $4.748m, $4.6m was spent on wages – 2.3%. How much of that 2.3% has gone to Indigenous employees? 20% or so. Around $1m has employed Indigenous Territorians out of the total package of $203m. Meanwhile, we have consultants in there picking up a nice little $20m - $19.607m has gone into consultants. Great Indigenous employment program this is turning out to be: nearly three years, nearly $0.75bn, and nearly 11 houses! We had the minister jump up and carry on about all the houses that are going to be built. Let us go through and have a look at some of the things the Auditor-General has pointed out.
Tiwi Islands new builds: there is to be 90 new builds. The minister said that, 90 new builds. How many houses have actually been done? Three - three houses out of a total of 90. Tennant Creek, two new builds, no houses done. Southern region, not applicable. Groote Eylandt, none. Maningrida, none. Wadeye, four houses have been completed. Gunbalanya, none. Galiwinku, none. Alice Springs, none - zero. No refurbs even completed in Alice Springs. We saw these pictures the member for Braitling held up demonstrating what a refurb is. Goodness me, I would not have realised that painting the inside of a hole in the wall is considered a refurb but, that is what this minister is prepared to hang his hat on, and then have the audacity to stand up and say we will not support him in a spirit of cooperation. Goodness me!
Mr Elferink: The hat stand is another refurb by the way.
Mr TOLLNER: The hat stand is a refurb, well, there you go.
Madam Speaker, the question is, how long are we prepared to put up with this absolute nonsense? We have a slush fund here for every ex-Labor hack in the country who seems to be able to get his snout in the trough. We have houses that are just not being built. We have this national debate going on about building the education revolution funds that have gone to schools, and some of the disasters there. They are talking about projects that actually might cost twice their real value. Goodness me! They should get up here and check out this SIHIP stuff, and see how poorly they are getting value for money in the Northern Territory. This is an absolute disgrace.
This money is important money; this money should be building shelters and houses because, ultimately, what it comes back to is protecting children, creating economies in remote communities, and actually getting things done. But, what we have in this case is a government resisting all of that. For nothing but purely ideological reasons, they are resisting all of that. They are doing everything in their power ensure this program does not work. You want to talk about being politically motivated! Well, we know what motivates these guys politically; they want to be able to stand up and say John Howard failed on the intervention; that is what they want to say: John Howard failed on in the intervention; he got it completely wrong; he could not get a house built; he could not do anything in Aboriginal communities; he was a failure. That is what is motivating these guys. By hook or by crook, they will make sure this program fails.
We come to this place and see the member for Nelson actually supporting this rort, this scurrilous crooked, fraud on Territorians; how he can support it through his council of love, as we call it on this side - what is it called?
Mr Conlan: The CTC.
Mr TOLLNER: The CTC, the Council of Territory Cooperation - the great group where we are all going with a spirit of cooperation. It does not seem to have done a hell of a lot in regard to fixing this program.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand how the minister can, in all seriousness, say this program is on track, when they have spent $200m and they have just 11 houses to show for it. That has to be one of the greatest scandals on the face of the earth. It comes back to this government - everything comes back to this government.
It started with Clare Martin trying to sweep this issue under the table, under the rug, get it out of sight, out of mind: ‘Forget the poor old black fellas living out there in remote areas, the media cycle will change, people will forget about them, we can just move on, business as usual’. Well, it did not happen like that, unfortunately for Ms Martin. She lost her job and she felt the wrath of the Australian people. Fortunately, we had a government that was prepared to act and do something.
Madam Speaker, there is much more work that needs to be done to get to the bottom of the rorts in this program. Again, I thank the member for Braitling for bringing on this matter of public importance; it is an important issue; it does need to be debated. We need to get to the bottom of this to find out where all this money is just disappearing. We do not need ministers standing up telling us how much more money they are going to spend; we know they are good at spending money. We actually want to see some results. That is all anyone wants to see, some results - and it is about time we got some.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I am surprised to be on my feet at this odd moment of members speaking. Thank you for the call, and I acknowledge the minister’s courtesy to me.
I have had a chance now - whilst this matter was delivered, before the member for Braitling was able to read this book - to peruse some of its pages. I do, however, want to address a couple of the issues raised by that rather startling and voluminous – I mean in decibels not in substance - contribution by the Leader of Government Business. I understand the idea is to play politics with these issues but, as the former member for Macdonnell, I have seen some of the products of the housing issues out there. I know what happens in these remote Aboriginal communities; I have seen it and I am disappointed by it. It also disappoints me we have a program which is, in essence, a welfare-based program - we are going to build houses and give them away to people who need them.
Perhaps it is reality of the history we have all inherited as a Territory jurisdiction, but it saddens me there is still, in these remote Aboriginal communities, an incapacity for the people to purchase their own homes by the sweat of their own brows. I believe that would be an eminently preferable outcome, and should be the outcome we are striving for because, in such an environment, the Aboriginal people who live in these remote places would actually be participants in the overall economy, not merely an addendum tacked to the side.
I listened carefully to the ejaculations by the minister, and I was concerned he was so quick to point out the $4m contribution by the former government. Whilst that was true, it formed part of an organisation called the IHANT program. The IHANT program was an annual program of about $50m or a little less, depending on the year, which collected into one bucket contributions from governments - plural - including the Northern Territory government. The Territory government kicked in some $4m and, I note, so did this government when IHANT was running; it only put about $4m or $5m into the same bucket and continued to follow the same funding philosophy. The rest of the bucket was made up from CHIP funding and NARS funding and those sorts of things. It was meant to build houses.
I listened to the description of the desolation left behind by the Country Liberals before the change of government, and the sun came up for the first time in the Northern Territory. I am struck by one fairly anomalous problem in the argument. We are repairing all these thousands of houses which were a legacy of the decay left behind by the Country Liberals who never built a house. I am somewhat surprised to hear that argument because the question follows: if the Country Liberals did not build a house, where did those thousands of houses come from that you guys are repairing? Martians came down from another planet and built them? Or were they all built during the pre-self-government era when the Country Liberals did not do anything for 28 years, did not build any houses?
That is just arrant nonsense and not helpful to little Ambrose, a young kid I know at Kintore. It does not help him. It may be winning a point, but how does that help little Ambrose? He would be eight by now, I think. I remember him because I pulled him out from under a car at an accident, because of some of the other social problems that happen in some remote communities. I am concerned, with all the yelling and screaming, that little Ambrose is being simply forgotten in this. I am concerned the process of trying to build these houses – which, in my opinion, are a poorer outcome than we should be striving for - is an attempt to address a housing need in remote communities where there is insufficient wealth locally generated for the purchase of houses.
The government has identified all these problems with remote housing; and it is true, there have been problems, there is no doubt about it. They have determined they have the answer. Up until 2009, the Northern Territory government was the organisation in charge of SIHIP. This is where we have the first of our problems. I was really hoping someone would deliver some of these houses so, perhaps, other things could happen in these remote communities. Unfortunately, not many people are aware the Northern Territory has had two interventions in the last five or six years - the one we all know as the intervention, and the second one which was the intrusion by the federal government on the Northern Territory’s conduct in relation to SIHIP.
