2012-05-01
DEBATES – Tuesday 1 May 2012Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise you of the presence in the gallery of Year 7 and Year 8 Taminmin College students, accompanied by Mrs Wendy Williams and Ms Viki Kane. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table Message No 33 recommending to the Legislative Assembly a bill for an act authorising the issuing and expending of public monies of the Territory in respect of the year ending 30 June 2013.
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that a response to Petition No 59 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response will be placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to petitioners.
Petition No 59
Remote Shire Structure
Date Presented: 16 February 2012
Presented by: Mr Westra van Holthe
Referred to: Minister for Local Government
Date response due: 19 September 2012
Date response received: 24 April 2012
Response:
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move –
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, you have our support for the motion and I thank the Leader of Government Business for advising us well in advance.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move -
Motion agreed to.
Continued from 29 March 2012.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, yes, it is a big day. I will try to take this to 11 am because that is when the Treasurer will tell us plunging the Territory into further debt to the tune of $400m-plus is somehow good for each and every Territorian - $28 000 for every Territorian by the looks of things but there is good news to come, no doubt, down the pipeline. At 11 am we will hear about it.
This is the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill; it is part of national uniform legislation first introduced into this House in 2008. I will run through some of that. As I say, there is only bad news to come down the pipeline at 11 am, so we may as well get through some of this and articulate what it means for Territorians and those people who may not have been listening or following this bill. It is relatively simple, but in some of the way it is presented, can be quite complex.
The purpose of the bill is to transition the regulation of Aboriginal Health Workers, medical radiation practitioners, and occupational therapists from the Health Practitioners Act to the new national uniform legislation. Chinese medicine will also be regulated under the new uniform legislation; however, this profession is not currently registered in the Northern Territory.
The bill also amends the remainder of the Health Practitioners Act to make it primarily responsible for the Pharmacy Committee and regulation of pharmacy in the Health Professional Review Tribunal. The Radiation Protection Act has also received amendments to accommodate the transition of medical radiation practitioner to the new national uniform legislation.
The schedule to the bill ensures other Territory legislation receives amendments to reflect the harmonised registration laws.
The background of how this came about was to create a nationally harmonised regulation of health professionals, agreed to by COAG in 2008, as part of the national partnership agreement. That was to achieve a seamless national economy with regard to our health practitioners. The national uniform legislation of the Health Practitioners Act, as it is, was introduced in November 2009 and commenced on 1 July 2010. It is anchored to the Queensland legislation - Queensland is the host act. This legislation transferred the regulation of 10 health professions from the Territory to a national body. At the time the uniform legislation was introduced the minister indicated the remaining Territory health professions would follow suit on 1 July this year.
We support this legislation. We support the move to enable national registration and recognition of the qualifications of health professionals. We were critical, of course, and still are. It is incumbent on anyone, particularly an opposition – of the standards being used by bureaucracy in the accreditation process.
This move had the potential to allow accreditation and training standards to be influenced and amended by potential motivations, possibly lowering standards to meet a politically promised quota. There is always a chance of this type of thing happening, and it is incumbent on us to keep an eye on this government. It has a history of a culture of cover-up in many, many areas. It has been exposed on numerous occasions by this opposition, a pretty watchful media when it comes to sleight of hand. However, it is important that if we are elected as the next Northern Territory government in August, or any time down the track - governments of any persuasion - an opposition will closely scrutinise this particular concern. You have to be very careful not to over-promise quotas in this area of health and then start to adjust training standards - lowering standards to meet those promises or fulfil those promises and meet whatever quotas you may have promised.
That was our major concern with this legislation. I repeat: we were critical of a potential area in the accreditation process to allow accreditation and training standards to be influenced and amended by political motivations. We have seen it all before. It is very easy to over-promise, particularly in the lead-up to an election. Some members of parliament, some governments, might say and do anything just to be elected. We have seen this government do it numerous times. However, we are all human and it is also something any government - whether it be a Labor or Country Liberals government - has to be aware of. Be very careful of over-promising and, therefore, lowering standards. That was our main concern with this legislation. Having said that, there is no reason to oppose the bill. It completes a legislative agenda the Assembly passed in 2010.
I have a question for the minister and, rather than spend time on it in the committee stage, I will flag it now and perhaps he can respond. We wanted confirmation from the minister: if the tribunal remains responsible for the cost of appointing a legal practitioner to assist it in conducting any proceedings, the person before the tribunal will not become liable for that cost. That is a pretty fair question. Is the minister able to provide an answer to us in a reply - perhaps in the third reading, even on notice - and for those people who might have to wear that cost.
If we look through some of the amendments in the act, we go to Part 2 clause 10, which is a new section 18L. The amendment in this section allows the minister to determine fees that are to be payable to the Pharmacy Committee. The Pharmacy Committee has the power to waive the whole or part of that fee. The new section 18L provision, essentially, replicates section 18 in the repealed Part 2 of the Health Practitioners Act relating to health practitioners registration boards. The minister made no note of what these fees may be, or what they may be for, in his second reading speech. Clause 10 of the bill says:
(1) The minister may, by Gazette notice, determine fees to be paid to the Pharmacy Committee.
I am not sure whether you would put fees in legislation. Perhaps the minister is able to indicate what those fees may be.
Clause 20 amends section 71. Under the current provisions, a regulatory body may appoint an inspector to ensure the act and codes are being complied with, and for boards to investigate complaints or matters that could be cause of complaint. The section also stipulates the inspector must be provided with an ID card which must be returned on the cessation of duties. That has been amended, and that amendment is boards are now the responsibility of the national uniform legislation. The wording has been amended to reflect that only the Pharmacy Committee may appoint inspectors under this act. The new functions of the inspectors are to investigate matters related to the committee’s functions, but may only do so on referral by the committee. Also, the committee’s functions are set out in section 18C and include monitoring, investigation, and compliance with Schedule 8, and prosecute offences against that Schedule 8.
Finally, the amendment allows for provisions relating to ID cards. That has not received significant changes other than the inspector no longer needs to display a signature on the ID cards. So, pretty simple stuff. Under the current provisions, it would seem there is nothing to stop an inspector from investigating matters on their own initiative. This has probably been one of the more significant changes. This has been changed and they can now only investigate matters referred to by the committee.
There are a number of minor amendments to this act; I will not go through all those. The amendment to section 6 refers to a responsible tribunal for Health Practitioner Regulation National Law NT - clause 51. Currently, this section recognises the tribunal established under the Health Practitioners Act as a tribunal under the national uniform legislation. Subsections (2) to (4) set out the composition of the tribunal. The amendment is that the composition of the tribunal is now set out in section 63 of the Health Practitioners Act and the new provisions introduced by the clause clarifies the operation of the appeals process under the national uniform legislation and limits the period for appeal to 28 days after the appealable decision is made, or the reasons for the decision are provided to the person.
We do not think there is anything controversial in that. Twenty-eight days is a standard period for the appeals process through the Northern Territory so there is no problem with that. As I say, we have no real problem with this; it is completing and tidying up the rest of this. Chinese medicine is to come. I imagine that is going to come eventually, but this is really just bringing us into line. This has been debated in this parliament. The bills have been presented on a number of occasions over the last three or four years, and now we get to the point where we are bringing the medical radiation practitioners, occupational therapists and Aboriginal Health Workers into the national uniform legislation.
If the minister is able to answer some of those questions we flagged in the third reading speech, or in the reply, or maybe someone else is able to do it, that would be great. Apart from that, we have no reason to oppose this bill.
Madam SPEAKER: Just before calling the member for Nelson, I have been advised there is a problem with no sound to the televisions throughout Parliament House. The sound is currently being recorded but it is not coming through the television. I will keep you up to date on that.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): It might be a good thing, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, with the member for Greatorex, I support this bill. I will start by quoting from the second reading:
I agree with that, in principle. National schemes are good as they bring uniformity to rules and regulations across Australia, and can reduce costs and allow people to move from one state to another without having to go through re-registration and that type of thing. I hope that built into these national standards is the ability to recognise that different parts of Australia sometimes have different requirements, and sometimes those requirements may mean uniformity is not necessarily the best way to go.
It is the principle we talk about in this parliament when we discuss national uniform legislation for this and that. We have done it with OH&S and, already, there has been a problem with issues relating to asbestos. Whilst it is a good idea, I hope when ministers attend COAG meetings and say they think this is a good idea, there is enough flexibility in the system to allow for different parts of Australia - which may have different requirements that do not quite fit into this uniformity category - to have some flexibility in the way things are done or the way people are brought under a scheme.
This scheme is going to cover some of those professions not covered in the previous legislation: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heath practice, known as Aboriginal Health Workers; Medical Radiation Practice; Occupational Therapy; and Chinese Medicine. I am pleased to see Aboriginal Health Workers have now become part of a national scheme. My wife was one of the first Aboriginal Health Workers in the early 1980s. Before that, as the member for Arafura said, Aboriginal Health Workers were mainly domestics. My wife was a domestic in New South Wales working for the then Premier of New South Wales, Jack Renshaw AC. She worked as a domestic for him for three years. She then did as much study as you could in those days to become a nursing aide. She worked at Darwin Hospital and also trained at Sacred Heart Hospital in Moreland, Victoria but, unfortunately, homesickness took over. Melbourne in the winter is not exactly Daly River, so she came back home and was given an opportunity to become an Aboriginal Health Worker.
Those courses started in Katherine, from memory, around 1981 or 1982. They were the start of what we have now - the Aboriginal Health Workers – and, under this scheme, are being recognised as the standard for people in other parts of Australia who wish to be called Aboriginal Health Workers. That is great because there is certainly a need for these people. They do a great job. They work locally trying to improve health in fairly difficult situations, although travelling out bush one of the better areas in relation to some of our remote communities is the standard of health clinics. I went to Amanbidji two years ago. It is a little community with about 70 people. It has a fantastic health clinic. The member for Arafura remembers it from when she was Director of Katherine West Health. Many communities rely very much on Aboriginal Health Workers to provide services to those communities.
As an aside, Madam Speaker, I also like the word ‘Aboriginal’ being left in the name. I am not a fan of Indigenous and I use it from time to time. However, Aboriginal people are Aboriginal people. Indigenous, as a name, has caused a fair bit of disagreement in the community because if you read the definition of ‘Indigenous’, it means ‘those born in this country’. That applies to me, but I am not Aboriginal. It is good the word is retained and is now in the national scheme as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice.
I asked my wife the other day: ‘Do you call yourself an Aboriginal or an Indigenous person? She said: ‘I am an Aboriginal’. She does not have much time for the other word. It is good that phrase has been retained in this area of medical health.
Medical radiation practices, including radiographers, is now included. That is extremely important now we have our oncology unit and nuclear medicine at the Royal Darwin Hospital. It is important to be part of a national scheme. Occupational therapy is important now with more construction occurring in the Northern Territory. People working in those fields are very important, especially in a growing place like the Northern Territory.
In Darwin especially, Chinese medicine would have been around as long as the Chinese have been in the Northern Territory. It is, to some extent, part of our tradition and now it is part of a national registration scheme. One of the good things is people in these fields do not have to change or do anything; they will automatically be transferred to the national register. That is a relief. There is nothing worse than doing the paperwork again just because someone decided to change the system. There is an automatic transfer.
I note, as did the member for Greatorex, the Health Professional Review Tribunal remains the same. Each state will have its own tribunal. I do not know whether that will eventually be harmonised because, after making all legislation uniform, will tribunals have different processes to judge whether a person - I imagine the health professional tribunal is the tribunal that deals with issues in relation to whether a person has been doing their job properly. I hope the reasons for suspension as an occupational therapist in Queensland would be the same as the Northern Territory. Although we are keeping our individual health professional tribunals, I hope the guidelines for those tribunals would be similar, notwithstanding you should still allow for some flexibility in the regulations.
Also, the Pharmacy Premises Committee, which regulates pharmacy premises and is delegated under the Chief Health Officer, remains.
Madam Speaker, I support the legislation; it makes good sense. Whilst uniformity can be good, can reduce costs and can make it much easier for people to find work across Australia, we need to ensure there is an element of common sense in what we do, an element of recognition of regionalism - where we live - and what things may come up in one part of Australia may not be the way it could be done in another part of Australia. As long as there is flexibility within the schemes, I am happy to support the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I support the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill. I welcome the opposition and Independent support. The member for Nelson raised an interesting policy principle about uniformity of regulation which, essentially, cuts red tape between states and territories and allows competitiveness between states and territories. You always need to find the balance between the two.
You want to know if an occupational therapist is registered here and in South Australia, also the list of professions we are covering - whether it is medical nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, physiotherapy and so on. You want to have confidence in the regulations that, no matter who you go to in whichever state or territory, that person has qualifications to treat and advise you.
It is important to have uniformity of regulation. We have seen this reform come through the Council of Australian Governments, which is responsible for both major and minor reforms. Whilst this can be seen by many people to be dry reform, it is critical that when you present with health concerns you have confidence and certainty in who you are seeing and under what system they operate. It is important if you want to challenge the care you receive, or you want some understanding of what you can complain about, that you know exactly why and how they are operating. It is important we have that clarity and certainty.
I understand completely the point the member for Nelson was making on principle - allowing competitiveness between states and territories; however, you cannot compete on the quality of healthcare. You need to have certainty in what you receive when you see a medical professional - psychology, optometry or osteopathy. You need to know who you are seeing and the care they provide.
We need to see competitiveness in other areas not the quality of healthcare. That was a very good principle the member for Nelson raised; he clearly agrees in quality of healthcare not competitiveness. He agrees with the bill but makes an important point that we need to remember: when we enter into national agreements we do not lose Territory identity or competitiveness. We are doing it to cut red tape and provide an underlying level of service and assistance to people in the Territory. That is what we are doing in this instance, and it is very good reform.
Quite extensive consultation was undertaken for this over many years. This is the third stage of reform. Much of the policy debate around principles happened way back in the first stage through COAG and in the first bill in 2010. A great deal of consultation has been done over the years about how this happens and how to do it. This third bill turns to transitional matters. There were many conversations with the Pharmacy Committee - the member for Johnston, if he speaks today, might speak to this - which looked at many of those issues. Out of that consultation, as can happen from time to time, other issues emerged. It is good to see we have taken those on and are going to look into the pharmacy premises controls and the role of the committee. That is happening at the moment and should be finalised soon. That is good. One of the amazing things when you talk to people is you get a range of issues. It is good to see we have taken on other issues that have emerged during that process, and are looking at fixing those, or working with that community, those health experts, to take on board their concerns and address them.
There were other consultations, mainly around 2008 and 2009, about bringing this in. The national boards have done much work. It is not all about governments; it is about those health professionals having a conversation within their own bodies about what standards they want. They have also had many conversations between their professional associations and the key stakeholders in other jurisdictions about how they are going to bring in mandatory registration standards from 1 July 2012. Our Department of Health has made a concerted effort to contact a whole range of people involved, talk with them, and ensure we get those things right. Much work has gone into these bills over a period of years, both at the national level and a local level.
One thing the member for Nelson raised was, once this happens and we move on, how will the tribunals work and will there be consistency at tribunal level. It is important to bear in mind we will have a Territory tribunal which will be able to take into account local considerations. The standards are the same across the Territory but, when you bring a case to the tribunal – and courts and tribunals always have this process - you get judiciary discretion. That will happen at a tribunal level. If you have concerns at tribunal level, you can always advance it into the courts. The tribunal is not the final spot; it is just where you can go. You will get a good hearing there and a sound decision will be made. However, the court system is available after that.
You can have certainty and confidence in how the system will operate with who you can see and how you can handle things if you have an unfortunate experience with the person treating you. Those systems are in place. It is good to see we have a national umbrella and, when you go to a dental therapist or psychologist, you know who you are going to see, what qualifications they have, and you can have some confidence in what they are doing.
You should have that in Australia. We are a First World nation. We provide excellent service. One of the areas where Australia does well and competes well with other nations is health and the care we take. We have a strong regulatory environment which provides certainty to people when they receive medical treatment in Australia. This has been reinforced by major national COAG reform that might seem dry to many but, at the heart of it, is about providing a continuity of quality of service when you see someone when you are not well, when you want help, or when you want to talk to someone. This is excellent legislation, and it is very good of the minister to bring it into the House.
Madam Speaker, we have had a succession of Health ministers debate this in the Chamber. I congratulate them all for working with their state and territory colleagues to ensure we continue to have a quality of care in all jurisdictions. I commend the bill to the House.
Dr BURNS (Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I support this very important bill. It has been a long journey, as other speakers have alluded to prior to my speaking this morning. It is an important journey and important legislation because it brings national uniform legislation and regulation around vital health professions, vital in Australia in general, but particularly vital to the Northern Territory.
I pick up on a few things the member for Nelson said in relation to this. The member for Nelson, and other speakers, have recognised the importance of harmonising and making uniform the requirements to become registered as a health professional in Australia. By so doing, it will increase the access of health professionals into the Northern Territory because if there has ever been a barrier and obstacle to people moving between jurisdictions it is their registration as a health professional. I can say that through my own experience because I have been registered in four jurisdictions in Australia as a pharmacist, first in Queensland, then Tasmania, then New South Wales, and then the Northern Territory. Each jurisdiction brings with it, in regard to the requirements for legislation, sometimes onerous questions relating to documentation and a whole range of things, and it takes time. It does not really lend itself to people moving between jurisdictions with ease. To enable that to happen we need the right sort of safeguards in place. I am absolutely convinced this national uniform legislation provides those safeguards, not only at a national level, but also at a local level.
One of the complications is the registration of health professionals from overseas, which can be quite complicated. If you think it is difficult for someone who has been to university in Australia and registered in a number of jurisdictions to be registered in a further jurisdiction that can provide complications, it is often very difficult for those overseas to be registered. There is a reason for that: to ensure these people have the appropriate qualifications and experience, and also, in many cases, their literacy and numeracy, their English language, both written and oral, is up to scratch. Nothing could be worse than a doctor making notes about a patient and someone finding difficulty in interpreting that, not just the handwriting but also what is being said, and the clinical notes. There can be no ambiguity. There are sometimes difficulties with people coming to this country to sit exams. They might be very capable doctors, but they also need that dimension of communication. These are important things for Australia.
I know there were complaints prior to this national system about whether some states were allowing people to come in who may not have been suitably qualified who then try to get registered in another jurisdiction and are unable to do so. It creates a bad feeling in those people who might have sold everything, given up everything in their home country to come to Australia. They get registered or provisional registration in one jurisdiction but cannot translate that into registration into other jurisdictions.
It will be good for the Territory because it will mean an easier flow of health professionals, including specialists, into the Territory - nurses, doctors, pharmacists, the whole range of health professionals. It is a very positive step for our jurisdiction and I certainly commend it.
Madam Speaker, I turn to a number of areas in responding to the minister and this legislation. As other speakers have alluded to, we had Stage 1 which was enacted on 1 July 2010 to adopt the national law. Stage 2 was all about transitioning nine Northern Territory health professions to the national scheme on 1 July. I am also aware Western Australia had its own set of legislation but still conforms to the national legislation. It was a worry for a while, whether Western Australia would join in the system but, thank goodness, they considered their position and have gone along with the legislation.
Stage 3, which we are debating now, is the consequential amendments and transitional provisions related to the transition of the remaining three Northern Territory health professional areas to the national scheme. It is due for passage in these sittings and for implementation on 1 July 2012, as I understand it. It has been a long time. This is very important legislation and this is the very final bit of it. I commend the legislation.
This morning I will talk specifically, as one other speaker alluded to, about pharmacy premises. It has been decided that the Pharmacy Premises Committee will be maintained and there will be provision for the regulation of pharmacy business and ownership which is outside the scope of the national scheme. Due to the range of issues raised by stakeholders during the consultation, a review of Pharmacy Premises control and the role of the committee have been approved and are in the process of being finalised.
It might not sound much, regulating pharmacy premises, but it is very significant. I will declare an interest here: I have already talked about being a registered pharmacist in four jurisdictions. I enjoy a very good relationship with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. In fact, I have their tie on this morning which I am proud to wear. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has led the fight, along with other pharmacy professionals, to retain ownership of pharmacy by pharmacists. This is a very important cornerstone of community pharmacy practice within this country, because there is no doubt the larger supermarket chains want to appropriate pharmacy into their business, which would not be a particularly good move. I am in favour of business; however, pharmacy ownership by pharmacists, run by pharmacists, with pharmacists responsible for it is a cornerstone of the successful community pharmacy practice which has endured in Australia for well over 100 years. This tie celebrates 80 years of the guild. Pharmacy ownership is an important cornerstone of that, and pharmacy premises and defining pharmacy premises is an important way to ensure pharmacy businesses are carried out in the right way.
It is important, in relation to our agenda, that emphasis on the quality use of medicines is met and the higher standards are consistently applied. It guarantees medicines are stored safely and there is provision for reliable and accurate recordkeeping. As I mentioned previously, it is an important underpinning of the model of pharmacy, supported by all jurisdictions in Australia, where independent pharmacies owned and operated by pharmacists place an emphasis on healthcare. That is why, when they do surveys about pharmacies and pharmacists, they rank the top in trust of the advice given by pharmacists and the relationship community pharmacists have with the general populace. It is an important part of our health system.
Talking about pharmacy premises, it also operates in conjunction with pharmacists’ registration provisions to ensure both the pharmacist providing services and the premises at which those services are provided are appropriate to ensure the health and safety objective underpinning health legislation. Also, the quality use of medicine is achieved to ensure health and protection for consumers. This is vitally important. To a large degree, I am offering personal opinions; I am not offering opinions as a minister of this government. However, I am sure they are opinions many people accord with in regard to the practice of pharmacy within our community. It also ensures pharmacies are secure and regulated in accordance with Australia’s international obligations under the relevant United Nations conventions: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the Convention of Psychotropic Substances. Basically, it will also harmonise Northern Territory legislation with similar provisions in our jurisdictions.
The personal opinion I am offering this morning is that it is not desirable for pharmacy to change in regard to the parameters of ownership and operation by pharmacists – that would be a retrograde step. There have been various reports and reviews in the past which have tried to change that situation and open it up for supermarkets to become pharmacies. That is not desirable. I even have doubts about some of the warehouse pharmacies that operate. I am not opposed to them; however, they provide challenges for the regulators to ensure certain medicines have the right controls over where the public access them and their sale. That is a very tricky situation which needs to be monitored. The next step, of course, is to put pharmacies in supermarkets and make them a department within the supermarket and take away the proviso that a pharmacist owns that pharmacy. It has been a very important part of our health system and I hope it endures long after I leave this House.
My colleague, the Minister for Health, also enjoys a very good relationship with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the AMA, and the Australian Dental Association. They have put the case to him and feel he has been quite receptive. Governments, no matter what their political persuasion, need to take heed of what the pharmacy guild and the pharmacists tell them about pharmacy ownership.
In relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice or Aboriginal Health Workers, I agree with the member for Nelson - this is a very positive step forward. It has been a long road for Aboriginal Health Workers in the Northern Territory and I acknowledge the work of Aboriginal Health Workers across the Territory in very difficult circumstances over many decades. The profession started in the Northern Territory and everyone would recognise the wonderful support and enthusiasm of Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen, a pioneer in this particular area who really had a burning aspiration to support the wonderful Aboriginal Health Workers he knew and worked closely with to provide a pathway to professional recognition. Also, Dr Hargrave at the leprosarium, was a wonderful man who really fostered Aboriginal Health Workers. There are many senior Aboriginal Health Workers in the system today who really look back fondly on those days with Dr Hargrave and Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen.
From my own perspective as a researcher with the Menzies School of Health Research, I worked very closely with a whole range of Aboriginal Health Workers across the Territory. What they did not know about their community and the individuals in that community was not worth knowing. Of course, they respected confidentiality and privacy. In relation to research and that type of thing, they were very supportive and much research and improvement in our health system could not have occurred without the dedication and knowledge of Aboriginal Health Workers within the Northern Territory. It is great to see them being recognised nationally, and it is a feather in the cap for the Northern Territory that something which started in the Northern Territory is now recognised across Australia. During the 1980s I was at the University of New England in Armidale, which started, I believe, the first diploma course for Indigenous health workers. It was a new thing in New South Wales but had been operating in the Northern Territory for quite some time.
This is important legislation. There is still capacity at the local level for flexibility and to accommodate the needs of our local health professionals. As I understand it, there are still boards that are constituted to deal with disciplinary matters at the local level. Of course, the tribunal mentioned within the act can hear appeals. If a health practitioner disagrees with a matter or a finding by the national body, they can appeal locally to the tribunal.
I know the minister had a number of questions, particularly from the member for Greatorex, and I know he will answer those. One aspect the member for Greatorex raised was about standards and that no one wants to see standards diminish. Of course, we all agree with that. There was a time in the debate where some of the specialist colleges in medicine were concerned about setting standards. However, I am advised the colleges are still front and centre in determining those standards - which is very important. We all respect the colleges and, of course, the AMA.
There has been a great deal of consultation. There has been much detailed work go into this in every jurisdiction. I commend the minister for bringing it to fruition now. It is an important step forward for the Northern Territory, and certainly finishes off the COAG process.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House and congratulate the minister for successfully bringing this legislation forward in the Northern Territory.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, in the seven minutes remaining, I express my appreciation on behalf of the Northern Territory community to the members of our three Northern Territory Health Practitioner Registration Boards, which are due to cease operation on 30 June 2012.
I thank Ms Jill Huck, the Northern Territory Manager of the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency, and her team. They have provided administrative support to the Northern Territory registration board over the last three years. From 1 July 2012, the Northern Territory office of AHPRA will be responsible for supporting all registered health professionals and national registration boards in the Northern Territory.
I note the questions raised by the member for Greatorex and I will answer them. In developing national registration standards, national boards have taken on board the requirement for flexibility to ensure they can be applied to practitioners who work in rural and remote areas. We are not compromising quality of care. Northern Territory stakeholders, including the Department of Health, canvassed rigorously for that flexibility for the Northern Territory.
Regarding the accreditation standards set by the national board for each profession, following extensive consultations they said they were not prepared to compromise on standards and we vigorously lobbied the Commonwealth government for that.
The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction to register Aboriginal Health Workers. Our registered Aboriginal Health Workers will automatically transition to the national scheme on 1 July 2012. Other jurisdictions are working to prepare practitioners for national registration in this profession.
We are working with AHPRA to prepare practitioners to join the Chinese medicine profession under national legislation. Currently, Chinese medicine is only registered in Victoria. The Northern Territory, together with most other jurisdictions, is working towards the commencement date for those professions on 1 July 2012.
The last question raised by the member for Greatorex was regarding the tribunal and expenses. The cost of operating the tribunal, including seeking expert advice from a health practitioner or legal practitioner, will be covered by the relevant national board. These costs were considered when national registration fees were set. It is not an additional cost to health practitioners.
Madam Speaker, this bill is the final stage of implementing the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the National Scheme for Health Professionals in the Northern Territory. The Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill 2012 seeks to amend the Territory’s Health Practitioners Act to support the final transfer of Northern Territory health professions to the national scheme. The national scheme commences in the Northern Territory on 1 July 2012 and currently covers 10 health professions. The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law contains provisions to cover four more health professions which will apply from 1 July 2012. These are: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, known in the Northern Territory as Aboriginal Health Workers; Chinese medicine; medical radiation practice including radiographers; and occupational therapy. We are the only jurisdiction currently registering Aboriginal Health Workers and also we register occupational therapists and radiographers. All of them will transition to the national scheme on 1 July 2012.
The member for Nelson put very well that it is a good idea not to have to go through different registration and tests in the seven states and territories. I have seen people registered in New South Wales have difficulties registering in Victoria when they have exactly the same skills and qualifications. It is the final stage of national registration and national legislation.
I was part of this. My predecessor started the whole process and I thank him very much for his contribution. It is time Australia, as a nation, offers the same standards throughout the nation and not only in health professions. It might be time to do it for teachers and other professions that undertake exactly the same job all over Australia.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the members of the Legislative Assembly. I believe it should pass through the sittings today.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise that I have given permission for the Northern Territory News to take photographs, both today and tomorrow, during the presentation of the budget and the Leader of the Opposition’s reply to the budget.
I also advise that Question Time will commence at 2:30 pm.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of Ms Jennifer Prince, the Under Treasurer, and Ms Jodie Kirkman. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the former member for Nightcliff, Ms Dawn Lawrie, who is the mother of the Treasurer, together with the sister of the Treasurer, Lieutenant Commander Dianne Lawrie. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 Bees Creek Primary School students accompanied by Mrs Alison Holmes and Mrs Linda Brodie. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I present a bill titled Appropriation (2012-2013) Bill (Serial 208), the subject of Her Honour the Administrator’s Message No 33 notified earlier this day.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. I table the 2012-13 Appropriation Bill and related papers.
Budget 2012-13 ensures the Territory will maximise benefits from the most significant growth in our history. It builds on the investment the Henderson government has made to secure the Territory’s economic and social future, a future that is very bright. Budget 2012-13 is gearing up for growth and supporting Territory families.
The Henderson government is committed to the twin goals of building a strong, prosperous economy and providing quality services across the Territory, ensuring all Territorians benefit. We have supported the Territory economy through a lull in private investment with significant additional infrastructure investment to protect jobs and sustain Territory businesses. We have taken a deliberate decision to carry the deficit so that Territorians would be cushioned from the most severe effects of the global financial crisis.
The Territory’s economy is now set to boom on the back of the Henderson government’s determined effort to attract major projects to the Territory and to build a diverse and resilient economy. We have delivered the INPEX project, with the final investment decision announced on 13 January 2012, the second-largest private sector investment in Australia’s history.
Work has also commenced on the Marine Supply Base which will become the supply and service hub for the oil and gas industry in northern Australia and the region. These projects will underpin our economy for decades and provide first-class jobs for Territorians and opportunities for local businesses. With these major projects under way, it is time to begin a staged reduction in the government’s significant investment in infrastructure. This will be done responsibly over the next two to three years to ensure that work continues across our construction sector while major projects pick up.
Importantly, our commitment to continuing investment in our regions will not diminish. Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the Henderson government’s infrastructure spending has almost doubled - from $900m in 2008-09 to $1.7bn in 2010-11 and $1.6bn in 2011-12.
In Budget 2012-13, infrastructure spending is slightly lower at $1.3bn, but still higher than pre-GST levels, making room for growth in private sector investment. The reduction in infrastructure spending continues over the forward estimates and will allow us to step out of deficit in a managed way.
Budget 2012-13 is a responsible budget. Even though GST revenue has again fallen because of lower spending nationally, we have maintained services in the key areas of health, education, and law and order. We are also continuing to deliver on our A Working Future and Territory 2030 targets.
Discipline in the public sector has continued through the extension of the staffing cap and additional efficiency dividends to limit expenditure growth.
There are no new taxes and no tax increases in this budget. In line with our government’s focus on supporting Territory families with cost of living pressures, Budget 2012-13 continues to fund the best concessions in the nation for seniors, pensioners, carers, students and families. Our home buyer assistance package is the best in the nation, focused on helping more Territorians buy their own home. The budget is positioning Territorians and Territory businesses to take advantage of the opportunities ahead. Budget 2012-13 is gearing up for growth and supporting Territory families.
The Territory is entering the most significant period of economic growth in its history. The level of economic activity, job creation and population growth are all set to increase on the back of multiple strategically and economically important projects.
In 2010-11, the Territory economy grew by 1.6% with growth supported by our government’s record capital works program. Without this timely expenditure on infrastructure projects, economic growth in 2010-11 would have been stagnant at just 0.2%. The $1.7bn infrastructure spend in 2010-11 facilitated substantial projects for roads, schools, public housing, land release, sporting facilities, and created over 3000 jobs. Throughout this challenging period, Territory businesses remained among the most confident in the nation, and the Territory’s unemployment rate remained among the lowest of the jurisdictions. Importantly, nearly 13 000 jobs have been created in the Territory since the GFC.
Economic growth is estimated to strengthen to 2.4% in 2011-12 on the back of stronger private sector investment activity. In 2011-12, private investment is estimated to increase by over 35% to $4.4bn, reflecting increased expenditure on machinery and equipment, new engineering construction, and new dwellings investment by first homeowners and those taking advantage of the Territory’s BuildBonus scheme. This represents the resurgence of the private sector following the lingering effects of the GFC.
The future for the Territory is bright. The $34bn Ichthys project sponsored by INPEX and Total represents a step change in the Territory economy underpinning private investment expenditure, particularly for engineering works, for the next several years. Other key projects under way are the construction of the new Darwin correctional facility and a Marine Supply Base, with work commencing on the INPEX workers village and preliminary site works at Blaydin Point.
Economic growth of 3.9% is forecast for 2012-13, with household consumption making a positive contribution as consumer confidence grows reflecting strengthening employment opportunities. The largest contributor to growth is private investment, forecast to increase by 47.9% to $6.5bn as expenditure on machinery and equipment, structures and engineering, ramp up for the Ichthys and other major projects in the Territory.
Strengthening economic growth in 2012-13 will support further employment growth, forecast up by 2%, and increases in population up by 1.6% as nett interstate migration begins to strengthen with employment opportunities associated with major projects.
The Henderson government has delivered the Ichthys project to the Territory through a determined effort and by creating an environment that is open for business. This project will underpin the Territory’s economy for years to come and move Darwin one step closer to becoming the oil and gas hub of Australia, creating significant new employment and economic opportunities.
Although the Territory is sound, it is predominantly the level of activity in the Australian economy that influences our ability to fund new and expanded services. In 2011, it was evident that the effects of the GFC, including the credit crisis in Europe, continued to affect the Australian economy. Low levels of investment, increasingly cautious consumers, and changing spending patterns towards more GST-free items have led to significantly lower GST collections this year. Total GST collections in 2011-12 are now expected to be $3.1bn lower than the Commonwealth estimated in its last budget, and $387m lower than actual GST collections in 2010-11. This is only the second time GST collections have declined from the previous year. This means the Territory will receive $163m less in 2011-12.
Since the start of the GFC, we have lost more than $770m in GST revenue and expect a further $480m less over the forward estimates compared with the 2011 estimates. The lower GST collections have been partly offset by the Territory’s increased relativity for 2012-13 as a result of the Commonwealth Grants Commission 2012 update. This would have resulted in an additional $83m. However, when the lower GST collections are taken into account, GST revenue in 2012-13 is $125m less than estimated in the 2011-12 budget. Total infrastructure spending in 2012-13 is $1.3bn, with a budget set to a capital works program of $1bn, repairs and maintenance spending of $217m, and infrastructure-related grants of $73m.
Power and Water is estimated to spend $380m on infrastructure. Although infrastructure spending in 2012-13 is lower than the $1.6bn expected for 2011-12, it remains substantially higher than average spending of $545m up to 2008-09.
In Budget 2009-10, facing the challenge of the global financial crisis, the Henderson government took the deliberate decision to go into deficit to support jobs, lifting infrastructure spending to record levels. This followed the delivery of eight consecutive budget surpluses. The Henderson government’s decision to continue to support the Territory economy and jobs through record infrastructure programs until private sector investment recovers, combined with continued reductions in GST revenue, results in expected deficit for 2011-12 of $491m. This is $103m higher than projected in the 2011-12 budget, but lower than the $163m reduction in GST revenue.
There is also an increase in capital spending which has been offset by additional Commonwealth revenue, some of which will be spent in future years. To achieve a surplus in 2012-13, the Territory government would have had to cut infrastructure spending by almost 40% and lose 1000 Territory jobs. That would have damaged our economy and hurt businesses at a time when the Territory needs to gear up for opportunities ahead. This government will not apply a handbrake to the economy in pursuit of a surplus.
We are continuing responsible fiscal management in the face of significant reductions in GST revenue. Further savings measures have been implemented with an increased efficiency dividend of 3%, a further 2% reprioritisation, and continuation of the staffing cap. Cumulative savings from these measures total $300m. New recurrent spending decisions have been limited to improving existing services in essential areas of need, and responding to the priority areas of health, community safety, and jobs.
Importantly, from 2011-12 to 2014-15, the deterioration in the Territory’s budget outcomes is $100m less than the reduction in the Territory’s major revenue sources, and demonstrates the Henderson government’s continued commitment to responsible fiscal management.
Total budget spending for 2012-13 is $5.3bn with an estimated cash deficit of $449m - $188m higher than estimated a year ago. The increase is due to the lower GST revenue of $125m, and mining royalty estimates of $45m as a result of currency and commodity price effects, as well as additional capital requirements associated with Commonwealth revenue received in previous years.
The cash deficits are reducing over the forward estimates. However, lower GST collections and a sensible phased reduction in the infrastructure spending have delayed the plan to return to surplus. The Territory is not alone. All state and Territory jurisdictions are dealing with similar budget outlooks due to the deterioration in our major revenue source while, at the same time, responding to very real infrastructure and service pressures.
Our government continues to constrain its own expenditure in the budget and forward estimates with untied expenditure growth from 2012-13 to 2015-16 limited to 3%, and untied revenue growth over the same period of 5% consistent with the fiscal strategy target of keeping expenditure growth less than revenue growth. For 2012-13, the nett debt to revenue ratio is estimated to be 48%, with the ratio of nett financial liabilities to revenue at 127%.
The Henderson government continues to focus on supporting Territorians to buy their own homes. Budget 2012-13 includes funding the extension of the BuildBonus scheme to 30 June 2012. The stimulus scheme supports the construction of new housing, including off-the-plan, up to the value of $600 000 with a one-off $10 000 grant to purchasers. To date, 106 grants have been paid with another 44 in the pipeline. This is in addition to the successful Buildstart scheme which provided 1080 grants and $15.1m in assistance to Territorians.
Like other jurisdictions, the Territory government will defer abolition of the stamp duty on non-land business property including goodwill, licences and intellectual property previously scheduled for 1 July 2012 until the budget situation permits. The Territory has undertaken significant tax reform saving Territorians and Territory businesses over $540m since 2001. Although not a revenue source for government, motor accident compensation contributions will rise in line with CPI increases consistent with the arrangements for the scheme put in place in 2010.
The Territory government’s commitment to infrastructure spending since the GFC has protected and created Territory jobs. Now major projects are commencing it is time for the Territory government to step down from record spending levels. The infrastructure spend in Budget 2012-13 reduces to $1.3bn but continues to provide for more roads, housing, schools, hospitals and health centres across the Territory. Connecting Territorians through our road network is a key commitment of this government as evidenced by the release of the 10-year road strategy earlier this year. Budget 2012-13 delivers $260m for roads infrastructure including more than $115m for strengthening, widening and road safety improvements across the Territory. Road projects include: the Umbakumba road, the Arnhem Highway, the Port Keats road, the Mereenie Loop, the Central Arnhem Highway, and Tiger Brennan Drive.
The Territory government continues the investment in Power and Water assets with $1.8bn over five years, including $380m in 2012-13 to meet increased demand and improve reliability. Construction of the $105m Marine Supply Base has commenced with most of the work to be undertaken in 2012-13. Our government will also invest $340m to deliver more public housing in our towns and the bush, and in affordable housing options. Government infrastructure spending in Budget 2012-13 will support 2600 jobs.
Budget 2012-13 offers the best range of subsidies and concessions in the nation to support families by delivering $117m through: $63m to subsidise the cost of electricity, water and sewerage for Territory households; $20.7m for the Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme; $3.3m for Back to School Payment Scheme; $6.5m for free school dental services; $4.3m for childcare subsidies; $14.5m for free student bus travel; $3.1m for special needs student bus travel; and $2m for BuildBonus.
Budget 2012-13 continues our stamp duty concessions to help more Territorians into home ownership. First homebuyers benefit from the First Home Owner Grant. The most generous stamp duty concessions in the nation assists well over 10000 Territorians. The first homeowner stamp duty exemption applies to the first $540 000 of the value of the home, with almost 90% of first homebuyers paying no stamp duty.
Seniors, pensioners, carers and veterans buying a home or downsizing their property continue to benefit from the $8500 stamp duty concession, the most generous scheme in Australia. HOMESTART NT supports low- to middle-income earners gain access to the property market. Price cuts for Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs have been maintained, with increases of $15 000 for Tennant Creek and $30 000 for Katherine.
One of the key targets for this government is the delivery of affordable housing for Territorians. Budget 2012-13 provides more than $67m for land development and affordable housing in Johnston and Zuccoli, Maluka Drive in Palmerston, and Kilgariff in Alice Springs. The government is investing $47.6m for 140 new affordable homes in residential developments at Palmerston. On completion, they will be transferred to Venture Housing, the Territory’s affordable rental housing company, to provide below market rental stock to Territorians. This is in addition to the first 35 dwellings becoming available later this year through the Wirrina redevelopment village at Parap.
The total housing infrastructure program for this budget is $340m, delivering improved urban and remote housing, with $60m for urban public housing, $44m for government employee housing, and $188m for remote public housing.
Madam Speaker, the Henderson government boosts its commitment to improving safety for Territory families. The most comprehensive alcohol reforms in the nation commenced in 2011 to target alcohol-related crime, and now more than 2300 problem drinkers are on the Banned Drinker Register. To support closing the net on problem drinkers, the Enough is Enough program has been increased to $71.5m, with a total spend of $18.2m in 2012-13.
Additional funding has been provided for the SMART Court and Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal to respond to the number of banned problem drinkers, and additional funding for more withdrawal support, community-based outreach, and new remote alcohol and other drug rehabilitation options.
Additional funding of $2m is provided in Budget 2012-13 to expand youth justice initiatives, including funding to establish and implement a centralised youth justice unit, a recommendation of the Youth Justice System Review, and to expand the operations of the youth diversion units. A further $1m is provided to upgrade the Youth Justice Court.
Budget 2012-13 includes a substantial boost to police numbers, with the Commonwealth providing $49m over two years for 94 extra police. This increase will provide the capacity for Territory police to respond to incidents at the Darwin Immigration Centre. The total Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget for 2012-13 is $342.7m, up $14.7m from 2011-12, with a capital works budget of $28m. This includes $2.7m to complete the new Berrimah Fire Station and $4.1m for the operation of the new facility.
Madam Speaker, in addition to construction work under way on a new Darwin Correctional Precinct, this budget includes $5.8m for a supported accommodation and program centre, and $4.6m for new and upgraded infrastructure at Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
Budget 2012-13 delivers a record $1.2bn to improve hospital and primary healthcare services, including $553m for better hospitals. A massive $45m boost in spending has been provided to Health for 2012-13 to improve and expand health services and meet increased demand pressures within our hospitals. The increase has been directed to a range of programs across the Territory, including the Patient Assistance Travel Scheme, more individual support packages, and improved aeromedical retrieval services.
Budget 2012-13 includes the first stage of the new $110m Palmerston Hospital. This project has been the subject of consultation with the community, and clinicians, to ensure the hospital meets the needs of the Palmerston and surrounding region, and is well supported clinically. The early works package has already been let, with construction work to start on the hospital during 2012-13. The hospital will include an emergency department, up to 60 inpatient beds, provide day procedures, some maternity services, and outpatient services. The total investment in health infrastructure in Budget 2012-13 is $175m, and includes $18.9m for works at Alice Springs Hospital and $68m at Royal Darwin Hospital.
The Commonwealth, through the Health and Hospitals Fund, is also providing $62m for Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals and health centres throughout the Territory. This is in addition to the Territory’s $8.2m for regional hospital and remote clinic upgrades.
Improving the educational outcomes of our children is of vital importance to the Henderson government. Budget 2012-13 delivers $850m for education and training in around 200 schools across the Territory. Budget 2012-13 provides $4.6m to establish an education reengagement centre to co-locate a range of support programs and services for disengaged students in Darwin, Palmerston and remote Top End regions. An additional $350 000 is provided to expand positive behaviour support to schools. This takes the total investment to $2.2m, and $1.1m is provided to expand positive learning centres in Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin and Palmerston.
A further $200 000, as part of a $3.17m program, is provided to support implementation of the new NT Certificate of Education and Training. There are now more than 4200 apprentices and trainees in training in the Territory. This is an increase of more than 90% on the number in training in 2001. Eighteen hundred of these are in the traditional trade apprenticeships in identified skilled shortage areas.
Budget 2012-13 provides $100m towards training and apprentices to grow a skilled Territory workforce. This includes $1.39m to continue support programs for employers of apprentices in occupations with skills shortages and apprentices from disadvantaged groups. $1.3m is available for the Workwear/Workgear Bonus program to help apprentices and trainees with the cost of buying work wear and other work-related necessities during the first year of their apprenticeship or traineeship with a $300 start-up grant. $1000 is available for people who undertake training in identified skilled shortage areas.
This government continues to support Territory families and protect our children through the significant investment in child protection resources. The Growing them strong, together reforms step up again in Budget 2012-13 with a further $7.1m allocated, taking the total reform package to $33.7m this year. Reforms being progressed in Budget 2012-13 include: $11.2m for child protection workers to support improved caseload ratios; $6m to enhance family support programs and roll-out community child safety and wellbeing teams in Territory growth towns; $7.2m for increased payments for foster and kinship carers and out-of-home care services; and $2.9m for an Aboriginal child youth and families peak body and Aboriginal childcare agencies in Darwin and Alice Springs. There is also $1.6m to continue the upgrade of safe places in 15 remote communities, and $1m for the next stage of upgrades at the Alice Springs Youth Hub.
The government’s A Working Future strategy continues to be a focus in Budget 2012-13. The strategy aims to improve the lives of Territorians living in remote areas through new and expanded services and infrastructure. A Working Future infrastructure of $433m is delivered in Budget 2012-13, and includes funding for more housing, roads, schools, and health centres, as well as $16.1m for barge landings at Nguiu and Gapuwiyak and airstrips across the Territory.
The Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments have been working together to develop a new Stronger Futures package to continue services commenced under the Northern Territory Emergency Response. Key elements of the package in 2012-13 are: $21m for community safety and justice including remote policing; $36m for building a quality school workforce; $13m for family support; and $25m for health services.
The Territory’s three-year $30m Indigenous employment package for shire councils to support core local government service delivery continues in 2012. It has also been significantly boosted by a further $20m from the Commonwealth. $680 000 will be spent on a marine ranger program in Indigenous communities, with $260 000 for the Indigenous Fisheries, Science Mentoring program. $600 000 will provide for extension and support services to Indigenous pastoralists, co-funded by the Indigenous Land Corporation. Budget 2012-13 includes $2.5m jointly funded by the Territory and Commonwealth for the Indigenous Training for Employment Program to support Indigenous Territorians in regional and remote communities. $1m ongoing has been provided to continue remote community and sport and recreation programs.
The Territory’s investment in remote essential services infrastructure continues to increase with $38m provided for a range of projects including an additional $7m for water supply upgrades at Lajamanu, Maningrida and Ntaria. In 2012-13, the Territory’s total funding for Indigenous essential services is $76.8m. Budget 2012-13 delivers $27m to provide housing, municipal and essential services to outstations. This includes additional funding from the Territory of $15m.
Improving educational outcomes in our remote communities is essential to closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage. Budget 2012-13 provides $23.45m for continuation of 170 teachers for remote schools. There is $12.55m to expand reforms in remote schools, resulting in more Indigenous teachers, quality literacy and numeracy teaching, and student re-engagement; and $5.16m to better support disadvantaged students including continued investment in Strong Start, Bright Futures colleges. There is also $1.8m to establish a childcare centre in Ntaria. An additional $1.2m will be provided in 2012-13 to expand counselling and support services to a total of $4.4m, with a focus on at-risk students in very remote communities to support them to stay in the school system.
Ensuring the Territory’s unique environment is protected and enhanced is a key element of this government’s strategy. The ecoBiz NT program continues in Budget 2012-13 with $400 000 provided to assist businesses to improve energy efficiency. $600 000 continues the Territory’s Eco-link project which is linking parks and conservation areas in the Territory. $250 000 has been provided to Charles Darwin University to establish the Centre for Renewable Energy. Environmental compliance initiatives continue in Budget 2012-13 with $800 000 provided for this project, as well as $250 000 for habitat mapping of Darwin Harbour. $2.6m will be spent on sustainable management of the Territory’s aquatic resource, and $160000 to establish commercial horticultural opportunities for reuse water in Alice Springs.
The Territory’s lifestyle is the best in Australia and the Henderson government is committed to keeping it that way. Budget 2012-13 provides more for sporting, cultural and other major events and recreation facilities. Support continues and increases for the V8 Supercars, Australian Superbikes, AFL and Rugby Union matches and the BassintheGrass and Alice Springs concerts. Budget 2012-13 sees the completion of new sporting facilities in Palmerston for Rugby League, soccer, netball, tennis and AFL.
The Palmerston Water Park will also open in the middle of the year with an additional $2.3m provided for the operation of the park. The site of the new rural area swimming pool has been finalised and a 25 m eight lane swimming pool with a children’s wet play area will be constructed next to the park and ride facility in Coolalinga. There is $1m in Budget 2012-13 to commence site works.
The upgrade of the Howard Springs Nature Park will also be completed in 2012-13 which includes the construction of walking tracks, biking trails and an adventure playground along with an upgrade of picnic facilities. A further $1.7m will be provided to continue the redevelopment and maintenance of sporting facilities at Freds Pass.
In addition, $1m has been given to the Darwin City Council for a range of projects to redevelop the Nightcliff foreshore. The Defence of Darwin Experience was successfully completed and opened for the 70th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin and there is $150 000 for its operation. Budget 2012-13 continues the government’s $1m sponsorship of the Darwin Festival, and there is $2.8m to host the 2013 Arafura Games. These initiatives, and many others across the Territory, will continue to enhance the Territory’s lifestyle.
Budget 2012-13 is a responsible budget. It supports Territory families with generous concessions and initiatives and is clearly focused on gearing up for growth. The Territory’s future is bright. Budget 2012-13 positions the Territory for the step change ahead by maintaining strength in our economy, supporting jobs ahead of the flow through effects of increased private investment, and supporting Territory families for the most significant phase of growth in our history.
Madam Speaker, I commend Budget 2012-13 to the House.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I begin by congratulating my colleague, the Treasurer, on Budget 2012-13.
It certainly is the toughest budget we have had to put together on this side of the House, given the collapsing GST revenues in the Commonwealth budget. The framing of Budget 2012-13 has been done against a challenging economic backdrop, both nationally and internationally. Despite these challenges, Budget 2012-13 positions the Territory to move into our next phase of economic growth while supporting Territory families. This is why our government has worked hard to attract investment to the Territory. With the $34bn Ichthys project about to come online, we stand on the brink of a period of economic growth which will diversify and strengthen our economy for decades to come.
Additionally, work has already begun on the $110m Marine Supply Base at East Arm. I was very pleased to be there yesterday seeing that work already under way. Congratulations to Macmahons; it is a great Territory company which has been successfully awarded that contract. This is a truly exciting project. It will become the service hub for the offshore oil and gas industry in northern Australia, and will position Darwin to maximise our involvement in this next exciting phase of growth. It is the service supply, the maintenance and support, of billions of dollars worth of offshore infrastructure that will really underpin and diversify our economy for many years to come. It will support whole sectors of small business across the Northern Territory in servicing, supplying, supporting, and maintaining the people who work on those assets.
All of those people need to be fed, need accommodation, and need access to facilities such as computers and the Internet, as well as all of the engineering and logistical support for those offshore facilities. All have to be taken out to those platforms. I thank Alyssa Betts in the NT News today. I thought it was a great analogy on rig tenders being like giant shopping trolleys. I had not thought of that analogy before, but that is exactly what those rig tenders are: giant shopping trolleys that take all those important facilities, equipment, and engineering support out to the offshore platforms. That is why we are building the Marine Supply Base to attract much of the business currently done out of Perth or Singapore to Darwin. It will bring with it new opportunities in job creation, population growth and, of course, significant increased economic activity.
At its core, Budget 2012-13 aims to gear up for the exciting growth that lies ahead while supporting Territory families. The economy is not a means to an end in itself; it is about people living rewarding, fulfilling lives and gearing up for opportunities for their aspirations and their families. It requires the continuation of the strong public sector investment that has seen the Territory manage to maintain job creation and economic growth against the tide of the global financial crisis.
That is the stark contrast between the government and the opposition. The opposition is in pursuit of a headline - that headline being a budget surplus. We have been in pursuit of keeping people in jobs and keeping capacity in our economy until the private sector returns to investment levels.
Territory businesses responded with a remarkable display of confidence over that period. From 2008, Territory businesses have maintained a position in the top three – much of that time in the top one or two - of the most confident businesses in the nation. They have been investing and maintaining employment levels as a result of the strategic decision by government to go into deficit to support jobs.
We are now entering an important transition phase that will move the Territory towards a greater reliance on private sector investment. In the cyclical nature of economies, I want to see over the economic cycles the private sector doing the lion’s share of the investment in our economy. That is certainly going to happen over the next few years.
Whilst there is a slight reduction in infrastructure spending in Budget 2012-13, government has taken the decision to continue to carry a responsible and manageable deficit. As my colleague, the Treasurer, said, at 8%, the deficit and servicing that debt is certainly manageable and very low risk compared to other nations around the world. Delivering a surplus this year would have cost thousands of jobs. It would have meant sacking teachers, nurses, and police - and this has never been a part of my government’s thinking. The Territory needs to maintain its current course. The challenge for the Leader of the Opposition in his reply tomorrow, with the magic pudding he is trying to create, is to bring the budget back into surplus. He has to explain to Territorians how he will do that, because he can only do that by slashing the budget, raising taxes, or a combination of both. I will listen keenly to his response tomorrow.
We have taken the responsible decision to continue a significant level of infrastructure spending to again protect and create Territory jobs. Every Australian jurisdiction, Liberal and Labor alike, is expecting deficits this year. The government’s $1.3bn infrastructure budget for 2012 points the Territory in the right direction as it moves toward the economic change ahead.
