2009-10-19
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that a response to petition No 18 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 18
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The Fire and Emergency Act was amended most recently in 2004 with the intention of, amongst other things, granting the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service the power to carry out back-burning operations. Back-burning operations form the integral function in reducing the risk or eliminating the threat of fires, mostly in the rural area, but within an emergency response area. The 2004 amendments sought to establish the power by inserting a definition of ‘hazard reduction’ into section 3 of the act, along with expanding the role of the Fire and Rescue Service in section 6 to authorise the carrying out of hazard reduction within an emergency response area.
In addition, an Incident Commander’s powers were widened in section 20 of the act to accommodate the lighting of a fire or fires. Unfortunately, the amendments have had unintended consequences in that other Fire and Rescue Services hazard reduction functions are exercised anywhere in the Territory, not just in emergency response areas; for example, the Fire and Rescue Service exercises hazard reduction powers when it inspects a building to ensure the building complies with relevant fire safety laws regardless of where the building is situated.
The Fire and Rescue Service has recently become aware of restrictions created by the 2004 amendments. Essentially, the effect is that the Fire and Rescue Service is now unable to enforce a notice issued to an owner or occupier of land if relevant fire safety laws are not being adhered to. This is unacceptable.
Accordingly, this bill will rectify the anomaly by splitting the hazard reduction powers to those powers or functions exercised in emergency response areas only, and those which encompass any part of the Territory.
Other consequential amendments will also be made to the act. These amendments are about ensuring the Fire and Rescue Services are able to inspect buildings and other places for compliance purposes to the fullest extent possible in the public’s interest. For example, the act currently permits the Fire and Rescue Service carrying out random inspections of buildings and other places used for ‘public entertainment or public gatherings’. It is unclear why the inspection of public buildings is confined to places used for public entertainment or public gatherings. These amendments will remove the limitation and permit the Fire and Rescue Service to inspect any public building or place for compliance with safety laws and to issue notices requiring an owner or occupier to take specified action if any breaches are found.
Lastly, the 2004 amendments to the act inserted section 27A, which imposed mandatory regular inspections of prescribed classes of buildings. These buildings are uncontroversial and include such buildings as public and private hospitals, childcare centres, shopping complexes and the like. Schedule 2 of the regulations identifies the classes of buildings; however, nowhere in the regulations does it prescribe the buildings listed in Schedule 2 to be the class of buildings for the purposes of section 27A.
This bill will amend regulation 11 by imposing the classes of buildings to be specified in Schedule 2 to be the prescribed buildings for section 27A of the act.
In addition, the phrase ‘authorised member’ is to be replaced with ‘authorised person’ in section 27A for consistency for the use of the phrase as applied elsewhere in the act.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 20 August 2009.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the Hospital Boards Bill is very important legislation which will become an act of parliament and set up our hospitals and the way they operate for the future and, importantly, their local community engagement.
I am concerned about parts of the bill and why we are changing the act so significantly in so many areas from the original act. The department, in briefings I have had, suggested that there have been some significant, fundamental failures of the previous act; namely, the failure to form boards, in the first place. I will get to that later. Nevertheless, this is significant legislation which will, hopefully, set up the hospital boards and our hospital system into the future.
There have been some amendments the opposition have suggested the minister take up – I notice he has taken up - in fact, I have only just received those amendments from the department; and I am going through them as I am on my feet. It looks as though a number of the amendments we proposed have been accepted, which is very good news.
The concern is that local autonomy will be taken away from local communities. I know the minister has said and, I believe, the department also, they still want to encourage the local communities to have input into their health services provided by the hospital, in this case. I am slightly suspicious and concerned that this act provides a vehicle or a mechanism to take away that autonomy and that local community engagement.
I cannot help but think after what has happened in the last 12 months with the previous Minister for Health that the government, at all costs, wants to avoid the embarrassment of a similar episode; hence, that has been reflected, I believe, in this act. I would really like the minister to put on the Parliamentary Record how much he values the local community input and how far he is prepared to go to ensure our local hospitals in the Territory will remain under the guidance of the local community. It is very important that the minister place that on the Parliamentary Record.
I acknowledge Colin McDonald QC, who is here in the gallery today, and is the Chairman of the Royal Darwin Hospital Board. I have spoken to Colin about some of these amendments - and I know the minister is aware of that – and he is very interested in how this will develop.
The point is, autonomy is very important for our health service delivery through our hospitals. The concern for me is the mechanism in this act for the minister to declare membership of boards suspended and, hence, amalgamate boards. We have reduced the numbers from a minimum of six to three. You cannot tell me that a good local member cannot find three community-minded people to form a board; that is an indictment on us as elected representatives. Surely, the member for Barkly can find three community-minded people in the Barkly region to sit on these hospital boards. If you cannot, member for Barkly, you are not doing your job effectively. You may as well pack up and go home.
There is scope for only three community-minded people. Surely, the member for Nhulunbuy can find three community-minded people to sit on the hospital board in Gove. You can? Right. Then you will be very interested to know, member for Nhulunbuy, that there is a mechanism in this act to suspend the Gove Hospital board if it does not find three community-minded members to sit on those boards. I do not know how you feel about that, as a member of the local community in Gove, but it does not sit very well with me that these boards could all be run out of, potentially, Darwin hospital; we might have one big super board. It flies in the face of community autonomy.
Part of the problem with the Northern Territory government is that they want to micro-manage public hospitals from Darwin. This is not the way to go. Our health system does not need fundamental change; our hospitals need local boards with the autonomy and the power to address problems on the ground. That is a major contribution these hospitals could make which would ease many of our problems in the health system.
The opposition insists on the appointment of local hospital boards with real authority to appoint the CEO of the hospital. I do not believe we are quite there yet. I believe this should be the aim of our hospitals. We need to be looking towards a remuneration set-up for our hospital boards; that is where we should be going in the future. Certainly I do not believe some of our smaller hospitals are at that point at this stage and, perhaps, our bigger hospitals might not yet be quite there at this stage.
There appears to be a lack of vision in this bill; it appears more of a vehicle to remove the minister one step further from the process. I have tried, with the help of the opposition’s office, to strengthen some parts of this act to retain the minister’s input - they are areas we can go into at the committee stage – that there needs to be a suspension in membership of the boards, or amalgamating or re-establishing the boards; that the minister must suspend a board and, if he suspends a board, the minister must publish his decision in the newspaper for circulation in the Territory, or by Gazette. I do not have it up on my computer at the moment, but I believe there is a similar clause which has been included in that.
Essentially, if a board is suspended, there is nothing in this act that would inform the local community the board was suspended, and nothing in the act to draw the attention of the community, perhaps 12 months later, that the board is still suspended and has been amalgamated with another hospital board. That is not very proactive and will leave the local community without a local hospital board.
Madam Speaker, I will quote some words from Tony Abbott, the former Health minister in the federal Coalition. He said:
Well, goodness me. It means that local doctors and nurses would have reasonable access to someone who might actually be able to make decisions. I believe that is the whole point.
Further, Mr Abbott said:
I would have to agree, it is precisely the point:
I do not think anyone can disagree with that.
Head office should have to win the argument – that is very important - of the local community board. If the local community board or the hospital board has issue with the way the Northern Territory government, or the bureaucracy, is dictating their funds and their services, then head office needs to win that argument rather than just give an order.
Under the current arrangements, to finish this quote:
That is very appropriate in some of our hospitals. We have a massive, bolstered bureaucracy: three bureaucrats for one person on the ground. Local hospitals need local champions, and I am very concerned about the clauses in here which allow the minister to amalgamate or suspend the board. It is far too easy and, in the light of the previous 12 months or so, I cannot help but believe this is a mechanism to distance the minister one step further.
In the briefing I received, and I thank the department for their briefing, it says:
It also says here - this is the briefing paper I received from the department:
I thought that was a broad, sweeping statement, so I went to the Parliamentary Library and got every single board report ever tabled since the hospital act came into place. It has really only been in the last couple of years, under the stewardship of the member for Johnston, that hospital boards have essentially struggled or failed, or had particular difficulty maintaining a sufficient number of members to legally constitute a board.
The member for Nightcliff, when she was Health minister, and the member for Stuart, when he was Health minister, all managed to supply annual reports with fully constituted boards. Here we have the 1986-87 Tennant Creek Hospital Management Board report: there is a full list of all the members; quorums were formed and meetings were held. Let us pick another year, 1989-90: there is a list of all the members of the board and all the meetings held.
This one is the Katherine Hospital Management Board for year ended 1982 with a full complement of board members from 1982. We go forward to 2005-06 - this might be just before the member for Johnston took over - here we have another list of board members, a couple of positions vacant, but a quorum was formed. The other one is the Gove Hospital, but I believe we all get the gist that in the small communities hospitals have been able to form hospital boards and quorums and, indeed, get members.
I do not know what has happened in the last couple of years; clearly there was an issue. The member for Johnston was exposed; he failed to deliver annual reports to this parliament, and clearly failed in encouraging his local members, perhaps the then local members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly, to actively pursue community-minded people and encourage them to sit on these boards. That is really all it takes. We do not need fundamental restructuring of our health system; we need community-minded people to sit on our hospital boards so they can relay to head office, which is the department and the minister, their specific requirements. Hospital boards with clout; that is what we need.
That has been of concern to me and I cannot help but feel suspicious about the change in the act. We have gone from about seven pages to 14 pages. I realise there are areas in this act we do need to bring into the 21st century. The idea of remuneration is something we should look at; do we need to revisit this act again in another five years or so to see if these hospital boards have grown and strengthened and developed a large amount of clout, as the minister suggested this act will do?
There is much to discuss in the committee stages. I notice there is a clause here which we asked to be omitted, but it has simply been shifted, if I am reading this right, I have only just received these amendments. That is clause 9(1) which says:
To me, that is putting a massive noose around a board that is supposed to have autonomy and be a local champion for the community. The explanatory statement actually takes it one step further; section 9(3) clarifies that the functions and powers created for the board have specific limitations which restrict it from giving directions that are inconsistent with government policy and strategies.
How can a hospital in a smaller community in the Northern Territory provide advice or directions which are conducive to best practice health care delivery for that particular region if it flies in the face of the objectives, strategies and policy of the Northern Territory government? That is hardly autonomous, and it is hardly empowering that hospital and giving it the confidence to speak up against head office. And this is my point: these hospital boards need to operate in an autonomous sense, and they need to stand up to head office when required. My interpretation of this is that it does limit it; in fact, it actually comes under the heading in this clause, Limitation on functions and powers.
I would like the minister to address that; I would like the minister to assure us that it is not his intention to merge these hospitals, to amalgamate these hospitals.
I feel these hospital boards have been a thorn in the side of this government over a short period of time, as opposed to a long period of time, highlighted by that briefing paper: ‘throughout most of its time in operation’. It is not ‘most of its time in operation’. It is for a short period of time in operation. Here is every single hospital board annual report tabled in this parliament since the introduction of this bill, for the Katherine Hospital, the Tennant Creek Hospital, and the Gove Hospital. So, it has not been for ‘most of its time in operation’. Clearly, it is only in the last couple of years we have seen a decline, and hospital board functions and operations diminished - under the stewardship of the member for Johnston.
Madam Speaker, in your time as Health minister you were able to provide annual reports; Peter Toyne was able to provide annual reports, even the member for Casuarina, the Minister for Health, has been able to come in here and get this act up and running. Surely, a member such as the member for Casuarina - one of the most dynamic members we have in this parliament who is doorknocking day in, day out, heralded as one of the great networkers of any room, who can shake hands with anyone - can find community-minded people to sit on these boards. I know he is a hands-on guy who likes to pick up the telephone and get things done. Someone with that capacity would be able to ensure that these boards continue to operate. I would like to hear that assurance from the minister.
There is much to talk about and I know we have a fair amount in the committee stages, therefore, it might be better to continue the debate over some of these amendments.
I thank the department for their time in providing me with briefings. I thank the minister for allowing me the scope to undertake as much investigation or research into this, because it is very important. I believe we need to keep our local boards autonomous. They need to be able to make decisions without fear or favour of the Northern Territory government, and of the Northern Territory Health department, the head office. By virtue of having a board, like a school council, you need someone to be able to stand up and make decisions, or at least provide advice to that department and the minister. They need to be able to do that without fear or favour of giving advice which might fly in the face of Northern Territory government’s strategy or policy.
I ask the minister to place on the Parliamentary Record, if he can, that he will ensure these hospital boards will remain, and he will do everything he possibly can to keep these boards functioning and will not, at the first opportunity, amalgamate, suspend or abolish the Tennant Creek Hospital Board.
I do not know how you feel, member for Barkly. I do not know if you realise the implications of some of the parts in this act - and the member for Nhulunbuy - that your local hospitals may not have local hospital boards and you may well find that decisions for your hospital and your community are being run out of Darwin, perhaps Katherine. This is a reality; and there is a mechanism in this act for this to happen. I am not sure if you are aware of that; if you have read the act - perhaps you are. I hope you do not agree with it, that you would support major decisions for your hospital and your local community regarding health service delivery from your hospital being run out of Darwin, Alice Springs, or Katherine.
I hope the minister can assure this House he will do everything possible to maintain these boards. I have tried – with help from the opposition’s office and in discussions with the department – to strengthen some of these clauses to at least put a buffer zone around the amalgamation and suspension of the board. I hope the members in those communities - the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly and the member for Katherine - realise the ease with which their hospital boards can be amalgamated. I am sure the member for Katherine has been across this. I am concerned because of the politics of this House that, perhaps, the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly are just taking the government line. I hope you will speak to and have discussions with your colleagues, members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy, about this act; that you will encourage the minister not to abolish these boards; that you will do everything as local members to ensure that three community-minded people can sit of these boards.
This is the point: if we can fill these board positions, these boards will stay open and you will have your local champion, you will have local autonomy to provide best practice health care delivery through our hospitals. You will have it but, if you do not do whatever you can to find these people and they cease to sit on the boards, if they cease to exist because they cannot find members, you will lose your hospital board, and you may never get it back.
Hence, some of the provisions we have put in this act to ensure the minister must revisit this; in fact, I have not got to that. I am not sure if that is in the act at all, but at least after a 12 month period the minister must revisit this. This was not part of the act. In fact, if the board ceased to exist on a Monday, then on Tuesday the minister could suspend the board, and you would not have a board. Your board might be amalgamated with Tennant Creek, or Katherine, or wherever that might be, potentially Darwin. We might have a super board in Darwin.
So, we have put up a cooling-off clause - I am not sure if that is in there; I have not got that far. I only just received this just before I got to my feet. Maybe we can talk about this in the in the committee stages. We have asked for a cooling-off clause, so if someone fails to attend a board meeting, or if you cannot form a full board of three people, which I find extraordinary, then the minister must wait 30 days until he suspends or amalgamates the board.
This was part of the act without these proposals put forward, and we are going to debate these. In reality, there is no way we are going to abolish or suspend the Royal Darwin Hospital Board or the Alice Springs Hospital Board, but I do believe there is a very realistic proposition the Tennant Creek, Katherine, and Gove Hospital boards will cease to exist. I do not know about the local members here, but that frightens me, and it is of deep concern that these hospitals would not be operating again with that level of autonomy. I believe this is the whole point of our health system.
As I say, we do not need massive, sweeping changes across the health system; we need hospital boards with clout. I am sure there are three local, community-minded people in Tennant Creek, perhaps businessmen or ex-politicians, or someone you can find to sit on this board - and the same in Gove and in Katherine. I am sure the member for Katherine could find three people, at the drop of a hat, to be part of the Katherine Hospital Board because he is a proactive local member. That is what we need from the member for Barkly and the member for Nhulunbuy: we need you to be proactive here.
I do not know if you appreciate the severity of it. The future of the Tennant Creek and Katherine Hospital boards depend on how proactive you want to be as a local member. I can tell you if the Tennant Creek or Gove Hospital boards cease to exist, it will be on your head for failing to find three community-minded people to sit on those boards. It is as simple as that - absolutely a no-brainer.
I will leave it there. I am sure the member for Nelson might have something to say, and others might want to speak on this as well. I look forward to the committee stages.
Madam Speaker, to the minister through you …
Ms Carney: Lyn has called Kon over. Kon, is this really happening? What about my hospital board?
Mr CONLAN: Yes, it is happening, member for Nhulunbuy, potentially it could happen. The member for Nhulunbuy shakes her head; she does not like to believe it. All I can say, member for Nhulunbuy, is read the act. It is right there in black and white.
Minister, you have heard these concerns from the opposition; we have spoken to you and your department at reasonable length since this bill was introduced. We have talked about this since this was flagged last year with the member for Johnston. We have put it in no uncertain terms where we sit with this. We need you to assure us, and the Territory community, you are in no way endeavouring to amalgamate or suspend hospital boards.
The amalgamation is a softer approach than suspension or abolition, but we would rather see these hospital boards continue. There is no reason why they cannot continue, and there is absolutely no reason why they should not continue. If they are a bee in your bonnet, then so be it. That is what they are there for, and that is the absolute purpose of having a hospital board.
I thank the Opposition Leader’s office, Francine and the team, for helping me with this. I am sure the member for Nelson has some to add, and I hope other members will contribute to this, particularly those in regional and remote parts of the Northern Territory. The member for Stuart would have a vested interest in this with Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals on his doorstep, as does the member for Arnhem and the member for Barkly - we have highlighted his interest in maintaining these hospital boards. You are never going to get maternity services back in Tennant Creek if you do not have a functioning hospital board with clout, member for Barkly, and that is certainly worth remembering, because if it is all coming out of head office in Darwin, it is not going to happen for you. Member for Nhulunbuy, you need to have your local champions.
Madam Speaker, I thank everyone for their help with this bill.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Chair of the Royal Darwin Hospital Management Board, Mr Colin McDonald, QC. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 7 Essington School students, accompanied by Mr Daniel Hogg. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you also a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the government for its briefings. I also thank the member for Greatorex for his passion regarding the issue of hospital boards, and his discussions with me regarding some changes to the original bill being proposed.
In a broad sense, I believe a number of those matters the member for Greatorex has raised appear to have come through in these amendments but, in some cases, not as far as I may have hoped. At least there have been some changes, and that is a positive outcome. I knew there were going to be some amendments but I have only had a look at these amendments this morning, so I am also finding my way through them and, as the member for Greatorex said, we will be discussing these at committee stage.
The front page of the bill says this is:
A Bill for an Act to provide for boards in relation to hospitals, for community engagement in relation to hospitals, and for related matters.
That is the very essence of what the boards are about: for community engagement in relation to hospitals and for related matters. It is really important we encourage people to join these boards.
I believe the member for Greatorex hit the nail on the head: is the government’s policy to reduce the actual number of people on a board a reflection of a lack of effort by the government - and I am not particularly picking on anyone, but by government in general - to promote, in communities, the need for community members to be on such boards? Has the government proactively explained to people the importance of the hospital boards? The government advertises many things, but it would be interesting to know whether there has been any advertising or a proactive movement by the government, especially in those small communities in the Territory where a hospital board is a necessity. Have they been pushing hard to ensure people understand the importance of these boards and tried to get as many people as possible to put their names down for these boards?
On one hand you could argue that by dropping the number from five to three you are actually making it easier for these boards to exist but, on the other hand, you can ask if it is a sign of the government’s failure to promote boards. Three is a very small number when it comes to a board. If you had that number on a school or sporting committee you would say it might as well be defunct, because it is very hard to operate if one or two people are sick or cannot turn up for a meeting. So, it is a very small number, and whilst it may allow these boards to continue, I believe they would be much healthier boards with a larger number of people from the community on them.
Notwithstanding that, I am pleased some of these changes have occurred. For instance, the ‘Limitations on functions and powers’ has been moved to a more proactive heading, which is ‘functions and powers’ of boards. However, I have concerns about clause 9(1) where it says in performing its functions or exercising its power under this section, the board of a hospital must have regard to objectives and strategies of the Territory government. I believe it should be more of a ‘may’, unless someone can show me that particular section does not actually force the board to only make statements in line with the objectives and strategies of the Territory government; if someone can tell the construct of that sentence actually does not mean that, then I would prefer a ‘may’ because you need …
Mr Vatskalis: It has now been removed.
Mr WOOD: Yes, well, maybe when we get to the committee stage. Sometimes terminology, especially from a legal point of view, does not always mean the same thing. I hope a board would be able to make a statement, regardless of the objectives and strategies of the Territory government, although they need to take that into account, but not necessarily be stuck with it.
In relation to the Code of Conduct, I believe that is an important clause which has been added; this is something new and I am just reading it as this bill is being debated. It is a pity it was not around yesterday so we could have had more time to take it in and give it more thought and consideration.
In relation to the suspension of boards, I understand where the member for Greatorex was coming from. At our briefings, one of the things I said in relation to this was there needs to be some proactive mechanism in the act which says: ‘Your board is suspended now.’ The minister needs to be saying quickly: ‘If you want this board up and running, advertisements are now going out for new board members.’ I believe the government has gone someway to doing that, because they have inserted a new clause 13(3) which says:
That is good, but it needs something to come after that, and what the government has done, in this case, is put in clause 14(5):
I would have thought that as soon as a board has been suspended, a process should immediately be put in place which tries to re-establish that board as quickly as possible. If you have to wait once a year that could mean the board was amalgamated in January, and the once-a-year advertisement could be next December. There needs to be a mechanism which allows the minister to advertise and promote, not only advising the board has been suspended because of lack of members, but also putting in a mechanism to show the government is very much in support of boards totally constituted by people living in those areas, rather than amalgamated boards, and trying to get this board back on its feet.
There needs to be more proactive-ness within the bill to encourage the shortest possible time a board is suspended or amalgamated. That does not really come out in the changes, even though they are the changes I was looking for in my briefings. These changes have not gone far enough in relation to that. I certainly hope the government would look at saying something like ‘at least within one month after the suspension or amalgamation under section 14(1)(a) for hospitals, the minister must invite comments’. That would be far better.
It is good to see they are not limiting the number of times a person can be on a board to just three times; in a small community that might be impractical, and that is a good change. Another change is in relation to the board’s operational time; clause 12(1) has been omitted and a new section substituted. The bill we have in front of us did not include the operations of the hospital as part of the report the board could comment on, but in the new clause 12, that has been brought in, which is good. This also came up in discussions I had with the member for Greatorex.
Looking at what clauses were omitted, in relation to clause 35(4) under the heading Protection from liability:
That has been omitted, which is also good.
One good thing which has come out of the discussions and the briefings is there have been changes and, overall, I believe those changes are quite good. There is a new change at the beginning in relation to the definition of ‘management group’. It would be interesting to hear in the committee stage how that came to be. That change is in relation to which persons can be on the management group. I am interested to hear what the minister has to say about that.
The member for Greatorex summed it up well; this is about retaining community ownership of one’s local hospital. It is important to keep that community ownership otherwise you end up either run by the bureaucrats or run by a hospital which might be hundreds of kilometres away, where people have very little knowledge of your particular hospital.
From the reports the member for Greatorex spoke about, it is obvious the boards have worked well in the past. We are debating a bill which reflects a stage in which the government believed they had not been working well, and there could reasons for that. It could be people are simply disinterested. I know it is very hard. Just look at some of your community organisations such as Apex. Our local Litchfield Apex is finished; it has collapsed - it cannot get enough people. The Litchfield/Palmerston Rotary Club works well but they struggle for members. Is it a reflection of the times that we have difficulty getting people on to community boards? I am not sure, but I believe community boards for hospitals are a very important part of our everyday community, especially in small places like Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek and Katherine. People need to have some ownership of that.
If there is a lack of enthusiasm, then government or, as the member for Greatorex said, local members, but government as a whole needs to provide the impetus to people that these boards are important and to say: ‘If you do not get involved, we will dissolve you or amalgamate you’. But they do not want to use that as the main part of this particular bill, they want to put forward a positive feeling about this bill; that boards are good, that boards are important, and the part about being amalgamated or suspended should be something that only happens as a last resort.
That is why I believe the changes they have brought forward, whilst good, are not positive enough. They need to be saying if you are suspended or amalgamated because you are short of numbers, then it needs to be a very quick, proactive attempt to get that board back as an independent board in that community. The government can do that by simply getting out there and advertising, working through the local councils, working through the local members of parliament, working through some of the people like Rotary, Apex, and Lions Clubs to get people to stand on these boards. There needs to be a proactive approach; if it was good enough in the past, then we need to make sure it is good enough for the future.
These boards are part of the community and they need to be promoted. During the committee stages I will be interested in how the government sees the changes they have brought in will encourage these boards to continue, even if they have a slight hiccup; I mean encourage them to come back as soon as possible, not once a year, but as soon as possible after they have failed for some reason.
Madam Speaker, in general, I support the changes. There needs to be some tweaking and it will be interesting to see whether the government will do some of that tweaking. I will be interested in listening to and participating in the committee stage of the debate.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery, and also in the ministerial officers’ gallery, of two groups of Year 7 Dripstone Middle School students, accompanied by Ms Salima Spring, Ms Sarah Belsham, and Ms Sam Bonser. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I wish to contribute briefly to this debate.
I start at the outset with a concern that it appears no member from government will be speaking on this other than the Health minister. This is a matter of some importance, and I would have hoped members would have chosen to speak today. Clearly, the government is introducing, or has introduced for some time, a certain discipline amongst its members, and that discipline is: if it does not concern you, then you will subordinate yourself to the will of government, and therefore you will remain silent on this issue or any other issue; coupled with a $9m spin factory scattered through the fifth floor and throughout the departments.
That gives me a sense of trepidation as to how we are being governed in the Northern Territory. My trepidation arises from some of the things that I have seen coming through this place in the past, not least of which is legislative instruments which, clearly, have not even been read by the ministers who have carriage of those legislative instruments. We had a circumstance last week where a minister was ultimately forced to admit that at least half of the legislative instrument under debate had not been read by the minister.
The reason I am concerned about this, and I raised it in adjournment the other night, and I mention it again today, is we have come to a point of governance in the Northern Territory where the will of the bureaucracy seems to be becoming absolute and gaining ascendancy over its own governing ministers.
All too often we come into this Chamber and we hear ministers read out speeches which have been prepared for them by bureaucrats. These are long speeches which are more an expression of the will of the bureaucrat than a will of government itself. Before I get accused of running down our hard-working public servants, I wish to preface my comments: I accept public servants are hard-working people but that does not prevent me, and should not prevent government, from bringing a critical eye to bear on what is delivered by the bureaucracy, particularly in terms of leadership and guidance to their own ministers.
I believe it is a James Hacker-esque minister who blithely follows the will of the public service, especially those who assist with policy direction in the public service, without bringing a critical eye to bear upon what has been done and what is being suggested. I have seen over the last few years an increasing creep, if you like, of public service and bureaucratic intent finding its way into an increasing number of places which were reserved for areas other than the bureaucracy in the past.
I point to this particular legislative instrument under debate and find myself having cause for some concern. Here is one of those vehicles which have long since been established as a mechanism by which local people can get involved in their local hospitals’ administration, and talk to the bureaucracy about the wants and desires of the local people and the local community.
I accept the criticism from the bureaucracy, in particular, and comments made by ministers since this has been going, that the boards have not been functioning in some instances. I am aware that in Nhulunbuy they have had trouble maintaining a board for some time which is evidenced through various annual reports written by hospital CEOs rather than the boards themselves.
Having made that observation, there are other communities which have had functioning hospital boards - and I suspect that is Mr McDonald I see sitting up in the public gallery at the moment, who was involved in the Royal Darwin Hospital board - which have continued to do their job effectively. I have read their annual reports year in, year out over the years, and I have noted those annual reports have changed. I am concerned those annual reports have stopped reporting certain types of information, and I do not know why they have, but particularly up until a few years ago, waiting lists were reported on. One could hardly accuse or suggest to anyone in this House that waiting lists are not a topical issue, and the absence of waiting lists in hospital board reports are conspicuous by their absence.
I do harbour those concerns, but returning to my more general observations, we have a situation where we now have a department which is the biggest spender of all departments of Territory funds. It has grown substantially under this government, both in administration as well as staff on the ground, courtesy of increased funding, substantially from Canberra. It is for that reason I believe there should be a greater capacity for the intent and conduct of that bureaucracy to be questioned. One of the stop-gap positions of the questioning capacity is not only this place, but of the hospital boards.
The directive within this particular legislative instrument, that hospital boards must subordinate themselves to the will of the policy direction of the government of the day - and when I say the government of the day, I do not say the Cabinet, although it should be the Cabinet - I am talking about the bureaucracy; and the reason I make that distinction is because I have seen very little evidence in the last few years, particularly, that what is expressed in this House is the will of government, insomuch as it is the will of the bureaucracy and the senior bureaucrats of the Health department itself.
I would be very concerned if this legislative instrument was used to wind-up hospital boards, particularly those hospital boards which actually have the capacity to draw into question the will of the bureaucracy those hospital boards are supposed to be working with. I find it also curious that I am not the only person who shares these reservations. The Council of Territory Cooperation, of which I am now a part and will be meeting in the near future to establish ourselves properly, will not be able to call ministers. That is actually a desire, not so much of government – mind you, I suspect that government may have suggested - but a desire of the Independent member for Nelson. He expressed the view that he would like to be able to get to the bottom of issues by talking to the public service directly. I find it curious that the Independent member for Nelson has now taken a world view that you actually have to sidestep members of Cabinet in an effort to find out what the intent of government actually is.
I can understand why the member for Nelson harbours that view; clearly, a decline is being witnessed, for lack of better expression, by the member for Nelson, I and Territorians, when we start to see the role of ministers purely as a figurehead rather than a decision-making role. Again, it goes to evidence of my reservations as to the expansion of bureaucratic power in the Northern Territory.
I urge ministers to be critical of the departments - I am not saying cynical - I am saying cast a critical eye over the departments which serve them. Those people in senior positions who set policy in those departments need checks and balances brought to bear upon them as we, in this place, need checks and balances brought upon us. The absence of a critical eye, particularly from a minister, over the material being delivered to that minister is indicative of a collapse, or potential collapse, of the systems of responsible government which we are all servants of in this place.
If a minister sits in an Estimates Committee and is asked a question about policy and the minister replies, as has occurred, words to the effect: ‘Do you want my opinion, or do you want my ministerial opinion?’, then you have cause to be concerned and, I do have concern. All this bill will seemingly achieve is a matter of convenience for the bureaucracy, much more than a matter of convenience for the government itself.
I do not particularly believe it is a function of this House to make life convenient for the bureaucracy. Whilst its convenience should be assumed on all occasions, it should not become the primary rationale for the legislative instrument. We would certainly like the wheels of bureaucracy and the wheels of service delivery to the people of the Northern Territory to run smoothly, but not at the expense of other components of the way we are governed.
When I read this bill I feel certain disquiet about the system of government we have being eroded by an uncritical ministry casting an uncritical eye over the instruments which are being delivered to them so we can pass laws in this place. Certain tardiness has also crept into the legislative instruments brought before this place, which is an indication of a reduction in the level of rigour being brought to bear on bills as they are drawn up.
Once again, I point to the ministers as carrying responsibility for this. I have been made aware this morning by only three pages of amendments to this bill lying on my table and, last week we saw a similar process with another bill in this House. It seems a belief of this government that they can introduce amendments on the floor of the Chamber simply because a bill needed some fixing up. Surely, if the process was truly rigorous you would not require three pages of amendments to be made to a bill. Once again, it is up to the ministers to ensure the departments are being truly and properly scrutinised for the effort they are putting in to the material which finds its way into this place.
Last week we saw lifts taken from other speeches in other jurisdictions being dropped directly into a ministerial second reading speech, under the guise of uniformity - and a poor guise that is, by the way. This week, we have become aware of multiple pages of amendments to a bill which was introduced by this government. I know that my colleague, the member for Araluen, will add to these observations, and I will leave that to her. However, it is an overall sloppiness finding its way into this government, and an overall sloppiness finding its way into this Chamber.
Whilst I appreciate there will always be technical amendments required to bills as they come into this House - and I will never object to those - to suddenly drop three pages of amendments on a bill which really should not present us with such a massive technical problem, is a matter of concern to me. I believe we should be tidy about the work we do, we should be careful about the work we do and, if we are ministers in this place, we should not be afraid to say to those people who serve us in the departments, that we want more explanation, tighter controls in place, and a better product. The reason we should not be afraid to say that to these people is they are paid to do this job, and they are paid to serve the people of the Northern Territory.
The reason we have checks and balances on us in this place is because we are expected to meet a certain standard. Again, I say, those checks and balances should be brought to bear on people who are not in this place, but who still serve the public interest of the Northern Territory. I would be very nervous if the public interest takes a back seat to the interests of the bureaucracy.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I wish to speak, as foreshadowed by the member for Port Darwin, but before I get to that I wish to speak of the concerns identified by my colleague, the member for Greatorex, which are shared by me.
As members know, I live in Alice Springs; what members may not know is I have had an informal association, over many years, with members on the Alice Springs Hospital Board. I have known of their joys and their frustrations over the years. In recent years there has been a concern by some members of that board and, I gather, shared by members of some other hospital boards around the Territory, that there has been a desire by this government to wear them down, to frustrate them to a point where they throw their hands up in the air and say: ‘It is too hard, I want to move on to something else’, and leave. Or, a desire on the part of this government to minimise their decision-making and to, in one way or another, diminish the oomph, if you like, of the board.
In times gone by, boards at the Alice Springs Hospital have been very august bodies. They have, most importantly of all, represented the community. I would reckon most of the members in this Chamber have spent some time, either personally or officially, as a result of this job, in a hospital. Members will know that hospitals are communities in themselves. In some ways it is almost like going to another planet. You go into a hospital and you see that it is a community that operates proudly, against the odds. There is never enough funding, there are always time constraints, and there are a number of demands putting pressure on the people in that hospital. What happens is they fight against the odds. What also happens is they often avail themselves of the informal and formal structures which are open to them, in this case, accessing the advice and counsel of members of the hospital board. I know that has happened over the years in Alice Springs.
If you think of hospitals as communities then you should also think of them as representing their relevant communities. The hospital boards are a direct link from the community in which the hospital is housed, into the hospital itself. That is why we have hospital boards: hospitals cannot operate entirely on their own. They need input from people outside that hospital community; they need input from the community around them - in this case, the Alice Springs community.
It is a fairly frightening proposition, therefore, that some boards, Alice Springs would be among them, but I note in particular, Gove, Katherine and Tennant Creek, the likelihood of the minister suspending those boards. That is not something that this government should have contemplated. It is dumb, and it illustrates the tendency, which I have been told about over the years, by this government to what is centralised decision-making. That is a profoundly dumb thing to do to hospitals which play such an important role in the relevant communities around the Northern Territory.
I wanted to voice, together with the member for Greatorex, my concern about this happening. I just cannot understand why it is this apparent policy directive has come before the parliament, other than relying on the information I have heard over a number of years from those on the hospital board at Alice Springs. It is a really significant issue.
This government, and I have been a vocal critic of it for some years now, despite glossy brochures and advertising campaigns, actually is not into or supportive of communities. If you get stuck into a hospital board, that is a direct attack on a community, that is a direct attack on those who serve the community differently from the people in this building, and I do not believe it is one small communities will stomach; nor should they. It is a retrograde step and, frankly, one that should not be tolerated.
In Alice Springs, this is a government that polled, I believe, less than 20% of the primary vote at the last election. You would have thought that, in those circumstances, the government would think, okay, how do we do better in Alice Springs? I remember at the polling booth on polling day at the last election, I had dyed-in-the-wool Labor voters - and I am always very grateful for their support, and I do get Labor voters voting for me, and have had over the years - people I never thought would vote for me were lining up to say: ‘I am going to vote for you this time’, and I would say: ‘Well, let us hope the government does so much better in the next term that I can have you voting for them again next time round’, so deep was their conviction and passion to the Labor Party. What can I tell them now? And what do they think? They have not seen any change. You would think the government would try a bit harder in places like Alice Springs; but I digress. The main issue I raise is the government has got stuck into local hospitals boards and they do not want to see them function properly, and that is extremely regrettable; it is also dumb.
In relation to the amendments, I tried to find earlier - I could not remember the exact motion or legislation we debated some years ago where, I believe, it was me who came in and provided some amendments on the floor of the parliament. From memory, government really attacked me and said how outrageous it was - I am sorry I cannot remember the relevant bill - and offensive it was for the opposition to come in and circulate late amendments. Well, this is a late amendment. I understand my colleague, the member for Greatorex, has been waiting for some time for the amendments to be provided by government and, at 8.50 am the amendments find their way into the e-mail system of a staff member in the Leader of the Opposition’s office, in stark contrast to the way I have been receiving amendments, even from the Attorney-General, where I have received the amendments, with a covering letter, by mail and they have been e-mailed as well.
This has not been a timely set of amendments. It was provided on our desks at 10 am today, and to a staff member just before 9 am. It is in no way good enough. They are significant amendments, a full three pages, not just a word here and there which, we could, on a charitable day, understand. These are what might be described as fairly gutsy amendments in terms of their length. My colleague, the member for Greatorex, has been really pushed in terms of time, when it comes to considering them. So, it is very sloppy.
Against that back-drop, I move to what I gather is a reluctance, or a disinclination, of those opposite to talk, other than the minister. This is a mistake, and speaks volumes. It suggests members of the government have not realised the effect this bill will have or the ramifications. They have not understood - perhaps they were not told - what it might mean for their local hospital boards.
My colleague, the member for Port Darwin, referred to what he considered a sloppiness creeping in when it comes to legislative matters. My view is that the sloppiness, the tardiness, has been there for some time. I will illustrate the point with the most recent example, leaving aside, of course, the member for Barkly and his cutting and pasting of someone else’s speech in relation to the prisoners transfer bill. I refer to the debate regarding the Justice Legislation (Penalties) Amendment Bill on 13 October. The opposition forcefully raised concerns regarding the $6500 fine for beggars. I questioned the Attorney-General repeatedly. She said, in relation to an answer about $6500 for begging, and I quote:
I am sure there are other references, but the one I have been able to find was a report in the Courier Mail on Friday which says:
Why am I referring to this? Because a bill one of your ministers brings into the parliament and wants to have debated today can effectively demolish, get rid of, suspend, call it whatever you like, one of your hospital boards. I wonder whether after this debate – and I know the member for Greatorex will ask questions in committee, and it may be more of my colleagues wish to contribute to this debate - in a day or so, the Minister for Health does what the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice did, and says: ‘Happy to overturn it. I got it wrong.’
My point: you look pathetic. You look like the Clampetts on a good day. You cannot be the Beverley Hillbillies when it comes to your legislative reform program - well, reform, I mean, you do not even know that word anymore - but you cannot be the Clampetts when it comes to your package of legislation. You need to get it right. You need to think about it very seriously. You need to tell your colleagues what it involves. You need to read the small bits. You just cannot sign off on it.
I am very interested to hear from the member for Nhulunbuy and the member for Barkly about their views on this bill. If they are silent then the opposition has every right to assume they support, in its entirety, every part of this bill. If that is the case, then the opposition will be more than entitled to write to people in their electorates and say: ‘Guess what? This is what your local member supported’. I am reasonably confident, subject to what transpires in the committee stage amendments, that my colleague, the member for Greatorex, the shadow Health minister, may write to relevant people in the electorate, in any event. If I had my way, I would fly an aeroplane over Nhulunbuy and Barkly and drop bits of paper saying: ‘Hello! This is what your local member supports’. This is not the stuff of local members regardless …
Mr McCarthy: That would be littering.
Ms CARNEY: In your case, member for Barkly, we would make sure we did not copy it from somewhere. I digress.
This is not the stuff local members should be supporting. We pride ourselves, each and every one of us, on representing faithfully the needs, wishes, and aspirations of our electorate. That is what we do; that is, above all else, what we are paid for. To come in and support, or be silent on, an aspect of legislation which will diminish hospital boards, I believe, is just unconscionable.
I am not sure whether other colleagues wish to contribute to this debate. If they do not, then we know the member for Greatorex will prosecute this further in the committee stage process, and I believe the member for Fong Lim will also want to contribute.
Centralisation is a word, a theme, a concept that the Labor Party knows well. We say: do not undermine your communities, do not undermine our communities, by what some might say is subtle, some might say it is as subtle as a sledgehammer, but do not undermine our communities by diminishing the hospital boards which have played, and should continue to play, a very useful role in our communities and in our hospitals.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak about a bill, a good bill, a necessary bill, and I congratulate my colleague, the Minister for Health, for bringing this bill to the House.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr McCARTHY: Times do change, and we know the pace of life has picked up considerably. I would like to share an image with members opposite - my image about mail bags to e-mails. Three decades ago, when I was a head teacher of a remote school, you managed your school with the weekly mail bag. Now, in most aspects of life we are chasing e-mails every couple of minutes. That says much about how life has changed and how our society has changed, and the demands placed on people to not only participate in community organisations but also in very important aspects of community life such as hospital boards.
Sadly, it has been the case of our regional, if not urban, hospital boards in the Territory - and interstate too - that such challenges of our fast-paced, post-modern society have become difficult to maintain. The member for Greatorex outlined the challenges, and has done a good job of outlining those challenges. This bill is necessary to take up that challenge and to deliver. The member for Nelson summed it up as a reflection of the times, and I believe that is what it is - a reflection of the times.
Regional hospitals, in particular, play a central role in our lives. They are not places you necessarily want to spend time but, as a parent, I can tell you the hurly-burly of family life generally means you do. As an MLA, I am at the other end of three decades in the Territory. When I first arrived in the Territory my first connection with the Tennant Creek Hospital - and it is great to hear Tennant Creek and the Barkly mentioned so many times in this House; they are not always mentioned positively, but this morning they have been and I appreciate that because we are all working together - was through the Tennant Creek Theatre Club which was putting on a major production, Doctor in the House, and being a new, young teacher to the town, I auditioned for one of the lead roles - not only in the theatrical sense of the word. It connected me with the hospital, the hospital staff, and the connection between the community and the hospital. As a young teacher, a resident in Tennant Creek, a member of the greater Barkly community, I started on my learning curve about how this process is so important and does play an optimal role in ensuring the community and the bureaucracy are connected.
That very casual beginning turned into a very intense middle section, right up to the time I changed positions to become an MLA. I became a person in remote communities who had a very real link in medical emergency evacuations; a person with a very real link to the Tennant Creek Hospital and the Mt Isa Hospital, from the eastern Barkly, to play a role not only the evacuation but also the welfare of the people who were evacuated, and playing a role in helping those people return to their community. So, I stepped up the pace and started to understand, at a higher level, how our hospital system worked.
I must say I am very impressed, and our medical professionals need the utmost accolade and the greatest level of support for the very complex, diverse and challenging work they perform.
You can quote personal anecdotes, and I can quote anecdotes wherever you want, member for Greatorex, regarding the importance of this bill - from losing a child in labour in a remote town in the Northern Territory, to evacuating a burn survivor, to evacuating my spouse. Those connections were always part of a learning curve which allows me to stand in support of my colleague, the Minister for Health, and to comment in this debate that this is an important and necessary a bill.
Hospitals do a great job in the Territory facing, as they do, unique difficulties and challenges. I want to thank all the Health staff within our hospitals and across the wider health system - we all owe them a great debt. Their job is difficult, perhaps more so than elsewhere.
The Territory population struggles with disease and morbidity rates unheard of interstate. Because of the variety of our population and our geographical location, Territorians have to tough it out against a variety of ailments and viruses, and they only have our hospitals to turn to because there are simply not enough GPs willing to work in regional areas - there are simply not enough GPs, full stop. In any debate we always have to factor in the national perspective. If I go back to a consumer of federal politics, then I can certainly point the stick at the Howard government for not only creating some very challenging circumstances in the new millennium for Australian health, but also for ignoring the warning signs to look after and support with resources the education and training of our young health professionals. This needs to be factored into the debate about health always, not just in a debate about this bill today, but in the consequent debates which happen in this House, when members are quick to jump on one-liners and sensational statements that are more media-focused than reality-based.
Thankfully, there are moves afoot, both nationally and within the Territory, to address this state of affairs. These are moves which will be made by Labor governments that believe no one gets left behind. We are working on fixing the health industry in Australia and the Northern Territory, but it is piece by piece, block by block. Be under no illusion, or misled by anyone in this place: this is not an easy task and this is not a quick fix. This will take a lot of time and energy, a work in progress that is probably the most significant, outside education, for building our nation.
As we rebuild health services in the Barkly, and there have been some notable successes with recruitment, new services, and the renal unit at Tennant Creek among others, we need to ensure the hospital and others like it in the Territory stay connected to the local community. That is why the old legislation was reviewed and now we have the bill before us.
This bill sets out to ensure each of the Territory’s five hospital boards can function and be valued as representing the views of the community. It also ensures the very necessary standards of public accountability and processes are maintained and followed. I know this process has been involved and sometimes difficult, if not painful; I know old hospital boards have suffered from declining membership, have struggled with what is required of them and, in some cases, have struggled to function at all because of the difficulties in attracting the right people and giving them the right jobs to do. I know the review has taken a great deal of advice and expertise from the Royal Darwin Hospital Board and the Alice Springs Hospital Board, and I thank them, on behalf of all Territorians, for their hard work and vision and their help to improve the quality of all our hospital boards.
I have no fear of elite professionals and, coming from a regional town and living in a remote area, I believe elite health professionals have much to offer in guidance and support into the future.
The new act provides for each of our public hospitals to have a board raised from the community they serve. I know, as the member for Barkly, I now have a job to assist this. I hope to be able to provide some assistance in finding local people to provide local views on how best the Tennant Creek Hospital can serve the community. Discussing this bill and the amendments, and how we have been working on it in Caucus and Cabinet forums, and me searching out the wisdom of the people I work with, with the staff in the office this morning, I think the MLA’s column in the Tennant & District Times this Friday should be about exactly this - to start raising education and awareness of what this bill is doing and how we now have the challenge to get back to where we used to be.
That is something I want to comment on for the member for Greatorex - another history lesson I am sorry you will have to endure - that is what comes with knocking around the ridges for 30 years and that is what I bring to this House every time I get up to speak.
I am pleased senior managers will still be involved in hospital boards. Their important advice on surgical, nursing, administration, and so forth, will be available to the new board’s meetings either by the managers attending, or information provided beforehand.
The new bill has some important changes designed to make the task of having a functional, accountable hospital board in regional centres, like Tennant Creek, much easier. These changes will not only ensure community voice and presence in hospital decision-making, but will allow the boards to concentrate on vital tasks, such as service improvement, consultation and community liaison.
The first of these changes is to no longer require a board membership of eight people; it will now be in the range of three to six members which is more viable and flexible. In response to the member for Greatorex’s challenge, I take that up. It is our job as MLAs to get out and lobby and recruit. Not just for the hospital board - we have volunteers, community organisations, community events, we have our juniors, our youth, our seniors - we are involved in all aspects. It is no one-liner, it is not: ‘You get out there and do it, or else.’ The all else is face the judgment day the same as you. We face that judgment day from the public as elected members. It is a work in progress; it is not an easy one-liner to spit out in this House to grab some media attention. It is a job I take very seriously, and it is a job where we are all in the same boat, and I welcome that.
Let us talk about that boat for a minute. The member for Greatorex did quote Tennant Creek and the Barkly in his speech, and Tennant Creek got a mention in 1986, a wonderful year; Tennant Creek also got a mention in 1990 and 1991, wonderful years, and the member for Greatorex said: ‘I do not know what has happened in the last couple of years.’ I will tell you what has happened in the last couple of years but, before I tell you that, let me go back to the 1980s and 1990s when Tennant Creek was a bustling gold mining town and the link between mining and the Tennant Creek hospital was substantial. Since the mine closed and since the whole global impact on mining and commodities, there has been a change of pace in Tennant Creek. There have been considerable social, cultural and logistical changes, and we have seen a highly mobile population. As I began in this contribution to the debate, this fairly much sums up the difficulties faced under the old bill with the hospital boards, and the challenges we face now to rebuild that, and I know we share in my comment on the debate, and we will rebuild that.
The people we will be looking for need to be able to move between the hospital and the community; they will need to find out what their community wants, and turn that into the advice which shapes future services. They will need to be locals in a true sense; they will need to be part of the community and know it and its moods; to be able to speak to people about what is being done, and what needs to be done well.
Just as importantly, the review process found our hospital boards need more administrative support so members are not bogged down in the administrative identification of an issue, and the nuts and bolts of organising a solution; hospital management will be required by this bill to provide that, and rightly so. This will also allow hospital managers to ensure the boards’ activities and directions are consistent with public service awards and requirements. There are obvious efficiencies and benefits here.
The new boards will be empowered to ensure hospital services meet, match, or exceed, health care standards. They will not be responsible for implementing new standards or for administering the work around these standards; they will not be required to have technical understanding of the workings of these standards, they will not be required to find and engage the health care professionals required to assist them with their monetary role. For that is exactly what their role will be - communicators, consultants and consulters - they will be there to provide feedback from the people who use the service as to how new health care standards are being implemented, and the benefits they bring. They will be able to inspect the hospital, speak to the patients within and without; they will be able to compare experiences and expectations with the accepted standards, and provide advice to hospital management, and government, about ways to improve the quality and appropriateness of hospital services.
Boards will also be there for the staff. In this day and age it is, unfortunately, true that our health professionals face a rising tide of incredibly complex ethical and legal matters. The boards will be there to ensure our staff have a way to consult with experts in ethics and legalities.
The boards will also be able to shape the future of our hospitals under this new bill; it describes how new boards will assist with strategic planning by increased contact with the Health minister, giving the community a new and direct path to decision-making. It is important the boards’ ability to reflect community sentiment about services provided and planned services, be plugged straight into decision-making at the highest level. This new bill demands, I expect, that boards’ annual reports to this place will become even more important tools for the minister and the department to gather and utilise public opinion in planning. This is an exciting and vital development.
The new bill goes further than that: boards will be involved in the selection of key hospital personnel by having board members appointed to selection panels to engage members of the hospitals’ executive. Such vital roles as general manager, director of medical services, and director of nursing services will be informed by the board, thus allowing for even more compatibility with the community in the selection of these important personnel. This is logical, given these personnel will need the support and understanding of the boards as they strive to do their best to improve services through connection with the community.
There have been times when boards ceased to function under the old rules, leaving a vacuum in the leadership of our hospitals. This bill has special powers to ensure such vacuums do not occur again. If, for whatever reason, a board fails to have sufficient membership to be viable and effective, the Minister for Health will have the power to suspend the board until such time as it can. This means the leadership of the hospital will continue temporarily until a community-based board can again be established to take the role back. The board in question will not be abolished; it will be in hiatus until it can return with renewed vigour. This is sensible and effective; it is logical and practical. Similarly, boards can be amalgamated to achieve the same effect. This can be done when membership levels are optimum.
That is the message I will be communicating to the people of Tennant Creek and the Barkly - not to fear this, but let us work with it. The shadow for Health challenges us to get us on board, and I appreciate that, and I say that this is definitely a bipartisan way to move forward and improve health services.
Let us not lose sight of the past before we go forward. As the member for Barkly and a resident of the Barkly, I know the hard work and selflessness of the people who have served before. This new bill represents a gathering of their knowledge and learning; it represents a practical solution to the problems they faced; it represents a continuation of the faith that their work will not be lost, and will serve to inform the work of the future.
The volunteers who serve the Territory in all forms, particularly on our hospital boards, are priceless and represent one of the reasons why this is such a fantastic place to live. We all rely on the volunteer spirit and I want to place on the record my thanks to all those who have gone before.