I heard the Leader for Government Business say he was very happy with the Auditor-General’s report. I am surprised. These are some of the things the Auditor-General has said in relation to how the Northern Territory managed the program:
unreliable initial estimates of the cost of building new houses and refurbishing existing houses. Those estimates have since been revised;
By that time, $42m - if the figure is correct - was spent by this Northern Territory government, and they have not addressed those fundamental and straightforward issues. It is reprehensible for the government to point the finger at others when they, sadly, had not positioned themselves at all well. So excruciatingly embarrassing was this outcome, we saw the division which resulted in the departure of the member for Macdonnell from the government ranks, and from the ranks of the Australian Labor Party - that was the level of her disgust. The level of Jenny Macklin’s disgust was to intervene on the way the Northern Territory was managing this program.
As a result of that intervention - and you have to remember by this stage it had been two years since SIHIP was announced - two years had passed, $42m had been spent, and they had not even allocated the packages for the rebuilds. That can only cause one deep concern about how this program has been managed.
Moreover, it becomes clear on page 23 of this report, of the $672m originally intended for SIHIP, the Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program - the second ‘I’ has dropped away; it is now SIHP, because infrastructure is no longer a component of SIHIP. That component is now picked up by the Northern Territory government. There are two issues here: of the whole package of $672m, the Northern Territory had to contribute $100m to the development of this program. Subsequent to the poor management of this program, the second ‘I’ dropped out of SIHIP and, as a consequence, the infrastructure component has to be picked up - and I quote from the Auditor-General: ‘… increases in cost will need to be met from other sources’.
From the Territory taxpayer’s component, you now have $140m extra being pumped into this program. The original SIHIP was to build the sewerage pipe from the toilet, down under the floor, out to the garden, down through the gate, down to the headworks, where it would be picked up. Not anymore. Now, the sewerage pipe, as far as SIHIP is concerned, stops at the fence. The sewerage pipe from the fence to the headworks, so it can meet the rest of the infrastructure needs of the community, has to be sourced from elsewhere. $140m is the bill that goes with the $20m last year, $50m in this budget - $70m still to be sourced. How many Aboriginal houses can you build for $140m, which will not now be due to the mismanagement of the program at that stage?
Macklin came and intervened; it is an intervention. It is ‘nominally a joint arrangement’ - my eye - it is an intervention. But, still, it does not bode well for the future. I draw members’ attention to page 47 of this report where the Auditor-General makes three observations. The first observation is:
- Without an increase in financial commitments by both governments, funds provided under the National Partnerships Agreement will need to be diverted from other purposes to meet the costs of essential infrastructure.
So, there you go. Other sources of money will have to be found; that is, money that could have gone to other programs – hopefully, job creation programs in Aboriginal communities. I remind honourable members, as we speak, the government has not yet found a solution to the 500 Aboriginal people who are about to be fired because, once again, agreements were not put in place. That is a disgrace. To hear the member for Johnston, the Leader of Government Business, talk about Aboriginal employment in this place today and not mention the 500 Aboriginal people, at least, who are going to be fired in the next three weeks is a disgrace. Those are real jobs. They are the people who, I was hoping, would actually buy some houses. Well, now they are back on the dole. This is part of the legacy of poor planning.
Point 2:
- Equally, the lack of indexation of funds committed to SIHIP may mean that the ability of the program to deliver all that is expected of it may be compromised.
By the way, this is a good result according to the member for Johnston. He has just stood up in this place and said he is looking forward to debating this because he thinks it is a great report. My goodness, I would hate to see his yardstick of a bad review.
Finally, the third observation in the conclusions:
- This again highlights the need for good information systems to enable the Joint Steering Committee to have available to it the information that it needs to manage the program within tight constraints and to avoid ‘last minute’ crises that can emerge when it becomes apparent a gap has emerged between what remains to be completed and the resources that remain available to achieve the task.
The Auditor-General has said: (1) you are going to need more money; (2) you have not factored in indexation so, as these delays occur, your percentage, your capacity, of that 672 is cut by 3%, which is the current inflation rate or thereabouts; and (3) you do not have the governance systems in place with which to identify the shortcomings coming your way - the very issues which caused SIHIP to fail under the tutelage and care of the Northern Territory government exclusively.
That sends a shiver up my spine. It concerns me because, at the end of all of this, how does this help little Ambrose who is still sitting out in Kintore expecting something to happen? I do not think they are building any houses in Kintore – but I could stand corrected on that. How does this help the kids in my old electorate of Macdonnell? How does it help any of these kids?
Whilst it is all about satisfying the public need and the conscience of the Australian public to deliver houses in the bush, that is all it has become about. Jenny Macklin, Mal Brough, and a few of the others, stood up and made huge announcements of what this program was going to achieve. They have steadfastly stuck to these benchmark numbers. The houses have become smaller, the standards of the refurbs have gone down, it is now no longer clear what a refurb and a rebuild is - it is all morphed in this nebulous blob. But, so long as we reach the targets so the people in Toorak, St Ives, and on the north shore of Sydney can rest well in their beds at night, being convinced and believing they have delivered X number of houses. If those houses turn out to be substandard, if those refurbs turn out not to be refurbs at all, it does not matter. Thank goodness, we have managed to convince the people on the north shore of Sydney and in Toorak they can sleep well at night because we have housed Indigenous people.
Madam Deputy Speaker, that is the real travesty of this. This is not about Aboriginal people; this is about winning votes in those other locations.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support this matter of public importance brought to the House by the member for Braitling. I would also like to put on record the passion I see in someone who does not even come from the Northern Territory. This is an Aboriginal kid, born and bred in New South Wales, who became a politician in the Northern Territory in the seat of Braitling, and has more passion to talk about Indigenous issues - the lack of housing and child protection, because it is all related, education and health - than any member sitting across on that side of the House.
I take this opportunity to congratulate the member for Braitling for bringing this matter of public importance, and I say to the member for Johnston, who said the member for Braitling needs to watch his seat so he does not lose it as Mal Brough did; let me tell you, as a colleague of his who lives in Alice Springs - he works his electorate - he always has time to go into town camps; he always has time to travel out to remote Aboriginal communities. It does not matter whose electorate it is in – Stuart, Barkly, Arnhem, Arafura, Macdonnell - he does all that, plus service his electorate of Braitling. He is a fantastic member for the seat of Braitling, and fantastic for the people of Alice Springs.
I go on to talk about the MPI and how important this is. I believe we should bring a matter of public importance that relates to how Indigenous people, Indigenous children, the safety of Indigenous children, are connected to housing; it all happens from housing. A child cannot get an education unless they live in a house that is not overcrowded. A child cannot be healthy unless they live in a normal house that is not overcrowded. A child’s safety is at risk if the house is overcrowded.