Deloitte Access Economics is in no doubt as to what it means. It is predicting an average growth rate of 4.4% over the next five years, but with major developments like Ichthys and the Marine Supply Base in the pipeline, and other resource projects, it is critical the Territory gears up for future economic growth. We are already well advanced in planning for the growth with initiatives like $260m for road infrastructure, and work has begun on the new $110m Palmerston Hospital.
The Leader of the Opposition has criticised the government for progressing too quickly on the Palmerston Hospital. He has called on us to slow down and consult more. The CLP had a plan - I suppose that is where he could save $110m of the $490m he needs to save tomorrow - it could defer building the Palmerston Hospital, along with the current plan to 2025. I am sure that would be up for consideration in where he is going to find the savings. No, we are committed to the hospital and are working, in partnership with the Commonwealth, to fund that.
The government is also continuing its five-year $1.8bn upgrade of Power and Water infrastructure to cope with the growing demand and a growing economy, as well as to improve reliability of services.
Charles Darwin University has entered into an agreement with INPEX and Total to fund an oil and gas excellence centre at CDU. I thank and congratulate INPEX for agreeing to fund $3m to establish that centre at Charles Darwin University. Other companies will also be funding that centre over time.
Importantly, we are developing employment strategies for skilled labour to the next phase of growth. Budget 2012–13 provides $100m for training and apprentices to grow a skilled Territory workforce. There are now 4200 apprentices and trainees across the Territory. That is a very exciting number. On the weekend as I was out and about in my electorate, I was pleased to come across two young fellows who are doing apprenticeships in my old trade. One was two years in, and one was three years in, and both were very excited about their future in the Northern Territory.
Of the 4200 apprentices and trainees, 1800 are in traditional trade apprenticeships and identified areas of skill shortage and a significant component of our Indigenous Territory kids are taking part in that big upswing in apprenticeships and traineeships. This is evidenced through another $3m commitment by INPEX to the Larrakia Trade Training Centre at East Arm, past Berrimah, to provide training and job opportunities for Indigenous people on the Ichthys project.
Budget 2012–13 ensures support for Territory families with the most generous subsidies and concessions in the nation, including $63.1m to subsidise the cost of power and water. In reality, that is around $800 off every average family power bill across the Northern Territory. Again, if the Leader of the Opposition wants to find his $490m, there is $63m there that he can put towards the surplus; however, that would see Territory households have electricity prices increase by $800 a year.
There is $3.3m for the Back to School Payment Scheme. I know, as I get around the Territory, how welcome that $75 per child is in February every year. The cost of Christmas is certainly a big hit on families’ pockets, getting kids back to school is an expensive exercise, and that $75 per child is very welcome across the Northern Territory, in the bush and in the towns.
There is $6.5m for free school dental care - we are probably the only jurisdiction with such a substantial scheme - and $4.3m for childcare subsidies. Again, we are the only jurisdiction in the nation to provide a childcare subsidy. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition could add that $4.3m to the $63m - that is nearly $70m he can put to his $490m worth of savings he has to find tomorrow - and increase the cost of childcare in the Northern Territory.
There is $14.5m for free student, seniors and pensioner concession bus travel. Again, we are the only place in the country that provides for free travel, really helping to ease family budgets. This has been very welcome across the Northern Territory. There is $20.7m for Australia’s most generous pensioner concession scheme to help support our senior Territorians to live in the Northern Territory amongst their extended family.
Our ongoing investment in infrastructure will see $340m spent on housing, $260m for roads, and $175m spent upgrading hospitals and clinics right across the Northern Territory.
Our focus on health has already delivered more than 780 additional nurses and 255 more doctors since 2002. The Leader of the Opposition has his mantra about spending not being an outcome, and it is not about the amount of dollars it is about the quality of services. I say to the Leader of the Opposition, in regard to a significant health budget of $1.3bn this year, that money is supporting an additional 780 nurses and 255 more doctors, a radiotherapy oncology unit, a palliative care unit, and a significant expansion of clinical services that were not available in the Territory before. That is what that increase in spending provides for. I am sure, in finding the $490m tomorrow, the health budget will certainly be in the Leader of the Opposition’s sights.
Budget 2012-13 continues that same strong focus on building a resilient health system for all Territorians. Royal Darwin Hospital will benefit from a $22m upgrade to increase the number of beds in the emergency department and the short stay unit. This funding will also see two new operating theatres brought online at Royal Darwin Hospital - a real benefit to patients across the Territory. Royal Darwin Hospital is our premier hospital and patients from across the Territory receive services at RDH.
A further $14.3m will be spent on remediation works at Alice Springs Hospital. I am very much looking forward to the opening of the new emergency services department currently nearing completion in Alice Springs. Katherine Hospital will receive $7.7m for short stay patient accommodation, and there will be an investment of $3.7m to upgrade the emergency department at Tennant Creek Hospital. I am sure the doctors and nurses in Tennant Creek are really looking forward to an upgrade of their emergency department.
Budget 2012-13 will provide $33m for remote health clinics at Borroloola, Elliott, Galiwinku, Milingimbi, Ngukurr, Papunya and Pirlangimpi. That is a very significant investment in remote health clinics which will benefit people in those communities. I thank the Commonwealth government for its commitment and support to improving our remote health services in the Territory with a significant amount of funding.
The Opposition Leader has questioned the amount we are spending on health and we know he has that health budget in his sights. We make no apologies for our commitment to improving the health of Territorians. The Opposition Leader clearly does not appreciate the economic realities when it comes to providing the doctors, nurses and resources needed for a 21st century health system.
Budget 2012-13 continues to support Territory families through a record investment of $950m for education and training. We are nearly at $1bn for the education budget. Of this, $95m will go directly into providing better schools for Territory children. I recently visited Kintore and Groote Eylandt and looked at schools there. I can certainly see, over the 10 years of our government, how much better resourced our schools are today, with much better infrastructure than when we came to government. It is always a great thrill for me to enter into any classroom across the Northern Territory and see great kids and great teachers doing great work.
The challenge of attendance is still with the Northern Territory. It is not just a challenge for government; it is a challenge for our Territory community. Those kids I saw at Kintore the other day were reading and writing as well as Territory kids in Darwin. It shows, if you get those kids to school every day they will fly in all our classrooms across the Northern Territory.
Our commitment to education has delivered an extra 465 teachers in the classrooms of the Territory since 2001. Budget 2012-13 delivers $3.6m as part of a $246m program to upgrade every primary and group school in the Northern Territory - a massive investment on top of the investment in the BER program that saw significant improvements to every school. For the life of me, I still cannot understand how the opposition could have condemned that investment. I cannot conceive of the opposition being in government and saying no to that investment in our schools. It has been one of the most significant investments education in the Territory has ever seen. It has been welcomed by every school I have been to. The only people who knock that investment in the Northern Territory are opposition members.
Importantly, Budget 2012-13 also delivers a safer community for Territory families by giving police and firefighters the additional resources they need to do their jobs properly and professionally. Police, Fire and Emergency Services’ budget is $343m in 2012-13, an increase of 150% since Labor came to government in 2001. We already have the highest per capita number of police in Australia. There are currently three squads in training, and we recently negotiated a $49m deal with the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship to provide a further 94 police to manage any issues at the Northern Immigration Detention Centre.
Once the additional 94 police are on board it will mean an increase of almost 50% in Territory police numbers since 2002. When we came to government, NT Police had the highest attrition rate in the country; it was double the national average. It was a demoralised, dispirited, dejected police force. We have completely turned that around. However, it is a very different story for police elsewhere in Australia: New South Wales police are facing cuts; Tasmanian police are to have their operational strength reduced; in South Australia there will be a recruitment slow down; and the Victorian budget is being handed down today and police are very concerned about what is going to happen to their numbers.
The Territory government remains committed to delivering a safer community through increased resources to our police through Budget 2012-13. Funding of $1.5m is provided in 2012-13 to upgrade the Numbulwar Police Post to a police station and provide essential services for houses, a communications tower, boat shelter, and generator.
Budget 2012-13 provides a range of initiatives to tackle alcohol abuse and antisocial behaviour, including $7.73m to maintain Police Beats in the Northern Territory. We know that is where the Leader of the Opposition will find some of his $490m; by scrapping Police Beats in the Northern Territory. The one in Alice Springs, across Darwin, and in Palmerston will all be closed under the CLP to contribute to the $490m it needs to make in savings to return the budget to surplus. There is also $1.75m to maintain CCTV systems in Darwin, Casuarina, Palmerston and Alice Springs, including funding to employ additional CCTV monitors; nearly $1m to maintain the First Response Patrol; and $1.5m to support police bans under the Banned Drinker Register as part of the Enough is Enough alcohol reform package.
Territorians in remote parts of the Territory have not been forgotten, and Budget 2012-13 delivers $35m for police in remote communities, including $19.5m to support policing in 18 remote communities, a key aspect of A Working Future; $13m to continue works on the Gapuwiyak and Ramingining Police Stations as part of A Working Future; $2.5m to reduce substance abuse through dog units in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine, and substance abuse intelligence units in Alice Springs and Katherine.
Importantly, $18m from Budget 2012-13 will be spent on tackling alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour. If you are not tackling alcohol, you are not tackling crime. We have already seen almost 2400 problem drinkers placed on the Banned Drinker Register. Police say this is the best tool they have been given in their battle to combat alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour. Despite what the police say, those same 2400 problem drinkers would be given the right to get back on the grog under a Country Liberal government. I urge the Leader of the Opposition to consider the tragedy that would befall so many victims of domestic violence if he gave those people the right to consume alcohol again. The vast majority of assaults in the Northern Territory are inter-family assaults. They are domestic violence fuelled by alcohol. A significant number of those 2400 problem drinkers are on the Banned Drinker Register as a result of alcohol-related domestic violence. Allowing those people easy access to grog again would be a tragedy.
In addition to ensuring Territorians will continue to have an adequate number of police and police resources, Budget 2012-13 delivers in other areas for our emergency services. Part of our planning for projected Territory economic growth includes the need for a modern, flexible and adapted fire and rescue service to adequately service the community into the future.
It is anticipated the new Berrimah Fire Station will be completed in September this year. The new station will include an urban search and rescue equipment storage facility and facilities for Darwin’s emergency services volunteer unit. I have inspected the site on Berrimah Road a couple of times. It is a very exciting project and I congratulate the Tomazos Group which was awarded the contract and will build us a fantastic new fire station at Berrimah.
The co-location of Darwin’s emergency services volunteer unit with the fire and rescue services will also provide dual training use of the facilities of the fire tower. Emergency services can use this as a rappelling tower for their vertical rescue training. The new modern facility will also enable improved emergency services vehicle storage, office space, training equipment storage, and increased on-site training capability. It is also intended to become the central coordination point of our volunteers in major events and emergencies.
To continue the recruitment and training of 12 additional fire fighters required for the new Berrimah Fire Station, $1.1m is provided. This will ensure the new facility will have its full complement of 22 and will be ready to respond to emergencies in the greater Darwin area. It was great to be there recently to meet our recruit fire fighters who are currently in the recruit squad. They are really looking forward to completing their training and getting out across Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs into a fantastic new career.
Budget 2012-13 also continues to invest in the Territory’s child protection services, increasing support for children and young people with more than $33m. This includes $7.1m for the ongoing reform of child protection services. This forms part of a five-year $130m package to help protect children across the Territory. Importantly, Budget 2012-13 will meet additional frontline staff, along with expanded services for children in care and family support programs.
I thank our foster carers throughout the Northern Territory. Recently in my electorate, I have been overwhelmed when meeting some incredible people who are taking kids across the Northern Territory into their homes in Lyons, Wanguri and Leanyer. I always find it inspirational to meet families who open their homes to kids from extraordinarily difficult circumstances and backgrounds. Foster carers do an incredible job and, through the minister, I say thank you to those incredible people in the Northern Territory who open their homes to some really disadvantaged kids. I am pleased this will mean increased payments for foster and kinship carers, residential care services and therapeutic services.
The Territory stands on the brink of an exciting future with major developments that will certainly underpin our economy for decades to come. However, an economy is not just about numbers. An economy is about people. People who are leading rewarding fulfilling lives, who have exciting employment opportunities, opportunities to raise great families across the Northern Territory, and those opportunities are opening up like never before. This budget was not the budget to be putting the handbrake on the economy as the Opposition Leader and the CLP would. This budget, especially the infrastructure budget, is going to support 2600 jobs in the economy until those major projects kick in. There would be hardly anywhere in the world, per capita, that would have created 13 000 jobs since the global financial crisis of 2008.
Leader of the Opposition, you could be back into surplus immediately by cutting $491m out of the $1.3bn infrastructure package. What that would mean is probably no upgrades at Royal Darwin Hospital, Katherine Hospital or Tennant Creek Hospital, and all those health clinics in the bush would not be built. There would be a range of options - maybe you could hack into the $260m roads program in the Territory, or maybe not progress with the building of the Marine Supply Base that would see those opportunities lost into the future. As well as not having those services and not leveraging private sector investment, you would immediately sacrifice 1000 jobs across the Northern Territory. A responsible government does not do that. I run a responsible government.
I thank the Treasurer, and all my Cabinet and parliamentary colleagues, who have really had to work through the most difficult financial circumstances we faced since coming to government. We have delivered a responsible budget, an affordable budget, a budget that sees the Territory gearing up for the growth and private sector investment that is going to return. It supports Territory families across the Northern Territory. I congratulate the Treasurer on Budget 2012-13.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the Northern Territory Budget 2012-13, a carefully developed, financially responsible budget which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving the lives and wellbeing of all Territorians.
To answer the Chief Minister’s question about Victoria, yes, Victoria today posted a budget surplus of $150m; however, 4200 public servants are going to lose their jobs. That is what the Liberals are doing. Surplus is one thing, but who cares about the average citizen who might go home tonight with a ‘don’t come Monday’ notice. This is what it means for many of the conservative parties - to balance the budget - but there is also a split personality here because the federal Liberal opposition argues against the federal government bringing in a surplus budget. Here we have the opposition in a conservative position demanding a surplus budget, promising to bring a surplus budget, but my question to those opposite is: at what cost?
Over previous years, this government has substantially increased the health budget to ensure we are able to meet an increasing demand on health services for Territorians. When I first became Health Minister, I promised to deliver a health service to Territorians equivalent to what you get down south. This increase in demand, essentially, reflects the Australia-wide trend and is driven by factors such as our ageing population, improved diagnostic technology and, in the Northern Territory, high levels of chronic disease and the cost of transporting people from rural and remote areas to receive essential care and treatment.
The 2012-13 Health budget is a record budget totalling $1.2bn. I repeat that. The Department of Health budget for the coming year is $1.2bn, the largest for any Northern Territory department, reflecting the magnitude of the health challenges we face on a daily basis. We are committed to providing quality and affordable healthcare close to where people live to support Territory families. There is $1.2bn to spend on health, and the Leader of the Opposition has been in the media many times saying the Labor government spends money but there are no outcomes. Well, either he is deaf, blind, or both, because there are outcomes.
I am very proud to spend this money for health, especially when I see the level of anaemia in Indigenous kids collapse to what we have not seen before, Indigenous infant mortality has decreased, cervical cancer in Indigenous women has decreased by 92%, and cervical cancer rates for other women in the Territory are down by 65%. Of course, I am very proud to spend this money when people in remote communities are on renal dialysis, when people in remote communities receive clinics and Aboriginal Health Workers, doctors and nurses. I am also very proud when I hear the life expectancy of Aboriginal women in rural and remote areas of the Territory has increased by five to six years.
The increase in the budget this year is 152% more than 2001-02, when we came to government. It is a significant investment in the health and wellbeing of all Territorians, and recognition and support for our staff who work around the clock, some in remote and complex conditions, to provide high standards of care, treatment and support. The doctors and nurses are like health staff, the cleaners, the kitchen hands, and all the other support staff who work within the Department of Health and with our non-government sector as partners in healthcare delivery.
I turn now to some of the specifics. In 2012-13, the five Territory public hospitals will operate under the Northern Territory Hospital Networks with one in Central Australia - Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Hospitals - and the other in the Top End, which will include the Royal Darwin Hospital, and Katherine and Gove Hospitals. For the first time, the hospital networks will operate as government business divisions. The hospital networks are a key platform of the National Health Reform Agreement the Northern Territory signed up to with the federal government.
In total, our five public hospitals and associated acute care services will receive $775m in 2012-13. That equates to an additional $54.3m in funding, including an additional $7.8m for improving hospital services, $10.7m for the Patient Assistance Travel Scheme to support travel for Territorians living in rural and remote regions who require specialist health services, and $13.6m for the aeromedical retrieval service.
The Palmerston Hospital, the one the Leader of the Opposition does not like very much because apparently we are fast-tracking it, will receive $10m for the first services to be put in place. The design consultations are progressing well with clinicians and stakeholders, and will soon expand into community forums to display the preliminary designs.
I move from hospitals to acute care services. Another important area of service provision is the health and wellbeing output which is responsible for providing community health, mental health, support services for frail, aged people and people with a disability, and support for senior Territorians. In this budget we have provided a $48m increase in funding, which includes a $12.7m increase in this government’s ongoing commitment to assist clients in the community who have a disability, particularly those with exceptional and complex needs.
Thanks to the Henderson government, the Northern Territory has one of the most generous seniors, pensioner, carer and veteran support schemes in the nation. That will be boosted in 2012-13 by a further $4.6m. This brings the total next financial year for this important scheme to $20.66m.
Sadly, alcohol consumption has a major impact on the health and wellbeing of the Northern Territory community. It is a key component of this government’s alcohol reform policy and of the department’s effort to close the gap in life expectancy. In recognition of this, an additional $3.6m is provided to continue alcohol reform services development, including the Substance Misuse Assessment and Referral for Treatment - the SMART Court will draw support on community outreach programs.
Last, but still important, we will continue our commitment to major capital works projects across the Territory. In addition to the existing capital works program, additional projects amounting to $63.7m will commence in 2012-13. An additional $67m will ensure the continuation of major upgrades throughout the area of Royal Darwin Hospital where we have the completion of the 50-unit 100-bed patient accommodation complex and the creation of a geriatric evaluation and management unit which will decrease hospital stays and improve healthcare of elderly patients.
Two major capital projects on the Royal Darwin Hospital campus specifically designed to provide much-needed accommodation of patients, primarily from remote areas, are due for completion in 2012. The first is the 100-bed accommodation complex and the other is the accommodation for Aboriginal mothers who need to travel to Darwin from remote communities to give birth. Both these projects are funded by the Commonwealth government. We argued for a long time and pestered the federal government to put these important facilities in place through Commonwealth health funding.
I turn to my Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources portfolio. Budget 2012-13 provides considerable opportunities to grow our economy in creating jobs and ensuring the great lifestyle we have all come to enjoy continues into the future. We seek to maintain solid economic growth to deliver the Territory’s prosperity, ensure our long-term future, and become a key international centre in the development of our resource industries in line with the Territory 2030 targets.
We will ensure we continue as a premier recreational fishing destination as this government is continuing its commitment to improve fishing infrastructure in 2012-13. Not only does fishing continue as a major tourism drawcard, it is the cornerstone of our great lifestyle for so many Territorians. It features in luring workers to the Territory. We are committed to ensure the fishing experience available today continues into the future.
Improvements already provided by this government include the boat ramp facilities at Palmerston, Hudson Creek, Buffalo Creek, Saltwater Arm, Hardies Lagoon, Milne Inlet, Southport, and Middle Arm - to name a few. We will continue to support the development of fishing infrastructure by allocating $130 000 for boat ramps, toilets, and parking, as well as $500 000 for a fishing platform at Rapid Creek as part of the Green Heart of Darwin program. We have also delivered the largest artificial reef construction in Territory waters by deploying concrete culverts and pipes.
We support recreational fishing and also support commercial fishing. We have done much to ensure commercial fishing is doing well in the Northern Territory. However, we want to reallocate resources in such a way there is no conflict between the parties. Members of the opposition have chosen to draw the battle lines, choosing to support commercial fishermen over recreational fishermen. They accuse the government of buying barramundi licences and, somehow, starving the commercial industry, which is not true. We have opened new areas for commercial fishing, not only on the coastline, but also in the Timor Sea for deep fishing, and on coastal areas.
An important component of the Fisheries’ budget is ongoing support for the marine ranger program in Indigenous communities. Government has again allocated funding of $680 000. This includes funding to nine marine ranger groups to undertake compliance and monitoring activities and other important works such as ghost net retrieval.
New mining developments need a vibrant exploration industry. This is why the government continues to invest through the Bringing Forward Discovery initiative which will receive $3.8m in Budget 2012-13 as part of a three–year $11.4m extension to the initiative announced last year, bringing the total seven-year investment to $25.8m. Success of this initiative is undeniable, with a record $228m spent on mineral exploration in the Territory in 2011-12 - the best result ever after year-on-year record expenditure.
The recent Fraser Institute’s survey of mining companies ranked the Territory first in Australia in government policies for encouraging exploration and mining development. The survey comes on top of changes implemented by the government to improve environmental reporting requirements, and a 100% security deposit for rehabilitation of mine sites imposed by this Labor government.
Within the department’s Primary Industries Division the need for support of our live cattle trade is emphasised, with $208 000 to provide additional cattle inspection services to facilitate market access to eastern and southern Australia; $0.5m to expand markets for live cattle and horticultural products to Southeast Asia, and $600 000 for the Indigenous Pastoral Program co-funded by the Indigenous Land Corporation.
As a Territory 2030 priority, my Department of Resources is also identifying suitable land for further long-term and sustainable food production in the heart of the Territory. The next step includes overlaying land tenure, infrastructure, labour availability, native title, and distance from major centres. Special attention has been given to the 20 Territory growth towns.
The Northern Territory is now the biggest mango producer in Australia, known for harvesting the best fruit and getting it to the markets first. Funding for horticulture will include $860 000 to improve access to overseas markets, and initiatives to lengthen the mango yield period; $160 000 to continue commercial horticultural opportunities for reuse water in Alice Springs; and $280 000 to ‘Grown on Country’, to develop sustainable horticulture and forestry initiatives with Indigenous partners.
Fishing is an important lifestyle for many, and a significant contributor to the economy. The commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors combined contribute over $70m, and recreational fishing more than $30m to our economy annually. The Territory is the only jurisdiction where seafood labelling laws apply to retailers, allowing consumers to choose local products.
Funding has been approved for a promotion and marketing officer to enhance opportunities for the NT Seafood Council. This is in addition to the ongoing support to the council of $180 000 a year. The government recently released a draft recreational fishing development plan for public comment which identifies key strategic issues facing recreational fishing and proposes measures to ensure maintenance and enhancement of our fisheries and fishing opportunities. Outcomes of a Territory-wide survey on recreational fishing will be released shortly, providing further information for fisheries management.
Government continues to support the Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the Northern Territory with funding and a small club grant totalling $200 000. $40 000 was provided to the Northern Territory Guided Fishing Industry Association to help it represent fishing tour operators.
I now turn to my very important portfolio of child protection. Budget 2012-13 sees the continuation of investment in the Territory’s child protection services, increasing support for children and young people across the Territory. The budget provides $34.4m in 2012-13 to continue major reform of the Territory’s child protection and family support services, an increase of $7.1m on the previous year. This brings the total budget for the Department of Children and Families to $177.1m for 2012-13, a far cry from the $7m the CLP allocated in 2000-01. It is about $170m difference - just a small change.
This increases the Territory’s contribution from $145m to $151.3m, with some Commonwealth funding programs expiring and new agreements currently under negotiation. Budget 2012-13 will deliver $13.4m for child protection reform initiatives, including $7.2m for increased payments for foster and kinship carers, Foster Care NT, residential care services, improvement to systems, improvement to the complaints process, employee practice advisors, and therapeutic programs.
There is $6m to provide additional services for families which do not require a statutory response but need family support measures and the continued roll-out of community child safety and wellbeing teams in Territory growth towns. For child protection workers to support improved caseload ratios, incentive packets for frontline staff, and increasing training and support for employees, $11.2m will be provided. For community education, hospital-based interagency teams and the enhanced capacity of non-government organisations, $2.9m will be provided. For the Aboriginal child, youth and families peak body, Strong Aboriginal Families Together, Aboriginal childcare agencies and system reforms to better respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families and communities, $2.9m - those who were abandoned by the CLP government as identified by the report produced in the last days of the CLP.
There is $3.5m to support the implementation of new legislation, policies, and workforce reforms as well as improved localised services in three regions, and $700 000 for the functions of the Children’s Commissioner. With these increases in funding, the Department of Children and Families will continue to deliver major reforms to the Territory’s child protection services.
Since the release of the board of inquiry report this government has established the Department of Children and Families as a separate entity in its own right, implementing services through a regionalised operational structure. It has reduced the backlog of cases identified by the board of inquiry from 870 to zero by May 2011, and established a new priority response team to stay on top of new cases. This government has overhauled the central intake to establish a new 24/7 service from September 2011, recruited additional professional stream care and protection staff, and increased the powers and functions of the independent Children’s Commissioner with additional resources provided to support this.
The government has also: introduced the Pastoral Care and Protection of Children (Information Sharing) Bill on 27 March 2012, introducing a new legislative framework to improve the sharing of information between agencies and service providers to help protect children; supported the establishment of Strong Aboriginal Families Together, the new peak body for vulnerable Aboriginal children; commenced the roll-out of community child safety and wellbeing teams with staff already deployed to two Territory growth towns and four more to be in place by May 2012; and increased funding to a range of peak bodies and non-government organisations to enhance and expand service provision to vulnerable children and their families. The figure is $177m, and members opposite will agree it is money well spent if it is used to protect families and children in need.
I commend the Treasurer on this budget. It protects the Territory lifestyle and grows the health and wellbeing of the Territory. Many times we hear members opposite talk about deficit and how bad it is. The reality is, we all have a deficit. In our case, it is called a mortgage or credit card. The reality is we, and our families, live on borrowed money. Families would not like the idea of not owing any money but not having a roof over their head. We cannot exist today without credit cards and very few people cannot afford the luxury of not having a credit card. Most of us use credit cards because, believe it or not, there are places now that do not accept cash. You pay with a key card or a credit card; they will not accept anything else. Our family deficit is called a mortgage, and I think our deficit, our mortgage, is an investment in the future. There are times when we have to borrow money, but we do so knowing it will benefit us not in luxuries, but in investment for our future and our children’s future. This budget is an investment in the future of health services in the Territory.
Mr KNIGHT (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the Treasurer on her budget, a responsible budget for 2012-13. It balances supporting business and families, but also takes a responsible step within the restraints of our budget.
One of the areas I will talk about today in support of the budget, as Minister for Essential Services, is the Power and Water Corporation. By investing in power and water, we are investing in our economy and the social infrastructure of our communities. We have stated publicly our commitment to a $1.8bn investment into the Power and Water Corporation over five years. In Budget 2012-13, we will be committing $360m into Power and Water’s much-needed infrastructure. I will list many of those items as I continue my contribution.
We are very proud of our record with Power and Water. There has been much change in the Power and Water Corporation since the Casuarina Zone Substation explosion and Mervyn Davies’ report, coming on the back of the Blanch report, and one other report prior to that. It really was a turning point for Power and Water, and a turning point for the involvement of government in critical infrastructure in the Northern Territory.
The report said Power and Water had, over the years, a culture build up that had been spawned from the proposed sell off by the Country Liberal Party of the Power and Water Corporation - a sell-off of the power utility, the water utility and the sewerage utility. It was a proposal the CLP put together in 2000. It was preparing Power and Water for sale, stripping out assets, and sacking 130-odd staff with decades of experience and qualifications. Basically, the corporation and the staff were almost on death row waiting for the axe to fall and systems broke down.
The change of government in 2001 resulted in Labor saying it was not going to sell off this vital utility. It was too important to our economy and our community. However, nobody really saw the need for infrastructure, although the Blanch report highlighted there was a need for infrastructure investment, which occurred; asset management did not. That came out in the Mervyn Davies report. When asset assessment was undertaken, there was a realisation a massive investment was needed and this Labor government committed to preserving this vital utility in the Northern Territory. It was also about re-employing, employing new and qualified staff, employing apprentices - investing in the future of the Power and Water Corporation.
Along the way, the Country Liberal Party has criticised the investment in Power and Water. Its policy is still sale of the Power and Water Corporation which, if achieved, will double power prices in the Northern Territory, water prices will probably triple, and sewerage charges will also increase significantly. That outlines its position with respect to the Power and Water Corporation.
We provide a substantial subsidy to the Power and Water Corporation to reduce the burden on families. That equates to $820 per year per household and is a significant reduction in the cost of living for Territorians. The Power and Water Corporation is a small utility because we have a small population. It delivers services across the Northern Territory and is a very high cost service to provide. With the government stepping in and providing assistance to reduce power prices - we have the second lowest power prices in the country, the lowest water prices and, I believe, the second lowest sewerage charges in the country. We have relieved the burden on Territory households with respect to power, water and sewerage charges.
With respect to infrastructure, Budget 2012-13 delivers for Territory families $607m in capital works, $380m in infrastructure programs, $217m for repairs and maintenance, $73m in capital repairs and maintenance grants with respect to the Power and Water spend, and a further $107m going to Channel Island power generation. I recently inspected and officially opened the new Rolls Royce engines. This gives us as an extra 20% capacity in the Top End power grid. These are brand new machines and are fantastic to see. This is all about building up and bulletproofing our power generation in the Top End. A further $107m will go into Channel Island with the refurbishment of the older sets, and we have enough power for the next 20 years based on current projections.
With respect to water, almost $40m will go into the Palmerston water pumping station mains and storage tanks for the growth in population coming into Palmerston. People know they can come to the Northern Territory and find a high paying job.
I was interested in the presentation by the NAB senior economist today at the budget luncheon for the Chamber of Commerce. The personal income for people in the Northern Territory is much higher than the national average. Yes, certain things cost more in the Northern Territory, but incomes are much higher in the Northern Territory as well.
Weddell Power Station will receive $32m for more augmentation and generation capacity. People may have seen work going on at the city zone substation - $30m will go into a brand new substation there. A new substation will go in at Leanyer worth $25m, and $23m will go into the McMinns zone substation. At Snell Street, work is well under way with $15m going into that. This is all about the reticulation of power around our communities and a significant investment into the zone substations and power generation.
Through the regions, Katherine is receiving $19.1m for an upgrade to the power station. The member for Barkly will be glad to hear there will be $15.7m going to the Borroloola sewerage scheme. It has been a long time coming, but it is great to see this government is recognising the growth of Borroloola and catching up on the infrastructure which, under the CLP, was run down over many years. The infrastructure spend is up to 252% higher since 2001 - certainly a significant amount.
We are investing Territory-wide, not only in the major centres, but also in the bush, with power, water, and sewerage infrastructure. At Hermannsburg I recently announced more water storage infrastructure and new bores. There are more bores going in at Maningrida and Lajamanu. We are looking across the Northern Territory at the most vital need for essential infrastructure and investing in that. Included in this budget is $294m to upgrade new power, water, and sewerage infrastructure to further improve reliability and manage the growth of our population. We have seen that investment come through and I am heartened by the investment in infrastructure.
This investment puts in vital infrastructure for the growth of the Northern Territory and supports Territory jobs. Some 2600 jobs will be created by the continuation of this investment. We could quite easily return to surplus with the flick of a pen to the infrastructure budget. This is a massive investment, but it is recognition that the private sector, after the global financial crisis, retreated with its spending. The gap was in private sector investment. We could accept that and continue with our average spend, but it would leave a massive hole in our economy and thousands of Territorians without jobs. We have filled that gap with infrastructure vitally needed for the growth of our economy into the future.
Basically, we are investing in a new oil and gas industry, the agricultural industry, and the new population coming to the Northern Territory with more education facilities, upgrading roads for these industries, and also much-needed infrastructure going into the health system, such as the new Palmerston Hospital. It is great to see that has been very warmly received by the Palmerston community. This will not be in 2025, which is the CLP plan. Ours will be commencing this year, with follow-up amounts going into the budget in the future. It is a significant investment for the future.
On a more local level for me, it is great to see the investment going into Taminmin College. The special education centre - $2.75m – is a great investment into the rural area. Taminmin continues to grow from strength to strength, and it is great to see that investment coming through. There is the continuation of works on the Fog Bay Road; the upgrade of the Annie River crossing is great to see; further work on Jenkins Road; and there is a significant amount of work out there to accommodate major projects such as INPEX.
I was also delighted to hear on the weekend that Litchfield Council will fund the completion of the sealing of Finn Road. This government stumped up $2m to seal 6 km of the road, and Litchfield Council is going to complete the remaining 3 km. That is great news for people in the southern rural area getting access through the back end of Palmerston. This is a great investment into the future.
I congratulate the Treasurer; this is a very responsible budget. I spoke to many people today at the Chamber of Commerce lunch, and will do so again tomorrow morning at the Property Council breakfast. People said today they thought it was going to be worse than it is. It could have been worse if we had wanted to balance the books and follow the line of the CLP - we could easily have done that. However, it was not the time to fall back on critical infrastructure investment that supports jobs, or on supporting families. The amount of support which goes into supporting families and people on low incomes is tremendous and this is a very finely tuned budget. Yes, we are in deficit but it is a responsible deficit to have at this point in time.
What we have seen in the news today - Victoria having a surplus - is where the CLP mooted it would go. They have arrived at a $160m surplus at the expense of 4200 jobs; 4200 bread winners will not have a job because the Victorian Liberal government decided to make a profit this year at the expense of those jobs. We have also heard today that the federal Leader of the Opposition - the Liberal Party with its branch in the Northern Territory being the CLP - would adopt a policy which would deny billions of GST dollars coming to the Northern Territory. I will be interested to see, given the CLP supports this move - Tony Abbott said he has the support of his conservative leaders around the country and has brought Barry O’Farrell to the Northern Territory. He has the same view.
Where are they going to find the money? Where are you going to find $1bn in a $5bn budget? Where are you going to hack away at it? Will you find it in health, education, or through the sale of Power and Water? Will you find it in the sale of NT Fleet or the Government Printing Office? What are you going to sell; who are you going to sack? It is incumbent on the Leader of the Opposition to explain tomorrow where he is going to find $400m, and where he is going to find $1bn when we lose that from the budget. Who is he going to sack; what is he going to sell? It is as simple as that and he needs to answer those questions. He prides himself, most of the time, on his honesty and integrity. He needs to follow that up with an explanation tomorrow, in this House, identifying who he is going to sack and what he is going to sell.
I commend the Treasurer for her budget. I look forward to travelling the Northern Territory explaining the responsible nature of the budget and how we have found great opportunities to support Territory families and our economy.
Ms McCARTHY (Local Government): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to support Budget 2012-13. It is a responsible budget which balances the need for fiscal restraint with new investments necessary to boost the economic development of the Territory, and provides needed services to Territory families. Budget 2012-13 also continues one of the great hallmarks of this government, unprecedented investment in our remote towns to develop services for Territory families living in our remote and regional towns.
As Minister for Regional Development and also Indigenous Development, I am especially pleased that Budget 2012-13 represents our government’s third successive budget with a key focus of investing in our regions and our growth towns, supporting all Territory families no matter where they live.
A key feature of our work in this area is the strong partnerships we are forging with local people and all levels of government, developing and implementing local plans for a brighter future for our growth towns. There is a brighter future with better access to government services, healthier families, kids going to school every day, local economic development leading to more jobs, and new opportunities and choices for people living in the bush.
In particular, Budget 2012-13 delivers a further $433m for infrastructure in remote areas of the Territory, building on our record investments in new and very necessary infrastructure in the bush over the past two years.
Budget 2012-13 provides over $20m for supporting facilities for early childhood development and childcare at places like Ntaria, Umbakumba, Yuendumu, Gunbalanya, Maningrida and Ngukurr. There is over $12m for vocational training facilities at places like Alyangula, Angurugu, Gunbalanya, Jabiru and Ngukurr. There is $33m for investment in remote health centres at Borroloola, Elliott, Galiwinku, Milingimbi, Ngukurr, Ntaria, Papunya and Pirlangimpi. Also, over $17m for community safety projects, including new police facilities in remote towns such as Numbulwar, Mt Liebig, Areyonga, Epenarra and Robinson River. There is over $38m for much-needed improvements to essential services infrastructure across our remote towns, including $7m for improvement to water supply at Ntaria, Lajamanu and Maningrida. There is over $7m to seal airstrips at Utopia, Canteen Creek and Yarralin, and $4m for improvements to barge landings at Gapuwiyak and Nguiu. These are all targeted investments that will make a big difference in day-to-day life of our remote towns.
Importantly, this is also the budget year when we will start to implement our recent and historic decision to pay rent for the lease of Aboriginal land for government assets. Costs to agencies will be based on independent valuation of the land required, and the cost of rental of land will be budgeted for within agency line budgets.
As part of Budget 2012-13, we also see a new budget output of remote infrastructure coordination for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services. This budget output, built around use of existing resources, will ensure better integration and coordination on a whole-of-government basis of the planning and delivery of infrastructure and capital works in remote communities from inception to completion of projects.
2012-13 will also be the first year of new arrangements relating to funding for outstations and homelands in the Northern Territory. As key stakeholders know, as recently as late last year the Australian government was saying the full cost of supporting municipal and essential services to homelands in the Northern Territory would have to be met by the Northern Territory government at a cost of $20m per annum. Our government has argued strongly that the Commonwealth cannot walk away from its long-standing obligations in this area. That negotiation has paid off, with the Commonwealth announcing continued funding for a further 10 years. This gives us unprecedented security of that funding base and opportunity for us to proceed with reform and development of our own outstation and homeland support programs.
We will be working with outstation resource centres on those reforms with Budget 2012-13 providing $21.2m for municipal and essential services grants for outstations and homelands, and continued support for housing maintenance and other support, particularly in education, health, and improved access to services being provided through development of our regional growth towns.
There is $2.5m to continue funding for municipal and essential services in town camps, including in Alice Springs and Darwin. Consistent with our Territory 2030 objectives, our government continues its commitment to supporting shire and municipal councils deliver better services and assisting business, industry and communities secure new private sector investment to stimulate economic growth in our remote areas.
We will continue working with the local government sector and local people to develop the strength and capacity of shire and municipal councils to provide legitimate representation, effective governance and improved service delivery. This includes a big focus on developing our local government workforce and jobs for local people in local government. Investment in local government in 2012-13 includes $8.4m in Territory funding and a further $1.6m from the Commonwealth as part of the joint $30m three-year Indigenous employment package for shire councils to support core local government service delivery. This initiative is expected to generate 530 jobs in 2012-13 in council core services such as road construction and maintenance, parks and gardens, grass and weed management, waste collection and dump management.
There is $57.3m in 2012-13 in local government grants to provide and support local government and community infrastructure; $0.4m as part of a $0.8m two-year contribution to the construction of an Alice Springs Regional Waste Management Facility, and $0.4m in 2012-13 as the final year in the $1.3m three-year package to manage and maintain sporting and other infrastructure at Freds Pass Reserve.
In addition, this year $20m in remote employment program funds will be made available through our local government jobs package for fencing work associated with new and refurbished housing in our remote regions.
The regional development function in my department works in partnership with business, industry and communities to support activities that stimulate sustainable economic growth. This is achieved, in part, through $1.38m in grant funding and $3.4m in Commonwealth funding to employ Indigenous economic development officers in our regional offices. Futures forums on Indigenous economic development are assisting residents of Territory growth towns to access information on government and private sector services and programs which relate to employment and economic development opportunities. Five futures forums have already been held and a further nine are scheduled for this year.
Our government is strongly committed to improving access to services for Territorians through interpreter and translator services. These services are critical as they enable Territorians with English as their second language to obtain fair and equitable access to government and non-government services. Budget 2012-13 will deliver continued funding building capability in the Aboriginal Interpreter Service, including national accreditation of interpreters and translators and community-based services across the Territory.
The water safety and animal welfare function of my department is another important area. $1.1m is provided to promote safer communities across the Territory through our water safety strategy and administration of the Swimming Pool Safety Act. In regard to animal welfare, we will continue our reforms in this area with proposed amendments to the Animal Welfare Act to be introduced in the sittings of this Legislative Assembly, the continued development of our Animal Welfare Unit, and our community grants to support animal welfare activities.
As Tourism minister, I am pleased to say the Henderson government continues to strongly support the Northern Territory tourism sector because we recognise the importance of this industry to the local economy. Tourism is one of the Territory’s largest employers, providing around one in six jobs predominantly in small to medium businesses. For 2012-13, the Territory government is investing $39.2m in supporting the work of Tourism NT, the same level of funding as in the previous year, and significantly more than the tourism budget in 2009 which was well under $30m.
Current conditions have been very challenging for local tourism operators over the past few years, with the strong performance of the Australia dollar having a major impact on the tourism industry. Record numbers of Australians are continuing to holiday overseas, which particularly impacts the Northern Territory as our major source market remains the eastern seaboard of Australia. We are adapting to meet these challenges, working harder and smarter, and are making hard decisions about where best to invest and support the tourism industry.
Key initiatives of the tourism Budget 2012-13 include:
$21m to maintain our investment in our Category 1 markets in Europe, the US and Japan, which includes global marketing and promotion of the Northern Territory as a tourism destination;
$3.4m to improve airline access through business development and cooperative marketing. The Henderson government is extremely aware that aviation access has a direct
correlation to visitor numbers and future growth opportunities for the Northern Territory’s tourism industry. Securing and maintaining viable aviation services into the Territory
remains a high priority for our government in 2012-13 and beyond;
$1.7m for business events next year includes instigating a new ambassador program which will identify professionals who have potential to host and influence business events
in the Northern Territory. The program will become the major business development tool for the Territory’s Business Events team and a key advocacy vehicle for the industry;
$219 000 towards stimulating the cruise ship market. This includes attracting new cruise ships to the Northern Territory, encouraging regular return visits, and working with the
industry to maximise opportunities during cruise ship visits; and
Additional emphasis over the coming year will be on supporting our regions, including an ongoing commitment to destinational marketing such as the recent focus on Alice Springs within the 2012 Red Centre Campaign.
We have invested heavily in building the capacity of businesses across the Territory with $10.6m for the destination development output which aims to facilitate the development of tourism infrastructure and products relevant to consumer demand through market research and liaison with, and provision of advice to, industry, private sector entities, and government partners.
For 2012-13, we are also putting another $0.69m towards ongoing redevelopment of Tourism NT’s consumer website, and $0.68m for content management system maintenance, social media management, and community engagement on social media platforms.
A new tourism industry strategic plan is due to be released this year. Collectively to date, over 400 people have contributed to shaping the future direction of tourism in the Northern Territory towards 2020. Reviewing and reshaping our strategic plan is an exciting opportunity to adjust, reframe and support our tourism sector to meet the challenges of an ever-changing market.
I will make mention of the important work of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority that helps to support the orderly economic development of the Territory while protecting important cultural sites. In 2011-12, AAPA completed a number of long-term complex sacred site clearances, including work related to major development projects and authority certificates for housing and infrastructure investments in our remote towns across the Territory. In 2012-13 and beyond, it is expected the number of applications will stabilise in line with longer-term trends and, consequently, there has been a reduction in estimated revenue and expenditure for 2012-13. Building on the success of the initial Coordinated Community Authority Certificate project to deliver efficient and cost-effective sacred site protection for 73 Indigenous communities across the Territory, AAPA has negotiated with the project partners to continue delivery of timely site protection and avoidance advice to agencies through a three-year extension to this project, with funding support from the client agencies.
I mention the important work being done to develop women’s policy in the Northern Territory. The Office of Women’s Policy has recently reported to the Legislative Assembly on achievements under our 2010-12 framework for action. The consultation period for development of our new women’s policy statement and action plan is still ongoing. I am positive about the ideas already received on ways in which the government can meaningfully strengthen policies in the areas of women’s safety, gender equality and promotion of the leadership of women, especially Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander women. I am also pleased to advise that later this year I will be hosting the COAG Select Council on Women’s Issues, with our national and state counterparts, to progress our implementation plan on these important topics. I look forward to reporting further on how they will benefit the Northern Territory following the COAG meeting later this year.
Budget 2012-13 has been developed at a time of great change. We have significantly improved integration and coordination of government effort and successfully managed significant government investments aimed at attacking entrenched disadvantage in remote areas of the Northern Territory. These have been sound and necessary investments. We have also established the foundations for developing local economies through land tenure reform and planning in our remote towns, as well as preparing for unprecedented economic growth arising from the INPEX gas development and other major resource projects. In Budget 2012-13 we continue our work in a responsible way to gear up for economic growth, tackle entrenched disadvantage and support Territory families no matter where they live across the Northern Territory. I commend Budget 2012-13 to the House.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to support the Treasurer’s statement this morning and Budget 2012-13. Turning to the Treasurer’s speech - and what a very important speech it was - my fifth budget as a minister in the government and all colleagues on this side of the House would agree it has been one of the toughest. As the Treasurer said during her statement, and at the lunch, it was her toughest given the global financial crisis and the economic situation in the country.
Budget 2012-13 is definitely gearing up for growth and supporting Territory families. Infrastructure spending since the global financial crisis has almost doubled from $900m in 2008-09 to $1.7bn in 2010-2011 and $1.6bn in 2011-12. While the infrastructure budget this financial year is slightly lower at $1.3bn, it is still higher than pre-global financial crisis levels. It is a real credit to the Treasurer, and my colleagues, who went through the books and made some very hard decisions. To have an infrastructure budget which is still higher than pre-global financial crisis is a real achievement. There is much more to be done.
I thank the staff at Treasury. They do a wonderful job, a tough job, and provide all the best information and budget books necessary extremely professionally. I thank Treasury staff for providing that information to me as the minister.
For me, several things stood out of the Treasurer’s speech. One is there are no new taxes or tax increases in this budget. It is important, as the economy recovers, that people are not hit with new taxes or increases. The other important thing was strengthening the economy. The Treasurer said nearly 13 000 jobs have been created in the Territory since the global financial crisis ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are correct, we lack a quorum. Ring the bells.
We have a quorum.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Deputy Speaker, one thing which stood out for me was how government has been able to maintain and strengthen our economy during very tough times. Almost 13 000 jobs have been created in the Territory since the global financial crisis. That is something to be positive about in tough times - we continue to create job opportunities for Territorians and those coming to the Territory for work wanting to make the Territory their home.
We know these are tough economic times, but the Territory has a bright future. In Central Australia, my home town, and also in Darwin - Darwin is booming with major projects coming online. Right across the Territory, when you look at the support and work government is undertaking …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House. It is the government’s budget.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is the responsibility of both sides of the House, member for Port Darwin …
Mr ELFERINK: No, if it is the government’s budget, it can bring it in. I do not much care, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, both sides of the House have a responsibility to maintain a quorum. That said, member for Port Darwin …
Mr ELFERINK: Well, we do not have a quorum, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am not here for an argument with you. You have made your point of order.
Mr Elferink: Well, do not start one.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me. Member for Port Darwin, I ask you to please address me in a slightly more respectable manner than you have. Ring the bells, please, we lack a quorum.
Thank you, we have a quorum.
Minister, before I give you the call, I remind members that it is the responsibility of both sides of this House to maintain a quorum. It is not one side or the other; it is both sides of this House.
Minister, you have the call.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Deputy Speaker, the Territory has a bright future no matter where you live, whether it is Darwin, down the track through Katherine, Tennant Creek or Alice Springs, or in remote and regional areas. All Territorians can look forward to a bright future. Looking at the budget and the focus areas of our government, we will be supporting all the Territory to ensure there are opportunities for young people, be it in education or employment and training.
In relation to the budget, the other important issue is how we have lost so much money through GST estimates going down over the past few years, further lowering this time round. Total GST collections in 2011-12 are now expected to be $3.1bn lower than the Commonwealth estimated in its last budget. This means the Territory will receive $163m less in 2011-12. Since the start of the GFC, we have lost more than $770m in GST revenue and expect a further $480m less over the forward estimates compared to the 2011 estimates. That reinforces the challenges the Territory government has, the Treasurer and her staff have, and all of us have managing the budget and working through priorities.
However, we are not alone in this financial and economic situation; all states and territories are having to deal with similar budgets due to the deterioration in our major revenue source - the GST - while, at the same time, responding to very real infrastructure and service pressures. We want to gear up for these major projects, but also want to continue supporting Territory families, particularly through these difficult economic times.
This budget continues the government’s tradition of supporting Territory families. The Treasurer mentioned the many subsidies and concessions to support families in the Territory. There are some very exciting things happening in housing. As the local member and the Minister for Central Australia, I am very interested in the $16m for urban public housing, the $44m for government employee housing, and $188m for remote public housing. I will be keeping an eye on where that money is going and letting the Housing minister know my priorities.
In regard to A Safe Territory, the Minister for Alcohol Policy has done some fantastic and challenging work with the Enough is Enough alcohol measurements and the Banned Drinker Register. The other important thing for A Safe Territory in the budget is the additional funding of $2m to expand youth justice initiatives. That came out of the youth justice review initiated by this government. A further $1m is provided to upgrade the Youth Justice Court. There is much talk, particularly in Alice Springs, in regard to young people, but it is good to see Budget 2012-13 expanding youth justice initiatives.
There are some important initiatives in Alice Springs in regard to a Healthy Territory, with $18.9m for works at the hospital. I drive past quite often and it is coming together very well. It is going to provide an important and essential service to the people of Central Australia for many years to come. The works are close to completion.
There is $62m in Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals as well. The member for Barkly would be very pleased to see that. It is important we continue to upgrade those health facilities. They are busy places, the population is ageing, and it is important to keep our health clinics and hospitals up-to-date and in good condition for the people of the Northern Territory.
There are also improved aeromedical retrieval services, an issue through my electorate of Stuart, particularly around the Victoria River District and Katherine East for remote workers on cattle stations. That improvement is important.
A Smart Territory has $850m for education and training in around 200 schools. It was great to attend the Treasurer’s budget briefing lunch today put on by the Chamber of Commerce. At my table were Linda Young, Director of Darwin Coordinators, and also Steve Versteegh from Group Training NT. They were very interested in the money in the budget for training. The discussions we had were around skills shortages and apprentices in the Northern Territory. We have a record number of apprentices in the Northern Territory at the moment. With many major projects coming on board, Steve advised concerns employers are raising regarding skills shortages, particularly in traditional trades in the Northern Territory. It is great to see there is quite a bit of money in the budget for training. There are now more than 4200 apprentices and trainees in the Territory, an increase of more than 90% on the number in training in 2001. A total of 1800 of these apprentices and trainees are in traditional trade apprenticeships in identified skill shortage areas. Speaking to people at my table at lunch today, it is very important to their sector.
Supporting children and families is very important and this government has done a great deal of work on and has put resources and funding into it. Supporting Territory families and protecting our children is very important. In my electorate, and in the Territory growth towns, it is good to see $6m in the budget to enhance family support programs and the roll-out of their community child safety and wellbeing teams. I look forward to that being implemented.
There is also $2.9m for an Aboriginal Child, Youth and Families Wellbeing Peak Body, and Aboriginal childcare agencies in Alice Springs and Darwin. That is a very important initiative and, as Minister for Central Australia, one I will be watching.
There is $1m for the next stage of upgrades at the Alice Springs Youth Hub. This project is part of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan and one I have been very close to for a number of years. It is progressing and getting some really good outcomes for families and young people in Alice Springs.
My colleague, the Minister for Indigenous Development, spoke about A Working Future in her contribution. This government has a very good track record in delivering much-needed infrastructure, resources, funding and programs in remote communities. As a local member, it is good to see that level continue in Budget 2012-13.
The Territory’s three-year $13m Indigenous employment package for shire councils is something the Minister for Indigenous Development did much work on and should be congratulated on the outcome. It is vitally important we continue to support our shires. Many shires have very good Indigenous employment outcomes. It is something we should be talking about all the time. It is quite easy to talk down the shires, but they are doing some really good things. Indigenous employment is one area we are achieving in.
Another issue in A Working Future, and one I worked on in the Cabinet budget process, was the $1m ongoing for remote community sport and recreation programs. That goes to funding sport and recreation officers in our shires throughout our remote communities. The youth, sport and recreation officers do a fantastic job. It is great to be able to give them, and the shires, assurance that $1m ongoing is being provided from the Territory government to help close the gap in our growth towns and remote regions. I have travelled around the Territory and spoken to many of the sport and recreation officers. They do a fantastic job and $1m is going to go a long way to provide support, helping those sport and recreation officers plan really good programs - after school programs and holiday programs in remote communities to keep kids active and busy, particularly during school holidays. So, $1m ongoing for remote community sport and recreation programs is a good aspect of Budget 2012-13.
For water supply upgrades, $7m has been provided for Lajamanu, Maningrida and Ntaria. I was at Lajamanu last month, where new houses are being built and many are being refurbished. A new clinic is being built. The airstrip is going to be relocated fairly soon. A great deal of work is taking place at Lajamanu, and so there should be; it is a growth town and there are some wonderful people there. It is very important we continue to upgrade water supplies to keep up with growth in our remote communities, growth some have not seen for many years. I am pleased Lajamanu is part of that $7m water supply upgrade program. A renal facility has been funded through the royalty association, and I will be pleased to see that included in the program.
A Working Future - $5.16m to better support disadvantaged students, including continued investment in the Strong Start, Bright Future colleges - a really good initiative and one that is well supported in Budget 2012-13.
My electorate is the largest in the Northern Territory. I tell the kids in many of my schools it is the size of Germany. It is very important to lobby on their behalf when it comes to the Territory budget. My electorate stretches from Pine Creek in the north to Nyirripi and Yuendumu in the south. Some of the communities which will benefit from Budget 2012-13 include Lajamanu with $4.63m for an airstrip; and a $2.5m upgrade and sealing of the existing strip at Yarralin. It is good to see that going ahead and the community supporting the sealing of the current airstrip as there have been quite a few discussions in meetings I have attended at Yarralin.