I look forward to even better links between our hospitals and the communities they serve under this act. I look forward to better decision-making, better recruitment, and better services. I know the Henderson government and the Rudd federal Labor government have the will and the means to make a better health system for all Territorians and all Australians. This bill plays no small part in those efforts as we take action to ensure Territorians have access to quality health services no matter where they live.
Madam Speaker, I have no hesitation in supporting this bill, and I urge all members of the House to do so.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, it was interesting listening to the member for Barkly. I do not know whether he supported the bill or not; it seemed to me he was supporting the opposition’s principles of objection in some areas.
He referred to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Chief Minister working to make our hospitals better. It is interesting to look at Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who, 10 or so years ago was the Chief of Staff to then Queensland Premier, Wayne Goss, when he picked up the nickname Dr Death because of the way he closed hospitals and sacked doctors and nurses. Somewhere along the line the Prime Minister had a change of heart. Some time in 2007, in the lead-up to a federal election, he had a bit of an epiphany. I believe the Lord spoke to him and told him that things were not all right in our health system in Australia. In fact, we had wall-to-wall state and territory Labor governments, and all of them shared a common area - they had all failed in health.
The Territory government is no different. We have seen health services decline markedly since this government came to power. Only last week, we were talking about the extended times people have to wait for elective surgery; it was pointed out we are now the second worst in the country. We heard the minister telling us that things were worse in Tasmania and the ACT and, therefore, we are better than Queensland, New South Wales and others – which surprised me.
The fact is, Kevin Rudd, had a bit of an epiphany. He understands our health system under Labor governments is falling to bits, and he made the threat in the lead-up to the 2007 election that, if things did not improve in the areas of health, then he would be quite prepared to step in and take over health completely - taking it out of the hands of the states and territories. Fine sentiments, I suppose. You have to ask the question: have things improved since Kevin Rudd’s ascension to the Prime Ministership? Most people in this country would, I believe, say no, they have not. Certainly here in the Northern Territory things have not become any better; they have become worse.
Now, we come to this debate talking about hospital boards. It seemed fine that hospital boards have worked the way they have for the last 25 years or so – well, up to three years ago hospital boards worked quite well – then, along came the member for Johnston as Health minister. Things under the Health minister, the member for Johnston, starting falling to pieces, and we saw hospital boards not putting in reports and having troubles. So, what is the response of government? The response of government in the Territory is to disempower hospital boards and hit them with a threat where government now has a mechanism to suspend or amalgamate a board.
It was interesting listening to the member for Barkly’s speech. At no stage has he said how he intends to talk to the people of Tennant Creek and let them know the government now has the ability to suspend their board …
Mr McCarthy: Fifteen hundred is the circulation of the Tennant Creek & District Times, Dave, but you would not know that because you have never been there.
Mr TOLLNER: … to close their board down completely - no mention whatsoever.
I will take that interjection on board from the member for Barkly, because he has absolutely no idea when I have been to his electorate. It is not the first time he has made the assertion that I have not visited Tennant Creek. I can tell the member for Barkly that I have been in Tennant Creek this year on at least four or five occasions; gone around the town, had a look, talked to people and had a chat to them. I believe they are fine people, it is a fine electorate the member for Barkly represents, a great bunch of people, and they deserve so much more. They deserve an empowered hospital board; they deserve a board that is prepared to take the fight to government.
We see government constantly removing services from Tennant Creek, aided and abetted by the member for Barkly. We have seen over the years the loss of airline services, the loss of health services, the loss of tourism and support for tourism businesses - the list just seems to go on and on with Tennant Creek. The town now is really struggling. It is sad to say that issues of crime, antisocial behaviour and public drunkenness abound, but constantly the government continues to remove services. And now they have the ability to suspend the board of the hospital in Tennant Creek, to take away that real community power where board members should be, and are, local champions for their local hospital.
If Kevin Rudd does decide to take over the health system, something I cannot see him doing - I believe it was an idle threat made in the heat of an election campaign - but if he were to take over hospitals in all the states and territories, one thing he would certainly require is that local hospital boards are fully empowered to provide the information and management support which goes with them; to provide all those things to the federal government, and work-hand-in-glove with the federal government. Identifying a problem as a state government is one thing, but actually getting a board to function and work well is highly important if you were going to nationalise our public health system
It seems to me Labor governments right across the country do not have a bad word to say about Mr Rudd, who identified that our hospitals are getting worse only a couple of days ago when the AMA report was tabled. Labor governments around the country distanced themselves from Mr Rudd’s comments in that regard but, generally, they believe Mr Rudd is doing a good job.
It would be interesting to see what this government thinks about Kevin Rudd taking over our hospital system. Disempowering boards of hospitals, I do not believe, would be sending a very good message to Health ministers and Prime Ministers in Canberra, because it is saying: ‘We are going to try to sabotage your efforts to make our hospital systems better.’ We see the way it is operating with schools. The federal government is now keen, and has been for some time, to hand money directly to school councils, because school councils are on the ground, and they know what is needed in their particular school. It has the other great benefit of cutting out education departments so the federal government can be certain all the money it allocates to those schools actually gets to the schools. That is a massive saving because, as we all know, state and territory government bureaucracies cost an absolute fortune and very little of the money sent from the federal government hits the ground where it is needed most.
By empowering hospital boards, it would allow the Commonwealth government to work with them directly, and allow hospital boards to be directly funded by the Commonwealth government. Obviously, this scares the Territory government because the Territory government is well-known for the way it throws around taxpayers’ money. It will pour millions and millions of dollars into our health system, but get very little result. In fact, they quite often skite about the amount of money they are prepared to throw at Health, but where is the return, many people are asking? We spend an absolute fortune on it and, at the same time, seem to get very few results.
We see the way projects are constantly delayed, put off, mothballed, and so on. We see this in all spheres where government involves itself here in the Territory, and the worst thing is it seems to happen regularly in the area of Health. The classic one has to be the oncology unit, promised in 2001, budgeted for in 2001, and here we are in 2009 and the expected completion date is sometime in 2010. Goodness me, they will be lucky if they are seeing patients in 2012; but I stand to be corrected. I hope I am corrected, I pray that next year the oncology unit will be up and running and functional. It is a classic example of something Labor says, as opposed to something Labor does.
Dr Burns: You promised it. You said it had been delivered at the last federal election.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Here we go, …
Members interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: I will take the interjection from the member for Johnston, the bloke who presided over an era of …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: … because the member for Johnston has interjected and said: ‘I made a promise back in …
Dr Burns: Delivered! Delivered!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: …back in …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Let me speak to the interjection, Madam Speaker. The fact was it was delivered, the money was budgeted for. It has been sitting in federal government coffers since around 2004-05 and …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr Burns: And you did not …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business!
Mr TOLLNER: … and yet this government has failed to actually get things happening.
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to Standing Order 51, and the member for Johnston may well remember the only reason we are here is because of his failure.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, resume your seat. Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Honourable members, I remind you of Standing Order 51 which relates to interruptions and interjections. Member for Fong Lim, you have the call and bear in mind is almost 12 o’clock and you probably have nearly 20 minutes left.
Mr TOLLNER: I can see that, Madam Speaker. I might try to talk out the clock and then sit down, if you like.
Madam SPEAKER: We will let you speak until about 12 pm and then we will adjourn.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, certainly, Madam Speaker.
The point the member for Greatorex made is a valid point - we would not be having this debate right now if it was not for the lack of action, the failure, the complete incompetence of the member for Johnston. It is a sad indictment of this government, but that is what it has come to.
I am somewhat disappointed in this bill. I would have much preferred to see a greater empowerment of hospital boards. I would like to have seen an improvement in the way hospital boards are resourced and supported, and I would liked to have seen consideration of remuneration for hospital board members. To me, they do an incredibly important job; they have a big role to play in our local community, and I do not believe it is out of the question that people who sacrifice so much of their time and work so hard should not be rewarded in some manner.
Madam Speaker, I might leave my comments there, continue after the break and …
Madam SPEAKER: You would like to continue after Question Time? That is fine.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Mr Neville Perkins OAM, former member for Macdonnell and former Deputy Leader of the Opposition. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Jim Lloyd, the former federal Minister for Territories. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have given my leave to the member for Braitling to make a personal explanation. I remind you during personal explanations, as a courtesy, members listen in silence.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I make a personal explanation under Standing Order 57. In parliament last Thursday evening, 15 October 2009, I was debating a ministerial statement on NT Public Housing waiting lists. In that debate, I inadvertently confused people traffickers and asylum seekers. It was a genuine slip of the tongue, and to the extent of that error, I apologise.
This slip was not what I was intending to nor meant to say. As evidence, earlier in the debate I referred to ‘scum bringing boat people over’; a direct reference to people smugglers. I made a concerted effort to reflect that people traffickers are scum; criminals turning profit in human trade from one country to another. The term ‘scum’ was, in fact, lifted from the terminology used by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, when he said in an ABC Online article by Emma Rogers on 17 April 2009, that people smugglers ‘were the absolute scum of the earth’. Immediately after the comment, I said:
When observers read this speech in its entirety, it is quite obvious that I was making the inference that people smugglers and traffickers are scum.
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to continue my remarks in relation the bill we are discussing on hospital boards.
The fact is this Territory government is no different to other state governments around Australia where we have seen a massive decline in health services. We also see those governments, and this one in particular, trying to micro-manage public hospitals from head office. That is a situation, I believe, must end. The government employs more and more bureaucrats, gets more and more top heavy, and seems to provide fewer and fewer services people are demanding - and we see that through the increased waiting lists for elective surgery. The Northern Territory now is a disgrace in relation to people waiting for elective surgery; the waiting lists have increased, and the time waits have increased.
There is nothing in this bill which allows hospital boards to, for instance, appoint the CEO of the hospital. The CEOs should be accountable to their hospital boards; the boards and the CEOs should have control over the hospital budgets, and the boards and the CEOs should make decisions about what happens in the particular hospital. The boards should have significant clinician representation; that is to say representatives of doctors and nurses and other health staff at the hospital should be present at board meetings. They should also have local community leaders and people with expertise in governance, finance, legal practices, and the like. I was heartened to see Colin McDonald QC here this morning listening to this debate, because Colin McDonald is a man with talent in the legal field, and he brings considerable expertise to the board of Royal Darwin Hospital.
People like that, I believe, should be encouraged; and the government should also look at remunerating them. After all, it is no small task being chairman of the board of a large city hospital, and I suggest that Mr McDonald would spend several days a week doing his voluntary work at the hospital. I would not have thought such people would be falling off trees, so to speak. They would be quite rare to find and they should be, I believe, remunerated in some way for the time and effort they put in to serving on hospital boards. For other people on hospital boards, there should also be a consideration there.
The important thing is, on this side of the Chamber, we do not believe in more bureaucrats. What we believe in is more local services. And the way you get better local services and more local services is to empower local people to take control of their own destinies, not push everything up the tree to head office, so to speak, or to the minister’s office where things are done for political or bureaucratic reasons, but to where things are done to service the local community.
I talked this morning about Kevin Rudd’s plan to nationalise the health system. I believe he may be backing away from that now, because he understands, or he may be starting to understand, the enormity of the challenge. Make no mistake, the reason Kevin Rudd has embarked on this is because of the failure of Labor state and territory governments right across Australia to adequately provide health services for their people.
The Northern Territory is a classic example. We see a health system which is massively under pressure. The best the minister can do, and the former minister could do, is blame the private sector: ‘Oh, well, we do not have enough GPs here; it is someone else’s fault, people are not coming here’ and so on. There is nothing proactive this government does to encourage doctors or GPs to come and set up in the Northern Territory. It is all about blaming someone else. In this particular case it is about blaming Canberra: the fact that Canberra does not give them enough money; Canberra never gives them enough money. This has to be the most mendicant administration in Australia. This Northern Territory government never stops bleating. They go on and on about how they miss out all the time, irrespective of the fact that since 2001 when the GST came in, they have received $1.5bn in windfall funds from the Commonwealth government. Where has that $1.5bn extra disappeared to?
We see more and more money spent on the health system and fewer and fewer services. Now we come into this place to find the government wants to completely disempower hospital boards. They want to put in place a mechanism where they can suspend hospital boards, where they can amalgamate boards. They are out there with a big stick ready to flay the hides of hospital board members. They are putting in place a code of conduct for people on hospital boards. These are volunteers, these are people who give freely of their own time, wanting to do something for the community, and now the government is putting in a range of penalties in order to prosecute those people because of government’s own failure. What is more, they are quite prepared to reduce the size of representation that the community has on boards. This, I believe, smacks of a government who is keen to centralise more and more power into the health bureaucracy.
The previous minister showed himself as a complete failure. It took the Chief Minister, after much work by the member for Greatorex in running the case, and many other people - the Health Ombudsman, the Coroner - all had their two cents worth, their dig at the previous Health minister and, finally, after months and months and years and years of mismanagement and failure, the Chief Minister removed him from that ministry because he had proven himself a complete failure.
Here we are debating legislation which attempts to paper over more of that minister’s failures. The system of hospital boards has worked well for 25 years through previous Country Liberal governments, and even through this government. They lasted through minister Toyne. Madam Speaker, you were a Health minister and hospital boards worked quite well through you. All of a sudden, the member for Johnston becomes the minister and it all falls to pieces. Now we have the member for Casuarina stepping into the breach, trying to cover up for his friend, the member for Johnston, and bringing this legislation in here.
I understand hospital boards were contacted and asked for their input, but government has turned a blind eye to their suggestions and recommendations. The fact is this government does not value hospital boards. It is a sad state of affairs in the Northern Territory.
If the opposition was given a go in government, taking control, we would do much more to empower local champions, those people who sit on boards of management of hospitals, to do a range of things, become more accountable to the community and become champions for the community when taking the case to the government for services and the like. We would give them some real power to employ the hospital CEO, to support the hospital CEO, to ensure professionals are attending board meetings to ensure the boards are getting proper, up-to-date advice from people they can talk to and know. We would not be wielding a big stick. If there was a requirement for a code and a range of penalties, there would also be a level of remuneration for those people who choose to serve the community by taking positions on a hospital board.
I, together with other members of this side of the House, eagerly await the committee stage of this debate because there are a number of questions the minister needs to answer.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I support this legislation which seeks to establish a new hospital boards act to replace the original act which has been in operation since July 1980.
As we know, this legislation is long overdue. With few changes in 29 years, it is certainly long overdue for a major revamp, especially when we consider that since 1980, we have seen significant challenges and improvements in the way our hospitals are managed, both here in the Territory and in other jurisdictions. In essence, the original act has not been workable, especially for smaller hospitals.
One of the highlights of this bill is that it has been drafted in plain English and in clear language so it can be read and understood by the lay person. The original act was worded in language which was complicated and difficult to interpret. In trying to work with dated legislation, what we have seen in the last few years is hospital boards challenged in trying to comply with the requirements of the act. This has especially been to the detriment of the three smaller regional hospital boards, including Gove District Hospital, which is in my electorate.
The three smaller hospitals outside of Darwin and Alice Springs, namely Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Gove, have struggled to retain operating and functional boards. This is not to say these hospitals have not been well run, but the current legislation has lacked clarity, flexibility, and consistency of application so that hospital boards and their members have struggled to clearly understand their roles and the parameters of their responsibilities. This bill provides that clarity and flexibility so hospital boards, their members, the communities and the consumers they represent can now be very clear about their roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities. This is as it should be.
Even the naming of the act in 1980 was confusing, the Hospital Management Boards Act, confusing because the main function of hospital boards is not about management; the main function of hospital boards is to be an advisory body and, to this end, be the conduit between the community and the hospital. It is important that communities have a voice and a say in how their local hospital works. It is entirely appropriate that members of the community have that avenue through their hospital board to provide input into strategic and future planning and policy direction in order to see ongoing and continuous improvement in delivery of services for consumers.
As we heard in the minister’s second reading speech, Gove District Hospital has not had a functional Board since 2000, and this was, and I quote from the minister’s speech:
Despite this, and it is a credit to successive general managers of Gove District Hospital, the hospital enjoys a good reputation and, in my view, services the region, and it is certainly a sizeable geographic region, extremely well. On a personal note, during almost 20 years in Nhulunbuy I have been a consumer of Gove District Hospital services, with my family, and I can attest to the high level of professional health care which my family and I have received. Like the member for Barkly, my experiences with my local hospital have been practically life and death, and everything in between I have given birth to three healthy babies, including an emergency Caesarean, and accompanied my youngest at the age of two, with a suspected case of meningitis, on a medical evacuation flight to the Royal Darwin Hospital.
That aside, we must and we will see with this bill, effective and efficient hospital boards re-established. These boards have a vital role to play by ensuring local communities identify local champions to represent their views on local hospital boards. Consumers of the service at Gove District Hospital are diverse and includes the population of 4000 or so residents of Nhulunbuy and at least that many again from the surrounding communities of Yirrkala, Elcho Island, Groote Island, Gapuwiyak, and all the many small homelands in between. Around 90% of the hospital’s consumers are Indigenous.
Gove’s 30-bed hospital has two main wards - a general medical-surgical ward, and a maternity ward which delivers over 200 babies per annum; two theatre suites; a busy A&E department along with x-ray, pathology and a pharmacy, and steady stream of visiting specialists operating out-patient clinics. Gove District Hospital is fortunate to be staffed with highly talented and dedicated staff in both the health professional area and administrative roles.
Gove District Hospital also works closely with other health service providers, including health clinics at Yirrkala, Galiwinku, and Gapuwiyak as well as the health clinics operated for homeland residents by Martha Cole and Laynhapuy Homelands Associations. Further, Gove District Hospital works closely with Miwatj Health and the Northern Territory Rural Clinical School. Given the breadth of relationships and the diversity of consumers, it is timely this new legislation should be introduced at a time when regionalisation of health services is currently high on the agenda in the East Arnhem Region. Now is definitely the right time to be invigorating hospital boards. With the reintroduction of hospital boards under this new bill, I can see services at Gove District Hospital will only get better because there will be an open and transparent process which will allow consumers to have a real voice about how their hospital works.
In preparing this speech, I reflected on a couple of rare occasions where consumers and constituents have visited me in the last 12 months, as local member, to voice concerns about delivery of health services. Most notably this occurred earlier this year when maternity services were suspended for a short time because of the extreme difficulty in attracting qualified GP obstetric procedurals. While, as local members, our doors are always open to listen to and support constituents, the reintroduction of a hospital board at Gove will give the community an avenue to take their concerns directly to and have their voice heard in the same way, as member for Greatorex mentioned earlier, the need for schools to have school councils.
I note in complying with existing legislation, boards have particularly struggled to fulfil their requirement to communicate with the minister by way of producing a formal annual report for tabling in the Legislative Assembly. This was a matter which I know was of concern to the opposition last year when the member for Greatorex raised the subject in this House. If one of the barriers to producing an annual report was lack of administrative support, then I am pleased to see this bill states explicitly that hospital management will be responsible to assist the board with adequate administrative support to ensure important tasks, such as an annual report, are properly managed.
As I see it, this bill does have flexibility so it will be workable for all hospitals in the Northern Territory, whether small or large. With a reduction in the number of persons required to constitute a hospital board, previously eight, but now proposed to be between three and six, I feel confident this will be workable for smaller hospitals in attracting and retaining members for boards at hospitals such as Gove. I also feel very confident there will be a renewed level of interest to form a hospital board at Gove, but I note the very sensible provision which allows for amalgamation of boards in the event one of the smaller hospitals sees its membership decline for whatever reason. Rather than allowing the board to collapse and simply not exist, which is exactly what has happened to date, there is provision through amalgamation to see a board continue under the auspices of another hospital.
I have noted the member for Greatorex’s comments and his fears - unfounded though they are - and I thank him for his insights - flawed though they are. Quite clearly, the amalgamation clause is there as a safety net, a provision in the unlikely event a board cannot be formed or is suspended - a hiatus as the member for Barkly described it - there remains a line of communication, under amalgamation, to the hospital’s management and to the Health minister until such time as new board members are recruited and the board reconvened.
I assure the member for Greatorex that I am a very proactive local member, as I am sure he is in his electorate, and I will certainly do everything I can to encourage locals and leaders from my community to take up a role on the Gove District Hospital Board. And, member for Araluen, please hold off booking a small plane to distribute leaflets by airdrop, because it simply will not be necessary.
What people have noticed about this government, unlike previous CLP governments, is we do consult widely and exhaustively with all Territorians and ask them what they think; invite their input into a whole range of matters which impact on their lives. So, I have no doubt that people in my electorate will embrace this opportunity to have a strong voice on the board of Gove District Hospital and a real say in how that hospital works, and how services can be improved for its diverse group of consumers. I am sure this will be the same for other hospitals around the Territory, including Tennant Creek and Katherine.
I understand it is unusual to have a number of amendments at this late stage, but it reflects the huge challenge and the enormity of the task in reviewing the legislation and making it workable across all five of the Territory’s current hospitals.
I would like to comment on one of the amendments the minister will be moving at committee stage; it is the very sensible inclusion of a code of conduct for board members. The inclusion of a code of conduct provides board members with further clarify around their role. I note there will be core requirements for each board’s code of conduct about how members manage confidential information, what constitutes inappropriate behaviour, and distribution of information. However, beyond this, each hospital board will have the ability to include additional elements to the code of conduct so it can be tailored to best meet that board’s needs in further reflecting the nature of the community which they represent. I cannot, for a moment, understand how on earth the member for Fong Lim sees a code of conduct as, somehow, negative or penalising.
Madam Speaker, I welcome this bill and the very positive changes it will bring to the operation of hospital boards. I commend the minister for bringing it before the House.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I will be very brief. I thought I should contribute because, from what I can gather, lowering the number of board members and so forth is like lowering the bar, similar to what we have seen with education outcomes. There seems to be a theme here.
I believe there is going to be local focus lost when there are chances a board may not even be from the local area - that local control is lost. Why change legislation which appears to have worked very well for over 20 years, at least with a CLP government? Again, this is lowering the bar when things get tough. As I said, it is quite clear with education as well.
With recent examples highlighted in this House in regard to health outcomes in the Territory - outcomes that have included tragic deaths, waiting lists growing, systematic failures, service level reductions, cleanliness, super bugs - the list goes on. Perhaps we should be lifting the bar rather than taking the easy road, rather than just dropping the ball or, in some cases, passing the ball; government should be focusing on improving services, as I am sure all Territorians expect.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their contributions. However, I sometimes wonder if people actually take the time to sit down and read the legislation.
One thing we all agree on is that the legislation is too old; it needs to be revised. It was first brought in 20 to 25 years ago, and obviously it has not worked very well. We have many examples of hospital board reports not delivered in time, and despite what the member for Greatorex said before, I recall very well he tabled his report in this House a few months back, and when we had a look at them, the majority of boards had had meetings but the meetings did not have a quorum. Many of them did not actually attend the necessary meetings; there are supposed to be 10 meetings a year, and the truth is only 44% of the hospital boards met these criteria for 10 to 12 meetings per year, and most of those were Royal Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital. None of the other hospitals met those basic criteria.
Let us go to some of the issues which were brought up. The member for Greatorex asked what the member for Barkly is doing and what the member for Nhulunbuy is doing to find people to go on the boards. I mean, what else are they doing? I wonder if he is going to direct the same comments to the member for Katherine because, since 2005, the Katherine Hospital has not had a functioning board. So, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
I do not say these people are not doing their job. The reality is that the public has to step forward and put their hands up to work on the boards, and there are special conditions in every town. Tenant Creek was a vibrant town a few years ago with mining; now, of course, it is not as vibrant as it was before; in Katherine, it is the same thing. People are either too busy; they are transient; or they are not interested.
With regard to the issue that the new legislation will somehow eliminate the local input is absolutely untrue. In the old legislation, there is not even a definition of what a local community is; there is no requirement to advertise for people from the local community to be part of these boards. Also, the minister had the power to appoint to the board anyone he or she likes. There is nothing in the old legislation about that. Under the definitions in the new legislation ‘local community’ is defined as:
In section 16, Appointment as member:
(2) The Minister must advertise that he or she:
…
This is a clear indication that our legislation seeks nominations from people from the local community to serve on the hospital board in the community which the hospital services - it is a fundamental difference. Instead of taking away from the local community the power to be members of the board, we enhance it in the legislation. There was nothing in the old legislation; I have a copy of it here and it was of great interest to find there is no reference to local community in the old legislation, while there is significant reference in the new legislation.
In addition, some of the reasons about suspending the board because it is agreeable to the bureaucrats; I would support a board that has the support of the bureaucrats, and I will support strongly a board that stands up to the bureaucrats. The reality is the board can only be suspended if the number of members falls below three. If there are three members and one of them resigns, it is suspended. The reason we did not put a time limit of 30 days is because we wanted, as soon as possible, to find a suitable person to replace the person who resigned, in order for the board to continue. It is only in extenuating circumstances the board would be suspended - if we cannot find a third person; or to amalgamate with another board if we continue to be unable to find another person. I would also like to say, it is specifically stated in the legislation how the board can be suspended and the reason behind the suspension.
I am bringing a number of amendments to the House, and I would like to thank the member for Greatorex and the member for Nelson for attending the briefings. They brought some issues to our attention - that is why the legislation sits before the parliament for 30 days: in order for people to bring these issues to our attention. Some of the amendments we have adopted are suitable amendments that the members brought to our attention, and I thank them for their input. I have to say, the amendments I bring to the House are amendments that make this legislation even more workable and even more suitable for modern, up-to-date boards.
As I said before, part of the claim from the other side that this new legislation will take power away from the local people, will do exactly the opposite; it will strengthen and empower local people to be a members of the boards because legislation in the past was not suitable, it did not serve the community, and it is about time we had modern, up-to-date boards.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, as you are aware there are a number of amendments submitted today, and in that context, there has been a discussion and we would like to put the committee stage discussion on this bill off until tomorrow.
With the agreement of all parties, I move that this committee stage be later taken.
Motion agreed to; committee stage postponed.
Continued from 15 October 2009
Mr KNIGHT (Housing): Madam Speaker, I thank all members who contributed to this very important debate. The provision of public housing is extremely important to a sector within our community, within our society, who desperately need it, not as an option, but as a necessity of life.
Many members raised issues of antisocial behaviour in public housing; I do agree this is an issue. Since becoming the minister, I have spent a great deal of time dealing with and working with the department. We have put extra resources into combating antisocial behaviour with four Antisocial Behaviour Officers who have had a degree of success in the community in Darwin, Palmerston and in Alice Springs.
There are a number of other measures we are currently working on such as changes to the legislation to strengthen our ability to curb antisocial behaviour. I know the department does a large amount of work in some very difficult situations. The reality with Territory Housing is we are a landlord of last resort; we know when we evict people they are not going to go into private housing. They may have an opportunity to go into non-government organisations, but it is a slim chance. That is why a great deal of consideration and opportunity is given to public housing tenants to improve their ways, and we support them through tenancy support programs, providing life skills and, as has been announced recently, transitional housing - trying to improve the behaviour of potential housing tenants coming through transitional housing.
I thank my colleagues, and also the member for Araluen for her comments. The member for Araluen identified problems and then provided suggestions on how to resolve them. Her comments were constructive, and I can assure the member I will follow-up on her ideas. This situation has not arisen overnight. These were issues for the previous government, and it has been a growing characteristic of social and public housing throughout Australia.
In the late 1990s, the Commonwealth government insisted state and territory governments provide priority to lower income earners and applicants with greater needs, as opposed to the low income workers. That is obviously in recognition of providing accommodation to the most needy in our society, but also brings issues about the behaviour of those people and the health and psychological needs they have.
I also thank the member for Nelson who had a number of suggestions, and I will be looking into those. The member for Nelson raised the need for an audit of all the wait lists, and I completely agree and have asked for an audit to be done on an annual basis. As was highlighted, public housing waiting lists in the Territory are still open to general applications; in other jurisdictions they have closed many of those general applications, and only take applicants in the most need. But we do need to interrogate both our wait list and our current clientele; circumstances change and many people have been in public housing a very long time, some for 30 to 35 years. Their circumstances have radically changed, and the eligibility criteria have changed in that period of time, as well.
I was disappointed with the personal attacks. The real focus should be on getting our waiting lists down as low as possible. This is a problem for the parliament, not just the government. We obviously have carriage of that responsibility at the moment, and it is not going to go away overnight, I can guarantee you that. It will be a challenge for this parliament and a challenge for every parliament across Australia. There will be a growing demand for social housing as the baby boomers head off into retirement; as more people in our society with physical or psychological needs come back into the public housing area; as our existing public housing tenants become older their needs grow; and the percentage of public housing tenants who are tenants for life grows also. This reduces the percentage of people who are transitioned through public housing, and it brings many challenges for the parliament for decades into the future. It is certainly going to challenge not only this side of the House, but also the other side of the House, into the future.
Over and over again we talk about working for Territorians and about changing people’s lives for the better. Addressing housing needs is the foremost part of this challenge, but what we really had was an attack without any alternative or any plan. The member for Fong Lim called public housing tenants ‘animals’. There are many people in public housing whose lives have been disrupted for a range of reasons and, as I alluded to, there are physical barriers for them to get back into a normal life where they can get a job and earn more income and get into the private housing sector. There are people in public housing who need to improve their behaviour, but they are also in public housing because of their circumstances, and those circumstances are very complex.
We take complaints to Territory Housing very seriously; we investigate all of them, and many times is it hard to get evidence. There are sometimes vexatious complaints made. I am very cognisant that members in this House receive individual complaints from their electorates. As minister, I get all of them from across the Territory, so I am very cognisant of the need to improve the behaviour of public housing tenants.
There was also a discussion about inspections. There does need to be many more inspections done; properties must be inspected. At the moment they are inspected once a year, and that needs to improve, and that is something I will certainly be speaking to the department about.
One of the other issues which has been around for a while is the vacate rates, the turnaround times. We made some changes recently to have a panel of contractors on board for the repairs and maintenance. Instead of having one contractor whose company may be working on a number of Territory Housing properties and will take weeks to get to one which needs to be fixed, we will have a selection of contractors across the regions so we can get that vacant stock back online as quickly as possible. We are also holding tenants much more accountable for damage to property, and we will be pursuing those debts for damage. As I said in this House, we have brought 84 properties back online and are committed to another 84 by Christmas. I believe that will definitely be achieved.
Some members raised the issue of asset income limits for Territory Housing. We currently have one of the most generous assets and income limits in the country. This government has linked assets and income limits to those of Centrelink, which means they are reviewed annually and, therefore, reflect the current standards.
Several members opposite accused the government of selling 2000 public homes. This is just another dj vu moment, I guess. I have tabled the sales of properties back to 1995-96, and it clearly shows there have been, over that period of time, 2700-odd properties sold. It astounds me that the member for Sanderson keeps getting confused - maybe I need to tattoo on his forehead what the 2000 is. Actually, 2100 properties were sold off by the CLP between 1995-96 to 2000-01. That is disgraceful. I hope the member for Sanderson actually reads the document I tabled in this House when I made the statement. I have continued to provide them, both in written form and verbally, to this House, but he still does not seem to get it. It comes down to this: we sold off 700, and I have turned the tap off on that now. If we had those 2700 properties today, we would have almost a zero wait list.
It is incumbent on both sides of this House to realise public housing is not a cash cow for the rest of the budget. It is a fundamental right of the most needy in our community, and why the government is set up to provide low-cost, subsidised rent for the most needy people in our community. It is incumbent on both sides of this House to respect public housing and not abuse it as far as the assets go.
I hope the member for Sanderson finally gets it this time: 2000 houses were sold off by the CLP in their last six years in government, and 700 of those were sold off in Alice Springs. Alice Springs is suffering at the moment from a lack of short-term and medium-term accommodation - it would have gone a long way to addressing that housing need. Maybe he has been having private tuition in maths from the member for Port Darwin, who is very creative with his figures.
The member for Goyder accused me of ignoring the needs of seniors in the rural area. I am acutely aware of the issues related to seniors in the rural area. In fact, I have met with the Council on the Ageing to discuss these very issues, and I am currently looking at options to deliver a real plan for seniors living in the rural area. I guess she is not just referring to the Darwin rural area, but also communities outside Darwin. I know Batchelor is one community which has been looking at opportunities to get into seniors’ accommodation. It is a lovely community and somewhere that would well suit a seniors’ village; there are good medical facilities, it is adjacent to Litchfield National Park, and has a great sense of community.
The member for Goyder may be interested to know that the Homelessness National Partnership Agreement delivers some $54m-worth of initiatives designed to reduce homelessness; certainly a great initiative by the federal Labor government. Some 32 new homes will be built within this program to address rough sleeping and homelessness. There are many support programs that go with it, and I believe the sector has really been buoyed by that level of funding coming to the Territory.
The member for Goyder also raised the old Bechtel site. This site has several problems in the only design the CLP came forward with. I met with the non-government organisations, and we discussed the potential for this site and the proposal of the CLP. A majority of NGOs were not supportive of such a concentration of dwellings on that site. It presents a real problem, unmanaged, in that location. They were much more supportive of the expansion of their existing services, and that is exactly where we are working with the non-government sector to look at their proposals to expand their service provision where they have existing assistance and existing support services in place.
In relation to the Bloodwood Caravan Park, I can advise the House that a senior departmental officer has met with the residents and discussed options for housing with them. This is an extremely important matter, as the member for Nelson would be aware. We need to work with the landowners and the residents, to ensure those people are appropriately housed if and when the caravan park closes down. My office has also been in contact with caravan parks across the greater Darwin area to better understand vacancy levels and options should Bloodwood close.
Member for Goyder, you said that failures, and I quote:
I refute that statement absolutely. The opposition is fond of knocking the Territory. The Territory is a great place, we only need to look at the growth and the people coming here and staying here. Many people come up here - as the old story goes - for a short contract or just a visit, and they stay.
The member for Fong Lim appears to be very loose with the truth in relation to the incidents in Shiers Street. My office was staffed past the 5.30 pm time he alludes to. No call was ever received from him, as he claims. In fact, I know that departmental officers had been trying to contact him for most of the afternoon in relation to that incident. I say to you, member for Fong Lim, you had a moral obligation to call the police, to call the Northern Territory Department of Health and Families, rather than go directly to the media, or get Cam Smith, your media advisor, to go directly to the media. Territory Housing takes responsibility for what happened there, but the member for Fong Lim did a disgusting act on behalf of this parliament, as a parliamentarian, to sensationalise this incident and exploit this young lady. He could have shown much more maturity and consideration of her circumstances. I wish her well, but the fact remains that the member for Fong Lim exploited this young lady for his own purposes in sensationalising her problems in the media.
In relation to the member for Drysdale’s contribution, I would like to advise the House if any member suspects child abuse, they have a legal obligation to report this to the police or the Northern Territory department of Families and Children. I wrote to the member for Drysdale last Friday reminding him of his obligations, after his contribution where he alluded to a child abuse case. I hope the member for Drysdale, a former police officer, is aware of his obligations and obligations as a parliamentarian: if he suspects child abuse he needs to report it. I am very interested to know whether the member for Drysdale has reported this incident to the police.
Member for Braitling, I was disgusted. I have a picture of this nine-year-old girl, the girl the member for Braitling accused of being scum. It was a disgusting comment. I do not find the retraction today to be from his heart; I believe he was forced into it, and it is disgusting.
Public housing is a very vexed problem. I will be working very hard to get those wait lists improved, and property management improved. I look forward to reporting to this House on a regular basis with respect to those two matters.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Mr HAMPTON (Regional Development): Madam Deputy Speaker, I have been Minister for Regional Development for just over a year, and today I am proud to deliver a statement on Indigenous economic development.
Let me make it clear from the outset that the strategies developed by the Henderson Labor government have relevance for all Territorians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in our urban centres as well as in our regions and remote areas. Our Indigenous Economic Development Strategy 2009-12 has, at its heart, the vision of improving the quality of life for Indigenous Territorians by promoting their full engagement in our economy.
In my maiden speech to this House I quoted the great American leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. He said:
Last month the ANZ Bank said the Northern Territory economy leads the nation; a tribute to the Henderson Labor government, and in particular, our Treasurer, the member for Karama. As members would be aware, there is still a large segment of people in our society who do not enjoy equal participation in our economy. Indigenous Territorians are three times more likely to be unemployed than non-Indigenous Territorians. They are nine times less likely to be self-employed. As the Minister for Regional Development, I note a significant proportion of recorded Indigenous employment in regional and remote areas is through CDEP. Indigenous Territorians earn far less. They own far less, as well.
The good news is that Indigenous Territorians are not content with the status quo, and neither is this government. Given the Northern Territory’s unique demographics we simply cannot develop in any meaningful way without economic development for Indigenous Territorians. As the Minister for Regional Development, I know we cannot have regional development in the Northern Territory without Indigenous participation. My personal challenge is to contribute, in a meaningful and lasting way, to this process of development; to act as the voice for regional Territorians within government, and to spread the word about the fantastic opportunities that exist.
Regional Development is a subject which should capture the hearts and minds of everyone in this House. The ongoing development of our regions for the social and economic benefit of all Territorians is one of the great challenges of this government, and one that must sit at the centre of our efforts to create a thriving Northern Territory. Almost half of all Territorians, some 100 000 people, live outside Darwin in our towns and communities, at mining sites, or on pastoral properties and, quite rightly, they expect their government to invest in their futures with the same energy and drive applied to our capital city; and it makes sense to do so on both equity and economic grounds.
Our regions make a major contribution to the overall Territory economy through mining, tourism, pastoralism, agriculture, transport, manufacturing, construction, art, communications and more. A very large percentage of the wealth generated in the Territory every day already comes from our regions, from the hard work of Territorians, and from the investments made by our businesses.
I spend a great deal of time travelling in the regions; my own electorate of Stuart covers around a quarter of the Northern Territory taking in a large chunk of Central Australia and most of the western half of the Northern Territory. It extends in the north from Pine Creek to Kybrook Farm, down to the Katherine region, west along the Victoria Highway, and then through the VRD and Tanami Regions to Nyirripi including the vibrant communities of Ti Tree, Mataranka and Timber Creek. As I get about, I listen to Territorians: people working in the private sector, people who deliver government services, and people who use those services. There are many challenges they face and, yet, there has never been a more exciting time for our regions. The federal, Territory and local spheres of government have never being better aligned and united in their aim to achieve improved economic and social outcomes for regional Territorians, in particular, Indigenous Territorians.
One of the most significant milestones in the development of our regions was the launch in May of the Northern Territory government’s A Working Future policy. Through this series of initiatives the Territory government has underlined its commitment to Indigenous people living in towns and communities across the Territory - it is a strong vision for remote areas. It is about government and local people working together to make our towns and communities better places to live. As members would be aware A Working Future policy has six elements. The first is the establishment of 20 growth towns across the Territory; the second is a clear path for outstations and homelands; the third is the delivery of remote services in a targeted and coordinated way with the Australian government; the fourth is employment and economic development; the fifth is a remote transport strategy; and the final one, and probably the most important one, is Closing the Gap targets and evaluation.
Clearly, A Working Future policy will help create real towns for regional Territorians. These towns will have similar economic and social infrastructure comparable to towns in other parts of Australia. They will have real jobs and real opportunities - real towns need a business community and private investment. Through our A Working Future policy, the Territory government wants to see secure land tenure to underpin development. Private sector investment and better employment opportunities are the focus of the Regional Development Unit and the Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources.
Contrary to what some people may believe, business opportunities abound in Indigenous communities. There are opportunities in service provision to local people, there are opportunities in service provision to local businesses, there are many opportunities to sustainably take advantage of nature’s bounty through fishing, mining, tourism, forestry, cattle and horticulture. Capitalising on those opportunities is one of the key components of the Territory government’s Indigenous Economic Development strategy, which I was proud to launch in Alice Springs earlier this month.
The strategy builds on the Territory’s first Indigenous Economic Development strategy which was launched in 2005, and complements other Northern Territory and Australian government strategies and policies which support Indigenous economic development. It presents a new direction for Indigenous economic development action in the Northern Territory. The vision for the strategy is increased employment, increased business participation and ownership, and increased wealth; all of which would contribute to an improved quality of life for Indigenous Territorians. This strategy intends to improve Indigenous employment opportunities including flexible employment practices; establish and grow Indigenous businesses; provide better opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to make informed choices about their economic participation; contribute to increased wealth and home ownership; provide flexibility in approaches to economic development; and promote partnerships between Indigenous communities and organisations, all levels of government, and the private sector to close the gap of Indigenous economic disadvantage. It sets the following targets to be achieved by 2012: an additional 3000 Indigenous Territorians to enter the workforce across the private and public sectors; Indigenous employment levels in the Northern Territory public sector to rise to 10%; and the creation of 200 Indigenous businesses.
The Indigenous Economic Development strategy is based on a number of underlying principles. For too long, Indigenous economic development has been approached on a one-size-fits-all basis which ignores the assets and aspirations of each place and people group. The new strategy takes a place-base approach, which acknowledges and responds to community needs and the opportunities presented in each case. Creativity, innovation, and how we actually encourage economic development will be an important factor. We need to take more calculated risks and learn from our experiences.
As a saying goes: if we continue to do what we have always done, we will continue to get what we always got - that is just not good enough. An important principle which should guide Indigenous economic development is mutual respect of cultures, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. It is our vision that respect will underpin effective and successful business dialogue and develop into long-term commercially sustainable partnerships. In order for those partnerships to develop, we appreciate there may be many barriers to overcome. I am convinced those barriers are not insurmountable.
The strategy seeks to equip and empower Indigenous Territorians to take control of their assets and to make informed choices about the pace and direction of their economic future. The Northern Territory government wants to work with the land councils and traditional owners to develop their assets in a way which responds to the business aspirations of Indigenous Territorians. Perhaps the greatest asset Indigenous Territorians possess is individual and community aspirations to achieve economic development for current and future generations. Indigenous Territorians are looking ahead and they want a better and brighter economic future. It is our job to support them the best way we can.
That said, there are many things which need to be done. There are many tools of economic development which need to be employed to enable Indigenous Territorians to leverage their assets. One of the most immediate issues is numeracy and literacy. This has been acknowledged as a significant challenge, and is the subject of a new national partnership agreement with the Commonwealth government. Enormous effort and funding is being invested in much-needed improvements to our education system’s performance. We are addressing the issues.
Another important issue is economic and financial literacy: understanding the economy, how money works, and how the financial system works is an important element in encouraging participation. Individual and community level programs will be designed to raise awareness and build understanding. Those of us who have a home loan are certainly aware financial institutions require security when they loan us their money. This security is usually a mortgage on our house and land. The same applies when banks loan money for business activities: they want security over the commercial premises and the land.
In order to stimulate private sector and Indigenous investment on Aboriginal land and in our Territory growth towns, banks will need security to take out a mortgage on the commercial premises and the land. That is why access to land is vital to Indigenous economic development. This strategy commits us to working with the land councils and the traditional owners to negotiate secure leases for the development of local businesses and local economies in the Territory’s growth towns. It also commits us to working with the land councils to support the processing of applications for businesses and business activities on Aboriginal land, including outstations and homelands.
Commercial partnerships must be based on mutual understanding and respect if they are to be successful. The strategy encourages these partnerships and the need for all parties to work together to achieve sustainable business development on Indigenous land. A key component of the strategy is the delivery of government services and infrastructure development. A significant amount of money is spent annually on the delivery of government services and infrastructure developments in communities, and on homelands and outstations right across the Northern Territory. We intend to maximise our investments to achieve Indigenous employment and economic development outcomes wherever possible.
In any business, the amount of support provided to business owners is crucial to the success of the business, which is why this strategy covers a range of activities and initiatives to provide business support to Indigenous entrepreneurs. Indigenous people and communities have increasing aspirations for economic development. More Indigenous role models are required and business support programs need to be designed to support and foster Indigenous businesses. The action plan for the Indigenous Economic Development strategy outlines a number of new initiatives such as the formal Indigenous Mentoring and Business Network, and the running of economic development forums in Territory growth towns to inspire and encourage entrepreneurs. Work readiness is another important factor, and will also be a focus of the strategy.
There are a number of adjustments which must take place in order for Indigenous Territorians to be able to take up regular employment. Those adjustments are a two-way street, both for the employer and the employee. The Northern Territory government recognises we need to do more to increase our internal capacity to deal effectively with Indigenous Territorians. We are taking up that challenge. Shortly, we will be launching our Indigenous Employment and Career Development strategy, which lifts our targets of Indigenous employees in the public service to 10%.
There is still much more to be done in Indigenous economic development. The government cannot tackle this challenge alone. This must be a partnership approach: the Territory government, the Commonwealth government, Indigenous Territorians, and the private sector must be all pulling in the same direction if we are to achieve lasting results. This strategy sets out how we can do that.
A new Indigenous Economic Development Task Force will provide guidance and advice on implementing the new strategy and other initiatives aimed at closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage. The new task force members will have a wide range of expertise and come from a diverse mix of businesses, key organisations, and industry sectors, giving effective and topical advice in our efforts to take Indigenous economic development to a new phase of growth. I will be announcing the new members of the Indigenous Economic Development Task Force in the near future, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the previous task force members for their expert advice and guidance. The task force played a key role in framing the new Indigenous Economic Development strategy, and their contribution to the growth of our regions has been significant.
As the Minister for Regional Development, I was pleased and proud to release this strategy. I encourage all interested parties to read this document and to consider how they may participate in Indigenous economic development activities in the Northern Territory. The launch of the strategy took place, appropriately, at the Fourth Indigenous Economic Development Forum held on 6 and 7 October at the Convention Centre in Alice Springs. The theme of the forum was ‘Developing Our Future Together’, and it focused on ways to build, support, and strengthen Indigenous business partnerships, and to develop the capacity to achieve sustainable economic activity through the Northern Territory. An Indigenous Business Expo was also held in conjunction with the forum, and provided Indigenous businesses with the chance to showcase their products and services to a targeted business and investor audience. It was a great opportunity for these Indigenous businesses to build their customer base and develop new partnerships. There were 312 people who attended the two-day forum, including 140 Indigenous people in business, or considering starting a business; 25 corporations; 130 representatives from the three layers of government - federal, Territory and local; 42 interstate delegates; and two Canadian delegates, including Chief Louie from the First Nations in Canada.
The two-day forum program was comprehensive and included plenary sessions with five keynote presentations, two panel discussions, business case studies, and break-out sessions. The break-out sessions were targeted at people considering starting a business, developing a small to medium enterprise, or considering commercial partnerships, or doing business on-country. The sessions were also available for people working in Indigenous economic development.
The Indigenous Business Expo attracted 27 Indigenous businesses from across the Northern Territory, showcasing their products and services to a targeted business and investor audience. For the first time, 10 government and non-government partners also promoted current Indigenous programs and services in booths along side Indigenous Business Expos.
I acknowledge the hard work of my staff from the department of Regional Development and, in particular, I highlight the efforts of the Regional Development Unit. This unit is based in Alice Springs and has offices in Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Darwin. It manages nine regionally based economic development committees including Alice Springs, West MacDonnells, Anmatjere, Barkly, Tiwi Islands, East Arnhem, Katherine, the Gulf Region and the Victoria River District region. These committees enable the communities’ voices to be heard by the private and public sectors when it comes to setting economic development priorities. One of the key priorities of the Regional Development Unit is Indigenous economic development, and one of its strategies is to achieve this through the Indigenous Business Development Program Grants. This program provided business grants totalling over $800 000 in 2008-09, and has supported more than 100 businesses over the past three years.
For example, the Bradshaw and Timber Creek Contracting and Resources Company, which secured a significant defence contract, has assisted 12 Indigenous Territorians to continue full-time employment. The company was awarded an Indigenous Business Development Program grant to assist with the purchase of four quad bikes which allow the company flexible transport to remove fencing at the Bradshaw Field Training Area as part of their contract. The company was established to ensure traditional owners benefited from the Land Use Agreement with the Commonwealth Department of Defence which covers the Bradshaw Field Training Area. It has since been awarded another contract for road clearing at the training facility. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to see them rewarded for their hard work and benefiting from structured employment and training.
In Nhulunbuy recently, I was delighted to meet with young businessman, Damien Djerkurra, who runs a contracting business in the town, and Timmy Burrawanga who owns Bawaka Cultural Tours. Both have been assisted by the Regional Development Unit’s IDP program and they spoke very positively about the future outlook of their businesses.
Another example was this year’s Barunga Festival, which gave some local people the chance to receive media training associated with marketing and promoting the festival. The Jawoyn Association received a $20000 Indigenous Business Development Program grant to have a group of local people from Barunga, Wugularr and Manyallaluk communities skilled up in website development and other electronic media activities.
There are success stories out there, and we are very proud of them. These stories show how the Territory government can promote regional development and foster Indigenous economic development. We are aware that of all the states and territories, the Northern Territory has by far the highest proportion of Indigenous people, around 30%. Therefore, it is crucial that we foster greater Indigenous participation in the wider economy. We all know this is the key to a healthy future.
The Indigenous Business Development Program gives preference to businesses or business proposals which are joint venture opportunities and can attract funding from Australian government agencies such as the Indigenous Land Corporation, Indigenous Business Australia and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. The program has supported businesses in housing repairs and maintenance contracts, community general stores, cultural awareness programs, mobile music, cultural tourism, media and entertainment, and crocodile husbandry. The business locations are as varied as the businesses themselves, stretching from Groote Eylandt, Daly River, Gunn Point, Tennant Creek, Imanpa, Ntaria, Darwin, Alice Springs and the Tiwi Islands.
Supporting the development of our regions is one of the most important responsibilities for the Territory government, and working in our regions is the responsibility of all agencies across government. A key role for me, as the minister, is to keep the regions front-of-mind as agencies look to roll-out and deliver their programs across the Northern Territory.
As well as being a minister for regions, I am a minister from the regions. My family heritage stretches from Borroloola to Roper River and through the Tanami, and I have close connections, as we all know, to Alice Springs. I know, from first hand experience, there remains incredible disadvantage in many regions; however, we have some great competitive advantages, none more so than the wonderful qualities of Territorians themselves. At the end of the day it is the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation, coupled with the guidance supplied by the new Indigenous Economic Development strategy which will allow us to achieve our goals. We appreciate the extent of the task before us and just how critical it is to work together for the long haul. In particular, I encourage all Territorians to consider how they can contribute to Indigenous economic development and to read the recently released strategy. The department is receptive to feedback and is happy to help with investment involved with Indigenous economic development in the Northern Territory.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am excited about the challenges and the opportunities ahead. I look forward to continuing to work with Territorians to strengthen their communities and to create flourishing regional economies which benefit all Territorians no matter where in the Territory they live.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for the statement. It is a very important statement and I believe he firmly believes in Indigenous economic development and growing regions. I also thank the minister for holding the Indigenous Economic Development forum in Alice Springs. I have been involved in many of these around the country over many years, and they are very important. However successful those forums are, and I am not sure of the success of that one although I heard it was very good, I believe it is very important they are run, and people take away a greater knowledge of economic development as such.
Often people talk about Indigenous economic development, or economic development in general, without actually knowing what that means. Some people put it down as jobs and some people put it down as business. Having been involved for many years in the policy side of Indigenous economic development, many years ago I took on board the World Bank’s definition of economic development and localised it. I quote partially from the website:
I believe building regions is about building economies. We often focus on certain areas of the Territory and Australia, and it is about economies and it is about regional economies, and about taking a decentralised approach and investing right across the Northern Territory.