Yes, the intervention came into the Northern Territory because of the failure of the Northern Territory government. I was with government then. We sat on the report of the Little Children are Sacred for six weeks. We all know that, and we cannot deny it. We hid that report for six weeks. Of course, the federal government was up in arms; it is absolutely disgraceful. As part of that review, an Indigenous woman, Pat Anderson, looked into all the issues to do with child safety and alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory. The member for Johnston said this was all politically motivated; the federal government had come in because it was political that they talk about these issues. No, it was not. Are you now trying to say that a person like Pat Anderson made up these things? This was evidence given to the inquiry by Indigenous people, by Indigenous organisations. And, let us not kid ourselves, these things are still happening.
There was an eight-year-old girl in a nearby community only a couple of months ago. I will not name the community and I will not name the little girl who said she had been abused. I am still in the process of finding out whether that case has been closed. That is only a couple of months ago - an eight-year-old child. That same child is back in the community with the perpetrator.
Are we going to stand here and deny it in this House, because we put the blame on someone else’s political ambition? We are denying these things are happening. We can stand up in this House and say things are okay out there in the remote Aboriginal community. We know literacy and numeracy is appalling, we all know that; they have been telling us that for decades now.
Let us not start blaming someone who governed the Northern Territory for 21 years, 10 years ago. You have now been in power for 10 years and you are failing. You are not just failing the people of the Northern Territory, but the children of the Northern Territory. If we are to get education and health right, then we have to begin with good housing that is safe for children to study in, to live in. It should be safe enough for a child to get out of the bedroom and go to the bathroom without being taken by a perpetrator between the bedroom and the bathroom. This is the kind of things we have to talk about. As I said, we can stand in this House and deny it, but there is an eight-year-old girl, only a couple of months ago, who was abused. Are we going to stand there and deny these things ever happen?
Do we think it is acceptable that it happened to one child? No, it should not be, not to any of us, because we are all grandfathers, grandmothers, aunties, uncles, and parents of children. Is it okay it happened to this child? No, it is not. It is not acceptable in this society, whether it is black or white society. We have to fight harder for Indigenous kids to have the safety of a home, a good home that can be locked, where the bedroom can be locked so they cannot be abused. They need safety where they cannot be got at in the lounge room while they are going from the bathroom back to their rooms or going to the kitchen to get nibblies.
We have to protect these children. If we are talking about good education and good health, we have to start by giving them good homes, not homes with 25 to 35 people living in them. We need to give them homes that children can call homes because just their family live there.
These are the kinds of things we have to talk about and be honest about. We cannot blame other people for something they did 21 years ago; because you are now in government and you have been in government, with all the flow of federal money for the last 10 years. You are still failing, and you are not closing any gap. You are not closing the gap of education; you are not closing the gap of housing; you are not closing the gap of health.
Child protection is still an issue. Yes, it is still an issue when you have a perpetrator in a community and a little eight-year-old child is sent back to that same community to live with the perpetrator, and the perpetrator walks around in that community abusing the mother of the eight-year-old and saying whatever she tells the police or Family and Community Services is not true. The community ridicules her and tells her she is mad because she did not know what she was saying. Are we going to deny what that little eight-year-old girl disclosed? Are we going to say she lied or she made it up? We should not; we should listen to her, because she is the future of that community, the future of the Northern Territory, the future of Central Australia. She has a right to be safe, to be educated and to be healthy.
Let us not stand in this House and point fingers. Let us not say these things are not happening, or someone instigated an intervention because it was politically motivated. I am sure Rex Wild and Pat Anderson, in their report, would not have thought it was politically motivated when they wrote their recommendations to the Labor Party. It is really sad that we, as a government, back then when I was with you, sat on that report for six weeks. That is what caused the intervention; it was because we tried to hide it. Let us be honest about it. We tried to hide it, and the fact of the matter was there had to be an intervention because we were sitting on a major report important to the future of Territory children for six weeks - six weeks!
Housing is a key element in any form of social fabric in a community. A child cannot be healthy unless they live in a good home. A child cannot be educated unless they come from a good and safe home.
I take this opportunity to thank the member for Braitling for bringing this MPI to the House because it shows you are sincere. As I said, you are a New South Wales black kid who has more feeling for Territory black kids and Territory housing than any member sitting on that side - whether they are Tiwi, Warlpiri, Yanyula, or whatever. I do not know whether the member for Arafura is Anmatjere or Tiwi. She claims she is Tiwi, but she also claims she is Anmatjere. That will be one of the interesting subjects we will have to discuss in the future, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Ms McCARTHY (Indigenous Development): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak to this matter of public importance brought on by the member for Braitling. Before starting it is important, after listening to the member for Macdonnell, if there are issues she has raised in this House regarding the care of children, I certainly urge any member of this House to use their responsibility as an adult in the Northern Territory, to report immediately those concerns to the relevant authorities. I urge each and every member of parliament to recognise our responsibilities regarding any child we are aware of in our travels as elected members and officials, whether in our electorate or anywhere across the Northern Territory.
When we talk about the Little Children are Sacred report, what we are really talking about is decades of neglect. As the authors, Pat Anderson and Rex Wild said, we needed a long-term plan to overcome the disadvantage and gloom experienced by Indigenous Territorians as a result of that neglect. Importantly, we are talking about building local leadership and maximising opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to build strong families and sustain strong and safe communities.
The development of local leadership was a crucial theme of the Northern Territory Board of Inquiry into the Protection of Aboriginal Children from Sexual Abuse, which culminated in the Little Children are Sacred report. More specifically, the board of inquiry and the Little Children are Sacred report highlighted:
- … that Aboriginal people have a vital role to play in creating positive and safe social environments for their children and young people.
That is a crucial part of our government’s policy direction; it does not matter how much money governments put in at either Northern Territory or federal level, and it does not matter if the people on the ground are not a part of that process. It was highlighted by Pat Anderson and Rex Wild, and we recognise it within our policies, in particular A Working Future for the regions across the Northern Territory.
In recognition of this important objective of building local leadership and strong families, the Little Children are Sacred report proposed Aboriginal women and men be supported and assisted to take responsibility participating in planning the future for their communities and to improve child, family, and community wellbeing. The other key messages from the report were a long-term commitment to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage was required, and a strong partnership between the government and Indigenous people was absolutely essential to future success.
In response to the report, our government released our Closing the Gap generational plan of action. As our Chief Minister said at the time:
- … there is no quick fix, this problem needs a serious, sustained solution. Critically, this is also about Aboriginal people taking responsibility and being prepared to change.
Yes, at the time there was no doubt, no question, of the incredible emotion as members worked together to see what we could do for the people of the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory government’s Closing the Gap intergenerational plan of action aimed to build a partnership between governments and Indigenous people, and commit all parties to consult and accept their responsibilities for a better future. The Northern Territory government then, as it is now, was absolutely committed to this work, because this work needs a long-term plan and sustained effort. We also know we would need to adapt and improve our plans over time, and to align investments with the priorities established in local plans at the local level.