Kalkaringi School will be provided with $1.6m in upgrades to provide a new classroom and ablutions facilities. To continue the upgrades and sealing of the Tanami Road, $2.13m is provided. I was there recently, and it was great to see the road slowly being sealed closer to the Yuelamu turn-off and Yuendumu.
The Pmara Jutunta Health Centre at Ti Tree Six Mile will be upgraded, and the pharmacy facility at the Yuendumu clinic will be upgraded. Many people in the Stuart electorate use Katherine and Alice Springs as service centres. Those people will also be able to access many of the clinics and hospitals I have mentioned.
There are many initiatives in Budget 2012-13 for Greening the Territory. Budget 2012-13 is investing in our parks, protecting our unique natural assets, and supporting families and businesses to go green.
Over the past 10 years, this government has played a significant role in the conservation and protection of our natural, cultural and historical environments. We have worked towards Greening the Territory through investing in our parks, protecting our unique natural assets and supporting families and businesses whilst supporting the great Territory lifestyle by seizing opportunities to ensure Territorians continue to enjoy and benefit from our great outdoors.
Under this government, for the first time in the Territory’s history, Indigenous Territorians have been given an opportunity to manage their own lands. A total of 27 national parks are now managed under a joint management arrangement which ensures the values and views of local traditional owners are considered in all aspects of park operations and decision-making.
This government recognises the significance of traditional owners, traditional customs and culture, land management activities, and the enormous potential this will bring to the conservation of our protected areas in the future.
Our national parks provide a critical refuge for native plants and animals. The Territory’s national parks and reserves provide a foundation for our conservation efforts. However, to be truly effective, conservation requires a whole-of-community effort across a range of landscapes and habitats. This government has been active in encouraging and assisting alternative approaches to conservation of protected areas.
The Eco-link project aims to manage broad-scale connections between protected areas by supporting Indigenous ranger groups, pastoralists, and private conservation groups to continue taking an active role in the conservation of their land. Over the past 10 years, the size of the protected area estate has more than tripled, and is now approaching 12%, or over 16 million hectares of the Northern Territory.
Darwin Harbour is one of the Territory’s most valuable assets. Not only is it home to a diversity of plants, animals and fish, it also plays a key role in sustaining industry, while supporting recreational pursuits such as fishing, sailing, water skiing and boating. The protection of Darwin Harbour is crucial. My department has worked tirelessly to implement a variety of measures to ensure ongoing protection of Darwin Harbour into the future. This includes the development of a monitoring program for fish, dolphins, dugongs, seagrass and the sea floor. There is also improved compliance by industry, funding six additional compliance officers. In addition to improving our ability to detect pollution and spills, these officers will assist industry to improve activities through education and raising awareness.
We have also doubled the penalties for organisations which breach their permits and licences, either accidentally or intentionally. We have successfully prosecuted the Darwin Port Corporation for pollution of the harbour, and have established the independent Environment Protection Authority, overseeing the development of the Darwin Harbour strategy and working with industry to implement the East Arm Wharf environmental monitoring program.
Over the past 12 months, this government has further demonstrated it is the greenest government the Territory has ever had by introducing the Cash for Containers scheme and ban the bag scheme. While it has been a challenge and has not been without its share of obstacles, these initiatives are an important step in protecting our precious environment and are visionary. For example, since its inception in September 2011, it is estimated the ban the bag initiative has prevented the introduction of plastic bags into the natural environment. Similarly, the Cash for Containers scheme has seen the community recycling millions and millions of containers over the first three months of the program.
Budget 2012-13 provides $182.5m for the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport through five output groups. This budget recognises the enormous achievements this government has made with respect to the environment with an increase of $8.7m on last year’s budget allocation.
Budget 2012-13 will see the continuation of the Territory’s achievements against the protected areas in the Conservation output group with an injection of $58.6m. This includes $2.1m to the Parks and Wildlife service to provide more Indigenous jobs and apprenticeships through our parks and reserves, with a key focus on better fire management and reduction in feral animals and weeds. It also includes $1.5m for lease payments to Aboriginal land trusts for Aboriginal-owned jointly managed parks.
This government will continue to provide opportunities for traditional owners who want to see their parks jointly managed, and enable benefits of education and training to be passed on to the families. This will build on the many successes of joint management.
In Budget 2012-13, $37.3m has been allocated to fund natural resources management. This government continues to work hard to protect our natural resources through planning and management activities, particularly threats posed by fire, feral animals and weeds. We all know the devastation of bushfires and the effect they can have on the lives of people and the environment. To help mitigate the number of bushfires in the Territory, we have committed $1.1m in grants in this budget to support the work of volunteer bushfire brigades.
Weeds pose a threat to the Northern Territory’s biodiversity invading native vegetation, causing fire management problems and soil degradation. In Budget 2012-13, we have committed $450 000 for weed management planning and on ground activities.
Water is one of our most precious resources. In Budget 2012-13, we have allocated $12.1m towards water management in order to assess and manage the Territory’s water resources, including water quality monitoring and flood forecasting. An amount of $1.1m has been allocated to flood forecasting and mitigation. My department provides a flood forecasting service to Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services, the Department of Lands and Planning, and the Bureau of Meteorology to minimise risk to life and property in the event of flooding.
The Territory has made significant progress in recent years in protecting and preserving our environment and heritage assets. This will continue in Budget 2012-13, with $10.1m allocated to the Environment and Heritage output group. My department will continue, through Budget 2012-13, to strengthen the environmental assessment practices and compliance of business and industry through the commitment of $1.1m. This government recognises the value the community provides to conservation programs. In 2012-13, we will continue to promote community funding through an injection of $1.1m to the EnvironmeNT Grants program, Cool Communities, and climate change grants.
Budget 2012-13 is supporting families with the most generous subsidies and concessions in the country. The highly popular Energy Smart Rebate for Territorians ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for the member to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The highly popular Energy Smart Rebate will continue in 2012-13, as will the Central Australia Waterwise Rebate Scheme. The Territory has a unique identity. We value our diversity which encompasses a vibrant Indigenous culture and our rich European history.
In Budget 2012-13 we will continue to demonstrate our commitment to heritage conservation by providing more than $3.2m to the Heritage Conservation output. Of this, $1m will go toward repairing and maintaining government owned heritage assets across the Territory, while $280 000 is provided through the Heritage Grant Program to individuals, community groups and non-profit organisations working on projects relating to significant heritage sites in the Northern Territory.
Turning to sport and recreation, I spoke briefly about the $1m to support community sport and recreation officers. This government’s sports policy, SP1, the first of its kind in the Territory, is a vision ensuring Territorians have a life-long involvement in sport and active recreation at whatever level they choose. The benefits derived from participating in sport and active recreation are well-known. I am pleased to announce Budget 2012-13 delivers $31.37m towards the Sport and Recreation output group. This funding provides a range of sporting outcomes, from grassroots development to elite athletes through the Northern Territory Institute of Sport, to facilities, events and engagements such as the Arafura Games and the Alice Springs Masters Games.
Through Budget 2012-13, my department will continue to deliver opportunities for all Territorians across urban, regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. In addition to the community sport and recreation officer funding of $1m, we have a total grants pool of $9.4m which is delivered across sport and active recreation peak bodies, shires and local clubs, and community groups that deliver sport and active recreation outcomes.
There is also $1.47m for the fourth year of a five-year partnership to bring three AFL matches to the Territory, with games played in Alice Springs and Darwin. There is also $300 000 for the final year of a three-year partnership to host the ACT Brumbies pre-season Super 15s Rugby Union match in Darwin. Other events for the year will also include the Australian Pro Tour professional tennis events in Darwin and Alice Springs, as well as the Indigenous All Stars AFL match in Alice Springs in February 2013.
This government is gearing up for growth. Many families in the Palmerston region are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Palmerston Water Park on 2 June. This free-to-enter facility will be the envy of many cities across Australia, with a six-lane water slide racer, play areas for children of all ages, water cannons, and barbecue areas. In Budget 2012-13, this government is providing $2.3m for the operation of the Palmerston Water Park which will be managed by the YMCA on behalf of the Territory government.
We will also provide in 2012-13, $1.31m for the redevelopment of sporting facilities and infrastructure at Freds Pass Reserve …
Mr Wood: Yay!
Mr HAMPTON: ... and the member for Nelson will be very pleased to hear a further $1m will be provided for the new Litchfield pool. The pool will be a 25 m eight-lane facility and will also incorporate a children’s wet play area …
Mr Wood: You are going to have to add two more lanes.
Mr HAMPTON: Don’t start!
The Nightcliff foreshore, one of the most popular recreation areas for Territorians, will also receive $1m in recreational infrastructure, something the member for Nightcliff has worked very hard on. This includes playground equipment for Sunset Park, seating, a multipurpose performance platform, and a tennis court upgrade. This budget supports the great Territory lifestyle.
In my portfolio of Information, Communications and Technology Policy, Budget 2012-13 is gearing up for growth in the Territory to deliver local jobs and opportunity for businesses. Information and communication technology is an enabling technology which creates jobs and wealth and reduces social isolation. For these reasons, along with health and educational outcomes, ICT has been a key priority for this government. Nationally, the Internet is worth as much as iron ore exports and, through a strong ICT strategy, we can ensure Territorians do not miss the economic opportunities available to them.
In the last few years, we have leveraged $22m of Northern Territory government’s telecommunications funding to secure $130m in investment, including Australian government and private sector funding to address needs in the Territory. The Territory’s e-Health projects are the most advanced of their kind in Australia in range of services, service coverage, and consumer and health professional participation. In more than 80% of remote health centres, patient health records are now maintained electronically, significantly improving ongoing patient care.
In the area of education, the Territory has a ratio of one computer for every two students, which is on par with the national ratio. There is realisation of the Regional Backbone Blackspots Program. Having successfully lobbied the Australian government for a competitive optic-fibre link for the Northern Territory, the Territory now has an optic-fibre link between Darwin and the eastern seaboard, which will bring much-needed competition into the telecommunications market and reduce costs to consumers. This project resulted in a $70m spend in the Northern Territory and created 1000 jobs during the building phase.
The Northern Territory is one big community which includes it citizens, businesses, industry and government. A well-connected community means a more productive Territory which, in turn, leads to a higher standard of living and more disposable income for its citizens.
The National Broadband Network will be the impetus for new technology-driven service models which will benefit the whole community. Increasing broadband penetration in towns and the bush will enable valuable resources to reach further. More homes and businesses will be able to connect directly with government to access services such as healthcare and education, and enable better community and business connection with the government. With the capacity to deliver new innovative services, the NBN will transform the Northern Territory’s economy.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is my pleasure to support the Treasurer and congratulate her on Budget 2012-13. It gears us up for growth, but continues to support Territory families. I commend this statement.
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning): Madam Deputy Speaker, I add my comments to the debate on the government’s Budget 2012-13. I commend the Treasurer for the delivery of a responsible budget developed in tough economic conditions. As we saw today at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon presentation from the National Australia Bank, they are not only tough economic conditions across the country, but also internationally, which has a major impact in a global context. This budget, framed as gearing up for growth and supporting families, is responsible and was delivered through a team effort where people support each other to achieve the best possible outcome for all Territorians. That takes tough decision-making, but it also takes rational decision-making by strong MLAs - MLAs who are in touch with their electorates and the Territory community.
We are gearing up for growth and helping families as we enter the Territory’s record growth period. This will be the highest growth period the Territory has seen so far, and the Henderson government has a strong economic record, with record public infrastructure spends over the last three budgets. Those record infrastructure spends represent a targeted fiscal strategy when the global financial crisis hit, the money dried up, the investment projects were put on hold and the drill rigs and exploration programs packed up. The Henderson government then made a very wise and strategic decision to start investing in infrastructure to keep the Territory going, preserve the important jobs in the Territory, and create new jobs in a challenging time where the private sector was shrinking and withdrawing.
The strategy was not only to keep bread on the table and preserve Territory jobs, but it was also to target enabling infrastructure. When the private sector re-entered the market and the big projects, which were in the planning stage, made their final investment decisions the Territory was on the road running, not looking for resources that had deserted in previous years because of lack of government infrastructure spending.
It aggregates the $4.6bn investment in key infrastructure over the last three years which has kept Territorians working, our businesses open and skilled our workforce for the huge opportunities that have come our way, as well as those on the horizon. This is particularly so in the resource sector through the regions and the oil and gas sector that relates to the Top End of northern Australia. This government lifted infrastructure spending to historic levels to protect jobs and protect our economy. Consequently, it is well-positioned to reap the rewards of good policy, good planning and a targeted infrastructure spend.
As a Territorian who has been here just over 30 years, it is interesting to note since 2001 infrastructure spending has grown by 255% - an injected $10m into building the Territory and stimulating the economy. That is an interesting statistic because I have lived more than half my life in the regions and remote areas. I remember an administration where there was not much spending in the bush. I remember a 10-year period in the Barkly where we literally starved. That was a good experience. It does not hurt to go hungry from time to time, but I learnt a very good lesson. Becoming part of the Henderson government and learning about global economics and stimulus fiscal strategies reinforced those concepts I learnt when hungry in the Barkly under the previous Country Liberal Party administration. It was reinforced by the major finance sector that if you want to spread the prosperity, if you want a good, even spread and leave a legacy of good public infrastructure, you invest in construction. That is what this government has done over successive budgets, and is continuing to do in this budget.
As the Treasurer and the Chief Minister say, it is not the time to put the handbrake on. The representative from the National Australia Bank outlined that very clearly in relation to the European financial situation. Governments in this country would be well-advised not to put the handbrake on. The Territory government is continuing with a responsible spend, with a step-out plan to address the deficit, and a plan to withdraw from the major end of spending as the private sector starts to escalate in development and spending. It is important fiscal management, responsible management, and it places the Territory in a good position to take advantage of the opportunities before us.
As Minister for Construction, I am proud Budget 2012-13 continues this sound economic management and strong record in infrastructure spending. Budget 2012-13 delivers $1.3bn for the infrastructure program across a range of areas including: Emergency Services, Education, Health, Roads, Corrections and Housing. I place on the record my thanks to the hard-working staff of the Department of Construction and Infrastructure who will deliver a massive capital works program on behalf of respective agencies representing the Northern Territory government. Staff across the Territory are delivering services and facilities for Territory families, local businesses and the Territory community. This type of budgetary program will help Territorians continue working, help businesses remain open, and help keep a skilled workforce on the ground. All that goes to service what are huge opportunities on the ground now and that lie just around the corner during a period of increased economic growth.
There are some great highlights of the program. There is a $340m infrastructure spend for housing which will be very much welcomed across the Northern Territory. There is $294m as part of a record …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. We lack a quorum. Ring the bells, please.
Mr Giles: Perhaps close it down, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Under standing orders there is three minutes. There is also the opportunity to reconvene the House at a ...
Mr Giles: I was joking.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have just been reading that standing order.
Thank you, we have a quorum. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, I was talking about some of the construction program highlights in Budget 2012-13. An amount of $294m is part of a record essential services investment. It was great to hear the minister’s reply in debate about not only Essential Services in the important development of the capital city and of Alice Springs, but right across the regions in our growth towns. The example of Borroloola was celebrated by the member for Arnhem, the member for Barkly – myself - because that is a great example of building the Territory from the ground up.
There is $111m to upgrade hospitals, which includes our regional hospitals. I am pleased to see that component addressing what is needed at the Tennant Creek Hospital - an upgrade of the accident and emergency area that will create better efficiencies, better safety, better working conditions for staff, and better outcomes for patients.
There is $17m for education infrastructure on the back of the Building the Education Revolution - a partnership with the Commonwealth government that has delivered incredible infrastructure into our schools across the Territory. As a former school teacher, I can proudly say this has not been seen in the last 30 years. That is infrastructure development working in partnership with the Australian government, and Budget 2012-13 delivers an additional $17m on top of that to continue the great work. There is $36m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services infrastructure across the Territory.
In regard to land release - for those with their eyes open who can see what is rolling out around the Territory at record rates - that incredible development has cost much money. Much work is going into it, and Budget 2012-13 delivers a further $15.9m to continue headworks for the new suburbs of Johnston and Zuccoli in Palmerston East. Anyone familiar with Johnston Stage 1 will see the community that is growing there. If you like what you see at Johnston - Johnston Stage 2 is under way thanks to the delivery of that important infrastructure program funding - wait until you see Zuccoli. The new ideas going into Zuccoli through the Land Development Corporation and its joint venture with Urbex will see an exciting community growing in Palmerston East. The first stage of Zuccoli is expected to house about 750 families on top of the 7400 homes to be built across other parts of the Territory, including Kilgariff in Alice Springs, the suburb of Bellamack, Mitchell will come online, and Johnston. They are jewels in the crown of the fine city of Palmerston.
It is about helping families get ahead. In Johnston, more than 49 new homes have been built to date, and over 300 units are in various stages of approval and construction. Work will commence on a further 295 lots in the coming months. In Bellamack, housing construction is well under way with 465 titles issued and 131 new homes completed It has been fascinating to see those homes going up over the last couple of years.
More land is rolling out, more ‘for sale’ signs are up, and there are more opportunities for families in the Territory to get a stake in that important market. Weddell planning continues ...
Ms PURICK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: We lack a quorum. Ring the bells, please.
Thank you, we have a quorum. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, it is important to talk about planning for the Territory’s newest city, Weddell. That is for environmental assessment work and the design of the water main - which is under way – for a city with capacity to house 50 000 people.
In Alice Springs, $10m worth of work is expected to be completed this year at Kilgariff. Considerable work has already been done, with a further $3.5m of works to continue in 2012–13, including the construction of a new intersection and water supply to the subdivision.
On top of this, Budget 2012–13 delivers $15.5m for a trunk water main to supply Middle Arm industrial precinct and the new city of Weddell. That is a great example of strategic infrastructure spending to grow the Territory. With the Ichthys major project at Middle Arm and the opportunity to put infrastructure past the planned city of Weddell, it is important to acknowledge good planning, good targeted infrastructure, and great outcomes which will not only service the Territory’s newest city, but also a growing industrial precinct on the Middle Arm Peninsula.
Where would we go without roads? Budget 2012–13 delivers a $260m investment into our roads. This year, the Territory government is working closely with the Australian government to deliver important works for Territory road users. I have witnessed our Treasurer on the road to Canberra. She definitely gets our share of the important road resources for the Territory. I am looking forward to meeting with minister Albanese this month to continue the fight for Territorians, and to ensure our story is heard in the Australian Capital Territory.
It is widely known on the road that I come from Tennant Creek. The heavy vehicle industry has worked out I often travel north on a Sunday. They support my overtaking heavy vehicles by giving me the blinker signals. They have worked out who the blue Toyota belongs to. It is great to be working with that industry, the lifeblood of the Territory, both in the urban areas and regional remote areas. It is good to watch what is happening in the regions and see the incredible infrastructure projects go through the design phase, the planning phase and an assessment phase. You then see the contractors on the ground working on that network of 22 000 km of road across the Territory.
It will be great to hit the road at the end of this week and be able to tell people up and down the track that the Northern Territory government is putting a further $260m investment into Territory roads: $27m in the budget is for strengthening, widening, flood immunity and road safety improvements across the network; $3m for overtaking lanes between Darwin and Katherine as part of the National Network roads program. It is really good to see those overtaking lanes have been invested in, in successive budgets, and the safety outcomes they are delivering, particularly between Darwin and Katherine, which is part of a more intensive drive when you are heading north or south. That is great news for further funding to deliver more overtaking lanes.
There is $10m to continue upgrading the Central Arnhem Road, including the provision of passing lanes which will be very important. That project is pioneering work by this Territory government because it is focused on delivering better services into the remote northeast Arnhem country. It will also deliver better outcomes for families by reducing costs and start to explore better heavy vehicle road transport movements that will bring better services and will impact on costs.
There is $4m for strengthening and widening targeted sections of the Arnhem Highway. We have put a great deal of money into the Arnhem Highway and will continue to do so. It is a strategic road, particularly with the oil and gas sector developing on Middle Arm and the resources needed from that area which will be transported by heavy vehicles. There is an $8.5m duplication of the Howard Springs Road from the Stuart Highway to Whitewood Road and associated upgrades, including Gunn Point Road.
I acknowledge the member for Nelson’s hard work in his electorate. I am a great champion of the electorate of Nelson and the member’s advice on the area. It is good advice for the department to ensure it gets it right because there will a large increase in traffic in the area. It is a growth area of the greater Darwin region, and it is good to see money in Budget 2012-13 for the important road works in that area.
The government is committed to providing an accessible and safe road network and Budget 2012-13 delivers a number of strategic roads projects that will deliver this. Our road network keeps the Territory connected, growing the Territory by providing links to health, education and job opportunities. Transport is another very important aspect of the growth of the Northern Territory, and Budget 2012-13 is injecting significant funding in that growth through the implementation of important strategic plans and policies to meet current and emerging needs for land, transport systems and other infrastructure supporting economic growth.
The key planning strategies for the Territory, namely the 10-year transport, infrastructure and road strategies, along with the commitment to meeting the objectives of the Territory 2030 strategy, will ensure this continued growth is supported and catered for into the future.
A challenging but important area of the Territory’s development is correctional services. The Henderson government has shown vision and determination, as well as significant resource allocation, to turn around the lives of disadvantaged Territorians and give them a new start. I am proud to see Budget 2012-13 delivers a $20.2m investment into 189 more prisoner beds, 10 diversion beds - basically rehabilitation beds - working with the non-government sector to address specific offending behaviour, 63 more correctional services staff and associated infrastructure across the Northern Territory.
Funding allocation has been strategically planned in line with our new era in Corrections, including prisoner work orders, the anticipated completion of the 800-bed Doug Owston Correctional Centre at Holtze in 2014, and a host of other initiatives in the area of correctional services.
The government makes no apology for being tough on crime. That has resulted in record prisoner numbers; however, in an historical stage in the Northern Territory, we are going to see a difference. We have set ambitious targets to provide education, training and rehabilitation and reduce the unacceptable recidivism rate throughout the Northern Territory.
Budget 2012-13 continues our commitment to breaking that cycle of crime with a strong focus on boosting staff numbers and capacity within our correctional services facilities. In addition, Budget 2012-13 will deliver important offender education, rehabilitation and training programs under the new era. The new prisoner beds will include a breakdown of $3.5m to manage 95 more prisoner beds at the Darwin Correctional Centre in these challenging times, and $6.59m for 50 more beds and associated support infrastructure at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, including new education and training facilities. They are doing a great job in Alice Springs.
The infrastructure spend is targeted and will be of great benefit ongoing. It will also address our needs at the moment with record numbers - $1.55m to manage 24 more beds at the Barkly Work Camp near Tennant Creek. I was there on Saturday talking to some of the staff and prisoners who were assembling new beds built at the industry section in Alice Springs and transported to Tennant Creek.
I was at the hardware store buying things for some gardening projects at home and bumped into several prisoners, with a prison officer, who were searching out high tensile bolts. They gave me a lecture on the project - the fabrication of metals to build the beds, the angles they had cut, the special step they designed to put into the bunk so the person on the top could get up and down safely, and also why they needed the high tensile bolts for this project. It was great to talk with these guys in a hardware store with a prison officer supervising and to then visit the work camp and see some of the initiatives. The prisoners were working on everything- concreting a pad to build a garden shed, doing infrastructure work around the camp, and running the kitchen and laundry. They were working on the Golden Heart event for a community group, carrying out set up and pull down work for that major show which drew 350 people. They were also doing their normal work in the parks and gardens. I reminded them that this is a new initiative and a powerful commitment from government. They agreed it was a good thing. I finished the conversation by telling them there are no return tickets - it is a one-ticket ride. ‘You go to the Barkly Work Camp, you go home and you do not come back’. All the blokes I spoke to agreed with that.
There is $6.29m for the construction of a 20-bed treatment training facility for driving offenders and non-violent crime offenders at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre site. This is an example of a good, new era initiative addressing specific offending behaviour. When we talk about driving offenders, these recidivists that are sentenced under 12 months - it is very difficult to do much in the current climate. This is forward thinking about specific training and treatment that will address offending behaviour.
This is way ahead of the game of anything I have heard from the Country Liberal Party. It is way ahead of some of the outrageous and disgraceful statements made in this House by the Country Liberal Party about what it will do in Corrections if it ever takes the reins of government. The CLP needs to listen and take advice from a government with sleeves rolled up, doing the work and striving to address a great challenge. It will be a wonderful outcome when we turn around some of the disadvantaged Territorians, get them home and into productive lifestyles where they will feel a difference.
There is an additional $1.61m to provide 10 more alcohol and other drug treatment beds, and associated programs in Darwin and Alice Springs, as an alternative to imprisonment. This is sending a clear message with our new era thinking, with our community custody orders and our community work orders, that you will be mandated to stay out of prison and stay in the community. You will be mandated into work, mandated to attend education, and mandated to attend rehabilitation and treatment to address your offending behaviour.
The funding is also to be used to recruit 63 more Corrections staff across Alice Springs, Darwin and Tennant Creek Correctional facilities. It was great to work with the prisoners on Saturday and be among locals I knew before going into Corrections, now as Correctional Services officers in the new Barkly Work Camp. They are great mentors setting the pace. We were working together side-by-side on Saturday in the set-up of what was a great night at the Golden Heart Awards.
The construction of the new 800-bed Doug Owston Correctional Centre, a 30-bed secure mental health and behavioural management facility, and a 48-bed supported accommodation and program centre at Holtze are some of the major initiatives in the new era of Corrections. That major infrastructure project, representing a multiclassification Correctional Services precinct, will be completed and operational by mid-2014.
The Darwin Port Corporation continues to position itself for significant oil and gas developments, both within Darwin Harbour and the Timor Sea, with the introduction of technological advancements that would deliver efficiencies and, above all, safety outcomes. Key land reclamation projects at East Arm continue to progress, making future wharf space and will accommodate the new Marine Supply Base. Significant investment in the city wharf has made many improvements.
Upgrades to Stokes Hill Wharf, Fisherman’s Wharf and the mooring basin will provide better facilities in relation to tourism, boat operators and commercial fishermen.
Motion agreed to.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for his kind thoughts.
In regard to Budget 2012-13, the output represents a further investment in arts and culture of the Northern Territory. It is an investment in our scientific and cultural collections and, when you look at the institutions on the ground, there are some celebrated icons throughout the Territory: the Araluen Art Centre, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the Northern Territory Library and the Northern Territory Archive Service. The other output making up the budget responsibilities, in relation to arts and museums, is the screen sector. The Arts and Culture output group will also receive $5m in Budget 2012-13 for capital expenditure for our major facility development, repairs and maintenance, and minor new works, which is always welcomed.
Our museums and art galleries play a pivotal role in showcasing the Territory’s rich and vibrant culture, fascinating history and spectacular natural environment for the world to see. Budget 2012-13 delivers towards a scientific and cultural collections output which account for, and preserve and provide access to Territory art, and we certainly have an iconic collection. Our cultural natural history, our plant collections and our education programs all combine to create incredible learning and enjoyment for the whole community.
This output group includes many government owned and operated public facilities in Darwin, including the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Fannie Bay Gaol, Lyons Cottage, the Northern Territory Library, the Northern Territory Archive Service, and that incredible development under the stewardship of the Chief Minister, the Defence of Darwin Experience located on the grounds of the Darwin Military Museum. That has been a fascinating program. Watch that space because the whole world is coming to see that ...
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. We lack a quorum. Ring the bells, please.
We have a quorum. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Alice Springs, government owned and operated public facilities include the Museum of Central Australia; the Strehlow Research Centre - which houses very important pieces of art, culture, heritage and Indigenous knowledge in the Northern Territory; the Araluen Arts Centre; and the Northern Territory Archive Service. In Budget 2012–13, there is an additional $4.2m to continue delivering, facilitating, and promoting performing arts, cinema, visual arts, and tourism programs and attractions for both visitors and locals in Alice Springs.
The museum and art gallery facilities I mentioned, such as the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the Museum of Central Australia, the Strehlow Research Centre and various historic buildings in their care, will receive $10.7m in Budget 2012–13 to account for, preserve, and provide access to Territory art, cultural, and natural history collections.
The Northern Territory Library is the Territory’s major reference and research library responsible for collecting, preserving, and providing access to the Territory’s documentary heritage, and connecting people to the world of information. Budget 2012–13 provides $9.8m to the Northern Territory Library to provide financial policy and advocacy support for the development and promotion of library services in the Northern Territory. There are 33 public library sites in the Territory, with 22 situated in isolated and remote communities. The Northern Territory Library provides leadership and advice in the development and support of library services provided by municipal and shire councils and remote schools.
In Budget 2012-13, there is $10.5m to support the arts and screen sector, and $6.81m for arts grant funding to grow our arts sector. This money is invested in our community and not only provides our cultural, artistic, and heritage pathways but also supports the wellbeing of the Northern Territory community. It shows us who we are, where we came from, and gives us a fantastic base to work out the road map of where we are going. It is a great privilege to work in the sector and to deliver those output groups within Budget 2012–13.
Budget 2012–13 supports our Territory families and gears us for growth. I recommend this budget to the House. Budget week is a good opportunity to make comparisons. Those comparisons relate to either side of this House, with a Labor government going into a planned deficit - a strategic spend, a stimulus response that has set the Territory up in the last four years for the growth we now see - as opposed to an economic rationalist agenda from liberalist thinkers that is a short-term vision to have money in the bank. There is a big difference in those policies. In an election year, it is important Territorians assess that very clearly. It is an important time for Territorians to reflect on strong, responsible fiscal management as opposed to promises and what we saw under the Howard era, with surplus budgets delivered but cuts in services and a poor report card on infrastructure development.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we are proud of this budget. The Treasurer has worked very hard. It has been a great team effort. I love people I learn from, and I certainly learn from the Henderson Labor government. I support Budget 2012-13.
Debate adjourned.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I table the final report of the Council of Territory Cooperation, May 2012.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Other than the Animal Welfare Governance Sub-committee’s report in November last year, this report is the CTC’s first since May last year. It, therefore, includes progress on inquiries into SIHIP, local government, A Working Future and child protection reform over the last year. As it is the CTC’s last report, it includes reporting on all the CTC’s activities since it was established in 2009. It includes summaries of the CTC’s inquiries into the power supply, domestic violence statistics, and the CTC’s Animal Welfare Governance Sub-committee’s inquiry.
The report also provides an assessment of how the government has responded to the CTC, and its sub-committees’, 76 recommendations. Findings are included on child protection reform, SIHIP, local government and A Working Future. As it is the final report, no further recommendations have been made.
It might be useful before moving on to some of the findings in the report, to revisit the purposes behind the CTC’s establishment. These were to facilitate:
(a) greater levels of collaboration in the governance of the Northern Territory;
Under the CTC’s terms of reference, government agreed to respond to any recommendations. As demonstrated by its aims in the terms of reference, the CTC has a unique role in improving collaboration in how major projects like SIHIP are implemented by government.
The idea behind this report was to give a report card on the CTC and its activities. By describing its activities over the last year and including relevant earlier findings and recommendations, the report gives a snapshot of how effective the CTC has been at increasing involvement in government projects and how they are delivered. The report shows how successful the CTC has been in fulfilling its aims. It has held over 30 public meetings across the Territory and heard from ministers, government, local government, businesses, contractors, non-government organisations and private citizens. In addition to the formal recommendations, the CTC sought action on issues needing urgent attention through letters to the appropriate Territory and Australian government ministers.
I turn briefly to each of the CTC’s priorities covered in the report. Following the release of the Growing them strong, together report in late 2010, the CTC decided to monitor progress in reforming the Territory’s child protection system. Because government adopted a three-tiered approach to overseeing the reform, the CTC concentrated on hearing from those three tiers: the External Monitoring and Reporting Committee, the Chief Executive’s Child Protection Taskforce; and the Department of Children and Families.
Although the Country Liberals withdrew from the CTC, the shadow child protection spokesperson was invited to the CTC’s child protection hearings. I am pleased to say the member for Araluen attended a number of child protection public hearings and therefore received information not available elsewhere. The report includes information on progress implementing the government’s responses to the board of inquiry’s 147 recommendations. This in an example of information the CTC receives which may not otherwise be made public.
I want to acknowledge the progress already made in just over a year since the reform started. It is also important to recognise the still significant issues to be addressed. The CTC believes preventative approaches to child protection are extremely important and is concerned limited action has occurred to date to deliver more preventative services to address child neglect. As with responses to other board of inquiry recommendations, there was a growth in steering groups, task force and other strategic planning mechanisms, but less action to address the associated issue.
Recruitment and retention of staff and foster carers, particularly in remote communities, is fundamental to achieving reform in the child protection system. The CTC believes an effective way to address these issues is to employ local Indigenous people on equitable terms to those offered to interstate and international recruits. Lack of appropriate housing is a significant problem which needs to be addressed to retain staff and carers in remote towns and communities. The CTC sought immediate action through ministers to identify and allocate housing for foster carers. We also heard of the problems in identifying staff housing, and government admissions it would take time to build enough government employee housing for the increased number of staff.
The CTC is aware of the many demands for housing in communities. Availability of stable and secure housing in communities is a vital part of the preventative approach to child protection. The long-standing practices of not housing local recruits in government employee housing and not offering the full range of public housing programs in remote communities must be addressed if government is committed to reforming the child protection system.
It is probably appropriate to move to SIHIP, something the CTC has always kept a close eye on. I sometimes wonder why it takes the CTC to raise the problem it sees, and what will happen if the CTC, or something like it, is not keeping an eye on how programs are delivered. The CTC has made many recommendations to improve how SIHIP is delivered; however, some issues remain. The CTC remains convinced that refurbishments, now capped at an average of $75 000, should be delivered using the original scope. The government’s statement of the extra work being done after the SIHIP refurbishments makes it clear the $75 000 limit is not sufficient to return houses to a functional level allowing for healthy living practices. The CTC recommended refurbishment should be undertaken by local building teams. This is one way more work could be undertaken for less administrative cost and employ more local people. The CTC recently heard that the Territory government intends to use local contractors in smaller communities to undertake future housing work.
One of the things Australian and Territory government ministers like to highlight is SIHIP consistently exceeds the 20% Indigenous employment target. SIHIP is a rare, important opportunity to employ and train local Indigenous people for longer-term employment. The real story on SIHIP employment and training is different to the publicised figures. The CTC sought and received quarterly statistical reports that, since 2011, include statistics on SIHIP employment and training. Some high-level information from these quarterly reports is included in the final report. The figures show very few people are employed on SIHIP for more than a few months, and there are very mixed results on training to assist people gain long-term employment.
While the CTC has had many successes in opening up government practices, it remains frustrated in receiving the promised transparency of SIHIP. Despite more than half of the new houses being handed over, it is still not possible to know their associated costs. As it stands at the moment, the program will be close to being delivered before government will disclose housing costs. The information available shows the new houses are costing more than the SIHIP review target of $450 000 each. It is clear additional housing and infrastructure is needed in remote communities. Despite the announcement of brought-forward funding and targets, there appears to be no Territory policy on the priorities for delivery of housing after SIHIP.
Government is keen to push the need for more home ownership in the bush, but this is stalled due to unresolved leasing arrangements. The CTC believes all the public housing programs offered in town - industry housing or community and crisis housing - have to be offered alongside remote public housing. The reality is, despite wishes for home ownership to help resolve housing demand it will not significantly contribute to increasing housing options in communities any time soon.
I turn to the CTC’s findings about local government. The report includes an assessment of the progress made in achieving the forecasted benefits of local government reform. I will not go into that detail; it is there for people to read. However, I want to highlight one of the motivations for local government reform - to increase funding to local government bodies - remains a significant, unaddressed issue. Reform, of itself, has not increased funding to the shires. Totally inadequate funding and the inability to increase their own source revenue means shires cannot deliver the level of core services or employ as many people as they need to. Something must be done urgently to address the tenuous financial situation in the shires. The CTC continues to urge for the reinstatement of services fees that many people told the CTC allow local governments to provide better services.
I move to the findings on A Working Future. The CTC has raised concerns about the choice of the 20 growth towns and the concentration on providing services to those centres, which seem to mean ignoring other smaller communities. I have asked, and will probably continue to ask, about the mid-size communities. People in these communities feel forgotten. Quite often, they are the same communities that did not receive any new housing and also feel detached from the shires. Securing land tenure in growth towns remains a major issue. Now the Australian government is no longer requiring township leases, the default requirement is 40-year leases over government infrastructure. Securing leases and their annual cost is an additional pressure on shires and, presumably, on any aspiring business that wants to set up in growth towns.
Now a 10-year funding for outstations and homelands has been finalised, the CTC believes the announcement of a government outstations policy is long overdue. The CTC agrees with the former Coordinator-General for Remote Services, Bob Beadman, that a clear policy is needed on new and other housing, repairs and maintenance, and support for outstations and homelands.
I thank all members of the CTC over the two-and--half years of its operation. They have all helped open up government and provide opportunities for people to be more involved in how government delivers its services. I thank them for their participation. I should say an extra word about the members for Arafura and Nhulunbuy, who have stuck it out with me for the longest amount of time. The member for Arafura and I do not always agree, but together with the member for Nhulunbuy - sounds like the same problem in the government - who is Deputy Chair - I thank them for their time, patience and contribution to the CTC’s success.
I also place on the record my appreciation to the secretariat staff since 2009. I refer specifically to the committee secretary, Ms Helen Campbell, the principal research officer, Ms Jan Whitehead, who is responsible for this report, and for many of the reports the CTC has brought to this parliament. We need to recognise the CTC’s value could not have happened without her dedication and hard work. She has ensured the CTC has functioned, has its reports out on time, and has contributed very much to the success of the CTC. Also, to her research officer, Ms Alison Stirrup, who is also administrative assistant, for her great work in assisting Jan. We also thank Ms Robyn Appleby and Ms Amanda O’Donnell for all the work they put into the CTC over that period.
I especially thank Michelle, who works for me, and Kim, my electorate officer, who kept me on the right path. They have also given me advice and helped organise meetings in various parts of the Northern Territory on behalf of the CTC. I appreciate the effort and dedication they have put into helping with this report we present tonight to parliament.
The CTC, regardless of the criticism it has received from time to time, has opened up new ground. It has done something other committees have not. They may have done it in part at certain times; however, the CTC was an operating committee which continued for two-and-a-half years. It was unique in that it could, basically, investigate what it liked. It could talk to public servants and could have meetings any time at any place in the Northern Territory. As shown by what it has looked at, it could take on current issues or long-standing issue such as SIHIP. That has been beneficial. From my point of view, the CTC has allowed the public and the media to see what happens within government - allowed them to see the government scrutinised for its policies on an ongoing basis. That is really important because, if we talk about openness and transparency in government, this committee has shown it can be done.
I do not know what will happen after the next election. I hope if the present government wins it will continue with the CTC. It may need some changes and refinement. The CLP has said if it wins government it will scrap the CTC. I hope it reconsiders that because it is an important and valuable tool for openness and transparency in government. As an Independent member of the parliament, it has allowed me to learn things from government departments I normally would not be allowed to know. We do that and have done that at public hearings, so the public can know as well.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the CTC has made an important contribution to the governance and democratic processes of the Northern Territory. It should be proud of what it has done - not perfect, but it has started a new process I hope, whichever government is in power after the next election, will continue in some form for the benefit of the Territory and Territorians.
Motion agreed to; report noted.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, the Speaker has received the following letter from the member for Braitling:
Is the matter of public importance supported? It is supported. Member for Braitling, you have the floor.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is very important to discuss the carbon tax and remind Territorians it is three months until the commencement of the carbon tax in Australia, as put forward by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and her partnership with The Greens and the Independents to stay in government.
Many people will recall the member for Fong Lim introducing a motion in parliament in May last year calling on a 50-year exemption from the carbon tax for the Northern Territory for a number of reasons. I will quickly read that motion:
1. call on the Australian government to exempt the Northern Territory from the proposed carbon emissions tax for at least 50 years or until such time as global consensus
has been reached on a worldwide carbon emissions reduction plan; and
The member for Fong Lim did that in good faith on the understanding the Territory is a widely undeveloped jurisdiction and has not had the opportunity to progress as far as other states in Australia. The motion put forward in this Chamber was supported by the Country Liberals and the Independent members for Macdonnell and Nelson. The motion went through on the voices with Labor opposing it. The member for Daly said at the time:
...
We will not be supporting this motion.
Clearly, the government was at odds with the will of the parliament but the Speaker, to her credit, forwarded the motion to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. My concern is we have not seen adequate response from the Australian parliament, the Prime Minister, the House of Representatives or the Senate to our calling for a 50-year exemption on the carbon tax in the Northern Territory.
We on this side of the Chamber do not support the carbon tax in Australia. We stand for Territorians and do not want to see the carbon tax in the Northern Territory. However, we understand the Chief Minister is reluctant to fight with the Prime Minister, unlike the Country Liberals, who are keen to a fight with Canberra to stand up for Territorians.
We saw that in the live cattle trade debate, when the Chief Minister stood hand-in-hand with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, in Nhulunbuy and announced the live cattle ban. This ban had detrimental effects on economies throughout the Northern Territory, upstream and downstream of the industry, with international effects. It affected economic situations across countries. We still have not returned to the point we were at before the live cattle ban debate. I raise that now to put it in the context of the carbon tax. It is clear the will of the parliament is to oppose the carbon tax.
There are 13 members in this Chamber who oppose the carbon tax and it is the responsibility of the Chief Minister to take that fight to Canberra. Many people put the carbon tax aside saying it is just one issue and we know it does not have widespread political support in Australia. People need to think about the implications of the carbon tax on the Northern Territory. Today I have listened to government ministers say how good a deficit is for the Territory in their budget reply speeches.
I thought: ‘When I wake up in the morning how does a carbon tax affect me?’ When I wake up in the morning I turn the light on and, all of a sudden, I have a carbon tax. The cost of transporting that light switch to my house to be installed will incur a carbon tax, and electricity coming through will incur a carbon tax. The production of the new glass shower screen in my house will incur a carbon tax, and producing the metal around it will incur a carbon tax. I drive to work in my car. Making the parts in the car is energy intensive, which will be subject to carbon tax. Fuel, in the future, will be subject to carbon tax. I attend a meeting, I talk to people about the tourism industry in the Northern Territory, I talk about the implications on aviation. There will be a carbon tax on aviation fuel, not to mention the metal that goes into making the plane if those products are produced in Australia because they are energy-intensive industries.
Talking about the aviation sector, I researched the implications on Qantas, Virgin and Airnorth, and have identified the price of tickets in the Northern Territory will increase because of the carbon tax. I sit down at that meeting with a cup of coffee, and the transportation of the milk in the coffee will be subject to carbon tax. While we are talking about the aviation industry and regional development, I pick up the May 2012 Australian Aviation magazine and see an article by Michael Bridge and Jim Davis. The article says it is not good enough for the government to say the increased costs amount to a cup of coffee per ticket, referring to the carbon tax implications on regional airlines. It is misleading; the analogy is simply not true. The combined effects are easily in the $10 to $20 per sector range. Such increases will have serious consequences for marginal routes, indeed, all regional routes.
In the context of the Northern Territory, you have to think about what that means for the aviation industry and the implications on tourism. I am sure some operators are doing okay, but plenty are not, particularly as you head down the track. We are about to impose another tax on them.
The purpose of this is to explain how much impact the carbon tax will have. Every single thing will be taxed, and it will be a cumulative tax, because there will be taxes on taxes on taxes from one industry to the next. We have the debate around the concrete industry, the cement industry, limestone manufacturing - Mataranka lime and the implications for those guys. Will they be able to survive in that competitive environment being such an energy-intense industry? Will they have to go offshore? Will clinker come from offshore in the future? When we look at the concrete involved in the construction industry, the implications are amazing.
I asked the Minister for Transport about the transport implications of the carbon tax on the price of milk. The minister could not answer. I will attempt to find my question on the price of milk to see how the minister answered it. I recall him saying something about all working together. The government is trying to be silly here. Let us all work together to find the price of a carton of milk. We have asked about the implications of producing steel in the Northern Territory. The government says it does not know.
I am sure they have Treasury modelling upstairs to show the implications of the carbon tax in the Northern Territory, but they will not present it to Territorians despite the fact 13 of the 25 members of this Legislative Assembly are calling for a 50-year exemption, because we are not developed. As the member for Fong Lim said, we have not had the 200 years to develop our economy like other parts of Australia ...
Mr Elferink: I do not recall a dissenting voice or a division.
Mr GILES: I will pick up on the interjection from the member for Port Darwin saying he could not recall any opposition to the motion. I can tell the member for Port Darwin that the member for Daly spoke as the minister for Business. He said on 4 May 2011 in debate:
He also said:
We will not be supporting this motion.
There are other quotations I will not go into.
The member for Port Darwin may also be interested to hear the Housing Industry Association’s comments on 14 July last year, saying the residential building industry will be affected more than most. Further in that regard, the average additional cost of a new house will be between $5000 and $6000, plus the bureaucratic red tape of this government.
I am certain the member for Arnhem, the Minister for Indigenous Development, will not join the debate. I will be happy if she does; however, the importance of carbon tax in the development of Aboriginal communities - what will happen to the cost of living there? We already have higher costs. The carbon tax will send them through the roof. The Labor elite and the Left like to talk about how the carbon tax will be a great thing - carbon abatement. We are going to teach people to not burn as much, not scorch the land, and pay people for not doing that as a carbon abatement measure. That sounds like welfare. Do not start a fire. We will pay you not to start fires. That sounds absolutely crazy. That is what they are going to do.
It follows a similar model of welfare as the royalty for arts program where everybody gets a 5% repeater with the resale of art. You do not have to do anything; you keep getting paid all the time. Absolutely crazy! People have to understand what this carbon tax is all about.
This carbon tax is about the federal government recouping the GST money it hands out. It can get money back to pork barrel electorates around Australia. It will have more money to spend. The big beast, the big behemoth of a massive government Labor likes to operate, both in the Territory and Canberra – its carbon tax is going to the Canberra piggy bank as a substitute for GST money. That is all it is.
The carbon tax will not save the planet; it is just a tax. The tax will not clean up the environment; it will clean out the wallets and purses of Territorians. The more regional you are the more expensive it is going to be. There will be a larger financial impact on your wallet and your purse.
I am not going to talk about the carbon tax all night. I want this parliament to pass a motion for a 50-year exemption from the ridiculous, ludicrous carbon tax the Prime Minister of Australia wants to put forward as part of her dodgy Greens deal. We want to get out of it so we can develop the Northern Territory. This puts into question many opportunities for development that are on the radar - mining for gas, mining for gold, rare earths, and iron ore through the Roper. There are many opportunities, but, at the moment, they are all in question because of Labor’s dodgy carbon tax.
Electricity prices will go up, on average, $2.70 per week for every Territorian. A $2.70 a week increase is not going to save the environment. It is just a tax to fill Canberra’s piggy bank to replace its GST money.
The carbon tax will not clean up the environment. It will simply clean out the wallets and purses of Territorians. I ask the Chief Minister, or whoever talks on this debate, to tell us what happened after the motion was sent to Canberra and tabled. Tell us how you have taken the fight to Canberra to stop the carbon tax in the Northern Territory. Tell us what you are doing.
Earlier today, the Chief Minister was talking about the Leader of the Opposition and a GST carve up. The Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, was on the front foot straightaway. No one will touch our GST. We do not care who is in Canberra. Do the same, Chief Minister, with the carbon tax. Stand up and tell Prime Minister Julia Gillard that you will have none of it. ‘Stay out of the Territory, you are not welcome here’. We know Paul Henderson and Julia Gillard are hand in hand when it comes to doing over the Northern Territory. We saw a perfect example with the live cattle debate. That tore the Territory apart, set us back 15 or 20 years, and we have not rebuilt yet.
Chief Minister, what are you doing to put in place the measures this parliament supported? What are you doing to ensure the Northern Territory is exempt from the carbon tax? What are you doing to protect Territorians? What are you doing to ensure Labor’s unnecessary and ineffective carbon tax will not increase cost pressures on Territorians? It will not achieve its outcomes. This is not just about federal Labor, it is about Labor - Territory Labor, the Chief Minister - Territory Labor, the Prime Minister. They are both collectively doing Territorians over, cleaning out the wallets and purses of Territorians.
This commences in three months from today. Territorians need to be well aware that in three months from today the carbon tax will start and we will all be paying more. The world will not change because we are paying $2.70 a week extra for electricity or because we are paying $10 to $20 a sector more on airfares. Nothing will change in the world because we are paying more money. We are hurting our own economy. We are restraining the advancement of the Territory in its economy and our future prosperity. Chief Minister, come into this Chamber and tell us what you are doing to convince the Prime Minister to stop the carbon tax in the Northern Territory and stop hurting Territorians.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support this matter of public importance: the impact of the introduction of the carbon tax on the people of the Northern Territory.
The difference between the Northern Territory opposition and the government is we are on the same page as our federal counterparts, the federal Coalition, when it comes to this carbon tax. We reject it, we refute it, and support the idea of getting rid of it as and when we come to government. The federal opposition has undertaken to wind it back almost immediately if it comes to government, hopefully, within the next 12 months.
That is where we are very different from the Northern Territory government, which does not have that relationship with its federal counterparts. It claimed, not so long ago in the parliament, it did not support the idea of a carbon tax for the Northern Territory, but that is where it all ended. It was fluff, rhetoric; a pathetic signal it was not intending to do anything. It was an expression of its complete and utter impotence when it comes to representing the real needs of Territorians and this dreadful tax.
This dreadful carbon tax is really a tax on electricity. It is a tax on coal which is, essentially, a tax on electricity. At the moment, Australians depend on coal for generation of electricity - 80% of our electricity is currently generated by coal. It is a very cheap form of energy. It is something we have relied on all our lives in Australia and for centuries before. It is highly accessible in Australia. We are the biggest exporter of coal in the world. It is one of our most valued and envied resources in Australia.
The federal Australian Labor Party, the Labor government, has decided to put a tax on coal - one of our greatest treasures and assets - because of the apparent environmental damage it is having on us all. However, what they are really doing is ripping us all off, because once you start taxing electricity, once you start taxing coal through its carbon emissions - as my colleague, the member for Braitling has already outlined - you are taxing everything in society. There is really nothing that does not include electricity in its production and processing when it comes to goods and services in Australia.
As my colleague said, it is a cascading and compounding tax. It is a tax upon tax upon tax. The federal Labor government should be deeply ashamed of this because it will not impact on the elite rich in society the government continues to identify - the privileged few. It will impact on each and every one of us. That includes the frail, the disabled, and people on very low incomes. Every Territorian will be impacted by this carbon tax. When it comes to the actions, or should I say inaction of the Northern Territory government when representing the true needs, concerns and interests of Territorians, we have seen the government do absolutely nothing to prevent this carbon tax impacting on us.
This is a very serious state of affairs I am sure the Northern Territory government and the Chief Minister would like to see disappear. It will impact on every government department and interest in the Territory. Tourism, agriculture, building and infrastructure, trade, including imports and exports. It will impact on health, education, you name it. It impacts on us all because it impacts on our basic needs - Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When you look at our basic needs as human beings – food, clothing and shelter - all those things will be taxed by this new tax. Tony Abbott calls it a poisonous, toxic tax. Good old Tony Abbott. Hopefully, the future Prime Minister of Australia will abolish this tax because it is pervasive, endemic, cascading and compounding on goods and service we need to survive from day to day.
Madam Deputy Speaker, when it comes to this tax, when it comes to this policy and what to do about this carbon tax in Australia, the Northern Territory opposition is hand in hand with the federal Coalition. We know exactly where we are, we know exactly where we stand, unlike this impotent Northern Territory government which cannot express a true opinion on it. The Northern Territory government has almost mislead the people of the Northern Territory by not honestly and openly admitting it supports Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia, and Wayne Swan, the Treasurer, when it comes to this toxic carbon tax.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, from the outset we should remind Territorians that when the carbon tax was first mentioned, the Chief Minister, Mr Henderson, said he would not support anything which cost Territorians a single cent. I remember listening to him on the radio. That is a misrepresentation because we know the carbon tax is going to cost Territorians dearly.
It is a strange reality when we have a tax, and that is what this is. I am fed up with green initiatives in the country which have cost billions of dollars with not one ounce of benefit to the environment. We should focus on our own back yards instead of trying to save the world. If we all focused on our own back yard and cleaned up our bit, eventually the world would be a better place. But, we cannot. I cannot introduce a policy in the Northern Territory which will save the rainforests in South America, but I can have a policy which will clean up our own back yards. That is what we can focus on. That is within the realms of what the Northern Territory government can do.
This tax, as my colleagues have alluded to, is a compounding tax, unlike the GST, which is handed back at every stage until the final person purchases an item and pays the GST. This is a compounding tax which will become more expensive as we get along. It is a strange philosophy for Labor when it continues to tax the people making a dollar; tax the people who are working whether they are low income earners, middle income earners, or the wealthy. It fails to recognise if you keep taxing these people you take away the incentive to earn a dollar. If these people are not earning a dollar then you do not have any money to provide services you might want to for the less fortunate in this country.
You cannot keep attacking people and removing their incentive by continually taxing them. You only have to look at the mining tax, another tax on the big business of town. Yes, it is the big business, but you have to remember how many people the industry employs. How much tax is paid by those employees? By continually taxing the big end of town, you take away the incentive.
I have spoken to many people about reducing payroll tax. I was talking to a businessman recently who said if the tax was reduced by even 1% he could employ as many as 14 more people in his business. That would be 14 more people paying income tax with money to put into the economy. You have to provide incentives for business, particularly big business, instead of continually taxing them. That is what this is, a damn tax.