I was slightly mortified the other day to hear the population growth expectation for Alice Springs is only 12%. That is concerning for me because if you do not grow, you die. I believe Alice Springs like Tennant Creek, like Katherine, like everywhere, really needs to grow substantially more than currently predicted, and they will only grow with investment and infrastructure - and land release is an important component of that. With investment in infrastructure and promotion of the regions you will have more people moving there, and with a greater mass of people comes a greater intellectual database which can spread and help build the regions.
I agree with the Chief Minister’s comments the other day that the glass is full of opportunities, to paraphrase. It is about always looking at the positive side and the bright side, and looking outside the square. I note members opposite quite often say: ‘The member for Braitling has not been in the Territory very long.’ But the benefits of having spent time living in Sydney, Victoria, the ACT, and having spent time in Western Australia, Queensland, western New South Wales, among other places, and now living in the Territory, is you bring much more experience and knowledge from different parts of the country about what different people are doing.
It was an interesting opportunity to take Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and the Leader of the Opposition out bush last week when your forum was on - which is why I was not there, although my wife was there representing her organisation – and for those people, having some philosophical views about different things to go out there – and my view of a decentralised model and that regions are viable - really opened their eyes to the viability of regions and the viability of what you might call vacant homelands or outstations. Everywhere has that opportunity, but I do not believe everyone realises those opportunities right now. However, the vision is there, and I will talk later about where some of the barriers are. Everywhere has opportunities, but we are still a long way from realising them, but I feel positive about the statement.
Sadly, this state of affairs, for much of the Northern Territory, was reflected in an article by Tony Koch in The Weekend Australian reporting on the impact of the wild rivers legislation which is stifling Indigenous economic development in Cape York. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic processes often get in the way of development and sometimes it is just about getting the job done.
We must be certain, when looking at Indigenous economic development that we do not only measure the inputs - it is vitally important to analyse the outcomes. Often, this government reports on what they are doing, rather than what is actually achieved as results.
Indigenous economic development is about business development; it is about creating employment and jobs; reforming the welfare system; encouraging the participation of people in the economic system; bringing people into the economic prism rather than the welfare system; providing a balanced carrot-and-stick approach.
I commend the Territory government and the federal government for working so hard to get broadband through Arnhem Land. That is a very positive step and such bold steps require vision and commitment to change to reform the welfare system.
Unfortunately, the statement speaks mainly of ideas and inputs and not about bold visions and a future for all. I refer to a recent article in relation to comments by Everald Compton, Chairman of Australian Transport and Energy Corridor, who wishes a railway line to be built between Mt Isa and Tennant Creek. I have spoken to Everald on this previously - what a great idea - and it is something I am considering and researching. Upon reaching the Treasury benches, I am sure the Country Liberals would fully investigate the feasibility of such an idea.
Let me go back a step. I also believe it is a marvellous idea, or vision, which says Mt Isa should be part of the Territory - it is out there, and these things need to be considered - only visionary people can make change in that regard. The potential to provide growth through the Barkly with a further phosphate mine or mines which would use the railway, would not only create employment but would also provide many spin-off business opportunities through retail, hospitality and business services, to name a few. Combining such a development with the localised welfare reform strategy, would see huge positive changes. I encourage the member for Stuart to actively seek out Mr Compton to discuss this visionary idea with a potential public/private partnership.
To develop the Territory we need to create an environment where the infrastructure is supporting growth and, unfortunately, the infrastructure in the Northern Territory is not here. It has been highly neglected over the last eight years of the Territory government, and we are a long way from where we should be. Our roads in the Territory were always referred to as the best in the country; however, since Labor came in, they are now the worst; downgrading of highways to roads, and roads to virtual tracks is reprehensible. The missed opportunity for the Tanami to be sealed with an offer from the Granites Mine to go half cost would have been beneficial.
So, too, would a tenacious effort to work harder on the outback highway. The Territory cannot go this alone but, in partnership with the federal government, the opportunity to improve access to the Territory for tourism and business purposes is significant; and the need for roads such as the Mereenie Loop Road and Ernest Giles Road to be improved to increase access to opportunities and provide a safe method of travel for Indigenous residents who live in that area. If we continue to exclude Indigenous communities from the economy, then the purpose of this statement continues to be difficult to achieve.
To move forward, we must endeavour to build confidence in those living in rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory - not making promises like the 2005 election commitment of the member for Daly for the Daly River Bridge which still has not eventuated. People took him on his word at the 2005 election, and still it has not been built - but neither has a house. Think of what opportunities a bridge could bring about for the many communities along the way to Wadeye, one of our largest communities in the Northern Territory. It could provide countless opportunities for organisations such as Thamarrurr Aboriginal Development Corporation for tourism, construction and retail if the roads were improved and the inflationary pressures would decrease and provide a more level playing field for people looking to conduct business there.
It is the same on the Tiwi Islands where road infrastructure is urgently required to improve access and equity to services to promote economic development. People often reflect that the Tiwis have the greatest opportunity for Indigenous economic development. I agree that the opportunities are significant, but without the appropriate level of infrastructure, it is going to be tough. Fortunately, the Tiwis are people who are seeking to realise opportunities through their approach to land tenure reform. I congratulate the Tiwi Land Council and Robert Tipungwuti for striving for such vision, and all of the staff at the Tiwi Land Council.
Unfortunately, many others find themselves well behind in the reform process, so we should encourage and support progression into the future. There are vast and abundant opportunities around - opportunities that require land reform for land release in areas such as Ti Tree, Timber Creek, Daly River and Yuendumu. The structural opportunities for business development would be plentiful - opportunities to create local construction booms, retail trade, and drive tourism, but they cannot be done without a building or without land tenure reform
Land tenure reform was one of the biggest things which came out of our recent tour around Central Australia with my federal colleagues and the Leader of the Opposition. There was not one person who did not make a complaint about the Central Land Council - it was not set up, and I did not arrange the trip, I do not have a personal vendetta against the Central Land Council, but I do believe that it restricts trade for economic development, and it is a serious concern. It is not about the people, it is not about the leadership, it is about the body itself as a bureaucracy that constricts economic development. I sat at a little outstation, and forgive me, member for Stuart, I cannot remember the name of it right now, but there was an older gentleman and his family who want to go into the pastoral industry, which is a common thing. He was saying he has a vast block of land and he wants to get involved in the pastoral industry but he does not have the infrastructure. He has the land but he cannot get access to that land to put in the infrastructure. This is a common theme …
Mr Elferink: I have been through this. I know exactly what you are talking about.
Mr GILES: You know exactly how it works, member for Port Darwin. He cannot get access to his land so that he can put all the things on there. He has to have meetings with the land council, he has to get the access, the forms, the paperwork, get everything done and it all becomes too hard.
He cannot form a joint venture on that land, he cannot mortgage his property. He would have a self-sustaining pastoral property at the end of the day if he had those appropriate mechanisms put in place. There is no reason his block of land should be any different to any other pastoral property. If I wanted to move into a pastoral property now, I could buy a pastoral property lease for the millions of dollars that it goes for. He actually has that, and if the structure was simple and able to be put in place so he could have access to his land, he could put the infrastructure on there, he could get his work crews going, and his outstation would not be a burden to taxpayers into the future. It would generate profit. If it is sustainable for a pastoralist, it is sustainable for an Aboriginal person living on an outstation, but it is a long way from the structural reform that is required, when it really should not be.
Another example is Jay Creek, an NT outstation between Alice Springs and Hermannsburg. There are a number of dilapidated buildings that may not be structurally sound, but it is a place that with infrastructure, essential services in terms of water, sewerage and power. The Chief Minister’s statement the other day spoke about the growing population and the ageing of the population in our regions and across the Territory. Alice Springs is going to be in need of further aged care or nursing accommodation, and Jay Creek, with the essential services infrastructure, accessible by sealed road is potentially a site where that could be done. However, the opportunities for the traditional owners of that site to be able to realise that, to provide services through infrastructure, such as aged care or nursing, outsourced or otherwise, and create jobs on their own land, just will not happen. It will sit there as an empty outstation forever and a day unless the land council takes control of that.
Stanley Chasm is another. Some of the family members from Stanley Chasm have been coming to me for years trying to work out ways they can provide a greater tourism experience through residential tourism on their block, and they do not have the opportunity to be able to do that.
One of the concerns I have had over a number of years is the way organisations - in particular and specifically, Indigenous Business Australia, but also to a degree the Central Land Council and some of their subsidiaries, the Northern Land Council, all these organisations - the way they invest what you might call Indigenous money, for want of a better word, into large scale assets interstate such as office buildings. I am sure they get great returns on investment and are great financial assets, but my question is: do these organisations really profit Indigenous Australians? I am not sure if Indigenous Business Australia, still own Scarborough House in Woden, ACT, which is the big Health department building; they did own it. I have been critical for some time as to why Indigenous Business Australia, an Aboriginal organisation, would buy a building to rent out office space? It does not improve employment, it does not improve business development, and when you go back to the World Bank definition, it does not change the technological or social progress of the population in a given area.
We know how hard it is to start up businesses in communities. It would be much better if Indigenous Business Australia, and these other Indigenous funding bodies, rather than invest in great asset returns, go on the ground where people are and build things like retail trade centres. In Wadeye, you could have a strip shopping centre complex, and anyone who lives in Wadeye who wants to start up as a hairdresser, or any sort of business, could access land. At present they cannot access the land; that is a real concern. Retail trade centres in communities would provide perfect opportunities; they could be in charge of building new community stores, and the Northern Territory government could fund the community store. There are so many different ideas out there that people do not consider.
I have digressed from important matters significant to the growth of economic opportunities. We know there are restraints on trade with poor road infrastructure, high fuel costs and the age old permit system, something that detracts from supporting economic growth and, in fact, sometimes constrains growth and erodes the current economic conditions.
To be successful in business and jobs, we need to ensure people have a sound education. Education for remote students is the driving force behind access and performance with successful employment. Unfortunately, this government fails dismally, if the recent NAPLAN results are anything to go by. We know across all areas of the Northern Territory only about 50% of Territory students did not perform better than the national benchmark in areas of numeracy and literacy, across all age groups. It was very disappointing and a reflection of government policy, its education plans, and the way it treats teachers in the form of conditions in the bush. What would be more important and more interesting would be to further break down the NAPLAN results to analyse Indigenous performance and remote performance to check how well the government is setting up students for future economic opportunities. If last year’s NAPLAN results are any indication, then surely people are starting further behind.
How are kids to get a good education when their accommodation is insufficient? There is not enough appropriate accommodation - SIHIP not delivering houses, etcetera. It needs a whole spectrum of change to get positive education outcomes, to get the job outcomes to improve economic development. People who have heard me speak before well know my thoughts on the need for boarding schools for remote children for preschool, primary, secondary and vocational training. I was more than happy to hear, in the federal budget, the Education minister, Julia Gillard, announce funding for three boarding schools in the Northern Territory. In the short list of regions are the Warlpiri triangle - East Arnhem, Wadeye, and Maningrida. This is exciting. One is to be built this year, and the other two next year. I am not sure where the first one will be built and who will miss out; I am not sure if the first one will be built in 2009 as per the commitment. Perhaps the Minister for Housing is building the school as well, and that is why it is not occurring.
In response to this ministerial statement, I am very keen for the Minister for Regional Development to update the House on how the government is going with funding for the community stores, jointly or separately, with the federal government. I understand there might be up to 60 needing assistance.
I would like to finish with three important areas or issues which I believe would support great Aboriginal investment to support economic growth.
The first is tax breaks for regional investment, where the federal Treasurer could allow greater breaks for businesses setting up, or established, in regional or remote areas. A process that can offset inflationary pressures on the purchase of new equipment, or the opportunity to write off losses for a period of time, or maybe special allowances to offset employment costs; something far removed from bureaucracy. If the federal Treasurer could look into that, it would make a great map of opportunity for further investment. After calling for this for many years, I note the Chief Minister, a couple of months ago, also reflected these comments.
Second, is the opportunity for the federal government to provide assistance to relocate businesses to regional or remote areas; possibly lower skilled industries that do not require a great degree of further education, but something that provides significant rates of return for employment.
I know the federal government often gets involved when overseas companies, mining companies, come to town or into a region; it has a special, internal body it has partnered with Invest Australia. All the government agencies get involved and work out what sort of package of assistance they can provide to a business to attract it to a particular region; what sort of financial investment, $50m, $60m, $70m, $80m to bring a mining company to a specific area of the Kimberley. That is how they work, and there is no reason they cannot do that in the Northern Territory. I said before, you have to think outside the square, and there is no reason why a Telstra Call Centre cannot be set up at Papunya; there is no reason why a manufacturing business cannot be set up at Maningrida. It is about the wherewithal to make these things happen.
When you look at the amount of federal government money that flows around these communities, there are real opportunities to redirect some of that money to provide financial assistance to businesses to move into those regional areas. I know there was consideration several years ago to make some of these things happen. I am not sure where they have fallen, or whether they have fallen on deaf ears, but that is a great opportunity.
The third area I want to talk about is what I call economic development zones; that is a lift from someone by the name of Sam Jefferies from New South Wales who has done a great deal of work in Murdi Paaki in western New South Wales. Economic development zones, in a nutshell, identify a specific region - and I have done a fair amount of research overseas on this - working out all the inputs to go into that region and identifying what you are actually getting as an outcome, and juggling the way the money goes into it. So if $20m worth of welfare dollars go in each year, and $10m worth of housing, and $5m worth of employment subsidies go in, then you have a look at the community and you identify: well, we still have no one working, we still have dilapidated houses; we need to rethink the way we do business.
Currently, there no economic zones in Australia; one tried to start in South Australia maybe 10 years ago or more. An economic development zone is something which seriously needs to be considered in the Northern Territory, combining it with land tenure reform and welfare reform, and giving it back to the people; whether that is through a regional land council or a local community body, or the shire council for that community. There is an opportunity to repackage the entire way that money goes in, remove the layers of bureaucracy, and seek to achieve better outcomes.
I use this as an example: if a community is currently getting $35m per annum in what might be generally termed as welfare services, surely that $35m will be better utilised by spending $5m to move a low or semi-skilled industry into the community, with land tenure reform providing some incentives, and interest rate subsidies for home ownership loans to help start a construction industry or construction boom. There is a range of different areas and opportunities that would eventuate through an economic development zone. It is about saying: ‘This is a community where we want change. We do not want welfare, we want growth. We want a construction industry, and we want to bring people in’. So they go and find - maybe Visy Recycling - and give them $5m to bring one of their small plants to Lajamanu, for example. What they have actually done is import jobs. A further step would be if the federal Treasurer said: ‘We will provide a tax incentive subsidy for 10 years on a scaled down investment regime where you can slowly start to write off costs’. After a period of time, it will become financially sustainable to be out there. That is one area where the Northern Territory can go great guns.
I commend the Minister for Regional Development on continuing to push for the roll-out of broadband across the Territory, which will bring significant changes in the Northern Territory. I also encourage your Transport minister to do a better job. Transport is one of the inflationary areas of the Northern Territory which causes great concern to tourists and businesses in the cost on their vehicles in travelling over roads, and also the cost of goods and services once they get to their end destination.
It would be rude of me not to have a jibe at the government at this point of time, because I always seem to need to do that. I note on page 11 of your statement, minister, you have made the grand target of setting up 3000 additional jobs for Territorians to enter the public and private sector workforce by 2012. That is just under 1000 per year, and it is commendable. However, it is interesting to look back at 25 May 2005 when the previous Chief Minister, Clare Martin, as the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, launched the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy. She announced that they would be seeking the creation of 2000 jobs per year for the next 10 years. So, we had a plan for 20 000 jobs four years ago, and now we have gone back to 3000 jobs. It is a complete step backwards. I am very interested to reflect on how well this strategy launched by the previous Chief Minister, Clare Martin, went. It may assist if the researchers who wrote your speech checked to see if these things had been announced before; or maybe it is just an acceptance of failure of that previous strategy, minister.
Mr Hampton: Maybe we have achieved it.
Mr GILES: I do not agree. Mate, if you have achieved 20 000 jobs, I would like to see the ABS statistics on that.
In summary, there are many potential opportunities, but this can only be achieved by educating children properly, building infrastructure, and reforming land tenure, and creating an environment for investors to bring wealth and business opportunities to the rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for presenting this statement.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the statements on Indigenous Economic Development by my colleague, the Minister for Regional Development. Anyone who knows my colleague knows he is absolutely passionate about this particular issue and is a very strong advocate within government for improved regional economic developments and Indigenous economic development.
I will comment on some of the things the member for Braitling had to contribute. Leaving aside the sledges on roads and education, it was a very positive contribution and more in the spirit of the majority of us in this House. We want the Territory to move ahead, and this should be a House that debates the big ideas, and puts those ideas on to the table. I am sure there are a number of issues the member for Braitling has put on the table which have merit and will be considered by government. So, I thank him for his genuine, positive contribution, apart from, as I said, a couple of sledges about roads. I have to say, you obviously do not drive on too many roads in Queensland or New South Wales - I have to be careful of some of my interstate colleagues in South Australia and Western Australia - the roads are a damn sight worse over the border than they are in the Northern Territory.
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Chief Minister has the call, member for Port Darwin.
Mr HENDERSON: I know my colleague, the Roads minister, is putting together, as part of A Working Future, a major transport plan. It is very important we improve the condition of those roads, but to say they were the best in the country and they are now the worse is, obviously, a step too far.
We can discuss Indigenous education up hill and down dale. It is not in this statement tonight, but I believe we all agree we need to have much stronger education outcomes in our regions, in the bush, for the aspirations in this statement to come to fruition.
In speaking to the statement, since the first day in government back in 2001, Indigenous economic development has been and continues to be a strong agenda for this government. Our geographical population diversity demands that Indigenous economic development be core business for whichever government is in office. As my colleague said, 50% of our population lives in the regions and in the bush, and for the Territory to move ahead those regions and the remote areas have to significantly move ahead, and much of the wealth of the Territory is actually generated from those regions.
However, Indigenous economic development cannot be a sole initiative of government. Governments cannot do this alone. We must have a strong partnership with the private sector, and I know that is where the minister is focusing his efforts. I believe, within the private sector in the Territory now, there is far greater awareness of the opportunities that may exist in our regions and remote communities, and I believe there is a growing willingness from the private sector to look at ways to invest in those remote communities, and a growing willingness for the private sector to engage in joint venture partnerships or taking a commercial positioning within a company to assist with developing those opportunities. That is something that really was not within a lot of business people’s forward business planning years ago, but people are certainly looking for the opportunities today, and it is something we need to work on.
We are constantly working on strengthening our relationships, either directly or through industry representative bodies, and also the land councils. I believe there has to be a stronger role for the land councils in fostering economic development in the bush. They have their statutory role to perform, as described in the Land Rights Act, but land councils are looking more and more across the Northern Territory to help facilitate Indigenous economic development, and we cannot do it without the land councils. I believe it is nave in the extreme to think that somehow we can ignore the role of the land councils and the representative nature of those land councils, and their capacity to facilitate and broker arrangements and agreements.
We live in a fool’s paradise if we believe it is as simple as passing an act of federal parliament, and all of a sudden everything is going to be fixed on the ground in the Northern Territory. I believe a much smarter way through this is to actually partner with the land councils and work through some of the issues the member for Braitling spoke about, because there is no way, given the makeup of the Senate and the reality of our federal parliament, that we are going to see a wholesale change. If on the Liberal side of politics, if on the conservative side of politics, there is genuine belief that is a significant way forward in fostering private sector investment on Aboriginal land, well, the previous government when it had control of both Houses of parliament, had an opportunity to do that - the reality is that it is not going to happen. Let us put down the cudgels and stop going to war with the land councils and work with the reality that there are four in the Northern Territory and we need to work with them to facilitate economic development and actually work through the practical on the ground and resourcing issues the land councils have.
We are not talking simply about Indigenous economic development in our remote areas, we are also talking about development in our small and large towns, across the public service, in private business, oil industries, mining, in our Defence Forces, on our pastoral properties, and throughout our many remote communities. This work takes in a broad range of people and locations; it demands a broad range of responses, policies and support services from government and the broader marketplace. We have a unique challenge which requires a unique response.
Two of the main supporting platforms that enable sustained and evolving Indigenous economic development are training and employment. Today, I will be talking about the vast range of training and employment programs which are being supported by government that will either lead to or create jobs for Indigenous Territorians. Naturally, with the largest proportion of Indigenous Territorians living out in our regions, I will take a regional approach to the presentation of initiatives.
I will begin in the West Arnhem Region, where the Department of Education and Training is working in partnership with DEWR, local governments and the Jabiluka Association to support seven new Indigenous tour guides from Gunbalanya. These guides have completed the first ever localised tourism work-ready program, a six-week program which meets the requirements of local industry. Almost all these graduates have now moved from CDEP into full-time employment, and work has now started on the 2010 program to build on this success.
Similarly, in the East Arnhem Region, DET is supporting training for Indigenous businesses which will provide for opportunities for local people. In early 2010, a specific Fishing Industry Certificate II course will be delivered so six participants can take up permanent employment at Ski Beach in a local fishing project. The intent of this program is to initially provide a local fresh fish service with the future aim of supplying a wider customer base. Such a program will naturally build a sustainable economic base and a sustainable business for those people in that region. Importantly, this is an accredited training program leading to real employment outcomes for local people; a small part in the larger jigsaw we call Indigenous economic development.
There are a number of other noteworthy projects, and I would like to talk about the Katherine region. DET has contributed almost $20 000 to run the Kalano rural skills training program presented by Train Safe NT. This program has 17 participants, and will enable 17 CDEP participants to gain knowledge and skills covering herbicide use and weed control, tractor operations and operating ride-on mowers, maintenance of small machinery, and occupational health and safety - all fantastic skills for effective land management and suitable employment opportunities. What cannot be underestimated is courses such as these provide participants with confidence and the ability to participate in the broader workforce outside Kalano; another example of an external association working with government to increase the capacity of its Indigenous employees to establish long-term employment solutions for the region.
Turning now to one of our remote communities, Ngukurr – I will talk about the General Construction Free Employment Program delivered by industry and training services with the support of $140 000 from DET. This innovative program is designed to engage the youth of Ngukurr, aged between 15 and 22 years, to participate in community work construction programs. They are receiving mentoring support to address issues which may affect their capacity to participate in training, and opportunities to get and keep a job. We know this is an important component of any successful Indigenous employment program and cannot be underestimated in this contribution to success.
Briefly, with my Education hat on, what I find most important about this program is it is designed to target a cohort of the community traditionally disengaged from formal education at Year 10 or before, and lifting their life choices and opportunities for employment and further education. These groups have been over-represented in antisocial behaviour and disengagement from formal and informal community decision-making processes and structures. By developing their employability skills, this increases their understanding of employment opportunities available, such as in the Roper Gulf Shire Council, health and education services, or even starting their own business locally. Importantly, it equips them to contribute to and engage with community life in positive and productive ways.
Turning to the Barkly Region; an important plant operations course was recently offered with government supporting the Barkly Shire through $56 000 to enable participants to gain skills which match employment requirements in the region. Skills and qualifications in plant operation will allow participants to gain work in civil construction and the mining industry. I am aware that six recent graduates have been employed by the Barkly Shire Council Service Centre in Elliott, and another has gone on to be employed by a private earth moving company in Tennant Creek. Those employed by the council are all undertaking further training to complete a Certificate II in Civil Construction.
In Central Australia, Central Desert Training has been presenting a 26-week course for the Ti Tree DPI Research Plant. Supported by DET, 40 Indigenous participants undertook training to provide a career path in the horticulture industry. Thirty-six of the 40 completed the program, and all are involved in ongoing employment, including seasonal employment on farms in the Ti Tree area. It is great to hear these stories about training identified and linked to employment which enables employers to employ locally - a two-way benefit - employers have a more stable workforce and the locals get employment and increased economic opportunities.
Newmont Tanami operations have also been running mining pre-employment training in conjunction with IST to communities surrounding their mine operations. This is something Newmont have been facilitating, with support of government, since 2001. My congratulations to them. This type of training provides a pathway for graduates to move into apprenticeships or directly into the workforce at the Granites Gold Mine.
I now turn my attention for a moment to the Indigenous Training for Employment Program. We are now in the third year of a four-year partnership with the Australian government to fund Indigenous employment initiatives. This year we have seen the following regional spend on programs and initiatives which will increase Indigenous employment: in Central Australia, eight projects worth $1.78m; the Barkly region, one project worth $114 000; East Arnhem, three projects worth $300 000; Katherine, two projects worth $155 000; Top End Rural, two projects worth $155 000; and on the Tiwi Islands, one project worth $92 500. Programs being delivered include metal fabrication and welding; civil construction skills; work transition training; workplace and employee training; further pre-mining employment; remote youth worker training; art centre operations; Indigenous employment mentoring; Indigenous housing, environmental health and business training. I believe you will agree there are a broad range of programs available for Indigenous Territorians, all targeting increased participation in our workforce and economy.
I would like to include an update on the election commitment we are delivering, that is, jobs hubs in Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. Whilst we are providing and supporting Indigenous training, the job hubs close the circle and will provide the essential link to employment in both these regions. The performance of these hubs will be directly assessed on their ability to increase employment and economic activity in a region, with key performance measures in place to monitor the impact on: increased labour market participation, decreased unemployment, and increased numbers of businesses registered.
These hubs are a key regional component of this government’s Indigenous Economic Development platform and will increase engagement of job seekers in training activities with direct employment outcomes. Each hub will develop a baseline employment profile for its region, report changes over time, and link its activities to these changes. Each hub will also be supported by an advisory body which will determine key employment and training priorities. Importantly, this group will bring together Northern Territory government representatives, Australian government representatives, regional employment brokers, regional training stakeholders and, importantly, regional employers. Hubs are focused on linking training programs and activities for employment opportunities in the region. The Tennant Creek hub is now operational, and the Nhulunbuy hub is expected to be operational later this month. We know that in these key regions overcoming Indigenous unemployment is paramount. Our jobs hubs are strategically essential and will connect the pieces required for Indigenous economic development in these regions.
This is another sign of the focus of government in linking training directly with employment outcomes. All of us in the House, especially our bush members, if they had a dollar for everyone who said: ‘I am sick of undertaking training for training sake’, would all be wealthier than they are today. Our focus through A Working Future and growth towns is ensuring that our schools, our high schools, in these 20 growth towns are actually providing school leavers with the education and qualifications for a job not only in their communities and in their regions, but anywhere in the Northern Territory or Australia.
One of the things that we will be doing through A Working Future and the growth towns is working with Education, working with Regional Development, to actually backward map the jobs available in these communities, not only in the towns themselves, but the regional communities surround them, and backward mapping those jobs, understanding what skills and qualifications are needed for people to fill these jobs, and working with business and industry in the region, with Northern Territory government departments that service those regions, and with other organisations such as the shires, to provide job guarantees to our young people in our high schools that if you leave school with this qualification, we will provide you with a job - guaranteed.
That started, in the first instance, with a memorandum of understanding I signed with ERA in Parliament House for the Jabiru region where ERA has made an absolute commitment to provide a guaranteed 30 to 40 jobs every year directly to school leavers from Jabiru Area School and Gunbalanya school, conditional on the school being able to provide those students job-ready qualifications. To support that, ERA will provide opportunities for school-based apprenticeships, work experience programs, work-ready programs, and work with the school to support those jobs. It is not just in the mine itself operating the heavy plant and machinery and, potentially, being a tradesman maintaining all that equipment, but also providing people with opportunities in the administrative side of the operation, and the OHS area.
ERA is also providing two scholarships a year for students who wish to study at Charles Darwin University or interstate universities; a real sign of a progressive company which recognises the need to provide genuine opportunities for people in that community. This is a model we will take forward to other major employers, not only in the mining industry, but other major employers around the Northern Territory and our remote and regional areas.
It is too important for the Northern Territory to have Darwin, as a capital city, moving ahead in leaps and bounds and the rest of the Territory not keeping pace. As my colleague, the minister, said, a lot of our wealth comes from the regions. Government has an absolute prerogative to return much of that wealth by investing in education and infrastructure …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I move an extensive of time for the Chief Minister, if he so desires, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON: I thank the member for Port Darwin for his magnanimous gesture while my colleagues are so busy working away on their contributions to this statement – beavering away, which is good to see.
I acknowledge, in a spirit of being magnanimous in debate this afternoon, as I was with the member for Braitling. I sat here for a long period when the member for Port Darwin was the member for Macdonnell and heard the passion and conviction of many of his contributions to debate in this House on Indigenous economic development, and why it is vital for the Territory. I put on the record; I acknowledge the member for Port Darwin’s contribution in previous years in these types of debates to the House. It is important for the Territory.
We all want better outcomes for our Indigenous people living in our remote communities, and it cannot just be about government; it has to be about the private sector investing on Aboriginal land, in joint ventures and partnerships with Indigenous people. Governments alone cannot provide all the jobs needed; given our growing population, we have to find ways to engage the private sector, and that work is ongoing.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for his statement to the House.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, in giving him an extra 10 minutes I thought I would have a moment to stand at the back and talk to the Leader of Government Business about an unrelated issue. However, I thank you for your kindness in giving me the call.
I read this statement last night, and I have to say, being a former member for Macdonnell, whilst I am now the member for Port Darwin and do not have, necessarily, the amount of buy-in one would have if you lived in the bush, I still feel strongly drawn to stand up and speak on these issues when they arise.
What drew me particularly to speak today was the minister described by the Chief Minister as carrying a passion; the passion the minister has does not coalesce in this statement into a coherent approach to logically deal with the issue of economic development, particularly in our remote and Indigenous communities. There is no underlying philosophy and, whilst I accept there are a couple of comments on page 10 or 11, the rest of the statement is captured by platitudes and motherhood statements. I am unconvinced that the minister has consolidated in his own mind a clear strategy of the way forward when dealing with this particular issue.
In an effort to genuinely assist the minister in creating a philosophy which underpins development, I will endeavour, in the short time available to me, to give some suggestions which have grown out of my own experience of spending eight years in Central Australia travelling around the bush, and often being frustrated by mere potential - in the absence of actual - of what happens out there.
I normally do not make a habit of telling ministers or members of parliament to read books, but there is one particular book I would urge the minister to read. It is called The Birth of Plenty by a bloke named William Bernstein. The reason I do not generally say to people to read a book is because there are so many books around and everyone has an opinion, but rarely do I find myself putting down a book and finding myself changed by the contents of that book. Without trying to frighten the minister, it is an economic history, but it is an economic history written in plain English for anyone to understand, even a Luddite like myself.
In it, certain principles of development are described, and if those principles are not present, and he outlines four which I will touch on shortly, you will not get development - you will get Africa, you will get, sadly, Aboriginal land trusts. That is why I urge the minister to read this because, whilst I suspect it will challenge some of his political beliefs, as it did mine, it does not depict political sides, but occasionally you read something in a book and you sit back afterwards and think: that is so completely self-evident, and you know it to be right. For that reason, I urge the minister to take the time; I appreciate ministers are busy people, but I thought to myself after I read that book: this is a book that can make a difference.
In that book, Mr Bernstein outlined four specific areas that need to be addressed for development to advance. The first is property rights. As Mr Bernstein outlines, and I will outline, and any number of other philosophers on property rights will suggest - there is no such thing as an absolute property right, it just does not exist - there is always some other force exerting itself over your property right. However, in terms of Aboriginal land trusts, I would argue that the way they are structured requires a system by which individuals or small groups, and I am talking about nothing larger than a family group, are able to draw an income from that property right where they get to keep most of what they generate in terms of value.
Aboriginal people are in an envious situation, believe it or not - I hear it from my own lips to my own ears, and I find it hard to believe - in one respect - they have a control over a vast amount of land. The problem is, that control is limited by the operation of a Land Rights Act that creates land trusts in such a fashion that individuals and small family groups are actually alienated from the process of being able to generate wealth directly to get an income for themselves; and that is through the system of land trusts.
Where there are groups, such as on the Tiwi Islands where there is a single land council operating, in the Anindilyakwa Land Council area, you do start to see small operations picking up, such as the Great Southern operation which, sadly, has been the victim of the slings and arrows of the marketplace; and there is the tourism arrangement on Groote Eylandt. Those are very hope-building projects and there should be more of them. In fact, I would argue there is no reason for there not to be hundreds of them all over Aboriginal land today; there is no reason why that cannot happen, but there are certain barriers. One of those barriers is the lack of connection between the property rights that land rights are supposed to grant, and the property right actually experienced by the people who live on the ground.
I will give honourable members an example. The Haasts Bluff Land Trust is not only so large it covers various family groups; it covers a raft of language groups. We are talking about different people; culturally different people - Latvians and Spaniards is probably a bit extreme, but to illustrate the point. What I would prefer to see is if the property rights which exist under traditional law - this is my country, I have capacity to make decisions over my land for my family - could be exerted at a local level rather than a land trust, as a collective, determining what happens across the whole land trust so someone in Kintore is making a decision for someone in Haasts Bluff. The result is you do not get an effective decision-making process. Whilst I appreciate the Land Rights Act was designed to protect Aboriginal people, economically that protection becomes a prison, as a result. That is because of the structural way it works.
The member for Braitling pointed out an example, and I will share my own. I believe it is now Kuminjia Djugadi out at Haasts Bluff; I introduced him to Gary Dann from one of the local cattle stations, and it turns out they knew each other as boys. We sat down around the camp fire one night and by the end we had nailed down a cattle station operating on the Haasts Bluff Land Trust using all the technology and investment from Ambalindum, I believe it was. They had a proper share arrangement, local jobs, and Haasts Bluff community put a house on the property for the person who managed the cattle station. There is no reason why that could not work except there was an impediment somewhere in the land council system that prevented it from being advanced. What a tragedy. That could have opened up thousands of square kilometres to cattle as one particular type of industry.
It is those types of impediments which deprive the individual family groups of the property rights they used to exert before the arrival of Europeans. I would like to see those individual family groups be able to exert the property right they used to have. That requires some legislative change, and some serious anthropology on the part of the land councils.
I do not believe it is legitimate simply to say the Land Rights Act will not change, therefore we should not change it. No matter who is in power in Canberra, they have a vested interest in keeping the north shore of Sydney happy, rather than the Aboriginal people of Central Australia, the Tiwi Islands, or anywhere else. When 250 000 walk across a bridge saying they want to express their sympathy to Aboriginal people for the last 200 years of occupation, Canberra’s decision-making process is oriented towards those 250 000 people, not towards what is happening in the bush in Australia.
That is why we cannot get Canberra to change its mind, because it is politically too messy. There are land councils, particularly the CLC, which will be only too happy to jump on a plane and go and stir the pot every time we attack the Lands Right Act. But I do not really care about the land councils in the sense I do not care if they keep their jobs or not; this is not about them. This is about creating wealth in remote Aboriginal communities by generating wealth under their steam. They will be subject to all the threats and deviances of the marketplace - that is how it works.
The second point Bernstein makes is scientific rationalism. I am not going to go there because it already exists, and is not really central to the points I want to make here today.
The third point I move onto is capital markets. Aboriginal people need access to capital. This is what the business about leasing is all about, and I do not have to lecture anyone in this House about the logic behind the leasing - it is a way of raising capital. If I am sitting there with $10m and want to invest in either Sydney or in Central Australia, I can go to Sydney and go into a legal environment and know exactly how I am going to operate and what the laws are in that environment; it is easy to invest in that environment. However, if I knock on a land council’s door and say I want to invest $10m in a tourism project at Papunya, then there has to be meetings and there has to be more meetings, and the whole thing takes two years. Capital in that environment just runs off and goes somewhere it is going to make a quid.
So in keeping access to capital open, there has to be a liberalisation - and I do not mean that in the political sense - of how capital finds it way into these traditional environments. That is also something that is utterly absent when you have so many bars, hurdles and barriers to capital finding its way into Aboriginal lands. I know that there has been an improvement in this attitude from land councils. They are starting to shift away from the land acquisition to the land development models, but I would like to see from government a clear understanding that certain principles have to be pursued.
I do want to go back to one other thing. Simply to give up on amending the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act as something which is undoable is less than a comforting from the Chief Minister. I do not believe you should give up trying to do something simply because it is impossible when it is the right thing to do. When people believe in the right thing to do, the impossible so often becomes surprisingly possible.
The last area of the Bernstein’s observations was there needs to be a fast and efficient communications and transportation system. That is where government does have a role, a much more hands-on role than in the other areas I have described, and basically making it possible for investment in these remote places to be cost-effective. Communication is not a problem. I have been to these Aboriginal communities, and they often have more channels on their television set than are available to me on Austar - I swear it - there is more broadband and high definition and all that stuff in the communities. So communication is not a problem. Transportation is. It is the capacity to move product from these remoter places, or get product to these remote places; and when I say product I am including services, so you are talking tourists and that sort of thing, to these places in a cost-effective way.
I heard the member for Braitling refer to this in terms of getting roads improved and that sort of thing, which is a hands-on role for government. It may also be a hands-on role, in part, for the private money that is trying to find its way into these places. Whilst I appreciate Newmont’s good corporate citizenry in the Tanami, I notice there is an almost perpetual reliance by them on the Northern Territory government to deal with the Tanami Road. I am unsure how charitable they have been towards the Northern Territory government when it comes to actually fixing that road themselves, and I know why, because roads are not cheap - they are expensive as hell.
So that is the place I would hope government starts to construct a framework where they can then start to say: these are the principles which will guide us through development. We need to guarantee a property right for the developer, as well as the investor in terms of the Aboriginal person making their land available for development. We need to guarantee the ideas that are generated in the bush are the intellectual property right, if you like, of the Aboriginal people themselves, or anything they generate in terms of intellectual property rights are protected, and that can be done under Australian law. Intellectual property rights legislation is now well established both in copyright as well as patents.
Capital markets; access to capital - government cannot pay for all this stuff. I do not want to go back into the housing debate of last week, but if we are going to build $700m of houses, that is fine, but then what? What happens then? They get trashed and run into the ground, and then what? We are back to square one. I heard the member for Arafura say we have gotten to that point. Yes, we have gotten to that point, but there is more to do in terms of enabling land to be leased. I would like to see commercial land leased, and those types of things as well. I am sure it is being worked on, but I sense a frustrating urgency in my own heart when it comes to these things. On those occasions when my heart tends to quicken in this House, it is because of what I sense is a lack of urgency, a lack of lust and desire to do anything about this stuff, when a road forward can be so clearly identified.
Of course, there is a role for government in education. The Chief Minister is entirely right when he says we need to train, etcetera. But for what? We can have doctors of philosophy sitting around in Hermannsburg just as unemployed as uneducated people are now. There needs to be a job at the other end. So, I do not see the roof of development being held up by one pillar. Education is one pillar. If you just put education under that roof, it is going to collapse. There needs to be a job out there. We talk about health, education, law and order, all those things; and each one of those is a pillar. The more pillars you have under the roof of development the stronger that roof will be. If health and education are up to standard, there is capital investment and law and order so property rights are protected, then you have four pillars holding up the roof, and the roof will stay up.
In that process, the Aboriginal people will then have become part of the general economy of Australia. I often get irritable when we talk about Aboriginal development, for no other reason than it is a convenient tag line – and that is all it should be. What we should be saying is there is a group of people in the Northern Territory who are poor - land rich, dirt poor. Just let us stop talking about Aboriginality for a second, just identify them as individuals. What I say is, they are subject to a legislative regime which is different to everyone else, in an economic sense. What I desperately hope to see is legislative regime sufficiently changed - and I am not saying take away land and all that sort of thing - to enable those people who are treated differently economically, to be treated economically the same. Then, they become part of the economy of this country, and of the world. Achieve that, get them involved at that level - no matter if they are black, white, brown, brindle, or pink - and you will start to see a change.
When I have described this in the past, the criticism has been levelled at me that that will lead to a differentiation in wealth on Aboriginal lands in these remote places. That is true, it will. Some people will make it, some people will not. Some people will be rich, some people will be poorer. I would rather have 50% of Aboriginal people doing well for themselves than none at all. Whilst we might debate the niceties of these things, the truth is we need to build a class of Aboriginal people who, for a lack of better words, become almost the envy of the people around them - as an inspiration as well - not because they are Aboriginal, but because they are successful. I look forward to the day; I have this dream of seeing people being successful and other people, rather than envying them and trying to take away their success, try to emulate it.
Let us not have a debate about the redistribution of wealth. I would like to see the day when we have debates about the redistribution of something like a work ethic; that would change things fundamentally.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I suppose I am a little cynical. I have heard all this before. If there is a place for statistics, it should be in this discussion, because the government has been in power since 2001 and now, in 2009, I would love to see a comparison in Aboriginal employment over that period of time.
I am talking about Aboriginal employment in remote areas because, when we talk about unemployment, that is where the unemployment is. It is not so much in Darwin or in areas where people can get jobs; it is out there where people cannot get jobs. It is unfortunate we believe there will be a magic wand that will, all of a sudden, turn these remote parts of the Northern Territory into large developing areas which will provide work for everyone. The reality is, that is not, and probably never will be, the case.
I was recently at Bathurst Island where the awards were given to those people who had successfully done their training at the trade school there, its proper name I have forgotten. Malarndirri McCarthy, the Minister for Children and Families, was there, and she said something which I fully believe: that the people who are being trained have to understand they will have to leave where they live, and find work elsewhere. That is the reality. It is a harsh reality, but it is the reality. If people who live in these remote communities wish to use their training to have a better life then, I believe, there is only one way, and that is to look elsewhere for work.
That is not to say there will not be work on those communities, but it is only to some extent and in selected communities, at the present time. ERA, which just happens to be a mine nearby, employs any number of people, but I bet it does not employ, by a long shot, all the people who could work. In Nhulunbuy, it is the same thing. It certainly employs local people, but does it employ everyone? No, it does not. McArthur River Mine, employs X number of people, but how many Indigenous young men work out there? How many does it employ? Yes, there will be some employment. In the Tanami Desert, at Yuendumu, if I am right, the people there get some work out there, but they certainly do not have the whole community working out there.
So you might say they are lucky to get a well paid job working in the mines, and there are those who may get jobs in tourism, they may get jobs in art, but those jobs are relatively limited. Tourism, for instance, will always be a seasonal industry in the Northern Territory, whether we like it or not; and tourism in general, unless you are talking about five star-type of tourism, will have little effect on places like Yuendumu until there is a road of good standard so people will travel through that area often.
The member for Port Darwin, who was talking to a large extent about a philosophical approach to what we are talking about tonight, mentioned communication, and the way Australia has been developed regardless of whether it is Aboriginal people, or veterans of World War I or World War II who came back from war and the government decided to cut up all the land, and they put in rail and they put in roads. That is how parts of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia developed. If we are to develop the Northern Territory, we must have good transport links and the A Working Future policy that is one of the key indicators - if we are to increase the chances of employment in these remote communities, we have to upgrade the transport links
When I think of some of these communities such as Alpurrurulam, how can a place like that employ all of the people? There are some pastoral properties, but how many ringers do you need? There might be 300 young blokes who could be ringers, but the stations probably only want 20. They have black soil plain roads; the tourists are not going to go there too often, especially in the Wet Season - again limited. They might sell some art - again limited. They might have the odd football star to earn a few dollars - very limited. You look at the future of some communities and you ask: ‘What is the future for people living there?’ I would say: it is either stay there and depend on social welfare for the rest of their lives, or let us make sure these people are trained well enough so they can find jobs in the wider community.
I know that can be extremely hard for people; I believe the Tiwi Islanders are the most homesick group of people which exists. Many years ago they were sent down to Brisbane to do training, and I am told some blokes who went down there were so homesick, and they did not have any money, but they found their way back to the Tiwi Islands. I have no doubt the ties with one’s home are extremely strong and are not easy to break, but at least if people always recognise their home is somewhere, they know they can work away and come back to their home. That is what we need to emphasise.
We have to do the best with what we have; there are many opportunities we need to work on, not just the big picture. Even though most of our communities are basically funded by the federal government through social welfare, like the new local government councils, 2% is raised from rates, which means 98% comes from federal and Northern Territory government money. To some extent, these are artificial communities purely dependant on taxpayers money. Be that as it may, it still creates opportunities for people.
It would be good if we could get down to some of the smaller things people could do: such as hairdressing, or mowing lawns in the community; many places do not have bakeries any more. In some of the smaller communities around Darwin there are work opportunities - a handyman who can fix leaking taps; someone who can do painting - they do not need a lot of capital. You just need someone who is smart and goes out there and tries to earn his way. Unfortunately, that can sometimes be cut off, or some people might say fortunately, with the problem of someone painting a house for their relations who might not pay them. That is a reality. Someone may mow their brother’s lawn and they do not get paid. There has to be some way to ensure people understand if someone runs a business you have to pay that person, otherwise the business collapses.
I believe there are opportunities for many small businesses in these communities. How you kick-start that, I am not sure. I know there is the department of Business, but we also need people who really want to change, who really want to do something for themselves. As the saying goes - from little things, big things grow – and once people see other people working they might think it is not a bad idea, and might do something themselves. There are opportunities out there; the only problem is they are not going to employ everyone.
I note there are people out near the Moyle trying to do something different; friends of mine from Melbourne have recently been there trying to establish a bicycle path through the bush, out near Peppimenarti going out towards Emu Point. My good friend, Phil Kenyon, who lived out there for quite a while and whom I went to go to school with, has been looking at the possibility of developing an adventure trail, where you can walk or ride a mountain bike, through that area.
The road to Port Keats is not the best road, member for Goyder; it needs upgrading, so you are limited. Once the Wet Season comes, that is not an area you can keep going into. It is an opportunity to get young people involved in developing tourism in that area. Until now there have been cattle and after that, social welfare.
The government should think outside the square. We have mining and gas opportunities. By putting Alcan where it is and not in Darwin Harbour, for instance, you are creating employment in a decentralised position. McArthur River is decentralised. It is not near Darwin; it is out in the communities. We have plonked INPEX in the middle of Darwin Harbour and the gas is coming from the west side of the Northern Territory. Blacktip has developed its gas plant at Port Keats; we should have thought outside the square and considered putting INPEX at Port Keats - that is what gives people opportunities. People would go to school thinking: if I study hard I have an opportunity to work at INPEX. What else can you do in Port Keats and Wadeye? Where would you go after you finished school? I do not know - there are not many opportunities. We have to start looking at putting industry in the bush. You can take the work to the people, or you can send people to where the work is - we need to look at both ways.
There was not much mention about councils. I know there have been some famous statements made in this House about the importance of councils creating employment. I do not want to get too much into that, except to say that councils do employ people, so they are part of economic development and they would play an important role. Even though I have problems about the number of the agencies they take on, they do play an important role and do create jobs through contracts and that sort of work.
In relation to the growth towns which are part of the concept of developing the Northern Territory, especially from an Indigenous point of view - but not only from an Indigenous point of view. We must be careful we do not have this statement ‘Indigenous Economic Development’ as though you can take it away from the rest of development in the Northern Territory - you cannot - you have to say, if we are going to build a growth town, it is open to everyone; anyone can come there and help develop that town. I say it again: with the growth towns we should be looking at Mt Isa and Kununurra. Those boundaries between Western Australia and Queensland tend to stop our thinking when it comes to this. If we want people in outback and remote communities to get jobs, then we should be thinking wider than just the Northern Territory.
What will stop Indigenous economic development is poor literary and numeracy, and also a work ethic. I have said this many times: we have to go back to where we were before. If we are to introduce a work ethic back into many of the communities then unemployment benefits should go out the door. The federal government should supply adequate funding or full-time employment for anyone who wants it, plus capital equipment, plus good management. If you do not have a work ethic you are not going to run a tourist operation; you are not going to turn up at the mining company on time; the garden will die because no one bothered to water it. Why do people do those things? Because they have a work ethic and they believe in what they do, and they believe it is important to turn up for work on time, and be responsible and consistent.
Unfortunately, unemployment benefits have destroyed much of that. It is just a straight-out fact of life, and if we do not make some really solid changes we will just continue down the path of: why would I bother getting a job? Why bother getting a job if I can just humbug around and get some money in the post each week? We have to change that and, at the same time, start to work on literacy and numeracy.
I saw Australian Story about the family who took some young people from out at Pukatja to a boarding school in Adelaide. They are great kids, but their literacy and numeracy standards were at Year 2, and those kids must have been around about 14 or 15. When my wife was 14 or 15 she had a Year 6 education; she was educated by the missionaries in the 1950s and I believe we have gone backwards. Someone was talking to me about Sister Freddie at Port Keats in her day; everyone turned up to school all clean, because Sister Freddie told them to turn up to school, and they all got educated. Of course, we moved away from that system and the missions were no good and they were terrible people. Well, many of those people who went to missionary schools are probably our leaders today in Aboriginal communities, but many of the young people coming up behind them do not have that depth; they do not have that understanding.
So, the foundation of economic development is good numeracy and literacy and developing the work ethic and until we do that, especially in remote communities, it will be very hard. But, if we do not try, we will not achieve anything.
I have raised this before in estimates - the government talks about the number of Aboriginal people working in the public service. That is fine, but I ask them to divide that up between urban Aboriginal people and remote people who work in the public service. I believe the difference will be like chalk and cheese. If we are to give people opportunities, then we have to give those people out there in remote areas an equal opportunity of working in the public service; whether it is working in their communities in public service jobs, or giving them opportunities in centres like Katherine and Tennant Creek. Basically, if we have some jobs there, we offer them to people from remote communities. It is positive discrimination, to some extent, but it is too easy to put the word ‘Aboriginal’ over how many people we employ, and then find out 80% or 90% of those people come from Casuarina and Palmerston.
When I look at the unemployment figures from Yuendumu, they are very high. I could only find the 2006 figures, but Indigenous unemployment in 2006 was about 27.7% of 15 to 17-year-olds; 20% for 18 to 24-year-olds; 15.8% for 25 to 34-year-olds. In 2006, the 25 to 34 age group was 4.9% for non-Indigenous. If you include CDEP which, to some extent, throws this out, there are a great many people unemployed. They are the ones we have to work hard to change.
Minister, you quoted something from Martin Luther King. You said:
If we do not turn it around, we are in danger of having some very angry young people in our society, and I know where that can sometimes lead. We might believe when we work and live in a fairly affluent society in the suburbs in the Northern Territory that things are all rosy. I am interested to know whether they are as rosy as we believe. Why are kids petrol sniffing? Why are they abusing drugs? Why are they getting stuck into alcohol? It is not just because they are attracted to it; is it a sign they are angry young people who do not have a chance to be part of the society they see around them? We owe a group of people – and I am not saying ‘owe’ in the sense they do not have a responsibility for changing their lives themselves - but we have to make the effort. If we have to put a bit of stick out there, then we should put a bit of stick out there. We have to get those young people back into the workforce to give them a reason for living …
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member for Nelson, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: To finish off, if we do not make that effort – I have stood here many times and spoken about unemployment in Aboriginal communities – to have people working; if we do not have people working we are not doing anyone a favour – not those people and not the Territory.
I have been told if we had a system where all Aboriginal people on remote communities had to work or they would not get unemployment benefits, it would be discriminatory. I do not believe it is. Most of those Aboriginal communities are there artificially because the federal government pays them money. If we took the federal government’s money in social welfare and grants away, there is absolutely nothing in most of those communities to keep people there. Part of the responsibility is for the government to say: ‘We will keep your community going, we will keep supplying grants, money for the power station, housing, hopefully, and money for your local government. But the other side of the equation is, you will work and you will not claim those local government benefits; we will give you enough money to work’. It is time we said: ‘It is time for change’. We have had 30 years since unemployment benefits came in, and all I see is young people who have no reason to live, very poor education; and it is extremely sad.