Strong local governments have been critical to this important partnership between governments and Indigenous people. Our new shires have helped foster community representation in local government, promote Indigenous leadership, and provide the basis for Indigenous people to help build a better future for their children and for themselves. Let us not forget the reasons for our local government reform: the cycle of function and dysfunction in local community government councils, and inconsistency in service delivery.
All of this was very much a part of the Little Children Are Sacred report in the holistic approach to the 97 recommendations in that report, which did not just focus on one issue in trying to improve the lives of Aboriginal people but, most importantly, the care of our children.
An important element of our Closing the Gap plan of action was the provision of grants to shire councils to develop local community input in council decision-making. The grants program has also assisted the development of community-based local boards, and supports local Closing the Gap projects. For example, this year I announced the funding for the Tiwi Island Shire to support the development of an Indigenous women’s group. Other projects have focused on relating to families and children. In this way, our government is working towards proper engagement with Indigenous Territorians in designing policy and service delivery, and in helping all of us develop capacity to meet our obligations and responsibilities in building a better future for all people across the Territory.
Since the time this report was released, we have experienced the intervention phase of the Northern Territory Emergency Response. A review of that phase highlighted, for all governments, a need to move forward from top down intervention, and focus on resetting our relationships with local people to build the strong, healthy, and enduring future we all know is necessary for the wellbeing of all Territorians.
Continuing the theme of working in partnership with the need for local plans that everyone can commit to, our government in 2009 took a very big step in developing a new policy direction, A Working Future - a vital part of this government’s long-term commitment. At every step of this journey there have been important milestones in the future of the people of the Northern Territory. A Working Future is the next step in that journey to improve the lives of Aboriginal Territorians.
It is important for all of us to get this right. The key to success, as highlighted by the Little Children Are Sacred report and encompassed by the Closing the Gap long-term plan, is working with local people in the development of each growth town’s local implementation plan. These plans are built with local people – plans that identify the gaps and the people’s priorities. That is what we have to do; that is what governments have to do at the higher end of the level. But, it is the coordination of the federal and Northern Territory governments that is absolutely crucial to assisting the development of what the local people on the ground want.
I am pleased the work is well advanced in A Working Future, especially as we have been travelling across the Northern Territory talking to residents of local towns, and to the shires. There is optimism for the future that it provides for all our families in our remote communities. In fact, in my own electorate of Arnhem, in Umbakumba in particular, there is an incredible change in the people in Umbakumba – in the development of the people. What I said before in this parliament, and I will continue to say, is we are not only growing our regions in houses and jobs, we are growing our own in local people taking an active part in decision-making for their lives. In Umbakumba, there is one rebuilt and 12 refurbished houses handed back so far to the people and the families in Umbakumba - an extraordinary difference in their lives. Three have been, and more will be, completed in the near future. That is a total of 17 in Umbakumba alone.
The significant social change, the attitudinal change in the very families who live in these homes, and the sense of strong community for Umbakumba is quite overwhelming, wonderful, optimistic, and breathtaking in the fact that here, something terrific is happening.
The first refurbished house was handed over to one family who has a daughter in a wheelchair, and this work included a disabled bathroom, widened doorways and wheelchair access ramp; and all that has made a significant difference to the lives of this family. I am so pleased to see the difference it makes just to this one family’s life, and to the children who are growing up in this home; it is already impacting on their way of life in the very positive and constructive way they wanted to happen.
There is another family which has taken possession of a refurbished house and signed a Territory Housing tenancy agreement, and they take great pride in keeping their houses the way they want them, whether it is significant gardening or fencing, it is the way they want it. Each family to shape their own house, their yard, the way they want it to be seen, in their neighbourhood, in their street, in their town. It is no different to a family in Fannie Bay, Malak, or Woodroffe, who take pride in their respective places.
These families in Umbakumba are now repairing their fences, planting lawns, shrubs and flowerbeds to improve and maintain their yards; something which was not the case only months ago. I recall coming in as the member for Arnhem five years ago and now seeing the enormous difference in the lives of families here. I am very proud of the work being done in this particular community because I know the families have grabbed the opportunities they want, and are moulding and shaping them the way they want. It does not mean they always agree with government, that they always say the Territory government is right, or the federal government was right - none of that matters. What matters is these families are taking an active interest in deciding how they want their children to grow up, and the children are responding in that environment.
A Working Future is not just about planning and infrastructure, it is about building local economies, creating jobs, supporting strong families, building strong local leadership, and supporting family wellbeing. It is about a strong and prosperous future for all Territorians living in our regions. Our government has also established the Indigenous Affairs Advisory Council of senior Indigenous leaders from across the Territory to complement the work of the local community boards who are working in the regions and the shires.
Having the ability to connect and listen to the resources and expertise of the people on the IAAC, as well as the local boards, is also about empowering at a local level. Again, it comes back to government and, in our case, our government encouraging local people at the local level to take affirmative action about where they want to go. It is about each town setting the direction and determining the future. It is also about engendering an investment environment, working with the land councils and local people to streamline leasing arrangements, and to encourage and develop local economies, creating training opportunities and real jobs for our young people which will take generational change, but positive generational change. Having a work ethic is very much what our government is about; we are about the long haul and the journey that sees this change, not only today, not only tomorrow, but so the people, the young babies, the kids who are growing up today, do have a better future.
The Indigenous Economic Development Strategy set targets for achievement by 2012 to generate increased Indigenous participation and economic development through growing Indigenous employment, business and wealth. With these targets, 3000 more Indigenous Territorians will commence employment across the private and public sectors - 10% Indigenous employment in the Northern Territory Public Service - and 200 new Indigenous businesses.
This is part of the overall plan we have to have. We cannot just focus on a house or a school; it has to be a collective decision, a whole-of-government approach and plan, wanting to improve the lives of Indigenous Territorians.
As I told the House this morning, two major businesses have already indicated they want to work with us to build their business in regional communities. Again, I stress, the emphasis will always be that each of these growth towns, each of these communities, must feel confident about determining their future, and about the businesses they would like to see come in, and the opportunities - whether it is in tourism, private business, or in other areas with the public service.
The Little Children Are Sacred report highlighted the need for long-term commitment to overcome Indigenous disadvantage. What is required is a strong partnership between governments at both federal and Territory level, but in particular, a strong partnership between government and Indigenous people is absolutely essential.
I will reference the comments of Mr Gary Banks, Chairman of the Productivity Commission, who, in the most recent Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report, identified four factors common to many of the things that work: (1) cooperative approaches between Indigenous people and government; (2) community involvement in program design and decision-making; (3) ongoing government support - human, financial and physical; and (4) good governance which must be nurtured and supported.
These four factors are at the crux of our Closing the Gap long-term plan and our A Working Future initiative. We have a plan for the long term. Our new shires have helped foster good governance through community representation. A Working Future is a strong investment plan, working with the Australian government and local people. Our A Working Future initiative will provide ongoing government support to these growth towns. Budget 2010-11 kick starts this investment plan with a record $980m plan of action across all program areas.