It is like running a race. The member for Daly is a pretty fit man and likes to run around. Well, if we use the philosophy of a Labor socialist government and had 10 people lining up in a race it would not matter, because all 10 would win the race. If you take away the incentive to run like the member for Daly does, those people running will have no incentive to win. If you keep taxing people, the people making a living for themselves and for other people, because they risk their own money in business to provide employment - if you continually attack those people you take away the incentive they have to achieve something.
If you look at it in the wild, you have to run. If you do not run - I probably would have been eaten much sooner than the member for Daly because he would be quicker than me. Even in the wild, the quickest survive, the strongest survive, and the weak, unfortunately, are usually eaten, depending on what country you are in.
However, I digress. I will go back to green schemes. I mentioned the billions of dollars spent around the country on green schemes. There are many green initiatives I agree with. There are certain parts of the country where solar is particularly welcome, Alice Springs, for instance. Solar is a necessity in a place with plenty of sunshine, but when you see some of those green schemes that have gone south - cash for clunkers and the pink batts - you question the professionalism of a government which keeps coming up with schemes that keep failing. In fact, I believe they have done themselves some damage over the years.
If I was doorknocking four years ago in the lead-up the 2008 election, I would have said environment was front of mind. It was probably the most important thing for people. From recent doorknocking, that has changed completely. It has slipped right down the rung and things like law and order and good education are more important. Our environment is more important than green schemes.
Going back to the carbon tax, I want to focus on regional aviation. You touched on this earlier, but I wanted to read several articles from Australian Aviation, one dated 1 May 2012. I want to focus on aviation because in the Northern Territory we know how vital regional aviation is. Many of our communities are cut off each year, particularly in the north because of the Wet Season. If it was not for aviation these places would be cut off completely. It is a vital link for the prosperity of the Northern Territory.
This article is dated 10 July 2011: ‘Near $1bn fuel excise hike for aviation under carbon tax plan’, and I will read from the document:
The current excise on aviation fuel is 3.556 per litre.
This adds again - you touched on this earlier - tourism, and how important it is coming to the Territory.
There is another article from probably one of Australia’s largest regional providers, Rex Aviation, on Thursday, 1 March 2012, this year:
That is from a major company. Rex or Regional Express is not a small operator. We have many smaller operators in the Northern Territory that are going to feel it much tougher than a bigger operator who can consume some of the costs.
The reality is, we are talking about a tax not something that is going to change our climate. That is how it is being sold by the federal government. It is dishonest to sell a tax on: ‘We are going to save our planet from a catastrophe’. Basically, a tax is not going to stop it.
I will finish with a letter I wrote recently to a Mr Church in Coorparoo, Queensland, who sent me information he was distributing about the carbon tax. I wrote:
The first quote comes from Shakespeare’s King Lear where he says: ‘Nothing will come of nothing …’. The second quote comes from the Good Book, Matthew 23:24: ‘Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel’. I will come back to those quotes.
As the member for Brennan pointed out, the Chief Minister is being very firm in saying he will not agree to any tax, any measure, which disadvantages Territorians. He has been very clear about that, and has also been very clear about our economy in the Northern Territory, which is essentially based on gas. We gave up firing our electricity generator. I am unsure if it was ever coal, but in my time over the last 30 years it has been diesel. It is now gas, and Power and Water has sourced gas for the next 30-odd years to meet our electricity needs. We are not like those southern states which rely on coal and coal-fired power stations to deliver their electricity. On the basis of that, the Chief Minister and the government have made it very plain that we believe most Territorians will have more money in their pocket each week as a result of this Commonwealth scheme.
We also know, as we said in this House, there are many factors which influence prices of airfares, groceries, raw material, and fuel costs. At the end of the day, governments do not set these prices. Things can vary substantially from place to place and from time to time. Just a small shift in the value of the Australian dollar or world oil prices can affect our prices on a daily basis far more than a price on carbon will.
We have had a consumption tax, the GST. I was sceptical about the GST when it came in. I probably used language similar to that of the member for Braitling about the GST, but the GST has been a positive for Australia. It has certainly been a positive for the Northern Territory, so I am prepared to say I was wrong about the GST. It was a very wise move by John Howard and it benefitted Australia.
Similarly, I believe a price on carbon, a price on pollution, is a wise way for Australia to go. Treasurer Wayne Swan has made it very clear this is not only about reducing carbon emissions, it is also about a new economy in the Northern Territory. That is why the Chief Minister wrote to the Prime Minister and insisted funds currently buying renewable energy certificates interstate be directed towards specific agreed projects in the Northern Territory. There is an opportunity with this change for the Northern Territory to benefit from it. The smartest economies, the smartest people, and the smartest businesses always see an opportunity when everyone is talking about doom and gloom. A price on carbon does afford the Northern Territory an opportunity.
The Chief Minister has been very clear about any changes, and has opposed any significant changes to the diesel fuel rebate system which needs to take into account the unique circumstances of the Territory. This is the same with aviation fuel. It has been a matter of discussion within our Caucus and our Cabinet, and the Chief Minister is very clear about putting that case to the Prime Minister. He has already put that case to the Prime Minister and will continue. This government will put a very strong case because we recognise the importance of those things for the Northern Territory.
In regard to a price on carbon, there are the doomsayers - we have heard them tonight, the members for Braitling, Araluen and Brennan. The theme of what they said is political. It is about standing up to Canberra. That theme has come through loud and clear in this debate. They have said: ‘We stand up to Canberra on everything to do with the Territory but the government does not’. I ask them to consider this: with their Coalition colleagues in Canberra, they opposed the BER which was a benefit to every primary school in the Northern Territory. A number of members have come to openings of BER projects and been full of praise for them and the school councils which have brought those projects to fruition. They are a wonderful thing, and I ask members opposite to reflect on the silly position they had about the BER.
If you want another example: the intervention. When the member for Fong Lim was member for Solomon he was right behind Mal Brough on a number of occasions. He was really getting behind him in some of the silly aspects of the BER, and some of the rules around alcohol, particularly as they affected tourists and anglers. I remember fighting hard, speaking in this parliament, and publicly, about the silly way Mal Brough wanted to declare areas around the Daly River, where an angler - someone going fishing for a barramundi, a great Territory icon - could not have a drink on board because of the silly laws.
Similarly, the way it would affect tourist operators in some areas of the Territory, and I did not hear boo about that. I did not hear boo about that silly drink register of $100 you had to fill out in long hand. I saw plenty of Mickey Mouses, Donald Ducks and Elmer Fudds written there. People did not take that seriously. I did not hear the opposition in this House, or the member for Fong Lim as member for Solomon, coming out strongly and opposing that. Let us put paid to this myth about the CLP standing up. They are a few prime examples.
Today we have an exception. I am glad to hear the Leader of the Opposition has come out strongly about the proposal by some of the conservative Coalition states to cut our GST revenue in the Territory. The charge is being led by Western Australia’s Mr Barnett, and Tony Abbott today, talking about how he stands behind it, said:
This is the unified position of the Coalition Premiers and this is the key quote:
... makes a lot of sense.
The Leader of the Opposition has said that Tony Abbott is in no doubt where the Country Liberals stand on distribution of the Commonwealth’s GST. That is an important statement. However, I wonder whether the Leader of the Opposition has rung Tony Abbott and had a personal conversation with him about this? What about CLP Senator, Mr Scullion? What about their member in the House of Representatives, Natasha Griggs? Are they going to cross the floor should Tony Abbott gain power in the next federal election? The bookmakers have him at $1.19 and the Labor Party at $4.65. What is the CLP doing about that? Is the party instructing its representatives in Canberra to cross the floor to make statements about this? That will be interesting to hear.
Has the Leader of the Opposition picked up the phone to talk to Tony Abbott? The last time we know he spoke to Tony Abbott was about the future of Leo Abbott, where he told Leo Abbott ...
Mr GILES: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Digression from the subject. This is about the carbon tax. It has nothing to do with what the member is talking about.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please pause while I seek some advice. We usually allow a broad-ranging debate for an MPI, but I ask the minister to come back to the topic.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Here is a quote from the Leader of Opposition, Terry Mills:
That was the promise he made to Leo Abbott. Tony Abbott denied he made any such arrangement, so he might be a little tentative about picking up the phone. ‘Oh, it’s a call from the guy in the Northern Territory, Terry Mills. No, I don’t want to talk about that. It was a bit hard the last time we spoke’.
It was obvious on the floor of parliament today that the Leader of the Opposition had no clear idea about what was going on in relation to this matter. It came as a shock to him on the floor of parliament today. Here are his colleagues …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Relevance. This is about the carbon tax and Labor’s failure to get rid of the carbon tax.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, that is a frivolous point or order. Sit down. You have no right to speak after making a point of order.
Dr BURNS: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will put it in context in relation to the quote I made: Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. The reading I have had around the carbon tax is it will represent less than a 1% impost overall. We are talking about something that will strip $2bn out of the Northern Territory budget. Which is more important to the Northern Territory? I suggest the proposal by Colin Barnett to make the GST distribution on a per capita basis - to do away with horizontal fiscal equalisation and have a big money grab at the expense of the Northern Territory. The $2bn we desperately need. We are a small jurisdiction and rely very heavily on GST revenues in the Northern Territory. Eighty percent of our income is from the federal government and here is a proposal by the conservative states, with the exclusion of South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Hello, they are all the Labor states. I want to know if the senators from those states who sit on the Coalition side in what is called the state rights house are going to vote against this as well. This is a big issue for Australia as a whole, and the Northern Territory in particular.
You can talk about a carbon tax which, by comparison, is minuscule compared to this threat to the Northern Territory by your mates in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. The threat is coming from your party. Do not come in here pointing the finger at the government and the Chief Minister.
I have not heard one really solid word about your climate change policy. A policy was introduced in 2009, I believe, by the Opposition Leader which has been completely rolled by the members for Brennan and Fong Lim - completely cut. It is no longer there. The Opposition Leader was quite clear in his belief of the threat of climate change. However, what we have had from opposition members in the last year or so is a complete chopping of that policy. What are you going to put in its place? What is Tony Abbott going to put in its place to address the issue? Nothing. Hence, I come back to my quote from Shakespeare’s King Lear: ‘Nothing will come of nothing’, and so it is with the CLP and its lack of policy.
It is trying to be a small target, trying to get through without policies on anything, but people are interested to know what you are going to do, apart from cleaning up your back yards. The member for Brennan had a thing about different types of light bulbs and the old incandescent light bulb having a vacuum inside it. I pricked up my ears when you were talking about that. However, what are you going to do? You talk about your own back yard, but we have responsibilities as a nation. We have responsibilities as part of this planet and what are you going to do about it. Tony Abbott has no solutions. All he can do is criticise, like you ...
Mr Tollner: It is Tony Abbott’s direct action plan.
Dr BURNS: … he has no alternatives. He has an alternative with the GST, which will strip $2bn of revenue from the Northern Territory. I want to know what the CLP is going to do. Is its representative in the House of Representatives or the Senate - and from other states - going to cross the floor and oppose this should it ever come up in federal parliament?
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for bringing this matter of definite public importance before the House for debate tonight.
Member for Braitling, well done; however, I am very disappointed in the way government has fundamentally ignored what is clearly a definite matter of public importance. We have had you, member for Braitling, the members for Araluen and Brennan and now me. I know there is a queue of people on this side who want to speak on this issue. What is the best we can get from the government in response to this matter of definite public importance which I read into Hansard again: the impact of the introduction of the carbon tax of the people of the Northern Territory?
The best response we can get from the government comes from the Minister for Education and Training, the Minister for Public and Affordable Housing, and the Minister for Public Employment. Lovely bloke, the member for Johnston - lovely bloke. He is a great fellow to have a cup of coffee with. As a matter of fact, I did on the weekend, and a very enjoyable moment was shared.
However, having to trundle this guy out who is looking forward to the rest of his lifetime spent in retirement to argue on this matter of definite public importance is rather rude. It is rude to the member for Johnston. It shows the government has absolutely no interest in this matter whatsoever, and is a slight on the parliament. The government is saying: ‘We don’t care what is done in this parliament because we do not care about it. We do not care that parliament passes motions because we are going to ignore them. We do not care about matters of public importance because we will ignore them too’. That is exactly what the government has done. Count up all of the members of government in this room. I can count one, two, three - goodness me, where are the others …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you know you cannot reflect on who is and who is not in the Chamber.
Mr TOLLNER: To your point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that ruling is about referring to individual members who are or are not present. I have just referred to the fact there are only three members of government in the Chamber listening to the matter of definite public importance. That is quite a fair thing to say ...
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Pause, member for Fong Lim ...
Mr TOLLNER: ... because it highlights the fact …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Pause!
Mr TOLLNER: … we have a government which does not give a stuff!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim, we are still dealing with the point of order. I am going to ask the Deputy Clerk to come forward.
It is a matter of courtesy and respect to the Chamber, member for Fong Lim, and I ask you not to do it.
Mr TOLLNER: I am sorry, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I counted you as part of the three. In your position at the moment I realise you are an independent Acting Deputy Speaker …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! He is reflecting on your ruling and persisting with the very thing you asked him not to do.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I call you to the matter of public importance, member for Fong Lim, and ask you to speak to the debate.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, thank you. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the point I was trying to make, without naming who is in the Chamber and who is not, is the fact that government is not interested in this debate. It cannot even be bothered to send in someone to respond to it. There is no Chief Minister, no Treasurer, no minister for the Environment …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr Tollner: Talking about who is responding to a matter of public importance, not about who is here!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Dr BURNS: You were inferring they were not present.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not believe there is a point of order. Member for Fong Lim, you have the call.
Mr TOLLNER: Let me clarify, I am referring to the fact no one is responding from the government apart from the minister for Education, Public Employment, Public and Affordable Housing and Leader for Government Business. Goodness me! He is a nice bloke, but not the bloke to be responding to this matter of public importance. Lovely bloke, but no idea what he was talking about - rants and raves. He did not say a word in the debate in relation to the carbon tax apart from the fact he thinks it will not even affect us by 1%. Goodness knows what that means.
This is the pathetic effort government will put up to respond to a matter of public importance - a serious matter. Goodness me! In three months time this is on us. We had a peak the other day - the Chief Minister and the Treasurer are not happy with the aviation fuel. Well, goodness me! In three months this is on us. We got a hint the other day that the Chief Minister and the Treasurer are not happy with the aviation fuel. Could they not have thought about that a year ago? Could they have not thought about that when we were debating this motion in the parliament? ‘No, Ms Gillard knows best. She would not do anything to harm the Northern Territory’.
You cannot answer how much the price of a litre of milk will increase or how much more a cubic metre of concrete will cost. I recall, when we asked a question about an airfare to Maningrida. ‘Oh, no, this is nothing to do with that. That is private companies. We do not set prices’. You have input into how prices are set by the taxes you impose on businesses. If you are going to start imposing taxes on business you should have a good idea how it will affect those businesses. To say that has nothing to do with you is a cop out.
Today, the Leader of Government Business asked: ‘What are you doing about Tony Abbott, that dreadful man in Canberra who wants to take our money?’ Then he rants on about how it has to be divided on a per capita basis. He says throw out horizontal fiscal equalisation. He is suggesting someone wants to return to the bad old days of vertical fiscal imbalance. I do not believe anyone has suggested that, but this government will come out with that red herring. We were all around when the GST was introduced. We know how it can change. To change it you need the agreement of all states and territories and the federal government. I do not see anyone in the Northern Territory saying they agree, yet you run this red herring on budget day. Why? To try to hide the dodgy budget you have produced. You have became so bad you conspired to have the shadow Treasurer booted out on budget day ...
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr TOLLNER: Goodness me! How bad are you? How far will you go to plumb the depths of ...
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, there is a point of order. You do not have the call.
Dr BURNS: He is reflecting on the ruling by the Speaker and suggesting there was some conspiracy in Speaker’s ruling. That is offensive to the Speaker, offensive to the House, and he should withdraw.
Mr GILES: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The member for Fong Lim was reflecting on that side of the Chamber conspiring. It had nothing to do with the Speaker. He did not mention the Speaker.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: That was a partial reflection on the Speaker, but I do not believe there is a point of order. I will allow you to continue. I ask you to refer to the matter before the House, which is the MPI.
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I would not have withdrawn the comment anyhow. I believe there was a conspiracy to ensure the shadow Treasurer was not in the room during Question Time today. If that did not occur I will go he, as Syd Stirling once said in this House. What a day to decide to boot out the shadow Treasurer. It is just not on.
Getting back to the red herrings this government will throw out to distract attention - talking about the evil Tony Abbott on budget day. I have news for you, the New South Wales premier, whether a Coalition or Labor premier has, forever, been banging on that they do not get enough of the slice of the GST pie. Similarly, the Western Australian premier, whether Labor or Liberal, has been banging about the fact they do not get enough of the GST pie. South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have always said to leave it as it is. To try to turn this into a party political thing - what sort of sideshow are you trying to run here? We know you are doing it to distract from the main game, which is the dodgy budget which lumbers Territorians with debt until God only knows when.
Getting to the carbon tax, it is a dog. We all know it is a dog. Australians know it is a dog. They know they are not going to fix the climate, and that if we pass this tax somehow we will not have cyclones occur in the Northern Territory. What a load of nonsense. However, this government wants to involve itself in abstract debate. The Leader of Government Business says: ‘Come on, opposition, tell us what your plan is for climate change?’ Goodness me, like it matters? Nobody in my street has said: ‘Oh, my God, the sea level is going to rise and we are going to be flooded out in the next 10 years’. That does not worry them.
What worries them is all the drunks on the streets, the crime, the fact people cannot get a decent education in the Northern Territory, and the fact our government puts us into monstrous amounts of debt and still calls for the introduction of new taxes. That is upsetting people, and that is what this government is trying to distract from every time it says the opposition has to have a view on climate change. What a load of nonsense. Get caught up in abstract arguments, bickering about whether the climate is going to change or not when the real business of the day is not being dealt with. This whole thing is about distracting from the realities of day-to-day life in the Northern Territory.
The member for Braitling is dead right. The only problem is we should have been having this discussion a year ago, 18 months ago, trying to analyse what the carbon tax is going to cost Territorians and how we can get away from it because we cannot afford more taxes. We cannot afford to live in the Northern Territory. I do not know if these guys are walking around with plugs in their ears. I am in the business of talking to people in the lead-up to an election, as I imagine most members of parliament are. People are struggling. Cost of living burdens are killing them. Prices are constantly rising on all types of things.
Many things are out of our control, we understand that, but, in a climate like this, to introduce a new tax based on some abstract argument as to whether the planet is warming or cooling and there are more cyclones and droughts, goodness me! It will not matter one bit if the Northern Territory never signs up to a carbon tax or does anything about carbon pollution. If we quadrupled our carbon output, it is not going to make one jot of difference to the global climate. Why would we agree to something that has no benefit? What you see is, in many cases, detrimental to the environment.
I was reading an article recently about how plastic recyclers down south are threatening to close their doors if the carbon tax is introduced because they cannot operate. Goodness me, we have just introduced a Cash for Containers system. I hope my colleague, the Environment minister, tells me I am correct, because I imagine when we collect all these plastic bottles and they are taken to some collection point they are trucked down south to a plastic recycle business and are recycled. It would be an awful waste if they were dumped in the ground where they were always going to go anyhow.
You would have to ask what the point was. What is the point of having a Cash for Containers scheme if you are going to burden Territorians with an extra cost and, at the same time, nothing changes? We are still going to collect the bottles and dump them in the ground. I hope I am wrong. I hope we are trucking these plastic bottles down south for recycling, minister. I wonder how much longer that will last after 1 July when the carbon tax comes in and all the plastic recyclers go broke and have to close their doors. You cannot suggest closing down plastic recyclers is a good outcome for the environment. That would be an ‘anti’ for the environment.
This is a great matter of public importance the member for Braitling has brought on. I am very disappointed that the government has not treated it with some seriousness. At least try to defend this scheme, which it seems to be so robustly behind and so supportive of, and give some reason why it supports it apart from blind political loyalty. The only thing that drives this government is blind political loyalty. If it had any brains at all it would not support too much from the Gillard Labor government. It is a dog of a government, and the sooner it is gone the better.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, in contributing to this debate I will simply say to Mr Abbott regarding the comments in relation to the GST today: ‘No, we do not agree with you’.
Let us hear the members opposite say they do not agree with Julie Gillard on the carbon tax. I am listening; I am waiting. All I have heard so far are some smartarse comments from the Attorney-General about the Leader of the Opposition. Have we heard them say anything against Ms Gillard, the Prime Minister, who is inflicting this tax on the people of the Northern Territory? No, we have not, because you are not interested in standing up for the people of the Northern Territory. You could not care less as long as your ideology is cuddled up to, Leader of Government Business.
I love the fact these guys keep saying they have a great new plan across a whole range of areas. You get it for workers compensation premiums, the cost to business for bringing in infrastructure for new developments, the cost for workers safety issues, and carbon taxes. Every time we hear the same argument: it will not cost very much; it will only cost a little more. The problem is the businesses do not pay. The businesses either go broke because they cannot afford it, or they pass the cost on to the consumer. That is the reason the cost of living is starting to creep up inexorably, and well above, in many instances, CPI, and the carbon tax is one contributor.
To illustrate the point of how these small bits of legislation affect business, I draw honourable members’ attention to the pile of papers I have in my hand. This is 45 pages long. It is the form which has to be filled out by a business in town to comply with the government’s regulations in relation to one thing only - work health and safety legislation. Forty five pages for a job worth a couple of thousand dollars. It is nonsense! It is absurd, and the cost of those small jobs is passed on to the consumer. This government could not care less because it says it is only a small cost. It takes for a small job, according to this business, four hours to prepare the paperwork for OH&S. For a big job, this business tells me, they spend two-and-a-half days on OH&S compliance from Day 1. That is the frustrating thing.
Ministers are here tapping away on their computers, reading books or whatever it is they are doing. I get no sense of interest from the members opposite about the effects of the legislation they pass and the demands they make on businesses. They do not care. As long as they get the warm fuzzy feeling inside they do not care about the effects their instruments have on businesses. How many businesses have been confronted with bills for infrastructure costs outside their domain?
I am aware of several small developments which have not gone ahead because the demand of government is they replace the infrastructure for hundreds of metres outside the boundary of the project because water pipes or sewerage pipes have to be increased in size or what not. That is a cost impost on business. Where does business send that cost impost should the project go ahead, which in many cases it does not? It goes to the consumer. That is why we have a creeping cost of living inflicting itself on consumers throughout the Territory, yet we pass legislative instruments in this House recklessly and carelessly. It was reckless and careless when it came to the Darwin Waterfront Corporation in relation to its by-laws - something the government had to concede and fix.
It was indifferent to the effect of occupational health and safety legislation changes which were supposed to be universal. They will not be universal because other jurisdictions not only are signalling a delay in introduction to the universal scheme, but are now indicating they are not going to sign up. We inflicted this scheme, despite warnings to the opposite from this side of the House, on businesses throughout the Northern Territory.
All of a sudden, businesses cleaning up asbestos a few weeks ago now cannot do it. What is worse, when those businesses inquire of Work Health and Safety which business can clean up asbestos, they find themselves still on the list as registered to do the job. Check it. It is absurd! Could you imagine the indignity of being told you can no longer do the job you have been doing for several years because you no longer qualify, being told to look at the list and finding your business name as one qualified to do it. What a shambles - what an absolute shambles! I hope the Attorney-General is listening to this because it falls on all fours into his department.
It is a disgrace this is being allowed to occur, yet they could not care less - not one jot, not one iota - about the impacts of their legislative instruments. The multiple codes that come with occupational health and safety were not genuinely considered by this government because, clearly, it has been caught by surprise as a result of these legislative changes. Yet, it joins – in the words of Mark Latham - ‘the conga line of suckholes to the Prime Minister’ and say: ‘Oh, this is such a terrific thing, the carbon tax’, when it is not. It will cost Territorians.
The defence from government is: ‘It will not cost Territorians much in their power prices because we run on gas’. There are no gas-powered trucks driving up the Stuart Highway right now delivering milk, bread and other commodities such as fresh fruit and vegetables to the Northern Territory. They are not gas-powered, they diesel-fired. The last time I saw a locomotive chug through Alice Springs on its way to Darwin it was running on diesel. When aeroplanes fly here, they are not flying on LNG, they are flying on aviation fuels - the kerosene they use. It goes on and on and on.
Any jurisdiction which relies on transport will suffer as a direct result of the carbon tax. Who will suffer? Not the government at all. Who will suffer? The people who are governed because this is another one of our ‘moral duties’ we are told. Apparently, when the Prime Minister of Australia wants to inflict a new tax on people, they now have to adopt a ‘moral duty’, as if, in some way, that makes their position so much more defendable than ‘not supporting the carbon tax is immoral’. It is like a married man having an extramarital affair. If you do not support the carbon tax you are not complying with your moral duty as a citizen of this country.
Well, I say no. I refuse to be cornered by such a stupid, facile argument because I am afraid of being called immoral because I do not believe in a carbon tax. Well, I do not believe in a carbon tax, particularly for a jurisdiction like the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory’s carbon emissions are going to change the amount of carbon in the atmosphere? What nonsense; what absolute rot!
This jurisdiction produces 1% of the 1% of carbon in the world and we are saying we are going to lower our emissions a little. We are going to reduce the 1% of the 1% of the world’s target. To achieve that magnificent result, what do we have from government as reassurance? ‘Oh we have met our moral duty’. Well, nonsense and bunkum! It is just another cost impost so the feel-good brigade on the other side of the House can go to bed at night saying: ‘We have done our moral duty; we have done the right thing’.
In the meantime, Territorians have to pay more at the pump, more at the grocery shop, and more for their power bills. They will have to pay more to the community service obligation for remote communities, and will have to pay more and more. When it comes to occupational health and safety legislation, we have to pay more and, according to this government, when it comes to workers compensation legislation, we have to pay more. When it comes to all the other imposts the government inflicts on Territorians, we have to pay more.
Where is the tax relief? Where is the decision to not pass legislation or repeal legislation so we pay less? Those decisions are not forthcoming. It is all about being social engineers; we will feel good because we have made the workplace safe despite the fact some workplaces will not exist because of the onerous demands of occupational health and safety legislation. Some jobs will not be done. Where those jobs are not done, the costs will be passed on to the consumer.
The Housing Industry Association said the national scheme will add $20 000 to $30 000 to the price of a house and that will be paid by the consumer. Yet, on the television recently I saw a young lady parting with $350 000 to buy a two-bedroom unit made out of Besser blocks in Palmerston. Are we insane paying $350 000 for a basic two-bedroom unit? This is madness, yet we have nothing from government to suggest it is going to attend to it. Was government aware of the problem? It was not in 2007, because in April 2007 the then Planning minister said government only had to release 280 blocks in the Top End. It was not aware of the problem and there was ignorance to start with. When government became aware of the problem it produced a media release, a one-page newspaper ad, and a couple of flyers saying it was going to release X number of blocks by a certain date. It did not get close to that. It got about halfway to the number promised in 2009.
In the first step, it did not know. When it finally figured it out it responded with a plan. Could it execute the plan? No, it could not. These people say they are a government for the people of the Northern Territory. Why is this lady paying $340 000 or $350 000 for a two-bedroom Besser block house on 400m? Well, $30 000 of it is our occupational health and safety legislation. It is absurd. I am not saying every workplace should have carte blanche, but there has to be a balance because, at the end of the day, it is not government that pays, it is the average punter on the street.
We heard the attitude of the Chief Minister today, and this is the part I find most despicable about this government’s attitude. He said this is not the people’s debt, this is government debt. Oh, really? It is government debt so it is all right, it will all go away. Does that mean it is coming out of the Chief Minister’s wallet - he has a lazy $3.5bn worth of hundred dollar notes sitting in his back pocket. He is the government. Nonsense! That is the most spurious argument I have ever heard in this House.
The debt will be paid for by projects in the future, whether it is a Labor or a Country Liberal government in the following way: it will be in schools not built because we will end up paying $1m every day to pay the interest bill alone; it will come from clinics that are not built. Every clinic you build now is a clinic-and-a-half not built in five years time. That is disgraceful. The weasel words from government are: ‘Well, it is all about ensuring we do not take too many jobs away’. You will take more jobs away in the long term, which is the experience being felt in other jurisdictions.
The long-term effect of paying dead money onto an interest bill is dead money. It is gone, and it will not be long before it is $400m a year. That will be money not spent on schools. That is perhaps 10 schools. How many hospitals is $400m? How many police cars on the road? The problem we have on this side of the House is the unrestrained component. The promise to bring it back into surplus at some point in the future betrays a government which has no plan other than to deal with the immediate political problem, and that is not making tough decisions.
If you follow the logical consequence through to where it ultimately ends, you only have to look at what is happening in Europe. The reason there is a credit crunch is because the creditors are afraid the government can no longer pay them back.
We are not there yet; however the logic being followed by this government is precisely the same as that followed by Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain - the PIIGS. The refusal to be fiscally responsible will cause much pain in the future if the government keeps going down this path.
Calling for restraint, calling for a little care now will avoid those circumstances into the future. This government does not have the testicular fortitude required to govern prudently for the people of the Northern Territory.
Discussion concluded.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Tonight I will talk about a recent trip I took with Professor Barney Glover from Charles Darwin University to China. En route we stayed in Singapore. I was privileged to visit the Changi Museum and learn more about what happened at Changi, and in Singapore during the war, and also the Burma Railway.
It was very moving for me. I came away with a deeper appreciation of the suffering and privations many of the men and women, and sometimes children, experienced during those years, and also the heroism of our Australian servicemen who were prisoners of war in Changi and on the Burma Railway. The care and love they showed to one another I found quite moving, the way they supported one another - even when they were very, very ill they would look after someone who was even sicker than they were. It was a very important experience and one I would recommend to others.
In China, we went to Anhui Province and, with Barney Glover, agreements were ratified between Charles Darwin University and a number of institutions in China. We went to Anhui University where we met Professor Cheng Hua, President of Anhui University, and signed documents relating to an exchange program between Charles Darwin University and Anhui University, a much larger university than Charles Darwin University. They are very interested in the partnership with Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory. There is a whole range of reasons for that: social, cultural, strategic and, of course, economic. I commend Professor Barney Glover for making very important relationships, building on those relationships, and it will benefit both Charles Darwin University and the people of the Northern Territory.
I was also very interested to meet with education officials in Anhui, and also visit Hefei Normal University, which is really all about teacher education. With Professor Glover and Professor Wu Xianliang, the President, there were discussions and further progress on teacher exchange and leadership development training programs between that university and the Northern Territory’s Charles Darwin University.
I also managed to meet a number of officials from the Anhui Sport Centre. They regularly send teams to the Arafura Games, and will be sending teams in 2013. It is great to see that support and those links through the Arafura Games. They will be sending a top class team to the Arafura Games in 2013.
Of particular interest was a visit to Hefei No 1 High School, which is a selective school with about 3000 students and about 400 staff. That is a big school, particularly given - it is a selective school - most of those 3000 students are boarders from various parts of the province. I found the size of the school, the endeavour, and the results incredibly interesting. Because they are a selective school, they are aiming for students to attend international universities in the United States and Australia. They were certainly interested in the Northern Territory.
Throughout, we were assisted by two officials from the Consul General’s office in Shanghai, Mr Hongwei Li and Ms Jianwen Xu, who were a very important part of our party because not many people speak English and we had some travel difficulties along the way. They were able to help us navigate around those, so to speak, and still meet most of our commitments. I commend them. They are fantastic employees and workers within the consular system.
Generally, reflecting on my time as a minister and a number of overseas trips, I commend the Foreign Affairs department, the consulates, the high commissioners and the embassies in the way they support the Northern Territory, arrange meetings for the Northern Territory, and help with logistics. They do a fantastic job and consistently say they believe the Northern Territory punches above its weight, and their support is essential to that.
We returned to Shanghai en route back home, and attended the high school attached to Shanghai Normal University. Once again, this is a selective school. It has fewer students - probably about 1300 students in that high school, but the significance of that high school is it has a sister school relationship with Darwin High School. It was a pleasure to meet a number of students who had been to Darwin, had come back and obviously enjoyed the experience, and also those students who will be coming to Darwin in the near future. You could certainly tell they were taken with the Northern Territory; they liked the Northern Territory, and have told their friends about the Northern Territory. It was a privilege for me to interact with those students in the class, particularly the English class, and meet with the Principal, Mr Yan Yiping, as well as some of the teachers.
The relationship with China is very important. As the minister for Resources has often told this parliament, there is much interest from China in our resources in the Northern Territory. We have a very important trading relationship with China, and one thing I noticed was a growing middle class in China. I was quite amazed with that. I had heard about it, but there is certainly wealth flowing through the different strata within China.
The Consul General in Shanghai, Ms Alice Cawte, spoke about tourism and the fact Chinese people are becoming more interested in tourism. They are starting off with guided tours and then becoming more independent travellers, and we should be encouraging them to come to the Northern Territory. The student and staff exchanges and academic exchanges with China would be a great foundation to build on.
At the lunch hosted by Alice Cawte, the Consul General, many people were very interested in education in Australia, the Northern Territory in particular, and many people who have been to the Northern Territory were interested in it. That was fantastic, and I thank the Consul General for arranging those interactions.
We also met with officials within the municipal education system and the number of students is mind-blowing. In fact, the scale of China was something I had trouble coming to terms with - the scale of development and the population. It was a real privilege to accompany Professor Barney Glover. I commend Charles Darwin University in the work it does. It has reached into a number of places, but has not taken its eyes of the main game in the Northern Territory, which is fostering tertiary education within the Northern Territory.
It is pleasing to know the university is also going to benefit through the oil and gas developments. A total of $3m is being invested in the university by INPEX and Total in building oil and gas capacity education for people who want to specialise in that area. That will further support our bid to become the oil and gas hub of Northern Australia, and hopefully Australia.
Charles Darwin University is doing a fantastic job. Its outreach into China is very strategic. Economically, together with Japan, that is where our future lies. It is very strategic to be doing what it is in China. I commend it, and it was a privilege to accompany the Vice-Chancellor and be part of this exchange.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute to three very special rural young achievers. They are Zoe Owens, Lachlan Way, and Sarah Seppings. These three rural people were recently recognised at the NT Young Achiever Awards in recognition of their volunteer work and commitment to the community and helping of others. These young people are an inspiration to everyone. I am sure their families are very proud of them and the recognition and awards they have received.
There are many categories in the achievement awards, and Zoe Owens was a finalist in the Regional and Rural Initiative. Sarah Seppings was a finalist in the Environment, and Lachlan Way was a finalist, and winner, of the Community Services Award. Zoe is an outstanding student at Taminmin College, winning many academic awards each year, and was the recipient of the Australia Day Award for Young Citizen of the Year in January this year in the Litchfield Shire area. Zoe has been involved with many communities, sport, and scholastic activities from an early age, and was recently involved in the Youth Round Table which gave her the opportunity to raise many issues affecting young people, and try to implement changes in the rural area.
Zoe undertook her own community project as part of the Round Table which was called ‘Size Does Count’, and focused on class sizes and the related outcomes in learning. I have read the research report, and it is not only enlightening and educational, it is well written and well ahead in its academic standing, in my view. I know Zoe’s parents, Greg and Cheryl and, as a family, they are exemplary. I am sure they are as proud as punch of Zoe and her achievements.
Sarah Seppings has loved all animals from an early age, and her parents’ property has been home to a large array of four-legged, and no-so-four-legged animals over a number of years. Sarah has been actively involved with community environmental consultation and surveys at public events as part of her work and involvement at the Howard Springs Nature Park. She is studying to be a park ranger at that park. Over the last while, Sarah has also undertaken surveys with the Territory Wildlife Park. As would be expected with this strong interest in nature and animals, it is not surprising to note Sarah is a wildlife volunteer and has an active and strong interest in wildlife conservation. As with Zoe’s family, Sarah’s family are proud of their daughter, and supported her in great numbers at the awards dinner.
Lachlan Way was a finalist and the ultimate winner of the Community Services Award. That is tremendous for Lachlan, who is aged 22 years. Lachlan has achieved so much in his life, and this award is well-justified and acknowledged. Lachlan has been involved with volunteer firefighting since he was 16 years old, and has achieved the rank of Crew Leader which, in the volunteer firefighting world, is a great achievement. This award recognises Lachlan has committed countless hours to helping other people and working to preserve life and property. Each year, countless bushfires are started in the rural area, and it is people like Lachlan who are called out to support and complement the NT fire services in their bushfire work and control.
In the last little while, Lachlan helped with the Central Australian wildfires and also travelled to Victoria to help fight their wildfires. This is a tremendous achievement for one so young, and good on you for doing so much for so many.
This firefighting work is undertaken in addition to his work as an apprentice electrician, and work he does with wildlife care, in particular, snake call-outs. Lachlan has done over 250 snake call-outs in the rural community, as that is where most of the snakes live – unfortunately for those of us who have chooks. He takes much time in educating and helping people deal with these reptiles safely.
Lachlan’s family has a long and esteemed record in volunteer firefighting over many years, if not decades. I know they all share Lachlan’s award and public acknowledgement of his good work.
I pay my compliments to Zoe, Lachlan, and Sarah, and wish them the very best in all the studies and volunteer work they do. Congratulations to them and well done.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I want to speak about the great honour I had over the weekend, to spend time with a wonderful woman, one of the most senior stateswomen in Australia, Hon Bronwyn Bishop. Last year I attended a lunch in Darwin and was very grateful to meet Mrs Bishop. At that function I asked her to come to Alice Springs to meet with the local Country Liberal branch as well as the people of Alice Springs and share her wisdom and experiences as a senior politician. Mrs Bishop came to Alice Springs lunchtime Friday just gone; she immediately got off the plane and hosted a senior’s function. She is the shadow federal minister for seniors, as well as the shadow special minister for state.
Mrs Bishop wooed the crowd of about 60 people, most of whom were seniors, some from aged care services throughout Alice Springs. She imparted information, much of which was fairly new to me. The term ‘seniors’ refers to all people over the age of 50 years, which came as quite a surprise to me. Only 8% of all seniors will end up in a nursing home requiring high level care, and another 12% of seniors will end up in aged care facilities requiring low-level care. In total, only 20% of seniors require some type of institutionalised care at a high or low-level.
She argued it is a myth our ageing population is a burden on society. She argued that seniors contribute significantly to our society by working in employment, by caring for their partners or other people, and by volunteering. She was quite inspirational in her optimism of what seniors can contribute to the economy, to our society, and how they are undervalued by society in general.
She spoke about the new aged care reform the government introduced a few weeks ago, which was quickly overshadowed by the Peter Slipper affair. She said the federal government really gave no detail of what was involved with that aged care package. It was greeted by the stakeholders with a sense of optimism, but, on the surface, it does not offer much in relief to the cost of aged care for most people in Australia who may end up in aged care facilities. She said these reforms will not be introduced until 2014, so was quite realistic but optimistic in her view of what seniors can look forward to in the future, particularly with a change of government to the Coalition.
She also talked about how the carbon tax will affect all Australians, particularly seniors. Seniors will be adversely impacted by a carbon tax and, as we discussed earlier this evening in parliament, this is a toxic tax which will only serve to bring hardship to senior Australians.
On Friday night, Mrs Bishop was guest of honour at a dinner I organised. It was the Beehive and Bow Tie dinner. Over 100 guests were very enthusiastic about Mrs Bishop’s address. Once again, she wooed the crowd with her sensible and well thought out view of the world and how things need to change in order for us to really progress economically and socially in Australia.
One thing which really impressed me was she spoke very highly of Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition. She profiled Tony Abbott in a way which I have never heard before and, once again, gave information which was new to me. I will share some of that information tonight, very briefly.
Tony Abbott is an extraordinary man. He is criticised by different groups and factions within Australia for different reasons, but she presented him as an extraordinary human being, both intellectually and physically. She described how he not only has a Bachelor of Economics and Law from Sydney University, but how he then went on to become a Rhodes Scholar. He studied for a Master of Arts, specialising in politics and philosophy at Oxford University, and he has credentials most people could only dream of. He also was a first grade Rugby player at Sydney University. He was a boxing superstar whilst at Oxford University. He is not only smart but physically strong and a supreme athlete. Now, as we all know, he runs ultramarathons. He has been a member of the New South Wales Fire Service. He has been involved in work such as journalism and business management. He has been a political advisor and Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. He is quite an exceptional human being although you do not hear him described as such in many forums throughout Australia.
I really enjoyed Mrs Bishop, as a colleague of Mr Abbott’s, being completely loyal and honouring him as, potentially, the next Prime Minister of Australia. As a Country Liberal member of parliament in the Northern Territory, I will be carrying that message with me over the period between now and the next federal election and, hopefully, imparting some of that information about Tony Abbott to people who would be interested.
Overall, the visit by Mrs Bronwyn Bishop to Alice Springs over the weekend was a resounding success. She is very interested in all aspects of society. She is a mother and a grandmother. She has been to Alice Springs numerous times. She is interested in Aboriginal people. She is interested in not just her portfolios at the moment, but in business and in the law. She is interested in how people can get together and resolve issues. She was very interested to hear about the alcohol problems we are encountering in Alice Springs. She was very interested to hear the strategies we have in mind to present as alternatives to the Northern Territory government.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it was with a great sense of pride and honour that I put Mrs Bishop on the plane on Sunday. She did the markets on Sunday morning, she ran me ragged. She spent much money and supported the local economy of Alice Springs throughout her visit. She spent up and was received incredibly well by the people of Alice Springs. In fact, I saw people almost fall over trying to ascertain that it really was Bronwyn Bishop strolling down the Todd Mall on Sunday morning browsing through the markets. I will always remember the weekend I had with her and look forward to her returning to Alice Springs soon.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will read an article from a magazine called Eureka. It is written by a Bishop Greg O’Kelly, a Jesuit and now the Bishop of Port Pirie. People might know the Catholic Bishop of the Darwin Diocese, Bishop Eugene Hurley, was also the Bishop of Port Pirie.
Bishop Greg O’Kelly has been the headmaster of two Australian Jesuit schools and has served widely as an educational advisor. The article I am going to read is an extract from his address to the 2012 Catholic Secondary Principals of Australia Conference and his address to the National Catholic Education Convention 2011. In the debate over education we sometimes tend to miss some of the broader aspects of education. Whilst people may not agree with everything the Bishop has said in this article, he has said a number of things which will, I hope, stimulate discussion in the education debate we continually have in Australia.
I will quote from the article:
That is the end of that article, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I raised it today as it was brought to my attention. There is much good thought and room for discussion and debate in our education circles as to whether we are obsessed with things like NAPLAN and whether we come up to the same level as the school next door.
Many of the issues mentioned in this article about depth and discernment, about the ability to make the right choices, are sometimes bypassed and we live in an age where the IT revolution takes over people’s lives. I see it in my grandchildren. The telephone is always there, they are SMS-ing, they are playing games and, to some extent, it reflects the shallowness of people’s lives. That is as far as they get. I hope my grandchildren are being educated with the ability to discern and look more deeply into issues. If we want to educate our children, I hope we do not just classify them as A, B, and C; we classify them as human beings. As the Bishop said in his article, we develop humanity with those dimensions of creativity, of love, of thought, and of worship.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I reflect on a promise made by the Minister for Lands and Planning in last year’s estimates. He promised to the people of Port Darwin he had secured $6m in the following year’s budget - the 2012–13 budget - for the establishment of Flagstaff Park. The promise was the same as one made by the Northern Territory government in 2008: to spend $6m on the development of Flagstaff Park.
I have read Budget Paper No 4 looking for a reference to Flagstaff Park and, for that matter, the old hospital site, and find no reference to Flagstaff Park. I invite the minister to come into this House and demonstrate to me, and the people who live in the seat of Port Darwin, the $6m he promised in 2008. It does not, as far as I can see, appear in Budget Paper No 4. I am happy to stand corrected, and I would be delighted if the minister could reassure me the money is there and I have misread the budget paper. However, I have not been able to find it at this stage. It is not in any of the logical places you would expect to find it in Budget Paper No 4. If the amount of money is not there, then this government has broken its promise to the people of Port Darwin twice.
We have discovered by reading today’s budget papers the government is capable of finding, this year, money from the advertising budget which will lead to savings of $80m over the next four years. This is for government advertising. If the government had not spent the $20m allocated to advertising this year – advertising, consultancies and travel, but the lion’s share of that will be advertising - and spent it on things like Flagstaff Park and the old hospital site, it would be done by now. I would hate to think public servants have been sent, on the travel budget, to investigate what parks should look like only to return to the Northern Territory to say: ‘We spent all the money on the park on travelling to find out what the park should look like. We no longer have money left for the park government promised to build in 2008’. The promise was repeated by the minister for Planning a year ago during the Estimates process.
I ask the minister to reassure the people of Port Darwin that the Flagstaff Park money is there, and I have, in some way, misread the document which should refer to Flagstaff Park.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I also talk about what I consider a growing problem of public drunkenness in my electorate. I see example after example of public drunkenness in my electorate. The government’s policies, on which it is spending millions upon millions of dollars, do not work. They have not worked up until now, and whatever amendments it is bringing in over the next days will continue not to work because the fundamentals of the policy are wrong. It is time for government to admit that. Time and time again, I find myself telephoning the 131 444 number saying ‘There are drunks over here, there are drunks over there, there are drunks drinking all over the place’. This is just my electorate.
I was recently forced to telephone the police because there were drunks in Harriet Place. The police were kind enough to discuss their actions with me afterwards. They were diligent and dedicated police officers; of that there is no doubt. However, the fact is drunks are still there. Government says it is turning off the tap. I see no evidence of it - none whatsoever! I see the violence on our streets and in our communities escalating because the drunkenness on our streets leads to that violence.
There are still matters before the courts which I could reflect on, but I will only do so in the most general way. There have been crimes committed in the past because drunks have been sitting around, getting drunk and then stabbing each other and all sorts of horrible things.
The events in The Narrows yesterday, in the member for Fong Lim’s electorate, sent a shiver up my spine. It is no longer a passive role that some of these drunks play, where they are a little noisy from time to time. There is an escalation in the disregard for the rights of other Territorians when the long-grassers - as we like to romantically christened them; vagrancy in truth - feel they have some right to exert themselves in a way that is contrary to any form of civil conduct. That part concerns me most. I have witnessed this decay in Alice Springs, and note this decay is becoming increasingly pronounced in the greater Darwin area. There is no fear of authority impacting on these drunks in relation to their conduct; they just do not care anymore. This government’s policies are doing nothing to address that. It is more about the media release, I sense, than the policy itself.
The Country Liberals’ habitual drunks policy, which I have explained in detail and at length on several occasions to this House, will address the issue because these people will be in custody. They will be taken out of circulation for months at a time. Hopefully, through the hybrid of the criminal justice system, we can achieve a health outcome.
However, what the government is doing at the moment is a failure. The price is not being paid by members in this House, generally speaking. The price is being paid by the good citizens and burghers of Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, and various other communities in our fine Territory.
On a more positive note, I comment on the work being done at the Fisherman’s Wharf area. I visited the site the other day, had a quick look under the wharf and was delighted to see the work I have been calling for has been tendered out. My appreciation goes to the Darwin Port Authority for expediting the work done there.
However, government has been sitting on a report for several years now where the small- to medium-sized craft berthing facilities of Darwin were identified as being deficient. That report contained several suggestions as to how those deficiencies could be addressed. I still see problems at places like the Duck Pond and other marinas around Darwin, so much so that it was very disappointing for me to pick up the newspaper the other day to see an article about a boat that had to wait outside Darwin Harbour because it had nowhere to tie up.
The capital city of the new Eldorado, according to the members of government, cannot find berthing places for small- to medium-sized craft. We have $80m to find in the budget for advertising, but we cannot find berthing places for our small- to medium-sized craft. We cannot even fix the pontoon at Cullen Bay, which now has two bilge pumps. It is a pontoon: why on earth does a pontoon need one bilge pump, unless it is leaking? This particular pontoon has been decaying over time, and time and time again government promises to fix it. It continues to leak, it continues to list, and I am starting to get the sneaking sensation that the appropriate name on the side of that pontoon should be the Titanic.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise you of the presence in the gallery of Year 7 and Year 8 Taminmin College students, accompanied by Mrs Wendy Williams and Ms Viki Kane. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message No 33
Message No 33
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table Message No 33 recommending to the Legislative Assembly a bill for an act authorising the issuing and expending of public monies of the Territory in respect of the year ending 30 June 2013.
RESPONSE TO PETITION
Petition No 59
Petition No 59
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that a response to Petition No 59 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response will be placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to petitioners.
Petition No 59
Remote Shire Structure
Date Presented: 16 February 2012
Presented by: Mr Westra van Holthe
Referred to: Minister for Local Government
Date response due: 19 September 2012
Date response received: 24 April 2012
Response:
- The Northern Territory government is committed to building on the structure of local government put in place by the reforms of 2008. Local government plays an important role as the third sphere of government and, since reform, a range of benefits have been seen, particularly in terms of stable administration and improved capacity for service delivery. The councils have established better internal systems of financial management, human resources and governance than the previous community government councils. This has enabled councils to access a wider range of Territory and Commonwealth funding for service delivery, especially in remote Indigenous communities.
The Northern Territory government is also committed to improving community participation in and local ownership of local government. This includes ensuring local boards are supported to drive community-level planning and development within shire councils.
- The NTG has made it clear that any boundary expansion in the Top End is to be community-driven and transparent. The NTG welcomes options for sustainable local government services in the unincorporated areas of the Northern Territory.
- Residents who are interested in exploring future options for local government services in the Dundee Beach, Cox Peninsula and Marrakai areas can approach the NTG at any time to discuss a way forward, taking into account and respecting the diversity of views within the region.
MOTION
Routine of Business – Budget 2012-13
Routine of Business – Budget 2012-13
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move –
- That the Routine of Business of the Assembly, Government Business Notices and Orders of the Day be rearranged or suspended if a question or debate is before the Chair so as to permit the Treasurer to deliver the Budget 2012-13 at 11 am this day.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, you have our support for the motion and I thank the Leader of Government Business for advising us well in advance.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Routine of Business – Response to Budget 2012-13
Routine of Business – Response to Budget 2012-13
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move -
- That the Routine of Business of the Assembly, Government Business Notices and Orders of the Day be rearranged or suspended if a question or debate is before the Chair so as to permit a response to Budget 2012-13 by the Leader of the Opposition at 11 am on Wednesday, 2 May 2012.
Motion agreed to.
HEALTH PRACTITIONER (NATIONAL UNIFORM LEGISLATION) IMPLEMENTATION BILL
(Serial 207)
(Serial 207)
Continued from 29 March 2012.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, yes, it is a big day. I will try to take this to 11 am because that is when the Treasurer will tell us plunging the Territory into further debt to the tune of $400m-plus is somehow good for each and every Territorian - $28 000 for every Territorian by the looks of things but there is good news to come, no doubt, down the pipeline. At 11 am we will hear about it.
This is the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill; it is part of national uniform legislation first introduced into this House in 2008. I will run through some of that. As I say, there is only bad news to come down the pipeline at 11 am, so we may as well get through some of this and articulate what it means for Territorians and those people who may not have been listening or following this bill. It is relatively simple, but in some of the way it is presented, can be quite complex.
The purpose of the bill is to transition the regulation of Aboriginal Health Workers, medical radiation practitioners, and occupational therapists from the Health Practitioners Act to the new national uniform legislation. Chinese medicine will also be regulated under the new uniform legislation; however, this profession is not currently registered in the Northern Territory.
The bill also amends the remainder of the Health Practitioners Act to make it primarily responsible for the Pharmacy Committee and regulation of pharmacy in the Health Professional Review Tribunal. The Radiation Protection Act has also received amendments to accommodate the transition of medical radiation practitioner to the new national uniform legislation.
The schedule to the bill ensures other Territory legislation receives amendments to reflect the harmonised registration laws.
The background of how this came about was to create a nationally harmonised regulation of health professionals, agreed to by COAG in 2008, as part of the national partnership agreement. That was to achieve a seamless national economy with regard to our health practitioners. The national uniform legislation of the Health Practitioners Act, as it is, was introduced in November 2009 and commenced on 1 July 2010. It is anchored to the Queensland legislation - Queensland is the host act. This legislation transferred the regulation of 10 health professions from the Territory to a national body. At the time the uniform legislation was introduced the minister indicated the remaining Territory health professions would follow suit on 1 July this year.
We support this legislation. We support the move to enable national registration and recognition of the qualifications of health professionals. We were critical, of course, and still are. It is incumbent on anyone, particularly an opposition – of the standards being used by bureaucracy in the accreditation process.
This move had the potential to allow accreditation and training standards to be influenced and amended by potential motivations, possibly lowering standards to meet a politically promised quota. There is always a chance of this type of thing happening, and it is incumbent on us to keep an eye on this government. It has a history of a culture of cover-up in many, many areas. It has been exposed on numerous occasions by this opposition, a pretty watchful media when it comes to sleight of hand. However, it is important that if we are elected as the next Northern Territory government in August, or any time down the track - governments of any persuasion - an opposition will closely scrutinise this particular concern. You have to be very careful not to over-promise quotas in this area of health and then start to adjust training standards - lowering standards to meet those promises or fulfil those promises and meet whatever quotas you may have promised.
That was our major concern with this legislation. I repeat: we were critical of a potential area in the accreditation process to allow accreditation and training standards to be influenced and amended by political motivations. We have seen it all before. It is very easy to over-promise, particularly in the lead-up to an election. Some members of parliament, some governments, might say and do anything just to be elected. We have seen this government do it numerous times. However, we are all human and it is also something any government - whether it be a Labor or Country Liberals government - has to be aware of. Be very careful of over-promising and, therefore, lowering standards. That was our main concern with this legislation. Having said that, there is no reason to oppose the bill. It completes a legislative agenda the Assembly passed in 2010.