When I see - and I am not trying to brag - my three kids who regard themselves as Aboriginal, all have great jobs. You might say that is lucky because of me and I have had opportunities many Aboriginal people would not have had. My wife comes from the bush and maybe if she had not met me, that would not have happened. But circumstances are that my three children are all employed by the Commonwealth government; they all have good qualifications, and they have taken advantage of circumstances, which many young people today do not get a chance to do.
So, we have to give those young people a chance; but they also have to take it and make the effort. If they do not, and we give them a chance, that is their fault. Unless we try together nothing will change, and we will not have economic development. We will have a very poor class of people and a very rich class of people in our society, and that will not do anyone any good.
Mr KNIGHT (Local Government): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I believe Imelda Wood would have survived. I have seen her sisters and, although on government welfare payments, they are certainly looking after the property they are given and making the most of the little money that comes into their community. But Imelda has done much better, Gerry, for sure.
The Minister for Regional Development has brought an important statement to the House. He had a quote from Martin Luther King, and the quote which always rings in my ears is: ‘Idle hands do the devil’s work’. I have only been in the Territory 21 or 22 years, and the member for Nelson has been here much longer, and other members in this House have been here their whole lives. In the time I have been here growing up with little five and 10-year-olds and seeing where they are now, there is a lot of despondency. Work does not only bring money. It brings pride, a sense of responsibility, and being active - keeping your mind active and keeping your body active. Coming home at the end of the day worn out is a good thing.
I have worked on many communities and with major CDEP projects, and have seen that sense of pride when you ask someone: ‘What job do you do?’, and they say they are a CDEP participant. They say it with a sense of pride. Having worked for a resource centre in Timber Creek where we went from 170 to 300 participants, nearly every adult who was not in full-time employment or was an aged pensioner, was on CDEP, and the whole community was active. Those 18 hours a week going to CDEP where every single one of them was actually improving their own lives, and their own communities certainly did benefit.
I came from Tennant Creek where the outstations had no CDEP and it was difficult to get projects happening that they wanted to happen. People have varying views on CDEP but I find they are very productive programs. People actually have pride in what they do, and when you have a majority of the community on the program and going to work, as opposed to sitting down and doing nothing, the community actually became mobilised. I reflect on some wasted opportunities at Wadeye, the biggest community in Australia, and yet it only had a CDEP of about 100 people. If it had the proportions it should have had, there would have been a vast change in that community.
I welcome the statement from the minister. It is an issue which has been around for a while, and we have to keep hacking away at solving this problem because it is affecting, not only the lives of people in those communities and remote areas who do not have jobs, but it affects the Territory as a whole. We have to turn that around.
The strategy is focused on providing long-term economic growth for Aboriginal people. The goal is: by 2020, there will be some parity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Territory. That is a massive task. It is very ambitious and there is a great deal of work to be done, but we have to set that goal and we have to be focused on it. It proposes three key areas of developing economies and thus jobs for Aboriginal people.
In the aquaculture and fisheries areas there is a huge opportunity for that to happen, not just in the commercial capture and sale, but in recreational fishing. I am fortunate to have a bush electorate where, as a job, I get to go to these fabulous places. I get very excited driving along the Stuart Highway to my electorate and into the bush, and to be able to visit fabulous beaches and go out fishing with people. I have seen, down in the Daly, how much money fishermen from down south and overseas will pay a guide to go out. In Darwin Harbour, it costs about $250 for a full day fishing charter, from 7 am and back at 4 pm. People are paying that sort of money and they get a dozen people on those boats - just in Darwin Harbour with someone who has been in Darwin for a short while, maybe even a backpacker.
The opportunities for people to be able to go to a remote fishing location which has not had a great deal of pressure on it, to be able to catch a whole range of fish with a local Aboriginal person, and not only have the fishing experience, but to hear the stories and experience the people out there. People will be prepared to pay for it, and even if you filled up a tinny with a half a dozen people, you could make a healthy living out of that.
There are vast opportunities in the fisheries area, and the arts. Art is a massive area, but we have to make sure the majority of the money paid for the artwork goes back to the artist for the welfare of the artist. There is a great deal of work to be done by the government. I know the member for Barkly, the Minister for Arts and Museums, is focused on this area, and also the Minister for Indigenous Policy, in making sure the money goes back to the artist, and their rights are protected.
The construction area is something we are keenly focused on with SIHIP and the requirement for 20% of the workforce to be employed. Some people thought it was ambitious but, in the first set of packages, it has been exceeded and not just in the normal run-of-the-mill training. The tradesmen who have come in are training these trainees up to a standard where they can take them anywhere in Australia and they can perform the particular task they have been trained for. On the Tiwi Islands, we have 38 local, Indigenous employees working and receiving training. On Groote Eylandt we have 15 employees, and in Tennant Creek we have 11. That is 64 people employed already. I look forward to many more announcements in this House about hundreds of Aboriginal people, in those remote locations, who get employment through this program. Probably the biggest achievement of the program will be human development. One of the pre-requisites of the alliance partners is to look at where these trainees go, and they certainly have the opportunity to move with those companies. These are national companies and they could be offered work in Darwin, they could be offered work in Brisbane or Perth or wherever it may be, if people want to move; because an Aboriginal employee is just as hard-working as any other employee, given the right opportunities.
As we have seen on the Tiwi Islands, forestry and agri-businesses offers opportunities, although they bring dangers. Aboriginal people in those remote locations are sitting on assets, they are sitting on land which can be used to make money; the challenge is about communicating that, getting that message across, not the sale of land, but the use of land to make a living and to earn money.
The member for Nelson talked about Peppimenarti and Emu Point. I have a lot to do with Emu Point and that community is really striving. Terry Sands has the boys there painting rocks nearly every day; there is not a piece of rubbish anywhere and he really has those guys active. If he had 30 or 40 jobs bringing money in, he would be able to sustain that community quite successfully. So, it is looking for those opportunities, whether it is in the forestry area or cropping or whatever, and people are keen to look at those, and certainly he is.
One of the other areas is in government. With my Public Employment hat on, it is a goal for us within the next five years to have our Indigenous employment up to 10%. Currently, it is about 8%, so we have certainly come a long way. I pick up on the point from the member for Nelson with regard to where these people are. I cannot say whether the people who are recruited to work in government offices in Palmerston are born in Palmerston, or whether they have come into town to seek employment. But I do take his point that we have some 17 000 public servants in the Territory, and if we can get an extra 2% who come from the bush it would certainly provide more money into the pockets and the families of people living in remote locations - that is really the challenge. Where those jobs are is where the economy is, and the economies are in those major centres. It is a challenge to either move the people where the economy is, or move the economy to where the people are. A challenge of this strategy as well is getting businesses, getting economies going out bush and keeping them there and having a workforce which is going to encourage those jobs.
Horticulture: I have seen a really huge potential in Ti Tree. I am not an expert, but I believe the soil type and the water aquifer there provides a water basin which provides some unique horticultural opportunities to grow grapes and a whole range of other fruit and vegetables. It disappoints me that we get pickers coming in not only from interstate, but from overseas, to harvest those crops when we have communities surrounding Ti Tree which are living on an extremely basic wage.
One of the areas the minister highlighted was knowledge and culture. When you talk about the public service and the work that goes on within government and the public service, we employ consultants to tell us about the knowledge they have gained through academic studies or work they have experienced. They are paid well for that knowledge and to provide that advice. Recognition needs to be given to Aboriginal people who have knowledge of what is going on in their local community, knowledge of country, and knowledge of particular societies and solutions, and that knowledge should not be expected to be given free; it should be regarded as much as the knowledge provided by an academic or a consultant.
The mining area is an area of huge opportunities with the economy starting to turn around and getting those mines back in place. In Tennant Creek, there is the opportunity to employ many people in the mining industry, and I know the local member has his mind on that. When you look at companies like Ngarda Civil & Mining which started in Western Australia, they have a strategy of multiskilling, a skills base which can be transferred between the civil area and the mining area, and the new area they are going into is the housing services area. It is a skill set which, if they are getting contracts in a particular area, they can ship people across to that; if that starts to dry up, they can start to chase contracts in other areas. For Tennant Creek, where it is boom and bust, perhaps there is a lot of civil works on, perhaps the mines start to close down, and there is the opportunity to shift people around. Those miners are paid decent money, and that money can well support local Aboriginal people and their families.
The natural resource management area is a huge area, and the rangers - whether sea rangers or land rangers - have really taken off and they are coming into their own. The work they do with quarantine, with Fisheries, and the Customs area, is expanding, and I see some real opportunities for them into the future. We really need to think outside the square regarding the roles these people, who are growing in skills, can play into the future. They are attracting a great number of participants, and they are keen to jump in a boat, a car, or a quad, and get out on country and look after their own country. In many areas the people are from only one clan, but communities have been set up there and a whole range of clans come off country to that one location for the services, and getting back to the individual clan is quite attractive to people. And because the north is quite sparsely populated and there is some unprotected coastline, this needs to be protected from invasive species of different kinds.
The pastoral area is a difficult one. Many cattle stations were bought over the years by the Indigenous Land Council , and the management of these stations is difficult in some ways for Aboriginal people because, basically, successful cattle stations are a dictatorship - the station manager is the boss and people have to listen to one person. From my experience at Kildurk, you cannot run them as a cooperative because you need one person to make a decision and everyone listens and does what they are told. So, it is a difficult situation, but in the stockman, the ringers there is a wealth of experience in generations of Aboriginal people who have proven they can very successfully undertake the work – and there are some unique opportunities. It really bugs me that we have these properties earning millions of dollars throughout the Territory, and we have other properties, which were former cattle stations, which are not being put under full production, and not creating wealth for those families.
There are other areas in retail and tourism. Tourism is a huge area to move into. I acknowledge, even for the average non-Indigenous person, a Dry Season with thousands of tourists can really wear you thin, and it is very stressful and difficult work. In my time at Yellow Waters with the boaties, they were pretty well knackered by the end of the Dry Season. I know many of the Indigenous boating guys there were very successful and tourists absolutely loved them. So, there certainly is a range of opportunities.
Through SIHIP, there are those opportunities, and we will be making the most of them. We are keenly focused on hundreds of jobs being given to local Indigenous employees; and we are also very focused, through the public service, to increase the percentage of Indigenous employees. I pick up the point from the member for Nelson - we must start to get those people in remote areas employed at that local level. We have this fly-in/fly-out mentality, and we have to change that and turn that around ...
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I move an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77, for the member.
Motion agreed to.
Mr KNIGHT: I thank the Minister for Tourism. Also through SIHIP, we are giving local Indigenous businesses opportunities. We have the Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island Enterprises;AminjarrinjaEnterprises; Gebie Green Ants; Groote Eylandt Automotive; Groote Eylandt Bakery; Tiwi Enterprises; Bathurst Island Housing Association - the Tiwi Islands Shire Council is certainly getting work out of SIHIP; and also Julalikari. Pushing that money into those organisations which have a huge Indigenous employment is a strong focus of the program.
With the local government shires, we have had the job matching, the CDEP conversion and we have created 400 full-time jobs out of that program. It is winding down, but it is something I would like to see renewed. I have written to the federal minister with regard to renewal of that program, and it is something I hope my department will be working on with FaHCSIA.
Another area of local government is the interpreter service; they do an absolutely fabulous job, and it is a part of the department that has been growing. We have some 300 Aboriginal interpreters registered with the service, and in the last five years the service has increased by over 200%. The service took 5000 bookings last year alone, so the interpreters are coming into their own, and with government programs going out there, with private sector programs or non-government organisations going out there, speaking the language, conveying the message in a clear, concise and understandable way just makes common sense. Using the Aboriginal Interpreter Service is something that people, luckily, have now realised is the way to go. It also means local people getting paid the award wage and getting in their own community for doing something that they have knowledge of. I can only speak English, and a few words of different Aboriginal languages, but those interpreters are able to speak several Aboriginal languages and are also fluent in English, and they do a great job.
I thank the minister for bringing this forward. It is an area we have to crack, we have to make some inroads, and we have to get those employment numbers up. We have to get those businesses out bush; we have to move the economy out bush, as well as in the major centres. This has to be in collaboration with traditional owners, the land councils and the private sector. It will not be solved straight away, but the commitment to go towards 2020 and getting that parity is the goal.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement, and I look forward to ongoing progress updates.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing on this statement about Indigenous economic development. It is a part of our makeup, our society, and probably one of the most difficult issues to address in any real and meaningful way, because there are a great number of impediments to getting sustainable Indigenous economic development up and running in the Northern Territory. I would like to speak about certain parts of the minister’s statement, but also just share some of my experiences, and hope that the minister might be able to take some of that on board as he fleshes out the strategies he has in mind to develop the economies in Indigenous communities.
I like the statement; it is a worthwhile issue to bring before the parliament. The only thing I would say is I am not fussed on your speech writer. There was a deal of superfluous content and it was a 30 minute speech which probably could have been brought down to 15 minutes. Nonetheless, it is a very important issue.
My experience, in very broad terms, having worked in and with Aboriginal communities in the Territory for some 20 or more years now, is that the economic businesses I have seen start and subsequently fail have been businesses brought out to communities by well meaning, but ultimately, paternalistic people who brought only their own ideas to the table as far as what the Indigenous people in those communities needed. I remember a few examples of businesses which failed; businesses brought out to communities by non-Indigenous people and they have had their run, but they have not worked because the people on the communities did not take any ownership of them. They did not particularly want them because it was not their idea. Beswick cattle station, to the east of Katherine, used to be a viable cattle station. That was taken over by Aboriginal people who were not that interested in running it as a cattle station and consequently they let the fences decay; they shot the cattle and ate them; they had no ownership of the business. It was brought to them by people who thought it would be good for them to have. That was a very large enterprise.
There were smaller ones like Barunga, which used to have a pig farm. That was also brought about by the intervention of non-Indigenous people who thought it would be a good idea for the community to have a pig farm. Again, the people there were not interested, they had no ownership of it, therefore it failed. There is a raft of other examples I could recite. The point here is the government needs, in whatever form it decides, or whatever path it decides to take regarding Indigenous economic development, the first and foremost thing to consider is whether the business enterprise is an initiative from the community or from the people themselves.
Personally, I would rather see fewer enterprises up and running that actually work because they have been initiated from within, than for this government to set itself some ambit target and work like hell, spend like hell, to meet that target when, in fact, what they are doing is pumping money into a bunch of black holes, and those businesses do not end up being sustainable.
I hope that is taken in vein in which is intended. The unfortunate part of many Aboriginal communities is the fact they are indeed communities and not towns. I know the government has its A Working Future policy for the 20 growth towns, but we need the government to take seriously the concept of turning communities into towns which can go a long way towards sustaining themselves. Communities like Wadeye, and correct me if I am wrong, I believe 2500 people, there are probably one or maybe two businesses in the whole community which operate as a business. A similar sized town in another part of Australia would have a main street full of businesses and what would be considered perhaps a more normal level of unemployment, a normal level of welfare money going into that community, and that town would be basically self-sustaining given its own business structure and the region it might support with the businesses included in that immediate area.
I cannot overstate the importance of having a focus such as that, otherwise we will end up doing the same thing over and over again instead of trying something different, as the minister said in his statement. You have an opportunity, minister, as a young minister not only in terms of your length of time in parliament but also your age and the enthusiasm you have for addressing Indigenous issues of economic development. I hope you are able to carry that enthusiasm forward and get some real and meaningful results in the Indigenous communities that take up some of the opportunities this strategy will present.
I mentioned before that I had some concerns about ambit targets. It is great to have targets and it is great to have goals; without a goal anything you want to do is just a dream. I suppose you could draw a similarity between goals and targets, but you need to be careful for the very same reasons that I articulated a moment ago - do not try to reach that target just for the sake of reaching that target without having a sustainable outcome at the end of it. For years and years we have seen money pumped into Aboriginal communities by all forms of government with no result and no output for that expenditure. I believe that, together with the ingrained welfare system Indigenous people have had to endure for so many years has really set Indigenous people back a long way. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way governments deal with Indigenous people.
The stronger activists out there – the Noel Pearsons and those sorts of people - are getting it right. They are telling everyone that their people do not want to be on unemployment benefits; they want to have real and meaningful jobs; they want to be able to get up in the morning with a purpose; they want to go to work, come home, have a couple of knock-off beers, have dinner, watch a bit of telly and go to bed. It is good to see people like the Noel Pearsons of this world are finally coming out with a message to government, not only in Queensland where he hails from, but in the Northern Territory and right across Australia, that Indigenous people are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens.
It seems to me that Labor governments tend to want to have this underclass of people in our community so they can keep that underclass as their support base. What they do is they rush out there and champion the cause of the under-class of people. The days of Indigenous people falling for that are fast disappearing. Indigenous people are becoming far more savvy; they can see, over many years, the policies have been letting them down
When I say that I certainly refer to Labor governments, but also to conservative governments; and the reason for that, apart from wanting to keep themselves in power, is this is a difficult issue to deal with. Indigenous disadvantage is a huge issue across Australia, and it takes some real political guts to make what will probably be unpopular policy decisions to better the lives of those people who are affected adversely by earlier policies which keep them as an under-class.
The minister mentioned in his statement the need for government support and infrastructure, and I cannot stress too much how important the infrastructure side of that will be. One example is the Daly River Road to Wadeye. I use that because I have been out there a couple of times in recent months. It is in an appalling condition and, unless that road - and many other roads around the Northern Territory - get to a state where they far more easily facilitate transport to remote parts of the Northern Territory, then any Indigenous development that occurs in those places is, at best, going to be far more difficult than it needs to be and, at worst, will fail because of the failure of the infrastructure to support those businesses.
A specific area regarding Indigenous development that could well work - I know it has been on the radar for a while now – is the issue of camels in the Northern Territory. The federal government said they would commit $19m to eradicate camels. From memory, when I received a briefing from a person in the meat industry recently, that equates to a cost of something like $127 per camel to shoot from the air and leave it to rot on the ground. I have a fundamental problem with killing a resource and just letting it rot; I would much rather see it used. There are avenues which could well present viable alternatives to just shooting camels on the ground, and that involves the catching and transportation of camels to Katherine, where the abattoir may well reopen.
What needs to happen is a coordinated effort on the part of government, the businesses involved, and the Indigenous people who live in those areas, to bring together a plan which will facilitate those things happening. These things cannot happen in isolation; there needs to be a coordinated approach. I am aware there is an Indigenous business in Central Australia which does welding, and they have been working on camel transport containers which, basically, are shipping containers with the sides cut out, rails welded in their place, and they have open tops, or tarps on them and they can take about 18 camels each. They can be stacked one on top of another on railway cars and transported from the central parts of Australia to Katherine. Fortuitously, the railway actually runs right through the south-west corner of the property the abattoir is on.
With some political will, and some policy change from the federal government, which needs to be driven by the Northern Territory government, we might be able to see a resource that can actually be used. That is an example, in my opinion, of a sustainable Indigenous business emanating from Central Australia, instead of just leaving that resource on the ground to rot.
I have some reservation about talking too much about Indigenous employment in a statement on Indigenous economic development. I realise they are not mutually exclusive terms and they do interrelate, but if we talking about Indigenous economic development, then we need to separate development of Indigenous business that employs Indigenous people in a sustainable way, from employment as such, and specifically employment in the Northern Territory Public Service.
I notice there are some targets here - an additional 3000 Indigenous Territorians to enter the workforce across the private and public sectors. How are you going to achieve that without some degree of paternalism? What happens if you do not achieve 3000 Indigenous Territorians employed by 2012 or, the next one down, Indigenous employment levels in the Northern Territory public sector to rise to 10%? What happens if you do not get 10% employment in the public service, or if you get near the end of 2011 and discover you only have an additional 2000 Indigenous Territorians in the workforce? What are you going to do to get that extra thousand across the line? Again, it comes back to: do you want to have sustainable and real outcomes here; you do not want to be paying lip service …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that the member be given an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the member for Johnston for putting that motion forward.
So, you do not want to be throwing money into a business that is not going to work, and which is the same as throwing money into 1000 extra employees in the public and private sectors that is not going to have a sustainable outcome. From my experience around the Territory, this is a word of caution to be careful about the way you approach that.
The government also really needs to consider the role of the land councils in all of this. The statement talks about land tenure and about negotiating secure leases. I will come back to the issues of leases and bank securities and other things in a moment. I gather the leases the minister mentions in his statement are leases where the lessor is the relevant land council, through the land trust. The question I have is: where do those lease funds go, and how are they going to be utilised better for Indigenous people?
Land councils get bucket-loads of money, yet I do not see very much going back into developing economies within Indigenous communities. I see land councils spending a great deal of money on some of their other work which is extremely important, like anthropology, but I would have thought significant sums of money which go into our Indigenous organisations, whether it be lease payments or royalty payments should, perhaps, form part of the basis for expanding Indigenous self-determination, including economic development. I do not believe it is the role wholly and solely of government to support these types of enterprises in Indigenous communities. Perhaps the minister should bear that in mind with a view to negotiations, down the track, to ensure some of what is effectively millions of dollars, go back into Indigenous communities. I often hear complaints about the cycle of money and where it all disappears - never to be seen again.
The member for Braitling also mentioned land tenure, which is an enormous issue when it comes to developing Indigenous economies in the Northern Territory and across Australia. I was slightly confused about something the statement says: the same applies when banks loan money for business activities; they want security over the commercial premises and the land.
I do not know that tenure of land under a land trust, or any other arrangement, actually facilitates any formal security for a bank. If I have my house mortgaged, it is freehold land. If I do not make my repayments, the bank will take my house and my land. I do not know if that can occur under land tenure arrangements in those areas.
Mr Elferink: A lease is a tradeable commodity. That is what gives them tradeable value.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: But tenure issues need to be considered because I know banks like to have real estate, which is a term used for land.
I hope the minister is sincere and genuine about moving Indigenous development forward; he certainly sounds as if he is, and it will be interesting to see how the strategy unfolds.
I do not like to be a knocker, but I picked up a copy of the 2005 Indigenous Economic Strategy today and had a scan through it. Some of the topics at the back discuss where there has been some expendable strategy by the industry sector in such things as aquaculture and fisheries, and it talks about sponges and trepang. I do not know if there are any Indigenous enterprises up and running with sponges and trepang. That is another caution - how much money does government use to support businesses that have pie-in-the-sky aspirations, but no real sustainability? That sounds to me like someone has come in and said to the Indigenous groups in that area: ‘This would be a good idea, why don’t you try this?’ I suspect it probably has not worked for the same reasons I outlined earlier.
We must do something; as a government it is incumbent on us to ensure Indigenous people have every opportunity to develop and become less reliant on government money. There needs to come a time where governments will have to say enough is enough and you need to stand on your own two feet far more than you are now. But, the same word of caution is: do not throw good money after bad just to appease politically correct sensibilities - aim for some really sustainable outcomes - fewer good ones which actually work, as opposed to taking a bucket of money and throwing it all over the Northern Territory and hoping some of it sticks.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on Indigenous Economic Development, and I welcome the statement by the minister. It is very important for the Northern Territory and the statement he has brought forward outlines a strategy to be employed to facilitate Indigenous economic development.
I recall in my maiden speech in this place in 2001, I expressed the view that we need to move forward together to realise the mighty economic, social and cultural potential of the Northern Territory - I still believe that is our aim - that is the aim of all of us in this place. We have incredible potential within the Northern Territory that we must realise for the sake, particularly, of Indigenous people and the generations of Indigenous people who will follow. We know the Indigenous population is a particularly young population and, as I said before in this House, looking up in the public gallery last week and seeing children from the Katherine region and the look of hope of their faces and wondering what their future would be, only steels my resolve and the resolve of all of us in this place, to ensure children do have a better future.
The minister in his statement alluded to A Working Future, and that is a key part of government strategy in turning, as the member for Katherine said, Aboriginal communities into towns and places where there is real opportunity, real work, and a place people can look to for the future, particularly for their children.
However, I disagree with what the member for Katherine said: that it almost seems like a conspiracy by the Australian Labor Party to keep Indigenous people as an oppressed minority to bolster our electoral chances. It does not do him any good to say that, and it is certainly far from the truth. All of us on this side are absolutely committed and focused on improving economic outcomes, educational outcomes, and health outcomes for Indigenous people. I have spent much of my working life in the Northern Territory to that end.
Also, what I said in my maiden speech about the need to move forward together to realise the mighty economic, social and cultural potential of the Northern Territory is much easier said than done. It is a difficult undertaking, and will take time, but our government and the minister, who wants to drive forward the policy objectives which have been outlined, is very focused on this.
I will go through some of my portfolio areas in support of the minister’s statement, starting with the Department of Business and Employment. I have the Business side, and my colleague, the Chief Minister, has the Employment side, so I will mainly be talking about the business side of the equation.
There is a range of strategies supporting Indigenous economic development and regional development which have been outlined by the minister, and we work together very closely on these strategies. The department has allocated full-time resources to coordinate the Territory growth towns project, which is an integral part of the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy. Under this initiative DBE is providing employment and business advice to the Service Delivery Coordination Unit in the Chief Minister’s Department to help with the local implementation plans for the towns; and this work is progressing.
The department is preparing a number of programs to be rolled out in the towns, including training on economic and financial literacy, a key pillar of the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy. It is also coordinating both Territory and Australian government agencies, non-government agencies, and other stakeholders in arranging new purpose-built facilities for service delivery in the growth towns, which is driving private investment in the towns. These new facilities will also reinforce the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s town plans by creating a town centre.
The department is applying for funding to develop support for joint ventures between the private sector and Indigenous organisations in the Northern Territory, and this Commonwealth support is crucial to success. The joint ventures will facilitate skill transfer and enhance the economic participation of Indigenous Territorians as they enter real jobs on their own country.
The minister also spoke about economic and financial literacy as an enabler to Indigenous economic development: understanding the economy, how money works, and how the financial systems works are important elements in encouraging participation. The Department of Business and Employment is providing funding for the development of a software program which cuts through all of the normal financial complexities to deliver pictorial and graphic explanations of business balance sheets and budgets. This ensures people who do not have a background in accounting procedures can understand and engage in business and develop business opportunities.
Through the department’s ICT contracts, we are providing $30 000 in funding to further develop The Money Story, developed by the local award-winning company, Little Fish. Little Fish is a Northern Territory software development company based in Alice Springs, which specialises in developing visual financial management tools, particularly in a cross-cultural context.
I turn now to Indigenous employment - a priority of this government. Northern Territory statistical workforce data provided by the Department of Business and Employment is used by organisations to inform policy and programs that benefit Indigenous employment and economic development outcomes. Indigenous Training for Employment Program, or ITEP, is a jointly-funded grant program run in conjunction with the Australian government which aims to increase employment opportunities for working-age Indigenous people in regional and remote communities. There are 12 funded ITEP projects in 2009 totalling $2.1m which have been supported by the Department of Business and Employment. These are designed to deliver sustainable job outcomes and workforce and career development initiatives for Indigenous Territorians. Expectations for the 2009 ITEP-funded projects are 500 positions, or people, positively impacted through ITEP.
Indigenous employment in the public service - my colleague, the member for Daly, has also addressed this. A Working Future project has a target of 10% Indigenous employees in the Northern Territory public sector in five years, and 30% in 20 years; and that reflects the broader population demographic. A significant number of Indigenous NTPS employees are already employed in jobs which will develop as Indigenous-specific roles, including Aboriginal Health Workers, Aboriginal Community Police Officers, and Aboriginal Teaching Assistants. A base grade administrative stream employment program for Indigenous people has been piloted in the NTPS, and eight people have recently graduated. A second intake is planned for early 2010.
The Chief Minister announced the Northern Territory government’s support of the Australian Employment Covenant, or AEC initiative, in December 2008. The Northern Territory public sector will provide up to 200 ongoing positions for Indigenous jobseekers under the Indigenous Employment and Career Development Strategy and its commitment to increase Indigenous employment in the Territory. In line with the commitment to significantly increase numbers of Indigenous NTPS employees, the Northern Territory Public Service also plans to increase cross-cultural training for all Northern Territory Public Sector employees. A Working Future establishes a target of 50% of the NTPS to have access to cross-cultural training within five years.
Agencies such as the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Health and Families, and the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services already have cross-cultural training arrangements in place for staff who work full-time in remote communities. Training programs would initially include an introductory program for new recruits to the NTPS, and a more intensive program for established staff. Content analysis for the training programs has been completed by Charles Darwin University, and cross-cultural training courses will be tendered for, for commencement in January 2010.
I turn to initiatives in the tourism area, particularly Indigenous tourism development. I have always maintained, in many ways, the tourism industry is a natural place for Indigenous people given the fact that so many of our tourists who travel to the Northern Territory rate very highly the opportunity to meet Indigenous people and to find out more about Indigenous culture. It is certainly a drawcard for many tourists, not only international, but from all over Australia, to the Northern Territory.
Coupled with the joint management of parks, which has often been criticised by some, we believe the joint management structures will provide Aboriginal people with a wonderful opportunity to enter into tourism ventures with the private sector, and be able to profit from tourism both in a monetary sense and in an employment sense but, more importantly, to really give life to their country and the stories of their country to tourists who visit the Northern Territory.
There is already a model operating in Nitmiluk Park. It is a fantastic model, although it was criticised many years ago when it was first established. Some people did not want it, and the stories of negativity and resistance were recounted by many people, including a number of Indigenous people, at the celebrations held in Nitmiluk for the anniversary of the hand-back about a month ago. Today they stand proud, and it is certainly a great tourist attraction. Around 200 000 people visit Nitmiluk annually. There is a lot of development: new chalets have been built in the park, and there are plans for further development. I commend the Jawoyn people for all they have achieved in a relatively short time frame.
It provides a model for the joint management of other parks in the Northern Territory which are just as spectacular, in their own way, as Nitmiluk. Right across the Territory there are some wonderful parks and joint management, in my view, provides a wonderful opportunity for Indigenous groups and individuals to really expand, to get into the tourism business and participate in economic development.
Reporting on what Tourism NT is doing: it is currently working with over 100 market-ready Indigenous experiences and tourism operators across the Northern Territory through mentoring, product development, accreditation and tourism training. Tourism NT provides product development support to 22 potential and emerging Indigenous experiences and tour operators, and the development of market-ready Indigenous tourism types is increasing in the Northern Territory. In the National Indigenous Tourism Product Manual, produced in collaboration with Tourism Australia, there are now 42 market or export-ready Indigenous tourism products and, since the launch, three additional products have been added to the online manual. These figures do not include other Indigenous experiences such as Indigenous cultural festivals and art centres, which feature separately in the manual.
The three Indigenous tourism business hubs supported by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, DEEWR, are all operational and provide much needed support to Indigenous tourism operators with a range of services including back-of-office administration, sales, and marketing.
Central Aboriginal Experience, or CAE, in Alice Springs, currently has 10 Indigenous tour operators and experiences receiving support. A new coordinator has been recruited for the CAE, commencing on 10 August 2009. Aboriginal Bush Traders, or ABT, in Darwin, are delivering services and support to non-Indigenous operators from their office in Cavanagh Street, while continuing their shopfront presence at Browns Mart.
Tourism NT has secured funding from DEEWR for the continuation of the East Arnhem Indigenous Tourism Hub with the initial contract finishing on 30 June 2009. The hub is currently in a transition phase, including the identification of a new host agency. This process has included a public call for expressions of interest to operate and develop the all Yolngu Hub. While this process continues, it is business as usual for the hub and its existing clients.
Tourism NT was a part of the Fourth Indigenous Economic Development Forum which was held in Alice Springs on 6 and 7 October 2009. This included sponsoring 10 Indigenous operators from across the Territory to attend and participate at the forum and the expo. The three Indigenous tourism hubs were present at the events, specifically showcasing at the expo.
Tourism NT administers funds from DEEWR to support two tourism development officer positions with the Central Land Council and the Northern Land Council. Tourism NT secured funding from Indigenous Business Australia to administer the accreditation support program to improve industry standards to clients, and sustainability, for up to 10 Indigenous tourism operators being supported to achieve tourism accreditation over the next year. Four businesses have commenced, and the second stage will be rolled out shortly. Additional funding support has been secured through the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to support this project by undertaking an accreditation needs audit to support operators to obtain accreditation, and support three Indigenous operators to achieve accreditation.
The second of four scheduled Indigenous tour guide training programs was successfully completed by four Indigenous trainees, and the next two training programs are scheduled for completion by the end of 2009. The funding was secured through DEEWR, and this training expects to provide places for work and training for up to 35 Indigenous participants.
I commend the minister’s statement to the House. It is an important statement, and government is very focused on Indigenous economic development. All speakers from this side highlighted the achievements this government has facilitated and also the challenges which remain in training, business support, and our policy of A Working Future for the key towns across the Territory.
Madam Speaker, I commend the statement, and I look forward to hearing from other members on this very important statement.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing on this statement. It is an important issue, and an issue that seems to keep appearing year after year, decade after decade. We are often left with statements, media releases and announcements like this, offering hope to Indigenous Territorians. Unfortunately, that hope is often seen to sail down the river because there are very few results from what must be a great deal of money spent over many years.
Like the member for Nelson, I, too, am cynical of this government’s approach because time and time again, as I said, they release information and have these great announcements. I recall seeing the 2005 release from the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin. Here we are in 2009 and we have another release, another change in the way we do things. The member for Nelson has been around many more years than I have so for him to say it, it certainly must have some credibility.
For over 20 years we have had a federal Labor member for Lingiari, and I sometimes wonder whether he can honestly stand up and say he is proud of the differences he has been able to bring to Indigenous Territorians in all that time. If we are really honest with ourselves, all sides of government, federal and Territory, this is one group of people, our Indigenous Australians, who we have all let down from time to time. There is no doubt there has been a lot of money spent from all levels of government, but what have we really achieved? Have things improved? Over the years we have hidden behind land rights, land access, permits, etcetera, but who benefits? Certainly not Aboriginal people - they have not benefited one bit.
Labor has ridden the coat-tails of Indigenous people for decades, hoping for their votes. I wonder whether it is because they are the best salespeople in the world or whether they do use scare tactics. How have Indigenous people benefited from successive Labor governments either federally or at Territory level? The 2005 announcement spoke of how there were going to be big changes, how there were going to be improvements for Indigenous people. Since then we have seen the intervention and the Little Children are Sacred report - damning evidence of failure upon failure - and, in many cases, absolutely tragic.
I will go to the report, and I am seriously hoping this time it will be different, but it is hard not to be cynical. This statement says:
As I said, every few years we appear to have these new statements come out, and here we go again. Is this not just another motherhood statement? I sincerely hope, from the bottom of my heart, that this minister has what it takes to make a difference. It says in here:
The same document only a few lines lower it says:
So after eight years I ask: how have things improved for Aboriginal Territorians under a Labor administration? It goes on:
After eight years, this is where we are. It says:
Well, that is interesting because I read in The Australian newspaper an article about Aboriginal jobs stifled by legislation. Noel Pearson said:
That last part ‘government was dragging its heels on housing and jobs’, why is it when governments get involved, it seems to slow up progress and just get in the way? I suggest this exactly mirrors what is happening in the Northern Territory.
Peter Holmes a Court completed a 2500 km week-long road trip around Cape York. It is interesting that he says in the same article:
Peter Holmes a Court went on the say:
Promote a local economy through job creation. Home ownership has to be the way forward in the Northern Territory. If we need to legislate it all, let us legislate to get out of the way, not in the way.
In the same article, Mr Pearson said:
He went on to say:
I do not think that is something we really have been focusing on in the last decades.
In his statement, the minister said:
What have we done to date, other than more announcements? I hope it does change for the better. The minister also talked about the A Working Future policy:
So let us seriously not talk about it - let us make it happen. Let us not allow this document to go down the river like so many documents before it - down the river of spin. Let us see if we can make a difference. As I said before, there was a strategy launched in 2005, and how successful was that? We have seen the intervention since then, so we can rule out that it was very successful. This strategy presents a new direction. We have finally, it would seem by those few words, admitted failure and admitted what we have done up until now has not worked.
The strategy goes on to say:
It sounds fantastic, but it is more like a motherhood statement and it is not backed up by a real plan. It does say there is a strategy, and I do not believe anyone would disagree that anything here is wrong; but how do you do it?
The strategy says:
Well, that is a strategy, but it does not say how you area going to do it
It does not say how you are going to it.
Again, how are you going to make this happen?
Again, how?
Fantastic statements, but how do you it? Please do not use your track record:
How is this measured, and who comes up with these numbers? Why could it not be 3050, why not 4500, why 3000? It says here:
There is no truer statement; but will this be any different? As I said before, does this acknowledge the government has failed? But it is strange; I do not believe they have really learned at all, because a number of the responses tonight, by different ministers and members, have promoted some of the things they have done over the last few years as their success story, but the Minister for Regional Development, says:
And he says:
How can other ministers come into this Chamber and promote the things they have done in their responses to this statement? If the minister and this government sincerely feel they have it wrong - and they have it wrong, and they acknowledge they have it wrong - you would not be promoting things you have done because you are changing direction, it says here. It says you are going in a new direction and you are going to try new things, new strategies to address the concerns of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. How can you, on one hand, promote the things you have done as success stories, if you are going to turn and go in a new direction? That just does not make sense, and it is a true reflection of how this government really feels, or really wants to make a difference. I believe, deep down, this is just another statement.
On page 13, it says:
I note the strategy encourages these partnerships and the need for all parties to work together to achieve sustainable business development on Indigenous land. Over the years, there must have been millions, if not billions, of dollars spent on Indigenous initiatives, whether they be housing, welfare, or infrastructure and, in business, when you spend so much money you expect to see some dramatic results. With Indigenous issues we spend a great deal of money and we only see these minute little steps, little bunny hops. We do not see the momentous change in the future for these people; massive investment of money with few long-term, positive outcomes for Indigenous people.
I also note the Action Plan for the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy outlines a number of new initiatives, such as formal Indigenous mentoring and business network. Are these just new names for strategies which already exist? Are we trying to reinvent the wheel with nothing new but more headlines, more names, and covering up the fact we do not really know what we are doing, so we are trying to make it look like we are doing something different? I really hope not.
We only want what is best for Indigenous people, both sides of the House; there is no argument in that whatsoever. As the member for Nelson said earlier, how can you not be cynical, not just of this government, but of any government? For years, for decades, we know there has been money spent, but has it gone into the right areas? We can go out into the communities today and note things have not improved in the last few years, the last decades, or longer. Indigenous people are suffering and we all stand here and, again, release some information, release a dream, if you like, but - and I really hope there is an intent - we all say it: can we deliver this time? Can we do what is required to make a difference?
It says here the Territory government, the Commonwealth government, Indigenous Territorians and the private sector must all pull in the same direction if we want to, or are to, achieve lasting results. Absolutely no argument; but are we not assuming here that everyone wants to go in the same direction? Are we all working with the best intentions for Indigenous people, seriously, at the lowest level?
If we are not, if we are going around in circles - I remember my father saying at our wedding many years ago here in Darwin, when you enter into a relationship, when you get married, it is like you have both been handed a pair of oars and you pull together and you will go down the river of life. If one person is pulling harder than the other, or one is not pulling at all, you are just going to go continually in circles. You have to pull together to make the boat go straight down the river of life.
We have to ensure that local government, the Territory government and the Commonwealth government all want the same things for Indigenous people; and we can do that by pulling together. If we do not, this is a waste of time, a wasted effort, and the minister has wasted his time here today, because we are going to go over the same ground, and we will be here in three or four years from now debating a new strategy, debating a new way to go forward.
There was a recent Developing Our Futures Together Forum in Alice Springs, and I heard the member for Braitling praise the forum. I know there were 140 Indigenous people in business, or considering starting a business, 25 corporations, and 113 representatives from three levels of government. Put that into a business context - It is like saying 113 people from government are needed to manage 140 Indigenous people - if it was the private sector there would only be 23 to manage 140. I cannot help but believe the government gets in the way more than ever, because it is all about the bureaucracy. There is no doubt money has been spent on the machine, but is it being spent in the right areas?
This is a heart-felt plea: please, minister, do not make this another motherhood statement. People, particularly Indigenous people, are sick and tired of statements floating down the river of Labor spin.
I will finish up with this: young Jessica Watson headed off around the world yesterday on her boat on her own at 16 years of age. That takes real courage, and she would have spent months if not years, planning to head off yesterday. What a journey to go on. It takes real guts. Perhaps it is going to take real guts for the federal government, the Territory government and local government to make this happen.
Ms McCARTHY (Indigenous Policy): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of this statement. I begin with the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy of 2009-12, and would like to make particular mention of some of the examples in this strategy. By examples I mean some of the Indigenous people who speak about their businesses. People like Michelle Alley from the Indigenous Tourism Hub who is a coordinator for the Aboriginal Bush Traders. I quote Michelle:
Going through the strategy and listening to the speakers in the House this evening, it is the examples that we see not only this strategy, but for now I will focus particularly on this strategy, people like Damien Djerrkura and Djwalpi Marika, Darren Ah Chin, the owner/manager of Katherine Regional Mechanical Services, and Karen Leong the owner/manager of Jade Ebony’s Caf - a small number of examples but very positive examples about why it is important to focus on economic development across the Northern Territory, and important to encourage Indigenous employment not only in the public sector but, just as importantly, in the private sector.
We have heard in these sittings the continued strong forecasts of economic growth for the Northern Territory, well above national averages. We have also been reminded of forecast population growth and as Minister for Indigenous Policy I am very focused on important features of our demographic profile.
Seventy-five percent of our Indigenous population lives outside of our major regional centres. Over one third of our Northern Territory Indigenous population is children under 15 years of age. By 2012, more then two thirds of our Indigenous population will be of working age. My personal objective and as a minister of the Crown is one that I expect is shared by members by this Assembly, and that is that Aboriginal Territorians like every Territorian have every opportunity to benefit from the prosperity that we will see from our continued economic growth. That is a significant job. According to the 2006 census about 80% of the 20 000 Indigenous people of working age, 15 to 64 years in remote areas of the Northern Territory are underemployed.
I congratulate my colleague, minister Hampton, for embracing this challenge and continuing our government’s commitment to supporting economic development and jobs for Indigenous Territorians especially those in our remote region. The role of government is to create and maintain conditions supportive of private investment and economic growth, realising that market conditions can often be dictated by events beyond our control. We also have a role in supporting the development and maintenance of infrastructure and services that businesses and employees would expect to have available. We have the important role of ensuring health, education and other government services to support the work readiness of our growing population.
I am pleased that I will be contributing to this work from my own role with other ministers in the implementation of A Working Future. Just in these past few months as I look at A Working Future and think about the important impact that this plan will have, and is having, on our regions, it is about the focus of our service delivery in these areas, not only as the Northern Territory government but in partnership with the federal government. A Working Future will include a special focus on our 20 growth towns and their role as a service hub to outline communities. This work will include information collection about existing assets and also the identification with local people which are the key investments required to help spring board the development of each town.
A couple of people from the Ngukurr community came to see me recently, talking about the future of Ngukurr and I use this as an example for the House. The people of Ngukurr are looking at their future. It is a community in my electorate, and one I am very close to. One of the things I said to the people of Ngukurr, and the Roper Gulf Shire in particular, was A Working Future policy and looking at our growth towns was all about responsibility; that families, individuals, communities, and organisations look at their own future development and how can they grow. What is it they would like to see? How can they benefit from the knowledge which is out there?
We have seen, for decades, many researchers of different organisations go into communities wanting to understand the knowledge of communities and, then, taking that knowledge away to respective organisations and universities, interstate, and overseas. To the people from Ngukurr, I said: ‘It is now time for you to take the knowledge from others around the Northern Territory and Australia and tap into that knowledge’. By ‘knowledge’ I mean the business knowledge, the housing knowledge, the real estate knowledge, and the stock exchange knowledge - all the knowledge out there Aboriginal people in these 20 growth towns can also tap into.
A suggestion I made was to call together a forum, a Ngukurr futures forum, where they can invite people to come into Ngukurr and ask these guests, whoever they may be - from the Real Estate Institute, from private enterprise, or from the women’s network in Darwin - to do their own research about Ngukurr and then tap into the expertise of these people, and mix and match the way they would like to use it for their own purposes in the Ngukurr region.
That is one example of how exciting it is for communities, clan groups and organisations starting to really think about what they can do in tapping into the A Working Future policy, how they will grow their towns and families in a way that the responsibility comes back to individuals, their families, and the people in the towns themselves. This work will include information collection about existing assets, as I said. Priorities will differ according to location and local circumstances; in some locations the priority may be improved communications; in many places it will be improvements to transport infrastructure.
I have said in this House on a number of occasions the ability of our government to focus on the transport needs is integral to the success of A Working Future; it is also integral to the success of any economic development in all these communities and regions right across the Northern Territory. My colleague, the Minister for Transport, is very passionate about looking at the transport strategy our government wants to see come to fruition in the coming months.
A key feature of A Working Future is we will prioritise infrastructure needs in each place. It was clear when I came into government the absolute need to ensure our airstrips were sealed in communities like Ramingining, Bulman in particular, and Minyerri, which was in my electorate at that time. Our government was committed to ensuring, as part of the transport infrastructure, these airstrips were sealed because we knew once the rivers were up, the roads were flooded and it was boggy to get in and out in the Wet Season, the only way in and out, usually, was by air, and If the airstrips were not sealed, it was then an added challenge. We have recognised since coming to government the vital priority for Top End communities in the Wet Season was sealing these airstrips.
Importantly, we will ensure infrastructure investments are properly sequenced so we ensure maximum return on investment. This work, completed in partnership with local people, reflects our long-term commitment to our towns, and the Territorians who call these towns home. This commitment and the certainty which will be provided as a consequence of our work will create an environment of confidence for the future of these towns, a very necessary precursor for private investment, business activity and job creation.
One fundamental necessity for private sector investment is security of tenure. All four Northern Territory land councils share that commitment to enhancing the wellbeing of Indigenous Territorians living outside the major centres. The land councils also have a legal obligation to ensure that landowners have a key role in decision-making in relation to the land and, as landowners, they benefit from the use of their land. The future we see is of traditional owners moving beyond compensation for the use of the land to one where they embrace and benefit from economic activity on their land.
An important issue is township leasing and other forms of leasing to facilitate business investment being progressed through the land councils. Again, I digress to look at some of the examples in my electorate, of Ngukurr with the Anindilyakwa Land Council and the remote partnership agreement on Groote Eylandt. The Groote Eylandt people have made tremendous advances in economic activity through organisations like GEBIE, the Groote Eylandt/Bickerton Island Enterprise job shop. A tremendous amount of work has been done through GEBIE, and it has been well recognised in Umbakumba, Angurugu, Bickerton, and nearby Numbulwar.
The Dugong Beach Resort at Alyangula is an outstanding example of enterprise and the partnership between the land council and private business. When members of parliament and visitors go to Groote and see the Dugong Beach Resort, they not only get a sense of the amount of work that has obviously been done to build such an incredible resort, but to see the everyday impact it clearly has on the lives of people there: the land council, the workers who are working with GEBIE, and the tourism enterprise that has come out of the Dugong Beach Resort - it is exciting, and it is innovative.
We want to see that example in other communities, and it will be wonderful the day we can stand up in parliament and say: ‘Yes, well, that is quite an ordinary thing’. We should not be excited about it, because we want to see it as commonplace for any Indigenous person across the Northern Territory to own their own business, be a part of a business enterprise, and to pave the way for their children in this area. It will be great the day we do not have to speak about it any more because it is part of the way of life here in the Northern Territory.
The other example on Groote Eylandt is the relationship between the Groote Eylandt people and the Groote Eylandt Mining Company, GEMCO. The relationship is one that has taken decades to get to a point where there is mutual respect of the cultural importance. The mining company recognises the cultural importance to the Groote Eylandt people of certain places on the island in terms of language and the maintenance of culture but, at the same time, the Groote Eylandt people are hard negotiators and they know how to negotiate with an international company for benefits to their people. That is a very good example that can be shared right across the Northern Territory and across Australia.
A Working Future is not, however, just about land leasing, private investment and infrastructure - it is also about services. We are working with the Australian government on a detailed analysis of existing services and service delivery standards in the 15 service towns identified in the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership. There are many service gaps out bush and we need to identify and work on these gaps, employing the $1.5bn investment available under our COAG National Partnership Agreements to underpin the development of our remote communities and supporting development of healthy and work-ready communities.
We also need to look at the way we design and deliver our services: how we do it, job design, and the recruitment and retention of staff. We need to think more broadly about the return on investment from expenditure of taxpayer dollars. An issue raised by Bob Beadman our independent Coordinator-General for Remote Services, is the need to review procurement policies to ensure government expenditure is engendering training and job opportunities out bush, as well as in our towns.
There are a huge number of people out bush with limited job opportunities relying on income support. We need to be creative in using government investments to create training and employment opportunities, as we certainly are doing, and I have seen this in communities in Arnhem with the current SIHIP program.
A clear message from our success to date is the need to celebrate, value, and work with our own unique assets such as the world of music, art, heritage and culture. An important issue here is the connection of people and country; it is the land which inspires these things, and this makes the Territory special. We must ensure we treasure these things and they are properly valued.
I am also mindful of the role of outstations and homelands in the mix. One key objective of our current outstations policy consultations is discussion about new forms of economic activity to help supplement the income of outstations. We know we have to look at these things place by place and, like all new business ventures, there is a need for planning, capital, and marketing.
Our aim is to support innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit and make connections with the business community to underpin new business ventures. I am especially heartened by the emerging tourism ventures established by families who are opening up access to exciting new destinations across the Northern Territory; and many of these are taking place on homelands.
We should not forget the Territory has always been justly proud of its record of innovation; this is a tradition we need to celebrate and encourage, coming up with interesting and unique ideas and exploring new business opportunities like the Wadekken fire abatement and land management work in West Arnhem Land.
I have spoken mostly of business in the bush because the remote parts of the Territory are a key focus of A Working Future. That is not to diminish the good things happening in our major towns and cities where Indigenous Territorians are embracing business opportunities, and expressing their individuality by taking risks. An example is a ranger who has taken to the air - Richard Baker, one of our very successful Indigenous helicopter pilots and a Garrawa Yanyuwa man from Borroloola, who is currently in Katherine.
I acknowledge that individual opportunity is always about choice, in my view. Indigenous people, like any Australian, want to have a choice of what they do, where they live, how they raise their children and to use the gifts of their culture, and the strength and richness of home and country as part of the way forward in economic development. I congratulate Richard Baker on his skills in getting his helicopter pilot licence.
The Territory has always been a great place of opportunity, and I know it will continue to be so. We are totally committed to ensuring all Territorians can enjoy and benefit from a prosperous future.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, it has been interesting listening to this debate. I cannot say there is much of it I have not heard before, and I take note of what the member for Brennan had to say in his remarks.
It seems like we come into this House, politicians of any ilk, no matter where they are - Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, or the federal parliament - constantly come into their Chambers and have these types of discussions. These discussions have been going on for decades and decades.
The reality is, over that period of time the lot of Aboriginal people has seemed to get worse. In many ways I believe we have thrown the baby out with the bath water with many of the policies which have been put in place.
I remember my old mate out at Munmarlary Station, he had an abattoir …
Ms Purick: Jay Pendarvis.