The Little Children Are Sacred report highlighted the vital role of local leadership in overcoming Indigenous disadvantage. The report also sent the Northern Territory government a clear message that a partnership between the government and Indigenous people is essential to future success.
Madam Deputy Speaker, that is exactly what we are embarking on. That is exactly the journey we have begun, and it is the journey we will continue to take to improve the lives of all people across the Northern Territory but, most importantly, the children of the Northern Territory.
Discussion concluded.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak briefly this evening on an issue which has been debated in this House and the media, which is the proposal by the government to put a secure care facility not only in the rural area but also the rural area of Alice Springs in Cotterill Road. I have tabled a petition with over 400 signatures in regard to this issue. Earlier today the member for Macdonnell tabled a petition with concerns about the planning proposal.
We had a public meeting in the rural area and I thank the minister for having departmental staff address the meeting. It was disappointing the minister could not attend even though his office knew about the meeting. The departmental people did very well under somewhat heated questioning by residents who are understandably upset that this proposed facility, planned to house people with high risk behaviour, is to be put in a residential area.
The Bees Creek area is within 2 km of an educational hub, which is of great concern not only to me, but also to the establishments which operate in that educational hub; namely, two major primary schools, one of which is moving towards having a middle school; there is a preschool centre; and there is a day care centre. The government has spent tens of millions of dollars developing that centre and educational hub and, from a planning point of view, it is quite alarming to consider putting a quasi-medical, quasi-detention facility just down the road.
I am also concerned at the conflicting advice from the departmental people and from the minister. In a briefing I had with departmental people they said they had looked at different sites; however, from discussions with constituents I have two different reports that some departmental staff have said they have only looked at one site, which is the Bees Creek site, and other staff have said they have looked at many sites. In Darwin they have looked at Berrimah Farm, sites near the hospital, and sites in the rural area.
It is very concerning there does not seem to be a consistent message and there is sometimes inaccurate information given. It should be of note to government the large number of submissions, particularly in the Top End, in regard to this development application. I understand there have been 50 or 60 submissions put in to the Development Consent Authority and three or four consultations appear to have taken submissions from constituents who did not have the opportunity the first time. No doubt that number would have risen quite substantially. The hearing before the Development Consent Authority is going to be a big hearing, and I hope they book a larger room than Whitewood hall.
The other concern is in some of the informal discussions between the minister and constituents. There seems to be some conflicting and different groups, and I am not quite sure I understand it. The minister’s was on radio saying the government could not put it at the AZRI site in Alice Springs because that was too far from a medical facility, the hospital, which is 10 km, but it is obviously okay to put a site 40 km from the Royal Darwin Hospital, at the Lowther Road site. I do not understand the logic of that.
One of my constituents informally met with the minister at the airport, and she suggested the minister and the government should look at land closer to Royal Darwin Hospital, perhaps the Lyons area. His comment was: ‘No, we cannot put it there because it is residential’. I am not really sure what people living on five acres blocks or two-and-a-half blocks are if they are not residential. It seems the minister has a different level or description that people who live in urban areas are residential, but people who live on blocks in Lowther Road are not residential at all. That concerns me quite a bit.
Departmental staff did say at the public meeting that it was only a proposed site, and during the course of the meeting they said they would prefer the site to be closer to town. We welcome those comments. Obviously a final, conclusive decision has not been made on that site, which is a poor site. It is a bad site and it is not good planning.
My constituent also asked the minister why the facility could not be built on part of Berrimah Farm as these people apparently need a lovely, bush setting. The minister advised my constituent this was not possible as the soil was contaminated and it was only possible to put light industrial there. So that puts an end to Berrimah Farm being turned into a development for housing because, by the minister’s own admission, the area is contaminated and not suitable for residential buildings.
The minister talked to my constituent in a general way and agreed that if he was a resident he would be angry as well if this pink sign went up and the necessary consultation not undertaken. In the media release in December 2009 there were assurances that there would be adequate consultation for all sites selected before the pink signs were put up, but, clearly, this did not happen. The minister then stated this is why he did not attend the meeting in the rural area, and I quote: ‘… as the Health department had made such a blip-blip-blip of it, they had to deal with it’. If that is not abdicating responsibility, I do not know what is. We commented on the fact the two departmental officials who came by themselves and, as I said, had some heated questions put to them, acquitted themselves very well; and I thank them for that.
The minister said the departmental people had made a mess of it, and they had had to deal with it and come back to him with a solution. It seems he is trying to step away from the problem he created through lack of consultation in matters of planning, and it disturbs me he is putting out information that it is okay to look after the town people, but it is not okay to look after rural people: Blow you people; the fact you have chosen to live in the rural area is of no real concern to us, and you are just going to have to suffer. Quite clearly, from the large number of strong objections to this proposal, the Development Consent Authority will have to take into consideration all the issues put in those submissions. It is not supported accommodation; it is a quasi-medical centre, a quasi-detention centre and it is in complete conflict with the planning of that area, rural living.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I dissect the so-called recent polling which I believe was fabricated and rewritten by the Labor Party. It is a sign of Labor’s desperation to deflect attention away from their internal problems. Those on this side of the House have a greater understanding of the numbers than those of the Australian Labor Party. Usually, we do not talk publicly about our polling due to our respect for shadow Cabinet confidentiality and solidarity; however, on this occasion I have sought and been granted permission from my colleagues to say a few words about what was placed in the newspaper last week and over the weekend. I cannot let it pass unaddressed.
By way of setting the scene, let me go back to the previous Chief Minister. Polling set out that in early 2007 the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, was quite popular, with a nett approval rating in the teens in Darwin. That was not the case in Alice Springs where Ms Martin was well into negative territory. By the time the 2007 federal election came round, Clare Martin’s popularity had also fallen in Darwin, where she was tracking in negative double figures. It is times like this political parties look around and say: ‘Shall we go with this one or get another one?’ Fortunately for the Labor Party, the member for Wanguri had already done much of the spade work when it came to digging Clare Martin’s political grave.
The federal November 2007 polling started a feeding frenzy within the Labor government with Clare Martin’s carcass on the menu. Her replacement, the member for Wanguri, had a higher approval rating at the time, somewhere around the high 20s. But the numbers did not stay that way for long as Territorians realised that Hendo was a complete dud. Just months before the Territory election, and not long into his reign, his numbers started to fall. The slide had begun as had voter support for Labor. The member for Wanguri arrogantly ignored the polling and called an election which did not quite go the way he had expected. Curiously, days out from that election, in a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from their own issues, Labor apparatchiks called journalists to tell them that Terry Mills was in deep trouble in his own seat. They provided no evidence for this and to correct the record, our side provided a look into a number of seats to show what the real numbers were from real polling taken only a few days before. It set out the fact that Terry would win his seat comfortably and we were on track to win somewhere between 10 and 12 seats. History showed that our numbers were accurate within a couple of percent.