I have a question for the minister and, rather than spend time on it in the committee stage, I will flag it now and perhaps he can respond. We wanted confirmation from the minister: if the tribunal remains responsible for the cost of appointing a legal practitioner to assist it in conducting any proceedings, the person before the tribunal will not become liable for that cost. That is a pretty fair question. Is the minister able to provide an answer to us in a reply - perhaps in the third reading, even on notice - and for those people who might have to wear that cost.
If we look through some of the amendments in the act, we go to Part 2 clause 10, which is a new section 18L. The amendment in this section allows the minister to determine fees that are to be payable to the Pharmacy Committee. The Pharmacy Committee has the power to waive the whole or part of that fee. The new section 18L provision, essentially, replicates section 18 in the repealed Part 2 of the Health Practitioners Act relating to health practitioners registration boards. The minister made no note of what these fees may be, or what they may be for, in his second reading speech. Clause 10 of the bill says:
(1) The minister may, by Gazette notice, determine fees to be paid to the Pharmacy Committee.
I am not sure whether you would put fees in legislation. Perhaps the minister is able to indicate what those fees may be.
Clause 20 amends section 71. Under the current provisions, a regulatory body may appoint an inspector to ensure the act and codes are being complied with, and for boards to investigate complaints or matters that could be cause of complaint. The section also stipulates the inspector must be provided with an ID card which must be returned on the cessation of duties. That has been amended, and that amendment is boards are now the responsibility of the national uniform legislation. The wording has been amended to reflect that only the Pharmacy Committee may appoint inspectors under this act. The new functions of the inspectors are to investigate matters related to the committee’s functions, but may only do so on referral by the committee. Also, the committee’s functions are set out in section 18C and include monitoring, investigation, and compliance with Schedule 8, and prosecute offences against that Schedule 8.
Finally, the amendment allows for provisions relating to ID cards. That has not received significant changes other than the inspector no longer needs to display a signature on the ID cards. So, pretty simple stuff. Under the current provisions, it would seem there is nothing to stop an inspector from investigating matters on their own initiative. This has probably been one of the more significant changes. This has been changed and they can now only investigate matters referred to by the committee.
There are a number of minor amendments to this act; I will not go through all those. The amendment to section 6 refers to a responsible tribunal for Health Practitioner Regulation National Law NT - clause 51. Currently, this section recognises the tribunal established under the Health Practitioners Act as a tribunal under the national uniform legislation. Subsections (2) to (4) set out the composition of the tribunal. The amendment is that the composition of the tribunal is now set out in section 63 of the Health Practitioners Act and the new provisions introduced by the clause clarifies the operation of the appeals process under the national uniform legislation and limits the period for appeal to 28 days after the appealable decision is made, or the reasons for the decision are provided to the person.
We do not think there is anything controversial in that. Twenty-eight days is a standard period for the appeals process through the Northern Territory so there is no problem with that. As I say, we have no real problem with this; it is completing and tidying up the rest of this. Chinese medicine is to come. I imagine that is going to come eventually, but this is really just bringing us into line. This has been debated in this parliament. The bills have been presented on a number of occasions over the last three or four years, and now we get to the point where we are bringing the medical radiation practitioners, occupational therapists and Aboriginal Health Workers into the national uniform legislation.
If the minister is able to answer some of those questions we flagged in the third reading speech, or in the reply, or maybe someone else is able to do it, that would be great. Apart from that, we have no reason to oppose this bill.
_______________________
Statement by Speaker
Audio Problems with Broadcast
Audio Problems with Broadcast
Madam SPEAKER: Just before calling the member for Nelson, I have been advised there is a problem with no sound to the televisions throughout Parliament House. The sound is currently being recorded but it is not coming through the television. I will keep you up to date on that.
_______________________
Mr WOOD (Nelson): It might be a good thing, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker, with the member for Greatorex, I support this bill. I will start by quoting from the second reading:
- As of 1 July 2012, all registered health professionals in the Northern Territory will be covered by the national scheme, and any other professions seeking regulation in the future will need to pursue registration under the national scheme. The principal objective of the national scheme is to protect the public by reducing multiple regulation systems across Australia and professions, and establishing one national system that sets standards and processes to apply Australia-wide.
I agree with that, in principle. National schemes are good as they bring uniformity to rules and regulations across Australia, and can reduce costs and allow people to move from one state to another without having to go through re-registration and that type of thing. I hope that built into these national standards is the ability to recognise that different parts of Australia sometimes have different requirements, and sometimes those requirements may mean uniformity is not necessarily the best way to go.
It is the principle we talk about in this parliament when we discuss national uniform legislation for this and that. We have done it with OH&S and, already, there has been a problem with issues relating to asbestos. Whilst it is a good idea, I hope when ministers attend COAG meetings and say they think this is a good idea, there is enough flexibility in the system to allow for different parts of Australia - which may have different requirements that do not quite fit into this uniformity category - to have some flexibility in the way things are done or the way people are brought under a scheme.
This scheme is going to cover some of those professions not covered in the previous legislation: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heath practice, known as Aboriginal Health Workers; Medical Radiation Practice; Occupational Therapy; and Chinese Medicine. I am pleased to see Aboriginal Health Workers have now become part of a national scheme. My wife was one of the first Aboriginal Health Workers in the early 1980s. Before that, as the member for Arafura said, Aboriginal Health Workers were mainly domestics. My wife was a domestic in New South Wales working for the then Premier of New South Wales, Jack Renshaw AC. She worked as a domestic for him for three years. She then did as much study as you could in those days to become a nursing aide. She worked at Darwin Hospital and also trained at Sacred Heart Hospital in Moreland, Victoria but, unfortunately, homesickness took over. Melbourne in the winter is not exactly Daly River, so she came back home and was given an opportunity to become an Aboriginal Health Worker.
Those courses started in Katherine, from memory, around 1981 or 1982. They were the start of what we have now - the Aboriginal Health Workers – and, under this scheme, are being recognised as the standard for people in other parts of Australia who wish to be called Aboriginal Health Workers. That is great because there is certainly a need for these people. They do a great job. They work locally trying to improve health in fairly difficult situations, although travelling out bush one of the better areas in relation to some of our remote communities is the standard of health clinics. I went to Amanbidji two years ago. It is a little community with about 70 people. It has a fantastic health clinic. The member for Arafura remembers it from when she was Director of Katherine West Health. Many communities rely very much on Aboriginal Health Workers to provide services to those communities.
As an aside, Madam Speaker, I also like the word ‘Aboriginal’ being left in the name. I am not a fan of Indigenous and I use it from time to time. However, Aboriginal people are Aboriginal people. Indigenous, as a name, has caused a fair bit of disagreement in the community because if you read the definition of ‘Indigenous’, it means ‘those born in this country’. That applies to me, but I am not Aboriginal. It is good the word is retained and is now in the national scheme as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practice.
I asked my wife the other day: ‘Do you call yourself an Aboriginal or an Indigenous person? She said: ‘I am an Aboriginal’. She does not have much time for the other word. It is good that phrase has been retained in this area of medical health.
Medical radiation practices, including radiographers, is now included. That is extremely important now we have our oncology unit and nuclear medicine at the Royal Darwin Hospital. It is important to be part of a national scheme. Occupational therapy is important now with more construction occurring in the Northern Territory. People working in those fields are very important, especially in a growing place like the Northern Territory.
In Darwin especially, Chinese medicine would have been around as long as the Chinese have been in the Northern Territory. It is, to some extent, part of our tradition and now it is part of a national registration scheme. One of the good things is people in these fields do not have to change or do anything; they will automatically be transferred to the national register. That is a relief. There is nothing worse than doing the paperwork again just because someone decided to change the system. There is an automatic transfer.
I note, as did the member for Greatorex, the Health Professional Review Tribunal remains the same. Each state will have its own tribunal. I do not know whether that will eventually be harmonised because, after making all legislation uniform, will tribunals have different processes to judge whether a person - I imagine the health professional tribunal is the tribunal that deals with issues in relation to whether a person has been doing their job properly. I hope the reasons for suspension as an occupational therapist in Queensland would be the same as the Northern Territory. Although we are keeping our individual health professional tribunals, I hope the guidelines for those tribunals would be similar, notwithstanding you should still allow for some flexibility in the regulations.
Also, the Pharmacy Premises Committee, which regulates pharmacy premises and is delegated under the Chief Health Officer, remains.
Madam Speaker, I support the legislation; it makes good sense. Whilst uniformity can be good, can reduce costs and can make it much easier for people to find work across Australia, we need to ensure there is an element of common sense in what we do, an element of recognition of regionalism - where we live - and what things may come up in one part of Australia may not be the way it could be done in another part of Australia. As long as there is flexibility within the schemes, I am happy to support the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I support the Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill. I welcome the opposition and Independent support. The member for Nelson raised an interesting policy principle about uniformity of regulation which, essentially, cuts red tape between states and territories and allows competitiveness between states and territories. You always need to find the balance between the two.
You want to know if an occupational therapist is registered here and in South Australia, also the list of professions we are covering - whether it is medical nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, physiotherapy and so on. You want to have confidence in the regulations that, no matter who you go to in whichever state or territory, that person has qualifications to treat and advise you.
It is important to have uniformity of regulation. We have seen this reform come through the Council of Australian Governments, which is responsible for both major and minor reforms. Whilst this can be seen by many people to be dry reform, it is critical that when you present with health concerns you have confidence and certainty in who you are seeing and under what system they operate. It is important if you want to challenge the care you receive, or you want some understanding of what you can complain about, that you know exactly why and how they are operating. It is important we have that clarity and certainty.
I understand completely the point the member for Nelson was making on principle - allowing competitiveness between states and territories; however, you cannot compete on the quality of healthcare. You need to have certainty in what you receive when you see a medical professional - psychology, optometry or osteopathy. You need to know who you are seeing and the care they provide.
We need to see competitiveness in other areas not the quality of healthcare. That was a very good principle the member for Nelson raised; he clearly agrees in quality of healthcare not competitiveness. He agrees with the bill but makes an important point that we need to remember: when we enter into national agreements we do not lose Territory identity or competitiveness. We are doing it to cut red tape and provide an underlying level of service and assistance to people in the Territory. That is what we are doing in this instance, and it is very good reform.
Quite extensive consultation was undertaken for this over many years. This is the third stage of reform. Much of the policy debate around principles happened way back in the first stage through COAG and in the first bill in 2010. A great deal of consultation has been done over the years about how this happens and how to do it. This third bill turns to transitional matters. There were many conversations with the Pharmacy Committee - the member for Johnston, if he speaks today, might speak to this - which looked at many of those issues. Out of that consultation, as can happen from time to time, other issues emerged. It is good to see we have taken those on and are going to look into the pharmacy premises controls and the role of the committee. That is happening at the moment and should be finalised soon. That is good. One of the amazing things when you talk to people is you get a range of issues. It is good to see we have taken on other issues that have emerged during that process, and are looking at fixing those, or working with that community, those health experts, to take on board their concerns and address them.
There were other consultations, mainly around 2008 and 2009, about bringing this in. The national boards have done much work. It is not all about governments; it is about those health professionals having a conversation within their own bodies about what standards they want. They have also had many conversations between their professional associations and the key stakeholders in other jurisdictions about how they are going to bring in mandatory registration standards from 1 July 2012. Our Department of Health has made a concerted effort to contact a whole range of people involved, talk with them, and ensure we get those things right. Much work has gone into these bills over a period of years, both at the national level and a local level.
One thing the member for Nelson raised was, once this happens and we move on, how will the tribunals work and will there be consistency at tribunal level. It is important to bear in mind we will have a Territory tribunal which will be able to take into account local considerations. The standards are the same across the Territory but, when you bring a case to the tribunal – and courts and tribunals always have this process - you get judiciary discretion. That will happen at a tribunal level. If you have concerns at tribunal level, you can always advance it into the courts. The tribunal is not the final spot; it is just where you can go. You will get a good hearing there and a sound decision will be made. However, the court system is available after that.
You can have certainty and confidence in how the system will operate with who you can see and how you can handle things if you have an unfortunate experience with the person treating you. Those systems are in place. It is good to see we have a national umbrella and, when you go to a dental therapist or psychologist, you know who you are going to see, what qualifications they have, and you can have some confidence in what they are doing.
You should have that in Australia. We are a First World nation. We provide excellent service. One of the areas where Australia does well and competes well with other nations is health and the care we take. We have a strong regulatory environment which provides certainty to people when they receive medical treatment in Australia. This has been reinforced by major national COAG reform that might seem dry to many but, at the heart of it, is about providing a continuity of quality of service when you see someone when you are not well, when you want help, or when you want to talk to someone. This is excellent legislation, and it is very good of the minister to bring it into the House.
Madam Speaker, we have had a succession of Health ministers debate this in the Chamber. I congratulate them all for working with their state and territory colleagues to ensure we continue to have a quality of care in all jurisdictions. I commend the bill to the House.
Dr BURNS (Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I support this very important bill. It has been a long journey, as other speakers have alluded to prior to my speaking this morning. It is an important journey and important legislation because it brings national uniform legislation and regulation around vital health professions, vital in Australia in general, but particularly vital to the Northern Territory.
I pick up on a few things the member for Nelson said in relation to this. The member for Nelson, and other speakers, have recognised the importance of harmonising and making uniform the requirements to become registered as a health professional in Australia. By so doing, it will increase the access of health professionals into the Northern Territory because if there has ever been a barrier and obstacle to people moving between jurisdictions it is their registration as a health professional. I can say that through my own experience because I have been registered in four jurisdictions in Australia as a pharmacist, first in Queensland, then Tasmania, then New South Wales, and then the Northern Territory. Each jurisdiction brings with it, in regard to the requirements for legislation, sometimes onerous questions relating to documentation and a whole range of things, and it takes time. It does not really lend itself to people moving between jurisdictions with ease. To enable that to happen we need the right sort of safeguards in place. I am absolutely convinced this national uniform legislation provides those safeguards, not only at a national level, but also at a local level.
One of the complications is the registration of health professionals from overseas, which can be quite complicated. If you think it is difficult for someone who has been to university in Australia and registered in a number of jurisdictions to be registered in a further jurisdiction that can provide complications, it is often very difficult for those overseas to be registered. There is a reason for that: to ensure these people have the appropriate qualifications and experience, and also, in many cases, their literacy and numeracy, their English language, both written and oral, is up to scratch. Nothing could be worse than a doctor making notes about a patient and someone finding difficulty in interpreting that, not just the handwriting but also what is being said, and the clinical notes. There can be no ambiguity. There are sometimes difficulties with people coming to this country to sit exams. They might be very capable doctors, but they also need that dimension of communication. These are important things for Australia.
I know there were complaints prior to this national system about whether some states were allowing people to come in who may not have been suitably qualified who then try to get registered in another jurisdiction and are unable to do so. It creates a bad feeling in those people who might have sold everything, given up everything in their home country to come to Australia. They get registered or provisional registration in one jurisdiction but cannot translate that into registration into other jurisdictions.
It will be good for the Territory because it will mean an easier flow of health professionals, including specialists, into the Territory - nurses, doctors, pharmacists, the whole range of health professionals. It is a very positive step for our jurisdiction and I certainly commend it.
Madam Speaker, I turn to a number of areas in responding to the minister and this legislation. As other speakers have alluded to, we had Stage 1 which was enacted on 1 July 2010 to adopt the national law. Stage 2 was all about transitioning nine Northern Territory health professions to the national scheme on 1 July. I am also aware Western Australia had its own set of legislation but still conforms to the national legislation. It was a worry for a while, whether Western Australia would join in the system but, thank goodness, they considered their position and have gone along with the legislation.
Stage 3, which we are debating now, is the consequential amendments and transitional provisions related to the transition of the remaining three Northern Territory health professional areas to the national scheme. It is due for passage in these sittings and for implementation on 1 July 2012, as I understand it. It has been a long time. This is very important legislation and this is the very final bit of it. I commend the legislation.
This morning I will talk specifically, as one other speaker alluded to, about pharmacy premises. It has been decided that the Pharmacy Premises Committee will be maintained and there will be provision for the regulation of pharmacy business and ownership which is outside the scope of the national scheme. Due to the range of issues raised by stakeholders during the consultation, a review of Pharmacy Premises control and the role of the committee have been approved and are in the process of being finalised.
It might not sound much, regulating pharmacy premises, but it is very significant. I will declare an interest here: I have already talked about being a registered pharmacist in four jurisdictions. I enjoy a very good relationship with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. In fact, I have their tie on this morning which I am proud to wear. The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has led the fight, along with other pharmacy professionals, to retain ownership of pharmacy by pharmacists. This is a very important cornerstone of community pharmacy practice within this country, because there is no doubt the larger supermarket chains want to appropriate pharmacy into their business, which would not be a particularly good move. I am in favour of business; however, pharmacy ownership by pharmacists, run by pharmacists, with pharmacists responsible for it is a cornerstone of the successful community pharmacy practice which has endured in Australia for well over 100 years. This tie celebrates 80 years of the guild. Pharmacy ownership is an important cornerstone of that, and pharmacy premises and defining pharmacy premises is an important way to ensure pharmacy businesses are carried out in the right way.
It is important, in relation to our agenda, that emphasis on the quality use of medicines is met and the higher standards are consistently applied. It guarantees medicines are stored safely and there is provision for reliable and accurate recordkeeping. As I mentioned previously, it is an important underpinning of the model of pharmacy, supported by all jurisdictions in Australia, where independent pharmacies owned and operated by pharmacists place an emphasis on healthcare. That is why, when they do surveys about pharmacies and pharmacists, they rank the top in trust of the advice given by pharmacists and the relationship community pharmacists have with the general populace. It is an important part of our health system.
Talking about pharmacy premises, it also operates in conjunction with pharmacists’ registration provisions to ensure both the pharmacist providing services and the premises at which those services are provided are appropriate to ensure the health and safety objective underpinning health legislation. Also, the quality use of medicine is achieved to ensure health and protection for consumers. This is vitally important. To a large degree, I am offering personal opinions; I am not offering opinions as a minister of this government. However, I am sure they are opinions many people accord with in regard to the practice of pharmacy within our community. It also ensures pharmacies are secure and regulated in accordance with Australia’s international obligations under the relevant United Nations conventions: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the Convention of Psychotropic Substances. Basically, it will also harmonise Northern Territory legislation with similar provisions in our jurisdictions.
The personal opinion I am offering this morning is that it is not desirable for pharmacy to change in regard to the parameters of ownership and operation by pharmacists – that would be a retrograde step. There have been various reports and reviews in the past which have tried to change that situation and open it up for supermarkets to become pharmacies. That is not desirable. I even have doubts about some of the warehouse pharmacies that operate. I am not opposed to them; however, they provide challenges for the regulators to ensure certain medicines have the right controls over where the public access them and their sale. That is a very tricky situation which needs to be monitored. The next step, of course, is to put pharmacies in supermarkets and make them a department within the supermarket and take away the proviso that a pharmacist owns that pharmacy. It has been a very important part of our health system and I hope it endures long after I leave this House.
My colleague, the Minister for Health, also enjoys a very good relationship with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, the AMA, and the Australian Dental Association. They have put the case to him and feel he has been quite receptive. Governments, no matter what their political persuasion, need to take heed of what the pharmacy guild and the pharmacists tell them about pharmacy ownership.
In relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice or Aboriginal Health Workers, I agree with the member for Nelson - this is a very positive step forward. It has been a long road for Aboriginal Health Workers in the Northern Territory and I acknowledge the work of Aboriginal Health Workers across the Territory in very difficult circumstances over many decades. The profession started in the Northern Territory and everyone would recognise the wonderful support and enthusiasm of Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen, a pioneer in this particular area who really had a burning aspiration to support the wonderful Aboriginal Health Workers he knew and worked closely with to provide a pathway to professional recognition. Also, Dr Hargrave at the leprosarium, was a wonderful man who really fostered Aboriginal Health Workers. There are many senior Aboriginal Health Workers in the system today who really look back fondly on those days with Dr Hargrave and Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen.
From my own perspective as a researcher with the Menzies School of Health Research, I worked very closely with a whole range of Aboriginal Health Workers across the Territory. What they did not know about their community and the individuals in that community was not worth knowing. Of course, they respected confidentiality and privacy. In relation to research and that type of thing, they were very supportive and much research and improvement in our health system could not have occurred without the dedication and knowledge of Aboriginal Health Workers within the Northern Territory. It is great to see them being recognised nationally, and it is a feather in the cap for the Northern Territory that something which started in the Northern Territory is now recognised across Australia. During the 1980s I was at the University of New England in Armidale, which started, I believe, the first diploma course for Indigenous health workers. It was a new thing in New South Wales but had been operating in the Northern Territory for quite some time.
This is important legislation. There is still capacity at the local level for flexibility and to accommodate the needs of our local health professionals. As I understand it, there are still boards that are constituted to deal with disciplinary matters at the local level. Of course, the tribunal mentioned within the act can hear appeals. If a health practitioner disagrees with a matter or a finding by the national body, they can appeal locally to the tribunal.
I know the minister had a number of questions, particularly from the member for Greatorex, and I know he will answer those. One aspect the member for Greatorex raised was about standards and that no one wants to see standards diminish. Of course, we all agree with that. There was a time in the debate where some of the specialist colleges in medicine were concerned about setting standards. However, I am advised the colleges are still front and centre in determining those standards - which is very important. We all respect the colleges and, of course, the AMA.
There has been a great deal of consultation. There has been much detailed work go into this in every jurisdiction. I commend the minister for bringing it to fruition now. It is an important step forward for the Northern Territory, and certainly finishes off the COAG process.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House and congratulate the minister for successfully bringing this legislation forward in the Northern Territory.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, in the seven minutes remaining, I express my appreciation on behalf of the Northern Territory community to the members of our three Northern Territory Health Practitioner Registration Boards, which are due to cease operation on 30 June 2012.
I thank Ms Jill Huck, the Northern Territory Manager of the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency, and her team. They have provided administrative support to the Northern Territory registration board over the last three years. From 1 July 2012, the Northern Territory office of AHPRA will be responsible for supporting all registered health professionals and national registration boards in the Northern Territory.
I note the questions raised by the member for Greatorex and I will answer them. In developing national registration standards, national boards have taken on board the requirement for flexibility to ensure they can be applied to practitioners who work in rural and remote areas. We are not compromising quality of care. Northern Territory stakeholders, including the Department of Health, canvassed rigorously for that flexibility for the Northern Territory.
Regarding the accreditation standards set by the national board for each profession, following extensive consultations they said they were not prepared to compromise on standards and we vigorously lobbied the Commonwealth government for that.
The Northern Territory is the only jurisdiction to register Aboriginal Health Workers. Our registered Aboriginal Health Workers will automatically transition to the national scheme on 1 July 2012. Other jurisdictions are working to prepare practitioners for national registration in this profession.
We are working with AHPRA to prepare practitioners to join the Chinese medicine profession under national legislation. Currently, Chinese medicine is only registered in Victoria. The Northern Territory, together with most other jurisdictions, is working towards the commencement date for those professions on 1 July 2012.
The last question raised by the member for Greatorex was regarding the tribunal and expenses. The cost of operating the tribunal, including seeking expert advice from a health practitioner or legal practitioner, will be covered by the relevant national board. These costs were considered when national registration fees were set. It is not an additional cost to health practitioners.
Madam Speaker, this bill is the final stage of implementing the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for the National Scheme for Health Professionals in the Northern Territory. The Health Practitioner (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Bill 2012 seeks to amend the Territory’s Health Practitioners Act to support the final transfer of Northern Territory health professions to the national scheme. The national scheme commences in the Northern Territory on 1 July 2012 and currently covers 10 health professions. The Health Practitioner Regulation National Law contains provisions to cover four more health professions which will apply from 1 July 2012. These are: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practice, known in the Northern Territory as Aboriginal Health Workers; Chinese medicine; medical radiation practice including radiographers; and occupational therapy. We are the only jurisdiction currently registering Aboriginal Health Workers and also we register occupational therapists and radiographers. All of them will transition to the national scheme on 1 July 2012.
The member for Nelson put very well that it is a good idea not to have to go through different registration and tests in the seven states and territories. I have seen people registered in New South Wales have difficulties registering in Victoria when they have exactly the same skills and qualifications. It is the final stage of national registration and national legislation.
I was part of this. My predecessor started the whole process and I thank him very much for his contribution. It is time Australia, as a nation, offers the same standards throughout the nation and not only in health professions. It might be time to do it for teachers and other professions that undertake exactly the same job all over Australia.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the members of the Legislative Assembly. I believe it should pass through the sittings today.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Budget Speech – Photographs by NT News
Budget Speech – Photographs by NT News
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise that I have given permission for the Northern Territory News to take photographs, both today and tomorrow, during the presentation of the budget and the Leader of the Opposition’s reply to the budget.
I also advise that Question Time will commence at 2:30 pm.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of Ms Jennifer Prince, the Under Treasurer, and Ms Jodie Kirkman. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the former member for Nightcliff, Ms Dawn Lawrie, who is the mother of the Treasurer, together with the sister of the Treasurer, Lieutenant Commander Dianne Lawrie. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 Bees Creek Primary School students accompanied by Mrs Alison Holmes and Mrs Linda Brodie. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
APPROPRIATION (2012-2013) BILL
(Serial 208)
(Serial 208)
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I present a bill titled Appropriation (2012-2013) Bill (Serial 208), the subject of Her Honour the Administrator’s Message No 33 notified earlier this day.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. I table the 2012-13 Appropriation Bill and related papers.
Budget 2012-13 ensures the Territory will maximise benefits from the most significant growth in our history. It builds on the investment the Henderson government has made to secure the Territory’s economic and social future, a future that is very bright. Budget 2012-13 is gearing up for growth and supporting Territory families.
The Henderson government is committed to the twin goals of building a strong, prosperous economy and providing quality services across the Territory, ensuring all Territorians benefit. We have supported the Territory economy through a lull in private investment with significant additional infrastructure investment to protect jobs and sustain Territory businesses. We have taken a deliberate decision to carry the deficit so that Territorians would be cushioned from the most severe effects of the global financial crisis.
The Territory’s economy is now set to boom on the back of the Henderson government’s determined effort to attract major projects to the Territory and to build a diverse and resilient economy. We have delivered the INPEX project, with the final investment decision announced on 13 January 2012, the second-largest private sector investment in Australia’s history.
Work has also commenced on the Marine Supply Base which will become the supply and service hub for the oil and gas industry in northern Australia and the region. These projects will underpin our economy for decades and provide first-class jobs for Territorians and opportunities for local businesses. With these major projects under way, it is time to begin a staged reduction in the government’s significant investment in infrastructure. This will be done responsibly over the next two to three years to ensure that work continues across our construction sector while major projects pick up.
Importantly, our commitment to continuing investment in our regions will not diminish. Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the Henderson government’s infrastructure spending has almost doubled - from $900m in 2008-09 to $1.7bn in 2010-11 and $1.6bn in 2011-12.
In Budget 2012-13, infrastructure spending is slightly lower at $1.3bn, but still higher than pre-GST levels, making room for growth in private sector investment. The reduction in infrastructure spending continues over the forward estimates and will allow us to step out of deficit in a managed way.
Budget 2012-13 is a responsible budget. Even though GST revenue has again fallen because of lower spending nationally, we have maintained services in the key areas of health, education, and law and order. We are also continuing to deliver on our A Working Future and Territory 2030 targets.
Discipline in the public sector has continued through the extension of the staffing cap and additional efficiency dividends to limit expenditure growth.
There are no new taxes and no tax increases in this budget. In line with our government’s focus on supporting Territory families with cost of living pressures, Budget 2012-13 continues to fund the best concessions in the nation for seniors, pensioners, carers, students and families. Our home buyer assistance package is the best in the nation, focused on helping more Territorians buy their own home. The budget is positioning Territorians and Territory businesses to take advantage of the opportunities ahead. Budget 2012-13 is gearing up for growth and supporting Territory families.
The Territory is entering the most significant period of economic growth in its history. The level of economic activity, job creation and population growth are all set to increase on the back of multiple strategically and economically important projects.
In 2010-11, the Territory economy grew by 1.6% with growth supported by our government’s record capital works program. Without this timely expenditure on infrastructure projects, economic growth in 2010-11 would have been stagnant at just 0.2%. The $1.7bn infrastructure spend in 2010-11 facilitated substantial projects for roads, schools, public housing, land release, sporting facilities, and created over 3000 jobs. Throughout this challenging period, Territory businesses remained among the most confident in the nation, and the Territory’s unemployment rate remained among the lowest of the jurisdictions. Importantly, nearly 13 000 jobs have been created in the Territory since the GFC.
Economic growth is estimated to strengthen to 2.4% in 2011-12 on the back of stronger private sector investment activity. In 2011-12, private investment is estimated to increase by over 35% to $4.4bn, reflecting increased expenditure on machinery and equipment, new engineering construction, and new dwellings investment by first homeowners and those taking advantage of the Territory’s BuildBonus scheme. This represents the resurgence of the private sector following the lingering effects of the GFC.
The future for the Territory is bright. The $34bn Ichthys project sponsored by INPEX and Total represents a step change in the Territory economy underpinning private investment expenditure, particularly for engineering works, for the next several years. Other key projects under way are the construction of the new Darwin correctional facility and a Marine Supply Base, with work commencing on the INPEX workers village and preliminary site works at Blaydin Point.
Economic growth of 3.9% is forecast for 2012-13, with household consumption making a positive contribution as consumer confidence grows reflecting strengthening employment opportunities. The largest contributor to growth is private investment, forecast to increase by 47.9% to $6.5bn as expenditure on machinery and equipment, structures and engineering, ramp up for the Ichthys and other major projects in the Territory.
Strengthening economic growth in 2012-13 will support further employment growth, forecast up by 2%, and increases in population up by 1.6% as nett interstate migration begins to strengthen with employment opportunities associated with major projects.
The Henderson government has delivered the Ichthys project to the Territory through a determined effort and by creating an environment that is open for business. This project will underpin the Territory’s economy for years to come and move Darwin one step closer to becoming the oil and gas hub of Australia, creating significant new employment and economic opportunities.
Although the Territory is sound, it is predominantly the level of activity in the Australian economy that influences our ability to fund new and expanded services. In 2011, it was evident that the effects of the GFC, including the credit crisis in Europe, continued to affect the Australian economy. Low levels of investment, increasingly cautious consumers, and changing spending patterns towards more GST-free items have led to significantly lower GST collections this year. Total GST collections in 2011-12 are now expected to be $3.1bn lower than the Commonwealth estimated in its last budget, and $387m lower than actual GST collections in 2010-11. This is only the second time GST collections have declined from the previous year. This means the Territory will receive $163m less in 2011-12.
Since the start of the GFC, we have lost more than $770m in GST revenue and expect a further $480m less over the forward estimates compared with the 2011 estimates. The lower GST collections have been partly offset by the Territory’s increased relativity for 2012-13 as a result of the Commonwealth Grants Commission 2012 update. This would have resulted in an additional $83m. However, when the lower GST collections are taken into account, GST revenue in 2012-13 is $125m less than estimated in the 2011-12 budget. Total infrastructure spending in 2012-13 is $1.3bn, with a budget set to a capital works program of $1bn, repairs and maintenance spending of $217m, and infrastructure-related grants of $73m.
Power and Water is estimated to spend $380m on infrastructure. Although infrastructure spending in 2012-13 is lower than the $1.6bn expected for 2011-12, it remains substantially higher than average spending of $545m up to 2008-09.
In Budget 2009-10, facing the challenge of the global financial crisis, the Henderson government took the deliberate decision to go into deficit to support jobs, lifting infrastructure spending to record levels. This followed the delivery of eight consecutive budget surpluses. The Henderson government’s decision to continue to support the Territory economy and jobs through record infrastructure programs until private sector investment recovers, combined with continued reductions in GST revenue, results in expected deficit for 2011-12 of $491m. This is $103m higher than projected in the 2011-12 budget, but lower than the $163m reduction in GST revenue.
There is also an increase in capital spending which has been offset by additional Commonwealth revenue, some of which will be spent in future years. To achieve a surplus in 2012-13, the Territory government would have had to cut infrastructure spending by almost 40% and lose 1000 Territory jobs. That would have damaged our economy and hurt businesses at a time when the Territory needs to gear up for opportunities ahead. This government will not apply a handbrake to the economy in pursuit of a surplus.
We are continuing responsible fiscal management in the face of significant reductions in GST revenue. Further savings measures have been implemented with an increased efficiency dividend of 3%, a further 2% reprioritisation, and continuation of the staffing cap. Cumulative savings from these measures total $300m. New recurrent spending decisions have been limited to improving existing services in essential areas of need, and responding to the priority areas of health, community safety, and jobs.
Importantly, from 2011-12 to 2014-15, the deterioration in the Territory’s budget outcomes is $100m less than the reduction in the Territory’s major revenue sources, and demonstrates the Henderson government’s continued commitment to responsible fiscal management.
Total budget spending for 2012-13 is $5.3bn with an estimated cash deficit of $449m - $188m higher than estimated a year ago. The increase is due to the lower GST revenue of $125m, and mining royalty estimates of $45m as a result of currency and commodity price effects, as well as additional capital requirements associated with Commonwealth revenue received in previous years.
The cash deficits are reducing over the forward estimates. However, lower GST collections and a sensible phased reduction in the infrastructure spending have delayed the plan to return to surplus. The Territory is not alone. All state and Territory jurisdictions are dealing with similar budget outlooks due to the deterioration in our major revenue source while, at the same time, responding to very real infrastructure and service pressures.
Our government continues to constrain its own expenditure in the budget and forward estimates with untied expenditure growth from 2012-13 to 2015-16 limited to 3%, and untied revenue growth over the same period of 5% consistent with the fiscal strategy target of keeping expenditure growth less than revenue growth. For 2012-13, the nett debt to revenue ratio is estimated to be 48%, with the ratio of nett financial liabilities to revenue at 127%.
The Henderson government continues to focus on supporting Territorians to buy their own homes. Budget 2012-13 includes funding the extension of the BuildBonus scheme to 30 June 2012. The stimulus scheme supports the construction of new housing, including off-the-plan, up to the value of $600 000 with a one-off $10 000 grant to purchasers. To date, 106 grants have been paid with another 44 in the pipeline. This is in addition to the successful Buildstart scheme which provided 1080 grants and $15.1m in assistance to Territorians.
Like other jurisdictions, the Territory government will defer abolition of the stamp duty on non-land business property including goodwill, licences and intellectual property previously scheduled for 1 July 2012 until the budget situation permits. The Territory has undertaken significant tax reform saving Territorians and Territory businesses over $540m since 2001. Although not a revenue source for government, motor accident compensation contributions will rise in line with CPI increases consistent with the arrangements for the scheme put in place in 2010.
The Territory government’s commitment to infrastructure spending since the GFC has protected and created Territory jobs. Now major projects are commencing it is time for the Territory government to step down from record spending levels. The infrastructure spend in Budget 2012-13 reduces to $1.3bn but continues to provide for more roads, housing, schools, hospitals and health centres across the Territory. Connecting Territorians through our road network is a key commitment of this government as evidenced by the release of the 10-year road strategy earlier this year. Budget 2012-13 delivers $260m for roads infrastructure including more than $115m for strengthening, widening and road safety improvements across the Territory. Road projects include: the Umbakumba road, the Arnhem Highway, the Port Keats road, the Mereenie Loop, the Central Arnhem Highway, and Tiger Brennan Drive.
The Territory government continues the investment in Power and Water assets with $1.8bn over five years, including $380m in 2012-13 to meet increased demand and improve reliability. Construction of the $105m Marine Supply Base has commenced with most of the work to be undertaken in 2012-13. Our government will also invest $340m to deliver more public housing in our towns and the bush, and in affordable housing options. Government infrastructure spending in Budget 2012-13 will support 2600 jobs.
Budget 2012-13 offers the best range of subsidies and concessions in the nation to support families by delivering $117m through: $63m to subsidise the cost of electricity, water and sewerage for Territory households; $20.7m for the Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme; $3.3m for Back to School Payment Scheme; $6.5m for free school dental services; $4.3m for childcare subsidies; $14.5m for free student bus travel; $3.1m for special needs student bus travel; and $2m for BuildBonus.
Budget 2012-13 continues our stamp duty concessions to help more Territorians into home ownership. First homebuyers benefit from the First Home Owner Grant. The most generous stamp duty concessions in the nation assists well over 10000 Territorians. The first homeowner stamp duty exemption applies to the first $540 000 of the value of the home, with almost 90% of first homebuyers paying no stamp duty.
Seniors, pensioners, carers and veterans buying a home or downsizing their property continue to benefit from the $8500 stamp duty concession, the most generous scheme in Australia. HOMESTART NT supports low- to middle-income earners gain access to the property market. Price cuts for Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs have been maintained, with increases of $15 000 for Tennant Creek and $30 000 for Katherine.
One of the key targets for this government is the delivery of affordable housing for Territorians. Budget 2012-13 provides more than $67m for land development and affordable housing in Johnston and Zuccoli, Maluka Drive in Palmerston, and Kilgariff in Alice Springs. The government is investing $47.6m for 140 new affordable homes in residential developments at Palmerston. On completion, they will be transferred to Venture Housing, the Territory’s affordable rental housing company, to provide below market rental stock to Territorians. This is in addition to the first 35 dwellings becoming available later this year through the Wirrina redevelopment village at Parap.
The total housing infrastructure program for this budget is $340m, delivering improved urban and remote housing, with $60m for urban public housing, $44m for government employee housing, and $188m for remote public housing.
Madam Speaker, the Henderson government boosts its commitment to improving safety for Territory families. The most comprehensive alcohol reforms in the nation commenced in 2011 to target alcohol-related crime, and now more than 2300 problem drinkers are on the Banned Drinker Register. To support closing the net on problem drinkers, the Enough is Enough program has been increased to $71.5m, with a total spend of $18.2m in 2012-13.
Additional funding has been provided for the SMART Court and Alcohol and Other Drugs Tribunal to respond to the number of banned problem drinkers, and additional funding for more withdrawal support, community-based outreach, and new remote alcohol and other drug rehabilitation options.
Additional funding of $2m is provided in Budget 2012-13 to expand youth justice initiatives, including funding to establish and implement a centralised youth justice unit, a recommendation of the Youth Justice System Review, and to expand the operations of the youth diversion units. A further $1m is provided to upgrade the Youth Justice Court.
Budget 2012-13 includes a substantial boost to police numbers, with the Commonwealth providing $49m over two years for 94 extra police. This increase will provide the capacity for Territory police to respond to incidents at the Darwin Immigration Centre. The total Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget for 2012-13 is $342.7m, up $14.7m from 2011-12, with a capital works budget of $28m. This includes $2.7m to complete the new Berrimah Fire Station and $4.1m for the operation of the new facility.
Madam Speaker, in addition to construction work under way on a new Darwin Correctional Precinct, this budget includes $5.8m for a supported accommodation and program centre, and $4.6m for new and upgraded infrastructure at Alice Springs Correctional Centre.
Budget 2012-13 delivers a record $1.2bn to improve hospital and primary healthcare services, including $553m for better hospitals. A massive $45m boost in spending has been provided to Health for 2012-13 to improve and expand health services and meet increased demand pressures within our hospitals. The increase has been directed to a range of programs across the Territory, including the Patient Assistance Travel Scheme, more individual support packages, and improved aeromedical retrieval services.
Budget 2012-13 includes the first stage of the new $110m Palmerston Hospital. This project has been the subject of consultation with the community, and clinicians, to ensure the hospital meets the needs of the Palmerston and surrounding region, and is well supported clinically. The early works package has already been let, with construction work to start on the hospital during 2012-13. The hospital will include an emergency department, up to 60 inpatient beds, provide day procedures, some maternity services, and outpatient services. The total investment in health infrastructure in Budget 2012-13 is $175m, and includes $18.9m for works at Alice Springs Hospital and $68m at Royal Darwin Hospital.
The Commonwealth, through the Health and Hospitals Fund, is also providing $62m for Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals and health centres throughout the Territory. This is in addition to the Territory’s $8.2m for regional hospital and remote clinic upgrades.
Improving the educational outcomes of our children is of vital importance to the Henderson government. Budget 2012-13 delivers $850m for education and training in around 200 schools across the Territory. Budget 2012-13 provides $4.6m to establish an education reengagement centre to co-locate a range of support programs and services for disengaged students in Darwin, Palmerston and remote Top End regions. An additional $350 000 is provided to expand positive behaviour support to schools. This takes the total investment to $2.2m, and $1.1m is provided to expand positive learning centres in Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin and Palmerston.
A further $200 000, as part of a $3.17m program, is provided to support implementation of the new NT Certificate of Education and Training. There are now more than 4200 apprentices and trainees in training in the Territory. This is an increase of more than 90% on the number in training in 2001. Eighteen hundred of these are in the traditional trade apprenticeships in identified skilled shortage areas.
Budget 2012-13 provides $100m towards training and apprentices to grow a skilled Territory workforce. This includes $1.39m to continue support programs for employers of apprentices in occupations with skills shortages and apprentices from disadvantaged groups. $1.3m is available for the Workwear/Workgear Bonus program to help apprentices and trainees with the cost of buying work wear and other work-related necessities during the first year of their apprenticeship or traineeship with a $300 start-up grant. $1000 is available for people who undertake training in identified skilled shortage areas.
This government continues to support Territory families and protect our children through the significant investment in child protection resources. The Growing them strong, together reforms step up again in Budget 2012-13 with a further $7.1m allocated, taking the total reform package to $33.7m this year. Reforms being progressed in Budget 2012-13 include: $11.2m for child protection workers to support improved caseload ratios; $6m to enhance family support programs and roll-out community child safety and wellbeing teams in Territory growth towns; $7.2m for increased payments for foster and kinship carers and out-of-home care services; and $2.9m for an Aboriginal child youth and families peak body and Aboriginal childcare agencies in Darwin and Alice Springs. There is also $1.6m to continue the upgrade of safe places in 15 remote communities, and $1m for the next stage of upgrades at the Alice Springs Youth Hub.
The government’s A Working Future strategy continues to be a focus in Budget 2012-13. The strategy aims to improve the lives of Territorians living in remote areas through new and expanded services and infrastructure. A Working Future infrastructure of $433m is delivered in Budget 2012-13, and includes funding for more housing, roads, schools, and health centres, as well as $16.1m for barge landings at Nguiu and Gapuwiyak and airstrips across the Territory.
The Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments have been working together to develop a new Stronger Futures package to continue services commenced under the Northern Territory Emergency Response. Key elements of the package in 2012-13 are: $21m for community safety and justice including remote policing; $36m for building a quality school workforce; $13m for family support; and $25m for health services.
The Territory’s three-year $30m Indigenous employment package for shire councils to support core local government service delivery continues in 2012. It has also been significantly boosted by a further $20m from the Commonwealth. $680 000 will be spent on a marine ranger program in Indigenous communities, with $260 000 for the Indigenous Fisheries, Science Mentoring program. $600 000 will provide for extension and support services to Indigenous pastoralists, co-funded by the Indigenous Land Corporation. Budget 2012-13 includes $2.5m jointly funded by the Territory and Commonwealth for the Indigenous Training for Employment Program to support Indigenous Territorians in regional and remote communities. $1m ongoing has been provided to continue remote community and sport and recreation programs.
The Territory’s investment in remote essential services infrastructure continues to increase with $38m provided for a range of projects including an additional $7m for water supply upgrades at Lajamanu, Maningrida and Ntaria. In 2012-13, the Territory’s total funding for Indigenous essential services is $76.8m. Budget 2012-13 delivers $27m to provide housing, municipal and essential services to outstations. This includes additional funding from the Territory of $15m.
Improving educational outcomes in our remote communities is essential to closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage. Budget 2012-13 provides $23.45m for continuation of 170 teachers for remote schools. There is $12.55m to expand reforms in remote schools, resulting in more Indigenous teachers, quality literacy and numeracy teaching, and student re-engagement; and $5.16m to better support disadvantaged students including continued investment in Strong Start, Bright Futures colleges. There is also $1.8m to establish a childcare centre in Ntaria. An additional $1.2m will be provided in 2012-13 to expand counselling and support services to a total of $4.4m, with a focus on at-risk students in very remote communities to support them to stay in the school system.
Ensuring the Territory’s unique environment is protected and enhanced is a key element of this government’s strategy. The ecoBiz NT program continues in Budget 2012-13 with $400 000 provided to assist businesses to improve energy efficiency. $600 000 continues the Territory’s Eco-link project which is linking parks and conservation areas in the Territory. $250 000 has been provided to Charles Darwin University to establish the Centre for Renewable Energy. Environmental compliance initiatives continue in Budget 2012-13 with $800 000 provided for this project, as well as $250 000 for habitat mapping of Darwin Harbour. $2.6m will be spent on sustainable management of the Territory’s aquatic resource, and $160000 to establish commercial horticultural opportunities for reuse water in Alice Springs.
The Territory’s lifestyle is the best in Australia and the Henderson government is committed to keeping it that way. Budget 2012-13 provides more for sporting, cultural and other major events and recreation facilities. Support continues and increases for the V8 Supercars, Australian Superbikes, AFL and Rugby Union matches and the BassintheGrass and Alice Springs concerts. Budget 2012-13 sees the completion of new sporting facilities in Palmerston for Rugby League, soccer, netball, tennis and AFL.
The Palmerston Water Park will also open in the middle of the year with an additional $2.3m provided for the operation of the park. The site of the new rural area swimming pool has been finalised and a 25 m eight lane swimming pool with a children’s wet play area will be constructed next to the park and ride facility in Coolalinga. There is $1m in Budget 2012-13 to commence site works.
The upgrade of the Howard Springs Nature Park will also be completed in 2012-13 which includes the construction of walking tracks, biking trails and an adventure playground along with an upgrade of picnic facilities. A further $1.7m will be provided to continue the redevelopment and maintenance of sporting facilities at Freds Pass.
In addition, $1m has been given to the Darwin City Council for a range of projects to redevelop the Nightcliff foreshore. The Defence of Darwin Experience was successfully completed and opened for the 70th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin and there is $150 000 for its operation. Budget 2012-13 continues the government’s $1m sponsorship of the Darwin Festival, and there is $2.8m to host the 2013 Arafura Games. These initiatives, and many others across the Territory, will continue to enhance the Territory’s lifestyle.
Budget 2012-13 is a responsible budget. It supports Territory families with generous concessions and initiatives and is clearly focused on gearing up for growth. The Territory’s future is bright. Budget 2012-13 positions the Territory for the step change ahead by maintaining strength in our economy, supporting jobs ahead of the flow through effects of increased private investment, and supporting Territory families for the most significant phase of growth in our history.
Madam Speaker, I commend Budget 2012-13 to the House.
Debate adjourned.
APPROPRIATION (2012-2013) BILL
(Serial 208)
(Serial 208)
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I begin by congratulating my colleague, the Treasurer, on Budget 2012-13.
It certainly is the toughest budget we have had to put together on this side of the House, given the collapsing GST revenues in the Commonwealth budget. The framing of Budget 2012-13 has been done against a challenging economic backdrop, both nationally and internationally. Despite these challenges, Budget 2012-13 positions the Territory to move into our next phase of economic growth while supporting Territory families. This is why our government has worked hard to attract investment to the Territory. With the $34bn Ichthys project about to come online, we stand on the brink of a period of economic growth which will diversify and strengthen our economy for decades to come.
Additionally, work has already begun on the $110m Marine Supply Base at East Arm. I was very pleased to be there yesterday seeing that work already under way. Congratulations to Macmahons; it is a great Territory company which has been successfully awarded that contract. This is a truly exciting project. It will become the service hub for the offshore oil and gas industry in northern Australia, and will position Darwin to maximise our involvement in this next exciting phase of growth. It is the service supply, the maintenance and support, of billions of dollars worth of offshore infrastructure that will really underpin and diversify our economy for many years to come. It will support whole sectors of small business across the Northern Territory in servicing, supplying, supporting, and maintaining the people who work on those assets.
All of those people need to be fed, need accommodation, and need access to facilities such as computers and the Internet, as well as all of the engineering and logistical support for those offshore facilities. All have to be taken out to those platforms. I thank Alyssa Betts in the NT News today. I thought it was a great analogy on rig tenders being like giant shopping trolleys. I had not thought of that analogy before, but that is exactly what those rig tenders are: giant shopping trolleys that take all those important facilities, equipment, and engineering support out to the offshore platforms. That is why we are building the Marine Supply Base to attract much of the business currently done out of Perth or Singapore to Darwin. It will bring with it new opportunities in job creation, population growth and, of course, significant increased economic activity.
At its core, Budget 2012-13 aims to gear up for the exciting growth that lies ahead while supporting Territory families. The economy is not a means to an end in itself; it is about people living rewarding, fulfilling lives and gearing up for opportunities for their aspirations and their families. It requires the continuation of the strong public sector investment that has seen the Territory manage to maintain job creation and economic growth against the tide of the global financial crisis.
That is the stark contrast between the government and the opposition. The opposition is in pursuit of a headline - that headline being a budget surplus. We have been in pursuit of keeping people in jobs and keeping capacity in our economy until the private sector returns to investment levels.
Territory businesses responded with a remarkable display of confidence over that period. From 2008, Territory businesses have maintained a position in the top three – much of that time in the top one or two - of the most confident businesses in the nation. They have been investing and maintaining employment levels as a result of the strategic decision by government to go into deficit to support jobs.
We are now entering an important transition phase that will move the Territory towards a greater reliance on private sector investment. In the cyclical nature of economies, I want to see over the economic cycles the private sector doing the lion’s share of the investment in our economy. That is certainly going to happen over the next few years.
Whilst there is a slight reduction in infrastructure spending in Budget 2012-13, government has taken the decision to continue to carry a responsible and manageable deficit. As my colleague, the Treasurer, said, at 8%, the deficit and servicing that debt is certainly manageable and very low risk compared to other nations around the world. Delivering a surplus this year would have cost thousands of jobs. It would have meant sacking teachers, nurses, and police - and this has never been a part of my government’s thinking. The Territory needs to maintain its current course. The challenge for the Leader of the Opposition in his reply tomorrow, with the magic pudding he is trying to create, is to bring the budget back into surplus. He has to explain to Territorians how he will do that, because he can only do that by slashing the budget, raising taxes, or a combination of both. I will listen keenly to his response tomorrow.
We have taken the responsible decision to continue a significant level of infrastructure spending to again protect and create Territory jobs. Every Australian jurisdiction, Liberal and Labor alike, is expecting deficits this year. The government’s $1.3bn infrastructure budget for 2012 points the Territory in the right direction as it moves toward the economic change ahead.
Deloitte Access Economics is in no doubt as to what it means. It is predicting an average growth rate of 4.4% over the next five years, but with major developments like Ichthys and the Marine Supply Base in the pipeline, and other resource projects, it is critical the Territory gears up for future economic growth. We are already well advanced in planning for the growth with initiatives like $260m for road infrastructure, and work has begun on the new $110m Palmerston Hospital.
The Leader of the Opposition has criticised the government for progressing too quickly on the Palmerston Hospital. He has called on us to slow down and consult more. The CLP had a plan - I suppose that is where he could save $110m of the $490m he needs to save tomorrow - it could defer building the Palmerston Hospital, along with the current plan to 2025. I am sure that would be up for consideration in where he is going to find the savings. No, we are committed to the hospital and are working, in partnership with the Commonwealth, to fund that.
The government is also continuing its five-year $1.8bn upgrade of Power and Water infrastructure to cope with the growing demand and a growing economy, as well as to improve reliability of services.
Charles Darwin University has entered into an agreement with INPEX and Total to fund an oil and gas excellence centre at CDU. I thank and congratulate INPEX for agreeing to fund $3m to establish that centre at Charles Darwin University. Other companies will also be funding that centre over time.
Importantly, we are developing employment strategies for skilled labour to the next phase of growth. Budget 2012–13 provides $100m for training and apprentices to grow a skilled Territory workforce. There are now 4200 apprentices and trainees across the Territory. That is a very exciting number. On the weekend as I was out and about in my electorate, I was pleased to come across two young fellows who are doing apprenticeships in my old trade. One was two years in, and one was three years in, and both were very excited about their future in the Northern Territory.
Of the 4200 apprentices and trainees, 1800 are in traditional trade apprenticeships and identified areas of skill shortage and a significant component of our Indigenous Territory kids are taking part in that big upswing in apprenticeships and traineeships. This is evidenced through another $3m commitment by INPEX to the Larrakia Trade Training Centre at East Arm, past Berrimah, to provide training and job opportunities for Indigenous people on the Ichthys project.
Budget 2012–13 ensures support for Territory families with the most generous subsidies and concessions in the nation, including $63.1m to subsidise the cost of power and water. In reality, that is around $800 off every average family power bill across the Northern Territory. Again, if the Leader of the Opposition wants to find his $490m, there is $63m there that he can put towards the surplus; however, that would see Territory households have electricity prices increase by $800 a year.
There is $3.3m for the Back to School Payment Scheme. I know, as I get around the Territory, how welcome that $75 per child is in February every year. The cost of Christmas is certainly a big hit on families’ pockets, getting kids back to school is an expensive exercise, and that $75 per child is very welcome across the Northern Territory, in the bush and in the towns.
There is $6.5m for free school dental care - we are probably the only jurisdiction with such a substantial scheme - and $4.3m for childcare subsidies. Again, we are the only jurisdiction in the nation to provide a childcare subsidy. Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition could add that $4.3m to the $63m - that is nearly $70m he can put to his $490m worth of savings he has to find tomorrow - and increase the cost of childcare in the Northern Territory.
There is $14.5m for free student, seniors and pensioner concession bus travel. Again, we are the only place in the country that provides for free travel, really helping to ease family budgets. This has been very welcome across the Northern Territory. There is $20.7m for Australia’s most generous pensioner concession scheme to help support our senior Territorians to live in the Northern Territory amongst their extended family.