Mr TOLLNER: Not Jay Pendarvis; John Lord, the Lord of Kakadu they called him. He had pictures from the 1950s and 1960s of what life was like in Kakadu with the abattoir; it was a real home-spun sort of affair. He came from Sydney and carved a living out of the bush and worked with many Aboriginal people. He had photographs of whole families and tribes of Aborigines from the littlest kids up to the oldest adults, all working in the buffalo abattoir, all looking healthy. Admittedly, in those days there was no equal pay, and people of all persuasions lived pretty damn tough. For anyone to go out into those conditions, a white man from Sydney to carve a living out of the bush was an incredible achievement, and he did it very hard.
The fact the Aboriginals who were working with him were not being paid a great deal of money was no reflection of how he cared for them. He was a great advocate for Aboriginal people, but then as time went on and Kakadu came into being, the buffaloes were gotten rid of, and all of a sudden the Aboriginal people had land rights, he was moved on, and all of a sudden there is nothing.
A few years ago I went out to Munmarlary and I saw his old mate, a bloke called Left-hand Johnny; at that time, Left-hand was probably the most senior traditional owner alive in Kakadu. Now he was living in a stinking, rotting demountable asking for money to buy petrol for his generator so he could pump some water up to make a cup of tea. Left-hand had one old lady looking after him; she had been a victim of leprosy and had no fingers on either hand, and was his sole carer. He passed away only a couple of years ago. When you look at the pictures John Lord had of Left-hand, the young warrior, a strong man, strong family, strong connections, working hard, shooting buffalo, boning them out and sending buffalo meat right across Arnhem Land, you have to ask the question: where did we go wrong? Where have we gone wrong over this period? It was an incredibly sad thing to see the way we seemingly have stuffed it up.
We heard from the member for Nelson about the old missions. In some wonderful, modern thinking we decided we should not be forcing religion on these people, so we moved all of the missionaries out of those communities. Maybe it was the wrong thing to try to ram religion down people’s throats - certainly growing up I had it rammed down my throat - I am sure there are many members in the parliament here who did not have much of a choice either. There was no chance I was ever going to grow up Jewish or Muslim or Hindu; my family were Christian and every Sunday they went to church, and all the kids used to follow behind. In these enlightened times that might be deemed a bad thing, but certainly it was the way of the world when I was growing up. I do not necessarily believe it was a bad thing, it taught us respect, it gave us some moral grounding and it made us into the people we are today. But somewhere along the line that was deemed inappropriate for Aboriginal people across Australia.
A few years ago in my former role as the member for Solomon, I found myself on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. Being a new bloke in parliament I went to Canberra because committee positions were coming up and I nominated for positions on particular committees. Word got back to me that I had missed out on this committee and that committee, but they decided to put me on this Aboriginal affairs committee. It was a committee I had not even nominated for; it was the last committee I wanted to be on because I have seen the way race relations and Aboriginal affairs affects people. In many ways it is a kiss of death to get caught up in that because, as I say, we have gone through decades and decades of talk, inquiries, and nothing ever got done, and I did not want to be a part of that.
But, I ended up part of it. I was on that committee and for three years we travelled the length and breadth of Australia visiting communities - not just in the Northern Territory, but Western Australia, north Queensland, central Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, country Victoria - all over the show. We were inquiring into capacity building and service delivery in Indigenous communities the length and breadth of the country. The member for Macdonnell will remember that committee well; the member for Macdonnell was on the ATSIC Board at the time, and we had quite a bit to do with ATSIC. We had an interesting crew of people on our committee I have to say, with a number of interesting people on the ATSIC Board at the time - people who, in some ways, are legendary.
It was interesting, because we talked to all these people tied up in different aspects of the Aboriginal industry – which is how I refer to it - and it seems to me there is a plethora of these organisations around the country. We travelled through communities, we talked to organisations, and everyone was well intentioned. At the end we put together a report for the federal parliament and, I have to say, I could not stomach the contents of that report, so I put in some dissenting remarks. Rather than be accused of plagiarism, I thought I might read my dissenting remarks. I do not think you can plagiarise your own remarks, can you? I would like to read my dissenting remarks onto the Parliamentary Record:
Those were my dissenting comments on that report. That report was tabled in June 2004, more than five years ago. If things do not sound familiar in what I just read, you have not been listening; because that was five years ago, and here we are talking about exactly the same situation right now. I guarantee you 10 years ago they were talking about it, and 15 years ago, and more. To me, these things are so obvious, but for whatever reasons - party ideology, political correctness, whatever - we fail to face up to the challenges right in front of us.
Welfare-ism and apartheid have killed Aboriginal people, and are killing Aboriginal people. We set up these different structures for Aboriginal people as if they were somehow different to us. I have heard the member for Macdonnell speaking in the past; I forget the exact phrase she used, but it was Aboriginal people are not different, but you know …
Mr Elferink: There is not a white way or a black way; there is only the right way.
Mr TOLLNER: That is exactly right; the member for Port Darwin has hit the nail on the head. There is not a black way or a white way; there is just the right way. And we should all be treated the same.
Mr Elferink: I did not say it. She did.
Mr TOLLNER: You gave me the quote, member for Port Darwin. I hope I got that right, member for Macdonnell. I am pretty close to the mark.
That is really what we are facing in this country – apartheid – but because of political correctness, we do not call it that. We have set up a whole range of institutions all about Aboriginal people. We have Aboriginal health services, Aboriginal education services, land exclusively for Aboriginal people. It does not matter where you look; in every sector we have a separate body set up for Aboriginal people like they are somehow different from the rest of us; they are treated differently. No wonder they feel they are different, because, as a society, we have set them apart from how we are.
Welfare-ism kills people – a constant stream of welfare, whether you are black, white or brindle, it does not matter. I see white people in my own electorate who are hooked and addicted to welfare; cannot get off it. This is not a black problem or a white problem. This is a problem we need to address as governments, and stop the welfare cycle. Ultimately, much of this - and I hear the Chief Minister expressing his comments – is a role for private industry, and I agree there is a role for private industry; there is a role for government, although I believe the role for government needs to be diminished, not enhanced. We have to get government out of that picture, because government is only getting in the way of development.
Ultimately, and most importantly, it comes down to Aboriginal people themselves; they have to pull their socks up; they have to participate in the wider economy; they have to start working and trying. You can lead a horse to water; you can put in place all the systems of government …
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time for the member to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.
As I was saying, there is not much we can do unless Aboriginal people themselves want to get up on their hind legs, as they say, and participate in the wider economy. We can have all of the programs under the sun; we can have the most benevolent private sector under the sun; we can do as much as we possibly can; we can put roads, and parks, and goodness knows what into Aboriginal communities, but unless there is that seed of desire, that seed of wanting to get ahead from people themselves, it is not going to work. We can try and try but, as the old saying goes: you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.
Somewhere along the line there has to come some responsibility; and it would be great to see governments getting in there and giving that little kick, that little nudge to encourage people to get up and to have a go.
I can understand how debilitating years and years of welfare dependency must be. I cannot imagine it myself because I come from a community and a family environment where you were encouraged to get out and try new things and do new things. I do not believe I know an unemployed person these days, apart from my role in the electorate. I do not believe I have a friend who is unemployed at the moment. That is in stark contrast to many Aboriginal people living in remote areas. There are children born today where the mother and father have never had a job, their brother and sisters have never had a job, they do not know a single person who has a job; welfare is supplied to them, and to the whole community. How can they possibly hope to have that spark of desire to own a house, the desire to have a job, the desire to be educated? It is very difficult, and I understand that.
Despite this, there are some incredible Aboriginal people out there who have done well in the face of all this, and they are to be applauded, and respected, and listened to. People like my old mate, Dave Gulpilil; I saw him sitting in the park yesterday doing some paintings. I know as Territorians we tend to have a bit of fun with Dave because he is slightly eccentric at times; not everyone walks down the main drag with a machete. In any case, he is a man who has done us all proud here in the Northern Territory. The circumstances he has come from and where he has been - he is an absolute Northern Territory legend - he has walked on the world’s stage.
Galarrwuy Yunupingu: I have been quite scathing in some of my comments over the years in relation to Galarrwuy Yunupingu, but when you actually look at the history of that man, he is a living treasure; there is no doubt in my mind about that. As I say, I have had great opposition to some of the things he has come up with, but you cannot - and I do not believe anyone can - diminish what he has actually achieved as a person. People like Sid Ruska who started an earth moving business. I heard about Ian Conway last week, and I remember meeting him. He took the member for Braitling, the Opposition Leader and the federal member for Warringah, Tony Abbott, for a spin around his block …
Mr Elferink: His block? It is a pretty big block.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, I know he has a cattle station. Sorry, I am from the land myself. Anyway, he took the guys for a look around his cattle station and, by goodness, the things I have heard about him - is he is an achiever. It really does not matter where you look, you will always find fantastic examples of what some people can do.
The unfortunate thing is these people are a minority; they are the exception rather then the rule. Let us be honest about this, some things have to be said, but for fear and political correctness people are most likely not prepared to say them. I heard the Minister for Tourism in his speech talk about the fantastic tourism opportunities the government has created by handing over 49 parks - a huge number of parks - great tracks of land right across the Northern Territory have been handed over. The minister, for some reason, seems to believe this is going to launch them into tourism.
Minister, I do not know if you are aware, but for many years now almost half of the Northern Territory land mass has come under the control of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, administered from Canberra; exactly the way you planned to hand these parts over, convert them to Aboriginal land. If these guys were seriously interested in tourism and getting up and having a go, they have had a long time, certainly in the last 20 or 30 years, plenty of opportunities to start their own tourism businesses on their own land.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of these things; although I do agree with the minister inasmuch as I believe tourism is one of those great opportunities Indigenous people in the Northern Territory have. However, what is the point of having an opportunity if you are not prepared to seize it? These great government-funded programs are really nothing more than welfare-ism. We talk about the range of programs and the caring for country; if many of these people were truly caring for country do you think we would go to a community and find rubbish from one end to the other? Rubbish bags, empty wine bladders, baked beans cans, old tyres and car wrecks – that is no way to care for country. We talk about the wondrous traditional knowledge these people have. What kind of traditional knowledge tells you it is all right to just throw your wrappers all over the joint? It seems no one is prepared to say this; no one says: ‘Go and clean up your own town first’. Let us have an emu parade.
I remember where I grew up, a little place just outside of Woorabinda Aboriginal community; Woorabinda was an absolutely spotless community 35 years ago. I imagine things have changed quite substantially in the last 35 years, but these places were neat and tidy. You are hard pressed anywhere in Australia - not just in the Northern Territory - to go to a community where you do not see the houses trashed, graffiti on every wall you walk past, rubbish, beer cans, empty wrappers, old blankets, and dogs with no hair. Goodness me! These things are everywhere. However, for some reason we, as a society, seem to be able to turn a blind eye to that; overlook that …
Mr Conlan: Political correctness.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, political correctness. The idea is you cannot say a negative word about Aboriginal people. As I said, I have heard these arguments 1000 times before; anyone in this Chamber who has been around for a little while, no matter what side of this place you sit, have all heard these arguments before. My biggest concern is we are just going to add more mountains of paper and think about Aboriginal affairs but, ultimately, things are only going to get worse while we sit around here having talkfests and debating these things.
As soon as government gets out of this square, and the sooner many of these other organisations get out of the square, the better. The sooner Aboriginal people are treated as Australians - no more, no less - the better off they will be. The sooner we get a hold on this welfare monster, this welfare poison, for all Australians - not just Aboriginal Australians - black white, brindle, Chinese decent, Greek decent, German decent, Aboriginal decent, it does not matter; we have to get a hold of this welfare poison. Poison can be useful, but you do not want to start throwing it around everywhere because you kill everything, and we do not want that.
These have just been a few remarks from my heart; I do not know whether they will have any impact, but I appreciate the Chamber’s time in hearing them.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the statement also. I say to the member for Fong Lim about the ‘member for Warringah’. The Bushranger, last weekend I believe, quoted Warringah in the Warlpiri language as ‘crazy’. Well, it is not. It is ‘warrungka’ if they want to use the word ‘crazy’; it is not warringah. I thought I would correct that on the Parliamentary Record.
I have heard from both sides of this Chamber on what has gone wrong in Aboriginal communities - economic development, I can honestly stand here and say the member for Nelson is the one who hit the nail on the head in the discussion in this Chamber. When we talk about regional development, you have to go back, as the member for Fong Lim said; there has been policy after policy for decades; politicians after politicians - black and white, both sides of the political spectrum - federal and Territory parliaments and every state parliament - have discussed how to get Indigenous people out of the rut they find themselves in. I would like to say it is the hopelessness created by bad policy; and the member for Fong Lim also said that all those decades ago, for some unknown reason, the baby was thrown out with the bath water.
In the past, in remote Aboriginal communities, there was viability. There was economic development. There were butcher shops, bakeries, stockmen going off to work, and wood choppers making furniture. We had what were called manual arts learning centres in remote Aboriginal communities. Hermannsburg had the tannery. There were manual arts learning units at Yuendumu, Papunya and some of the islands in the Top End.
It is interesting to listen to people who contribute to statements like this. I have heard people say that government policy is for all Territorians, yet this statement is Indigenous Economic Development, so there is that separatism caused, unintentionally, by the way you think and how you put things together. Either we are here for all Territorians, black and white, or we are just doing things in a separate manner on regional economic development for Indigenous people. The language I have heard from people contributing to this statement has been that the Territory government is looking after all Territorians, and this statement certainly is for Indigenous Territorians.
Yes, as I said, Aboriginal people do have choices in life to change their circumstances, but those choices can only be made if people are educated and healthy. A future is determined by how you are educated, where you live, and how healthy you are. The future of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory has been doomed for many decades since the changes that happened to people living in houses. We had a system where we lived in humpy, but there was transitional housing to a better house. I remember we went from a humpy to a one-bedroom South African-style house, to a two-bedroom tin shed until my parents could prove they could live inside a four-bedroom or three-bedroom house.
That was the day of my life when my Mum and Dad got an upstairs house at Papunya. We were like monkeys sliding down the staircase, and Mother had to tell us very quickly if we acted like that we would soon be thrown out. But it was a real achievement for Aboriginal people in those communities during the old welfare days. My Aunty was a baker, and my Uncle was a butcher, and that is the work ethic the member for Nelson talked about. We grew up seeing our people work so we thought we had to work. We had no welfare.
But two generations after me, and I go back to something the member for Fong Lim said, a couple of my nephews have never had a job, because they have never had the good idea to be educated properly. This education system we put into remote Aboriginal communities is always second-class. You cannot expect children to learn when there is second rate education and second rate health services put into remote Aboriginal communities for one class of people. That is why it is really important that we go back to not a black way, not a white way, but a right way to deliver services for all Territorians, and for all Australians.
You can see it currently with the art industry - the easiest industry in the country - 1% of Indigenous people are employed in this industry; there should be 80% to 90% of Indigenous people in remote Aboriginal communities employed in the art industry. Everywhere you go there are arts centres funded by the federal minister in joint partnership with the Northern Territory government. You see Aboriginal people painting, but you will not see Aboriginal people serving. There was an incident when I took the Governor-General out to my own community of Papunya, and the story of a painting was translated for the Governor-General, not by an Indigenous person, but by the non-Indigenous art coordinator. It is so offensive that someone who does not belong to that culture and is not attached to that culture thinks it is necessary to translate the culture to someone else. I am sure the Governor-General was very offended by that as well. It would be nice to have Indigenous people standing up and talking about their own dreamings. The dreaming is not something someone can interpret. It is something you know in your heart, something that is part of you. You are attached to that Tjukurrpa, that story, therefore it is only you who can translate where the story begins and where the story ends, and your attachment, or your family’s attachment, to that painting.
Some of the big employment opportunities we need to have a look at are in the art industry. As I said, the art industry is the easiest industry in the Northern Territory to have 80% to 90% of Indigenous employment, if we talking about real employment. I go back to a person’s own beliefs and what you do as individuals. The fact you live in a house, the fact you have been educated, the fact you are healthy determines and gives you the determination to strive for something better and bigger, and you set yourself a standard of where you want to go.
I go to an e-mail I received a couple of days ago from a person I will not name. If we are talking about real employment, then we need to make sure we tell people that this is real employment. In a community in my electorate the nurse establishment has gone from four to three. There were two jobs, and instead of one job being offered as a permanent job to one person, it was cut down to two people. The driver’s hours were cut back from 20 to 10. How can people who are working 10 hours a week have a dream of home ownership, or even think of purchasing a home? If we are serious about engaging in Indigenous employment, then let us get serious and give them real jobs, not CDEP jobs because, at the end of the day, CDEP is still welfare.
My own niece left my community with a dream of going to live in Alice Springs to find herself a job. She was very successful. She worked at Centrelink, but she was homeless and she was going to Centrelink to work every day from the creek, on occasions from a car body, sometimes from relatives’ places; she would just camp around. Last week she had enough. She said: ‘I do not want to work any more. I tried in Alice Springs, I got myself a job, but I cannot get myself any accommodation.’ She went to every place and put her name down, and she started blaming the real estate industry saying every time blackfellas line up, it is always the whitefellas in front who get the houses. I said: ‘That is not the reason. The real estate agents have to work for the owner of the house. If the owner of the house says I do not want to rent my house out to Aboriginal people, then the real estate agent is only doing the job for the owner of the house’. I said: ‘You cannot blame other people’.
There is a real shortage in Alice Springs of housing; a real shortage. This is a young, 28-year-old woman struggling, who has already left her job and is going to go back to the hopelessness we are all talking about of a remote Aboriginal community, because she could not survive. And it is not of her doing. She did all the right things, getting herself through a qualification to interpret and she worked at Centrelink doing all the interpreting, but she just could not find accommodation. She lived everywhere for a whole year, and she has come to the end of her tether. Now she is saying it is easier to go back and sit down at Papunya, because it is just too hard to live and work in town.
These are some of the things we are going to have to identify in the debate on this statement, and we are going to have to address them if we are to help these people who are really struggling.
Oak Valley is a family-owned tourism business just outside Titjikala and it is doing really well as a family enterprise. It has been done mainly out of their own money; they are both pensioners and they sit on various committees in Alice Springs and put this money back into their business. They have a garden, and they have olive trees. In 2002, they could not even get jars from the Northern Territory government to put their olives in. There is no system of quick response for people who do not want to go through the bureaucratic process of putting in an application for 100 jars; there is nowhere they can ring someone up and say: ‘I am starting an enterprise, can I get 100 jars from you to put my olives in?’
Finke, where they have grapevines, is also in my electorate and is another classic example. I actually opened the beautiful garden they have at Finke and people went to the garden to get pumpkins and cabbages to cook their own stew at home. The old aged care program used the garden, and so did the school programs to feed the schoolchildren. But they could not get a chiller to take the grapes from there to wherever they had to go; if they had used the back of a ute or a troopie, it would have been grape juice within five minutes.
So these are the small, easy things where we can get wins on the board that we are not doing. We are looking at the high end of the market, not at the bottom end of the market to make things easier for people to obtain. It is always the rolls and rolls of red tape and bureaucracy that you have to go through to find where to get the money, the help, and by that time people give up. People just say they do not want to do it anymore and they just walk away, even from their own businesses, because it is too hard.
One of the other places I looked at was Utopia. In my trip to Ampilatwatja there was 5 ha of land that was cleared a couple of years ago for a citrus farm. They had capped four bores and those four bores are still capped - the land is cleared but nothing new is happening.
In my area between Yuendumu, Nyirripi, Papunya and Kintore you have the largest water basin sitting right in the middle on Mt Wedge. You could have some kind of economic zone for people in that whole area and you would feed and have real economic growth and economic development and employment opportunities not for 1000 or 2000 people, but for 4000 or 4500 people, because you are taking in seven communities. Some of the things I spoke to Centre Farm about were having abattoirs at Mt Liebig, Yuendumu and Hermannsburg, so they are catering for west, north, and south; we could look at having economic zones through Centre Farm, and maybe they are one of the players we need to bring in to look at regional economic development in the Northern Territory.
Education is also the key, and health is also the key. If we are looking at health it is very important we do not just concentrate on the hospitals but we look at primary health care and preventative health care as well, and ensure the bottom end is looked after as well as the top end, because by the time people go to hospital it is too late. They are too sick, they have seen the doctors, and they are all on medication. We have to try to get people at the bottom end before they get see the doctor, before they go into the hospitals.
It is vital, in the 21st century, that we have good quality education in the remote bush, not just someone standing up and saying: ‘We are doing this and we are doing that.’ Let us get away from the politics and really search and ask ourselves the questions as to whether we are delivering for all Territorians - whether we are giving them the highest quality education to make the choices in life to be business people, to be politicians, and do the things we have all done.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, I support the statement on Indigenous economic development presented to this House by the minister, the Honourable Karl Hampton MLA, an Indigenous man who walks in two worlds. A man who is a role model, a mentor and a man who brings to this House government policy that eschews with a number of other big, bold policies - policies that are not without risk. It takes a courageous person to deliver in the face of adversity and criticism and face the challenges of delivering. However, that is what the Henderson government is about, and these policies, including the Indigenous economic development policy, are policies we know will close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.
This evening I acknowledge the Larrakia people, the traditional owners of the land I am standing on and we are gathering on at the moment. I acknowledge those traditional people because it is the traditional people of the Northern Territory who inspired me to come here as a visitor. Tonight I heard what the member for Johnston described as a conspiracy, and other interpretations of history. I have talked briefly about policy, and what we have to take into account is British colonialism - the colonial policies created, to a large degree, the challenges we have today.
We have heard some great anecdotes of Territory history. The member for Fong Lim has a fabulous anecdote of history. But, to me, we need to debate British colonialism and colonial policies because, whilst there were some wonderful images, I am afraid the era of self-determination, freedom, and shedding the shackles of oppression joined the race. There was no getting away from that; it happened globally, it did not just happen in Australia or the Northern Territory. Suddenly, Indigenous people - and in my patch of the world the pastoral industry, the cattle industry, was literally built on their backs - said: ‘Enough is enough’. They wanted a change.
These changes, in a very simplified form in a very elaborate history, put the men out of work. I came at an interesting period in this process when the men were moving off cattle stations, taking their families off cattle stations, and they were without work for the first time in generations. The member for Macdonnell outlined another example of people living in highly-organised and ordered communities; and the member for Fong Lim added the changes which came with the changes to colonial policies with a movement into a whole new era of policy development for all Australians - and they were faced with the same challenges.
I go back about 28 years to a Friday afternoon at Robinson River School where I used to impose a role reversal. I used to throw my hands in the air and say to the group of infants and primary children there: ‘You are now the teacher for the afternoon and I am the student’, and off we would go. We would go into places and spaces, and along the way we would collect and catch food, and we would cook that food and share a meal together. That could be at places like Gullajung or places up the river under Luba Luba Hill, or down at Whalon; and they were the teachers. Now, 28 years later, I go back to that same place and talk to those same people, they look me eye-to-eye and they are adults, and I tell them another story about those places: ‘You know, you could make a lot of money out of that, because people from all around the globe will pay to do exactly what we used to do.’ So I try to inspire Territorians to think about economic development in a whole raft of ways that will shift their culture, their ambitions and their freedom.
We have to be aware in this debate that some members are getting stuck on what I remember well, the Endeavour Reading Scheme with the characters of Dick and Dora. There are the Indigenous kids sitting on the mat and the non-Indigenous teacher sharing the images of Dick and Dora in a suburban home, with a television and one dog with hair, generally groomed, a car in the driveway and in the garden grew lovely flowers. The kids loved those books, and I am afraid educational policy and philosophy changed, too
I was a teacher here for 30 years, and I shed blood, sweat and tears to make myself unemployed; I did not achieve that in my teaching career but, who knows, I might go back to a teaching career one day, and I will continue in the same vein to make myself unemployed. I believe that is where we start to deconstruct what is available.
For the member for Port Darwin, I am really honoured to say that, from his time as the member for Macdonnell to now as the member for Port Darwin, things have changed, and they have changed for the better. The Mungkarta community on McLaren Creek Station have decided to utilise their land - they lease it to a well-known pastoralist from the southern Barkly - and they chose not to actually work their land themselves but to lease that land. This pastoralist is now developing infrastructure, running live export cattle, and also providing employment for local people.
I believe it is all about land use; and we not only have land, but we also have the sea. In the Barkly alone, we have communities aspiring to do road maintenance and earthworks; communities aspiring to do business and retail; communities aspiring to run shire services and become essential services officers. We have school positions; health positions; justice positions; police positions, and pastoral positions. All these are engrossed in the policy the minister has brought today which meshes and fuses with the other big, bold policies of the Henderson government to join forces in addressing the gap and to do things differently. We have left colonial policies and gone into an era of great uncertainty. Now we are a government that is going to find that light at the end of the tunnel to come out of this, and Indigenous people will be the benefactors but, as the member for Macdonnell says, Territorians and Australians will be the benefactors - because we are all in this together.
The Indigenous Economic Development Strategy has a number of key initiatives and identifies opportunities for economic development in 13 industry sectors. It is a strong plan with a clear vision for the future. Indigenous youth are needed in the pastoral industry, but do not stop there, guys. The pastoral industry means not only stock camps, but the possibility of looking after cattle on live export boats and ending up in the Philippines or Vietnam. That is what I call world vision - not the World Vision involved in the welfare of disadvantaged people, but a world vision that will show you what the member for Daly has elaborated in the House - wellbeing, the satisfaction of hard earned pay for a good day’s work.
There are no bounds to this policy, and it is going to take guts and determination. When the minister commits to 3000 more Indigenous jobs in the public and private sectors, then that is a gutsy effort and I believe the minister should be commended for that - a future focus to achieve sustainable outcomes and be responsive to community and regional aspirations - that is what it is about, and that is where this policy is taking us.
In terms of my portfolio areas, I am passionate about the Integrated Regional Transport Strategy and we agree, right across the House, transport underpins everything. Wherever I have been with the strategy, on ministerial travel and electorate travel, everyone talks transport, and we know the challenges we are up against. An overarching 10-year transport strategy to provide a high level framework and a set of guiding principles for the development of transport policy and the coordinated delivery of transport services across the Territory into the future, underpins the economic development strategy. I am going left of centre here in terms of transport. We talk about the infrastructure side, and most people do, however, I want to talk about the operational side, about drivers, mechanics, tyre fitters, auto electricians, mentors, supervisors, managers; and I am just scratching the surface. The Chief Minister summed it up: this Indigenous economic strategy is also welding the policy to the private sector.
In my brief time in this portfolio I have met some very influential people who have made their livelihood out of transport, substantial livelihoods out of operational transport, and they are interested in supporting Territorians - particularly young Territorians, and young, Indigenous Territorians. The Minister for Regional Development has a policy to go forward and we are now going to weld this to the private sector and we are going to grab every opportunity available. This will deliver far bigger than economic outcomes; this will deliver social outcomes on the way forward.
The provision of stronger and more reliable transport links between remote towns and urban centres will be fundamental to the success of all our initiatives, and the social wellbeing and the economic benefit to Indigenous communities and Indigenous people should not be underestimated. It is the key focus of the Henderson government.
Education and health underpin our basic sustainable livelihood, it underpins who we are and it underpins the potential we have to go forward. I am very pleased to say the Henderson government’s education strategies are about making education meaningful with the concept of backward mapping where we will look at jobs available in the community. It has been debated here widely, and it is very true, if you look at Epenarra cattle station which was run by a family - two sons, mum and dad - a community of 200 Indigenous people live on that same pastoral property now, and there is no way there will be enough jobs to sustain 200 people in the pastoral industry; so we are thinking bigger, broader, we are backward mapping in a regional sense, a Territory sense, and also an Australian sense of where the jobs are, who wants those jobs, and how they can get those jobs.
I have a wonderful experience to share with you about an ex-student of mine. When I was at the opening of Bootu Creek mine, the student had almost completed his training course at the mine; he had experienced a real job in a highly sophisticated industry, had experienced real wages, had purchased a motor car, and was very proud to share all those experiences with me, his ex-teacher; and I was very proud to be an active listener. Once again, I stereotype the situation. I said to this ex-student of mine: ‘Of course, on your time off you would drive home to your home community’. And the answer came back, very proudly: ‘No, not always, Mr McCarthy, sometimes I choose to go where I want to go; sometimes I choose to not go home but to experience the big, wide world’. Then I threw in, from my perspective: ‘Well, that could mean driving to Alice Springs, or getting on a plane and going to see Collingwood play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground’. This young fellow smiled because he knew what I was talking about. That is just one example; that is just one small step, and that is what this economic development strategy for Indigenous people has right in its sights.
We also have McArthur River where we have Mine Makers and their operation, Emerson; Excalibur; West Gold all out actively exploring new ventures, as well. I share with the Chief Minister, and he enjoys my anecdotes when I say I want my kids from the Barkly working with the best boilermakers in the world, and that means wherever in the world; we do not have to stay home. The potential here is unlimited, and the potential for development is unlimited. We are supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs and develop the whole processes through a very stable start of work readiness.
There are arts and museums, and the member for Macdonnell is right, it is a wonderful sector to engage Indigenous people and to provide real jobs and economic outcomes. This plan aligns the job opportunities from within the sector and also feeds job creation into other sectors. The plan is all about regional and cultural development incorporating the redevelopment of urban museums and galleries, and examining the possibility of a national centre for Indigenous art to better connect museums, art, heritage, libraries, parks and gardens. As the member for Macdonnell elaborated, the new Living Arts policy is another example of a policy meshing with the Indigenous economic policy to go forward and provide arts at the centre of lives for Territorians. I want to see our internationally famous art continue to create jobs and opportunities. That is why the draft policy, Living Arts, will focus on arts as a central part of lifelong learning and support regional development through the regional delivery of arts and cultural programs.
The other area of great potential is the Indigenous music industry, and we are all aware of how powerful and how forward thinking that industry is, and how fast paced that industry has become. One of the key foundations of this employment partnership was launched in August by the Minister for Regional Development and me. The Indigenous Employment Partnership for the NT Music Sector is the concept of regional music hubs which will incorporate all aspects relating to training, mentoring, pathways of employment, touring, performance, festivals, recording and, last but not least, the equipment and transport necessary to do all this. Dare I say it in this House, but Dr Fluoride of the Winanjjikari Music Centre, look out, man, you are going to be unemployed because there are Indigenous people who are coming up through this industry and they are going to take your job, and mine, Doctor. So, do not worry, we will be in that same boat together.
In addition to the avenues for Indigenous employment in the arts, new directions outlined in Living Arts will be supported by a new service provision model aimed at brokering resource inputs across a range of organisations and agencies, and maximising community outcomes which go way beyond the arts portfolio.
I am proud to represent the people of the Barkly, and to be a member of the Henderson government, a government that takes action and creates jobs and investment and spreads the good times around the Territory. I have been in the game a very short time, but we are going to get out there and we are going to have a go. There is a deal of risk and, to conclude and sum up where I started with colonial policies and with the challenges we face today - be under no illusions, there is much passive resistance within the community, within the Territory. There is also much active resistance which testifies to the large numbers of young Indigenous in our prisons today. None of this is without its challenges, and if there is anything we do agree on today, from what I have heard so far in the debate, is everyone is on the way forward. That means Indigenous economic development which will equate to economic development for all Territorians.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I will start off in relation to this statement by referring to a book I read titled The Birth of Plenty, How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created in which the author, William Bernstein, points out in a very good manner how the wealth of the world was created and how the wealth of nations and communities is created.
Without going in to a great speech in relation to the book, I would like to point out there are four very basic things any country, any community, needs present all at the one time for wealth to be created. Those four things are first, private ownership; the second is scientific rationalisation; the third is access to capital and, the fourth, is an efficient communication and transport system. Any country which has not had any of those, or has had only three of them, has never been sustainable in relation to wealth creation. The history shows very convincingly, as does the research, you must have all of those four things present at the same time to generate wealth. I will refer to that set of four requirements as I go through the statement, which I have read. There are some good things in there, and some things that need to be discussed.
First, I will deal with micro-financing issues, because that comes as a basic requirement for many things the minister spoke about in his statement. I went recently, as part of my scholarship with the Australian Rural Leadership Program, to India where we did a whole raft of different things, one of which was looking at micro-financing. We went to communities where poverty prevails; people are destitute and living in very poor and squalid conditions. The whole idea was for us to see what happens in a country where there are no social services, no welfare, and where, if you do not participate and do things, then you simply die. It was very evident from the trip there are people who actually are in that situation and, some, through no fault of their own, actually pass away because there is no safety net, no welfare system.
The interesting thing was, when you go to these villages and talk to people, there is a change in some, and not in others. The ones we noticed a change in were the ones where micro-financing is working, and working well, to the point where people find even tiny bits of money, and they gather together as a community and lend it to one so that one can get a start; and once things start to be paid back, then, so it goes on; the little community gathers another little pot of money and they lend it to another. What they are doing is demonstrating the basics of entrepreneurial-ship where you get a lift and a hand from people and, then, you have to develop your own drive and energy to fulfil whatever it is you want to do.
I heard the member for Barkly talk about the pastoral industry, and he spoke about a particular station where a husband and wife and their two sons ran that station. He spoke about a community of about 200 Aboriginal people who reside on that station and, obviously, there are insufficient jobs to employ all 200. That is a situation where we need to create other opportunities for people, especially the young people coming through those communities who need something to do so they do not get involved in alcohol and other drugs, and the domestic violence which wrecks some of these communities and, of course, crime and other issues these young people face.
So, with that, I thought about jobs. When you give jobs to people you might create industry, you might create all kinds of things for them. What do people work for? What are those people working for? What do they aspire to? The member for Barkly gave some of his experiences where some young people aspire to buy a car and go off to have a look at the world; and I absolutely agree.
Having been a recent traveller to some parts of the world, one comes across people who appear to be obviously of Aboriginal descent in all parts of the world, travelling around, looking, learning, and enjoying finding out about other cultures; it is a great pastime. But there are also many Aboriginal people I have spoken to in my time where I have sat down and, like the member for Macdonnell says, they aspire to own a home; they aspire to have a place they call their own, and they aspire for some of the conveniences that modern inventions provide. However, in many of these communities, there is a lack of housing, and that, of course, goes back to SIHIP; it goes back to the systemic failures of many politicians over many years. It is something that I believe, as a community, we need to address; where you can give these people hope, because I am sure all peoples of the world - black, white and brindle - have dreams, have aspirations, and aspire to improve their lot.
These 200 people the member for Barkly spoke about on the pastoral station, for instance, I have actually seen at Marrara Christian College, some fantastic programs. I mentioned this before in the hope that the Housing minister may have taken up the idea of going out and speaking to these people and, in fact, involving them in SIHIP. They take wonderful young people, many of whom are Aboriginal people from communities both near and far, and remote, and give them a friendly environment to live in. They live in communal houses where there will be at least 10 young Aboriginal people from all over the Territory; they are not the same skin groups, and they are from all over the place. They have house parents who look after them and teach them all types of trades. Again, I quote the member for Barkly, who said he was looking for electricians, tyre fitters, mechanics, and a whole raft of vocations which are required, and we have a shortage of, in these remote and rural areas we talk about. So they bring these people in, they teach them how the world works, and the ways of the world.
I would like to relate a story about a young lady which I believe I have mentioned it in this House before. This young lady comes from a remote community, I will not mention her name, nor will I mention the community, but I would like to tell the story that surrounds her. She spent five years of her high school education at Marrara Christian College; she performed very well, she studied hard; she was supported well, learned a lot of skills, and graduated from Year 12 to go into the workforce. She gained a really good job, because she is a smart young lady. She then decided she did not want to go back to her community and, like the young man described from Bootu Creek mine who might have wanted to go and have a look at Collingwood, this young lady wanted to have a look at the world and experience some of the things she had seen on television documentaries and the Internet. That was a couple of years ago. My understanding from people I know at that school is she has achieved those dreams and has done a considerable amount of international travel, and has come back and has passed that knowledge and that enthusiasm on to her very close friends.
What we have here is a system that works, where people come in from outlying areas, especially young men who used to be able to work in the pastoral industry, but these days there are insufficient jobs for the population of young people out there, so they come in and they are teach real skills, building real homes to be transported out to the communities from which they come. When these homes go out, the people look after them because they were built by young people from that community. If people want to wreck them, they have to deal with families and, of course, the people who built and maintained them.
I would like to go to the statement where the minister quotes from the Reverend Martin Luther King, who says:
In my time travelling around the Territory in outlying areas and communities within this country I have seen the welfare dependency which has beset some of these people who have been out there for three generations without any direction, and without any training.
The fact remains, as a community we all have to evolve. I recall a former Labor member of this House, Dr Peter Toyne, who once said you cannot keep Aboriginal people in a cultural museum. He went on to say they need to evolve and they need to grow, and I see those sentiments in this document - obviously Aboriginal people need to grow. However, I do not know if the way this government is going about it will do the best possible job; but I will come to that when I get to page 12.
I go to the comment at the bottom of page three: ‘Indigenous Territorians are three times more likely to be unemployed than non-Indigenous Territorians’. Well, one has to value economic development, one has to understand it, and I agree with members on the other side when they say education is the key. In a short period of time we will be required to get as many young Aboriginal people in rural and remote Australia educated as best we possibly can. There are some great innovations in relation to the Internet and electronic education moving into those outer areas, but we also need to get some of those people in, if they choose to, and encourage families to participate in the type of programs they run at Marrara Christian College.
I really value the time I spent there because I saw a system which actually worked, and I saw young people having a great time, receiving their education, and then able to go out and participate fully with a good education and a complete understanding of what the world is about. One hears from time to time the old saying: you need an education to understand why you need an education. When we are able to do that, it is great, but we also need to get as many people educated as quickly as we can and, again, I believe there are issues in the education portfolio as to how the government is going about doing that.
Page 3 of the statement says: ‘They are nine times less likely to be self-employed’. The first time I heard the word ‘entrepreneur’ used was by the member for Barkly five or 10 minutes ago; the member for Barkly said they are supporting Aboriginal entrepreneurs. That is the only time I have heard it, and I do not see in this document where the government has great strategies. When you go back to what William Bernstein was saying in The Birth of Plenty, the ideas of private ownership, scientific rationalisation, capital, and efficient communication and transport systems, all revolve around getting people to get out and do things, to drive themselves. You have to give them a reason to go out and do it, whether it is a house, a job, travel, whatever it is. I do not believe Aboriginal people are much different to anyone else; most of the young people I have spoken to want to travel, they want a big screen television; they want the same things most young people in the world would like.
Quite often, if we give them some entrepreneurial training - and there are young Aboriginal people, and older Aboriginal people, out there who have done very well and succeeded when given that training. However, I do not know that we have a huge thrust on that side of things; what I do see in this document is a thrust of more of the same. And we get to that on page 12. I note time is moving on and I am only up to page 3.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, if I could just interrupt. Because it is 9 pm, we normally automatically adjourn. You do have another five minutes, but if you are looking for an extension of time, I can grant you up until 10 minutes past 9 if you wish to continue, but that would be the very latest.
Mr STYLES: I will finish at a later date, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Sanderson.
Debate adjourned.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, it now being 9 pm, pursuant to standing order 41A, we have completed this item of business which will be carried over to the next sitting day. I propose to the Assembly that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, following on from adjournment speech last week, I congratulate four more students who are recognised by their schools as recipients of my book vouchers for Semester 3.
Jingili Primary School: Jack Taylor and Michelle Lu were singled out as being Quiet Achievers.
At Millner: Beverlynn Lyiambiam in Transition/Year 1, and Melijina Waiang in Year 5 also received Quiet Achiever Awards.
I also acknowledge the new acting principals in both of these schools: Mr Tim Morgan has taken over from Jodie Green who moved to Sanderson Middle School from Jingili this term. Jodie will be a hard act to follow, but I am sure Tim will enjoy the fantastic school of which he is now in charge. I have had the opportunity to meet Tim, and I am sure he is going to be a great principal. The Jingili community is a very close-knit with many great kids, teachers and parents.
At Millner, since the departure of Terry Quong, another strong and much-respected principal, Michael Jones, has been holding the fort since the beginning of Term 3 when he moved from Henbury Avenue. Terry had been at Millner for four-and-a-half years and achieved a great deal of success in his time there. He has taken up a principal’s position in a school in Hong Kong for a number of years, but we hope to see him back here in the Northern Territory one day to share with us his experiences in Hong Kong. I am sure everyone joins with me in wishing Terry all the best. He comes from a dyed-in-the-wool Territory family and I am sure he will be returning to Darwin, which is really his home.
Back at Moil Primary School, the sporting achievements are massive. Keely Palmer excelled in the gymnastic competition with a third on beam, fourth on bars and overall, and fifth on the floor. Ben Rehrmann, Xavier Cubillo, Mie Sorenson and Jacinta Creeper did very well at the NT Track and Field Championships with Jacinta, Xavier and Mie making through to the national level. Ari Manning and Daniel Tutt won a 2009 Achievement Award from the Darwin Dragons Soccer Club and a Participation Medal in the Under 7s competition, with Daniel scoring four goals in the last game. Well done! The boys’ team was only beaten once in the whole competition. Alannah Tutt also received a 2009 Achievement Award and Participation Medal in the Under 11s. Well done, Alannah!
The Darwin District Cricket Club awarded the Team of the Year Medal to Nicholas Cowling. Fantastic effort! Kristine O’Meara was the first in the 2009 Team Championships Sub-Junior Division Aggregate Winners with the NT Callisthenics Association. What a fantastic result, Kristine, and well done! Rebecca Rayner Cecchetti scored 90.5 out of a possible 100 in her Honours Grade 2 Ballet exam. This is a very high score, a wonderful achievement, and a testament to Rebecca’s hard work. Rachel Fisher graduated from the Level 6 Dolphin Program at the Goldfish Bowl Swim School; an appropriate name for an up and coming swimming champion, we hope. In the Under 8s Mixed Hockey Competition, medals were awarded to Ashley Birkin, Cayl Dela Pena, Megan Rollings and Braith Franklin-Wellard. In the Under 10s Girls Hockey Competition at St Mary’s, Temika Carrodus, Sarah Rolling and Ngaire Gahan each received a medal.
In the Gymnastics Northern Territory Championships the following champions were made: Stephanie Rayner with a 1st Level 2C Team, second on the beam, third on the floor and in the WAG Level 2C. Eden Palmer won third on the beam, and third Overall. Keely Palmer was first on the beam, and third overall in the WAG Level 3A/B, and third on the beam at Level 3C. Ngaire Gahan won first on the beam Level 2A/B, second on the vault, and third in the team. Well done to the gymnasts! What an outstanding effort.!
At the Darwin Athletic Centre, the 2009 Junior Outstanding Athlete was awarded to Taaliyah Markos, who also received nine medals in the 9-year girls’ competition: first in the 70 m, 100 m, 200 m long jump, high jump, 60 m hurdles; second in the 400 m, discus, and third in the shot put. That is an outstanding achievement and she is someone to watch in the future. Braith Franklin was awarded the South Darwin Junior Rugby League Player’s Trophy for as great effort. Noah Harwood was recognised by the Casuarina Junior Football Club for his efforts in the Under 6 White Team.
It is fantastic to see our kids playing all these different sports and activities, honing their skills and bringing glory to their clubs and schools. Keep up the good work.
The Minister for Housing recently announced the winners of the Gardening Competition for Public Housing Tenants, and I congratulate Delphine Newton and Vikki Riley of my electorate for their outstanding results in this competition. It is gratifying to know that hard work and dedication to beautifying our surroundings is awarded. Heartiest congratulations to Delphine of Millner on her second prize in the Best House Garden Category; and Vikki on her High Commendation for the Best Recently Developed Garden/Best New Garden in Coconut Grove.
It is always a pleasure to talk about the exploits and achievements of people in the Johnston electorate, from the kids in school excelling in sport - and they also excel academically and in the arts - and people who are winning wonderful prizes for being very proud of their gardens, and being a real asset to our community.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute and recognise one of the people I have had a bit to do with since taking over as member for Port Darwin - a lady by the name of Patsy Hickey, a person very keen on planning issues around Darwin. One of the problems with my electorate it is, in some respects, an electorate without a strong sense of community, partly caused by the transient nature of many people who move into and leave the high-rises in the electorate.
However, there are stalwarts within my electoral boundaries, and one of them is Patsy. She cares very much about planning issues around Darwin and, whether you agree with Patsy or not, one thing I notice is her level of passion and dedication. I often look to people like her and think to myself: if there were more people in our community who have the passion and drive of people like Patsy for the communities in which they live, I suspect our communities would be better planned and would be much more considered places than they are at the moment. There are many constructions and buildings in Darwin which receive criticism and, then, the criticism dies away. However, there are stalwarts like Patsy who continually seek to demonstrate there should be some consistency in the way we plan our fine city.
I draw honourable members’ attention to Patsy and the work she has done in our community to try to keep, if you like, the government - I was going to say the bastards – honest in how it goes about its planning processes. I draw honourable members’ attention to her name and to her, as a fighter for the planning future of our city. As I said, whether you agree with her or not, her level of dedication earns her the recognition of this House and, I believe, the gratitude of this House because, if there were more people like her in our community, we would have a better community as a whole.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Madam Deputy Speaker, I was extremely pleased to attend the official opening of the new Masonic Aged Care Facility called ‘Ponti Mews’, which was held in my electorate in the suburb of Tiwi last week. It is the latest addition to Masonic Homes’ Tiwi Gardens Seniors’ Living Community, and will definitely enhance the Territory’s existing aged care services. This new facility is specifically built for disadvantaged, elderly Territorians and consists of 12 aged care units and a community centre. Residents will benefit from the close proximity to Royal Darwin Hospital, and they will also have access to nursing, pharmaceutical and meal services which will allow them to continue living relatively independent lives.
The official opening of the $3.2m Ponti Mews aged care facility was attended by federal minister Anthony Albanese, Deputy Chief Minister Delia Lawrie, and Solomon MP Damian Hale. It was named after Ian Pontifex, a tireless advocate for quality aged care in the Territory. My sincere thanks to Masonic Homes, the Northern Territory government and the federal government for making significant contributions to bring this latest facility to completion; a truly great result for our community and all Territorians, especially senior Territorians.
Dripstone Middle School’s annual Dripstone Day fundraising celebration was held on Friday 11 September, and was another huge success this year. This special day each year gives Darwin musical students an opportunity to showcase their talent, raise funds for the school and various charities, such as the Cancer Council. The morning commenced with a cross country run, followed by a range of stalls and fun events to raise funds for charities and the Year 9 dinner dance.
The annual football game between Dripstone students versus Kormilda College was won by Dripstone this year. A Crop and Colour event raised $5240 for two worthy causes: $4000 to assist one of their own students, Anthony Andreou, who suffers from cerebral palsy, to purchase a walking frame for use at school and home. The remainder of the fundraising will go to the Bone Marrow Donor Institute.
The afternoon saw many talented student performers participate in a talent quest. As a judge of the Talent Quest, I was so impressed with the talent shown by the students, I applauded them, I sometimes did not know which one to mark first. Thank you also to the other wonderful judges: Joel Gelding from Hot 100, Mara Dobrini from Wanguri Primary School, and Kate Fegan from CDU.
Dripstone Middle School students should also be congratulated for their fundraising for the World Vision 40-hour famine, which raised a huge $3414.
I take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Alawa Primary School Principal, Sharon Reeves, who has left the school to work in the department for a change. I appreciate your warm welcome during my regular visits to your school assemblies, the farm, the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden, and the many activities hosted by Alawa Primary School throughout the year. We worked very closely together; she has been a wonderful principal, and has really has taken Alawa to great heights; it has become one of the best small schools around Darwin.
I welcome the new Principal, Fathma Mauger, and look forward to meeting you at the next school assembly, and also to working closely with you during the building of Alawa Primary Stage 2, which is about to commence very soon.
Congratulations to Nakara Primary School for your excellent results in the recent Northern Territory Tournament of the Minds. Nakara Primary School entered two teams, the Language/Literature team, who won the division; and the Maths Engineering team, who received a highly commended. Tournament of the Minds is a program for young, innovative primary and middle schoolchildren which is challenging and tests their ability to find creative solutions to a range of different problems.
The Nakara Primary School team of six students: Felicity Williams, Becky Spain, Nathaniel Kelly, Zahra Crough-Heaton, Lauren Northcote, and Sage Walle will be accompanied by facilitators to travel to Brisbane on 24 October to compete in the Australasian/Pacific Finals. I was very pleased to donate $100 towards their fundraising as they have been working very hard in the past few months.
I join the teachers, students and parents of Nakara Primary School in wishing Principal, Barry Griffin, a very happy 60th birthday today, 19 October. He is trying to escape without a big fuss about his celebrations, but it is now recorded for prosperity in Hansard.
As patron of the Language Teachers Association of the Northern Territory, I was invited to attend the annual Language Speaking Competition on 22 August, and I was thrilled to present some of the awards. I was also happy to donate book vouchers, which went towards purchasing books for the Darwin High and Darwin Middle School libraries for all students to share. I was amazed at how many parents took time on a Saturday morning to support their children in this wonderful educational experience. Well done to Paula Simeone and the Language Teachers Association of the Northern Territory for again doing such a great job of organising this year’s Language Speaking Competition.
I have a number of people who have retired from the Department of Health and Families:
Ms Wandee Fluri retired on 6 September 2009 after 28 years of service. She worked in the food services area of Royal Darwin Hospital, and was a very supportive colleague and a diligent employee. I wish her all the best in her retirement.
I also wish all the best in retirement to Mr Brian Sylvester, who retired on 10 July 2009 after 30 years service at the Alice Springs Hospital where he commenced work in August 1979. He was an orderly before moving to housekeeping services, and is described as a quiet achiever and a loyal employee.
I would like to say goodbye to two employees I knew very well. Mrs Sharon Padovan did not retire even when she retired from the department after 26 years of service with the Northern Territory government. Sharon commenced employment in 1983 in an administrative role with the Department of Community Development; and she commenced with the Department of Health and Community Services in 1987, and worked primarily in corporate support services. She was recognised for her work in the development of the 2007-08 annual report, and was crucial in establishing the department’s Central Recruitment Unit. I met Sharon for the first time in 1993 when I came to Darwin to work for the Department of Health and Families, as it was known then, and she worked with me in Casuarina Plaza.
Mr John Montz retired on 30 September 2009 after 17 years of continuous service with the department. He served with the former Department of Community Development for five years, before taking a break to return to his home town of New Orleans, USA. He fulfilled several roles at the executive level position, and he contributed to the development of legislation for the Hospital Boards Act, and managed the Health Professionals Licensing Authority. I knew John very well. He worked very closely with the Health department, although he was placed in Mitchell Street, in Health House, and I was in Casuarina Plaza; we worked very well and very closely for many years.
Happy retirement to the people who have retired, and to Sharon I hope you enjoy the new challenges in your life.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I raise an important issue which, sadly, I suspect many Top End members are not aware of. I believe government ministers, in particular, should be aware of it, and I am very happy to see the minister for Arts in the Chamber tonight because he should know about this; if he does not, I am sure after my short speech he will become aware of it, and I hope he will take direct and decisive action.
The purpose of my contribution tonight is to make some observations of the Araluen Cultural Precinct Development Plan. There are many issues important to the people of Alice Springs and the Araluen precinct, the Araluen Centre, is one of them. I believe, as do many others, it is something of a sacred cow in our town and people tamper with it at their peril.
I will come to some of the issues shortly, but one of them is this, and I am holding up two copies of the same plan. The first plan which was disseminated or distributed publicly was the Araluen Cultural Precinct Development Plan 2009-2015. After a degree of public outcry, a ‘draft’ sticker was affixed to the same plan, namely, the Araluen Cultural Precinct Development Plan 2009-2015 - clearly a knee-jerk response to the public criticism made in relation to the appalling consultation undertaken or, more specifically, the consultation not properly undertaken in relation to such an important icon in our town; namely, a development plan into the years ahead.