But what of the fictitious Labor polling; what of the person who sat in front of a computer, opened up an Excel spreadsheet and started dreaming up Hendo’s alternative reality? We, on this side, thought that after the Territory election polling debacle they would have, or that person would have gone into permanent retirement, but no, he or she emerged last week even more pathetically than the last time.
Let us look at the poll rating scale from the research done last May. Top of the ladder was, yes, you guessed it, Terry Mills; then came the Chief Minister, Paul Henderson; then close behind, the member for Karama; then myself, tied with the member for Arafura. Since then, the slide has continued for the Chief Minister. Last year, we had another look, and again, yes, you guessed it, Terry Mills was on top of the charts; Kevin Rudd was in second place …
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker!
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim …
Mr TOLLNER: … followed by Kezia Purick …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, please pause …
Mr TOLLNER: … then Delia Lawrie; Warren Snowdon …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, would you please pause and resume your seat? Thank you. We have a point of order.
Mr KNIGHT: The member well knows he needs to refer to members by their electorate names.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: If you could, please, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: … Warren Snowdon, then me; Chief Minister Henderson; Trish Crossin and way down the bottom, well into negative territory, was Damian Hale.
Mr KNIGHT: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member well knows he needs to refer to members by their electorate names.
A member: No, not federal members.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Deputy Speaker, I am talking federal members here. What is the point …
Mr Knight: No, you were talking about Chief Minister Henderson.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is either Chief Minister or member for Wanguri, to be accurate. Thank you, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: So the slide continues for the member for Wanguri. Territorians could see he was not up to the job, that his government stood for nothing and does nothing. They were seeing how inept he was as the Chief Minister, and the member for Blain was a clear alternative and it was a time for change within Labor.
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: But, courtesy of the agreement Hendo stitched up with the member for Nelson, Labor has no choice; they had to keep flogging the dead horse of the Henderson government. For government members to stay on the fine leather couches of the fifth floor they have to continue to support the member for Wanguri, despite the deeply negative impact he is having on their electoral standing. How frustrating it must be for the member for Karama and Warren Snowdon who are the most popular Labor politicians in the Northern Territory. This brings us to Labor’s most recent attempt at polling.
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Last week, we again saw that little boffin upstairs punching away at the spreadsheet making up the next set of numbers in a desperate attempt to prop up the member for Wanguri’s blighted bungling and hopeless leadership. What we saw was fabricated polling constructed in a desperate attempt to attack and undermine the member for Blain. But you know what? It does not wash! It does not wash on this side of the House because we do our own polling and we are aware of the real story. I suspect the whole set of numbers was made up.
Members interjecting.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Although, a little birdie on the Labor side did say all they had done was swap a few names around. According to the numbers released last week, I am up the top of the charts, closely followed by the Chief Minister, and then Terry Mills.
We, on this side, have had much data over the years and, I am sorry, but your little boffin has overcooked this one too badly for it to be even remotely believable. In setting this out I am guided by a real poll taken last week and over the weekend. What did it say? You would never guess: way up front was the member for Blain, then a drop to the member for Karama, Warren Snowdon, then the member for Goyder, then a drop to the member for Wanguri, and then me, Crossin and Rudd.
On our side, we know we have a winner with the member for Blain. The public sees his genuineness, his decency and his style of leadership, and they like it. The same cannot be said for the member for Wanguri, and it will only be by dint of his dirty deal with the member for Nelson that the member for Wanguri leads you to the next election.
The real issue though is not about the Labor Party falsifying polling - that is just a given, and they have a track record to prove it - in doing this, they have committed a fraud on the media and the public, by extension. I wonder who it was in the Labor Party who said: ‘We need to do a number on Terry. I will construct some bogus polling and that will do the trick’. Well, it is clear those opposite and those within their party are so devoid of ethics and morality that falsifying such material and misleading journalists, and attempting to do the same with the wider Territory community, matters not a jot. One can only hope next time there will be some level of appropriate scrutiny applied, and the level of due diligence we would expect from the media. I would hope, in future, the paper will seek out alternative polling - and ours has shown to be accurate in the past. It is curious to note the polling we have given to the newspapers has barely rated a mention.
Of course, no amount of bogus polling will hide the truth: you are all rotten to the core and your deeply unpopular leader is driving you all to political oblivion. You are a moribund government, devoid of ideas, devoid of any action, and you have the audacity to think the public like it. It is just a pathetic attempt to divert attention for your own misgivings and your own misguided ideas, and your own failures, and the pathetic effort you make as a government.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am glad I had the opportunity to correct the record.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I wish to talk about a wonderful school camp I had the pleasure of attending last week or the week before - I cannot remember – in the last couple of weeks.
I went to the Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit. This is the fourth school camp I have been to, and the first to Batchelor. All the others have been to Jabiru Peaks. There are great facilities there; the team is excellent, and the 81 students who went from Bakewell School were extremely polite and active, as one might expect when young people go on camps.
I pay tribute to Shannon Birch, Michael Kerris, Brianna, Bonnie, Colleen, Nicole, Vicky and Julie Graham, a bunch of teachers, and the Inclusion Support Assistants who where there; and also to Carol and Leanne, parents who graciously provided their time during the day. I also pay tribute to Michael Kerris, who had an accident on one of the bike outings; he had to brake very severely and went over the handlebars. A couple of ribs and the collarbone went, I think. All the kids thought he would die when the ambulance came to take him away, but I hear Michael is on the mend and I wish him well.
I had to take over a group of students; Group One we were of these 81 students. I, perhaps, do not have the patience teachers have today and, with my whistle around my neck, I pulled them into line pretty quickly. I enjoyed the experience, and I am sure they enjoyed the experience just as much.
To those children: Keith Barclay; Jake Baptista; Taylor Hall, who I named Taylor Swift or Swifty; Jemma Fosdick; Jayden Probert; April Magnum, Chloe Webber; Sandy Tran; Jonathon Catidja Connop, Nicki Boulton, Jessika Lewis, Joseph Chin, Donella Young, Ashane Atendorff, Almada Boucadis and Shania Brewster. I take my hat off to you guys because you were left without your teacher, left in the hands of an amateur, and you pulled it off very well. They went on to win the team events, the team that was most neat and tidy, paid attention - you can achieve a lot with a whistle.
It was my first time at Batchelor, and it was a wonderful experience. They did not quite get me up on the high ropes. Like at Jabiru Peaks, I refused to go on the flying fox because I was led to believe the speed is characterised by your weight. It was not a nice idea to go on the flying fox; I was not certain the brakes at the bottom would pull me up.
It was a great time. The Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit is a wonderful facility. One thing I think is very relevant and important to note is one of the questions I asked teachers later in the evening: some of the kids who, in school, are perhaps, terrors, do they find a difference with that group at a place like Batchelor? The answer was an absolute, yes, they do. Kids who often play up at school seem to blossom in an environment like the outdoor entertainment centre. That is quite interesting, and it demonstrates to me how different people learn different activities, and I think school camps are an amazing thing.