Our ongoing investment in infrastructure will see $340m spent on housing, $260m for roads, and $175m spent upgrading hospitals and clinics right across the Northern Territory.
Our focus on health has already delivered more than 780 additional nurses and 255 more doctors since 2002. The Leader of the Opposition has his mantra about spending not being an outcome, and it is not about the amount of dollars it is about the quality of services. I say to the Leader of the Opposition, in regard to a significant health budget of $1.3bn this year, that money is supporting an additional 780 nurses and 255 more doctors, a radiotherapy oncology unit, a palliative care unit, and a significant expansion of clinical services that were not available in the Territory before. That is what that increase in spending provides for. I am sure, in finding the $490m tomorrow, the health budget will certainly be in the Leader of the Opposition’s sights.
Budget 2012-13 continues that same strong focus on building a resilient health system for all Territorians. Royal Darwin Hospital will benefit from a $22m upgrade to increase the number of beds in the emergency department and the short stay unit. This funding will also see two new operating theatres brought online at Royal Darwin Hospital - a real benefit to patients across the Territory. Royal Darwin Hospital is our premier hospital and patients from across the Territory receive services at RDH.
A further $14.3m will be spent on remediation works at Alice Springs Hospital. I am very much looking forward to the opening of the new emergency services department currently nearing completion in Alice Springs. Katherine Hospital will receive $7.7m for short stay patient accommodation, and there will be an investment of $3.7m to upgrade the emergency department at Tennant Creek Hospital. I am sure the doctors and nurses in Tennant Creek are really looking forward to an upgrade of their emergency department.
Budget 2012-13 will provide $33m for remote health clinics at Borroloola, Elliott, Galiwinku, Milingimbi, Ngukurr, Papunya and Pirlangimpi. That is a very significant investment in remote health clinics which will benefit people in those communities. I thank the Commonwealth government for its commitment and support to improving our remote health services in the Territory with a significant amount of funding.
The Opposition Leader has questioned the amount we are spending on health and we know he has that health budget in his sights. We make no apologies for our commitment to improving the health of Territorians. The Opposition Leader clearly does not appreciate the economic realities when it comes to providing the doctors, nurses and resources needed for a 21st century health system.
Budget 2012-13 continues to support Territory families through a record investment of $950m for education and training. We are nearly at $1bn for the education budget. Of this, $95m will go directly into providing better schools for Territory children. I recently visited Kintore and Groote Eylandt and looked at schools there. I can certainly see, over the 10 years of our government, how much better resourced our schools are today, with much better infrastructure than when we came to government. It is always a great thrill for me to enter into any classroom across the Northern Territory and see great kids and great teachers doing great work.
The challenge of attendance is still with the Northern Territory. It is not just a challenge for government; it is a challenge for our Territory community. Those kids I saw at Kintore the other day were reading and writing as well as Territory kids in Darwin. It shows, if you get those kids to school every day they will fly in all our classrooms across the Northern Territory.
Our commitment to education has delivered an extra 465 teachers in the classrooms of the Territory since 2001. Budget 2012-13 delivers $3.6m as part of a $246m program to upgrade every primary and group school in the Northern Territory - a massive investment on top of the investment in the BER program that saw significant improvements to every school. For the life of me, I still cannot understand how the opposition could have condemned that investment. I cannot conceive of the opposition being in government and saying no to that investment in our schools. It has been one of the most significant investments education in the Territory has ever seen. It has been welcomed by every school I have been to. The only people who knock that investment in the Northern Territory are opposition members.
Importantly, Budget 2012-13 also delivers a safer community for Territory families by giving police and firefighters the additional resources they need to do their jobs properly and professionally. Police, Fire and Emergency Services’ budget is $343m in 2012-13, an increase of 150% since Labor came to government in 2001. We already have the highest per capita number of police in Australia. There are currently three squads in training, and we recently negotiated a $49m deal with the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship to provide a further 94 police to manage any issues at the Northern Immigration Detention Centre.
Once the additional 94 police are on board it will mean an increase of almost 50% in Territory police numbers since 2002. When we came to government, NT Police had the highest attrition rate in the country; it was double the national average. It was a demoralised, dispirited, dejected police force. We have completely turned that around. However, it is a very different story for police elsewhere in Australia: New South Wales police are facing cuts; Tasmanian police are to have their operational strength reduced; in South Australia there will be a recruitment slow down; and the Victorian budget is being handed down today and police are very concerned about what is going to happen to their numbers.
The Territory government remains committed to delivering a safer community through increased resources to our police through Budget 2012-13. Funding of $1.5m is provided in 2012-13 to upgrade the Numbulwar Police Post to a police station and provide essential services for houses, a communications tower, boat shelter, and generator.
Budget 2012-13 provides a range of initiatives to tackle alcohol abuse and antisocial behaviour, including $7.73m to maintain Police Beats in the Northern Territory. We know that is where the Leader of the Opposition will find some of his $490m; by scrapping Police Beats in the Northern Territory. The one in Alice Springs, across Darwin, and in Palmerston will all be closed under the CLP to contribute to the $490m it needs to make in savings to return the budget to surplus. There is also $1.75m to maintain CCTV systems in Darwin, Casuarina, Palmerston and Alice Springs, including funding to employ additional CCTV monitors; nearly $1m to maintain the First Response Patrol; and $1.5m to support police bans under the Banned Drinker Register as part of the Enough is Enough alcohol reform package.
Territorians in remote parts of the Territory have not been forgotten, and Budget 2012-13 delivers $35m for police in remote communities, including $19.5m to support policing in 18 remote communities, a key aspect of A Working Future; $13m to continue works on the Gapuwiyak and Ramingining Police Stations as part of A Working Future; $2.5m to reduce substance abuse through dog units in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine, and substance abuse intelligence units in Alice Springs and Katherine.
Importantly, $18m from Budget 2012-13 will be spent on tackling alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour. If you are not tackling alcohol, you are not tackling crime. We have already seen almost 2400 problem drinkers placed on the Banned Drinker Register. Police say this is the best tool they have been given in their battle to combat alcohol-related crime and antisocial behaviour. Despite what the police say, those same 2400 problem drinkers would be given the right to get back on the grog under a Country Liberal government. I urge the Leader of the Opposition to consider the tragedy that would befall so many victims of domestic violence if he gave those people the right to consume alcohol again. The vast majority of assaults in the Northern Territory are inter-family assaults. They are domestic violence fuelled by alcohol. A significant number of those 2400 problem drinkers are on the Banned Drinker Register as a result of alcohol-related domestic violence. Allowing those people easy access to grog again would be a tragedy.
In addition to ensuring Territorians will continue to have an adequate number of police and police resources, Budget 2012-13 delivers in other areas for our emergency services. Part of our planning for projected Territory economic growth includes the need for a modern, flexible and adapted fire and rescue service to adequately service the community into the future.
It is anticipated the new Berrimah Fire Station will be completed in September this year. The new station will include an urban search and rescue equipment storage facility and facilities for Darwin’s emergency services volunteer unit. I have inspected the site on Berrimah Road a couple of times. It is a very exciting project and I congratulate the Tomazos Group which was awarded the contract and will build us a fantastic new fire station at Berrimah.
The co-location of Darwin’s emergency services volunteer unit with the fire and rescue services will also provide dual training use of the facilities of the fire tower. Emergency services can use this as a rappelling tower for their vertical rescue training. The new modern facility will also enable improved emergency services vehicle storage, office space, training equipment storage, and increased on-site training capability. It is also intended to become the central coordination point of our volunteers in major events and emergencies.
To continue the recruitment and training of 12 additional fire fighters required for the new Berrimah Fire Station, $1.1m is provided. This will ensure the new facility will have its full complement of 22 and will be ready to respond to emergencies in the greater Darwin area. It was great to be there recently to meet our recruit fire fighters who are currently in the recruit squad. They are really looking forward to completing their training and getting out across Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs into a fantastic new career.
Budget 2012-13 also continues to invest in the Territory’s child protection services, increasing support for children and young people with more than $33m. This includes $7.1m for the ongoing reform of child protection services. This forms part of a five-year $130m package to help protect children across the Territory. Importantly, Budget 2012-13 will meet additional frontline staff, along with expanded services for children in care and family support programs.
I thank our foster carers throughout the Northern Territory. Recently in my electorate, I have been overwhelmed when meeting some incredible people who are taking kids across the Northern Territory into their homes in Lyons, Wanguri and Leanyer. I always find it inspirational to meet families who open their homes to kids from extraordinarily difficult circumstances and backgrounds. Foster carers do an incredible job and, through the minister, I say thank you to those incredible people in the Northern Territory who open their homes to some really disadvantaged kids. I am pleased this will mean increased payments for foster and kinship carers, residential care services and therapeutic services.
The Territory stands on the brink of an exciting future with major developments that will certainly underpin our economy for decades to come. However, an economy is not just about numbers. An economy is about people. People who are leading rewarding fulfilling lives, who have exciting employment opportunities, opportunities to raise great families across the Northern Territory, and those opportunities are opening up like never before. This budget was not the budget to be putting the handbrake on the economy as the Opposition Leader and the CLP would. This budget, especially the infrastructure budget, is going to support 2600 jobs in the economy until those major projects kick in. There would be hardly anywhere in the world, per capita, that would have created 13 000 jobs since the global financial crisis of 2008.
Leader of the Opposition, you could be back into surplus immediately by cutting $491m out of the $1.3bn infrastructure package. What that would mean is probably no upgrades at Royal Darwin Hospital, Katherine Hospital or Tennant Creek Hospital, and all those health clinics in the bush would not be built. There would be a range of options - maybe you could hack into the $260m roads program in the Territory, or maybe not progress with the building of the Marine Supply Base that would see those opportunities lost into the future. As well as not having those services and not leveraging private sector investment, you would immediately sacrifice 1000 jobs across the Northern Territory. A responsible government does not do that. I run a responsible government.
I thank the Treasurer, and all my Cabinet and parliamentary colleagues, who have really had to work through the most difficult financial circumstances we faced since coming to government. We have delivered a responsible budget, an affordable budget, a budget that sees the Territory gearing up for the growth and private sector investment that is going to return. It supports Territory families across the Northern Territory. I congratulate the Treasurer on Budget 2012-13.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the Northern Territory Budget 2012-13, a carefully developed, financially responsible budget which demonstrates our ongoing commitment to improving the lives and wellbeing of all Territorians.
To answer the Chief Minister’s question about Victoria, yes, Victoria today posted a budget surplus of $150m; however, 4200 public servants are going to lose their jobs. That is what the Liberals are doing. Surplus is one thing, but who cares about the average citizen who might go home tonight with a ‘don’t come Monday’ notice. This is what it means for many of the conservative parties - to balance the budget - but there is also a split personality here because the federal Liberal opposition argues against the federal government bringing in a surplus budget. Here we have the opposition in a conservative position demanding a surplus budget, promising to bring a surplus budget, but my question to those opposite is: at what cost?
Over previous years, this government has substantially increased the health budget to ensure we are able to meet an increasing demand on health services for Territorians. When I first became Health Minister, I promised to deliver a health service to Territorians equivalent to what you get down south. This increase in demand, essentially, reflects the Australia-wide trend and is driven by factors such as our ageing population, improved diagnostic technology and, in the Northern Territory, high levels of chronic disease and the cost of transporting people from rural and remote areas to receive essential care and treatment.
The 2012-13 Health budget is a record budget totalling $1.2bn. I repeat that. The Department of Health budget for the coming year is $1.2bn, the largest for any Northern Territory department, reflecting the magnitude of the health challenges we face on a daily basis. We are committed to providing quality and affordable healthcare close to where people live to support Territory families. There is $1.2bn to spend on health, and the Leader of the Opposition has been in the media many times saying the Labor government spends money but there are no outcomes. Well, either he is deaf, blind, or both, because there are outcomes.
I am very proud to spend this money for health, especially when I see the level of anaemia in Indigenous kids collapse to what we have not seen before, Indigenous infant mortality has decreased, cervical cancer in Indigenous women has decreased by 92%, and cervical cancer rates for other women in the Territory are down by 65%. Of course, I am very proud to spend this money when people in remote communities are on renal dialysis, when people in remote communities receive clinics and Aboriginal Health Workers, doctors and nurses. I am also very proud when I hear the life expectancy of Aboriginal women in rural and remote areas of the Territory has increased by five to six years.
The increase in the budget this year is 152% more than 2001-02, when we came to government. It is a significant investment in the health and wellbeing of all Territorians, and recognition and support for our staff who work around the clock, some in remote and complex conditions, to provide high standards of care, treatment and support. The doctors and nurses are like health staff, the cleaners, the kitchen hands, and all the other support staff who work within the Department of Health and with our non-government sector as partners in healthcare delivery.
I turn now to some of the specifics. In 2012-13, the five Territory public hospitals will operate under the Northern Territory Hospital Networks with one in Central Australia - Alice Springs and Tennant Creek Hospitals - and the other in the Top End, which will include the Royal Darwin Hospital, and Katherine and Gove Hospitals. For the first time, the hospital networks will operate as government business divisions. The hospital networks are a key platform of the National Health Reform Agreement the Northern Territory signed up to with the federal government.
In total, our five public hospitals and associated acute care services will receive $775m in 2012-13. That equates to an additional $54.3m in funding, including an additional $7.8m for improving hospital services, $10.7m for the Patient Assistance Travel Scheme to support travel for Territorians living in rural and remote regions who require specialist health services, and $13.6m for the aeromedical retrieval service.
The Palmerston Hospital, the one the Leader of the Opposition does not like very much because apparently we are fast-tracking it, will receive $10m for the first services to be put in place. The design consultations are progressing well with clinicians and stakeholders, and will soon expand into community forums to display the preliminary designs.
I move from hospitals to acute care services. Another important area of service provision is the health and wellbeing output which is responsible for providing community health, mental health, support services for frail, aged people and people with a disability, and support for senior Territorians. In this budget we have provided a $48m increase in funding, which includes a $12.7m increase in this government’s ongoing commitment to assist clients in the community who have a disability, particularly those with exceptional and complex needs.
Thanks to the Henderson government, the Northern Territory has one of the most generous seniors, pensioner, carer and veteran support schemes in the nation. That will be boosted in 2012-13 by a further $4.6m. This brings the total next financial year for this important scheme to $20.66m.
Sadly, alcohol consumption has a major impact on the health and wellbeing of the Northern Territory community. It is a key component of this government’s alcohol reform policy and of the department’s effort to close the gap in life expectancy. In recognition of this, an additional $3.6m is provided to continue alcohol reform services development, including the Substance Misuse Assessment and Referral for Treatment - the SMART Court will draw support on community outreach programs.
Last, but still important, we will continue our commitment to major capital works projects across the Territory. In addition to the existing capital works program, additional projects amounting to $63.7m will commence in 2012-13. An additional $67m will ensure the continuation of major upgrades throughout the area of Royal Darwin Hospital where we have the completion of the 50-unit 100-bed patient accommodation complex and the creation of a geriatric evaluation and management unit which will decrease hospital stays and improve healthcare of elderly patients.
Two major capital projects on the Royal Darwin Hospital campus specifically designed to provide much-needed accommodation of patients, primarily from remote areas, are due for completion in 2012. The first is the 100-bed accommodation complex and the other is the accommodation for Aboriginal mothers who need to travel to Darwin from remote communities to give birth. Both these projects are funded by the Commonwealth government. We argued for a long time and pestered the federal government to put these important facilities in place through Commonwealth health funding.
I turn to my Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources portfolio. Budget 2012-13 provides considerable opportunities to grow our economy in creating jobs and ensuring the great lifestyle we have all come to enjoy continues into the future. We seek to maintain solid economic growth to deliver the Territory’s prosperity, ensure our long-term future, and become a key international centre in the development of our resource industries in line with the Territory 2030 targets.
We will ensure we continue as a premier recreational fishing destination as this government is continuing its commitment to improve fishing infrastructure in 2012-13. Not only does fishing continue as a major tourism drawcard, it is the cornerstone of our great lifestyle for so many Territorians. It features in luring workers to the Territory. We are committed to ensure the fishing experience available today continues into the future.
Improvements already provided by this government include the boat ramp facilities at Palmerston, Hudson Creek, Buffalo Creek, Saltwater Arm, Hardies Lagoon, Milne Inlet, Southport, and Middle Arm - to name a few. We will continue to support the development of fishing infrastructure by allocating $130 000 for boat ramps, toilets, and parking, as well as $500 000 for a fishing platform at Rapid Creek as part of the Green Heart of Darwin program. We have also delivered the largest artificial reef construction in Territory waters by deploying concrete culverts and pipes.
We support recreational fishing and also support commercial fishing. We have done much to ensure commercial fishing is doing well in the Northern Territory. However, we want to reallocate resources in such a way there is no conflict between the parties. Members of the opposition have chosen to draw the battle lines, choosing to support commercial fishermen over recreational fishermen. They accuse the government of buying barramundi licences and, somehow, starving the commercial industry, which is not true. We have opened new areas for commercial fishing, not only on the coastline, but also in the Timor Sea for deep fishing, and on coastal areas.
An important component of the Fisheries’ budget is ongoing support for the marine ranger program in Indigenous communities. Government has again allocated funding of $680 000. This includes funding to nine marine ranger groups to undertake compliance and monitoring activities and other important works such as ghost net retrieval.
New mining developments need a vibrant exploration industry. This is why the government continues to invest through the Bringing Forward Discovery initiative which will receive $3.8m in Budget 2012-13 as part of a three–year $11.4m extension to the initiative announced last year, bringing the total seven-year investment to $25.8m. Success of this initiative is undeniable, with a record $228m spent on mineral exploration in the Territory in 2011-12 - the best result ever after year-on-year record expenditure.
The recent Fraser Institute’s survey of mining companies ranked the Territory first in Australia in government policies for encouraging exploration and mining development. The survey comes on top of changes implemented by the government to improve environmental reporting requirements, and a 100% security deposit for rehabilitation of mine sites imposed by this Labor government.
Within the department’s Primary Industries Division the need for support of our live cattle trade is emphasised, with $208 000 to provide additional cattle inspection services to facilitate market access to eastern and southern Australia; $0.5m to expand markets for live cattle and horticultural products to Southeast Asia, and $600 000 for the Indigenous Pastoral Program co-funded by the Indigenous Land Corporation.
As a Territory 2030 priority, my Department of Resources is also identifying suitable land for further long-term and sustainable food production in the heart of the Territory. The next step includes overlaying land tenure, infrastructure, labour availability, native title, and distance from major centres. Special attention has been given to the 20 Territory growth towns.
The Northern Territory is now the biggest mango producer in Australia, known for harvesting the best fruit and getting it to the markets first. Funding for horticulture will include $860 000 to improve access to overseas markets, and initiatives to lengthen the mango yield period; $160 000 to continue commercial horticultural opportunities for reuse water in Alice Springs; and $280 000 to ‘Grown on Country’, to develop sustainable horticulture and forestry initiatives with Indigenous partners.
Fishing is an important lifestyle for many, and a significant contributor to the economy. The commercial fishing and aquaculture sectors combined contribute over $70m, and recreational fishing more than $30m to our economy annually. The Territory is the only jurisdiction where seafood labelling laws apply to retailers, allowing consumers to choose local products.
Funding has been approved for a promotion and marketing officer to enhance opportunities for the NT Seafood Council. This is in addition to the ongoing support to the council of $180 000 a year. The government recently released a draft recreational fishing development plan for public comment which identifies key strategic issues facing recreational fishing and proposes measures to ensure maintenance and enhancement of our fisheries and fishing opportunities. Outcomes of a Territory-wide survey on recreational fishing will be released shortly, providing further information for fisheries management.
Government continues to support the Amateur Fishermen’s Association of the Northern Territory with funding and a small club grant totalling $200 000. $40 000 was provided to the Northern Territory Guided Fishing Industry Association to help it represent fishing tour operators.
I now turn to my very important portfolio of child protection. Budget 2012-13 sees the continuation of investment in the Territory’s child protection services, increasing support for children and young people across the Territory. The budget provides $34.4m in 2012-13 to continue major reform of the Territory’s child protection and family support services, an increase of $7.1m on the previous year. This brings the total budget for the Department of Children and Families to $177.1m for 2012-13, a far cry from the $7m the CLP allocated in 2000-01. It is about $170m difference - just a small change.
This increases the Territory’s contribution from $145m to $151.3m, with some Commonwealth funding programs expiring and new agreements currently under negotiation. Budget 2012-13 will deliver $13.4m for child protection reform initiatives, including $7.2m for increased payments for foster and kinship carers, Foster Care NT, residential care services, improvement to systems, improvement to the complaints process, employee practice advisors, and therapeutic programs.
There is $6m to provide additional services for families which do not require a statutory response but need family support measures and the continued roll-out of community child safety and wellbeing teams in Territory growth towns. For child protection workers to support improved caseload ratios, incentive packets for frontline staff, and increasing training and support for employees, $11.2m will be provided. For community education, hospital-based interagency teams and the enhanced capacity of non-government organisations, $2.9m will be provided. For the Aboriginal child, youth and families peak body, Strong Aboriginal Families Together, Aboriginal childcare agencies and system reforms to better respond to the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families and communities, $2.9m - those who were abandoned by the CLP government as identified by the report produced in the last days of the CLP.
There is $3.5m to support the implementation of new legislation, policies, and workforce reforms as well as improved localised services in three regions, and $700 000 for the functions of the Children’s Commissioner. With these increases in funding, the Department of Children and Families will continue to deliver major reforms to the Territory’s child protection services.
Since the release of the board of inquiry report this government has established the Department of Children and Families as a separate entity in its own right, implementing services through a regionalised operational structure. It has reduced the backlog of cases identified by the board of inquiry from 870 to zero by May 2011, and established a new priority response team to stay on top of new cases. This government has overhauled the central intake to establish a new 24/7 service from September 2011, recruited additional professional stream care and protection staff, and increased the powers and functions of the independent Children’s Commissioner with additional resources provided to support this.
The government has also: introduced the Pastoral Care and Protection of Children (Information Sharing) Bill on 27 March 2012, introducing a new legislative framework to improve the sharing of information between agencies and service providers to help protect children; supported the establishment of Strong Aboriginal Families Together, the new peak body for vulnerable Aboriginal children; commenced the roll-out of community child safety and wellbeing teams with staff already deployed to two Territory growth towns and four more to be in place by May 2012; and increased funding to a range of peak bodies and non-government organisations to enhance and expand service provision to vulnerable children and their families. The figure is $177m, and members opposite will agree it is money well spent if it is used to protect families and children in need.
I commend the Treasurer on this budget. It protects the Territory lifestyle and grows the health and wellbeing of the Territory. Many times we hear members opposite talk about deficit and how bad it is. The reality is, we all have a deficit. In our case, it is called a mortgage or credit card. The reality is we, and our families, live on borrowed money. Families would not like the idea of not owing any money but not having a roof over their head. We cannot exist today without credit cards and very few people cannot afford the luxury of not having a credit card. Most of us use credit cards because, believe it or not, there are places now that do not accept cash. You pay with a key card or a credit card; they will not accept anything else. Our family deficit is called a mortgage, and I think our deficit, our mortgage, is an investment in the future. There are times when we have to borrow money, but we do so knowing it will benefit us not in luxuries, but in investment for our future and our children’s future. This budget is an investment in the future of health services in the Territory.
Mr KNIGHT (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the Treasurer on her budget, a responsible budget for 2012-13. It balances supporting business and families, but also takes a responsible step within the restraints of our budget.
One of the areas I will talk about today in support of the budget, as Minister for Essential Services, is the Power and Water Corporation. By investing in power and water, we are investing in our economy and the social infrastructure of our communities. We have stated publicly our commitment to a $1.8bn investment into the Power and Water Corporation over five years. In Budget 2012-13, we will be committing $360m into Power and Water’s much-needed infrastructure. I will list many of those items as I continue my contribution.
We are very proud of our record with Power and Water. There has been much change in the Power and Water Corporation since the Casuarina Zone Substation explosion and Mervyn Davies’ report, coming on the back of the Blanch report, and one other report prior to that. It really was a turning point for Power and Water, and a turning point for the involvement of government in critical infrastructure in the Northern Territory.
The report said Power and Water had, over the years, a culture build up that had been spawned from the proposed sell off by the Country Liberal Party of the Power and Water Corporation - a sell-off of the power utility, the water utility and the sewerage utility. It was a proposal the CLP put together in 2000. It was preparing Power and Water for sale, stripping out assets, and sacking 130-odd staff with decades of experience and qualifications. Basically, the corporation and the staff were almost on death row waiting for the axe to fall and systems broke down.
The change of government in 2001 resulted in Labor saying it was not going to sell off this vital utility. It was too important to our economy and our community. However, nobody really saw the need for infrastructure, although the Blanch report highlighted there was a need for infrastructure investment, which occurred; asset management did not. That came out in the Mervyn Davies report. When asset assessment was undertaken, there was a realisation a massive investment was needed and this Labor government committed to preserving this vital utility in the Northern Territory. It was also about re-employing, employing new and qualified staff, employing apprentices - investing in the future of the Power and Water Corporation.
Along the way, the Country Liberal Party has criticised the investment in Power and Water. Its policy is still sale of the Power and Water Corporation which, if achieved, will double power prices in the Northern Territory, water prices will probably triple, and sewerage charges will also increase significantly. That outlines its position with respect to the Power and Water Corporation.
We provide a substantial subsidy to the Power and Water Corporation to reduce the burden on families. That equates to $820 per year per household and is a significant reduction in the cost of living for Territorians. The Power and Water Corporation is a small utility because we have a small population. It delivers services across the Northern Territory and is a very high cost service to provide. With the government stepping in and providing assistance to reduce power prices - we have the second lowest power prices in the country, the lowest water prices and, I believe, the second lowest sewerage charges in the country. We have relieved the burden on Territory households with respect to power, water and sewerage charges.
With respect to infrastructure, Budget 2012-13 delivers for Territory families $607m in capital works, $380m in infrastructure programs, $217m for repairs and maintenance, $73m in capital repairs and maintenance grants with respect to the Power and Water spend, and a further $107m going to Channel Island power generation. I recently inspected and officially opened the new Rolls Royce engines. This gives us as an extra 20% capacity in the Top End power grid. These are brand new machines and are fantastic to see. This is all about building up and bulletproofing our power generation in the Top End. A further $107m will go into Channel Island with the refurbishment of the older sets, and we have enough power for the next 20 years based on current projections.
With respect to water, almost $40m will go into the Palmerston water pumping station mains and storage tanks for the growth in population coming into Palmerston. People know they can come to the Northern Territory and find a high paying job.
I was interested in the presentation by the NAB senior economist today at the budget luncheon for the Chamber of Commerce. The personal income for people in the Northern Territory is much higher than the national average. Yes, certain things cost more in the Northern Territory, but incomes are much higher in the Northern Territory as well.
Weddell Power Station will receive $32m for more augmentation and generation capacity. People may have seen work going on at the city zone substation - $30m will go into a brand new substation there. A new substation will go in at Leanyer worth $25m, and $23m will go into the McMinns zone substation. At Snell Street, work is well under way with $15m going into that. This is all about the reticulation of power around our communities and a significant investment into the zone substations and power generation.
Through the regions, Katherine is receiving $19.1m for an upgrade to the power station. The member for Barkly will be glad to hear there will be $15.7m going to the Borroloola sewerage scheme. It has been a long time coming, but it is great to see this government is recognising the growth of Borroloola and catching up on the infrastructure which, under the CLP, was run down over many years. The infrastructure spend is up to 252% higher since 2001 - certainly a significant amount.
We are investing Territory-wide, not only in the major centres, but also in the bush, with power, water, and sewerage infrastructure. At Hermannsburg I recently announced more water storage infrastructure and new bores. There are more bores going in at Maningrida and Lajamanu. We are looking across the Northern Territory at the most vital need for essential infrastructure and investing in that. Included in this budget is $294m to upgrade new power, water, and sewerage infrastructure to further improve reliability and manage the growth of our population. We have seen that investment come through and I am heartened by the investment in infrastructure.
This investment puts in vital infrastructure for the growth of the Northern Territory and supports Territory jobs. Some 2600 jobs will be created by the continuation of this investment. We could quite easily return to surplus with the flick of a pen to the infrastructure budget. This is a massive investment, but it is recognition that the private sector, after the global financial crisis, retreated with its spending. The gap was in private sector investment. We could accept that and continue with our average spend, but it would leave a massive hole in our economy and thousands of Territorians without jobs. We have filled that gap with infrastructure vitally needed for the growth of our economy into the future.
Basically, we are investing in a new oil and gas industry, the agricultural industry, and the new population coming to the Northern Territory with more education facilities, upgrading roads for these industries, and also much-needed infrastructure going into the health system, such as the new Palmerston Hospital. It is great to see that has been very warmly received by the Palmerston community. This will not be in 2025, which is the CLP plan. Ours will be commencing this year, with follow-up amounts going into the budget in the future. It is a significant investment for the future.
On a more local level for me, it is great to see the investment going into Taminmin College. The special education centre - $2.75m – is a great investment into the rural area. Taminmin continues to grow from strength to strength, and it is great to see that investment coming through. There is the continuation of works on the Fog Bay Road; the upgrade of the Annie River crossing is great to see; further work on Jenkins Road; and there is a significant amount of work out there to accommodate major projects such as INPEX.
I was also delighted to hear on the weekend that Litchfield Council will fund the completion of the sealing of Finn Road. This government stumped up $2m to seal 6 km of the road, and Litchfield Council is going to complete the remaining 3 km. That is great news for people in the southern rural area getting access through the back end of Palmerston. This is a great investment into the future.
I congratulate the Treasurer; this is a very responsible budget. I spoke to many people today at the Chamber of Commerce lunch, and will do so again tomorrow morning at the Property Council breakfast. People said today they thought it was going to be worse than it is. It could have been worse if we had wanted to balance the books and follow the line of the CLP - we could easily have done that. However, it was not the time to fall back on critical infrastructure investment that supports jobs, or on supporting families. The amount of support which goes into supporting families and people on low incomes is tremendous and this is a very finely tuned budget. Yes, we are in deficit but it is a responsible deficit to have at this point in time.
What we have seen in the news today - Victoria having a surplus - is where the CLP mooted it would go. They have arrived at a $160m surplus at the expense of 4200 jobs; 4200 bread winners will not have a job because the Victorian Liberal government decided to make a profit this year at the expense of those jobs. We have also heard today that the federal Leader of the Opposition - the Liberal Party with its branch in the Northern Territory being the CLP - would adopt a policy which would deny billions of GST dollars coming to the Northern Territory. I will be interested to see, given the CLP supports this move - Tony Abbott said he has the support of his conservative leaders around the country and has brought Barry O’Farrell to the Northern Territory. He has the same view.
Where are they going to find the money? Where are you going to find $1bn in a $5bn budget? Where are you going to hack away at it? Will you find it in health, education, or through the sale of Power and Water? Will you find it in the sale of NT Fleet or the Government Printing Office? What are you going to sell; who are you going to sack? It is incumbent on the Leader of the Opposition to explain tomorrow where he is going to find $400m, and where he is going to find $1bn when we lose that from the budget. Who is he going to sack; what is he going to sell? It is as simple as that and he needs to answer those questions. He prides himself, most of the time, on his honesty and integrity. He needs to follow that up with an explanation tomorrow, in this House, identifying who he is going to sack and what he is going to sell.
I commend the Treasurer for her budget. I look forward to travelling the Northern Territory explaining the responsible nature of the budget and how we have found great opportunities to support Territory families and our economy.
Ms McCARTHY (Local Government): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to support Budget 2012-13. It is a responsible budget which balances the need for fiscal restraint with new investments necessary to boost the economic development of the Territory, and provides needed services to Territory families. Budget 2012-13 also continues one of the great hallmarks of this government, unprecedented investment in our remote towns to develop services for Territory families living in our remote and regional towns.
As Minister for Regional Development and also Indigenous Development, I am especially pleased that Budget 2012-13 represents our government’s third successive budget with a key focus of investing in our regions and our growth towns, supporting all Territory families no matter where they live.
A key feature of our work in this area is the strong partnerships we are forging with local people and all levels of government, developing and implementing local plans for a brighter future for our growth towns. There is a brighter future with better access to government services, healthier families, kids going to school every day, local economic development leading to more jobs, and new opportunities and choices for people living in the bush.
In particular, Budget 2012-13 delivers a further $433m for infrastructure in remote areas of the Territory, building on our record investments in new and very necessary infrastructure in the bush over the past two years.
Budget 2012-13 provides over $20m for supporting facilities for early childhood development and childcare at places like Ntaria, Umbakumba, Yuendumu, Gunbalanya, Maningrida and Ngukurr. There is over $12m for vocational training facilities at places like Alyangula, Angurugu, Gunbalanya, Jabiru and Ngukurr. There is $33m for investment in remote health centres at Borroloola, Elliott, Galiwinku, Milingimbi, Ngukurr, Ntaria, Papunya and Pirlangimpi. Also, over $17m for community safety projects, including new police facilities in remote towns such as Numbulwar, Mt Liebig, Areyonga, Epenarra and Robinson River. There is over $38m for much-needed improvements to essential services infrastructure across our remote towns, including $7m for improvement to water supply at Ntaria, Lajamanu and Maningrida. There is over $7m to seal airstrips at Utopia, Canteen Creek and Yarralin, and $4m for improvements to barge landings at Gapuwiyak and Nguiu. These are all targeted investments that will make a big difference in day-to-day life of our remote towns.
Importantly, this is also the budget year when we will start to implement our recent and historic decision to pay rent for the lease of Aboriginal land for government assets. Costs to agencies will be based on independent valuation of the land required, and the cost of rental of land will be budgeted for within agency line budgets.
As part of Budget 2012-13, we also see a new budget output of remote infrastructure coordination for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Regional Services. This budget output, built around use of existing resources, will ensure better integration and coordination on a whole-of-government basis of the planning and delivery of infrastructure and capital works in remote communities from inception to completion of projects.
2012-13 will also be the first year of new arrangements relating to funding for outstations and homelands in the Northern Territory. As key stakeholders know, as recently as late last year the Australian government was saying the full cost of supporting municipal and essential services to homelands in the Northern Territory would have to be met by the Northern Territory government at a cost of $20m per annum. Our government has argued strongly that the Commonwealth cannot walk away from its long-standing obligations in this area. That negotiation has paid off, with the Commonwealth announcing continued funding for a further 10 years. This gives us unprecedented security of that funding base and opportunity for us to proceed with reform and development of our own outstation and homeland support programs.
We will be working with outstation resource centres on those reforms with Budget 2012-13 providing $21.2m for municipal and essential services grants for outstations and homelands, and continued support for housing maintenance and other support, particularly in education, health, and improved access to services being provided through development of our regional growth towns.
There is $2.5m to continue funding for municipal and essential services in town camps, including in Alice Springs and Darwin. Consistent with our Territory 2030 objectives, our government continues its commitment to supporting shire and municipal councils deliver better services and assisting business, industry and communities secure new private sector investment to stimulate economic growth in our remote areas.
We will continue working with the local government sector and local people to develop the strength and capacity of shire and municipal councils to provide legitimate representation, effective governance and improved service delivery. This includes a big focus on developing our local government workforce and jobs for local people in local government. Investment in local government in 2012-13 includes $8.4m in Territory funding and a further $1.6m from the Commonwealth as part of the joint $30m three-year Indigenous employment package for shire councils to support core local government service delivery. This initiative is expected to generate 530 jobs in 2012-13 in council core services such as road construction and maintenance, parks and gardens, grass and weed management, waste collection and dump management.
There is $57.3m in 2012-13 in local government grants to provide and support local government and community infrastructure; $0.4m as part of a $0.8m two-year contribution to the construction of an Alice Springs Regional Waste Management Facility, and $0.4m in 2012-13 as the final year in the $1.3m three-year package to manage and maintain sporting and other infrastructure at Freds Pass Reserve.
In addition, this year $20m in remote employment program funds will be made available through our local government jobs package for fencing work associated with new and refurbished housing in our remote regions.
The regional development function in my department works in partnership with business, industry and communities to support activities that stimulate sustainable economic growth. This is achieved, in part, through $1.38m in grant funding and $3.4m in Commonwealth funding to employ Indigenous economic development officers in our regional offices. Futures forums on Indigenous economic development are assisting residents of Territory growth towns to access information on government and private sector services and programs which relate to employment and economic development opportunities. Five futures forums have already been held and a further nine are scheduled for this year.
Our government is strongly committed to improving access to services for Territorians through interpreter and translator services. These services are critical as they enable Territorians with English as their second language to obtain fair and equitable access to government and non-government services. Budget 2012-13 will deliver continued funding building capability in the Aboriginal Interpreter Service, including national accreditation of interpreters and translators and community-based services across the Territory.
The water safety and animal welfare function of my department is another important area. $1.1m is provided to promote safer communities across the Territory through our water safety strategy and administration of the Swimming Pool Safety Act. In regard to animal welfare, we will continue our reforms in this area with proposed amendments to the Animal Welfare Act to be introduced in the sittings of this Legislative Assembly, the continued development of our Animal Welfare Unit, and our community grants to support animal welfare activities.
As Tourism minister, I am pleased to say the Henderson government continues to strongly support the Northern Territory tourism sector because we recognise the importance of this industry to the local economy. Tourism is one of the Territory’s largest employers, providing around one in six jobs predominantly in small to medium businesses. For 2012-13, the Territory government is investing $39.2m in supporting the work of Tourism NT, the same level of funding as in the previous year, and significantly more than the tourism budget in 2009 which was well under $30m.
Current conditions have been very challenging for local tourism operators over the past few years, with the strong performance of the Australia dollar having a major impact on the tourism industry. Record numbers of Australians are continuing to holiday overseas, which particularly impacts the Northern Territory as our major source market remains the eastern seaboard of Australia. We are adapting to meet these challenges, working harder and smarter, and are making hard decisions about where best to invest and support the tourism industry.
Key initiatives of the tourism Budget 2012-13 include:
$21m to maintain our investment in our Category 1 markets in Europe, the US and Japan, which includes global marketing and promotion of the Northern Territory as a tourism destination;
$3.4m to improve airline access through business development and cooperative marketing. The Henderson government is extremely aware that aviation access has a direct
correlation to visitor numbers and future growth opportunities for the Northern Territory’s tourism industry. Securing and maintaining viable aviation services into the Territory
remains a high priority for our government in 2012-13 and beyond;
$1.7m for business events next year includes instigating a new ambassador program which will identify professionals who have potential to host and influence business events
in the Northern Territory. The program will become the major business development tool for the Territory’s Business Events team and a key advocacy vehicle for the industry;
$219 000 towards stimulating the cruise ship market. This includes attracting new cruise ships to the Northern Territory, encouraging regular return visits, and working with the
industry to maximise opportunities during cruise ship visits; and
Additional emphasis over the coming year will be on supporting our regions, including an ongoing commitment to destinational marketing such as the recent focus on Alice Springs within the 2012 Red Centre Campaign.
We have invested heavily in building the capacity of businesses across the Territory with $10.6m for the destination development output which aims to facilitate the development of tourism infrastructure and products relevant to consumer demand through market research and liaison with, and provision of advice to, industry, private sector entities, and government partners.
For 2012-13, we are also putting another $0.69m towards ongoing redevelopment of Tourism NT’s consumer website, and $0.68m for content management system maintenance, social media management, and community engagement on social media platforms.
A new tourism industry strategic plan is due to be released this year. Collectively to date, over 400 people have contributed to shaping the future direction of tourism in the Northern Territory towards 2020. Reviewing and reshaping our strategic plan is an exciting opportunity to adjust, reframe and support our tourism sector to meet the challenges of an ever-changing market.
I will make mention of the important work of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority that helps to support the orderly economic development of the Territory while protecting important cultural sites. In 2011-12, AAPA completed a number of long-term complex sacred site clearances, including work related to major development projects and authority certificates for housing and infrastructure investments in our remote towns across the Territory. In 2012-13 and beyond, it is expected the number of applications will stabilise in line with longer-term trends and, consequently, there has been a reduction in estimated revenue and expenditure for 2012-13. Building on the success of the initial Coordinated Community Authority Certificate project to deliver efficient and cost-effective sacred site protection for 73 Indigenous communities across the Territory, AAPA has negotiated with the project partners to continue delivery of timely site protection and avoidance advice to agencies through a three-year extension to this project, with funding support from the client agencies.
I mention the important work being done to develop women’s policy in the Northern Territory. The Office of Women’s Policy has recently reported to the Legislative Assembly on achievements under our 2010-12 framework for action. The consultation period for development of our new women’s policy statement and action plan is still ongoing. I am positive about the ideas already received on ways in which the government can meaningfully strengthen policies in the areas of women’s safety, gender equality and promotion of the leadership of women, especially Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander women. I am also pleased to advise that later this year I will be hosting the COAG Select Council on Women’s Issues, with our national and state counterparts, to progress our implementation plan on these important topics. I look forward to reporting further on how they will benefit the Northern Territory following the COAG meeting later this year.
Budget 2012-13 has been developed at a time of great change. We have significantly improved integration and coordination of government effort and successfully managed significant government investments aimed at attacking entrenched disadvantage in remote areas of the Northern Territory. These have been sound and necessary investments. We have also established the foundations for developing local economies through land tenure reform and planning in our remote towns, as well as preparing for unprecedented economic growth arising from the INPEX gas development and other major resource projects. In Budget 2012-13 we continue our work in a responsible way to gear up for economic growth, tackle entrenched disadvantage and support Territory families no matter where they live across the Northern Territory. I commend Budget 2012-13 to the House.
Mr HAMPTON (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to support the Treasurer’s statement this morning and Budget 2012-13. Turning to the Treasurer’s speech - and what a very important speech it was - my fifth budget as a minister in the government and all colleagues on this side of the House would agree it has been one of the toughest. As the Treasurer said during her statement, and at the lunch, it was her toughest given the global financial crisis and the economic situation in the country.
Budget 2012-13 is definitely gearing up for growth and supporting Territory families. Infrastructure spending since the global financial crisis has almost doubled from $900m in 2008-09 to $1.7bn in 2010-2011 and $1.6bn in 2011-12. While the infrastructure budget this financial year is slightly lower at $1.3bn, it is still higher than pre-global financial crisis levels. It is a real credit to the Treasurer, and my colleagues, who went through the books and made some very hard decisions. To have an infrastructure budget which is still higher than pre-global financial crisis is a real achievement. There is much more to be done.
I thank the staff at Treasury. They do a wonderful job, a tough job, and provide all the best information and budget books necessary extremely professionally. I thank Treasury staff for providing that information to me as the minister.
For me, several things stood out of the Treasurer’s speech. One is there are no new taxes or tax increases in this budget. It is important, as the economy recovers, that people are not hit with new taxes or increases. The other important thing was strengthening the economy. The Treasurer said nearly 13 000 jobs have been created in the Territory since the global financial crisis ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: You are correct, we lack a quorum. Ring the bells.
We have a quorum.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Deputy Speaker, one thing which stood out for me was how government has been able to maintain and strengthen our economy during very tough times. Almost 13 000 jobs have been created in the Territory since the global financial crisis. That is something to be positive about in tough times - we continue to create job opportunities for Territorians and those coming to the Territory for work wanting to make the Territory their home.
We know these are tough economic times, but the Territory has a bright future. In Central Australia, my home town, and also in Darwin - Darwin is booming with major projects coming online. Right across the Territory, when you look at the support and work government is undertaking …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House. It is the government’s budget.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is the responsibility of both sides of the House, member for Port Darwin …
Mr ELFERINK: No, if it is the government’s budget, it can bring it in. I do not much care, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, both sides of the House have a responsibility to maintain a quorum. That said, member for Port Darwin …
Mr ELFERINK: Well, we do not have a quorum, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am not here for an argument with you. You have made your point of order.
Mr Elferink: Well, do not start one.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me. Member for Port Darwin, I ask you to please address me in a slightly more respectable manner than you have. Ring the bells, please, we lack a quorum.
Thank you, we have a quorum.
Minister, before I give you the call, I remind members that it is the responsibility of both sides of this House to maintain a quorum. It is not one side or the other; it is both sides of this House.
Minister, you have the call.
Mr HAMPTON: Madam Deputy Speaker, the Territory has a bright future no matter where you live, whether it is Darwin, down the track through Katherine, Tennant Creek or Alice Springs, or in remote and regional areas. All Territorians can look forward to a bright future. Looking at the budget and the focus areas of our government, we will be supporting all the Territory to ensure there are opportunities for young people, be it in education or employment and training.
In relation to the budget, the other important issue is how we have lost so much money through GST estimates going down over the past few years, further lowering this time round. Total GST collections in 2011-12 are now expected to be $3.1bn lower than the Commonwealth estimated in its last budget. This means the Territory will receive $163m less in 2011-12. Since the start of the GFC, we have lost more than $770m in GST revenue and expect a further $480m less over the forward estimates compared to the 2011 estimates. That reinforces the challenges the Territory government has, the Treasurer and her staff have, and all of us have managing the budget and working through priorities.
However, we are not alone in this financial and economic situation; all states and territories are having to deal with similar budgets due to the deterioration in our major revenue source - the GST - while, at the same time, responding to very real infrastructure and service pressures. We want to gear up for these major projects, but also want to continue supporting Territory families, particularly through these difficult economic times.
This budget continues the government’s tradition of supporting Territory families. The Treasurer mentioned the many subsidies and concessions to support families in the Territory. There are some very exciting things happening in housing. As the local member and the Minister for Central Australia, I am very interested in the $16m for urban public housing, the $44m for government employee housing, and $188m for remote public housing. I will be keeping an eye on where that money is going and letting the Housing minister know my priorities.
In regard to A Safe Territory, the Minister for Alcohol Policy has done some fantastic and challenging work with the Enough is Enough alcohol measurements and the Banned Drinker Register. The other important thing for A Safe Territory in the budget is the additional funding of $2m to expand youth justice initiatives. That came out of the youth justice review initiated by this government. A further $1m is provided to upgrade the Youth Justice Court. There is much talk, particularly in Alice Springs, in regard to young people, but it is good to see Budget 2012-13 expanding youth justice initiatives.
There are some important initiatives in Alice Springs in regard to a Healthy Territory, with $18.9m for works at the hospital. I drive past quite often and it is coming together very well. It is going to provide an important and essential service to the people of Central Australia for many years to come. The works are close to completion.
There is $62m in Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals as well. The member for Barkly would be very pleased to see that. It is important we continue to upgrade those health facilities. They are busy places, the population is ageing, and it is important to keep our health clinics and hospitals up-to-date and in good condition for the people of the Northern Territory.
There are also improved aeromedical retrieval services, an issue through my electorate of Stuart, particularly around the Victoria River District and Katherine East for remote workers on cattle stations. That improvement is important.
A Smart Territory has $850m for education and training in around 200 schools. It was great to attend the Treasurer’s budget briefing lunch today put on by the Chamber of Commerce. At my table were Linda Young, Director of Darwin Coordinators, and also Steve Versteegh from Group Training NT. They were very interested in the money in the budget for training. The discussions we had were around skills shortages and apprentices in the Northern Territory. We have a record number of apprentices in the Northern Territory at the moment. With many major projects coming on board, Steve advised concerns employers are raising regarding skills shortages, particularly in traditional trades in the Northern Territory. It is great to see there is quite a bit of money in the budget for training. There are now more than 4200 apprentices and trainees in the Territory, an increase of more than 90% on the number in training in 2001. A total of 1800 of these apprentices and trainees are in traditional trade apprenticeships in identified skill shortage areas. Speaking to people at my table at lunch today, it is very important to their sector.
Supporting children and families is very important and this government has done a great deal of work on and has put resources and funding into it. Supporting Territory families and protecting our children is very important. In my electorate, and in the Territory growth towns, it is good to see $6m in the budget to enhance family support programs and the roll-out of their community child safety and wellbeing teams. I look forward to that being implemented.
There is also $2.9m for an Aboriginal Child, Youth and Families Wellbeing Peak Body, and Aboriginal childcare agencies in Alice Springs and Darwin. That is a very important initiative and, as Minister for Central Australia, one I will be watching.
There is $1m for the next stage of upgrades at the Alice Springs Youth Hub. This project is part of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan and one I have been very close to for a number of years. It is progressing and getting some really good outcomes for families and young people in Alice Springs.
My colleague, the Minister for Indigenous Development, spoke about A Working Future in her contribution. This government has a very good track record in delivering much-needed infrastructure, resources, funding and programs in remote communities. As a local member, it is good to see that level continue in Budget 2012-13.
The Territory’s three-year $13m Indigenous employment package for shire councils is something the Minister for Indigenous Development did much work on and should be congratulated on the outcome. It is vitally important we continue to support our shires. Many shires have very good Indigenous employment outcomes. It is something we should be talking about all the time. It is quite easy to talk down the shires, but they are doing some really good things. Indigenous employment is one area we are achieving in.
Another issue in A Working Future, and one I worked on in the Cabinet budget process, was the $1m ongoing for remote community sport and recreation programs. That goes to funding sport and recreation officers in our shires throughout our remote communities. The youth, sport and recreation officers do a fantastic job. It is great to be able to give them, and the shires, assurance that $1m ongoing is being provided from the Territory government to help close the gap in our growth towns and remote regions. I have travelled around the Territory and spoken to many of the sport and recreation officers. They do a fantastic job and $1m is going to go a long way to provide support, helping those sport and recreation officers plan really good programs - after school programs and holiday programs in remote communities to keep kids active and busy, particularly during school holidays. So, $1m ongoing for remote community sport and recreation programs is a good aspect of Budget 2012-13.
For water supply upgrades, $7m has been provided for Lajamanu, Maningrida and Ntaria. I was at Lajamanu last month, where new houses are being built and many are being refurbished. A new clinic is being built. The airstrip is going to be relocated fairly soon. A great deal of work is taking place at Lajamanu, and so there should be; it is a growth town and there are some wonderful people there. It is very important we continue to upgrade water supplies to keep up with growth in our remote communities, growth some have not seen for many years. I am pleased Lajamanu is part of that $7m water supply upgrade program. A renal facility has been funded through the royalty association, and I will be pleased to see that included in the program.
A Working Future - $5.16m to better support disadvantaged students, including continued investment in the Strong Start, Bright Future colleges - a really good initiative and one that is well supported in Budget 2012-13.
My electorate is the largest in the Northern Territory. I tell the kids in many of my schools it is the size of Germany. It is very important to lobby on their behalf when it comes to the Territory budget. My electorate stretches from Pine Creek in the north to Nyirripi and Yuendumu in the south. Some of the communities which will benefit from Budget 2012-13 include Lajamanu with $4.63m for an airstrip; and a $2.5m upgrade and sealing of the existing strip at Yarralin. It is good to see that going ahead and the community supporting the sealing of the current airstrip as there have been quite a few discussions in meetings I have attended at Yarralin.
Kalkaringi School will be provided with $1.6m in upgrades to provide a new classroom and ablutions facilities. To continue the upgrades and sealing of the Tanami Road, $2.13m is provided. I was there recently, and it was great to see the road slowly being sealed closer to the Yuelamu turn-off and Yuendumu.
The Pmara Jutunta Health Centre at Ti Tree Six Mile will be upgraded, and the pharmacy facility at the Yuendumu clinic will be upgraded. Many people in the Stuart electorate use Katherine and Alice Springs as service centres. Those people will also be able to access many of the clinics and hospitals I have mentioned.
There are many initiatives in Budget 2012-13 for Greening the Territory. Budget 2012-13 is investing in our parks, protecting our unique natural assets, and supporting families and businesses to go green.
Over the past 10 years, this government has played a significant role in the conservation and protection of our natural, cultural and historical environments. We have worked towards Greening the Territory through investing in our parks, protecting our unique natural assets and supporting families and businesses whilst supporting the great Territory lifestyle by seizing opportunities to ensure Territorians continue to enjoy and benefit from our great outdoors.
Under this government, for the first time in the Territory’s history, Indigenous Territorians have been given an opportunity to manage their own lands. A total of 27 national parks are now managed under a joint management arrangement which ensures the values and views of local traditional owners are considered in all aspects of park operations and decision-making.
This government recognises the significance of traditional owners, traditional customs and culture, land management activities, and the enormous potential this will bring to the conservation of our protected areas in the future.
Our national parks provide a critical refuge for native plants and animals. The Territory’s national parks and reserves provide a foundation for our conservation efforts. However, to be truly effective, conservation requires a whole-of-community effort across a range of landscapes and habitats. This government has been active in encouraging and assisting alternative approaches to conservation of protected areas.
The Eco-link project aims to manage broad-scale connections between protected areas by supporting Indigenous ranger groups, pastoralists, and private conservation groups to continue taking an active role in the conservation of their land. Over the past 10 years, the size of the protected area estate has more than tripled, and is now approaching 12%, or over 16 million hectares of the Northern Territory.
Darwin Harbour is one of the Territory’s most valuable assets. Not only is it home to a diversity of plants, animals and fish, it also plays a key role in sustaining industry, while supporting recreational pursuits such as fishing, sailing, water skiing and boating. The protection of Darwin Harbour is crucial. My department has worked tirelessly to implement a variety of measures to ensure ongoing protection of Darwin Harbour into the future. This includes the development of a monitoring program for fish, dolphins, dugongs, seagrass and the sea floor. There is also improved compliance by industry, funding six additional compliance officers. In addition to improving our ability to detect pollution and spills, these officers will assist industry to improve activities through education and raising awareness.
We have also doubled the penalties for organisations which breach their permits and licences, either accidentally or intentionally. We have successfully prosecuted the Darwin Port Corporation for pollution of the harbour, and have established the independent Environment Protection Authority, overseeing the development of the Darwin Harbour strategy and working with industry to implement the East Arm Wharf environmental monitoring program.