There is no doubt the consultation has been shocking, and if you want to get anyone or any group offside, bugger up your consultation, then that is a good start. Unfortunately, it gets worse. For the record, I will be quoting from a number of documents ranging from articles in the local newspaper, The Centralian Advocate, Letters to the Editor and other documents individuals have provided to me. Having been the member for Araluen for eight years, I am as much as I can be, I believe, reasonably in tune with my community.
Judging from people I have spoken with, as well as Letters to the Editor, there is no doubt that this is a serious issue. I believe I have previously underestimated the seriousness of this issue and the depth of feeling people have in relation to the Araluen Centre, and the Araluen Art Gallery in particular, until I stood with members of the local non-Indigenous arts community outside the Post Office for a couple of days a couple of weeks ago gathering signatures for a petition. I did not think this was an issue which was registering in any significant way on the political Richter scale - I was mistaken.
I talked to many people during my hours, with others, in front of the Post Office, and there is no doubt in my mind now that this is an issue that goes beyond the local arts community and really hits home with the mums and dads of my electorate. People were coming thick and fast at various times and the major message was: ‘Do not mess with Araluen; we like it the way it is.’ I know people do not always go to Araluen, but they like having it there and they like what it offers. They are not averse to change, but they are opposed to appalling consultation, and they are equally opposed to the direction the gallery is taking, particularly Gallery 3.
When I, and I believe, politicians, see letters to the editor headed ‘Elitist Araluen Ignores Its Roots’, ‘Plans for Araluen Causes Concern’, ‘Don’t Touch Our Araluen’, ‘Araluen: a Meeting Place for Everyone’, one gets a sense that this is a serious issue. I do not tend to see many letters to the editor about Araluen but they are coming thick and fast, such is the degree of community concern.
I make the point that, and it is unfortunate that I only have five or six minutes left, but this point needs to be made very clearly for the Parliamentary Record. Members of the non-Indigenous arts community and members of the community I represent are in no way opposed to the development of Indigenous art; in fact, we are supportive and embracing of it. In particular, the local non-Indigenous arts community has for years, long before I came to Alice Springs, embraced and nurtured local Indigenous arts. But, the local arts community and beyond, are concerned that Gallery 3, the biggest gallery at Araluen, is now going to be closed to non-Indigenous artists. That is an enormous insult to the local non-Indigenous arts community.
The local President of the Central Australian Arts Society, Dugald Beattie, and Secretary, Mark Wilson, in particular, have been very outspoken about the effects of closing down of Gallery 3 to the local non-Indigenous arts sector. They say that by forcing the local non-Indigenous arts people to have their exhibitions in the Witchetty’s area at Araluen, which has 20% less hanging space than in Gallery 3, is a mistake. The problem for them also is, as a result of having to hang their work in Witchetty’s, they have to pay for, to fund, volunteers to work or be present during exhibitions, which was not the case when they had the space in Gallery 3. As Mr Beattie said in the Central Australian Advocate in September
There is no doubt the local non-Indigenous arts community has its nose very strongly and very firmly out of joint as a result of this decision. I believe it is an enormous insult to that community, and I include the crafts people of Alice Springs as well, to basically say: ‘You exhibit your work in a smaller gallery where you have to pay for people to assist you’. What it is saying, in effect, is: ‘Your art is not good enough, and you go and hang it somewhere else’. When one considers the history of Araluen, which was opened in 1984 as a place to present local artists, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, it came from the community grassroots, and very proudly so.
The decision in this plan - although there are some aspects of the plan not in dispute, and some are supported. However, the direction of the gallery to restrict Gallery 3, or to move local non-Indigenous artists out of Gallery 3, the best and biggest hanging space, is one hell of a mistake. What has concerned people is, in recent times, there have been murmurings of: ‘The development plan is just a plan and we really encourage feedback’. Well, some parts of the plan have, in fact, been implemented. The Central Australian Arts Society met with Araluen authorities in December 2008, and was told in no uncertain terms they had to move the Advocate Art Award to the Witchetty Artspace, to be newly renovated in March. To be told you must have your exhibition somewhere else is not good enough. That is just one illustration of the lack of consultation.
I am running out of time, with 30 seconds on the clock. I implore the minister to go to Alice Springs, meet with the local non-Indigenous artists, hear from them what they want and why; hear from them their complaints about the appalling consultation – do not just rely on the bureaucrats; actually hear from the people you are meant to represent.
The direction is opposed in terms of Gallery 3, as it should be. Minister for the Arts, you have the responsibility of working for all artists - not just one group.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Deputy Speaker, all members of the Assembly would agree when it comes to the arts that the Territory is punching well above its weight. Last Thursday night, Territory songbird Jessica Mauboy, won three sections at the Deadly Awards ceremony at the Sydney Opera House; Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu won the Deadly Male Artist of the Year Award; and The Saltwater Band won the Deadly Band of the Year. In addition to the success of our musicians, Alice Springs filmmaker, Warwick Thornton, won yet another award for Samson and Delilah, this time a Deadly Outstanding Achievement in Film.
I was lucky enough to hear performances from Jess and Gurrumul at our own Northern Territory Indigenous Music Awards in August - two very contrasting styles, and two great ambassadors for the Territory.
Jessica has also been nominated for seven categories in the 2009 ARIA Awards to be held on 10 November, including Best Female Artist and Best Breakthrough Artist. In keeping with the tradition that anyone born in the Territory remains a Territorian for life, I proudly add to this list of achievements the fact that Katherine-born blues singer and writer CW Stoneking has been nominated for three ARIA Awards including Best Male Artist and Best Blues and Roots Album. I congratulate these artists on their wonderful accomplishments.
To quote from a song we all know well, written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, From Little Things Big Things Grow, the Henderson government provides over $5m in grants to support, develop and promote the arts throughout the Northern Territory. These funds go to organisations, community groups, and individual artists to run programs and support projects ranging from skills workshops, showcasing and exhibition opportunities, development of new works, and major events such as our festivals. Funding is available for a number of programs including one-off projects, public art, scholarships, film and new media, artists in schools, and quick response.
Recently I announced recipients of a number of these funding opportunities, and 48 grants valued at more than $500 000 have been awarded. I provide the Assembly with details of some of these wonderful projects. The Artists in Schools Program provides students, teachers, and the wider community with opportunities to work with professional artists. This program is a joint initiative between the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sports through Arts NT, the Department of Education and Training, and the Australia Council for the Arts. Sixteen schools from across the Territory received grants to enrich their arts education programs and to encourage future artists and art audiences.
Alice Springs High School students will have the opportunity to work with the famous Tjanpi artists who specialise in weaving and basketry. At the end of this project, students will be exhibiting their work at the town library.
Students from the Casuarina Senior Secondary College will be participating in an intensive hip hop workshop, and also a girls’ song writing workshop which will include creating and recording music related to personal histories and cultural heritage.
Funding for performances was provided to both Darwin High School and Palmerston High School. Darwin High will be engaging with local artists Betchay Mondragon, Yoris Wilson and Kelly Blumberg to share skills and assist with the production of Smells like Impulse, a play by Stephen Carleton.
Palmerston High will be engaging a dance therapist to work with mainstream and special needs students, culminating in a performance piece.
The story of Christmas, in particular, the Nativity, will be the focus of an exciting project of the early childhood classes at Holy Spirit Primary School. The children will work with an artist to create a 3D nativity scene using recycled material. The process will be photographed, with the aim of eventually producing a story book using the photographs and illustrations.
The students of the Angurugu CEC and the Arnhem Group Schools will be celebrating local totemic culture by incorporating local clans’ dreaming into murals, Angurugu, Groote Eylandt and Milyakburra.
Public art adds value, both economic and aesthetic, to places and communities. It can be used to celebrate who we are, where we came from, and our future aspirations. In September, my colleague, the Minister for Central Australia, joined the Mayor of Alice Springs, Mr Damien Ryan, in opening the Gathering Garden Public Art project at the Alice Springs Civic Centre lawns. Artists from nine communities in the Alice Springs area worked with horticulturalists on this project, incorporating sculptures and native flora to celebrate Alice Springs’ rich history and cultural diversity.
Public art takes many forms and is not always permanent. Funding through the Public Art Grants was provided to Corrugated Iron Youth Arts to assist their participation in Origins, part of the celebrations of Charles Darwin’s birthday. The Darwin Festival Megaphone Project – an interactive performance playground featuring colour and sound – was also supported through Public Art funding.
The Henderson government encourages local government to support public art in their communities, and have provided funding for forums and workshops in Darwin, Katherine, and Alice Springs, as well as providing grants to assist in implementing public art programs in their communities. The grants announced last week included both project and regional arts funding in the areas of emerging artists, arts development, presentation and promotion, skills development, artist-to-artist support, and new ideas.
Samuel Alexander Chen from Alice Springs received funding for Treat ’em Green, Keep ’em Keen, a performance based around Central Australia’s natural assets, exploring the relationship between humans, science and the environment.
The City of the Second Chance is the title of a comedy/thriller novel, a work in progress by Peter Jonsberg, supported through an arts grant.
Two NT fibre artists, Janine Stanton from Central Australia, and Aly de Groot from the Top End, will travel to each other’s territory to exchange ideas and skills, culminating in the exhibition Head Miles - between the red and the green.
The list of exciting and innovative projects funded through arts grants is expensive, and my time tonight is limited, however, I am happy to provide members of the Assembly with a full list, if they are interested.
I might add, funding decisions for arts grants are not made by the minister. When Labor came to power in the Territory, we instigated an arm’s length and transparent process for arts grants funding and established an Arts Grants Board, a peer group consisting of artists and arts workers across a variety of genres, to assess applications and make funding decisions.
The new arts programs and grants opportunities for 2010 will be released shortly, and I will be announcing a new direction - dare I say, a new era - for arts funding in the Territory, and a new policy centred around arts and lifelong learning with three themes – Art and Learning Communities, Regional Art Services and Delivery, and Art Places and Spaces.
I look forward to providing the Assembly with the news of yet more achievements made and more awards won by our terrific Territory talent.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I wish to talk about letters I have sent to ministers in recent times regarding complaints I have had from my electorate. It is interesting; usually when we send letters to ministers those letters are answered in the week leading up sittings - in this case, that is not so.
Recently a lady came into my office very upset about the state of Crown land at the end of Buscall Avenue, near Bakewell. She walks through the land and has come across dumped carcasses and burnt-out vehicles in the creek bed. The land borders the area between Bakewell and Johnston, a new suburb, and is frequented by many walkers and children playing in the area. This is not the first complaint I have had in regard to this same issue; and it was certainly not the first letter I have sent to the minister.
On 19 August, I sent to the Honourable Delia Lawrie, Minister for Planning and Lands, the following letter:
That letter was acknowledged by the office on 21 August, but no response to the letter has been received to date.
It is interesting that area is in what is called the Mitchell Creek Environment Zone, and is an area which is supposed to be kept in good order. So far we have certainly seen little evidence government is interested in our environment.
On 24 August I received another complaint, and I will not read the name:
The person then attempted to contact a number on the government website, to no avail. It goes on to say
On 28 August, I sent this letter to the Minister for Planning and Lands:
Signed by me, sent on 28 August, and acknowledged on 1 September. Still to date, and looking at my watch it is now the 19th, and I still have not had a response from the minister.
So, a couple of letters have been sent and have either been forgotten or fallen between the cracks. I do not believe MLAs should have to come into this House and reread letters which have been sent to ministers but, if that is what it takes to get some action on some of the issues, that is what we will continue to do.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, I often speak highly of some of the achievements of young people from Katherine in this House; and tonight will be no different. Last week I was talking about literature, and today it will be wholly and solely on sport.
In September this year, there was an Under 12 Northern Territory soccer side which went away to the Under 12 soccer championships in Adelaide. There were a couple of sides that went away, and Katherine featured in five of the total teams that went to Adelaide. There were four young ladies and a young gentleman, and the four young ladies were four of the 11 of the NT side, which is an extraordinary effort given the size of Katherine. We are a very sporting little town, and it is wonderful to see so many opportunities for our youngsters in sport.
I would like to say to Ebony McCombes, Hayley Lye, Sage Bowman-Kean and Megan Shaw, as well as young Isaac Bell, well done and congratulations on a superb effort in Adelaide.
I know the girls team, the Under 12 team, won their very first game for six years this year. They defeated South Australia 3 to 2; so well done to all of those people. I make a special mention of the parents and the helpers. It is hard to single out individual people, so I will not, but the parents put so much effort into getting their children to attend training, then on to the games, and then providing them with the means to go away on trips like this; it should not be understated, and they make an extraordinary effort. I was very pleased to be a part of the sponsorship crew so each of those sporting stars, as I like to call them, received some financial assistance from my office to get to Adelaide. So, well done to those five.
I also report on the 2009 Equestrian Australia interschool championships which were held in Werribee, in Victoria, just a few weeks ago. There was a team from the Northern Territory and that team consisted of Tessa Pate, Kym Henderson, Madelyn Farrington and Madina Hayden, all of whom come from Katherine, along with Shaylee Bird, Justine Burgess, Alicia Davies, Stephanie Glencross and Grace Symonds, who were part of the team, I believe, from Darwin.
Interestingly again, and highlighting some of the exceptional sportspeople who come from Katherine: Tessa Pate, Kym Hendersen, Madelyn Farrington and Madina Hayden, all from Katherine, comprised the entire dressage team for the Northern Territory - what an outstanding effort from youngsters in Katherine. Kym received sixth place in her event, and the other girls did exceptionally well. To quote from a report I received from Anne-Marie Hayman, who was one of the people instrumental in taking the girls away, they were super ambassadors for the Northern Territory. That speaks volumes for the quality of people the Northern Territory produces.
I also mention an event that happened in Katherine on the weekend; the 28th birthday carnival for the NT Interschool Swimming Competition which was held in Katherine’s wonderful pool. They expected around about 200 competitors to come from all over the Northern Territory and I believe we ended up pretty close too - about 180. I was there to do a couple of things: I judged the best march past team, and officially opened the event. I am very pleased to report, and can assure you it was a tough decision and there was no bias involved at all, but the Katherine team won the march past. It was nice a couple of people came up to me afterwards and said: ‘You made the right choice’ …
Ms Carney: And were they from Katherine?
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: No, they were not from Katherine, member for Araluen, they were actually from Darwin.
It was terrific to have those people turn up; we had people from all over the Territory. I especially acknowledge the teams from Gove and Alice Springs; we know how difficult it is to get to Katherine from both those places. It is quite a significant travelling achievement with a whole bunch of kids - it was a real pleasure to see them there. We had others from Darwin and the Darwin rural areas as well; and it was a terrific weekend. The sportsmanship over the course of the weekend - the event took place over Saturday afternoon and Sunday - was excellent. Everyone got along really well, the event went smoothly, and there were no problems at all. Well done!
I acknowledge the people who help, because without parents and coaches putting their time and effort into these things, they simply do not occur. I mention, in particular, some people who organised the event: the Katherine Swimming Club’s President, Anne-Marie Hayman, who was also involved in the dressage competition. I also mention Pru Ducey and Robyn Jackson, their coaches; Karen McGregor, the Vice President, and Kim Pate, the Treasurer, who is also involved with the equestrian events in Katherine. Once again, it has been a terrific weekend in sport.
Something a little different over the weekend in Katherine was the opening of the new airstrip for our Aero Modelling Club, which is situated in the middle of the racecourse in Katherine. Full credit goes to Lee Hunt, the President of that association. Local businessmen have some fantastic planes; some of them are extraordinary in their detail, and I witnessed some absolutely amazing flying over the course of the weekend. How they put it together has got me, I do not believe I have the skills; although I suspect my children would be able to pick up the hand controls a lot quicker than I.
I also mention the Katherine Town Council which was instrumental in assisting the Aero Modelling Club with their new facility. The runway is 10 m wide and 100 m long, so some significant infrastructure was put in place by the council and I thank them for their ongoing support.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
RESPONSE TO PETITION
Petition No 18
Petition No 18
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that a response to petition No 18 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 18
- Proposed Overhead Power Line Infrastructure Marlow Lagoon
Date Presented: 10 June 2009
Presented by: Mr Bohlin
Referred to: Minister for Essential Services
Date response due: 15 October 2009
Date response received: 15 October 2009
- Power and Water needs to construct a new 10 km overhead 66kV transmission line from the existing Hudson Creek control centre to the new Archer Zone Substation in Palmerston.
It is proposed to place a third power line through the easement on 20 m poles (possibly spun concrete) rather than the existing ‘lattice tower’ type design. The poles should be more aesthetically pleasing and will be much lower in height than the existing poles.
Power and Water staff and I attended a community meeting at the Palmerston Library on 30 June 2009. Various options were discussed with residents and Power and Water undertook to consider further options.
Following further consultation the agreed solution with residents is to run the new line between the existing towers and this work will now be undertaken.
This information has been provided direct to residents and uploaded to the Power and Water Corporation website.
FIRE AND EMERGENCY LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 62)
(Serial 62)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The Fire and Emergency Act was amended most recently in 2004 with the intention of, amongst other things, granting the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service the power to carry out back-burning operations. Back-burning operations form the integral function in reducing the risk or eliminating the threat of fires, mostly in the rural area, but within an emergency response area. The 2004 amendments sought to establish the power by inserting a definition of ‘hazard reduction’ into section 3 of the act, along with expanding the role of the Fire and Rescue Service in section 6 to authorise the carrying out of hazard reduction within an emergency response area.
In addition, an Incident Commander’s powers were widened in section 20 of the act to accommodate the lighting of a fire or fires. Unfortunately, the amendments have had unintended consequences in that other Fire and Rescue Services hazard reduction functions are exercised anywhere in the Territory, not just in emergency response areas; for example, the Fire and Rescue Service exercises hazard reduction powers when it inspects a building to ensure the building complies with relevant fire safety laws regardless of where the building is situated.
The Fire and Rescue Service has recently become aware of restrictions created by the 2004 amendments. Essentially, the effect is that the Fire and Rescue Service is now unable to enforce a notice issued to an owner or occupier of land if relevant fire safety laws are not being adhered to. This is unacceptable.
Accordingly, this bill will rectify the anomaly by splitting the hazard reduction powers to those powers or functions exercised in emergency response areas only, and those which encompass any part of the Territory.
Other consequential amendments will also be made to the act. These amendments are about ensuring the Fire and Rescue Services are able to inspect buildings and other places for compliance purposes to the fullest extent possible in the public’s interest. For example, the act currently permits the Fire and Rescue Service carrying out random inspections of buildings and other places used for ‘public entertainment or public gatherings’. It is unclear why the inspection of public buildings is confined to places used for public entertainment or public gatherings. These amendments will remove the limitation and permit the Fire and Rescue Service to inspect any public building or place for compliance with safety laws and to issue notices requiring an owner or occupier to take specified action if any breaches are found.
Lastly, the 2004 amendments to the act inserted section 27A, which imposed mandatory regular inspections of prescribed classes of buildings. These buildings are uncontroversial and include such buildings as public and private hospitals, childcare centres, shopping complexes and the like. Schedule 2 of the regulations identifies the classes of buildings; however, nowhere in the regulations does it prescribe the buildings listed in Schedule 2 to be the class of buildings for the purposes of section 27A.
This bill will amend regulation 11 by imposing the classes of buildings to be specified in Schedule 2 to be the prescribed buildings for section 27A of the act.
In addition, the phrase ‘authorised member’ is to be replaced with ‘authorised person’ in section 27A for consistency for the use of the phrase as applied elsewhere in the act.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table the explanatory memorandum accompanying the bill.
Debate adjourned.
HOSPITAL BOARDS BILL
(Serial 57)
(Serial 57)
Continued from 20 August 2009.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the Hospital Boards Bill is very important legislation which will become an act of parliament and set up our hospitals and the way they operate for the future and, importantly, their local community engagement.
I am concerned about parts of the bill and why we are changing the act so significantly in so many areas from the original act. The department, in briefings I have had, suggested that there have been some significant, fundamental failures of the previous act; namely, the failure to form boards, in the first place. I will get to that later. Nevertheless, this is significant legislation which will, hopefully, set up the hospital boards and our hospital system into the future.
There have been some amendments the opposition have suggested the minister take up – I notice he has taken up - in fact, I have only just received those amendments from the department; and I am going through them as I am on my feet. It looks as though a number of the amendments we proposed have been accepted, which is very good news.
The concern is that local autonomy will be taken away from local communities. I know the minister has said and, I believe, the department also, they still want to encourage the local communities to have input into their health services provided by the hospital, in this case. I am slightly suspicious and concerned that this act provides a vehicle or a mechanism to take away that autonomy and that local community engagement.
I cannot help but think after what has happened in the last 12 months with the previous Minister for Health that the government, at all costs, wants to avoid the embarrassment of a similar episode; hence, that has been reflected, I believe, in this act. I would really like the minister to put on the Parliamentary Record how much he values the local community input and how far he is prepared to go to ensure our local hospitals in the Territory will remain under the guidance of the local community. It is very important that the minister place that on the Parliamentary Record.
I acknowledge Colin McDonald QC, who is here in the gallery today, and is the Chairman of the Royal Darwin Hospital Board. I have spoken to Colin about some of these amendments - and I know the minister is aware of that – and he is very interested in how this will develop.
The point is, autonomy is very important for our health service delivery through our hospitals. The concern for me is the mechanism in this act for the minister to declare membership of boards suspended and, hence, amalgamate boards. We have reduced the numbers from a minimum of six to three. You cannot tell me that a good local member cannot find three community-minded people to form a board; that is an indictment on us as elected representatives. Surely, the member for Barkly can find three community-minded people in the Barkly region to sit on these hospital boards. If you cannot, member for Barkly, you are not doing your job effectively. You may as well pack up and go home.
There is scope for only three community-minded people. Surely, the member for Nhulunbuy can find three community-minded people to sit on the hospital board in Gove. You can? Right. Then you will be very interested to know, member for Nhulunbuy, that there is a mechanism in this act to suspend the Gove Hospital board if it does not find three community-minded members to sit on those boards. I do not know how you feel about that, as a member of the local community in Gove, but it does not sit very well with me that these boards could all be run out of, potentially, Darwin hospital; we might have one big super board. It flies in the face of community autonomy.
Part of the problem with the Northern Territory government is that they want to micro-manage public hospitals from Darwin. This is not the way to go. Our health system does not need fundamental change; our hospitals need local boards with the autonomy and the power to address problems on the ground. That is a major contribution these hospitals could make which would ease many of our problems in the health system.
The opposition insists on the appointment of local hospital boards with real authority to appoint the CEO of the hospital. I do not believe we are quite there yet. I believe this should be the aim of our hospitals. We need to be looking towards a remuneration set-up for our hospital boards; that is where we should be going in the future. Certainly I do not believe some of our smaller hospitals are at that point at this stage and, perhaps, our bigger hospitals might not yet be quite there at this stage.
There appears to be a lack of vision in this bill; it appears more of a vehicle to remove the minister one step further from the process. I have tried, with the help of the opposition’s office, to strengthen some parts of this act to retain the minister’s input - they are areas we can go into at the committee stage – that there needs to be a suspension in membership of the boards, or amalgamating or re-establishing the boards; that the minister must suspend a board and, if he suspends a board, the minister must publish his decision in the newspaper for circulation in the Territory, or by Gazette. I do not have it up on my computer at the moment, but I believe there is a similar clause which has been included in that.
Essentially, if a board is suspended, there is nothing in this act that would inform the local community the board was suspended, and nothing in the act to draw the attention of the community, perhaps 12 months later, that the board is still suspended and has been amalgamated with another hospital board. That is not very proactive and will leave the local community without a local hospital board.
Madam Speaker, I will quote some words from Tony Abbott, the former Health minister in the federal Coalition. He said:
- … the re-establishment of local boards is deeply uncongenial to professional policy makers who, naturally enough, prefer to remain benevolent despots. It means that patients might be able to make personal contact with decision-makers. It means that local doctors and nurses would have reasonable access to someone who might actually be able to address their problems. Decisions might be made on the basis of how they would impact on patients rather than according to a grand design for an ideal health system or the head office-imposed budget.
Well, goodness me. It means that local doctors and nurses would have reasonable access to someone who might actually be able to make decisions. I believe that is the whole point.
Further, Mr Abbott said:
- There’s no doubt that a local hospital board can be a significant obstacle to head office - but this is precisely the point.
I would have to agree, it is precisely the point:
- When head office is intent on cost savings, patients and the people treating them need champions.
I do not think anyone can disagree with that.
Head office should have to win the argument – that is very important - of the local community board. If the local community board or the hospital board has issue with the way the Northern Territory government, or the bureaucracy, is dictating their funds and their services, then head office needs to win that argument rather than just give an order.
Under the current arrangements, to finish this quote:
- … public hospital doctors and nurses find themselves at the wrong end of a long chain of command.
That is very appropriate in some of our hospitals. We have a massive, bolstered bureaucracy: three bureaucrats for one person on the ground. Local hospitals need local champions, and I am very concerned about the clauses in here which allow the minister to amalgamate or suspend the board. It is far too easy and, in the light of the previous 12 months or so, I cannot help but believe this is a mechanism to distance the minister one step further.
In the briefing I received, and I thank the department for their briefing, it says:
- Current Hospital Management Board Act has changed little since it was implemented 30 years ago.
Throughout most of its time in operation, hospital boards and the local communities which they represent, have struggled to comply with the requirements of the Hospital Management Boards Act.
It also says here - this is the briefing paper I received from the department:
- Smaller communities, especially those outside Darwin and Alice Springs, have had particular difficulty maintaining a sufficient number of members to legally constitute a board.
I thought that was a broad, sweeping statement, so I went to the Parliamentary Library and got every single board report ever tabled since the hospital act came into place. It has really only been in the last couple of years, under the stewardship of the member for Johnston, that hospital boards have essentially struggled or failed, or had particular difficulty maintaining a sufficient number of members to legally constitute a board.
The member for Nightcliff, when she was Health minister, and the member for Stuart, when he was Health minister, all managed to supply annual reports with fully constituted boards. Here we have the 1986-87 Tennant Creek Hospital Management Board report: there is a full list of all the members; quorums were formed and meetings were held. Let us pick another year, 1989-90: there is a list of all the members of the board and all the meetings held.
This one is the Katherine Hospital Management Board for year ended 1982 with a full complement of board members from 1982. We go forward to 2005-06 - this might be just before the member for Johnston took over - here we have another list of board members, a couple of positions vacant, but a quorum was formed. The other one is the Gove Hospital, but I believe we all get the gist that in the small communities hospitals have been able to form hospital boards and quorums and, indeed, get members.
I do not know what has happened in the last couple of years; clearly there was an issue. The member for Johnston was exposed; he failed to deliver annual reports to this parliament, and clearly failed in encouraging his local members, perhaps the then local members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly, to actively pursue community-minded people and encourage them to sit on these boards. That is really all it takes. We do not need fundamental restructuring of our health system; we need community-minded people to sit on our hospital boards so they can relay to head office, which is the department and the minister, their specific requirements. Hospital boards with clout; that is what we need.
That has been of concern to me and I cannot help but feel suspicious about the change in the act. We have gone from about seven pages to 14 pages. I realise there are areas in this act we do need to bring into the 21st century. The idea of remuneration is something we should look at; do we need to revisit this act again in another five years or so to see if these hospital boards have grown and strengthened and developed a large amount of clout, as the minister suggested this act will do?
There is much to discuss in the committee stages. I notice there is a clause here which we asked to be omitted, but it has simply been shifted, if I am reading this right, I have only just received these amendments. That is clause 9(1) which says:
- The board of the hospital must have regard to objectives and strategies of the Northern Territory government in performing its functions and exercising its powers.
To me, that is putting a massive noose around a board that is supposed to have autonomy and be a local champion for the community. The explanatory statement actually takes it one step further; section 9(3) clarifies that the functions and powers created for the board have specific limitations which restrict it from giving directions that are inconsistent with government policy and strategies.
How can a hospital in a smaller community in the Northern Territory provide advice or directions which are conducive to best practice health care delivery for that particular region if it flies in the face of the objectives, strategies and policy of the Northern Territory government? That is hardly autonomous, and it is hardly empowering that hospital and giving it the confidence to speak up against head office. And this is my point: these hospital boards need to operate in an autonomous sense, and they need to stand up to head office when required. My interpretation of this is that it does limit it; in fact, it actually comes under the heading in this clause, Limitation on functions and powers.
I would like the minister to address that; I would like the minister to assure us that it is not his intention to merge these hospitals, to amalgamate these hospitals.
I feel these hospital boards have been a thorn in the side of this government over a short period of time, as opposed to a long period of time, highlighted by that briefing paper: ‘throughout most of its time in operation’. It is not ‘most of its time in operation’. It is for a short period of time in operation. Here is every single hospital board annual report tabled in this parliament since the introduction of this bill, for the Katherine Hospital, the Tennant Creek Hospital, and the Gove Hospital. So, it has not been for ‘most of its time in operation’. Clearly, it is only in the last couple of years we have seen a decline, and hospital board functions and operations diminished - under the stewardship of the member for Johnston.
Madam Speaker, in your time as Health minister you were able to provide annual reports; Peter Toyne was able to provide annual reports, even the member for Casuarina, the Minister for Health, has been able to come in here and get this act up and running. Surely, a member such as the member for Casuarina - one of the most dynamic members we have in this parliament who is doorknocking day in, day out, heralded as one of the great networkers of any room, who can shake hands with anyone - can find community-minded people to sit on these boards. I know he is a hands-on guy who likes to pick up the telephone and get things done. Someone with that capacity would be able to ensure that these boards continue to operate. I would like to hear that assurance from the minister.
There is much to talk about and I know we have a fair amount in the committee stages, therefore, it might be better to continue the debate over some of these amendments.
I thank the department for their time in providing me with briefings. I thank the minister for allowing me the scope to undertake as much investigation or research into this, because it is very important. I believe we need to keep our local boards autonomous. They need to be able to make decisions without fear or favour of the Northern Territory government, and of the Northern Territory Health department, the head office. By virtue of having a board, like a school council, you need someone to be able to stand up and make decisions, or at least provide advice to that department and the minister. They need to be able to do that without fear or favour of giving advice which might fly in the face of Northern Territory government’s strategy or policy.
I ask the minister to place on the Parliamentary Record, if he can, that he will ensure these hospital boards will remain, and he will do everything he possibly can to keep these boards functioning and will not, at the first opportunity, amalgamate, suspend or abolish the Tennant Creek Hospital Board.
I do not know how you feel, member for Barkly. I do not know if you realise the implications of some of the parts in this act - and the member for Nhulunbuy - that your local hospitals may not have local hospital boards and you may well find that decisions for your hospital and your community are being run out of Darwin, perhaps Katherine. This is a reality; and there is a mechanism in this act for this to happen. I am not sure if you are aware of that; if you have read the act - perhaps you are. I hope you do not agree with it, that you would support major decisions for your hospital and your local community regarding health service delivery from your hospital being run out of Darwin, Alice Springs, or Katherine.
I hope the minister can assure this House he will do everything possible to maintain these boards. I have tried – with help from the opposition’s office and in discussions with the department – to strengthen some of these clauses to at least put a buffer zone around the amalgamation and suspension of the board. I hope the members in those communities - the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly and the member for Katherine - realise the ease with which their hospital boards can be amalgamated. I am sure the member for Katherine has been across this. I am concerned because of the politics of this House that, perhaps, the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly are just taking the government line. I hope you will speak to and have discussions with your colleagues, members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy, about this act; that you will encourage the minister not to abolish these boards; that you will do everything as local members to ensure that three community-minded people can sit of these boards.
This is the point: if we can fill these board positions, these boards will stay open and you will have your local champion, you will have local autonomy to provide best practice health care delivery through our hospitals. You will have it but, if you do not do whatever you can to find these people and they cease to sit on the boards, if they cease to exist because they cannot find members, you will lose your hospital board, and you may never get it back.
Hence, some of the provisions we have put in this act to ensure the minister must revisit this; in fact, I have not got to that. I am not sure if that is in the act at all, but at least after a 12 month period the minister must revisit this. This was not part of the act. In fact, if the board ceased to exist on a Monday, then on Tuesday the minister could suspend the board, and you would not have a board. Your board might be amalgamated with Tennant Creek, or Katherine, or wherever that might be, potentially Darwin. We might have a super board in Darwin.
So, we have put up a cooling-off clause - I am not sure if that is in there; I have not got that far. I only just received this just before I got to my feet. Maybe we can talk about this in the in the committee stages. We have asked for a cooling-off clause, so if someone fails to attend a board meeting, or if you cannot form a full board of three people, which I find extraordinary, then the minister must wait 30 days until he suspends or amalgamates the board.
This was part of the act without these proposals put forward, and we are going to debate these. In reality, there is no way we are going to abolish or suspend the Royal Darwin Hospital Board or the Alice Springs Hospital Board, but I do believe there is a very realistic proposition the Tennant Creek, Katherine, and Gove Hospital boards will cease to exist. I do not know about the local members here, but that frightens me, and it is of deep concern that these hospitals would not be operating again with that level of autonomy. I believe this is the whole point of our health system.
As I say, we do not need massive, sweeping changes across the health system; we need hospital boards with clout. I am sure there are three local, community-minded people in Tennant Creek, perhaps businessmen or ex-politicians, or someone you can find to sit on this board - and the same in Gove and in Katherine. I am sure the member for Katherine could find three people, at the drop of a hat, to be part of the Katherine Hospital Board because he is a proactive local member. That is what we need from the member for Barkly and the member for Nhulunbuy: we need you to be proactive here.
I do not know if you appreciate the severity of it. The future of the Tennant Creek and Katherine Hospital boards depend on how proactive you want to be as a local member. I can tell you if the Tennant Creek or Gove Hospital boards cease to exist, it will be on your head for failing to find three community-minded people to sit on those boards. It is as simple as that - absolutely a no-brainer.
I will leave it there. I am sure the member for Nelson might have something to say, and others might want to speak on this as well. I look forward to the committee stages.
Madam Speaker, to the minister through you …
Ms Carney: Lyn has called Kon over. Kon, is this really happening? What about my hospital board?
Mr CONLAN: Yes, it is happening, member for Nhulunbuy, potentially it could happen. The member for Nhulunbuy shakes her head; she does not like to believe it. All I can say, member for Nhulunbuy, is read the act. It is right there in black and white.
Minister, you have heard these concerns from the opposition; we have spoken to you and your department at reasonable length since this bill was introduced. We have talked about this since this was flagged last year with the member for Johnston. We have put it in no uncertain terms where we sit with this. We need you to assure us, and the Territory community, you are in no way endeavouring to amalgamate or suspend hospital boards.
The amalgamation is a softer approach than suspension or abolition, but we would rather see these hospital boards continue. There is no reason why they cannot continue, and there is absolutely no reason why they should not continue. If they are a bee in your bonnet, then so be it. That is what they are there for, and that is the absolute purpose of having a hospital board.
I thank the Opposition Leader’s office, Francine and the team, for helping me with this. I am sure the member for Nelson has some to add, and I hope other members will contribute to this, particularly those in regional and remote parts of the Northern Territory. The member for Stuart would have a vested interest in this with Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals on his doorstep, as does the member for Arnhem and the member for Barkly - we have highlighted his interest in maintaining these hospital boards. You are never going to get maternity services back in Tennant Creek if you do not have a functioning hospital board with clout, member for Barkly, and that is certainly worth remembering, because if it is all coming out of head office in Darwin, it is not going to happen for you. Member for Nhulunbuy, you need to have your local champions.
Madam Speaker, I thank everyone for their help with this bill.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Chair of the Royal Darwin Hospital Management Board, Mr Colin McDonald, QC. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 7 Essington School students, accompanied by Mr Daniel Hogg. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you also a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the government for its briefings. I also thank the member for Greatorex for his passion regarding the issue of hospital boards, and his discussions with me regarding some changes to the original bill being proposed.
In a broad sense, I believe a number of those matters the member for Greatorex has raised appear to have come through in these amendments but, in some cases, not as far as I may have hoped. At least there have been some changes, and that is a positive outcome. I knew there were going to be some amendments but I have only had a look at these amendments this morning, so I am also finding my way through them and, as the member for Greatorex said, we will be discussing these at committee stage.
The front page of the bill says this is:
A Bill for an Act to provide for boards in relation to hospitals, for community engagement in relation to hospitals, and for related matters.
That is the very essence of what the boards are about: for community engagement in relation to hospitals and for related matters. It is really important we encourage people to join these boards.
I believe the member for Greatorex hit the nail on the head: is the government’s policy to reduce the actual number of people on a board a reflection of a lack of effort by the government - and I am not particularly picking on anyone, but by government in general - to promote, in communities, the need for community members to be on such boards? Has the government proactively explained to people the importance of the hospital boards? The government advertises many things, but it would be interesting to know whether there has been any advertising or a proactive movement by the government, especially in those small communities in the Territory where a hospital board is a necessity. Have they been pushing hard to ensure people understand the importance of these boards and tried to get as many people as possible to put their names down for these boards?
On one hand you could argue that by dropping the number from five to three you are actually making it easier for these boards to exist but, on the other hand, you can ask if it is a sign of the government’s failure to promote boards. Three is a very small number when it comes to a board. If you had that number on a school or sporting committee you would say it might as well be defunct, because it is very hard to operate if one or two people are sick or cannot turn up for a meeting. So, it is a very small number, and whilst it may allow these boards to continue, I believe they would be much healthier boards with a larger number of people from the community on them.
Notwithstanding that, I am pleased some of these changes have occurred. For instance, the ‘Limitations on functions and powers’ has been moved to a more proactive heading, which is ‘functions and powers’ of boards. However, I have concerns about clause 9(1) where it says in performing its functions or exercising its power under this section, the board of a hospital must have regard to objectives and strategies of the Territory government. I believe it should be more of a ‘may’, unless someone can show me that particular section does not actually force the board to only make statements in line with the objectives and strategies of the Territory government; if someone can tell the construct of that sentence actually does not mean that, then I would prefer a ‘may’ because you need …
Mr Vatskalis: It has now been removed.
Mr WOOD: Yes, well, maybe when we get to the committee stage. Sometimes terminology, especially from a legal point of view, does not always mean the same thing. I hope a board would be able to make a statement, regardless of the objectives and strategies of the Territory government, although they need to take that into account, but not necessarily be stuck with it.
In relation to the Code of Conduct, I believe that is an important clause which has been added; this is something new and I am just reading it as this bill is being debated. It is a pity it was not around yesterday so we could have had more time to take it in and give it more thought and consideration.
In relation to the suspension of boards, I understand where the member for Greatorex was coming from. At our briefings, one of the things I said in relation to this was there needs to be some proactive mechanism in the act which says: ‘Your board is suspended now.’ The minister needs to be saying quickly: ‘If you want this board up and running, advertisements are now going out for new board members.’ I believe the government has gone someway to doing that, because they have inserted a new clause 13(3) which says:
- In addition, the minister must advertise information about the suspension in a newspaper that circulates throughout the Territory and in any other way the Minister considers will give notice about the suspension to the local community for the relevant hospital.
That is good, but it needs something to come after that, and what the government has done, in this case, is put in clause 14(5):
- Within 3 months after the date of the Gazette notice by which an amalgamated board is established under subsection (1)(a), the Minister must invite comments from persons within the local community for the hospitals about abolishing the amalgamated board and declaring new boards.
I would have thought that as soon as a board has been suspended, a process should immediately be put in place which tries to re-establish that board as quickly as possible. If you have to wait once a year that could mean the board was amalgamated in January, and the once-a-year advertisement could be next December. There needs to be a mechanism which allows the minister to advertise and promote, not only advising the board has been suspended because of lack of members, but also putting in a mechanism to show the government is very much in support of boards totally constituted by people living in those areas, rather than amalgamated boards, and trying to get this board back on its feet.
There needs to be more proactive-ness within the bill to encourage the shortest possible time a board is suspended or amalgamated. That does not really come out in the changes, even though they are the changes I was looking for in my briefings. These changes have not gone far enough in relation to that. I certainly hope the government would look at saying something like ‘at least within one month after the suspension or amalgamation under section 14(1)(a) for hospitals, the minister must invite comments’. That would be far better.
It is good to see they are not limiting the number of times a person can be on a board to just three times; in a small community that might be impractical, and that is a good change. Another change is in relation to the board’s operational time; clause 12(1) has been omitted and a new section substituted. The bill we have in front of us did not include the operations of the hospital as part of the report the board could comment on, but in the new clause 12, that has been brought in, which is good. This also came up in discussions I had with the member for Greatorex.
Looking at what clauses were omitted, in relation to clause 35(4) under the heading Protection from liability:
- The person must not be called to give evidence in any civil, criminal or disciplinary proceeding about any matter coming to the person’s knowledge while exercising a power or performing a function under this Act as a member of a board or committee.
That has been omitted, which is also good.
One good thing which has come out of the discussions and the briefings is there have been changes and, overall, I believe those changes are quite good. There is a new change at the beginning in relation to the definition of ‘management group’. It would be interesting to hear in the committee stage how that came to be. That change is in relation to which persons can be on the management group. I am interested to hear what the minister has to say about that.
The member for Greatorex summed it up well; this is about retaining community ownership of one’s local hospital. It is important to keep that community ownership otherwise you end up either run by the bureaucrats or run by a hospital which might be hundreds of kilometres away, where people have very little knowledge of your particular hospital.
From the reports the member for Greatorex spoke about, it is obvious the boards have worked well in the past. We are debating a bill which reflects a stage in which the government believed they had not been working well, and there could reasons for that. It could be people are simply disinterested. I know it is very hard. Just look at some of your community organisations such as Apex. Our local Litchfield Apex is finished; it has collapsed - it cannot get enough people. The Litchfield/Palmerston Rotary Club works well but they struggle for members. Is it a reflection of the times that we have difficulty getting people on to community boards? I am not sure, but I believe community boards for hospitals are a very important part of our everyday community, especially in small places like Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek and Katherine. People need to have some ownership of that.
If there is a lack of enthusiasm, then government or, as the member for Greatorex said, local members, but government as a whole needs to provide the impetus to people that these boards are important and to say: ‘If you do not get involved, we will dissolve you or amalgamate you’. But they do not want to use that as the main part of this particular bill, they want to put forward a positive feeling about this bill; that boards are good, that boards are important, and the part about being amalgamated or suspended should be something that only happens as a last resort.
That is why I believe the changes they have brought forward, whilst good, are not positive enough. They need to be saying if you are suspended or amalgamated because you are short of numbers, then it needs to be a very quick, proactive attempt to get that board back as an independent board in that community. The government can do that by simply getting out there and advertising, working through the local councils, working through the local members of parliament, working through some of the people like Rotary, Apex, and Lions Clubs to get people to stand on these boards. There needs to be a proactive approach; if it was good enough in the past, then we need to make sure it is good enough for the future.
These boards are part of the community and they need to be promoted. During the committee stages I will be interested in how the government sees the changes they have brought in will encourage these boards to continue, even if they have a slight hiccup; I mean encourage them to come back as soon as possible, not once a year, but as soon as possible after they have failed for some reason.
Madam Speaker, in general, I support the changes. There needs to be some tweaking and it will be interesting to see whether the government will do some of that tweaking. I will be interested in listening to and participating in the committee stage of the debate.
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Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery, and also in the ministerial officers’ gallery, of two groups of Year 7 Dripstone Middle School students, accompanied by Ms Salima Spring, Ms Sarah Belsham, and Ms Sam Bonser. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I wish to contribute briefly to this debate.
I start at the outset with a concern that it appears no member from government will be speaking on this other than the Health minister. This is a matter of some importance, and I would have hoped members would have chosen to speak today. Clearly, the government is introducing, or has introduced for some time, a certain discipline amongst its members, and that discipline is: if it does not concern you, then you will subordinate yourself to the will of government, and therefore you will remain silent on this issue or any other issue; coupled with a $9m spin factory scattered through the fifth floor and throughout the departments.
That gives me a sense of trepidation as to how we are being governed in the Northern Territory. My trepidation arises from some of the things that I have seen coming through this place in the past, not least of which is legislative instruments which, clearly, have not even been read by the ministers who have carriage of those legislative instruments. We had a circumstance last week where a minister was ultimately forced to admit that at least half of the legislative instrument under debate had not been read by the minister.
The reason I am concerned about this, and I raised it in adjournment the other night, and I mention it again today, is we have come to a point of governance in the Northern Territory where the will of the bureaucracy seems to be becoming absolute and gaining ascendancy over its own governing ministers.
All too often we come into this Chamber and we hear ministers read out speeches which have been prepared for them by bureaucrats. These are long speeches which are more an expression of the will of the bureaucrat than a will of government itself. Before I get accused of running down our hard-working public servants, I wish to preface my comments: I accept public servants are hard-working people but that does not prevent me, and should not prevent government, from bringing a critical eye to bear on what is delivered by the bureaucracy, particularly in terms of leadership and guidance to their own ministers.
I believe it is a James Hacker-esque minister who blithely follows the will of the public service, especially those who assist with policy direction in the public service, without bringing a critical eye to bear upon what has been done and what is being suggested. I have seen over the last few years an increasing creep, if you like, of public service and bureaucratic intent finding its way into an increasing number of places which were reserved for areas other than the bureaucracy in the past.
I point to this particular legislative instrument under debate and find myself having cause for some concern. Here is one of those vehicles which have long since been established as a mechanism by which local people can get involved in their local hospitals’ administration, and talk to the bureaucracy about the wants and desires of the local people and the local community.
I accept the criticism from the bureaucracy, in particular, and comments made by ministers since this has been going, that the boards have not been functioning in some instances. I am aware that in Nhulunbuy they have had trouble maintaining a board for some time which is evidenced through various annual reports written by hospital CEOs rather than the boards themselves.
Having made that observation, there are other communities which have had functioning hospital boards - and I suspect that is Mr McDonald I see sitting up in the public gallery at the moment, who was involved in the Royal Darwin Hospital board - which have continued to do their job effectively. I have read their annual reports year in, year out over the years, and I have noted those annual reports have changed. I am concerned those annual reports have stopped reporting certain types of information, and I do not know why they have, but particularly up until a few years ago, waiting lists were reported on. One could hardly accuse or suggest to anyone in this House that waiting lists are not a topical issue, and the absence of waiting lists in hospital board reports are conspicuous by their absence.
I do harbour those concerns, but returning to my more general observations, we have a situation where we now have a department which is the biggest spender of all departments of Territory funds. It has grown substantially under this government, both in administration as well as staff on the ground, courtesy of increased funding, substantially from Canberra. It is for that reason I believe there should be a greater capacity for the intent and conduct of that bureaucracy to be questioned. One of the stop-gap positions of the questioning capacity is not only this place, but of the hospital boards.
The directive within this particular legislative instrument, that hospital boards must subordinate themselves to the will of the policy direction of the government of the day - and when I say the government of the day, I do not say the Cabinet, although it should be the Cabinet - I am talking about the bureaucracy; and the reason I make that distinction is because I have seen very little evidence in the last few years, particularly, that what is expressed in this House is the will of government, insomuch as it is the will of the bureaucracy and the senior bureaucrats of the Health department itself.
I would be very concerned if this legislative instrument was used to wind-up hospital boards, particularly those hospital boards which actually have the capacity to draw into question the will of the bureaucracy those hospital boards are supposed to be working with. I find it also curious that I am not the only person who shares these reservations. The Council of Territory Cooperation, of which I am now a part and will be meeting in the near future to establish ourselves properly, will not be able to call ministers. That is actually a desire, not so much of government – mind you, I suspect that government may have suggested - but a desire of the Independent member for Nelson. He expressed the view that he would like to be able to get to the bottom of issues by talking to the public service directly. I find it curious that the Independent member for Nelson has now taken a world view that you actually have to sidestep members of Cabinet in an effort to find out what the intent of government actually is.
I can understand why the member for Nelson harbours that view; clearly, a decline is being witnessed, for lack of better expression, by the member for Nelson, I and Territorians, when we start to see the role of ministers purely as a figurehead rather than a decision-making role. Again, it goes to evidence of my reservations as to the expansion of bureaucratic power in the Northern Territory.
I urge ministers to be critical of the departments - I am not saying cynical - I am saying cast a critical eye over the departments which serve them. Those people in senior positions who set policy in those departments need checks and balances brought to bear upon them as we, in this place, need checks and balances brought upon us. The absence of a critical eye, particularly from a minister, over the material being delivered to that minister is indicative of a collapse, or potential collapse, of the systems of responsible government which we are all servants of in this place.
If a minister sits in an Estimates Committee and is asked a question about policy and the minister replies, as has occurred, words to the effect: ‘Do you want my opinion, or do you want my ministerial opinion?’, then you have cause to be concerned and, I do have concern. All this bill will seemingly achieve is a matter of convenience for the bureaucracy, much more than a matter of convenience for the government itself.
I do not particularly believe it is a function of this House to make life convenient for the bureaucracy. Whilst its convenience should be assumed on all occasions, it should not become the primary rationale for the legislative instrument. We would certainly like the wheels of bureaucracy and the wheels of service delivery to the people of the Northern Territory to run smoothly, but not at the expense of other components of the way we are governed.
When I read this bill I feel certain disquiet about the system of government we have being eroded by an uncritical ministry casting an uncritical eye over the instruments which are being delivered to them so we can pass laws in this place. Certain tardiness has also crept into the legislative instruments brought before this place, which is an indication of a reduction in the level of rigour being brought to bear on bills as they are drawn up.
Once again, I point to the ministers as carrying responsibility for this. I have been made aware this morning by only three pages of amendments to this bill lying on my table and, last week we saw a similar process with another bill in this House. It seems a belief of this government that they can introduce amendments on the floor of the Chamber simply because a bill needed some fixing up. Surely, if the process was truly rigorous you would not require three pages of amendments to be made to a bill. Once again, it is up to the ministers to ensure the departments are being truly and properly scrutinised for the effort they are putting in to the material which finds its way into this place.
Last week we saw lifts taken from other speeches in other jurisdictions being dropped directly into a ministerial second reading speech, under the guise of uniformity - and a poor guise that is, by the way. This week, we have become aware of multiple pages of amendments to a bill which was introduced by this government. I know that my colleague, the member for Araluen, will add to these observations, and I will leave that to her. However, it is an overall sloppiness finding its way into this government, and an overall sloppiness finding its way into this Chamber.
Whilst I appreciate there will always be technical amendments required to bills as they come into this House - and I will never object to those - to suddenly drop three pages of amendments on a bill which really should not present us with such a massive technical problem, is a matter of concern to me. I believe we should be tidy about the work we do, we should be careful about the work we do and, if we are ministers in this place, we should not be afraid to say to those people who serve us in the departments, that we want more explanation, tighter controls in place, and a better product. The reason we should not be afraid to say that to these people is they are paid to do this job, and they are paid to serve the people of the Northern Territory.
The reason we have checks and balances on us in this place is because we are expected to meet a certain standard. Again, I say, those checks and balances should be brought to bear on people who are not in this place, but who still serve the public interest of the Northern Territory. I would be very nervous if the public interest takes a back seat to the interests of the bureaucracy.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I wish to speak, as foreshadowed by the member for Port Darwin, but before I get to that I wish to speak of the concerns identified by my colleague, the member for Greatorex, which are shared by me.