I can remember going to places like Lake Keepit and Myuna Bay in northern New South Wales and away for up to two weeks at time. I still remember singing songs like Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah, because I wanted to go home – I really did. I take my hat off to the teachers who take our children …
Mr Elferink: I still know the words to that.
Mr CHANDLER: You used to know the words?
Mr Elferink: I still do.
Mr CHANDLER: Oh, no!
I take my hat off to the parents and teachers who get involved in these camps, particularly the ones interstate, because that takes on a whole new dimension. It is a great responsibility for teachers and parents who take groups of children to Melbourne and Sydney. In this case, it was also an absolute pleasure to deal with the teachers involved. I take my hat off to those people who get involved, particularly on interstate trips. That is a big responsibility. I wish them well. Bakewell School, like other schools, will be going on other camps this year and interstate trips and I wish them well. Enjoy the experience.
Mr WESTRA VAN HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is with much pleasure I speak about an annual event in Katherine held on this past weekend, 5 June 2010. I am referring to a special event that has its roots, as far as I can tell, in aristocratic Europe of the 17th century. The origins of the name of this event come from a French word dbuter, which means ‘to begin’. I am of course, referring to the 2010 Katherine Debutante Ball.
The history of this event revolves around a young woman, usually aged 17 or 18, who is formally introduced to society at a ball or coming out party. The original purpose of the debut was to announce that young women of prominent social standing were available for courtship by eligible young men. This social ritual was necessitated by the traditional upper-class practice of sending girls away to boarding school where they were virtually hidden from view, prohibited from dating, attending parties with mixed company, or socialising with adults. A formal announcement thus introduced the debutante to her social peers and potential suitors. The custom has been long established amongst the aristocracy and the upper classes in England where debutantes were, until the mid-twentieth century, presented at court.
In America, the debutante ball derived from the formal etiquette of the 19th century, but the ritual has been transformed by each generation’s evolving notions about the proprieties of class, sexual freedom, and the role of women.
According to the 1883 etiquette reference, The Manners That Win, a debutante should have graduated school, sing or play an instrument gracefully, dance with elegance, and know the rules governing polite society. Having mastered these essential skills, she was presumed ready for courtship, leading, of course, to marriage - at the time, the single vocational avenue open to well-to-do women. It is good that things have changed.
By the 1920s some latitude had relaxed the rules of the debut and by then, the debut had migrated across oceans to America and also to Australia. After World War II, the debutante ball spread to almost every city in America and enjoyed a heyday during many conservative years. Yet, a decade later, anti-establishment sentiment led many young women even of the most affluent status to abandon the event, dismissing it as an anachronistic snobbery. In addition, sexual liberation and the feminist movement challenged the very basis of this centuries-old convention.
Notwithstanding anything that might have changed, there is one rule which has not changed over the years, and that is the debutante’s dress. She is to wear a white gown, though a pastel shade may be acceptable; loud colours or black have always remained inappropriate.
In Australia, and certainly in Katherine, the debutante ball has witnessed a popular resurgence. I have been to four debutante balls in Katherine, and I know they have been held years prior to that.
This year’s debutante ball was a gala affair. Twenty-two young ladies, along with their partners on the night, were presented to society in a beautiful ceremony. The young ladies were presented to me, as the member for Katherine, and my wife. Emerging from an arch of floral garlands and along a carpet of red, each lady dressed in white was presented with a sash as a symbol and memento of the evening. How beautiful the young ladies of Katherine are and - dare I say - how handsome the young men.
Much effort was put into the evening by many people, including hours of dance practice by the debutantes and their partners; energy directed into home-stitched dresses and, of course, the effort of a group of volunteers in putting the whole evening together. I pass on my personal thanks and recognise those who were involved by entering their names into the Parliamentary Record of this parliament.
My thanks go to Jodie Locke, the organiser of the 2010 Katherine Debutante Ball; Josephine and Frank Jennings, the dance tutors; Terry Ross; Ned Singh; Karen Craven; Vicki Higgins and Henry Higgins, who assisted also with the dancing; Janine Morrow and Margaret Price and the ladies of St Paul’s Anglican Church for catering the evening, and special thanks to them for getting a hot meal to the tables on what was a rather chilly night. On the bar were Fiona Crawford, Rick Crawford, and Jeanie O’Connor and they performed very important duties. Fay Miller, the former member for Katherine, took care of all the table decorations.
The debutantes and their partners were: Emily Hearnden with Kieran Charter; Natalie Dobell with Hayden Atkins; Meaghan Pike with James Hurrell; Shannen Taylor with Wason Heyworth; Ashley Rosas with Nathanyal Hunter; Tamika Marshall with Maxwell David; Stevie Kelly with Jackson Durbidge; Keely AhChin with Brett Woods - Alum; Meg Jennings with Jonathan Rioli; Cassie Berto partnered by Jamie Walker; Madina Hayman with John Bretten; Sara Ducey with Hayden Morrison; Kaysie Dawson with Scott Westra van Holthe; Jessica Kretschmer partnered by Alex Heyworth; Nadia Menmuir partnered by Matthew Brennan; Zoe Knight with Michael Roe; Tara Meldrum with Justin Giumelli; Stephanie Masters with Silas Durcell; Christine Morrison partnered by Alessandro Lucchese; Suzannah Fowler with Dean Callaghan; Georgia Knight with Chevy Brown; and Jacinta Phillips partnered with Ashley Jennison.
It was a very special night, and it is an event I hope continues in Katherine. It holds significance through its tradition, but also an opportunity for the young ladies of Katherine to be recognised in a very special way. In a small town, I guess, it is difficult, unusual, or not too often in circumstance where ladies can be dressed as our young ladies were on Saturday night, and presented to society in a way which really dignifies their coming of age and their coming out to society.
I wholeheartedly congratulate the debutantes and their partners, and thank parents, friends, and families for their contributions to making the evening such a special event.
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the following websites: www.bookrags.com; wikipedia.org; and google.com.au for the historical research contained in this debate.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am going to break with tradition a little tonight in this House, and name a public servant, and I hope the Health minister is listening to this, because it is an important issue.
As members will be aware, I have a young family - five-year-old and three-and-a-half-year-old daughters. My three-and-a-half-year-old daughter recently came down with a head cold, which got worse and worse and led to constant vomiting, dehydration, and very high temperatures which were barely controlled with the usual array of off-the-shelf drugs. So my wife took my daughter to a doctor in town who quickly assessed my daughter as having a mere head cold, because there were no unusual or pronounced chest sounds, and sent my daughter on her way. The vomiting got worse and the condition of my daughter became increasingly bad, to the point where she was not holding down even water, and it was regular; it was awful. I have to say, it was quite distressing.