Over the past 12 months, this government has further demonstrated it is the greenest government the Territory has ever had by introducing the Cash for Containers scheme and ban the bag scheme. While it has been a challenge and has not been without its share of obstacles, these initiatives are an important step in protecting our precious environment and are visionary. For example, since its inception in September 2011, it is estimated the ban the bag initiative has prevented the introduction of plastic bags into the natural environment. Similarly, the Cash for Containers scheme has seen the community recycling millions and millions of containers over the first three months of the program.
Budget 2012-13 provides $182.5m for the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport through five output groups. This budget recognises the enormous achievements this government has made with respect to the environment with an increase of $8.7m on last year’s budget allocation.
Budget 2012-13 will see the continuation of the Territory’s achievements against the protected areas in the Conservation output group with an injection of $58.6m. This includes $2.1m to the Parks and Wildlife service to provide more Indigenous jobs and apprenticeships through our parks and reserves, with a key focus on better fire management and reduction in feral animals and weeds. It also includes $1.5m for lease payments to Aboriginal land trusts for Aboriginal-owned jointly managed parks.
This government will continue to provide opportunities for traditional owners who want to see their parks jointly managed, and enable benefits of education and training to be passed on to the families. This will build on the many successes of joint management.
In Budget 2012-13, $37.3m has been allocated to fund natural resources management. This government continues to work hard to protect our natural resources through planning and management activities, particularly threats posed by fire, feral animals and weeds. We all know the devastation of bushfires and the effect they can have on the lives of people and the environment. To help mitigate the number of bushfires in the Territory, we have committed $1.1m in grants in this budget to support the work of volunteer bushfire brigades.
Weeds pose a threat to the Northern Territory’s biodiversity invading native vegetation, causing fire management problems and soil degradation. In Budget 2012-13, we have committed $450 000 for weed management planning and on ground activities.
Water is one of our most precious resources. In Budget 2012-13, we have allocated $12.1m towards water management in order to assess and manage the Territory’s water resources, including water quality monitoring and flood forecasting. An amount of $1.1m has been allocated to flood forecasting and mitigation. My department provides a flood forecasting service to Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services, the Department of Lands and Planning, and the Bureau of Meteorology to minimise risk to life and property in the event of flooding.
The Territory has made significant progress in recent years in protecting and preserving our environment and heritage assets. This will continue in Budget 2012-13, with $10.1m allocated to the Environment and Heritage output group. My department will continue, through Budget 2012-13, to strengthen the environmental assessment practices and compliance of business and industry through the commitment of $1.1m. This government recognises the value the community provides to conservation programs. In 2012-13, we will continue to promote community funding through an injection of $1.1m to the EnvironmeNT Grants program, Cool Communities, and climate change grants.
Budget 2012-13 is supporting families with the most generous subsidies and concessions in the country. The highly popular Energy Smart Rebate for Territorians ...
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extension of time for the member to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HAMPTON: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. The highly popular Energy Smart Rebate will continue in 2012-13, as will the Central Australia Waterwise Rebate Scheme. The Territory has a unique identity. We value our diversity which encompasses a vibrant Indigenous culture and our rich European history.
In Budget 2012-13 we will continue to demonstrate our commitment to heritage conservation by providing more than $3.2m to the Heritage Conservation output. Of this, $1m will go toward repairing and maintaining government owned heritage assets across the Territory, while $280 000 is provided through the Heritage Grant Program to individuals, community groups and non-profit organisations working on projects relating to significant heritage sites in the Northern Territory.
Turning to sport and recreation, I spoke briefly about the $1m to support community sport and recreation officers. This government’s sports policy, SP1, the first of its kind in the Territory, is a vision ensuring Territorians have a life-long involvement in sport and active recreation at whatever level they choose. The benefits derived from participating in sport and active recreation are well-known. I am pleased to announce Budget 2012-13 delivers $31.37m towards the Sport and Recreation output group. This funding provides a range of sporting outcomes, from grassroots development to elite athletes through the Northern Territory Institute of Sport, to facilities, events and engagements such as the Arafura Games and the Alice Springs Masters Games.
Through Budget 2012-13, my department will continue to deliver opportunities for all Territorians across urban, regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. In addition to the community sport and recreation officer funding of $1m, we have a total grants pool of $9.4m which is delivered across sport and active recreation peak bodies, shires and local clubs, and community groups that deliver sport and active recreation outcomes.
There is also $1.47m for the fourth year of a five-year partnership to bring three AFL matches to the Territory, with games played in Alice Springs and Darwin. There is also $300 000 for the final year of a three-year partnership to host the ACT Brumbies pre-season Super 15s Rugby Union match in Darwin. Other events for the year will also include the Australian Pro Tour professional tennis events in Darwin and Alice Springs, as well as the Indigenous All Stars AFL match in Alice Springs in February 2013.
This government is gearing up for growth. Many families in the Palmerston region are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Palmerston Water Park on 2 June. This free-to-enter facility will be the envy of many cities across Australia, with a six-lane water slide racer, play areas for children of all ages, water cannons, and barbecue areas. In Budget 2012-13, this government is providing $2.3m for the operation of the Palmerston Water Park which will be managed by the YMCA on behalf of the Territory government.
We will also provide in 2012-13, $1.31m for the redevelopment of sporting facilities and infrastructure at Freds Pass Reserve …
Mr Wood: Yay!
Mr HAMPTON: ... and the member for Nelson will be very pleased to hear a further $1m will be provided for the new Litchfield pool. The pool will be a 25 m eight-lane facility and will also incorporate a children’s wet play area …
Mr Wood: You are going to have to add two more lanes.
Mr HAMPTON: Don’t start!
The Nightcliff foreshore, one of the most popular recreation areas for Territorians, will also receive $1m in recreational infrastructure, something the member for Nightcliff has worked very hard on. This includes playground equipment for Sunset Park, seating, a multipurpose performance platform, and a tennis court upgrade. This budget supports the great Territory lifestyle.
In my portfolio of Information, Communications and Technology Policy, Budget 2012-13 is gearing up for growth in the Territory to deliver local jobs and opportunity for businesses. Information and communication technology is an enabling technology which creates jobs and wealth and reduces social isolation. For these reasons, along with health and educational outcomes, ICT has been a key priority for this government. Nationally, the Internet is worth as much as iron ore exports and, through a strong ICT strategy, we can ensure Territorians do not miss the economic opportunities available to them.
In the last few years, we have leveraged $22m of Northern Territory government’s telecommunications funding to secure $130m in investment, including Australian government and private sector funding to address needs in the Territory. The Territory’s e-Health projects are the most advanced of their kind in Australia in range of services, service coverage, and consumer and health professional participation. In more than 80% of remote health centres, patient health records are now maintained electronically, significantly improving ongoing patient care.
In the area of education, the Territory has a ratio of one computer for every two students, which is on par with the national ratio. There is realisation of the Regional Backbone Blackspots Program. Having successfully lobbied the Australian government for a competitive optic-fibre link for the Northern Territory, the Territory now has an optic-fibre link between Darwin and the eastern seaboard, which will bring much-needed competition into the telecommunications market and reduce costs to consumers. This project resulted in a $70m spend in the Northern Territory and created 1000 jobs during the building phase.
The Northern Territory is one big community which includes it citizens, businesses, industry and government. A well-connected community means a more productive Territory which, in turn, leads to a higher standard of living and more disposable income for its citizens.
The National Broadband Network will be the impetus for new technology-driven service models which will benefit the whole community. Increasing broadband penetration in towns and the bush will enable valuable resources to reach further. More homes and businesses will be able to connect directly with government to access services such as healthcare and education, and enable better community and business connection with the government. With the capacity to deliver new innovative services, the NBN will transform the Northern Territory’s economy.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is my pleasure to support the Treasurer and congratulate her on Budget 2012-13. It gears us up for growth, but continues to support Territory families. I commend this statement.
Mr McCARTHY (Lands and Planning): Madam Deputy Speaker, I add my comments to the debate on the government’s Budget 2012-13. I commend the Treasurer for the delivery of a responsible budget developed in tough economic conditions. As we saw today at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon presentation from the National Australia Bank, they are not only tough economic conditions across the country, but also internationally, which has a major impact in a global context. This budget, framed as gearing up for growth and supporting families, is responsible and was delivered through a team effort where people support each other to achieve the best possible outcome for all Territorians. That takes tough decision-making, but it also takes rational decision-making by strong MLAs - MLAs who are in touch with their electorates and the Territory community.
We are gearing up for growth and helping families as we enter the Territory’s record growth period. This will be the highest growth period the Territory has seen so far, and the Henderson government has a strong economic record, with record public infrastructure spends over the last three budgets. Those record infrastructure spends represent a targeted fiscal strategy when the global financial crisis hit, the money dried up, the investment projects were put on hold and the drill rigs and exploration programs packed up. The Henderson government then made a very wise and strategic decision to start investing in infrastructure to keep the Territory going, preserve the important jobs in the Territory, and create new jobs in a challenging time where the private sector was shrinking and withdrawing.
The strategy was not only to keep bread on the table and preserve Territory jobs, but it was also to target enabling infrastructure. When the private sector re-entered the market and the big projects, which were in the planning stage, made their final investment decisions the Territory was on the road running, not looking for resources that had deserted in previous years because of lack of government infrastructure spending.
It aggregates the $4.6bn investment in key infrastructure over the last three years which has kept Territorians working, our businesses open and skilled our workforce for the huge opportunities that have come our way, as well as those on the horizon. This is particularly so in the resource sector through the regions and the oil and gas sector that relates to the Top End of northern Australia. This government lifted infrastructure spending to historic levels to protect jobs and protect our economy. Consequently, it is well-positioned to reap the rewards of good policy, good planning and a targeted infrastructure spend.
As a Territorian who has been here just over 30 years, it is interesting to note since 2001 infrastructure spending has grown by 255% - an injected $10m into building the Territory and stimulating the economy. That is an interesting statistic because I have lived more than half my life in the regions and remote areas. I remember an administration where there was not much spending in the bush. I remember a 10-year period in the Barkly where we literally starved. That was a good experience. It does not hurt to go hungry from time to time, but I learnt a very good lesson. Becoming part of the Henderson government and learning about global economics and stimulus fiscal strategies reinforced those concepts I learnt when hungry in the Barkly under the previous Country Liberal Party administration. It was reinforced by the major finance sector that if you want to spread the prosperity, if you want a good, even spread and leave a legacy of good public infrastructure, you invest in construction. That is what this government has done over successive budgets, and is continuing to do in this budget.
As the Treasurer and the Chief Minister say, it is not the time to put the handbrake on. The representative from the National Australia Bank outlined that very clearly in relation to the European financial situation. Governments in this country would be well-advised not to put the handbrake on. The Territory government is continuing with a responsible spend, with a step-out plan to address the deficit, and a plan to withdraw from the major end of spending as the private sector starts to escalate in development and spending. It is important fiscal management, responsible management, and it places the Territory in a good position to take advantage of the opportunities before us.
As Minister for Construction, I am proud Budget 2012-13 continues this sound economic management and strong record in infrastructure spending. Budget 2012-13 delivers $1.3bn for the infrastructure program across a range of areas including: Emergency Services, Education, Health, Roads, Corrections and Housing. I place on the record my thanks to the hard-working staff of the Department of Construction and Infrastructure who will deliver a massive capital works program on behalf of respective agencies representing the Northern Territory government. Staff across the Territory are delivering services and facilities for Territory families, local businesses and the Territory community. This type of budgetary program will help Territorians continue working, help businesses remain open, and help keep a skilled workforce on the ground. All that goes to service what are huge opportunities on the ground now and that lie just around the corner during a period of increased economic growth.
There are some great highlights of the program. There is a $340m infrastructure spend for housing which will be very much welcomed across the Northern Territory. There is $294m as part of a record …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. We lack a quorum. Ring the bells, please.
Mr Giles: Perhaps close it down, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Under standing orders there is three minutes. There is also the opportunity to reconvene the House at a ...
Mr Giles: I was joking.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: I have just been reading that standing order.
Thank you, we have a quorum. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, I was talking about some of the construction program highlights in Budget 2012-13. An amount of $294m is part of a record essential services investment. It was great to hear the minister’s reply in debate about not only Essential Services in the important development of the capital city and of Alice Springs, but right across the regions in our growth towns. The example of Borroloola was celebrated by the member for Arnhem, the member for Barkly – myself - because that is a great example of building the Territory from the ground up.
There is $111m to upgrade hospitals, which includes our regional hospitals. I am pleased to see that component addressing what is needed at the Tennant Creek Hospital - an upgrade of the accident and emergency area that will create better efficiencies, better safety, better working conditions for staff, and better outcomes for patients.
There is $17m for education infrastructure on the back of the Building the Education Revolution - a partnership with the Commonwealth government that has delivered incredible infrastructure into our schools across the Territory. As a former school teacher, I can proudly say this has not been seen in the last 30 years. That is infrastructure development working in partnership with the Australian government, and Budget 2012-13 delivers an additional $17m on top of that to continue the great work. There is $36m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services infrastructure across the Territory.
In regard to land release - for those with their eyes open who can see what is rolling out around the Territory at record rates - that incredible development has cost much money. Much work is going into it, and Budget 2012-13 delivers a further $15.9m to continue headworks for the new suburbs of Johnston and Zuccoli in Palmerston East. Anyone familiar with Johnston Stage 1 will see the community that is growing there. If you like what you see at Johnston - Johnston Stage 2 is under way thanks to the delivery of that important infrastructure program funding - wait until you see Zuccoli. The new ideas going into Zuccoli through the Land Development Corporation and its joint venture with Urbex will see an exciting community growing in Palmerston East. The first stage of Zuccoli is expected to house about 750 families on top of the 7400 homes to be built across other parts of the Territory, including Kilgariff in Alice Springs, the suburb of Bellamack, Mitchell will come online, and Johnston. They are jewels in the crown of the fine city of Palmerston.
It is about helping families get ahead. In Johnston, more than 49 new homes have been built to date, and over 300 units are in various stages of approval and construction. Work will commence on a further 295 lots in the coming months. In Bellamack, housing construction is well under way with 465 titles issued and 131 new homes completed It has been fascinating to see those homes going up over the last couple of years.
More land is rolling out, more ‘for sale’ signs are up, and there are more opportunities for families in the Territory to get a stake in that important market. Weddell planning continues ...
Ms PURICK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: We lack a quorum. Ring the bells, please.
Thank you, we have a quorum. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, it is important to talk about planning for the Territory’s newest city, Weddell. That is for environmental assessment work and the design of the water main - which is under way – for a city with capacity to house 50 000 people.
In Alice Springs, $10m worth of work is expected to be completed this year at Kilgariff. Considerable work has already been done, with a further $3.5m of works to continue in 2012–13, including the construction of a new intersection and water supply to the subdivision.
On top of this, Budget 2012–13 delivers $15.5m for a trunk water main to supply Middle Arm industrial precinct and the new city of Weddell. That is a great example of strategic infrastructure spending to grow the Territory. With the Ichthys major project at Middle Arm and the opportunity to put infrastructure past the planned city of Weddell, it is important to acknowledge good planning, good targeted infrastructure, and great outcomes which will not only service the Territory’s newest city, but also a growing industrial precinct on the Middle Arm Peninsula.
Where would we go without roads? Budget 2012–13 delivers a $260m investment into our roads. This year, the Territory government is working closely with the Australian government to deliver important works for Territory road users. I have witnessed our Treasurer on the road to Canberra. She definitely gets our share of the important road resources for the Territory. I am looking forward to meeting with minister Albanese this month to continue the fight for Territorians, and to ensure our story is heard in the Australian Capital Territory.
It is widely known on the road that I come from Tennant Creek. The heavy vehicle industry has worked out I often travel north on a Sunday. They support my overtaking heavy vehicles by giving me the blinker signals. They have worked out who the blue Toyota belongs to. It is great to be working with that industry, the lifeblood of the Territory, both in the urban areas and regional remote areas. It is good to watch what is happening in the regions and see the incredible infrastructure projects go through the design phase, the planning phase and an assessment phase. You then see the contractors on the ground working on that network of 22 000 km of road across the Territory.
It will be great to hit the road at the end of this week and be able to tell people up and down the track that the Northern Territory government is putting a further $260m investment into Territory roads: $27m in the budget is for strengthening, widening, flood immunity and road safety improvements across the network; $3m for overtaking lanes between Darwin and Katherine as part of the National Network roads program. It is really good to see those overtaking lanes have been invested in, in successive budgets, and the safety outcomes they are delivering, particularly between Darwin and Katherine, which is part of a more intensive drive when you are heading north or south. That is great news for further funding to deliver more overtaking lanes.
There is $10m to continue upgrading the Central Arnhem Road, including the provision of passing lanes which will be very important. That project is pioneering work by this Territory government because it is focused on delivering better services into the remote northeast Arnhem country. It will also deliver better outcomes for families by reducing costs and start to explore better heavy vehicle road transport movements that will bring better services and will impact on costs.
There is $4m for strengthening and widening targeted sections of the Arnhem Highway. We have put a great deal of money into the Arnhem Highway and will continue to do so. It is a strategic road, particularly with the oil and gas sector developing on Middle Arm and the resources needed from that area which will be transported by heavy vehicles. There is an $8.5m duplication of the Howard Springs Road from the Stuart Highway to Whitewood Road and associated upgrades, including Gunn Point Road.
I acknowledge the member for Nelson’s hard work in his electorate. I am a great champion of the electorate of Nelson and the member’s advice on the area. It is good advice for the department to ensure it gets it right because there will a large increase in traffic in the area. It is a growth area of the greater Darwin region, and it is good to see money in Budget 2012-13 for the important road works in that area.
The government is committed to providing an accessible and safe road network and Budget 2012-13 delivers a number of strategic roads projects that will deliver this. Our road network keeps the Territory connected, growing the Territory by providing links to health, education and job opportunities. Transport is another very important aspect of the growth of the Northern Territory, and Budget 2012-13 is injecting significant funding in that growth through the implementation of important strategic plans and policies to meet current and emerging needs for land, transport systems and other infrastructure supporting economic growth.
The key planning strategies for the Territory, namely the 10-year transport, infrastructure and road strategies, along with the commitment to meeting the objectives of the Territory 2030 strategy, will ensure this continued growth is supported and catered for into the future.
A challenging but important area of the Territory’s development is correctional services. The Henderson government has shown vision and determination, as well as significant resource allocation, to turn around the lives of disadvantaged Territorians and give them a new start. I am proud to see Budget 2012-13 delivers a $20.2m investment into 189 more prisoner beds, 10 diversion beds - basically rehabilitation beds - working with the non-government sector to address specific offending behaviour, 63 more correctional services staff and associated infrastructure across the Northern Territory.
Funding allocation has been strategically planned in line with our new era in Corrections, including prisoner work orders, the anticipated completion of the 800-bed Doug Owston Correctional Centre at Holtze in 2014, and a host of other initiatives in the area of correctional services.
The government makes no apology for being tough on crime. That has resulted in record prisoner numbers; however, in an historical stage in the Northern Territory, we are going to see a difference. We have set ambitious targets to provide education, training and rehabilitation and reduce the unacceptable recidivism rate throughout the Northern Territory.
Budget 2012-13 continues our commitment to breaking that cycle of crime with a strong focus on boosting staff numbers and capacity within our correctional services facilities. In addition, Budget 2012-13 will deliver important offender education, rehabilitation and training programs under the new era. The new prisoner beds will include a breakdown of $3.5m to manage 95 more prisoner beds at the Darwin Correctional Centre in these challenging times, and $6.59m for 50 more beds and associated support infrastructure at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre, including new education and training facilities. They are doing a great job in Alice Springs.
The infrastructure spend is targeted and will be of great benefit ongoing. It will also address our needs at the moment with record numbers - $1.55m to manage 24 more beds at the Barkly Work Camp near Tennant Creek. I was there on Saturday talking to some of the staff and prisoners who were assembling new beds built at the industry section in Alice Springs and transported to Tennant Creek.
I was at the hardware store buying things for some gardening projects at home and bumped into several prisoners, with a prison officer, who were searching out high tensile bolts. They gave me a lecture on the project - the fabrication of metals to build the beds, the angles they had cut, the special step they designed to put into the bunk so the person on the top could get up and down safely, and also why they needed the high tensile bolts for this project. It was great to talk with these guys in a hardware store with a prison officer supervising and to then visit the work camp and see some of the initiatives. The prisoners were working on everything- concreting a pad to build a garden shed, doing infrastructure work around the camp, and running the kitchen and laundry. They were working on the Golden Heart event for a community group, carrying out set up and pull down work for that major show which drew 350 people. They were also doing their normal work in the parks and gardens. I reminded them that this is a new initiative and a powerful commitment from government. They agreed it was a good thing. I finished the conversation by telling them there are no return tickets - it is a one-ticket ride. ‘You go to the Barkly Work Camp, you go home and you do not come back’. All the blokes I spoke to agreed with that.
There is $6.29m for the construction of a 20-bed treatment training facility for driving offenders and non-violent crime offenders at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre site. This is an example of a good, new era initiative addressing specific offending behaviour. When we talk about driving offenders, these recidivists that are sentenced under 12 months - it is very difficult to do much in the current climate. This is forward thinking about specific training and treatment that will address offending behaviour.
This is way ahead of the game of anything I have heard from the Country Liberal Party. It is way ahead of some of the outrageous and disgraceful statements made in this House by the Country Liberal Party about what it will do in Corrections if it ever takes the reins of government. The CLP needs to listen and take advice from a government with sleeves rolled up, doing the work and striving to address a great challenge. It will be a wonderful outcome when we turn around some of the disadvantaged Territorians, get them home and into productive lifestyles where they will feel a difference.
There is an additional $1.61m to provide 10 more alcohol and other drug treatment beds, and associated programs in Darwin and Alice Springs, as an alternative to imprisonment. This is sending a clear message with our new era thinking, with our community custody orders and our community work orders, that you will be mandated to stay out of prison and stay in the community. You will be mandated into work, mandated to attend education, and mandated to attend rehabilitation and treatment to address your offending behaviour.
The funding is also to be used to recruit 63 more Corrections staff across Alice Springs, Darwin and Tennant Creek Correctional facilities. It was great to work with the prisoners on Saturday and be among locals I knew before going into Corrections, now as Correctional Services officers in the new Barkly Work Camp. They are great mentors setting the pace. We were working together side-by-side on Saturday in the set-up of what was a great night at the Golden Heart Awards.
The construction of the new 800-bed Doug Owston Correctional Centre, a 30-bed secure mental health and behavioural management facility, and a 48-bed supported accommodation and program centre at Holtze are some of the major initiatives in the new era of Corrections. That major infrastructure project, representing a multiclassification Correctional Services precinct, will be completed and operational by mid-2014.
The Darwin Port Corporation continues to position itself for significant oil and gas developments, both within Darwin Harbour and the Timor Sea, with the introduction of technological advancements that would deliver efficiencies and, above all, safety outcomes. Key land reclamation projects at East Arm continue to progress, making future wharf space and will accommodate the new Marine Supply Base. Significant investment in the city wharf has made many improvements.
Upgrades to Stokes Hill Wharf, Fisherman’s Wharf and the mooring basin will provide better facilities in relation to tourism, boat operators and commercial fishermen.
Motion agreed to.
Mr McCARTHY: Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for his kind thoughts.
In regard to Budget 2012-13, the output represents a further investment in arts and culture of the Northern Territory. It is an investment in our scientific and cultural collections and, when you look at the institutions on the ground, there are some celebrated icons throughout the Territory: the Araluen Art Centre, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the Northern Territory Library and the Northern Territory Archive Service. The other output making up the budget responsibilities, in relation to arts and museums, is the screen sector. The Arts and Culture output group will also receive $5m in Budget 2012-13 for capital expenditure for our major facility development, repairs and maintenance, and minor new works, which is always welcomed.
Our museums and art galleries play a pivotal role in showcasing the Territory’s rich and vibrant culture, fascinating history and spectacular natural environment for the world to see. Budget 2012-13 delivers towards a scientific and cultural collections output which account for, and preserve and provide access to Territory art, and we certainly have an iconic collection. Our cultural natural history, our plant collections and our education programs all combine to create incredible learning and enjoyment for the whole community.
This output group includes many government owned and operated public facilities in Darwin, including the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, Fannie Bay Gaol, Lyons Cottage, the Northern Territory Library, the Northern Territory Archive Service, and that incredible development under the stewardship of the Chief Minister, the Defence of Darwin Experience located on the grounds of the Darwin Military Museum. That has been a fascinating program. Watch that space because the whole world is coming to see that ...
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you. We lack a quorum. Ring the bells, please.
We have a quorum. Minister, you have the call.
Mr McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. In Alice Springs, government owned and operated public facilities include the Museum of Central Australia; the Strehlow Research Centre - which houses very important pieces of art, culture, heritage and Indigenous knowledge in the Northern Territory; the Araluen Arts Centre; and the Northern Territory Archive Service. In Budget 2012–13, there is an additional $4.2m to continue delivering, facilitating, and promoting performing arts, cinema, visual arts, and tourism programs and attractions for both visitors and locals in Alice Springs.
The museum and art gallery facilities I mentioned, such as the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the Museum of Central Australia, the Strehlow Research Centre and various historic buildings in their care, will receive $10.7m in Budget 2012–13 to account for, preserve, and provide access to Territory art, cultural, and natural history collections.
The Northern Territory Library is the Territory’s major reference and research library responsible for collecting, preserving, and providing access to the Territory’s documentary heritage, and connecting people to the world of information. Budget 2012–13 provides $9.8m to the Northern Territory Library to provide financial policy and advocacy support for the development and promotion of library services in the Northern Territory. There are 33 public library sites in the Territory, with 22 situated in isolated and remote communities. The Northern Territory Library provides leadership and advice in the development and support of library services provided by municipal and shire councils and remote schools.
In Budget 2012-13, there is $10.5m to support the arts and screen sector, and $6.81m for arts grant funding to grow our arts sector. This money is invested in our community and not only provides our cultural, artistic, and heritage pathways but also supports the wellbeing of the Northern Territory community. It shows us who we are, where we came from, and gives us a fantastic base to work out the road map of where we are going. It is a great privilege to work in the sector and to deliver those output groups within Budget 2012–13.
Budget 2012–13 supports our Territory families and gears us for growth. I recommend this budget to the House. Budget week is a good opportunity to make comparisons. Those comparisons relate to either side of this House, with a Labor government going into a planned deficit - a strategic spend, a stimulus response that has set the Territory up in the last four years for the growth we now see - as opposed to an economic rationalist agenda from liberalist thinkers that is a short-term vision to have money in the bank. There is a big difference in those policies. In an election year, it is important Territorians assess that very clearly. It is an important time for Territorians to reflect on strong, responsible fiscal management as opposed to promises and what we saw under the Howard era, with surplus budgets delivered but cuts in services and a poor report card on infrastructure development.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we are proud of this budget. The Treasurer has worked very hard. It has been a great team effort. I love people I learn from, and I certainly learn from the Henderson Labor government. I support Budget 2012-13.
Debate adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Council of Territory Cooperation – Final Report
Council of Territory Cooperation – Final Report
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I table the final report of the Council of Territory Cooperation, May 2012.
MOTION
Note Paper – Council of Territory Cooperation – Final Report
Note Paper – Council of Territory Cooperation – Final Report
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Other than the Animal Welfare Governance Sub-committee’s report in November last year, this report is the CTC’s first since May last year. It, therefore, includes progress on inquiries into SIHIP, local government, A Working Future and child protection reform over the last year. As it is the CTC’s last report, it includes reporting on all the CTC’s activities since it was established in 2009. It includes summaries of the CTC’s inquiries into the power supply, domestic violence statistics, and the CTC’s Animal Welfare Governance Sub-committee’s inquiry.
The report also provides an assessment of how the government has responded to the CTC, and its sub-committees’, 76 recommendations. Findings are included on child protection reform, SIHIP, local government and A Working Future. As it is the final report, no further recommendations have been made.
It might be useful before moving on to some of the findings in the report, to revisit the purposes behind the CTC’s establishment. These were to facilitate:
(a) greater levels of collaboration in the governance of the Northern Territory;
Under the CTC’s terms of reference, government agreed to respond to any recommendations. As demonstrated by its aims in the terms of reference, the CTC has a unique role in improving collaboration in how major projects like SIHIP are implemented by government.
The idea behind this report was to give a report card on the CTC and its activities. By describing its activities over the last year and including relevant earlier findings and recommendations, the report gives a snapshot of how effective the CTC has been at increasing involvement in government projects and how they are delivered. The report shows how successful the CTC has been in fulfilling its aims. It has held over 30 public meetings across the Territory and heard from ministers, government, local government, businesses, contractors, non-government organisations and private citizens. In addition to the formal recommendations, the CTC sought action on issues needing urgent attention through letters to the appropriate Territory and Australian government ministers.
I turn briefly to each of the CTC’s priorities covered in the report. Following the release of the Growing them strong, together report in late 2010, the CTC decided to monitor progress in reforming the Territory’s child protection system. Because government adopted a three-tiered approach to overseeing the reform, the CTC concentrated on hearing from those three tiers: the External Monitoring and Reporting Committee, the Chief Executive’s Child Protection Taskforce; and the Department of Children and Families.
Although the Country Liberals withdrew from the CTC, the shadow child protection spokesperson was invited to the CTC’s child protection hearings. I am pleased to say the member for Araluen attended a number of child protection public hearings and therefore received information not available elsewhere. The report includes information on progress implementing the government’s responses to the board of inquiry’s 147 recommendations. This in an example of information the CTC receives which may not otherwise be made public.
I want to acknowledge the progress already made in just over a year since the reform started. It is also important to recognise the still significant issues to be addressed. The CTC believes preventative approaches to child protection are extremely important and is concerned limited action has occurred to date to deliver more preventative services to address child neglect. As with responses to other board of inquiry recommendations, there was a growth in steering groups, task force and other strategic planning mechanisms, but less action to address the associated issue.
Recruitment and retention of staff and foster carers, particularly in remote communities, is fundamental to achieving reform in the child protection system. The CTC believes an effective way to address these issues is to employ local Indigenous people on equitable terms to those offered to interstate and international recruits. Lack of appropriate housing is a significant problem which needs to be addressed to retain staff and carers in remote towns and communities. The CTC sought immediate action through ministers to identify and allocate housing for foster carers. We also heard of the problems in identifying staff housing, and government admissions it would take time to build enough government employee housing for the increased number of staff.
The CTC is aware of the many demands for housing in communities. Availability of stable and secure housing in communities is a vital part of the preventative approach to child protection. The long-standing practices of not housing local recruits in government employee housing and not offering the full range of public housing programs in remote communities must be addressed if government is committed to reforming the child protection system.
It is probably appropriate to move to SIHIP, something the CTC has always kept a close eye on. I sometimes wonder why it takes the CTC to raise the problem it sees, and what will happen if the CTC, or something like it, is not keeping an eye on how programs are delivered. The CTC has made many recommendations to improve how SIHIP is delivered; however, some issues remain. The CTC remains convinced that refurbishments, now capped at an average of $75 000, should be delivered using the original scope. The government’s statement of the extra work being done after the SIHIP refurbishments makes it clear the $75 000 limit is not sufficient to return houses to a functional level allowing for healthy living practices. The CTC recommended refurbishment should be undertaken by local building teams. This is one way more work could be undertaken for less administrative cost and employ more local people. The CTC recently heard that the Territory government intends to use local contractors in smaller communities to undertake future housing work.
One of the things Australian and Territory government ministers like to highlight is SIHIP consistently exceeds the 20% Indigenous employment target. SIHIP is a rare, important opportunity to employ and train local Indigenous people for longer-term employment. The real story on SIHIP employment and training is different to the publicised figures. The CTC sought and received quarterly statistical reports that, since 2011, include statistics on SIHIP employment and training. Some high-level information from these quarterly reports is included in the final report. The figures show very few people are employed on SIHIP for more than a few months, and there are very mixed results on training to assist people gain long-term employment.
While the CTC has had many successes in opening up government practices, it remains frustrated in receiving the promised transparency of SIHIP. Despite more than half of the new houses being handed over, it is still not possible to know their associated costs. As it stands at the moment, the program will be close to being delivered before government will disclose housing costs. The information available shows the new houses are costing more than the SIHIP review target of $450 000 each. It is clear additional housing and infrastructure is needed in remote communities. Despite the announcement of brought-forward funding and targets, there appears to be no Territory policy on the priorities for delivery of housing after SIHIP.
Government is keen to push the need for more home ownership in the bush, but this is stalled due to unresolved leasing arrangements. The CTC believes all the public housing programs offered in town - industry housing or community and crisis housing - have to be offered alongside remote public housing. The reality is, despite wishes for home ownership to help resolve housing demand it will not significantly contribute to increasing housing options in communities any time soon.
I turn to the CTC’s findings about local government. The report includes an assessment of the progress made in achieving the forecasted benefits of local government reform. I will not go into that detail; it is there for people to read. However, I want to highlight one of the motivations for local government reform - to increase funding to local government bodies - remains a significant, unaddressed issue. Reform, of itself, has not increased funding to the shires. Totally inadequate funding and the inability to increase their own source revenue means shires cannot deliver the level of core services or employ as many people as they need to. Something must be done urgently to address the tenuous financial situation in the shires. The CTC continues to urge for the reinstatement of services fees that many people told the CTC allow local governments to provide better services.
I move to the findings on A Working Future. The CTC has raised concerns about the choice of the 20 growth towns and the concentration on providing services to those centres, which seem to mean ignoring other smaller communities. I have asked, and will probably continue to ask, about the mid-size communities. People in these communities feel forgotten. Quite often, they are the same communities that did not receive any new housing and also feel detached from the shires. Securing land tenure in growth towns remains a major issue. Now the Australian government is no longer requiring township leases, the default requirement is 40-year leases over government infrastructure. Securing leases and their annual cost is an additional pressure on shires and, presumably, on any aspiring business that wants to set up in growth towns.
Now a 10-year funding for outstations and homelands has been finalised, the CTC believes the announcement of a government outstations policy is long overdue. The CTC agrees with the former Coordinator-General for Remote Services, Bob Beadman, that a clear policy is needed on new and other housing, repairs and maintenance, and support for outstations and homelands.
I thank all members of the CTC over the two-and--half years of its operation. They have all helped open up government and provide opportunities for people to be more involved in how government delivers its services. I thank them for their participation. I should say an extra word about the members for Arafura and Nhulunbuy, who have stuck it out with me for the longest amount of time. The member for Arafura and I do not always agree, but together with the member for Nhulunbuy - sounds like the same problem in the government - who is Deputy Chair - I thank them for their time, patience and contribution to the CTC’s success.
I also place on the record my appreciation to the secretariat staff since 2009. I refer specifically to the committee secretary, Ms Helen Campbell, the principal research officer, Ms Jan Whitehead, who is responsible for this report, and for many of the reports the CTC has brought to this parliament. We need to recognise the CTC’s value could not have happened without her dedication and hard work. She has ensured the CTC has functioned, has its reports out on time, and has contributed very much to the success of the CTC. Also, to her research officer, Ms Alison Stirrup, who is also administrative assistant, for her great work in assisting Jan. We also thank Ms Robyn Appleby and Ms Amanda O’Donnell for all the work they put into the CTC over that period.
I especially thank Michelle, who works for me, and Kim, my electorate officer, who kept me on the right path. They have also given me advice and helped organise meetings in various parts of the Northern Territory on behalf of the CTC. I appreciate the effort and dedication they have put into helping with this report we present tonight to parliament.
The CTC, regardless of the criticism it has received from time to time, has opened up new ground. It has done something other committees have not. They may have done it in part at certain times; however, the CTC was an operating committee which continued for two-and-a-half years. It was unique in that it could, basically, investigate what it liked. It could talk to public servants and could have meetings any time at any place in the Northern Territory. As shown by what it has looked at, it could take on current issues or long-standing issue such as SIHIP. That has been beneficial. From my point of view, the CTC has allowed the public and the media to see what happens within government - allowed them to see the government scrutinised for its policies on an ongoing basis. That is really important because, if we talk about openness and transparency in government, this committee has shown it can be done.
I do not know what will happen after the next election. I hope if the present government wins it will continue with the CTC. It may need some changes and refinement. The CLP has said if it wins government it will scrap the CTC. I hope it reconsiders that because it is an important and valuable tool for openness and transparency in government. As an Independent member of the parliament, it has allowed me to learn things from government departments I normally would not be allowed to know. We do that and have done that at public hearings, so the public can know as well.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the CTC has made an important contribution to the governance and democratic processes of the Northern Territory. It should be proud of what it has done - not perfect, but it has started a new process I hope, whichever government is in power after the next election, will continue in some form for the benefit of the Territory and Territorians.
Motion agreed to; report noted.
MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Carbon Tax – Impact on Territorians
Carbon Tax – Impact on Territorians
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, the Speaker has received the following letter from the member for Braitling:
- Madam Speaker,
- I propose for discussion this day the following definite matter of public importance:
the impact of the introduction of the carbon tax on the people of the Northern Territory.
- Yours sincerely,
Adam Giles MLA
Member for Braitling
Is the matter of public importance supported? It is supported. Member for Braitling, you have the floor.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is very important to discuss the carbon tax and remind Territorians it is three months until the commencement of the carbon tax in Australia, as put forward by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and her partnership with The Greens and the Independents to stay in government.
Many people will recall the member for Fong Lim introducing a motion in parliament in May last year calling on a 50-year exemption from the carbon tax for the Northern Territory for a number of reasons. I will quickly read that motion:
- … I move - That this Assembly -
1. call on the Australian government to exempt the Northern Territory from the proposed carbon emissions tax for at least 50 years or until such time as global consensus
has been reached on a worldwide carbon emissions reduction plan; and
The member for Fong Lim did that in good faith on the understanding the Territory is a widely undeveloped jurisdiction and has not had the opportunity to progress as far as other states in Australia. The motion put forward in this Chamber was supported by the Country Liberals and the Independent members for Macdonnell and Nelson. The motion went through on the voices with Labor opposing it. The member for Daly said at the time:
- ... we will not be supporting putting a position to Canberra around this ...
...
We will not be supporting this motion.
Clearly, the government was at odds with the will of the parliament but the Speaker, to her credit, forwarded the motion to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate. My concern is we have not seen adequate response from the Australian parliament, the Prime Minister, the House of Representatives or the Senate to our calling for a 50-year exemption on the carbon tax in the Northern Territory.
We on this side of the Chamber do not support the carbon tax in Australia. We stand for Territorians and do not want to see the carbon tax in the Northern Territory. However, we understand the Chief Minister is reluctant to fight with the Prime Minister, unlike the Country Liberals, who are keen to a fight with Canberra to stand up for Territorians.
We saw that in the live cattle trade debate, when the Chief Minister stood hand-in-hand with the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, in Nhulunbuy and announced the live cattle ban. This ban had detrimental effects on economies throughout the Northern Territory, upstream and downstream of the industry, with international effects. It affected economic situations across countries. We still have not returned to the point we were at before the live cattle ban debate. I raise that now to put it in the context of the carbon tax. It is clear the will of the parliament is to oppose the carbon tax.
There are 13 members in this Chamber who oppose the carbon tax and it is the responsibility of the Chief Minister to take that fight to Canberra. Many people put the carbon tax aside saying it is just one issue and we know it does not have widespread political support in Australia. People need to think about the implications of the carbon tax on the Northern Territory. Today I have listened to government ministers say how good a deficit is for the Territory in their budget reply speeches.
I thought: ‘When I wake up in the morning how does a carbon tax affect me?’ When I wake up in the morning I turn the light on and, all of a sudden, I have a carbon tax. The cost of transporting that light switch to my house to be installed will incur a carbon tax, and electricity coming through will incur a carbon tax. The production of the new glass shower screen in my house will incur a carbon tax, and producing the metal around it will incur a carbon tax. I drive to work in my car. Making the parts in the car is energy intensive, which will be subject to carbon tax. Fuel, in the future, will be subject to carbon tax. I attend a meeting, I talk to people about the tourism industry in the Northern Territory, I talk about the implications on aviation. There will be a carbon tax on aviation fuel, not to mention the metal that goes into making the plane if those products are produced in Australia because they are energy-intensive industries.
Talking about the aviation sector, I researched the implications on Qantas, Virgin and Airnorth, and have identified the price of tickets in the Northern Territory will increase because of the carbon tax. I sit down at that meeting with a cup of coffee, and the transportation of the milk in the coffee will be subject to carbon tax. While we are talking about the aviation industry and regional development, I pick up the May 2012 Australian Aviation magazine and see an article by Michael Bridge and Jim Davis. The article says it is not good enough for the government to say the increased costs amount to a cup of coffee per ticket, referring to the carbon tax implications on regional airlines. It is misleading; the analogy is simply not true. The combined effects are easily in the $10 to $20 per sector range. Such increases will have serious consequences for marginal routes, indeed, all regional routes.
In the context of the Northern Territory, you have to think about what that means for the aviation industry and the implications on tourism. I am sure some operators are doing okay, but plenty are not, particularly as you head down the track. We are about to impose another tax on them.
The purpose of this is to explain how much impact the carbon tax will have. Every single thing will be taxed, and it will be a cumulative tax, because there will be taxes on taxes on taxes from one industry to the next. We have the debate around the concrete industry, the cement industry, limestone manufacturing - Mataranka lime and the implications for those guys. Will they be able to survive in that competitive environment being such an energy-intense industry? Will they have to go offshore? Will clinker come from offshore in the future? When we look at the concrete involved in the construction industry, the implications are amazing.
I asked the Minister for Transport about the transport implications of the carbon tax on the price of milk. The minister could not answer. I will attempt to find my question on the price of milk to see how the minister answered it. I recall him saying something about all working together. The government is trying to be silly here. Let us all work together to find the price of a carton of milk. We have asked about the implications of producing steel in the Northern Territory. The government says it does not know.
I am sure they have Treasury modelling upstairs to show the implications of the carbon tax in the Northern Territory, but they will not present it to Territorians despite the fact 13 of the 25 members of this Legislative Assembly are calling for a 50-year exemption, because we are not developed. As the member for Fong Lim said, we have not had the 200 years to develop our economy like other parts of Australia ...
Mr Elferink: I do not recall a dissenting voice or a division.
Mr GILES: I will pick up on the interjection from the member for Port Darwin saying he could not recall any opposition to the motion. I can tell the member for Port Darwin that the member for Daly spoke as the minister for Business. He said on 4 May 2011 in debate:
- ... we will not be supporting putting a position to Canberra around this...
He also said:
We will not be supporting this motion.
There are other quotations I will not go into.
The member for Port Darwin may also be interested to hear the Housing Industry Association’s comments on 14 July last year, saying the residential building industry will be affected more than most. Further in that regard, the average additional cost of a new house will be between $5000 and $6000, plus the bureaucratic red tape of this government.
I am certain the member for Arnhem, the Minister for Indigenous Development, will not join the debate. I will be happy if she does; however, the importance of carbon tax in the development of Aboriginal communities - what will happen to the cost of living there? We already have higher costs. The carbon tax will send them through the roof. The Labor elite and the Left like to talk about how the carbon tax will be a great thing - carbon abatement. We are going to teach people to not burn as much, not scorch the land, and pay people for not doing that as a carbon abatement measure. That sounds like welfare. Do not start a fire. We will pay you not to start fires. That sounds absolutely crazy. That is what they are going to do.
It follows a similar model of welfare as the royalty for arts program where everybody gets a 5% repeater with the resale of art. You do not have to do anything; you keep getting paid all the time. Absolutely crazy! People have to understand what this carbon tax is all about.
This carbon tax is about the federal government recouping the GST money it hands out. It can get money back to pork barrel electorates around Australia. It will have more money to spend. The big beast, the big behemoth of a massive government Labor likes to operate, both in the Territory and Canberra – its carbon tax is going to the Canberra piggy bank as a substitute for GST money. That is all it is.
The carbon tax will not save the planet; it is just a tax. The tax will not clean up the environment; it will clean out the wallets and purses of Territorians. The more regional you are the more expensive it is going to be. There will be a larger financial impact on your wallet and your purse.
I am not going to talk about the carbon tax all night. I want this parliament to pass a motion for a 50-year exemption from the ridiculous, ludicrous carbon tax the Prime Minister of Australia wants to put forward as part of her dodgy Greens deal. We want to get out of it so we can develop the Northern Territory. This puts into question many opportunities for development that are on the radar - mining for gas, mining for gold, rare earths, and iron ore through the Roper. There are many opportunities, but, at the moment, they are all in question because of Labor’s dodgy carbon tax.
Electricity prices will go up, on average, $2.70 per week for every Territorian. A $2.70 a week increase is not going to save the environment. It is just a tax to fill Canberra’s piggy bank to replace its GST money.
The carbon tax will not clean up the environment. It will simply clean out the wallets and purses of Territorians. I ask the Chief Minister, or whoever talks on this debate, to tell us what happened after the motion was sent to Canberra and tabled. Tell us how you have taken the fight to Canberra to stop the carbon tax in the Northern Territory. Tell us what you are doing.
Earlier today, the Chief Minister was talking about the Leader of the Opposition and a GST carve up. The Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, was on the front foot straightaway. No one will touch our GST. We do not care who is in Canberra. Do the same, Chief Minister, with the carbon tax. Stand up and tell Prime Minister Julia Gillard that you will have none of it. ‘Stay out of the Territory, you are not welcome here’. We know Paul Henderson and Julia Gillard are hand in hand when it comes to doing over the Northern Territory. We saw a perfect example with the live cattle debate. That tore the Territory apart, set us back 15 or 20 years, and we have not rebuilt yet.
Chief Minister, what are you doing to put in place the measures this parliament supported? What are you doing to ensure the Northern Territory is exempt from the carbon tax? What are you doing to protect Territorians? What are you doing to ensure Labor’s unnecessary and ineffective carbon tax will not increase cost pressures on Territorians? It will not achieve its outcomes. This is not just about federal Labor, it is about Labor - Territory Labor, the Chief Minister - Territory Labor, the Prime Minister. They are both collectively doing Territorians over, cleaning out the wallets and purses of Territorians.
This commences in three months from today. Territorians need to be well aware that in three months from today the carbon tax will start and we will all be paying more. The world will not change because we are paying $2.70 a week extra for electricity or because we are paying $10 to $20 a sector more on airfares. Nothing will change in the world because we are paying more money. We are hurting our own economy. We are restraining the advancement of the Territory in its economy and our future prosperity. Chief Minister, come into this Chamber and tell us what you are doing to convince the Prime Minister to stop the carbon tax in the Northern Territory and stop hurting Territorians.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support this matter of public importance: the impact of the introduction of the carbon tax on the people of the Northern Territory.
The difference between the Northern Territory opposition and the government is we are on the same page as our federal counterparts, the federal Coalition, when it comes to this carbon tax. We reject it, we refute it, and support the idea of getting rid of it as and when we come to government. The federal opposition has undertaken to wind it back almost immediately if it comes to government, hopefully, within the next 12 months.
That is where we are very different from the Northern Territory government, which does not have that relationship with its federal counterparts. It claimed, not so long ago in the parliament, it did not support the idea of a carbon tax for the Northern Territory, but that is where it all ended. It was fluff, rhetoric; a pathetic signal it was not intending to do anything. It was an expression of its complete and utter impotence when it comes to representing the real needs of Territorians and this dreadful tax.
This dreadful carbon tax is really a tax on electricity. It is a tax on coal which is, essentially, a tax on electricity. At the moment, Australians depend on coal for generation of electricity - 80% of our electricity is currently generated by coal. It is a very cheap form of energy. It is something we have relied on all our lives in Australia and for centuries before. It is highly accessible in Australia. We are the biggest exporter of coal in the world. It is one of our most valued and envied resources in Australia.
The federal Australian Labor Party, the Labor government, has decided to put a tax on coal - one of our greatest treasures and assets - because of the apparent environmental damage it is having on us all. However, what they are really doing is ripping us all off, because once you start taxing electricity, once you start taxing coal through its carbon emissions - as my colleague, the member for Braitling has already outlined - you are taxing everything in society. There is really nothing that does not include electricity in its production and processing when it comes to goods and services in Australia.
As my colleague said, it is a cascading and compounding tax. It is a tax upon tax upon tax. The federal Labor government should be deeply ashamed of this because it will not impact on the elite rich in society the government continues to identify - the privileged few. It will impact on each and every one of us. That includes the frail, the disabled, and people on very low incomes. Every Territorian will be impacted by this carbon tax. When it comes to the actions, or should I say inaction of the Northern Territory government when representing the true needs, concerns and interests of Territorians, we have seen the government do absolutely nothing to prevent this carbon tax impacting on us.
This is a very serious state of affairs I am sure the Northern Territory government and the Chief Minister would like to see disappear. It will impact on every government department and interest in the Territory. Tourism, agriculture, building and infrastructure, trade, including imports and exports. It will impact on health, education, you name it. It impacts on us all because it impacts on our basic needs - Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. When you look at our basic needs as human beings – food, clothing and shelter - all those things will be taxed by this new tax. Tony Abbott calls it a poisonous, toxic tax. Good old Tony Abbott. Hopefully, the future Prime Minister of Australia will abolish this tax because it is pervasive, endemic, cascading and compounding on goods and service we need to survive from day to day.
Madam Deputy Speaker, when it comes to this tax, when it comes to this policy and what to do about this carbon tax in Australia, the Northern Territory opposition is hand in hand with the federal Coalition. We know exactly where we are, we know exactly where we stand, unlike this impotent Northern Territory government which cannot express a true opinion on it. The Northern Territory government has almost mislead the people of the Northern Territory by not honestly and openly admitting it supports Julia Gillard, the Prime Minister of Australia, and Wayne Swan, the Treasurer, when it comes to this toxic carbon tax.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, from the outset we should remind Territorians that when the carbon tax was first mentioned, the Chief Minister, Mr Henderson, said he would not support anything which cost Territorians a single cent. I remember listening to him on the radio. That is a misrepresentation because we know the carbon tax is going to cost Territorians dearly.
It is a strange reality when we have a tax, and that is what this is. I am fed up with green initiatives in the country which have cost billions of dollars with not one ounce of benefit to the environment. We should focus on our own back yards instead of trying to save the world. If we all focused on our own back yard and cleaned up our bit, eventually the world would be a better place. But, we cannot. I cannot introduce a policy in the Northern Territory which will save the rainforests in South America, but I can have a policy which will clean up our own back yards. That is what we can focus on. That is within the realms of what the Northern Territory government can do.
This tax, as my colleagues have alluded to, is a compounding tax, unlike the GST, which is handed back at every stage until the final person purchases an item and pays the GST. This is a compounding tax which will become more expensive as we get along. It is a strange philosophy for Labor when it continues to tax the people making a dollar; tax the people who are working whether they are low income earners, middle income earners, or the wealthy. It fails to recognise if you keep taxing these people you take away the incentive to earn a dollar. If these people are not earning a dollar then you do not have any money to provide services you might want to for the less fortunate in this country.
You cannot keep attacking people and removing their incentive by continually taxing them. You only have to look at the mining tax, another tax on the big business of town. Yes, it is the big business, but you have to remember how many people the industry employs. How much tax is paid by those employees? By continually taxing the big end of town, you take away the incentive.
I have spoken to many people about reducing payroll tax. I was talking to a businessman recently who said if the tax was reduced by even 1% he could employ as many as 14 more people in his business. That would be 14 more people paying income tax with money to put into the economy. You have to provide incentives for business, particularly big business, instead of continually taxing them. That is what this is, a damn tax.
It is like running a race. The member for Daly is a pretty fit man and likes to run around. Well, if we use the philosophy of a Labor socialist government and had 10 people lining up in a race it would not matter, because all 10 would win the race. If you take away the incentive to run like the member for Daly does, those people running will have no incentive to win. If you keep taxing people, the people making a living for themselves and for other people, because they risk their own money in business to provide employment - if you continually attack those people you take away the incentive they have to achieve something.
If you look at it in the wild, you have to run. If you do not run - I probably would have been eaten much sooner than the member for Daly because he would be quicker than me. Even in the wild, the quickest survive, the strongest survive, and the weak, unfortunately, are usually eaten, depending on what country you are in.
However, I digress. I will go back to green schemes. I mentioned the billions of dollars spent around the country on green schemes. There are many green initiatives I agree with. There are certain parts of the country where solar is particularly welcome, Alice Springs, for instance. Solar is a necessity in a place with plenty of sunshine, but when you see some of those green schemes that have gone south - cash for clunkers and the pink batts - you question the professionalism of a government which keeps coming up with schemes that keep failing. In fact, I believe they have done themselves some damage over the years.
If I was doorknocking four years ago in the lead-up the 2008 election, I would have said environment was front of mind. It was probably the most important thing for people. From recent doorknocking, that has changed completely. It has slipped right down the rung and things like law and order and good education are more important. Our environment is more important than green schemes.
Going back to the carbon tax, I want to focus on regional aviation. You touched on this earlier, but I wanted to read several articles from Australian Aviation, one dated 1 May 2012. I want to focus on aviation because in the Northern Territory we know how vital regional aviation is. Many of our communities are cut off each year, particularly in the north because of the Wet Season. If it was not for aviation these places would be cut off completely. It is a vital link for the prosperity of the Northern Territory.
This article is dated 10 July 2011: ‘Near $1bn fuel excise hike for aviation under carbon tax plan’, and I will read from the document:
- Aviation fuel excise is increasing under the carbon tax. The excise on aviation fuel for domestic use - both jet A-1/avtur and avgas - will increase under the federal government’s long awaited carbon tax plan, announced by the Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Canberra today, with the increase set to cost the industry $930m over four years.
- According to the government’s new www.cleanenergyyfuture.gov.au website which explains the carbon tax policy, ‘domestic aviation fuel excise will be increased by an amount equivalent to the carbon price on an annual basis over the fixed price period to provide an effective carbon price for aviation’.