As members know, I live in Alice Springs; what members may not know is I have had an informal association, over many years, with members on the Alice Springs Hospital Board. I have known of their joys and their frustrations over the years. In recent years there has been a concern by some members of that board and, I gather, shared by members of some other hospital boards around the Territory, that there has been a desire by this government to wear them down, to frustrate them to a point where they throw their hands up in the air and say: ‘It is too hard, I want to move on to something else’, and leave. Or, a desire on the part of this government to minimise their decision-making and to, in one way or another, diminish the oomph, if you like, of the board.
In times gone by, boards at the Alice Springs Hospital have been very august bodies. They have, most importantly of all, represented the community. I would reckon most of the members in this Chamber have spent some time, either personally or officially, as a result of this job, in a hospital. Members will know that hospitals are communities in themselves. In some ways it is almost like going to another planet. You go into a hospital and you see that it is a community that operates proudly, against the odds. There is never enough funding, there are always time constraints, and there are a number of demands putting pressure on the people in that hospital. What happens is they fight against the odds. What also happens is they often avail themselves of the informal and formal structures which are open to them, in this case, accessing the advice and counsel of members of the hospital board. I know that has happened over the years in Alice Springs.
If you think of hospitals as communities then you should also think of them as representing their relevant communities. The hospital boards are a direct link from the community in which the hospital is housed, into the hospital itself. That is why we have hospital boards: hospitals cannot operate entirely on their own. They need input from people outside that hospital community; they need input from the community around them - in this case, the Alice Springs community.
It is a fairly frightening proposition, therefore, that some boards, Alice Springs would be among them, but I note in particular, Gove, Katherine and Tennant Creek, the likelihood of the minister suspending those boards. That is not something that this government should have contemplated. It is dumb, and it illustrates the tendency, which I have been told about over the years, by this government to what is centralised decision-making. That is a profoundly dumb thing to do to hospitals which play such an important role in the relevant communities around the Northern Territory.
I wanted to voice, together with the member for Greatorex, my concern about this happening. I just cannot understand why it is this apparent policy directive has come before the parliament, other than relying on the information I have heard over a number of years from those on the hospital board at Alice Springs. It is a really significant issue.
This government, and I have been a vocal critic of it for some years now, despite glossy brochures and advertising campaigns, actually is not into or supportive of communities. If you get stuck into a hospital board, that is a direct attack on a community, that is a direct attack on those who serve the community differently from the people in this building, and I do not believe it is one small communities will stomach; nor should they. It is a retrograde step and, frankly, one that should not be tolerated.
In Alice Springs, this is a government that polled, I believe, less than 20% of the primary vote at the last election. You would have thought that, in those circumstances, the government would think, okay, how do we do better in Alice Springs? I remember at the polling booth on polling day at the last election, I had dyed-in-the-wool Labor voters - and I am always very grateful for their support, and I do get Labor voters voting for me, and have had over the years - people I never thought would vote for me were lining up to say: ‘I am going to vote for you this time’, and I would say: ‘Well, let us hope the government does so much better in the next term that I can have you voting for them again next time round’, so deep was their conviction and passion to the Labor Party. What can I tell them now? And what do they think? They have not seen any change. You would think the government would try a bit harder in places like Alice Springs; but I digress. The main issue I raise is the government has got stuck into local hospitals boards and they do not want to see them function properly, and that is extremely regrettable; it is also dumb.
In relation to the amendments, I tried to find earlier - I could not remember the exact motion or legislation we debated some years ago where, I believe, it was me who came in and provided some amendments on the floor of the parliament. From memory, government really attacked me and said how outrageous it was - I am sorry I cannot remember the relevant bill - and offensive it was for the opposition to come in and circulate late amendments. Well, this is a late amendment. I understand my colleague, the member for Greatorex, has been waiting for some time for the amendments to be provided by government and, at 8.50 am the amendments find their way into the e-mail system of a staff member in the Leader of the Opposition’s office, in stark contrast to the way I have been receiving amendments, even from the Attorney-General, where I have received the amendments, with a covering letter, by mail and they have been e-mailed as well.
This has not been a timely set of amendments. It was provided on our desks at 10 am today, and to a staff member just before 9 am. It is in no way good enough. They are significant amendments, a full three pages, not just a word here and there which, we could, on a charitable day, understand. These are what might be described as fairly gutsy amendments in terms of their length. My colleague, the member for Greatorex, has been really pushed in terms of time, when it comes to considering them. So, it is very sloppy.
Against that back-drop, I move to what I gather is a reluctance, or a disinclination, of those opposite to talk, other than the minister. This is a mistake, and speaks volumes. It suggests members of the government have not realised the effect this bill will have or the ramifications. They have not understood - perhaps they were not told - what it might mean for their local hospital boards.
My colleague, the member for Port Darwin, referred to what he considered a sloppiness creeping in when it comes to legislative matters. My view is that the sloppiness, the tardiness, has been there for some time. I will illustrate the point with the most recent example, leaving aside, of course, the member for Barkly and his cutting and pasting of someone else’s speech in relation to the prisoners transfer bill. I refer to the debate regarding the Justice Legislation (Penalties) Amendment Bill on 13 October. The opposition forcefully raised concerns regarding the $6500 fine for beggars. I questioned the Attorney-General repeatedly. She said, in relation to an answer about $6500 for begging, and I quote:
- We have set a level for serious public disorder, and if you want to belittle the issue of serious public disorder, so be it. We have the policy that governs it, we have introduced it and implemented it in this bill and this legislation, and we stand by it; I stand by it, my Cabinet colleagues stand by it.
- The Labor Party stands on its record of absolutely going hard to address antisocial behaviour in our community.
I am sure there are other references, but the one I have been able to find was a report in the Courier Mail on Friday which says:
- But in an embarrassing backflip in less than 24 hours, NT Attorney-General Delia Lawrie announced the government would rethink the measure.
- ‘Happy to do that; it’s the right thing to do,’ she said.
- … I stand by it; my Cabinet colleagues stand by it.
Why am I referring to this? Because a bill one of your ministers brings into the parliament and wants to have debated today can effectively demolish, get rid of, suspend, call it whatever you like, one of your hospital boards. I wonder whether after this debate – and I know the member for Greatorex will ask questions in committee, and it may be more of my colleagues wish to contribute to this debate - in a day or so, the Minister for Health does what the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice did, and says: ‘Happy to overturn it. I got it wrong.’
My point: you look pathetic. You look like the Clampetts on a good day. You cannot be the Beverley Hillbillies when it comes to your legislative reform program - well, reform, I mean, you do not even know that word anymore - but you cannot be the Clampetts when it comes to your package of legislation. You need to get it right. You need to think about it very seriously. You need to tell your colleagues what it involves. You need to read the small bits. You just cannot sign off on it.
I am very interested to hear from the member for Nhulunbuy and the member for Barkly about their views on this bill. If they are silent then the opposition has every right to assume they support, in its entirety, every part of this bill. If that is the case, then the opposition will be more than entitled to write to people in their electorates and say: ‘Guess what? This is what your local member supported’. I am reasonably confident, subject to what transpires in the committee stage amendments, that my colleague, the member for Greatorex, the shadow Health minister, may write to relevant people in the electorate, in any event. If I had my way, I would fly an aeroplane over Nhulunbuy and Barkly and drop bits of paper saying: ‘Hello! This is what your local member supports’. This is not the stuff of local members regardless …
Mr McCarthy: That would be littering.
Ms CARNEY: In your case, member for Barkly, we would make sure we did not copy it from somewhere. I digress.
This is not the stuff local members should be supporting. We pride ourselves, each and every one of us, on representing faithfully the needs, wishes, and aspirations of our electorate. That is what we do; that is, above all else, what we are paid for. To come in and support, or be silent on, an aspect of legislation which will diminish hospital boards, I believe, is just unconscionable.
I am not sure whether other colleagues wish to contribute to this debate. If they do not, then we know the member for Greatorex will prosecute this further in the committee stage process, and I believe the member for Fong Lim will also want to contribute.
Centralisation is a word, a theme, a concept that the Labor Party knows well. We say: do not undermine your communities, do not undermine our communities, by what some might say is subtle, some might say it is as subtle as a sledgehammer, but do not undermine our communities by diminishing the hospital boards which have played, and should continue to play, a very useful role in our communities and in our hospitals.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to speak about a bill, a good bill, a necessary bill, and I congratulate my colleague, the Minister for Health, for bringing this bill to the House.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr McCARTHY: Times do change, and we know the pace of life has picked up considerably. I would like to share an image with members opposite - my image about mail bags to e-mails. Three decades ago, when I was a head teacher of a remote school, you managed your school with the weekly mail bag. Now, in most aspects of life we are chasing e-mails every couple of minutes. That says much about how life has changed and how our society has changed, and the demands placed on people to not only participate in community organisations but also in very important aspects of community life such as hospital boards.
Sadly, it has been the case of our regional, if not urban, hospital boards in the Territory - and interstate too - that such challenges of our fast-paced, post-modern society have become difficult to maintain. The member for Greatorex outlined the challenges, and has done a good job of outlining those challenges. This bill is necessary to take up that challenge and to deliver. The member for Nelson summed it up as a reflection of the times, and I believe that is what it is - a reflection of the times.
Regional hospitals, in particular, play a central role in our lives. They are not places you necessarily want to spend time but, as a parent, I can tell you the hurly-burly of family life generally means you do. As an MLA, I am at the other end of three decades in the Territory. When I first arrived in the Territory my first connection with the Tennant Creek Hospital - and it is great to hear Tennant Creek and the Barkly mentioned so many times in this House; they are not always mentioned positively, but this morning they have been and I appreciate that because we are all working together - was through the Tennant Creek Theatre Club which was putting on a major production, Doctor in the House, and being a new, young teacher to the town, I auditioned for one of the lead roles - not only in the theatrical sense of the word. It connected me with the hospital, the hospital staff, and the connection between the community and the hospital. As a young teacher, a resident in Tennant Creek, a member of the greater Barkly community, I started on my learning curve about how this process is so important and does play an optimal role in ensuring the community and the bureaucracy are connected.
That very casual beginning turned into a very intense middle section, right up to the time I changed positions to become an MLA. I became a person in remote communities who had a very real link in medical emergency evacuations; a person with a very real link to the Tennant Creek Hospital and the Mt Isa Hospital, from the eastern Barkly, to play a role not only the evacuation but also the welfare of the people who were evacuated, and playing a role in helping those people return to their community. So, I stepped up the pace and started to understand, at a higher level, how our hospital system worked.
I must say I am very impressed, and our medical professionals need the utmost accolade and the greatest level of support for the very complex, diverse and challenging work they perform.
You can quote personal anecdotes, and I can quote anecdotes wherever you want, member for Greatorex, regarding the importance of this bill - from losing a child in labour in a remote town in the Northern Territory, to evacuating a burn survivor, to evacuating my spouse. Those connections were always part of a learning curve which allows me to stand in support of my colleague, the Minister for Health, and to comment in this debate that this is an important and necessary a bill.
Hospitals do a great job in the Territory facing, as they do, unique difficulties and challenges. I want to thank all the Health staff within our hospitals and across the wider health system - we all owe them a great debt. Their job is difficult, perhaps more so than elsewhere.
The Territory population struggles with disease and morbidity rates unheard of interstate. Because of the variety of our population and our geographical location, Territorians have to tough it out against a variety of ailments and viruses, and they only have our hospitals to turn to because there are simply not enough GPs willing to work in regional areas - there are simply not enough GPs, full stop. In any debate we always have to factor in the national perspective. If I go back to a consumer of federal politics, then I can certainly point the stick at the Howard government for not only creating some very challenging circumstances in the new millennium for Australian health, but also for ignoring the warning signs to look after and support with resources the education and training of our young health professionals. This needs to be factored into the debate about health always, not just in a debate about this bill today, but in the consequent debates which happen in this House, when members are quick to jump on one-liners and sensational statements that are more media-focused than reality-based.
Thankfully, there are moves afoot, both nationally and within the Territory, to address this state of affairs. These are moves which will be made by Labor governments that believe no one gets left behind. We are working on fixing the health industry in Australia and the Northern Territory, but it is piece by piece, block by block. Be under no illusion, or misled by anyone in this place: this is not an easy task and this is not a quick fix. This will take a lot of time and energy, a work in progress that is probably the most significant, outside education, for building our nation.
As we rebuild health services in the Barkly, and there have been some notable successes with recruitment, new services, and the renal unit at Tennant Creek among others, we need to ensure the hospital and others like it in the Territory stay connected to the local community. That is why the old legislation was reviewed and now we have the bill before us.
This bill sets out to ensure each of the Territory’s five hospital boards can function and be valued as representing the views of the community. It also ensures the very necessary standards of public accountability and processes are maintained and followed. I know this process has been involved and sometimes difficult, if not painful; I know old hospital boards have suffered from declining membership, have struggled with what is required of them and, in some cases, have struggled to function at all because of the difficulties in attracting the right people and giving them the right jobs to do. I know the review has taken a great deal of advice and expertise from the Royal Darwin Hospital Board and the Alice Springs Hospital Board, and I thank them, on behalf of all Territorians, for their hard work and vision and their help to improve the quality of all our hospital boards.
I have no fear of elite professionals and, coming from a regional town and living in a remote area, I believe elite health professionals have much to offer in guidance and support into the future.
The new act provides for each of our public hospitals to have a board raised from the community they serve. I know, as the member for Barkly, I now have a job to assist this. I hope to be able to provide some assistance in finding local people to provide local views on how best the Tennant Creek Hospital can serve the community. Discussing this bill and the amendments, and how we have been working on it in Caucus and Cabinet forums, and me searching out the wisdom of the people I work with, with the staff in the office this morning, I think the MLA’s column in the Tennant & District Times this Friday should be about exactly this - to start raising education and awareness of what this bill is doing and how we now have the challenge to get back to where we used to be.
That is something I want to comment on for the member for Greatorex - another history lesson I am sorry you will have to endure - that is what comes with knocking around the ridges for 30 years and that is what I bring to this House every time I get up to speak.
I am pleased senior managers will still be involved in hospital boards. Their important advice on surgical, nursing, administration, and so forth, will be available to the new board’s meetings either by the managers attending, or information provided beforehand.
The new bill has some important changes designed to make the task of having a functional, accountable hospital board in regional centres, like Tennant Creek, much easier. These changes will not only ensure community voice and presence in hospital decision-making, but will allow the boards to concentrate on vital tasks, such as service improvement, consultation and community liaison.
The first of these changes is to no longer require a board membership of eight people; it will now be in the range of three to six members which is more viable and flexible. In response to the member for Greatorex’s challenge, I take that up. It is our job as MLAs to get out and lobby and recruit. Not just for the hospital board - we have volunteers, community organisations, community events, we have our juniors, our youth, our seniors - we are involved in all aspects. It is no one-liner, it is not: ‘You get out there and do it, or else.’ The all else is face the judgment day the same as you. We face that judgment day from the public as elected members. It is a work in progress; it is not an easy one-liner to spit out in this House to grab some media attention. It is a job I take very seriously, and it is a job where we are all in the same boat, and I welcome that.
Let us talk about that boat for a minute. The member for Greatorex did quote Tennant Creek and the Barkly in his speech, and Tennant Creek got a mention in 1986, a wonderful year; Tennant Creek also got a mention in 1990 and 1991, wonderful years, and the member for Greatorex said: ‘I do not know what has happened in the last couple of years.’ I will tell you what has happened in the last couple of years but, before I tell you that, let me go back to the 1980s and 1990s when Tennant Creek was a bustling gold mining town and the link between mining and the Tennant Creek hospital was substantial. Since the mine closed and since the whole global impact on mining and commodities, there has been a change of pace in Tennant Creek. There have been considerable social, cultural and logistical changes, and we have seen a highly mobile population. As I began in this contribution to the debate, this fairly much sums up the difficulties faced under the old bill with the hospital boards, and the challenges we face now to rebuild that, and I know we share in my comment on the debate, and we will rebuild that.
The people we will be looking for need to be able to move between the hospital and the community; they will need to find out what their community wants, and turn that into the advice which shapes future services. They will need to be locals in a true sense; they will need to be part of the community and know it and its moods; to be able to speak to people about what is being done, and what needs to be done well.
Just as importantly, the review process found our hospital boards need more administrative support so members are not bogged down in the administrative identification of an issue, and the nuts and bolts of organising a solution; hospital management will be required by this bill to provide that, and rightly so. This will also allow hospital managers to ensure the boards’ activities and directions are consistent with public service awards and requirements. There are obvious efficiencies and benefits here.
The new boards will be empowered to ensure hospital services meet, match, or exceed, health care standards. They will not be responsible for implementing new standards or for administering the work around these standards; they will not be required to have technical understanding of the workings of these standards, they will not be required to find and engage the health care professionals required to assist them with their monetary role. For that is exactly what their role will be - communicators, consultants and consulters - they will be there to provide feedback from the people who use the service as to how new health care standards are being implemented, and the benefits they bring. They will be able to inspect the hospital, speak to the patients within and without; they will be able to compare experiences and expectations with the accepted standards, and provide advice to hospital management, and government, about ways to improve the quality and appropriateness of hospital services.
Boards will also be there for the staff. In this day and age it is, unfortunately, true that our health professionals face a rising tide of incredibly complex ethical and legal matters. The boards will be there to ensure our staff have a way to consult with experts in ethics and legalities.
The boards will also be able to shape the future of our hospitals under this new bill; it describes how new boards will assist with strategic planning by increased contact with the Health minister, giving the community a new and direct path to decision-making. It is important the boards’ ability to reflect community sentiment about services provided and planned services, be plugged straight into decision-making at the highest level. This new bill demands, I expect, that boards’ annual reports to this place will become even more important tools for the minister and the department to gather and utilise public opinion in planning. This is an exciting and vital development.
The new bill goes further than that: boards will be involved in the selection of key hospital personnel by having board members appointed to selection panels to engage members of the hospitals’ executive. Such vital roles as general manager, director of medical services, and director of nursing services will be informed by the board, thus allowing for even more compatibility with the community in the selection of these important personnel. This is logical, given these personnel will need the support and understanding of the boards as they strive to do their best to improve services through connection with the community.
There have been times when boards ceased to function under the old rules, leaving a vacuum in the leadership of our hospitals. This bill has special powers to ensure such vacuums do not occur again. If, for whatever reason, a board fails to have sufficient membership to be viable and effective, the Minister for Health will have the power to suspend the board until such time as it can. This means the leadership of the hospital will continue temporarily until a community-based board can again be established to take the role back. The board in question will not be abolished; it will be in hiatus until it can return with renewed vigour. This is sensible and effective; it is logical and practical. Similarly, boards can be amalgamated to achieve the same effect. This can be done when membership levels are optimum.
That is the message I will be communicating to the people of Tennant Creek and the Barkly - not to fear this, but let us work with it. The shadow for Health challenges us to get us on board, and I appreciate that, and I say that this is definitely a bipartisan way to move forward and improve health services.
Let us not lose sight of the past before we go forward. As the member for Barkly and a resident of the Barkly, I know the hard work and selflessness of the people who have served before. This new bill represents a gathering of their knowledge and learning; it represents a practical solution to the problems they faced; it represents a continuation of the faith that their work will not be lost, and will serve to inform the work of the future.
The volunteers who serve the Territory in all forms, particularly on our hospital boards, are priceless and represent one of the reasons why this is such a fantastic place to live. We all rely on the volunteer spirit and I want to place on the record my thanks to all those who have gone before.
I look forward to even better links between our hospitals and the communities they serve under this act. I look forward to better decision-making, better recruitment, and better services. I know the Henderson government and the Rudd federal Labor government have the will and the means to make a better health system for all Territorians and all Australians. This bill plays no small part in those efforts as we take action to ensure Territorians have access to quality health services no matter where they live.
Madam Speaker, I have no hesitation in supporting this bill, and I urge all members of the House to do so.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, it was interesting listening to the member for Barkly. I do not know whether he supported the bill or not; it seemed to me he was supporting the opposition’s principles of objection in some areas.
He referred to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and the Chief Minister working to make our hospitals better. It is interesting to look at Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, who, 10 or so years ago was the Chief of Staff to then Queensland Premier, Wayne Goss, when he picked up the nickname Dr Death because of the way he closed hospitals and sacked doctors and nurses. Somewhere along the line the Prime Minister had a change of heart. Some time in 2007, in the lead-up to a federal election, he had a bit of an epiphany. I believe the Lord spoke to him and told him that things were not all right in our health system in Australia. In fact, we had wall-to-wall state and territory Labor governments, and all of them shared a common area - they had all failed in health.
The Territory government is no different. We have seen health services decline markedly since this government came to power. Only last week, we were talking about the extended times people have to wait for elective surgery; it was pointed out we are now the second worst in the country. We heard the minister telling us that things were worse in Tasmania and the ACT and, therefore, we are better than Queensland, New South Wales and others – which surprised me.
The fact is, Kevin Rudd, had a bit of an epiphany. He understands our health system under Labor governments is falling to bits, and he made the threat in the lead-up to the 2007 election that, if things did not improve in the areas of health, then he would be quite prepared to step in and take over health completely - taking it out of the hands of the states and territories. Fine sentiments, I suppose. You have to ask the question: have things improved since Kevin Rudd’s ascension to the Prime Ministership? Most people in this country would, I believe, say no, they have not. Certainly here in the Northern Territory things have not become any better; they have become worse.
Now, we come to this debate talking about hospital boards. It seemed fine that hospital boards have worked the way they have for the last 25 years or so – well, up to three years ago hospital boards worked quite well – then, along came the member for Johnston as Health minister. Things under the Health minister, the member for Johnston, starting falling to pieces, and we saw hospital boards not putting in reports and having troubles. So, what is the response of government? The response of government in the Territory is to disempower hospital boards and hit them with a threat where government now has a mechanism to suspend or amalgamate a board.
It was interesting listening to the member for Barkly’s speech. At no stage has he said how he intends to talk to the people of Tennant Creek and let them know the government now has the ability to suspend their board …
Mr McCarthy: Fifteen hundred is the circulation of the Tennant Creek & District Times, Dave, but you would not know that because you have never been there.
Mr TOLLNER: … to close their board down completely - no mention whatsoever.
I will take that interjection on board from the member for Barkly, because he has absolutely no idea when I have been to his electorate. It is not the first time he has made the assertion that I have not visited Tennant Creek. I can tell the member for Barkly that I have been in Tennant Creek this year on at least four or five occasions; gone around the town, had a look, talked to people and had a chat to them. I believe they are fine people, it is a fine electorate the member for Barkly represents, a great bunch of people, and they deserve so much more. They deserve an empowered hospital board; they deserve a board that is prepared to take the fight to government.
We see government constantly removing services from Tennant Creek, aided and abetted by the member for Barkly. We have seen over the years the loss of airline services, the loss of health services, the loss of tourism and support for tourism businesses - the list just seems to go on and on with Tennant Creek. The town now is really struggling. It is sad to say that issues of crime, antisocial behaviour and public drunkenness abound, but constantly the government continues to remove services. And now they have the ability to suspend the board of the hospital in Tennant Creek, to take away that real community power where board members should be, and are, local champions for their local hospital.
If Kevin Rudd does decide to take over the health system, something I cannot see him doing - I believe it was an idle threat made in the heat of an election campaign - but if he were to take over hospitals in all the states and territories, one thing he would certainly require is that local hospital boards are fully empowered to provide the information and management support which goes with them; to provide all those things to the federal government, and work-hand-in-glove with the federal government. Identifying a problem as a state government is one thing, but actually getting a board to function and work well is highly important if you were going to nationalise our public health system
It seems to me Labor governments right across the country do not have a bad word to say about Mr Rudd, who identified that our hospitals are getting worse only a couple of days ago when the AMA report was tabled. Labor governments around the country distanced themselves from Mr Rudd’s comments in that regard but, generally, they believe Mr Rudd is doing a good job.
It would be interesting to see what this government thinks about Kevin Rudd taking over our hospital system. Disempowering boards of hospitals, I do not believe, would be sending a very good message to Health ministers and Prime Ministers in Canberra, because it is saying: ‘We are going to try to sabotage your efforts to make our hospital systems better.’ We see the way it is operating with schools. The federal government is now keen, and has been for some time, to hand money directly to school councils, because school councils are on the ground, and they know what is needed in their particular school. It has the other great benefit of cutting out education departments so the federal government can be certain all the money it allocates to those schools actually gets to the schools. That is a massive saving because, as we all know, state and territory government bureaucracies cost an absolute fortune and very little of the money sent from the federal government hits the ground where it is needed most.
By empowering hospital boards, it would allow the Commonwealth government to work with them directly, and allow hospital boards to be directly funded by the Commonwealth government. Obviously, this scares the Territory government because the Territory government is well-known for the way it throws around taxpayers’ money. It will pour millions and millions of dollars into our health system, but get very little result. In fact, they quite often skite about the amount of money they are prepared to throw at Health, but where is the return, many people are asking? We spend an absolute fortune on it and, at the same time, seem to get very few results.
We see the way projects are constantly delayed, put off, mothballed, and so on. We see this in all spheres where government involves itself here in the Territory, and the worst thing is it seems to happen regularly in the area of Health. The classic one has to be the oncology unit, promised in 2001, budgeted for in 2001, and here we are in 2009 and the expected completion date is sometime in 2010. Goodness me, they will be lucky if they are seeing patients in 2012; but I stand to be corrected. I hope I am corrected, I pray that next year the oncology unit will be up and running and functional. It is a classic example of something Labor says, as opposed to something Labor does.
Dr Burns: You promised it. You said it had been delivered at the last federal election.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Here we go, …
Members interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: I will take the interjection from the member for Johnston, the bloke who presided over an era of …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: … because the member for Johnston has interjected and said: ‘I made a promise back in …
Dr Burns: Delivered! Delivered!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: …back in …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: Let me speak to the interjection, Madam Speaker. The fact was it was delivered, the money was budgeted for. It has been sitting in federal government coffers since around 2004-05 and …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr Burns: And you did not …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business!
Mr TOLLNER: … and yet this government has failed to actually get things happening.
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to Standing Order 51, and the member for Johnston may well remember the only reason we are here is because of his failure.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, resume your seat. Order! Member for Fong Lim!
Honourable members, I remind you of Standing Order 51 which relates to interruptions and interjections. Member for Fong Lim, you have the call and bear in mind is almost 12 o’clock and you probably have nearly 20 minutes left.
Mr TOLLNER: I can see that, Madam Speaker. I might try to talk out the clock and then sit down, if you like.
Madam SPEAKER: We will let you speak until about 12 pm and then we will adjourn.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, certainly, Madam Speaker.
The point the member for Greatorex made is a valid point - we would not be having this debate right now if it was not for the lack of action, the failure, the complete incompetence of the member for Johnston. It is a sad indictment of this government, but that is what it has come to.
I am somewhat disappointed in this bill. I would have much preferred to see a greater empowerment of hospital boards. I would like to have seen an improvement in the way hospital boards are resourced and supported, and I would liked to have seen consideration of remuneration for hospital board members. To me, they do an incredibly important job; they have a big role to play in our local community, and I do not believe it is out of the question that people who sacrifice so much of their time and work so hard should not be rewarded in some manner.
Madam Speaker, I might leave my comments there, continue after the break and …
Madam SPEAKER: You would like to continue after Question Time? That is fine.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you.
Debate suspended.
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS
Mr Neville Perkins OAM
Mr Neville Perkins OAM
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Mr Neville Perkins OAM, former member for Macdonnell and former Deputy Leader of the Opposition. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Honourable Jim Lloyd
Madam SPEAKER: I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Jim Lloyd, the former federal Minister for Territories. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Member for Braitling
Member for Braitling
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have given my leave to the member for Braitling to make a personal explanation. I remind you during personal explanations, as a courtesy, members listen in silence.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I make a personal explanation under Standing Order 57. In parliament last Thursday evening, 15 October 2009, I was debating a ministerial statement on NT Public Housing waiting lists. In that debate, I inadvertently confused people traffickers and asylum seekers. It was a genuine slip of the tongue, and to the extent of that error, I apologise.
This slip was not what I was intending to nor meant to say. As evidence, earlier in the debate I referred to ‘scum bringing boat people over’; a direct reference to people smugglers. I made a concerted effort to reflect that people traffickers are scum; criminals turning profit in human trade from one country to another. The term ‘scum’ was, in fact, lifted from the terminology used by Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, when he said in an ABC Online article by Emma Rogers on 17 April 2009, that people smugglers ‘were the absolute scum of the earth’. Immediately after the comment, I said:
- We cannot house Territorians, we cannot support a disabled kid, but we can give accommodation to people traffickers over on Christmas Island.
When observers read this speech in its entirety, it is quite obvious that I was making the inference that people smugglers and traffickers are scum.
HOSPITAL BOARDS BILL
(Serial 57)
(Serial 57)
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to continue my remarks in relation the bill we are discussing on hospital boards.
The fact is this Territory government is no different to other state governments around Australia where we have seen a massive decline in health services. We also see those governments, and this one in particular, trying to micro-manage public hospitals from head office. That is a situation, I believe, must end. The government employs more and more bureaucrats, gets more and more top heavy, and seems to provide fewer and fewer services people are demanding - and we see that through the increased waiting lists for elective surgery. The Northern Territory now is a disgrace in relation to people waiting for elective surgery; the waiting lists have increased, and the time waits have increased.
There is nothing in this bill which allows hospital boards to, for instance, appoint the CEO of the hospital. The CEOs should be accountable to their hospital boards; the boards and the CEOs should have control over the hospital budgets, and the boards and the CEOs should make decisions about what happens in the particular hospital. The boards should have significant clinician representation; that is to say representatives of doctors and nurses and other health staff at the hospital should be present at board meetings. They should also have local community leaders and people with expertise in governance, finance, legal practices, and the like. I was heartened to see Colin McDonald QC here this morning listening to this debate, because Colin McDonald is a man with talent in the legal field, and he brings considerable expertise to the board of Royal Darwin Hospital.
People like that, I believe, should be encouraged; and the government should also look at remunerating them. After all, it is no small task being chairman of the board of a large city hospital, and I suggest that Mr McDonald would spend several days a week doing his voluntary work at the hospital. I would not have thought such people would be falling off trees, so to speak. They would be quite rare to find and they should be, I believe, remunerated in some way for the time and effort they put in to serving on hospital boards. For other people on hospital boards, there should also be a consideration there.
The important thing is, on this side of the Chamber, we do not believe in more bureaucrats. What we believe in is more local services. And the way you get better local services and more local services is to empower local people to take control of their own destinies, not push everything up the tree to head office, so to speak, or to the minister’s office where things are done for political or bureaucratic reasons, but to where things are done to service the local community.
I talked this morning about Kevin Rudd’s plan to nationalise the health system. I believe he may be backing away from that now, because he understands, or he may be starting to understand, the enormity of the challenge. Make no mistake, the reason Kevin Rudd has embarked on this is because of the failure of Labor state and territory governments right across Australia to adequately provide health services for their people.
The Northern Territory is a classic example. We see a health system which is massively under pressure. The best the minister can do, and the former minister could do, is blame the private sector: ‘Oh, well, we do not have enough GPs here; it is someone else’s fault, people are not coming here’ and so on. There is nothing proactive this government does to encourage doctors or GPs to come and set up in the Northern Territory. It is all about blaming someone else. In this particular case it is about blaming Canberra: the fact that Canberra does not give them enough money; Canberra never gives them enough money. This has to be the most mendicant administration in Australia. This Northern Territory government never stops bleating. They go on and on about how they miss out all the time, irrespective of the fact that since 2001 when the GST came in, they have received $1.5bn in windfall funds from the Commonwealth government. Where has that $1.5bn extra disappeared to?
We see more and more money spent on the health system and fewer and fewer services. Now we come into this place to find the government wants to completely disempower hospital boards. They want to put in place a mechanism where they can suspend hospital boards, where they can amalgamate boards. They are out there with a big stick ready to flay the hides of hospital board members. They are putting in place a code of conduct for people on hospital boards. These are volunteers, these are people who give freely of their own time, wanting to do something for the community, and now the government is putting in a range of penalties in order to prosecute those people because of government’s own failure. What is more, they are quite prepared to reduce the size of representation that the community has on boards. This, I believe, smacks of a government who is keen to centralise more and more power into the health bureaucracy.
The previous minister showed himself as a complete failure. It took the Chief Minister, after much work by the member for Greatorex in running the case, and many other people - the Health Ombudsman, the Coroner - all had their two cents worth, their dig at the previous Health minister and, finally, after months and months and years and years of mismanagement and failure, the Chief Minister removed him from that ministry because he had proven himself a complete failure.
Here we are debating legislation which attempts to paper over more of that minister’s failures. The system of hospital boards has worked well for 25 years through previous Country Liberal governments, and even through this government. They lasted through minister Toyne. Madam Speaker, you were a Health minister and hospital boards worked quite well through you. All of a sudden, the member for Johnston becomes the minister and it all falls to pieces. Now we have the member for Casuarina stepping into the breach, trying to cover up for his friend, the member for Johnston, and bringing this legislation in here.
I understand hospital boards were contacted and asked for their input, but government has turned a blind eye to their suggestions and recommendations. The fact is this government does not value hospital boards. It is a sad state of affairs in the Northern Territory.
If the opposition was given a go in government, taking control, we would do much more to empower local champions, those people who sit on boards of management of hospitals, to do a range of things, become more accountable to the community and become champions for the community when taking the case to the government for services and the like. We would give them some real power to employ the hospital CEO, to support the hospital CEO, to ensure professionals are attending board meetings to ensure the boards are getting proper, up-to-date advice from people they can talk to and know. We would not be wielding a big stick. If there was a requirement for a code and a range of penalties, there would also be a level of remuneration for those people who choose to serve the community by taking positions on a hospital board.
I, together with other members of this side of the House, eagerly await the committee stage of this debate because there are a number of questions the minister needs to answer.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I support this legislation which seeks to establish a new hospital boards act to replace the original act which has been in operation since July 1980.
As we know, this legislation is long overdue. With few changes in 29 years, it is certainly long overdue for a major revamp, especially when we consider that since 1980, we have seen significant challenges and improvements in the way our hospitals are managed, both here in the Territory and in other jurisdictions. In essence, the original act has not been workable, especially for smaller hospitals.
One of the highlights of this bill is that it has been drafted in plain English and in clear language so it can be read and understood by the lay person. The original act was worded in language which was complicated and difficult to interpret. In trying to work with dated legislation, what we have seen in the last few years is hospital boards challenged in trying to comply with the requirements of the act. This has especially been to the detriment of the three smaller regional hospital boards, including Gove District Hospital, which is in my electorate.
The three smaller hospitals outside of Darwin and Alice Springs, namely Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Gove, have struggled to retain operating and functional boards. This is not to say these hospitals have not been well run, but the current legislation has lacked clarity, flexibility, and consistency of application so that hospital boards and their members have struggled to clearly understand their roles and the parameters of their responsibilities. This bill provides that clarity and flexibility so hospital boards, their members, the communities and the consumers they represent can now be very clear about their roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities. This is as it should be.
Even the naming of the act in 1980 was confusing, the Hospital Management Boards Act, confusing because the main function of hospital boards is not about management; the main function of hospital boards is to be an advisory body and, to this end, be the conduit between the community and the hospital. It is important that communities have a voice and a say in how their local hospital works. It is entirely appropriate that members of the community have that avenue through their hospital board to provide input into strategic and future planning and policy direction in order to see ongoing and continuous improvement in delivery of services for consumers.
As we heard in the minister’s second reading speech, Gove District Hospital has not had a functional Board since 2000, and this was, and I quote from the minister’s speech:
- despite repeated and expensive attempts to recruit community membership over this period, and support for the operation of the board through the hospital management.
Despite this, and it is a credit to successive general managers of Gove District Hospital, the hospital enjoys a good reputation and, in my view, services the region, and it is certainly a sizeable geographic region, extremely well. On a personal note, during almost 20 years in Nhulunbuy I have been a consumer of Gove District Hospital services, with my family, and I can attest to the high level of professional health care which my family and I have received. Like the member for Barkly, my experiences with my local hospital have been practically life and death, and everything in between I have given birth to three healthy babies, including an emergency Caesarean, and accompanied my youngest at the age of two, with a suspected case of meningitis, on a medical evacuation flight to the Royal Darwin Hospital.
That aside, we must and we will see with this bill, effective and efficient hospital boards re-established. These boards have a vital role to play by ensuring local communities identify local champions to represent their views on local hospital boards. Consumers of the service at Gove District Hospital are diverse and includes the population of 4000 or so residents of Nhulunbuy and at least that many again from the surrounding communities of Yirrkala, Elcho Island, Groote Island, Gapuwiyak, and all the many small homelands in between. Around 90% of the hospital’s consumers are Indigenous.
Gove’s 30-bed hospital has two main wards - a general medical-surgical ward, and a maternity ward which delivers over 200 babies per annum; two theatre suites; a busy A&E department along with x-ray, pathology and a pharmacy, and steady stream of visiting specialists operating out-patient clinics. Gove District Hospital is fortunate to be staffed with highly talented and dedicated staff in both the health professional area and administrative roles.
Gove District Hospital also works closely with other health service providers, including health clinics at Yirrkala, Galiwinku, and Gapuwiyak as well as the health clinics operated for homeland residents by Martha Cole and Laynhapuy Homelands Associations. Further, Gove District Hospital works closely with Miwatj Health and the Northern Territory Rural Clinical School. Given the breadth of relationships and the diversity of consumers, it is timely this new legislation should be introduced at a time when regionalisation of health services is currently high on the agenda in the East Arnhem Region. Now is definitely the right time to be invigorating hospital boards. With the reintroduction of hospital boards under this new bill, I can see services at Gove District Hospital will only get better because there will be an open and transparent process which will allow consumers to have a real voice about how their hospital works.
In preparing this speech, I reflected on a couple of rare occasions where consumers and constituents have visited me in the last 12 months, as local member, to voice concerns about delivery of health services. Most notably this occurred earlier this year when maternity services were suspended for a short time because of the extreme difficulty in attracting qualified GP obstetric procedurals. While, as local members, our doors are always open to listen to and support constituents, the reintroduction of a hospital board at Gove will give the community an avenue to take their concerns directly to and have their voice heard in the same way, as member for Greatorex mentioned earlier, the need for schools to have school councils.
I note in complying with existing legislation, boards have particularly struggled to fulfil their requirement to communicate with the minister by way of producing a formal annual report for tabling in the Legislative Assembly. This was a matter which I know was of concern to the opposition last year when the member for Greatorex raised the subject in this House. If one of the barriers to producing an annual report was lack of administrative support, then I am pleased to see this bill states explicitly that hospital management will be responsible to assist the board with adequate administrative support to ensure important tasks, such as an annual report, are properly managed.
As I see it, this bill does have flexibility so it will be workable for all hospitals in the Northern Territory, whether small or large. With a reduction in the number of persons required to constitute a hospital board, previously eight, but now proposed to be between three and six, I feel confident this will be workable for smaller hospitals in attracting and retaining members for boards at hospitals such as Gove. I also feel very confident there will be a renewed level of interest to form a hospital board at Gove, but I note the very sensible provision which allows for amalgamation of boards in the event one of the smaller hospitals sees its membership decline for whatever reason. Rather than allowing the board to collapse and simply not exist, which is exactly what has happened to date, there is provision through amalgamation to see a board continue under the auspices of another hospital.
I have noted the member for Greatorex’s comments and his fears - unfounded though they are - and I thank him for his insights - flawed though they are. Quite clearly, the amalgamation clause is there as a safety net, a provision in the unlikely event a board cannot be formed or is suspended - a hiatus as the member for Barkly described it - there remains a line of communication, under amalgamation, to the hospital’s management and to the Health minister until such time as new board members are recruited and the board reconvened.
I assure the member for Greatorex that I am a very proactive local member, as I am sure he is in his electorate, and I will certainly do everything I can to encourage locals and leaders from my community to take up a role on the Gove District Hospital Board. And, member for Araluen, please hold off booking a small plane to distribute leaflets by airdrop, because it simply will not be necessary.
What people have noticed about this government, unlike previous CLP governments, is we do consult widely and exhaustively with all Territorians and ask them what they think; invite their input into a whole range of matters which impact on their lives. So, I have no doubt that people in my electorate will embrace this opportunity to have a strong voice on the board of Gove District Hospital and a real say in how that hospital works, and how services can be improved for its diverse group of consumers. I am sure this will be the same for other hospitals around the Territory, including Tennant Creek and Katherine.
I understand it is unusual to have a number of amendments at this late stage, but it reflects the huge challenge and the enormity of the task in reviewing the legislation and making it workable across all five of the Territory’s current hospitals.
I would like to comment on one of the amendments the minister will be moving at committee stage; it is the very sensible inclusion of a code of conduct for board members. The inclusion of a code of conduct provides board members with further clarify around their role. I note there will be core requirements for each board’s code of conduct about how members manage confidential information, what constitutes inappropriate behaviour, and distribution of information. However, beyond this, each hospital board will have the ability to include additional elements to the code of conduct so it can be tailored to best meet that board’s needs in further reflecting the nature of the community which they represent. I cannot, for a moment, understand how on earth the member for Fong Lim sees a code of conduct as, somehow, negative or penalising.
Madam Speaker, I welcome this bill and the very positive changes it will bring to the operation of hospital boards. I commend the minister for bringing it before the House.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I will be very brief. I thought I should contribute because, from what I can gather, lowering the number of board members and so forth is like lowering the bar, similar to what we have seen with education outcomes. There seems to be a theme here.
I believe there is going to be local focus lost when there are chances a board may not even be from the local area - that local control is lost. Why change legislation which appears to have worked very well for over 20 years, at least with a CLP government? Again, this is lowering the bar when things get tough. As I said, it is quite clear with education as well.
With recent examples highlighted in this House in regard to health outcomes in the Territory - outcomes that have included tragic deaths, waiting lists growing, systematic failures, service level reductions, cleanliness, super bugs - the list goes on. Perhaps we should be lifting the bar rather than taking the easy road, rather than just dropping the ball or, in some cases, passing the ball; government should be focusing on improving services, as I am sure all Territorians expect.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their contributions. However, I sometimes wonder if people actually take the time to sit down and read the legislation.
One thing we all agree on is that the legislation is too old; it needs to be revised. It was first brought in 20 to 25 years ago, and obviously it has not worked very well. We have many examples of hospital board reports not delivered in time, and despite what the member for Greatorex said before, I recall very well he tabled his report in this House a few months back, and when we had a look at them, the majority of boards had had meetings but the meetings did not have a quorum. Many of them did not actually attend the necessary meetings; there are supposed to be 10 meetings a year, and the truth is only 44% of the hospital boards met these criteria for 10 to 12 meetings per year, and most of those were Royal Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs Hospital. None of the other hospitals met those basic criteria.
Let us go to some of the issues which were brought up. The member for Greatorex asked what the member for Barkly is doing and what the member for Nhulunbuy is doing to find people to go on the boards. I mean, what else are they doing? I wonder if he is going to direct the same comments to the member for Katherine because, since 2005, the Katherine Hospital has not had a functioning board. So, what is good for the goose is good for the gander.
I do not say these people are not doing their job. The reality is that the public has to step forward and put their hands up to work on the boards, and there are special conditions in every town. Tenant Creek was a vibrant town a few years ago with mining; now, of course, it is not as vibrant as it was before; in Katherine, it is the same thing. People are either too busy; they are transient; or they are not interested.
With regard to the issue that the new legislation will somehow eliminate the local input is absolutely untrue. In the old legislation, there is not even a definition of what a local community is; there is no requirement to advertise for people from the local community to be part of these boards. Also, the minister had the power to appoint to the board anyone he or she likes. There is nothing in the old legislation about that. Under the definitions in the new legislation ‘local community’ is defined as:
- … in relation to a hospital, includes the persons who usually reside in the area and access the services provided by the hospital.
In section 16, Appointment as member:
(2) The Minister must advertise that he or she:
…
- (b) is seeking expressions of interest from persons within the local community for the hospital for appointment to the board …
This is a clear indication that our legislation seeks nominations from people from the local community to serve on the hospital board in the community which the hospital services - it is a fundamental difference. Instead of taking away from the local community the power to be members of the board, we enhance it in the legislation. There was nothing in the old legislation; I have a copy of it here and it was of great interest to find there is no reference to local community in the old legislation, while there is significant reference in the new legislation.
In addition, some of the reasons about suspending the board because it is agreeable to the bureaucrats; I would support a board that has the support of the bureaucrats, and I will support strongly a board that stands up to the bureaucrats. The reality is the board can only be suspended if the number of members falls below three. If there are three members and one of them resigns, it is suspended. The reason we did not put a time limit of 30 days is because we wanted, as soon as possible, to find a suitable person to replace the person who resigned, in order for the board to continue. It is only in extenuating circumstances the board would be suspended - if we cannot find a third person; or to amalgamate with another board if we continue to be unable to find another person. I would also like to say, it is specifically stated in the legislation how the board can be suspended and the reason behind the suspension.
I am bringing a number of amendments to the House, and I would like to thank the member for Greatorex and the member for Nelson for attending the briefings. They brought some issues to our attention - that is why the legislation sits before the parliament for 30 days: in order for people to bring these issues to our attention. Some of the amendments we have adopted are suitable amendments that the members brought to our attention, and I thank them for their input. I have to say, the amendments I bring to the House are amendments that make this legislation even more workable and even more suitable for modern, up-to-date boards.
As I said before, part of the claim from the other side that this new legislation will take power away from the local people, will do exactly the opposite; it will strengthen and empower local people to be a members of the boards because legislation in the past was not suitable, it did not serve the community, and it is about time we had modern, up-to-date boards.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, as you are aware there are a number of amendments submitted today, and in that context, there has been a discussion and we would like to put the committee stage discussion on this bill off until tomorrow.
With the agreement of all parties, I move that this committee stage be later taken.
Motion agreed to; committee stage postponed.
MOTION
Note Statement – Public Housing
Note Statement – Public Housing
Continued from 15 October 2009
Mr KNIGHT (Housing): Madam Speaker, I thank all members who contributed to this very important debate. The provision of public housing is extremely important to a sector within our community, within our society, who desperately need it, not as an option, but as a necessity of life.
Many members raised issues of antisocial behaviour in public housing; I do agree this is an issue. Since becoming the minister, I have spent a great deal of time dealing with and working with the department. We have put extra resources into combating antisocial behaviour with four Antisocial Behaviour Officers who have had a degree of success in the community in Darwin, Palmerston and in Alice Springs.
There are a number of other measures we are currently working on such as changes to the legislation to strengthen our ability to curb antisocial behaviour. I know the department does a large amount of work in some very difficult situations. The reality with Territory Housing is we are a landlord of last resort; we know when we evict people they are not going to go into private housing. They may have an opportunity to go into non-government organisations, but it is a slim chance. That is why a great deal of consideration and opportunity is given to public housing tenants to improve their ways, and we support them through tenancy support programs, providing life skills and, as has been announced recently, transitional housing - trying to improve the behaviour of potential housing tenants coming through transitional housing.
I thank my colleagues, and also the member for Araluen for her comments. The member for Araluen identified problems and then provided suggestions on how to resolve them. Her comments were constructive, and I can assure the member I will follow-up on her ideas. This situation has not arisen overnight. These were issues for the previous government, and it has been a growing characteristic of social and public housing throughout Australia.
In the late 1990s, the Commonwealth government insisted state and territory governments provide priority to lower income earners and applicants with greater needs, as opposed to the low income workers. That is obviously in recognition of providing accommodation to the most needy in our society, but also brings issues about the behaviour of those people and the health and psychological needs they have.
I also thank the member for Nelson who had a number of suggestions, and I will be looking into those. The member for Nelson raised the need for an audit of all the wait lists, and I completely agree and have asked for an audit to be done on an annual basis. As was highlighted, public housing waiting lists in the Territory are still open to general applications; in other jurisdictions they have closed many of those general applications, and only take applicants in the most need. But we do need to interrogate both our wait list and our current clientele; circumstances change and many people have been in public housing a very long time, some for 30 to 35 years. Their circumstances have radically changed, and the eligibility criteria have changed in that period of time, as well.
I was disappointed with the personal attacks. The real focus should be on getting our waiting lists down as low as possible. This is a problem for the parliament, not just the government. We obviously have carriage of that responsibility at the moment, and it is not going to go away overnight, I can guarantee you that. It will be a challenge for this parliament and a challenge for every parliament across Australia. There will be a growing demand for social housing as the baby boomers head off into retirement; as more people in our society with physical or psychological needs come back into the public housing area; as our existing public housing tenants become older their needs grow; and the percentage of public housing tenants who are tenants for life grows also. This reduces the percentage of people who are transitioned through public housing, and it brings many challenges for the parliament for decades into the future. It is certainly going to challenge not only this side of the House, but also the other side of the House, into the future.
Over and over again we talk about working for Territorians and about changing people’s lives for the better. Addressing housing needs is the foremost part of this challenge, but what we really had was an attack without any alternative or any plan. The member for Fong Lim called public housing tenants ‘animals’. There are many people in public housing whose lives have been disrupted for a range of reasons and, as I alluded to, there are physical barriers for them to get back into a normal life where they can get a job and earn more income and get into the private housing sector. There are people in public housing who need to improve their behaviour, but they are also in public housing because of their circumstances, and those circumstances are very complex.
We take complaints to Territory Housing very seriously; we investigate all of them, and many times is it hard to get evidence. There are sometimes vexatious complaints made. I am very cognisant that members in this House receive individual complaints from their electorates. As minister, I get all of them from across the Territory, so I am very cognisant of the need to improve the behaviour of public housing tenants.
There was also a discussion about inspections. There does need to be many more inspections done; properties must be inspected. At the moment they are inspected once a year, and that needs to improve, and that is something I will certainly be speaking to the department about.
One of the other issues which has been around for a while is the vacate rates, the turnaround times. We made some changes recently to have a panel of contractors on board for the repairs and maintenance. Instead of having one contractor whose company may be working on a number of Territory Housing properties and will take weeks to get to one which needs to be fixed, we will have a selection of contractors across the regions so we can get that vacant stock back online as quickly as possible. We are also holding tenants much more accountable for damage to property, and we will be pursuing those debts for damage. As I said in this House, we have brought 84 properties back online and are committed to another 84 by Christmas. I believe that will definitely be achieved.
Some members raised the issue of asset income limits for Territory Housing. We currently have one of the most generous assets and income limits in the country. This government has linked assets and income limits to those of Centrelink, which means they are reviewed annually and, therefore, reflect the current standards.
Several members opposite accused the government of selling 2000 public homes. This is just another dj vu moment, I guess. I have tabled the sales of properties back to 1995-96, and it clearly shows there have been, over that period of time, 2700-odd properties sold. It astounds me that the member for Sanderson keeps getting confused - maybe I need to tattoo on his forehead what the 2000 is. Actually, 2100 properties were sold off by the CLP between 1995-96 to 2000-01. That is disgraceful. I hope the member for Sanderson actually reads the document I tabled in this House when I made the statement. I have continued to provide them, both in written form and verbally, to this House, but he still does not seem to get it. It comes down to this: we sold off 700, and I have turned the tap off on that now. If we had those 2700 properties today, we would have almost a zero wait list.
It is incumbent on both sides of this House to realise public housing is not a cash cow for the rest of the budget. It is a fundamental right of the most needy in our community, and why the government is set up to provide low-cost, subsidised rent for the most needy people in our community. It is incumbent on both sides of this House to respect public housing and not abuse it as far as the assets go.