In our desperation, my wife and I rang around a few other surgeries in town, but they could not fit us in, and on advice of what was happening with our daughter and how my wife related the symptoms, we ended up taking my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter to the Royal Darwin Hospital where, once again, my daughter, whilst presenting with many of the symptoms of a bad infection, was not presenting with the usual chest sounds you would expect to hear with a bad flu. At that point, my daughter was seen at the Royal Darwin Hospital in the emergency section by a Dr Toni Levang.
I did not have a great deal to do with it because I had to pick up my other daughter, and there is no reason Dr Levang had any indication of who I was, and I do not think it would have mattered if she had known who I was, but she looked at my daughter, took a guess, took some further advice and, as a consequence of that advice, determined a chest X-ray would be in place.
Dr Levang’s care and courage to take that extra step, and understand the important rule of medicine that, just because you are not presented with all the symptoms, does not mean disease is not present and, as a result of that chest X-ray, my daughter’s pneumonia was detected - just about to start pneumonia.
I would like to thank, in this House, personally, Dr Levang, because I can only say to you that I have a great sense of relief that such fine doctors work in our hospital system. Her willingness to take the time - and I know how busy accident and emergency, or casualty sections get - there was no reason she had to take those extra steps, but it just goes to demonstrate the professionalism we do have in our hospitals. I hope my personal gratitude is communicated to the doctor at the hospital. I wish to place on the public record of the Northern Territory that she is a fine doctor, and I am enormously grateful to her for what she has done for my family. It has not been forgotten. My message to the minister: that one is a keeper.
I also speak on another issue tonight in relation to my own electorate, and that is the piece of land between Frances Bay Drive and Tiger Brennan Drive, in the area of Tipperary Waters. Essentially, its function is that of a stormwater drain; however, it is a large piece of open space and even when it is raining heavily it only fulfils that function to a limited degree. The design problems in the area of Tipperary Waters suggest that that space could be used for a host of other reasons which would help to alleviate the pressure of design issues which surround the whole Tipperary Waters area. A large open space is begging for a bit of grass, and maybe a small area, which has been suggested to me, for a dog park because many of the dogs that live in the area are the toy dog type varieties, the shih tzus, the chihuahuas, that sort of thing.
The area could also be used for angle parking along the length of Frances Bay Drive which would alleviate traffic congestion in the smaller courts like Tipperary Court and Dinah Court, and in Gonzales Road. A boat parking overflow for the boat ramp could also fit in the area, and even community gardens. It is a very substantial piece of land. Some of the land could not be used for anything other than a storm water function, but much of the rest of that area could be used to enhance the quality of the community.
On several occasions, I have discussed this issue in this House only to discover these pleas fall on deaf ears. I acknowledge the government’s efforts in relation to the bicycle path and its subsequent repair or correction a little further down the road near the Duck Pond, but I am disappointed one of the major thoroughfares into the capital city of the Northern Territory is still, essentially, a large vacant lot.
I certainly hope the government will find some time and money to attend to these essentially cosmetic issues.
While I am speaking on this issue, I am deeply concerned about the intersection of Gonzales Road and Tiger Brennan Drive. It has been repeatedly drawn to my attention by the residents of the area that there are dangerous issues with that particular intersection. It is an accident waiting to happen. I would not be at all surprised if some have already occurred there.
Whilst the minister is thinking about that particular intersection, I have noticed in recent times some work seems to be going on there. I do not know what it is, but I also ask the minister to turn his attention to the number of people who have to cross the road near Tipperary Waters, particularly kids going to Stuart Park School from Tipperary Waters. They have to cross the road during peak hour, in an 80 km/h zone, when people are coming from Palmerston into the CBD. Whether it is an overpass or, if the traffic management systems could handle some sort of pedestrian crossing in the area or ultimately, if it has to be an underpass, I urge the minister in the strongest possible terms to connect in a much safer and comprehensive fashion the area of Tipperary Waters to the rest of Stuart Park.
This matter has now been raised with me on about a dozen occasions. People are used to seeing me in various locations around the city, next to my little van. I sit at Tipperary Waters from time to time, and many residents tell me about that specific concern. I note the minister scribbling a note. I take heart from the fact that he is paying attention to this issue. I will be grateful to see his response sooner or later in relation to this as it presents what I consider to be an unnecessary threat to the people who drive through that area, as well as those kids who have to cross the road.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight in Adjournment I wish to raise a matter of great concern. It relates to the Territory’s political history and how some people wish to turn back the clock. It is important to understand our history in the hope we do not revisit past mistakes. This is all about the CLP, the old CLP, and how they operate, and the knowledge, increasingly coming to the fore, that the same old CLP are still there and they still work in the same old ways. They may have the member for Blain as their current front man, but the old guard is very much still in charge, they are still pulling the strings, the same old group of cronies still clinging on waiting for the old trough to reappear, still waiting to call the shots.
Let us run through a bit of history for those who may have come to the Territory in more recent times.
Many Territorians would remember, when the CLP were in power prior to 2001, allegations were made - they were certainly raised with me at the time - there was a silver circle, a group of chosen ones who allegedly got the vast majority of government work through a system of influence and preferment. The processes were always said to be working and worked out among a very few people. A silver circle is what locals called them, and the suggestion was strong that favours were done and things were not fair and above board. Once again, a system of influence and preferment.
When Labor came to power in 2001, I was approached by many business people who were thrilled the Labor party had won government. All they asked for was a level playing field and everyone considered equally – that is all they wanted.
Successive Labor governments have delivered a fair and practical system. We now have strict procurement processes in place which ensure government contracts are fairly awarded. Many business people still tell me it is one of the great achievements of the Labor party that we have made the system fair and transparent; and we are justifiably proud of this achievement.
You can imagine my alarm when my attention was drawn to this media report today: Former CLP Chief Minister and Liberal Party President, Shane Stone, is quoted as saying he now directs some of his commercial income as a consultant directly into the CLP’s fundraising coffers.
I feel genuine alarm at this development, and appeal to all members to consider the potential of what could happen if a CLP government was returned. The old cronies would be back. Mr Stone proposes contracts he gets as a consultant ensure at least some payments are made directly to the CLP fundraising company, CLP Gifts and Legacies. In other words, those companies who contract him for his services are making a political donation directly to the CLP.
A member: And we are covering it up by putting it in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Dr BURNS: The danger is private companies bidding for government work would feel compelled to also give work to consultants they knew would donate money to the CLP Gifts and Legacies. This would, in some people’s minds, create a natural advantage to their bid. This spells a real return to the practice of the old CLP, a return to the old silver circle.
I table this article from The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 June 2010: ‘Liberals raise cash by going commercial’, Mark Davis. National Editor.
We also know a former senior public servant, the architect of cuts to the public service in the 1990s, is working with the CLP again to prepare their secret plan to cut the public service. We also know the former Chief Minister, Shane Stone, is devising a new way to put the silver circle back in the driver’s seat.
These are alarming developments and the member for Blain needs to come clean on these matters; he needs to stand up to the old cronies - he needs to say ‘no’ to the silver circle.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016