- That will see the excise on avtur increase by 6.604 a litre to 10.16 per litre in 2014-15, while the excise on avgas will rise by 5.588 per litre to 9.144 per litre in 2014-15.
The current excise on aviation fuel is 3.556 per litre.
- Once the carbon tax regime switches over to an emissions trading scheme, planned for July 1 2015, the aviation fuel excise will then increase on a six monthly basis ‘based on the average carbon price over the previous six months’.
International aviation fuel use is not subject to the fuel excise, and is exempt from the scheme.
This adds again - you touched on this earlier - tourism, and how important it is coming to the Territory.
There is another article from probably one of Australia’s largest regional providers, Rex Aviation, on Thursday, 1 March 2012, this year:
- Regional Express released first half financial results this week showing solid profits of $18.5m but predicting a dismal future with a toxic economic environment and draconian government policies conspiring against regional aviation.
‘The twin effects of the impending global economic slowdown and the federal government’s draconian policies on regional aviation will, no doubt, succeed in wiping out regional air services to all but the biggest regional centres over the next few years’, the airline said in a statement, adding that it soon might be forced to cut services on unprofitable rural routes.
Australia’s largest independent regional carrier singled out the carbon tax for criticism, saying it would cost the airline more than $6m per year as fuel prices continue to sky rocket.
- The Regional Aviation Association of Australia (RAAA) has criticised the federal government’s new carbon tax, saying fuel hikes of 6 per litre ‘will add millions of dollars to regional operators’ costs’.
‘The Prime Minister claims that the carbon tax is aimed at the big polluters, but the regional aviation industry contributes around 0.2% of the nation’s total carbon emissions. The fact that the tax is being applied via the aviation fuel levy to regional aviation, an industry that barely emits carbon and which actually acts as an alternative to other carbon producing transport options, makes a mockery of the Prime Minister’s claim’, RAAA CEO Paul Tyrrell argued.
The RAAA also said that a lack of alternative fuel options would mean regional operators ‘cannot change their carbon emission behaviour’ unless they pull out of the industry altogether.
- Regional Express (Rex) is one regional carrier that has strongly criticised the carbon tax and other government decisions which impact regional aviation, saying that the removal of the en route rebate scheme for regional airlines, the additional fuel excise and ‘increased security at regional ports’, as factors which would equate to a loss of at least $6m per annum for the airline.
- ‘Rex has already announced in its release of 1 June 2011 that the outcome of these measures could be the loss of air services to half-a-dozen marginal regional ports like Taree and Grafton’ Rex COO, Chris Hine warned:
- I foresee many regional operators without the financial strength and diversification of the Rex group being forced out of business once these take effect on 1 July 2012. Those surviving will have to cut back on marginal routes in order to remain in business. This will unfortunately mean that some regional communities will suffer the loss of their essential air services, Hine added, calling on the federal government to ‘strongly reconsider its position on regional air services’.
That is from a major company. Rex or Regional Express is not a small operator. We have many smaller operators in the Northern Territory that are going to feel it much tougher than a bigger operator who can consume some of the costs.
The reality is, we are talking about a tax not something that is going to change our climate. That is how it is being sold by the federal government. It is dishonest to sell a tax on: ‘We are going to save our planet from a catastrophe’. Basically, a tax is not going to stop it.
I will finish with a letter I wrote recently to a Mr Church in Coorparoo, Queensland, who sent me information he was distributing about the carbon tax. I wrote:
- Today I received your brochure in regard to climate change and the impending carbon tax. Thank you. I only wish more people in this country of ours understood, as you do.
As the shadow minister for Environment in the Northern Territory, I find myself increasingly frustrated over the climate change debate where no sense of commonsense is even allowed to enter the debate. The moment you dare to question, you are simply categorised as a sceptic, and even the media is less interested in your view on the matter. In my experience, good science is just that, because it is questioned - and then it is questioned again. That is what makes it good science. But, in regard to climate change, dare to question the science and you are classified as a denier.
In my opinion, the subject itself is being approached more like a religion than based on fair and reasonable scientific analysis.
The fact is, I am not a denier. I believe the climate is changing, has always changed, and will continue to change. I also believe that humans do impact on our planet, and we have a responsibility to provide good regulation and commonsense approaches to protecting our environment. However, we need to continue to develop, and the carbon tax will not only hamper our development, it will certainly cost our economy dearly, and it will cost each and every Australian as our cost of living continues to rise and more and more jobs are pushed overseas.
- That is the reality of the carbon tax.
The carbon tax will not prevent climate change and for a government to suggest it will is an absolute disgrace. What we should be doing is exactly what your flyer suggests and that is to prepare. To highlight that point, when do we ever try to prevent a storm? When do we ever try to prevent a cyclone? You can’t, but you can prepare for a storm, you can prepare for a cyclone. So, this is what we should be investing in, ways to prepare for climate change in the years ahead. And that is not to say we should not have clear guidelines and strong regulations to protect our environment, and even look after, and look for new sources of renewable energy. But we need to focus on what we can do in our own back yards, not use the excuse of saving the world just to introduce another tax.
The first quote comes from Shakespeare’s King Lear where he says: ‘Nothing will come of nothing …’. The second quote comes from the Good Book, Matthew 23:24: ‘Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel’. I will come back to those quotes.
As the member for Brennan pointed out, the Chief Minister is being very firm in saying he will not agree to any tax, any measure, which disadvantages Territorians. He has been very clear about that, and has also been very clear about our economy in the Northern Territory, which is essentially based on gas. We gave up firing our electricity generator. I am unsure if it was ever coal, but in my time over the last 30 years it has been diesel. It is now gas, and Power and Water has sourced gas for the next 30-odd years to meet our electricity needs. We are not like those southern states which rely on coal and coal-fired power stations to deliver their electricity. On the basis of that, the Chief Minister and the government have made it very plain that we believe most Territorians will have more money in their pocket each week as a result of this Commonwealth scheme.
We also know, as we said in this House, there are many factors which influence prices of airfares, groceries, raw material, and fuel costs. At the end of the day, governments do not set these prices. Things can vary substantially from place to place and from time to time. Just a small shift in the value of the Australian dollar or world oil prices can affect our prices on a daily basis far more than a price on carbon will.
We have had a consumption tax, the GST. I was sceptical about the GST when it came in. I probably used language similar to that of the member for Braitling about the GST, but the GST has been a positive for Australia. It has certainly been a positive for the Northern Territory, so I am prepared to say I was wrong about the GST. It was a very wise move by John Howard and it benefitted Australia.
Similarly, I believe a price on carbon, a price on pollution, is a wise way for Australia to go. Treasurer Wayne Swan has made it very clear this is not only about reducing carbon emissions, it is also about a new economy in the Northern Territory. That is why the Chief Minister wrote to the Prime Minister and insisted funds currently buying renewable energy certificates interstate be directed towards specific agreed projects in the Northern Territory. There is an opportunity with this change for the Northern Territory to benefit from it. The smartest economies, the smartest people, and the smartest businesses always see an opportunity when everyone is talking about doom and gloom. A price on carbon does afford the Northern Territory an opportunity.
The Chief Minister has been very clear about any changes, and has opposed any significant changes to the diesel fuel rebate system which needs to take into account the unique circumstances of the Territory. This is the same with aviation fuel. It has been a matter of discussion within our Caucus and our Cabinet, and the Chief Minister is very clear about putting that case to the Prime Minister. He has already put that case to the Prime Minister and will continue. This government will put a very strong case because we recognise the importance of those things for the Northern Territory.
In regard to a price on carbon, there are the doomsayers - we have heard them tonight, the members for Braitling, Araluen and Brennan. The theme of what they said is political. It is about standing up to Canberra. That theme has come through loud and clear in this debate. They have said: ‘We stand up to Canberra on everything to do with the Territory but the government does not’. I ask them to consider this: with their Coalition colleagues in Canberra, they opposed the BER which was a benefit to every primary school in the Northern Territory. A number of members have come to openings of BER projects and been full of praise for them and the school councils which have brought those projects to fruition. They are a wonderful thing, and I ask members opposite to reflect on the silly position they had about the BER.
If you want another example: the intervention. When the member for Fong Lim was member for Solomon he was right behind Mal Brough on a number of occasions. He was really getting behind him in some of the silly aspects of the BER, and some of the rules around alcohol, particularly as they affected tourists and anglers. I remember fighting hard, speaking in this parliament, and publicly, about the silly way Mal Brough wanted to declare areas around the Daly River, where an angler - someone going fishing for a barramundi, a great Territory icon - could not have a drink on board because of the silly laws.
Similarly, the way it would affect tourist operators in some areas of the Territory, and I did not hear boo about that. I did not hear boo about that silly drink register of $100 you had to fill out in long hand. I saw plenty of Mickey Mouses, Donald Ducks and Elmer Fudds written there. People did not take that seriously. I did not hear the opposition in this House, or the member for Fong Lim as member for Solomon, coming out strongly and opposing that. Let us put paid to this myth about the CLP standing up. They are a few prime examples.
Today we have an exception. I am glad to hear the Leader of the Opposition has come out strongly about the proposal by some of the conservative Coalition states to cut our GST revenue in the Territory. The charge is being led by Western Australia’s Mr Barnett, and Tony Abbott today, talking about how he stands behind it, said:
- I think that it does seem quite unfair that the people of Western Australia get so little back for the GST revenue that they provide to the rest of the country. I think that what ought to be very seriously considered by the government right now is the proposal that the GST revenue should be distributed on what is closer to a per capita arrangement.
This is the unified position of the Coalition Premiers and this is the key quote:
... makes a lot of sense.
The Leader of the Opposition has said that Tony Abbott is in no doubt where the Country Liberals stand on distribution of the Commonwealth’s GST. That is an important statement. However, I wonder whether the Leader of the Opposition has rung Tony Abbott and had a personal conversation with him about this? What about CLP Senator, Mr Scullion? What about their member in the House of Representatives, Natasha Griggs? Are they going to cross the floor should Tony Abbott gain power in the next federal election? The bookmakers have him at $1.19 and the Labor Party at $4.65. What is the CLP doing about that? Is the party instructing its representatives in Canberra to cross the floor to make statements about this? That will be interesting to hear.
Has the Leader of the Opposition picked up the phone to talk to Tony Abbott? The last time we know he spoke to Tony Abbott was about the future of Leo Abbott, where he told Leo Abbott ...
Mr GILES: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Digression from the subject. This is about the carbon tax. It has nothing to do with what the member is talking about.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please pause while I seek some advice. We usually allow a broad-ranging debate for an MPI, but I ask the minister to come back to the topic.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Here is a quote from the Leader of Opposition, Terry Mills:
- However I have it. I have his word that if he be the Prime Minister, we will be in a strong position to look after you.
That was the promise he made to Leo Abbott. Tony Abbott denied he made any such arrangement, so he might be a little tentative about picking up the phone. ‘Oh, it’s a call from the guy in the Northern Territory, Terry Mills. No, I don’t want to talk about that. It was a bit hard the last time we spoke’.
It was obvious on the floor of parliament today that the Leader of the Opposition had no clear idea about what was going on in relation to this matter. It came as a shock to him on the floor of parliament today. Here are his colleagues …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Relevance. This is about the carbon tax and Labor’s failure to get rid of the carbon tax.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, that is a frivolous point or order. Sit down. You have no right to speak after making a point of order.
Dr BURNS: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will put it in context in relation to the quote I made: Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. The reading I have had around the carbon tax is it will represent less than a 1% impost overall. We are talking about something that will strip $2bn out of the Northern Territory budget. Which is more important to the Northern Territory? I suggest the proposal by Colin Barnett to make the GST distribution on a per capita basis - to do away with horizontal fiscal equalisation and have a big money grab at the expense of the Northern Territory. The $2bn we desperately need. We are a small jurisdiction and rely very heavily on GST revenues in the Northern Territory. Eighty percent of our income is from the federal government and here is a proposal by the conservative states, with the exclusion of South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Hello, they are all the Labor states. I want to know if the senators from those states who sit on the Coalition side in what is called the state rights house are going to vote against this as well. This is a big issue for Australia as a whole, and the Northern Territory in particular.
You can talk about a carbon tax which, by comparison, is minuscule compared to this threat to the Northern Territory by your mates in Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland. The threat is coming from your party. Do not come in here pointing the finger at the government and the Chief Minister.
I have not heard one really solid word about your climate change policy. A policy was introduced in 2009, I believe, by the Opposition Leader which has been completely rolled by the members for Brennan and Fong Lim - completely cut. It is no longer there. The Opposition Leader was quite clear in his belief of the threat of climate change. However, what we have had from opposition members in the last year or so is a complete chopping of that policy. What are you going to put in its place? What is Tony Abbott going to put in its place to address the issue? Nothing. Hence, I come back to my quote from Shakespeare’s King Lear: ‘Nothing will come of nothing’, and so it is with the CLP and its lack of policy.
It is trying to be a small target, trying to get through without policies on anything, but people are interested to know what you are going to do, apart from cleaning up your back yards. The member for Brennan had a thing about different types of light bulbs and the old incandescent light bulb having a vacuum inside it. I pricked up my ears when you were talking about that. However, what are you going to do? You talk about your own back yard, but we have responsibilities as a nation. We have responsibilities as part of this planet and what are you going to do about it. Tony Abbott has no solutions. All he can do is criticise, like you ...
Mr Tollner: It is Tony Abbott’s direct action plan.
Dr BURNS: … he has no alternatives. He has an alternative with the GST, which will strip $2bn of revenue from the Northern Territory. I want to know what the CLP is going to do. Is its representative in the House of Representatives or the Senate - and from other states - going to cross the floor and oppose this should it ever come up in federal parliament?
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling for bringing this matter of definite public importance before the House for debate tonight.
Member for Braitling, well done; however, I am very disappointed in the way government has fundamentally ignored what is clearly a definite matter of public importance. We have had you, member for Braitling, the members for Araluen and Brennan and now me. I know there is a queue of people on this side who want to speak on this issue. What is the best we can get from the government in response to this matter of definite public importance which I read into Hansard again: the impact of the introduction of the carbon tax of the people of the Northern Territory?
The best response we can get from the government comes from the Minister for Education and Training, the Minister for Public and Affordable Housing, and the Minister for Public Employment. Lovely bloke, the member for Johnston - lovely bloke. He is a great fellow to have a cup of coffee with. As a matter of fact, I did on the weekend, and a very enjoyable moment was shared.
However, having to trundle this guy out who is looking forward to the rest of his lifetime spent in retirement to argue on this matter of definite public importance is rather rude. It is rude to the member for Johnston. It shows the government has absolutely no interest in this matter whatsoever, and is a slight on the parliament. The government is saying: ‘We don’t care what is done in this parliament because we do not care about it. We do not care that parliament passes motions because we are going to ignore them. We do not care about matters of public importance because we will ignore them too’. That is exactly what the government has done. Count up all of the members of government in this room. I can count one, two, three - goodness me, where are the others …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, you know you cannot reflect on who is and who is not in the Chamber.
Mr TOLLNER: To your point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that ruling is about referring to individual members who are or are not present. I have just referred to the fact there are only three members of government in the Chamber listening to the matter of definite public importance. That is quite a fair thing to say ...
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Pause, member for Fong Lim ...
Mr TOLLNER: ... because it highlights the fact …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Pause!
Mr TOLLNER: … we have a government which does not give a stuff!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Member for Fong Lim, we are still dealing with the point of order. I am going to ask the Deputy Clerk to come forward.
It is a matter of courtesy and respect to the Chamber, member for Fong Lim, and I ask you not to do it.
Mr TOLLNER: I am sorry, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I counted you as part of the three. In your position at the moment I realise you are an independent Acting Deputy Speaker …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! He is reflecting on your ruling and persisting with the very thing you asked him not to do.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I call you to the matter of public importance, member for Fong Lim, and ask you to speak to the debate.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, thank you. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the point I was trying to make, without naming who is in the Chamber and who is not, is the fact that government is not interested in this debate. It cannot even be bothered to send in someone to respond to it. There is no Chief Minister, no Treasurer, no minister for the Environment …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr Tollner: Talking about who is responding to a matter of public importance, not about who is here!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim!
Dr BURNS: You were inferring they were not present.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I do not believe there is a point of order. Member for Fong Lim, you have the call.
Mr TOLLNER: Let me clarify, I am referring to the fact no one is responding from the government apart from the minister for Education, Public Employment, Public and Affordable Housing and Leader for Government Business. Goodness me! He is a nice bloke, but not the bloke to be responding to this matter of public importance. Lovely bloke, but no idea what he was talking about - rants and raves. He did not say a word in the debate in relation to the carbon tax apart from the fact he thinks it will not even affect us by 1%. Goodness knows what that means.
This is the pathetic effort government will put up to respond to a matter of public importance - a serious matter. Goodness me! In three months time this is on us. We had a peak the other day - the Chief Minister and the Treasurer are not happy with the aviation fuel. Well, goodness me! In three months this is on us. We got a hint the other day that the Chief Minister and the Treasurer are not happy with the aviation fuel. Could they not have thought about that a year ago? Could they have not thought about that when we were debating this motion in the parliament? ‘No, Ms Gillard knows best. She would not do anything to harm the Northern Territory’.
You cannot answer how much the price of a litre of milk will increase or how much more a cubic metre of concrete will cost. I recall, when we asked a question about an airfare to Maningrida. ‘Oh, no, this is nothing to do with that. That is private companies. We do not set prices’. You have input into how prices are set by the taxes you impose on businesses. If you are going to start imposing taxes on business you should have a good idea how it will affect those businesses. To say that has nothing to do with you is a cop out.
Today, the Leader of Government Business asked: ‘What are you doing about Tony Abbott, that dreadful man in Canberra who wants to take our money?’ Then he rants on about how it has to be divided on a per capita basis. He says throw out horizontal fiscal equalisation. He is suggesting someone wants to return to the bad old days of vertical fiscal imbalance. I do not believe anyone has suggested that, but this government will come out with that red herring. We were all around when the GST was introduced. We know how it can change. To change it you need the agreement of all states and territories and the federal government. I do not see anyone in the Northern Territory saying they agree, yet you run this red herring on budget day. Why? To try to hide the dodgy budget you have produced. You have became so bad you conspired to have the shadow Treasurer booted out on budget day ...
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr TOLLNER: Goodness me! How bad are you? How far will you go to plumb the depths of ...
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, there is a point of order. You do not have the call.
Dr BURNS: He is reflecting on the ruling by the Speaker and suggesting there was some conspiracy in Speaker’s ruling. That is offensive to the Speaker, offensive to the House, and he should withdraw.
Mr GILES: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The member for Fong Lim was reflecting on that side of the Chamber conspiring. It had nothing to do with the Speaker. He did not mention the Speaker.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: That was a partial reflection on the Speaker, but I do not believe there is a point of order. I will allow you to continue. I ask you to refer to the matter before the House, which is the MPI.
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I would not have withdrawn the comment anyhow. I believe there was a conspiracy to ensure the shadow Treasurer was not in the room during Question Time today. If that did not occur I will go he, as Syd Stirling once said in this House. What a day to decide to boot out the shadow Treasurer. It is just not on.
Getting back to the red herrings this government will throw out to distract attention - talking about the evil Tony Abbott on budget day. I have news for you, the New South Wales premier, whether a Coalition or Labor premier has, forever, been banging on that they do not get enough of the slice of the GST pie. Similarly, the Western Australian premier, whether Labor or Liberal, has been banging about the fact they do not get enough of the GST pie. South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have always said to leave it as it is. To try to turn this into a party political thing - what sort of sideshow are you trying to run here? We know you are doing it to distract from the main game, which is the dodgy budget which lumbers Territorians with debt until God only knows when.
Getting to the carbon tax, it is a dog. We all know it is a dog. Australians know it is a dog. They know they are not going to fix the climate, and that if we pass this tax somehow we will not have cyclones occur in the Northern Territory. What a load of nonsense. However, this government wants to involve itself in abstract debate. The Leader of Government Business says: ‘Come on, opposition, tell us what your plan is for climate change?’ Goodness me, like it matters? Nobody in my street has said: ‘Oh, my God, the sea level is going to rise and we are going to be flooded out in the next 10 years’. That does not worry them.
What worries them is all the drunks on the streets, the crime, the fact people cannot get a decent education in the Northern Territory, and the fact our government puts us into monstrous amounts of debt and still calls for the introduction of new taxes. That is upsetting people, and that is what this government is trying to distract from every time it says the opposition has to have a view on climate change. What a load of nonsense. Get caught up in abstract arguments, bickering about whether the climate is going to change or not when the real business of the day is not being dealt with. This whole thing is about distracting from the realities of day-to-day life in the Northern Territory.
The member for Braitling is dead right. The only problem is we should have been having this discussion a year ago, 18 months ago, trying to analyse what the carbon tax is going to cost Territorians and how we can get away from it because we cannot afford more taxes. We cannot afford to live in the Northern Territory. I do not know if these guys are walking around with plugs in their ears. I am in the business of talking to people in the lead-up to an election, as I imagine most members of parliament are. People are struggling. Cost of living burdens are killing them. Prices are constantly rising on all types of things.
Many things are out of our control, we understand that, but, in a climate like this, to introduce a new tax based on some abstract argument as to whether the planet is warming or cooling and there are more cyclones and droughts, goodness me! It will not matter one bit if the Northern Territory never signs up to a carbon tax or does anything about carbon pollution. If we quadrupled our carbon output, it is not going to make one jot of difference to the global climate. Why would we agree to something that has no benefit? What you see is, in many cases, detrimental to the environment.
I was reading an article recently about how plastic recyclers down south are threatening to close their doors if the carbon tax is introduced because they cannot operate. Goodness me, we have just introduced a Cash for Containers system. I hope my colleague, the Environment minister, tells me I am correct, because I imagine when we collect all these plastic bottles and they are taken to some collection point they are trucked down south to a plastic recycle business and are recycled. It would be an awful waste if they were dumped in the ground where they were always going to go anyhow.
You would have to ask what the point was. What is the point of having a Cash for Containers scheme if you are going to burden Territorians with an extra cost and, at the same time, nothing changes? We are still going to collect the bottles and dump them in the ground. I hope I am wrong. I hope we are trucking these plastic bottles down south for recycling, minister. I wonder how much longer that will last after 1 July when the carbon tax comes in and all the plastic recyclers go broke and have to close their doors. You cannot suggest closing down plastic recyclers is a good outcome for the environment. That would be an ‘anti’ for the environment.
This is a great matter of public importance the member for Braitling has brought on. I am very disappointed that the government has not treated it with some seriousness. At least try to defend this scheme, which it seems to be so robustly behind and so supportive of, and give some reason why it supports it apart from blind political loyalty. The only thing that drives this government is blind political loyalty. If it had any brains at all it would not support too much from the Gillard Labor government. It is a dog of a government, and the sooner it is gone the better.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, in contributing to this debate I will simply say to Mr Abbott regarding the comments in relation to the GST today: ‘No, we do not agree with you’.
Let us hear the members opposite say they do not agree with Julie Gillard on the carbon tax. I am listening; I am waiting. All I have heard so far are some smartarse comments from the Attorney-General about the Leader of the Opposition. Have we heard them say anything against Ms Gillard, the Prime Minister, who is inflicting this tax on the people of the Northern Territory? No, we have not, because you are not interested in standing up for the people of the Northern Territory. You could not care less as long as your ideology is cuddled up to, Leader of Government Business.
I love the fact these guys keep saying they have a great new plan across a whole range of areas. You get it for workers compensation premiums, the cost to business for bringing in infrastructure for new developments, the cost for workers safety issues, and carbon taxes. Every time we hear the same argument: it will not cost very much; it will only cost a little more. The problem is the businesses do not pay. The businesses either go broke because they cannot afford it, or they pass the cost on to the consumer. That is the reason the cost of living is starting to creep up inexorably, and well above, in many instances, CPI, and the carbon tax is one contributor.
To illustrate the point of how these small bits of legislation affect business, I draw honourable members’ attention to the pile of papers I have in my hand. This is 45 pages long. It is the form which has to be filled out by a business in town to comply with the government’s regulations in relation to one thing only - work health and safety legislation. Forty five pages for a job worth a couple of thousand dollars. It is nonsense! It is absurd, and the cost of those small jobs is passed on to the consumer. This government could not care less because it says it is only a small cost. It takes for a small job, according to this business, four hours to prepare the paperwork for OH&S. For a big job, this business tells me, they spend two-and-a-half days on OH&S compliance from Day 1. That is the frustrating thing.
Ministers are here tapping away on their computers, reading books or whatever it is they are doing. I get no sense of interest from the members opposite about the effects of the legislation they pass and the demands they make on businesses. They do not care. As long as they get the warm fuzzy feeling inside they do not care about the effects their instruments have on businesses. How many businesses have been confronted with bills for infrastructure costs outside their domain?
I am aware of several small developments which have not gone ahead because the demand of government is they replace the infrastructure for hundreds of metres outside the boundary of the project because water pipes or sewerage pipes have to be increased in size or what not. That is a cost impost on business. Where does business send that cost impost should the project go ahead, which in many cases it does not? It goes to the consumer. That is why we have a creeping cost of living inflicting itself on consumers throughout the Territory, yet we pass legislative instruments in this House recklessly and carelessly. It was reckless and careless when it came to the Darwin Waterfront Corporation in relation to its by-laws - something the government had to concede and fix.
It was indifferent to the effect of occupational health and safety legislation changes which were supposed to be universal. They will not be universal because other jurisdictions not only are signalling a delay in introduction to the universal scheme, but are now indicating they are not going to sign up. We inflicted this scheme, despite warnings to the opposite from this side of the House, on businesses throughout the Northern Territory.
All of a sudden, businesses cleaning up asbestos a few weeks ago now cannot do it. What is worse, when those businesses inquire of Work Health and Safety which business can clean up asbestos, they find themselves still on the list as registered to do the job. Check it. It is absurd! Could you imagine the indignity of being told you can no longer do the job you have been doing for several years because you no longer qualify, being told to look at the list and finding your business name as one qualified to do it. What a shambles - what an absolute shambles! I hope the Attorney-General is listening to this because it falls on all fours into his department.
It is a disgrace this is being allowed to occur, yet they could not care less - not one jot, not one iota - about the impacts of their legislative instruments. The multiple codes that come with occupational health and safety were not genuinely considered by this government because, clearly, it has been caught by surprise as a result of these legislative changes. Yet, it joins – in the words of Mark Latham - ‘the conga line of suckholes to the Prime Minister’ and say: ‘Oh, this is such a terrific thing, the carbon tax’, when it is not. It will cost Territorians.
The defence from government is: ‘It will not cost Territorians much in their power prices because we run on gas’. There are no gas-powered trucks driving up the Stuart Highway right now delivering milk, bread and other commodities such as fresh fruit and vegetables to the Northern Territory. They are not gas-powered, they diesel-fired. The last time I saw a locomotive chug through Alice Springs on its way to Darwin it was running on diesel. When aeroplanes fly here, they are not flying on LNG, they are flying on aviation fuels - the kerosene they use. It goes on and on and on.
Any jurisdiction which relies on transport will suffer as a direct result of the carbon tax. Who will suffer? Not the government at all. Who will suffer? The people who are governed because this is another one of our ‘moral duties’ we are told. Apparently, when the Prime Minister of Australia wants to inflict a new tax on people, they now have to adopt a ‘moral duty’, as if, in some way, that makes their position so much more defendable than ‘not supporting the carbon tax is immoral’. It is like a married man having an extramarital affair. If you do not support the carbon tax you are not complying with your moral duty as a citizen of this country.
Well, I say no. I refuse to be cornered by such a stupid, facile argument because I am afraid of being called immoral because I do not believe in a carbon tax. Well, I do not believe in a carbon tax, particularly for a jurisdiction like the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory’s carbon emissions are going to change the amount of carbon in the atmosphere? What nonsense; what absolute rot!
This jurisdiction produces 1% of the 1% of carbon in the world and we are saying we are going to lower our emissions a little. We are going to reduce the 1% of the 1% of the world’s target. To achieve that magnificent result, what do we have from government as reassurance? ‘Oh we have met our moral duty’. Well, nonsense and bunkum! It is just another cost impost so the feel-good brigade on the other side of the House can go to bed at night saying: ‘We have done our moral duty; we have done the right thing’.
In the meantime, Territorians have to pay more at the pump, more at the grocery shop, and more for their power bills. They will have to pay more to the community service obligation for remote communities, and will have to pay more and more. When it comes to occupational health and safety legislation, we have to pay more and, according to this government, when it comes to workers compensation legislation, we have to pay more. When it comes to all the other imposts the government inflicts on Territorians, we have to pay more.
Where is the tax relief? Where is the decision to not pass legislation or repeal legislation so we pay less? Those decisions are not forthcoming. It is all about being social engineers; we will feel good because we have made the workplace safe despite the fact some workplaces will not exist because of the onerous demands of occupational health and safety legislation. Some jobs will not be done. Where those jobs are not done, the costs will be passed on to the consumer.
The Housing Industry Association said the national scheme will add $20 000 to $30 000 to the price of a house and that will be paid by the consumer. Yet, on the television recently I saw a young lady parting with $350 000 to buy a two-bedroom unit made out of Besser blocks in Palmerston. Are we insane paying $350 000 for a basic two-bedroom unit? This is madness, yet we have nothing from government to suggest it is going to attend to it. Was government aware of the problem? It was not in 2007, because in April 2007 the then Planning minister said government only had to release 280 blocks in the Top End. It was not aware of the problem and there was ignorance to start with. When government became aware of the problem it produced a media release, a one-page newspaper ad, and a couple of flyers saying it was going to release X number of blocks by a certain date. It did not get close to that. It got about halfway to the number promised in 2009.
In the first step, it did not know. When it finally figured it out it responded with a plan. Could it execute the plan? No, it could not. These people say they are a government for the people of the Northern Territory. Why is this lady paying $340 000 or $350 000 for a two-bedroom Besser block house on 400m? Well, $30 000 of it is our occupational health and safety legislation. It is absurd. I am not saying every workplace should have carte blanche, but there has to be a balance because, at the end of the day, it is not government that pays, it is the average punter on the street.
We heard the attitude of the Chief Minister today, and this is the part I find most despicable about this government’s attitude. He said this is not the people’s debt, this is government debt. Oh, really? It is government debt so it is all right, it will all go away. Does that mean it is coming out of the Chief Minister’s wallet - he has a lazy $3.5bn worth of hundred dollar notes sitting in his back pocket. He is the government. Nonsense! That is the most spurious argument I have ever heard in this House.
The debt will be paid for by projects in the future, whether it is a Labor or a Country Liberal government in the following way: it will be in schools not built because we will end up paying $1m every day to pay the interest bill alone; it will come from clinics that are not built. Every clinic you build now is a clinic-and-a-half not built in five years time. That is disgraceful. The weasel words from government are: ‘Well, it is all about ensuring we do not take too many jobs away’. You will take more jobs away in the long term, which is the experience being felt in other jurisdictions.
The long-term effect of paying dead money onto an interest bill is dead money. It is gone, and it will not be long before it is $400m a year. That will be money not spent on schools. That is perhaps 10 schools. How many hospitals is $400m? How many police cars on the road? The problem we have on this side of the House is the unrestrained component. The promise to bring it back into surplus at some point in the future betrays a government which has no plan other than to deal with the immediate political problem, and that is not making tough decisions.
If you follow the logical consequence through to where it ultimately ends, you only have to look at what is happening in Europe. The reason there is a credit crunch is because the creditors are afraid the government can no longer pay them back.
We are not there yet; however the logic being followed by this government is precisely the same as that followed by Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain - the PIIGS. The refusal to be fiscally responsible will cause much pain in the future if the government keeps going down this path.
Calling for restraint, calling for a little care now will avoid those circumstances into the future. This government does not have the testicular fortitude required to govern prudently for the people of the Northern Territory.
Discussion concluded.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Tonight I will talk about a recent trip I took with Professor Barney Glover from Charles Darwin University to China. En route we stayed in Singapore. I was privileged to visit the Changi Museum and learn more about what happened at Changi, and in Singapore during the war, and also the Burma Railway.
It was very moving for me. I came away with a deeper appreciation of the suffering and privations many of the men and women, and sometimes children, experienced during those years, and also the heroism of our Australian servicemen who were prisoners of war in Changi and on the Burma Railway. The care and love they showed to one another I found quite moving, the way they supported one another - even when they were very, very ill they would look after someone who was even sicker than they were. It was a very important experience and one I would recommend to others.
In China, we went to Anhui Province and, with Barney Glover, agreements were ratified between Charles Darwin University and a number of institutions in China. We went to Anhui University where we met Professor Cheng Hua, President of Anhui University, and signed documents relating to an exchange program between Charles Darwin University and Anhui University, a much larger university than Charles Darwin University. They are very interested in the partnership with Charles Darwin University and the Northern Territory. There is a whole range of reasons for that: social, cultural, strategic and, of course, economic. I commend Professor Barney Glover for making very important relationships, building on those relationships, and it will benefit both Charles Darwin University and the people of the Northern Territory.
I was also very interested to meet with education officials in Anhui, and also visit Hefei Normal University, which is really all about teacher education. With Professor Glover and Professor Wu Xianliang, the President, there were discussions and further progress on teacher exchange and leadership development training programs between that university and the Northern Territory’s Charles Darwin University.
I also managed to meet a number of officials from the Anhui Sport Centre. They regularly send teams to the Arafura Games, and will be sending teams in 2013. It is great to see that support and those links through the Arafura Games. They will be sending a top class team to the Arafura Games in 2013.
Of particular interest was a visit to Hefei No 1 High School, which is a selective school with about 3000 students and about 400 staff. That is a big school, particularly given - it is a selective school - most of those 3000 students are boarders from various parts of the province. I found the size of the school, the endeavour, and the results incredibly interesting. Because they are a selective school, they are aiming for students to attend international universities in the United States and Australia. They were certainly interested in the Northern Territory.
Throughout, we were assisted by two officials from the Consul General’s office in Shanghai, Mr Hongwei Li and Ms Jianwen Xu, who were a very important part of our party because not many people speak English and we had some travel difficulties along the way. They were able to help us navigate around those, so to speak, and still meet most of our commitments. I commend them. They are fantastic employees and workers within the consular system.
Generally, reflecting on my time as a minister and a number of overseas trips, I commend the Foreign Affairs department, the consulates, the high commissioners and the embassies in the way they support the Northern Territory, arrange meetings for the Northern Territory, and help with logistics. They do a fantastic job and consistently say they believe the Northern Territory punches above its weight, and their support is essential to that.
We returned to Shanghai en route back home, and attended the high school attached to Shanghai Normal University. Once again, this is a selective school. It has fewer students - probably about 1300 students in that high school, but the significance of that high school is it has a sister school relationship with Darwin High School. It was a pleasure to meet a number of students who had been to Darwin, had come back and obviously enjoyed the experience, and also those students who will be coming to Darwin in the near future. You could certainly tell they were taken with the Northern Territory; they liked the Northern Territory, and have told their friends about the Northern Territory. It was a privilege for me to interact with those students in the class, particularly the English class, and meet with the Principal, Mr Yan Yiping, as well as some of the teachers.
The relationship with China is very important. As the minister for Resources has often told this parliament, there is much interest from China in our resources in the Northern Territory. We have a very important trading relationship with China, and one thing I noticed was a growing middle class in China. I was quite amazed with that. I had heard about it, but there is certainly wealth flowing through the different strata within China.
The Consul General in Shanghai, Ms Alice Cawte, spoke about tourism and the fact Chinese people are becoming more interested in tourism. They are starting off with guided tours and then becoming more independent travellers, and we should be encouraging them to come to the Northern Territory. The student and staff exchanges and academic exchanges with China would be a great foundation to build on.
At the lunch hosted by Alice Cawte, the Consul General, many people were very interested in education in Australia, the Northern Territory in particular, and many people who have been to the Northern Territory were interested in it. That was fantastic, and I thank the Consul General for arranging those interactions.
We also met with officials within the municipal education system and the number of students is mind-blowing. In fact, the scale of China was something I had trouble coming to terms with - the scale of development and the population. It was a real privilege to accompany Professor Barney Glover. I commend Charles Darwin University in the work it does. It has reached into a number of places, but has not taken its eyes of the main game in the Northern Territory, which is fostering tertiary education within the Northern Territory.
It is pleasing to know the university is also going to benefit through the oil and gas developments. A total of $3m is being invested in the university by INPEX and Total in building oil and gas capacity education for people who want to specialise in that area. That will further support our bid to become the oil and gas hub of Northern Australia, and hopefully Australia.
Charles Darwin University is doing a fantastic job. Its outreach into China is very strategic. Economically, together with Japan, that is where our future lies. It is very strategic to be doing what it is in China. I commend it, and it was a privilege to accompany the Vice-Chancellor and be part of this exchange.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute to three very special rural young achievers. They are Zoe Owens, Lachlan Way, and Sarah Seppings. These three rural people were recently recognised at the NT Young Achiever Awards in recognition of their volunteer work and commitment to the community and helping of others. These young people are an inspiration to everyone. I am sure their families are very proud of them and the recognition and awards they have received.
There are many categories in the achievement awards, and Zoe Owens was a finalist in the Regional and Rural Initiative. Sarah Seppings was a finalist in the Environment, and Lachlan Way was a finalist, and winner, of the Community Services Award. Zoe is an outstanding student at Taminmin College, winning many academic awards each year, and was the recipient of the Australia Day Award for Young Citizen of the Year in January this year in the Litchfield Shire area. Zoe has been involved with many communities, sport, and scholastic activities from an early age, and was recently involved in the Youth Round Table which gave her the opportunity to raise many issues affecting young people, and try to implement changes in the rural area.
Zoe undertook her own community project as part of the Round Table which was called ‘Size Does Count’, and focused on class sizes and the related outcomes in learning. I have read the research report, and it is not only enlightening and educational, it is well written and well ahead in its academic standing, in my view. I know Zoe’s parents, Greg and Cheryl and, as a family, they are exemplary. I am sure they are as proud as punch of Zoe and her achievements.
Sarah Seppings has loved all animals from an early age, and her parents’ property has been home to a large array of four-legged, and no-so-four-legged animals over a number of years. Sarah has been actively involved with community environmental consultation and surveys at public events as part of her work and involvement at the Howard Springs Nature Park. She is studying to be a park ranger at that park. Over the last while, Sarah has also undertaken surveys with the Territory Wildlife Park. As would be expected with this strong interest in nature and animals, it is not surprising to note Sarah is a wildlife volunteer and has an active and strong interest in wildlife conservation. As with Zoe’s family, Sarah’s family are proud of their daughter, and supported her in great numbers at the awards dinner.
Lachlan Way was a finalist and the ultimate winner of the Community Services Award. That is tremendous for Lachlan, who is aged 22 years. Lachlan has achieved so much in his life, and this award is well-justified and acknowledged. Lachlan has been involved with volunteer firefighting since he was 16 years old, and has achieved the rank of Crew Leader which, in the volunteer firefighting world, is a great achievement. This award recognises Lachlan has committed countless hours to helping other people and working to preserve life and property. Each year, countless bushfires are started in the rural area, and it is people like Lachlan who are called out to support and complement the NT fire services in their bushfire work and control.
In the last little while, Lachlan helped with the Central Australian wildfires and also travelled to Victoria to help fight their wildfires. This is a tremendous achievement for one so young, and good on you for doing so much for so many.
This firefighting work is undertaken in addition to his work as an apprentice electrician, and work he does with wildlife care, in particular, snake call-outs. Lachlan has done over 250 snake call-outs in the rural community, as that is where most of the snakes live – unfortunately for those of us who have chooks. He takes much time in educating and helping people deal with these reptiles safely.
Lachlan’s family has a long and esteemed record in volunteer firefighting over many years, if not decades. I know they all share Lachlan’s award and public acknowledgement of his good work.
I pay my compliments to Zoe, Lachlan, and Sarah, and wish them the very best in all the studies and volunteer work they do. Congratulations to them and well done.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I want to speak about the great honour I had over the weekend, to spend time with a wonderful woman, one of the most senior stateswomen in Australia, Hon Bronwyn Bishop. Last year I attended a lunch in Darwin and was very grateful to meet Mrs Bishop. At that function I asked her to come to Alice Springs to meet with the local Country Liberal branch as well as the people of Alice Springs and share her wisdom and experiences as a senior politician. Mrs Bishop came to Alice Springs lunchtime Friday just gone; she immediately got off the plane and hosted a senior’s function. She is the shadow federal minister for seniors, as well as the shadow special minister for state.
Mrs Bishop wooed the crowd of about 60 people, most of whom were seniors, some from aged care services throughout Alice Springs. She imparted information, much of which was fairly new to me. The term ‘seniors’ refers to all people over the age of 50 years, which came as quite a surprise to me. Only 8% of all seniors will end up in a nursing home requiring high level care, and another 12% of seniors will end up in aged care facilities requiring low-level care. In total, only 20% of seniors require some type of institutionalised care at a high or low-level.
She argued it is a myth our ageing population is a burden on society. She argued that seniors contribute significantly to our society by working in employment, by caring for their partners or other people, and by volunteering. She was quite inspirational in her optimism of what seniors can contribute to the economy, to our society, and how they are undervalued by society in general.
She spoke about the new aged care reform the government introduced a few weeks ago, which was quickly overshadowed by the Peter Slipper affair. She said the federal government really gave no detail of what was involved with that aged care package. It was greeted by the stakeholders with a sense of optimism, but, on the surface, it does not offer much in relief to the cost of aged care for most people in Australia who may end up in aged care facilities. She said these reforms will not be introduced until 2014, so was quite realistic but optimistic in her view of what seniors can look forward to in the future, particularly with a change of government to the Coalition.
She also talked about how the carbon tax will affect all Australians, particularly seniors. Seniors will be adversely impacted by a carbon tax and, as we discussed earlier this evening in parliament, this is a toxic tax which will only serve to bring hardship to senior Australians.
On Friday night, Mrs Bishop was guest of honour at a dinner I organised. It was the Beehive and Bow Tie dinner. Over 100 guests were very enthusiastic about Mrs Bishop’s address. Once again, she wooed the crowd with her sensible and well thought out view of the world and how things need to change in order for us to really progress economically and socially in Australia.
One thing which really impressed me was she spoke very highly of Tony Abbott, Leader of the Opposition. She profiled Tony Abbott in a way which I have never heard before and, once again, gave information which was new to me. I will share some of that information tonight, very briefly.
Tony Abbott is an extraordinary man. He is criticised by different groups and factions within Australia for different reasons, but she presented him as an extraordinary human being, both intellectually and physically. She described how he not only has a Bachelor of Economics and Law from Sydney University, but how he then went on to become a Rhodes Scholar. He studied for a Master of Arts, specialising in politics and philosophy at Oxford University, and he has credentials most people could only dream of. He also was a first grade Rugby player at Sydney University. He was a boxing superstar whilst at Oxford University. He is not only smart but physically strong and a supreme athlete. Now, as we all know, he runs ultramarathons. He has been a member of the New South Wales Fire Service. He has been involved in work such as journalism and business management. He has been a political advisor and Executive Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. He is quite an exceptional human being although you do not hear him described as such in many forums throughout Australia.
I really enjoyed Mrs Bishop, as a colleague of Mr Abbott’s, being completely loyal and honouring him as, potentially, the next Prime Minister of Australia. As a Country Liberal member of parliament in the Northern Territory, I will be carrying that message with me over the period between now and the next federal election and, hopefully, imparting some of that information about Tony Abbott to people who would be interested.
Overall, the visit by Mrs Bronwyn Bishop to Alice Springs over the weekend was a resounding success. She is very interested in all aspects of society. She is a mother and a grandmother. She has been to Alice Springs numerous times. She is interested in Aboriginal people. She is interested in not just her portfolios at the moment, but in business and in the law. She is interested in how people can get together and resolve issues. She was very interested to hear about the alcohol problems we are encountering in Alice Springs. She was very interested to hear the strategies we have in mind to present as alternatives to the Northern Territory government.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it was with a great sense of pride and honour that I put Mrs Bishop on the plane on Sunday. She did the markets on Sunday morning, she ran me ragged. She spent much money and supported the local economy of Alice Springs throughout her visit. She spent up and was received incredibly well by the people of Alice Springs. In fact, I saw people almost fall over trying to ascertain that it really was Bronwyn Bishop strolling down the Todd Mall on Sunday morning browsing through the markets. I will always remember the weekend I had with her and look forward to her returning to Alice Springs soon.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will read an article from a magazine called Eureka. It is written by a Bishop Greg O’Kelly, a Jesuit and now the Bishop of Port Pirie. People might know the Catholic Bishop of the Darwin Diocese, Bishop Eugene Hurley, was also the Bishop of Port Pirie.
Bishop Greg O’Kelly has been the headmaster of two Australian Jesuit schools and has served widely as an educational advisor. The article I am going to read is an extract from his address to the 2012 Catholic Secondary Principals of Australia Conference and his address to the National Catholic Education Convention 2011. In the debate over education we sometimes tend to miss some of the broader aspects of education. Whilst people may not agree with everything the Bishop has said in this article, he has said a number of things which will, I hope, stimulate discussion in the education debate we continually have in Australia.
I will quote from the article:
- We live in an Australia of burgeoning secularism, one where individual choice can be seen as its own justification. Within this context, education of young people, particularly within the Catholic system,
face two challenges in particular: the need to educate for choice, and the need to educate for depth.
Confronting today’s young people are choices of an extensive nature, far more than that confronted their parents - not just choices of websites, or choices of TV stations, or choices of stores in shopping
centres, but also choices concerning values and beliefs and lifestyles.
A choice enables us to be free, but choice is not its own justification. Education about choice is a real challenge for those charged with forming the young.
Five or six years ago, Allen Close wrote an article in the Weekend Australian in which he reflected on his generation, which was then just touching 40. He was struck by the childlessness of so many
of his social circle and of the failure of himself and others from his circle to have established sustained relationships. He wrote: ‘What happened that so many of us have ended up entering middle
age the way we have on a grim treadmill of hope and disappointment. Our marriages ending, our families are split asunder, our assumptions about life devolving into confusion and loneliness?’
We had choice, is my answer. More, I would suggest, than most of us knew how to handle. We got selfish, or greedy, or something. We left our partners because we could. We terminated our babies
because we could. We discarded the rules, loosened the ties that bind, stretched the limits of the allowed, and this left us dependent on instincts, on our untutored human frailty.
In the fight for freedom which we considered our right we lost the quiet skills of commitment and relationships. We lost the gentle wisdom of putting our own need second ... the art of love.
Unless there is education about discernment, the consideration of what directions and consequences choices will lead us to, students may make disastrous options or at least become mired indifferentism.
Another challenge is the needs to educate for depth.
When in Rome for the canonisation of Saint Mary MacKillop in 2010, the then recently deposed Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, visited Fr Adolfo Nicolas SJ, the present Father-General of the Jesuit order.
In the casual way that one employs when having morning tea with someone, Rudd asked Nicolas what he believed to be the major challenges facing western society. Nicolas replied ‘the globalisation
of superficiality’.
In a world of massive and instant communications and distractions, it is possible never to go beneath the surface, never to go into those deeper places where our humanity registers.
- In Year 12 classes I used to employ the Cro-Magnon cave paintings, which show the earliest homosapiens to be tool makers, lovers, thinkers and worshippers.
You can see evidence of the axe as the tool; see the lover in the flowers that were laid around the bodies of the dead; the thinker in the scratchings and calculations made on the walls; the artist in the
paintings; and the worshipper in the subjects conveyed by paintings.
In essence, one might say that nothing has changed, that human nature appears to have a consistency and a constancy. There can no full humanity without those dimensions of creativity, of love, of thought,
and of worship. To be fully human we must develop on all fronts.
To help our young people mature we should guide them on what Teilhard de Chardin called that most difficult of journeys, the journey within.
Educators live in a world these days of NAPLAN, of issues affecting numeracy and literacy, and of where their school comes on a league table. This is increasingly to the detriment of education for depth and
discernment. I do think it is time for principals to look closely at the phenomenon and to see what can be done about it.
That is the end of that article, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I raised it today as it was brought to my attention. There is much good thought and room for discussion and debate in our education circles as to whether we are obsessed with things like NAPLAN and whether we come up to the same level as the school next door.
Many of the issues mentioned in this article about depth and discernment, about the ability to make the right choices, are sometimes bypassed and we live in an age where the IT revolution takes over people’s lives. I see it in my grandchildren. The telephone is always there, they are SMS-ing, they are playing games and, to some extent, it reflects the shallowness of people’s lives. That is as far as they get. I hope my grandchildren are being educated with the ability to discern and look more deeply into issues. If we want to educate our children, I hope we do not just classify them as A, B, and C; we classify them as human beings. As the Bishop said in his article, we develop humanity with those dimensions of creativity, of love, of thought, and of worship.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I reflect on a promise made by the Minister for Lands and Planning in last year’s estimates. He promised to the people of Port Darwin he had secured $6m in the following year’s budget - the 2012–13 budget - for the establishment of Flagstaff Park. The promise was the same as one made by the Northern Territory government in 2008: to spend $6m on the development of Flagstaff Park.
I have read Budget Paper No 4 looking for a reference to Flagstaff Park and, for that matter, the old hospital site, and find no reference to Flagstaff Park. I invite the minister to come into this House and demonstrate to me, and the people who live in the seat of Port Darwin, the $6m he promised in 2008. It does not, as far as I can see, appear in Budget Paper No 4. I am happy to stand corrected, and I would be delighted if the minister could reassure me the money is there and I have misread the budget paper. However, I have not been able to find it at this stage. It is not in any of the logical places you would expect to find it in Budget Paper No 4. If the amount of money is not there, then this government has broken its promise to the people of Port Darwin twice.
We have discovered by reading today’s budget papers the government is capable of finding, this year, money from the advertising budget which will lead to savings of $80m over the next four years. This is for government advertising. If the government had not spent the $20m allocated to advertising this year – advertising, consultancies and travel, but the lion’s share of that will be advertising - and spent it on things like Flagstaff Park and the old hospital site, it would be done by now. I would hate to think public servants have been sent, on the travel budget, to investigate what parks should look like only to return to the Northern Territory to say: ‘We spent all the money on the park on travelling to find out what the park should look like. We no longer have money left for the park government promised to build in 2008’. The promise was repeated by the minister for Planning a year ago during the Estimates process.
I ask the minister to reassure the people of Port Darwin that the Flagstaff Park money is there, and I have, in some way, misread the document which should refer to Flagstaff Park.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I also talk about what I consider a growing problem of public drunkenness in my electorate. I see example after example of public drunkenness in my electorate. The government’s policies, on which it is spending millions upon millions of dollars, do not work. They have not worked up until now, and whatever amendments it is bringing in over the next days will continue not to work because the fundamentals of the policy are wrong. It is time for government to admit that. Time and time again, I find myself telephoning the 131 444 number saying ‘There are drunks over here, there are drunks over there, there are drunks drinking all over the place’. This is just my electorate.
I was recently forced to telephone the police because there were drunks in Harriet Place. The police were kind enough to discuss their actions with me afterwards. They were diligent and dedicated police officers; of that there is no doubt. However, the fact is drunks are still there. Government says it is turning off the tap. I see no evidence of it - none whatsoever! I see the violence on our streets and in our communities escalating because the drunkenness on our streets leads to that violence.
There are still matters before the courts which I could reflect on, but I will only do so in the most general way. There have been crimes committed in the past because drunks have been sitting around, getting drunk and then stabbing each other and all sorts of horrible things.
The events in The Narrows yesterday, in the member for Fong Lim’s electorate, sent a shiver up my spine. It is no longer a passive role that some of these drunks play, where they are a little noisy from time to time. There is an escalation in the disregard for the rights of other Territorians when the long-grassers - as we like to romantically christened them; vagrancy in truth - feel they have some right to exert themselves in a way that is contrary to any form of civil conduct. That part concerns me most. I have witnessed this decay in Alice Springs, and note this decay is becoming increasingly pronounced in the greater Darwin area. There is no fear of authority impacting on these drunks in relation to their conduct; they just do not care anymore. This government’s policies are doing nothing to address that. It is more about the media release, I sense, than the policy itself.
The Country Liberals’ habitual drunks policy, which I have explained in detail and at length on several occasions to this House, will address the issue because these people will be in custody. They will be taken out of circulation for months at a time. Hopefully, through the hybrid of the criminal justice system, we can achieve a health outcome.
However, what the government is doing at the moment is a failure. The price is not being paid by members in this House, generally speaking. The price is being paid by the good citizens and burghers of Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, and various other communities in our fine Territory.
On a more positive note, I comment on the work being done at the Fisherman’s Wharf area. I visited the site the other day, had a quick look under the wharf and was delighted to see the work I have been calling for has been tendered out. My appreciation goes to the Darwin Port Authority for expediting the work done there.
However, government has been sitting on a report for several years now where the small- to medium-sized craft berthing facilities of Darwin were identified as being deficient. That report contained several suggestions as to how those deficiencies could be addressed. I still see problems at places like the Duck Pond and other marinas around Darwin, so much so that it was very disappointing for me to pick up the newspaper the other day to see an article about a boat that had to wait outside Darwin Harbour because it had nowhere to tie up.
The capital city of the new Eldorado, according to the members of government, cannot find berthing places for small- to medium-sized craft. We have $80m to find in the budget for advertising, but we cannot find berthing places for our small- to medium-sized craft. We cannot even fix the pontoon at Cullen Bay, which now has two bilge pumps. It is a pontoon: why on earth does a pontoon need one bilge pump, unless it is leaking? This particular pontoon has been decaying over time, and time and time again government promises to fix it. It continues to leak, it continues to list, and I am starting to get the sneaking sensation that the appropriate name on the side of that pontoon should be the Titanic.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016