I hope the member for Sanderson finally gets it this time: 2000 houses were sold off by the CLP in their last six years in government, and 700 of those were sold off in Alice Springs. Alice Springs is suffering at the moment from a lack of short-term and medium-term accommodation - it would have gone a long way to addressing that housing need. Maybe he has been having private tuition in maths from the member for Port Darwin, who is very creative with his figures.
The member for Goyder accused me of ignoring the needs of seniors in the rural area. I am acutely aware of the issues related to seniors in the rural area. In fact, I have met with the Council on the Ageing to discuss these very issues, and I am currently looking at options to deliver a real plan for seniors living in the rural area. I guess she is not just referring to the Darwin rural area, but also communities outside Darwin. I know Batchelor is one community which has been looking at opportunities to get into seniors’ accommodation. It is a lovely community and somewhere that would well suit a seniors’ village; there are good medical facilities, it is adjacent to Litchfield National Park, and has a great sense of community.
The member for Goyder may be interested to know that the Homelessness National Partnership Agreement delivers some $54m-worth of initiatives designed to reduce homelessness; certainly a great initiative by the federal Labor government. Some 32 new homes will be built within this program to address rough sleeping and homelessness. There are many support programs that go with it, and I believe the sector has really been buoyed by that level of funding coming to the Territory.
The member for Goyder also raised the old Bechtel site. This site has several problems in the only design the CLP came forward with. I met with the non-government organisations, and we discussed the potential for this site and the proposal of the CLP. A majority of NGOs were not supportive of such a concentration of dwellings on that site. It presents a real problem, unmanaged, in that location. They were much more supportive of the expansion of their existing services, and that is exactly where we are working with the non-government sector to look at their proposals to expand their service provision where they have existing assistance and existing support services in place.
In relation to the Bloodwood Caravan Park, I can advise the House that a senior departmental officer has met with the residents and discussed options for housing with them. This is an extremely important matter, as the member for Nelson would be aware. We need to work with the landowners and the residents, to ensure those people are appropriately housed if and when the caravan park closes down. My office has also been in contact with caravan parks across the greater Darwin area to better understand vacancy levels and options should Bloodwood close.
Member for Goyder, you said that failures, and I quote:
- … makes the Territory an unfavourable place to live, invest and bring up a family.
I refute that statement absolutely. The opposition is fond of knocking the Territory. The Territory is a great place, we only need to look at the growth and the people coming here and staying here. Many people come up here - as the old story goes - for a short contract or just a visit, and they stay.
The member for Fong Lim appears to be very loose with the truth in relation to the incidents in Shiers Street. My office was staffed past the 5.30 pm time he alludes to. No call was ever received from him, as he claims. In fact, I know that departmental officers had been trying to contact him for most of the afternoon in relation to that incident. I say to you, member for Fong Lim, you had a moral obligation to call the police, to call the Northern Territory Department of Health and Families, rather than go directly to the media, or get Cam Smith, your media advisor, to go directly to the media. Territory Housing takes responsibility for what happened there, but the member for Fong Lim did a disgusting act on behalf of this parliament, as a parliamentarian, to sensationalise this incident and exploit this young lady. He could have shown much more maturity and consideration of her circumstances. I wish her well, but the fact remains that the member for Fong Lim exploited this young lady for his own purposes in sensationalising her problems in the media.
In relation to the member for Drysdale’s contribution, I would like to advise the House if any member suspects child abuse, they have a legal obligation to report this to the police or the Northern Territory department of Families and Children. I wrote to the member for Drysdale last Friday reminding him of his obligations, after his contribution where he alluded to a child abuse case. I hope the member for Drysdale, a former police officer, is aware of his obligations and obligations as a parliamentarian: if he suspects child abuse he needs to report it. I am very interested to know whether the member for Drysdale has reported this incident to the police.
Member for Braitling, I was disgusted. I have a picture of this nine-year-old girl, the girl the member for Braitling accused of being scum. It was a disgusting comment. I do not find the retraction today to be from his heart; I believe he was forced into it, and it is disgusting.
Public housing is a very vexed problem. I will be working very hard to get those wait lists improved, and property management improved. I look forward to reporting to this House on a regular basis with respect to those two matters.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Indigenous Economic Development
Indigenous Economic Development
Mr HAMPTON (Regional Development): Madam Deputy Speaker, I have been Minister for Regional Development for just over a year, and today I am proud to deliver a statement on Indigenous economic development.
Let me make it clear from the outset that the strategies developed by the Henderson Labor government have relevance for all Territorians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, in our urban centres as well as in our regions and remote areas. Our Indigenous Economic Development Strategy 2009-12 has, at its heart, the vision of improving the quality of life for Indigenous Territorians by promoting their full engagement in our economy.
In my maiden speech to this House I quoted the great American leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. He said:
- There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it.
Last month the ANZ Bank said the Northern Territory economy leads the nation; a tribute to the Henderson Labor government, and in particular, our Treasurer, the member for Karama. As members would be aware, there is still a large segment of people in our society who do not enjoy equal participation in our economy. Indigenous Territorians are three times more likely to be unemployed than non-Indigenous Territorians. They are nine times less likely to be self-employed. As the Minister for Regional Development, I note a significant proportion of recorded Indigenous employment in regional and remote areas is through CDEP. Indigenous Territorians earn far less. They own far less, as well.
The good news is that Indigenous Territorians are not content with the status quo, and neither is this government. Given the Northern Territory’s unique demographics we simply cannot develop in any meaningful way without economic development for Indigenous Territorians. As the Minister for Regional Development, I know we cannot have regional development in the Northern Territory without Indigenous participation. My personal challenge is to contribute, in a meaningful and lasting way, to this process of development; to act as the voice for regional Territorians within government, and to spread the word about the fantastic opportunities that exist.
Regional Development is a subject which should capture the hearts and minds of everyone in this House. The ongoing development of our regions for the social and economic benefit of all Territorians is one of the great challenges of this government, and one that must sit at the centre of our efforts to create a thriving Northern Territory. Almost half of all Territorians, some 100 000 people, live outside Darwin in our towns and communities, at mining sites, or on pastoral properties and, quite rightly, they expect their government to invest in their futures with the same energy and drive applied to our capital city; and it makes sense to do so on both equity and economic grounds.
Our regions make a major contribution to the overall Territory economy through mining, tourism, pastoralism, agriculture, transport, manufacturing, construction, art, communications and more. A very large percentage of the wealth generated in the Territory every day already comes from our regions, from the hard work of Territorians, and from the investments made by our businesses.
I spend a great deal of time travelling in the regions; my own electorate of Stuart covers around a quarter of the Northern Territory taking in a large chunk of Central Australia and most of the western half of the Northern Territory. It extends in the north from Pine Creek to Kybrook Farm, down to the Katherine region, west along the Victoria Highway, and then through the VRD and Tanami Regions to Nyirripi including the vibrant communities of Ti Tree, Mataranka and Timber Creek. As I get about, I listen to Territorians: people working in the private sector, people who deliver government services, and people who use those services. There are many challenges they face and, yet, there has never been a more exciting time for our regions. The federal, Territory and local spheres of government have never being better aligned and united in their aim to achieve improved economic and social outcomes for regional Territorians, in particular, Indigenous Territorians.
One of the most significant milestones in the development of our regions was the launch in May of the Northern Territory government’s A Working Future policy. Through this series of initiatives the Territory government has underlined its commitment to Indigenous people living in towns and communities across the Territory - it is a strong vision for remote areas. It is about government and local people working together to make our towns and communities better places to live. As members would be aware A Working Future policy has six elements. The first is the establishment of 20 growth towns across the Territory; the second is a clear path for outstations and homelands; the third is the delivery of remote services in a targeted and coordinated way with the Australian government; the fourth is employment and economic development; the fifth is a remote transport strategy; and the final one, and probably the most important one, is Closing the Gap targets and evaluation.
Clearly, A Working Future policy will help create real towns for regional Territorians. These towns will have similar economic and social infrastructure comparable to towns in other parts of Australia. They will have real jobs and real opportunities - real towns need a business community and private investment. Through our A Working Future policy, the Territory government wants to see secure land tenure to underpin development. Private sector investment and better employment opportunities are the focus of the Regional Development Unit and the Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources.
Contrary to what some people may believe, business opportunities abound in Indigenous communities. There are opportunities in service provision to local people, there are opportunities in service provision to local businesses, there are many opportunities to sustainably take advantage of nature’s bounty through fishing, mining, tourism, forestry, cattle and horticulture. Capitalising on those opportunities is one of the key components of the Territory government’s Indigenous Economic Development strategy, which I was proud to launch in Alice Springs earlier this month.
The strategy builds on the Territory’s first Indigenous Economic Development strategy which was launched in 2005, and complements other Northern Territory and Australian government strategies and policies which support Indigenous economic development. It presents a new direction for Indigenous economic development action in the Northern Territory. The vision for the strategy is increased employment, increased business participation and ownership, and increased wealth; all of which would contribute to an improved quality of life for Indigenous Territorians. This strategy intends to improve Indigenous employment opportunities including flexible employment practices; establish and grow Indigenous businesses; provide better opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to make informed choices about their economic participation; contribute to increased wealth and home ownership; provide flexibility in approaches to economic development; and promote partnerships between Indigenous communities and organisations, all levels of government, and the private sector to close the gap of Indigenous economic disadvantage. It sets the following targets to be achieved by 2012: an additional 3000 Indigenous Territorians to enter the workforce across the private and public sectors; Indigenous employment levels in the Northern Territory public sector to rise to 10%; and the creation of 200 Indigenous businesses.
The Indigenous Economic Development strategy is based on a number of underlying principles. For too long, Indigenous economic development has been approached on a one-size-fits-all basis which ignores the assets and aspirations of each place and people group. The new strategy takes a place-base approach, which acknowledges and responds to community needs and the opportunities presented in each case. Creativity, innovation, and how we actually encourage economic development will be an important factor. We need to take more calculated risks and learn from our experiences.
As a saying goes: if we continue to do what we have always done, we will continue to get what we always got - that is just not good enough. An important principle which should guide Indigenous economic development is mutual respect of cultures, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous. It is our vision that respect will underpin effective and successful business dialogue and develop into long-term commercially sustainable partnerships. In order for those partnerships to develop, we appreciate there may be many barriers to overcome. I am convinced those barriers are not insurmountable.
The strategy seeks to equip and empower Indigenous Territorians to take control of their assets and to make informed choices about the pace and direction of their economic future. The Northern Territory government wants to work with the land councils and traditional owners to develop their assets in a way which responds to the business aspirations of Indigenous Territorians. Perhaps the greatest asset Indigenous Territorians possess is individual and community aspirations to achieve economic development for current and future generations. Indigenous Territorians are looking ahead and they want a better and brighter economic future. It is our job to support them the best way we can.
That said, there are many things which need to be done. There are many tools of economic development which need to be employed to enable Indigenous Territorians to leverage their assets. One of the most immediate issues is numeracy and literacy. This has been acknowledged as a significant challenge, and is the subject of a new national partnership agreement with the Commonwealth government. Enormous effort and funding is being invested in much-needed improvements to our education system’s performance. We are addressing the issues.
Another important issue is economic and financial literacy: understanding the economy, how money works, and how the financial system works is an important element in encouraging participation. Individual and community level programs will be designed to raise awareness and build understanding. Those of us who have a home loan are certainly aware financial institutions require security when they loan us their money. This security is usually a mortgage on our house and land. The same applies when banks loan money for business activities: they want security over the commercial premises and the land.
In order to stimulate private sector and Indigenous investment on Aboriginal land and in our Territory growth towns, banks will need security to take out a mortgage on the commercial premises and the land. That is why access to land is vital to Indigenous economic development. This strategy commits us to working with the land councils and the traditional owners to negotiate secure leases for the development of local businesses and local economies in the Territory’s growth towns. It also commits us to working with the land councils to support the processing of applications for businesses and business activities on Aboriginal land, including outstations and homelands.
Commercial partnerships must be based on mutual understanding and respect if they are to be successful. The strategy encourages these partnerships and the need for all parties to work together to achieve sustainable business development on Indigenous land. A key component of the strategy is the delivery of government services and infrastructure development. A significant amount of money is spent annually on the delivery of government services and infrastructure developments in communities, and on homelands and outstations right across the Northern Territory. We intend to maximise our investments to achieve Indigenous employment and economic development outcomes wherever possible.
In any business, the amount of support provided to business owners is crucial to the success of the business, which is why this strategy covers a range of activities and initiatives to provide business support to Indigenous entrepreneurs. Indigenous people and communities have increasing aspirations for economic development. More Indigenous role models are required and business support programs need to be designed to support and foster Indigenous businesses. The action plan for the Indigenous Economic Development strategy outlines a number of new initiatives such as the formal Indigenous Mentoring and Business Network, and the running of economic development forums in Territory growth towns to inspire and encourage entrepreneurs. Work readiness is another important factor, and will also be a focus of the strategy.
There are a number of adjustments which must take place in order for Indigenous Territorians to be able to take up regular employment. Those adjustments are a two-way street, both for the employer and the employee. The Northern Territory government recognises we need to do more to increase our internal capacity to deal effectively with Indigenous Territorians. We are taking up that challenge. Shortly, we will be launching our Indigenous Employment and Career Development strategy, which lifts our targets of Indigenous employees in the public service to 10%.
There is still much more to be done in Indigenous economic development. The government cannot tackle this challenge alone. This must be a partnership approach: the Territory government, the Commonwealth government, Indigenous Territorians, and the private sector must be all pulling in the same direction if we are to achieve lasting results. This strategy sets out how we can do that.
A new Indigenous Economic Development Task Force will provide guidance and advice on implementing the new strategy and other initiatives aimed at closing the gap of Indigenous disadvantage. The new task force members will have a wide range of expertise and come from a diverse mix of businesses, key organisations, and industry sectors, giving effective and topical advice in our efforts to take Indigenous economic development to a new phase of growth. I will be announcing the new members of the Indigenous Economic Development Task Force in the near future, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank the previous task force members for their expert advice and guidance. The task force played a key role in framing the new Indigenous Economic Development strategy, and their contribution to the growth of our regions has been significant.
As the Minister for Regional Development, I was pleased and proud to release this strategy. I encourage all interested parties to read this document and to consider how they may participate in Indigenous economic development activities in the Northern Territory. The launch of the strategy took place, appropriately, at the Fourth Indigenous Economic Development Forum held on 6 and 7 October at the Convention Centre in Alice Springs. The theme of the forum was ‘Developing Our Future Together’, and it focused on ways to build, support, and strengthen Indigenous business partnerships, and to develop the capacity to achieve sustainable economic activity through the Northern Territory. An Indigenous Business Expo was also held in conjunction with the forum, and provided Indigenous businesses with the chance to showcase their products and services to a targeted business and investor audience. It was a great opportunity for these Indigenous businesses to build their customer base and develop new partnerships. There were 312 people who attended the two-day forum, including 140 Indigenous people in business, or considering starting a business; 25 corporations; 130 representatives from the three layers of government - federal, Territory and local; 42 interstate delegates; and two Canadian delegates, including Chief Louie from the First Nations in Canada.
The two-day forum program was comprehensive and included plenary sessions with five keynote presentations, two panel discussions, business case studies, and break-out sessions. The break-out sessions were targeted at people considering starting a business, developing a small to medium enterprise, or considering commercial partnerships, or doing business on-country. The sessions were also available for people working in Indigenous economic development.
The Indigenous Business Expo attracted 27 Indigenous businesses from across the Northern Territory, showcasing their products and services to a targeted business and investor audience. For the first time, 10 government and non-government partners also promoted current Indigenous programs and services in booths along side Indigenous Business Expos.
I acknowledge the hard work of my staff from the department of Regional Development and, in particular, I highlight the efforts of the Regional Development Unit. This unit is based in Alice Springs and has offices in Tennant Creek, Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Darwin. It manages nine regionally based economic development committees including Alice Springs, West MacDonnells, Anmatjere, Barkly, Tiwi Islands, East Arnhem, Katherine, the Gulf Region and the Victoria River District region. These committees enable the communities’ voices to be heard by the private and public sectors when it comes to setting economic development priorities. One of the key priorities of the Regional Development Unit is Indigenous economic development, and one of its strategies is to achieve this through the Indigenous Business Development Program Grants. This program provided business grants totalling over $800 000 in 2008-09, and has supported more than 100 businesses over the past three years.
For example, the Bradshaw and Timber Creek Contracting and Resources Company, which secured a significant defence contract, has assisted 12 Indigenous Territorians to continue full-time employment. The company was awarded an Indigenous Business Development Program grant to assist with the purchase of four quad bikes which allow the company flexible transport to remove fencing at the Bradshaw Field Training Area as part of their contract. The company was established to ensure traditional owners benefited from the Land Use Agreement with the Commonwealth Department of Defence which covers the Bradshaw Field Training Area. It has since been awarded another contract for road clearing at the training facility. It gives me a great deal of pleasure to see them rewarded for their hard work and benefiting from structured employment and training.
In Nhulunbuy recently, I was delighted to meet with young businessman, Damien Djerkurra, who runs a contracting business in the town, and Timmy Burrawanga who owns Bawaka Cultural Tours. Both have been assisted by the Regional Development Unit’s IDP program and they spoke very positively about the future outlook of their businesses.
Another example was this year’s Barunga Festival, which gave some local people the chance to receive media training associated with marketing and promoting the festival. The Jawoyn Association received a $20000 Indigenous Business Development Program grant to have a group of local people from Barunga, Wugularr and Manyallaluk communities skilled up in website development and other electronic media activities.
There are success stories out there, and we are very proud of them. These stories show how the Territory government can promote regional development and foster Indigenous economic development. We are aware that of all the states and territories, the Northern Territory has by far the highest proportion of Indigenous people, around 30%. Therefore, it is crucial that we foster greater Indigenous participation in the wider economy. We all know this is the key to a healthy future.
The Indigenous Business Development Program gives preference to businesses or business proposals which are joint venture opportunities and can attract funding from Australian government agencies such as the Indigenous Land Corporation, Indigenous Business Australia and the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. The program has supported businesses in housing repairs and maintenance contracts, community general stores, cultural awareness programs, mobile music, cultural tourism, media and entertainment, and crocodile husbandry. The business locations are as varied as the businesses themselves, stretching from Groote Eylandt, Daly River, Gunn Point, Tennant Creek, Imanpa, Ntaria, Darwin, Alice Springs and the Tiwi Islands.
Supporting the development of our regions is one of the most important responsibilities for the Territory government, and working in our regions is the responsibility of all agencies across government. A key role for me, as the minister, is to keep the regions front-of-mind as agencies look to roll-out and deliver their programs across the Northern Territory.
As well as being a minister for regions, I am a minister from the regions. My family heritage stretches from Borroloola to Roper River and through the Tanami, and I have close connections, as we all know, to Alice Springs. I know, from first hand experience, there remains incredible disadvantage in many regions; however, we have some great competitive advantages, none more so than the wonderful qualities of Territorians themselves. At the end of the day it is the spirit of mutual respect and cooperation, coupled with the guidance supplied by the new Indigenous Economic Development strategy which will allow us to achieve our goals. We appreciate the extent of the task before us and just how critical it is to work together for the long haul. In particular, I encourage all Territorians to consider how they can contribute to Indigenous economic development and to read the recently released strategy. The department is receptive to feedback and is happy to help with investment involved with Indigenous economic development in the Northern Territory.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am excited about the challenges and the opportunities ahead. I look forward to continuing to work with Territorians to strengthen their communities and to create flourishing regional economies which benefit all Territorians no matter where in the Territory they live.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for the statement. It is a very important statement and I believe he firmly believes in Indigenous economic development and growing regions. I also thank the minister for holding the Indigenous Economic Development forum in Alice Springs. I have been involved in many of these around the country over many years, and they are very important. However successful those forums are, and I am not sure of the success of that one although I heard it was very good, I believe it is very important they are run, and people take away a greater knowledge of economic development as such.
Often people talk about Indigenous economic development, or economic development in general, without actually knowing what that means. Some people put it down as jobs and some people put it down as business. Having been involved for many years in the policy side of Indigenous economic development, many years ago I took on board the World Bank’s definition of economic development and localised it. I quote partially from the website:
- Economic development: qualitative change and restructuring in a country's economy in connection with technological and social progress. The main indicator of economic development is increasing GNP per capita (or GDP per capita), reflecting an increase in the economic productivity and average material wellbeing of a country's population.
I believe building regions is about building economies. We often focus on certain areas of the Territory and Australia, and it is about economies and it is about regional economies, and about taking a decentralised approach and investing right across the Northern Territory.
I was slightly mortified the other day to hear the population growth expectation for Alice Springs is only 12%. That is concerning for me because if you do not grow, you die. I believe Alice Springs like Tennant Creek, like Katherine, like everywhere, really needs to grow substantially more than currently predicted, and they will only grow with investment and infrastructure - and land release is an important component of that. With investment in infrastructure and promotion of the regions you will have more people moving there, and with a greater mass of people comes a greater intellectual database which can spread and help build the regions.
I agree with the Chief Minister’s comments the other day that the glass is full of opportunities, to paraphrase. It is about always looking at the positive side and the bright side, and looking outside the square. I note members opposite quite often say: ‘The member for Braitling has not been in the Territory very long.’ But the benefits of having spent time living in Sydney, Victoria, the ACT, and having spent time in Western Australia, Queensland, western New South Wales, among other places, and now living in the Territory, is you bring much more experience and knowledge from different parts of the country about what different people are doing.
It was an interesting opportunity to take Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and the Leader of the Opposition out bush last week when your forum was on - which is why I was not there, although my wife was there representing her organisation – and for those people, having some philosophical views about different things to go out there – and my view of a decentralised model and that regions are viable - really opened their eyes to the viability of regions and the viability of what you might call vacant homelands or outstations. Everywhere has that opportunity, but I do not believe everyone realises those opportunities right now. However, the vision is there, and I will talk later about where some of the barriers are. Everywhere has opportunities, but we are still a long way from realising them, but I feel positive about the statement.
Sadly, this state of affairs, for much of the Northern Territory, was reflected in an article by Tony Koch in The Weekend Australian reporting on the impact of the wild rivers legislation which is stifling Indigenous economic development in Cape York. Unfortunately, the bureaucratic processes often get in the way of development and sometimes it is just about getting the job done.
We must be certain, when looking at Indigenous economic development that we do not only measure the inputs - it is vitally important to analyse the outcomes. Often, this government reports on what they are doing, rather than what is actually achieved as results.
Indigenous economic development is about business development; it is about creating employment and jobs; reforming the welfare system; encouraging the participation of people in the economic system; bringing people into the economic prism rather than the welfare system; providing a balanced carrot-and-stick approach.
I commend the Territory government and the federal government for working so hard to get broadband through Arnhem Land. That is a very positive step and such bold steps require vision and commitment to change to reform the welfare system.
Unfortunately, the statement speaks mainly of ideas and inputs and not about bold visions and a future for all. I refer to a recent article in relation to comments by Everald Compton, Chairman of Australian Transport and Energy Corridor, who wishes a railway line to be built between Mt Isa and Tennant Creek. I have spoken to Everald on this previously - what a great idea - and it is something I am considering and researching. Upon reaching the Treasury benches, I am sure the Country Liberals would fully investigate the feasibility of such an idea.
Let me go back a step. I also believe it is a marvellous idea, or vision, which says Mt Isa should be part of the Territory - it is out there, and these things need to be considered - only visionary people can make change in that regard. The potential to provide growth through the Barkly with a further phosphate mine or mines which would use the railway, would not only create employment but would also provide many spin-off business opportunities through retail, hospitality and business services, to name a few. Combining such a development with the localised welfare reform strategy, would see huge positive changes. I encourage the member for Stuart to actively seek out Mr Compton to discuss this visionary idea with a potential public/private partnership.
To develop the Territory we need to create an environment where the infrastructure is supporting growth and, unfortunately, the infrastructure in the Northern Territory is not here. It has been highly neglected over the last eight years of the Territory government, and we are a long way from where we should be. Our roads in the Territory were always referred to as the best in the country; however, since Labor came in, they are now the worst; downgrading of highways to roads, and roads to virtual tracks is reprehensible. The missed opportunity for the Tanami to be sealed with an offer from the Granites Mine to go half cost would have been beneficial.
So, too, would a tenacious effort to work harder on the outback highway. The Territory cannot go this alone but, in partnership with the federal government, the opportunity to improve access to the Territory for tourism and business purposes is significant; and the need for roads such as the Mereenie Loop Road and Ernest Giles Road to be improved to increase access to opportunities and provide a safe method of travel for Indigenous residents who live in that area. If we continue to exclude Indigenous communities from the economy, then the purpose of this statement continues to be difficult to achieve.
To move forward, we must endeavour to build confidence in those living in rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory - not making promises like the 2005 election commitment of the member for Daly for the Daly River Bridge which still has not eventuated. People took him on his word at the 2005 election, and still it has not been built - but neither has a house. Think of what opportunities a bridge could bring about for the many communities along the way to Wadeye, one of our largest communities in the Northern Territory. It could provide countless opportunities for organisations such as Thamarrurr Aboriginal Development Corporation for tourism, construction and retail if the roads were improved and the inflationary pressures would decrease and provide a more level playing field for people looking to conduct business there.
It is the same on the Tiwi Islands where road infrastructure is urgently required to improve access and equity to services to promote economic development. People often reflect that the Tiwis have the greatest opportunity for Indigenous economic development. I agree that the opportunities are significant, but without the appropriate level of infrastructure, it is going to be tough. Fortunately, the Tiwis are people who are seeking to realise opportunities through their approach to land tenure reform. I congratulate the Tiwi Land Council and Robert Tipungwuti for striving for such vision, and all of the staff at the Tiwi Land Council.
Unfortunately, many others find themselves well behind in the reform process, so we should encourage and support progression into the future. There are vast and abundant opportunities around - opportunities that require land reform for land release in areas such as Ti Tree, Timber Creek, Daly River and Yuendumu. The structural opportunities for business development would be plentiful - opportunities to create local construction booms, retail trade, and drive tourism, but they cannot be done without a building or without land tenure reform
Land tenure reform was one of the biggest things which came out of our recent tour around Central Australia with my federal colleagues and the Leader of the Opposition. There was not one person who did not make a complaint about the Central Land Council - it was not set up, and I did not arrange the trip, I do not have a personal vendetta against the Central Land Council, but I do believe that it restricts trade for economic development, and it is a serious concern. It is not about the people, it is not about the leadership, it is about the body itself as a bureaucracy that constricts economic development. I sat at a little outstation, and forgive me, member for Stuart, I cannot remember the name of it right now, but there was an older gentleman and his family who want to go into the pastoral industry, which is a common thing. He was saying he has a vast block of land and he wants to get involved in the pastoral industry but he does not have the infrastructure. He has the land but he cannot get access to that land to put in the infrastructure. This is a common theme …
Mr Elferink: I have been through this. I know exactly what you are talking about.
Mr GILES: You know exactly how it works, member for Port Darwin. He cannot get access to his land so that he can put all the things on there. He has to have meetings with the land council, he has to get the access, the forms, the paperwork, get everything done and it all becomes too hard.
He cannot form a joint venture on that land, he cannot mortgage his property. He would have a self-sustaining pastoral property at the end of the day if he had those appropriate mechanisms put in place. There is no reason his block of land should be any different to any other pastoral property. If I wanted to move into a pastoral property now, I could buy a pastoral property lease for the millions of dollars that it goes for. He actually has that, and if the structure was simple and able to be put in place so he could have access to his land, he could put the infrastructure on there, he could get his work crews going, and his outstation would not be a burden to taxpayers into the future. It would generate profit. If it is sustainable for a pastoralist, it is sustainable for an Aboriginal person living on an outstation, but it is a long way from the structural reform that is required, when it really should not be.
Another example is Jay Creek, an NT outstation between Alice Springs and Hermannsburg. There are a number of dilapidated buildings that may not be structurally sound, but it is a place that with infrastructure, essential services in terms of water, sewerage and power. The Chief Minister’s statement the other day spoke about the growing population and the ageing of the population in our regions and across the Territory. Alice Springs is going to be in need of further aged care or nursing accommodation, and Jay Creek, with the essential services infrastructure, accessible by sealed road is potentially a site where that could be done. However, the opportunities for the traditional owners of that site to be able to realise that, to provide services through infrastructure, such as aged care or nursing, outsourced or otherwise, and create jobs on their own land, just will not happen. It will sit there as an empty outstation forever and a day unless the land council takes control of that.
Stanley Chasm is another. Some of the family members from Stanley Chasm have been coming to me for years trying to work out ways they can provide a greater tourism experience through residential tourism on their block, and they do not have the opportunity to be able to do that.
One of the concerns I have had over a number of years is the way organisations - in particular and specifically, Indigenous Business Australia, but also to a degree the Central Land Council and some of their subsidiaries, the Northern Land Council, all these organisations - the way they invest what you might call Indigenous money, for want of a better word, into large scale assets interstate such as office buildings. I am sure they get great returns on investment and are great financial assets, but my question is: do these organisations really profit Indigenous Australians? I am not sure if Indigenous Business Australia, still own Scarborough House in Woden, ACT, which is the big Health department building; they did own it. I have been critical for some time as to why Indigenous Business Australia, an Aboriginal organisation, would buy a building to rent out office space? It does not improve employment, it does not improve business development, and when you go back to the World Bank definition, it does not change the technological or social progress of the population in a given area.
We know how hard it is to start up businesses in communities. It would be much better if Indigenous Business Australia, and these other Indigenous funding bodies, rather than invest in great asset returns, go on the ground where people are and build things like retail trade centres. In Wadeye, you could have a strip shopping centre complex, and anyone who lives in Wadeye who wants to start up as a hairdresser, or any sort of business, could access land. At present they cannot access the land; that is a real concern. Retail trade centres in communities would provide perfect opportunities; they could be in charge of building new community stores, and the Northern Territory government could fund the community store. There are so many different ideas out there that people do not consider.
I have digressed from important matters significant to the growth of economic opportunities. We know there are restraints on trade with poor road infrastructure, high fuel costs and the age old permit system, something that detracts from supporting economic growth and, in fact, sometimes constrains growth and erodes the current economic conditions.
To be successful in business and jobs, we need to ensure people have a sound education. Education for remote students is the driving force behind access and performance with successful employment. Unfortunately, this government fails dismally, if the recent NAPLAN results are anything to go by. We know across all areas of the Northern Territory only about 50% of Territory students did not perform better than the national benchmark in areas of numeracy and literacy, across all age groups. It was very disappointing and a reflection of government policy, its education plans, and the way it treats teachers in the form of conditions in the bush. What would be more important and more interesting would be to further break down the NAPLAN results to analyse Indigenous performance and remote performance to check how well the government is setting up students for future economic opportunities. If last year’s NAPLAN results are any indication, then surely people are starting further behind.
How are kids to get a good education when their accommodation is insufficient? There is not enough appropriate accommodation - SIHIP not delivering houses, etcetera. It needs a whole spectrum of change to get positive education outcomes, to get the job outcomes to improve economic development. People who have heard me speak before well know my thoughts on the need for boarding schools for remote children for preschool, primary, secondary and vocational training. I was more than happy to hear, in the federal budget, the Education minister, Julia Gillard, announce funding for three boarding schools in the Northern Territory. In the short list of regions are the Warlpiri triangle - East Arnhem, Wadeye, and Maningrida. This is exciting. One is to be built this year, and the other two next year. I am not sure where the first one will be built and who will miss out; I am not sure if the first one will be built in 2009 as per the commitment. Perhaps the Minister for Housing is building the school as well, and that is why it is not occurring.
In response to this ministerial statement, I am very keen for the Minister for Regional Development to update the House on how the government is going with funding for the community stores, jointly or separately, with the federal government. I understand there might be up to 60 needing assistance.
I would like to finish with three important areas or issues which I believe would support great Aboriginal investment to support economic growth.
The first is tax breaks for regional investment, where the federal Treasurer could allow greater breaks for businesses setting up, or established, in regional or remote areas. A process that can offset inflationary pressures on the purchase of new equipment, or the opportunity to write off losses for a period of time, or maybe special allowances to offset employment costs; something far removed from bureaucracy. If the federal Treasurer could look into that, it would make a great map of opportunity for further investment. After calling for this for many years, I note the Chief Minister, a couple of months ago, also reflected these comments.
Second, is the opportunity for the federal government to provide assistance to relocate businesses to regional or remote areas; possibly lower skilled industries that do not require a great degree of further education, but something that provides significant rates of return for employment.
I know the federal government often gets involved when overseas companies, mining companies, come to town or into a region; it has a special, internal body it has partnered with Invest Australia. All the government agencies get involved and work out what sort of package of assistance they can provide to a business to attract it to a particular region; what sort of financial investment, $50m, $60m, $70m, $80m to bring a mining company to a specific area of the Kimberley. That is how they work, and there is no reason they cannot do that in the Northern Territory. I said before, you have to think outside the square, and there is no reason why a Telstra Call Centre cannot be set up at Papunya; there is no reason why a manufacturing business cannot be set up at Maningrida. It is about the wherewithal to make these things happen.
When you look at the amount of federal government money that flows around these communities, there are real opportunities to redirect some of that money to provide financial assistance to businesses to move into those regional areas. I know there was consideration several years ago to make some of these things happen. I am not sure where they have fallen, or whether they have fallen on deaf ears, but that is a great opportunity.
The third area I want to talk about is what I call economic development zones; that is a lift from someone by the name of Sam Jefferies from New South Wales who has done a great deal of work in Murdi Paaki in western New South Wales. Economic development zones, in a nutshell, identify a specific region - and I have done a fair amount of research overseas on this - working out all the inputs to go into that region and identifying what you are actually getting as an outcome, and juggling the way the money goes into it. So if $20m worth of welfare dollars go in each year, and $10m worth of housing, and $5m worth of employment subsidies go in, then you have a look at the community and you identify: well, we still have no one working, we still have dilapidated houses; we need to rethink the way we do business.
Currently, there no economic zones in Australia; one tried to start in South Australia maybe 10 years ago or more. An economic development zone is something which seriously needs to be considered in the Northern Territory, combining it with land tenure reform and welfare reform, and giving it back to the people; whether that is through a regional land council or a local community body, or the shire council for that community. There is an opportunity to repackage the entire way that money goes in, remove the layers of bureaucracy, and seek to achieve better outcomes.
I use this as an example: if a community is currently getting $35m per annum in what might be generally termed as welfare services, surely that $35m will be better utilised by spending $5m to move a low or semi-skilled industry into the community, with land tenure reform providing some incentives, and interest rate subsidies for home ownership loans to help start a construction industry or construction boom. There is a range of different areas and opportunities that would eventuate through an economic development zone. It is about saying: ‘This is a community where we want change. We do not want welfare, we want growth. We want a construction industry, and we want to bring people in’. So they go and find - maybe Visy Recycling - and give them $5m to bring one of their small plants to Lajamanu, for example. What they have actually done is import jobs. A further step would be if the federal Treasurer said: ‘We will provide a tax incentive subsidy for 10 years on a scaled down investment regime where you can slowly start to write off costs’. After a period of time, it will become financially sustainable to be out there. That is one area where the Northern Territory can go great guns.
I commend the Minister for Regional Development on continuing to push for the roll-out of broadband across the Territory, which will bring significant changes in the Northern Territory. I also encourage your Transport minister to do a better job. Transport is one of the inflationary areas of the Northern Territory which causes great concern to tourists and businesses in the cost on their vehicles in travelling over roads, and also the cost of goods and services once they get to their end destination.
It would be rude of me not to have a jibe at the government at this point of time, because I always seem to need to do that. I note on page 11 of your statement, minister, you have made the grand target of setting up 3000 additional jobs for Territorians to enter the public and private sector workforce by 2012. That is just under 1000 per year, and it is commendable. However, it is interesting to look back at 25 May 2005 when the previous Chief Minister, Clare Martin, as the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, launched the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy. She announced that they would be seeking the creation of 2000 jobs per year for the next 10 years. So, we had a plan for 20 000 jobs four years ago, and now we have gone back to 3000 jobs. It is a complete step backwards. I am very interested to reflect on how well this strategy launched by the previous Chief Minister, Clare Martin, went. It may assist if the researchers who wrote your speech checked to see if these things had been announced before; or maybe it is just an acceptance of failure of that previous strategy, minister.
Mr Hampton: Maybe we have achieved it.
Mr GILES: I do not agree. Mate, if you have achieved 20 000 jobs, I would like to see the ABS statistics on that.
In summary, there are many potential opportunities, but this can only be achieved by educating children properly, building infrastructure, and reforming land tenure, and creating an environment for investors to bring wealth and business opportunities to the rural and remote areas of the Northern Territory.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for presenting this statement.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the statements on Indigenous Economic Development by my colleague, the Minister for Regional Development. Anyone who knows my colleague knows he is absolutely passionate about this particular issue and is a very strong advocate within government for improved regional economic developments and Indigenous economic development.
I will comment on some of the things the member for Braitling had to contribute. Leaving aside the sledges on roads and education, it was a very positive contribution and more in the spirit of the majority of us in this House. We want the Territory to move ahead, and this should be a House that debates the big ideas, and puts those ideas on to the table. I am sure there are a number of issues the member for Braitling has put on the table which have merit and will be considered by government. So, I thank him for his genuine, positive contribution, apart from, as I said, a couple of sledges about roads. I have to say, you obviously do not drive on too many roads in Queensland or New South Wales - I have to be careful of some of my interstate colleagues in South Australia and Western Australia - the roads are a damn sight worse over the border than they are in the Northern Territory.
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Chief Minister has the call, member for Port Darwin.
Mr HENDERSON: I know my colleague, the Roads minister, is putting together, as part of A Working Future, a major transport plan. It is very important we improve the condition of those roads, but to say they were the best in the country and they are now the worse is, obviously, a step too far.
We can discuss Indigenous education up hill and down dale. It is not in this statement tonight, but I believe we all agree we need to have much stronger education outcomes in our regions, in the bush, for the aspirations in this statement to come to fruition.
In speaking to the statement, since the first day in government back in 2001, Indigenous economic development has been and continues to be a strong agenda for this government. Our geographical population diversity demands that Indigenous economic development be core business for whichever government is in office. As my colleague said, 50% of our population lives in the regions and in the bush, and for the Territory to move ahead those regions and the remote areas have to significantly move ahead, and much of the wealth of the Territory is actually generated from those regions.
However, Indigenous economic development cannot be a sole initiative of government. Governments cannot do this alone. We must have a strong partnership with the private sector, and I know that is where the minister is focusing his efforts. I believe, within the private sector in the Territory now, there is far greater awareness of the opportunities that may exist in our regions and remote communities, and I believe there is a growing willingness from the private sector to look at ways to invest in those remote communities, and a growing willingness for the private sector to engage in joint venture partnerships or taking a commercial positioning within a company to assist with developing those opportunities. That is something that really was not within a lot of business people’s forward business planning years ago, but people are certainly looking for the opportunities today, and it is something we need to work on.
We are constantly working on strengthening our relationships, either directly or through industry representative bodies, and also the land councils. I believe there has to be a stronger role for the land councils in fostering economic development in the bush. They have their statutory role to perform, as described in the Land Rights Act, but land councils are looking more and more across the Northern Territory to help facilitate Indigenous economic development, and we cannot do it without the land councils. I believe it is nave in the extreme to think that somehow we can ignore the role of the land councils and the representative nature of those land councils, and their capacity to facilitate and broker arrangements and agreements.
We live in a fool’s paradise if we believe it is as simple as passing an act of federal parliament, and all of a sudden everything is going to be fixed on the ground in the Northern Territory. I believe a much smarter way through this is to actually partner with the land councils and work through some of the issues the member for Braitling spoke about, because there is no way, given the makeup of the Senate and the reality of our federal parliament, that we are going to see a wholesale change. If on the Liberal side of politics, if on the conservative side of politics, there is genuine belief that is a significant way forward in fostering private sector investment on Aboriginal land, well, the previous government when it had control of both Houses of parliament, had an opportunity to do that - the reality is that it is not going to happen. Let us put down the cudgels and stop going to war with the land councils and work with the reality that there are four in the Northern Territory and we need to work with them to facilitate economic development and actually work through the practical on the ground and resourcing issues the land councils have.
We are not talking simply about Indigenous economic development in our remote areas, we are also talking about development in our small and large towns, across the public service, in private business, oil industries, mining, in our Defence Forces, on our pastoral properties, and throughout our many remote communities. This work takes in a broad range of people and locations; it demands a broad range of responses, policies and support services from government and the broader marketplace. We have a unique challenge which requires a unique response.
Two of the main supporting platforms that enable sustained and evolving Indigenous economic development are training and employment. Today, I will be talking about the vast range of training and employment programs which are being supported by government that will either lead to or create jobs for Indigenous Territorians. Naturally, with the largest proportion of Indigenous Territorians living out in our regions, I will take a regional approach to the presentation of initiatives.
I will begin in the West Arnhem Region, where the Department of Education and Training is working in partnership with DEWR, local governments and the Jabiluka Association to support seven new Indigenous tour guides from Gunbalanya. These guides have completed the first ever localised tourism work-ready program, a six-week program which meets the requirements of local industry. Almost all these graduates have now moved from CDEP into full-time employment, and work has now started on the 2010 program to build on this success.
Similarly, in the East Arnhem Region, DET is supporting training for Indigenous businesses which will provide for opportunities for local people. In early 2010, a specific Fishing Industry Certificate II course will be delivered so six participants can take up permanent employment at Ski Beach in a local fishing project. The intent of this program is to initially provide a local fresh fish service with the future aim of supplying a wider customer base. Such a program will naturally build a sustainable economic base and a sustainable business for those people in that region. Importantly, this is an accredited training program leading to real employment outcomes for local people; a small part in the larger jigsaw we call Indigenous economic development.
There are a number of other noteworthy projects, and I would like to talk about the Katherine region. DET has contributed almost $20 000 to run the Kalano rural skills training program presented by Train Safe NT. This program has 17 participants, and will enable 17 CDEP participants to gain knowledge and skills covering herbicide use and weed control, tractor operations and operating ride-on mowers, maintenance of small machinery, and occupational health and safety - all fantastic skills for effective land management and suitable employment opportunities. What cannot be underestimated is courses such as these provide participants with confidence and the ability to participate in the broader workforce outside Kalano; another example of an external association working with government to increase the capacity of its Indigenous employees to establish long-term employment solutions for the region.
Turning now to one of our remote communities, Ngukurr – I will talk about the General Construction Free Employment Program delivered by industry and training services with the support of $140 000 from DET. This innovative program is designed to engage the youth of Ngukurr, aged between 15 and 22 years, to participate in community work construction programs. They are receiving mentoring support to address issues which may affect their capacity to participate in training, and opportunities to get and keep a job. We know this is an important component of any successful Indigenous employment program and cannot be underestimated in this contribution to success.
Briefly, with my Education hat on, what I find most important about this program is it is designed to target a cohort of the community traditionally disengaged from formal education at Year 10 or before, and lifting their life choices and opportunities for employment and further education. These groups have been over-represented in antisocial behaviour and disengagement from formal and informal community decision-making processes and structures. By developing their employability skills, this increases their understanding of employment opportunities available, such as in the Roper Gulf Shire Council, health and education services, or even starting their own business locally. Importantly, it equips them to contribute to and engage with community life in positive and productive ways.
Turning to the Barkly Region; an important plant operations course was recently offered with government supporting the Barkly Shire through $56 000 to enable participants to gain skills which match employment requirements in the region. Skills and qualifications in plant operation will allow participants to gain work in civil construction and the mining industry. I am aware that six recent graduates have been employed by the Barkly Shire Council Service Centre in Elliott, and another has gone on to be employed by a private earth moving company in Tennant Creek. Those employed by the council are all undertaking further training to complete a Certificate II in Civil Construction.
In Central Australia, Central Desert Training has been presenting a 26-week course for the Ti Tree DPI Research Plant. Supported by DET, 40 Indigenous participants undertook training to provide a career path in the horticulture industry. Thirty-six of the 40 completed the program, and all are involved in ongoing employment, including seasonal employment on farms in the Ti Tree area. It is great to hear these stories about training identified and linked to employment which enables employers to employ locally - a two-way benefit - employers have a more stable workforce and the locals get employment and increased economic opportunities.
Newmont Tanami operations have also been running mining pre-employment training in conjunction with IST to communities surrounding their mine operations. This is something Newmont have been facilitating, with support of government, since 2001. My congratulations to them. This type of training provides a pathway for graduates to move into apprenticeships or directly into the workforce at the Granites Gold Mine.
I now turn my attention for a moment to the Indigenous Training for Employment Program. We are now in the third year of a four-year partnership with the Australian government to fund Indigenous employment initiatives. This year we have seen the following regional spend on programs and initiatives which will increase Indigenous employment: in Central Australia, eight projects worth $1.78m; the Barkly region, one project worth $114 000; East Arnhem, three projects worth $300 000; Katherine, two projects worth $155 000; Top End Rural, two projects worth $155 000; and on the Tiwi Islands, one project worth $92 500. Programs being delivered include metal fabrication and welding; civil construction skills; work transition training; workplace and employee training; further pre-mining employment; remote youth worker training; art centre operations; Indigenous employment mentoring; Indigenous housing, environmental health and business training. I believe you will agree there are a broad range of programs available for Indigenous Territorians, all targeting increased participation in our workforce and economy.
I would like to include an update on the election commitment we are delivering, that is, jobs hubs in Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. Whilst we are providing and supporting Indigenous training, the job hubs close the circle and will provide the essential link to employment in both these regions. The performance of these hubs will be directly assessed on their ability to increase employment and economic activity in a region, with key performance measures in place to monitor the impact on: increased labour market participation, decreased unemployment, and increased numbers of businesses registered.
These hubs are a key regional component of this government’s Indigenous Economic Development platform and will increase engagement of job seekers in training activities with direct employment outcomes. Each hub will develop a baseline employment profile for its region, report changes over time, and link its activities to these changes. Each hub will also be supported by an advisory body which will determine key employment and training priorities. Importantly, this group will bring together Northern Territory government representatives, Australian government representatives, regional employment brokers, regional training stakeholders and, importantly, regional employers. Hubs are focused on linking training programs and activities for employment opportunities in the region. The Tennant Creek hub is now operational, and the Nhulunbuy hub is expected to be operational later this month. We know that in these key regions overcoming Indigenous unemployment is paramount. Our jobs hubs are strategically essential and will connect the pieces required for Indigenous economic development in these regions.
This is another sign of the focus of government in linking training directly with employment outcomes. All of us in the House, especially our bush members, if they had a dollar for everyone who said: ‘I am sick of undertaking training for training sake’, would all be wealthier than they are today. Our focus through A Working Future and growth towns is ensuring that our schools, our high schools, in these 20 growth towns are actually providing school leavers with the education and qualifications for a job not only in their communities and in their regions, but anywhere in the Northern Territory or Australia.
One of the things that we will be doing through A Working Future and the growth towns is working with Education, working with Regional Development, to actually backward map the jobs available in these communities, not only in the towns themselves, but the regional communities surround them, and backward mapping those jobs, understanding what skills and qualifications are needed for people to fill these jobs, and working with business and industry in the region, with Northern Territory government departments that service those regions, and with other organisations such as the shires, to provide job guarantees to our young people in our high schools that if you leave school with this qualification, we will provide you with a job - guaranteed.
That started, in the first instance, with a memorandum of understanding I signed with ERA in Parliament House for the Jabiru region where ERA has made an absolute commitment to provide a guaranteed 30 to 40 jobs every year directly to school leavers from Jabiru Area School and Gunbalanya school, conditional on the school being able to provide those students job-ready qualifications. To support that, ERA will provide opportunities for school-based apprenticeships, work experience programs, work-ready programs, and work with the school to support those jobs. It is not just in the mine itself operating the heavy plant and machinery and, potentially, being a tradesman maintaining all that equipment, but also providing people with opportunities in the administrative side of the operation, and the OHS area.
ERA is also providing two scholarships a year for students who wish to study at Charles Darwin University or interstate universities; a real sign of a progressive company which recognises the need to provide genuine opportunities for people in that community. This is a model we will take forward to other major employers, not only in the mining industry, but other major employers around the Northern Territory and our remote and regional areas.
It is too important for the Northern Territory to have Darwin, as a capital city, moving ahead in leaps and bounds and the rest of the Territory not keeping pace. As my colleague, the minister, said, a lot of our wealth comes from the regions. Government has an absolute prerogative to return much of that wealth by investing in education and infrastructure …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I move an extensive of time for the Chief Minister, if he so desires, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON: I thank the member for Port Darwin for his magnanimous gesture while my colleagues are so busy working away on their contributions to this statement – beavering away, which is good to see.
I acknowledge, in a spirit of being magnanimous in debate this afternoon, as I was with the member for Braitling. I sat here for a long period when the member for Port Darwin was the member for Macdonnell and heard the passion and conviction of many of his contributions to debate in this House on Indigenous economic development, and why it is vital for the Territory. I put on the record; I acknowledge the member for Port Darwin’s contribution in previous years in these types of debates to the House. It is important for the Territory.
We all want better outcomes for our Indigenous people living in our remote communities, and it cannot just be about government; it has to be about the private sector investing on Aboriginal land, in joint ventures and partnerships with Indigenous people. Governments alone cannot provide all the jobs needed; given our growing population, we have to find ways to engage the private sector, and that work is ongoing.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for his statement to the House.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, in giving him an extra 10 minutes I thought I would have a moment to stand at the back and talk to the Leader of Government Business about an unrelated issue. However, I thank you for your kindness in giving me the call.
I read this statement last night, and I have to say, being a former member for Macdonnell, whilst I am now the member for Port Darwin and do not have, necessarily, the amount of buy-in one would have if you lived in the bush, I still feel strongly drawn to stand up and speak on these issues when they arise.
What drew me particularly to speak today was the minister described by the Chief Minister as carrying a passion; the passion the minister has does not coalesce in this statement into a coherent approach to logically deal with the issue of economic development, particularly in our remote and Indigenous communities. There is no underlying philosophy and, whilst I accept there are a couple of comments on page 10 or 11, the rest of the statement is captured by platitudes and motherhood statements. I am unconvinced that the minister has consolidated in his own mind a clear strategy of the way forward when dealing with this particular issue.
In an effort to genuinely assist the minister in creating a philosophy which underpins development, I will endeavour, in the short time available to me, to give some suggestions which have grown out of my own experience of spending eight years in Central Australia travelling around the bush, and often being frustrated by mere potential - in the absence of actual - of what happens out there.
I normally do not make a habit of telling ministers or members of parliament to read books, but there is one particular book I would urge the minister to read. It is called The Birth of Plenty by a bloke named William Bernstein. The reason I do not generally say to people to read a book is because there are so many books around and everyone has an opinion, but rarely do I find myself putting down a book and finding myself changed by the contents of that book. Without trying to frighten the minister, it is an economic history, but it is an economic history written in plain English for anyone to understand, even a Luddite like myself.
In it, certain principles of development are described, and if those principles are not present, and he outlines four which I will touch on shortly, you will not get development - you will get Africa, you will get, sadly, Aboriginal land trusts. That is why I urge the minister to read this because, whilst I suspect it will challenge some of his political beliefs, as it did mine, it does not depict political sides, but occasionally you read something in a book and you sit back afterwards and think: that is so completely self-evident, and you know it to be right. For that reason, I urge the minister to take the time; I appreciate ministers are busy people, but I thought to myself after I read that book: this is a book that can make a difference.
In that book, Mr Bernstein outlined four specific areas that need to be addressed for development to advance. The first is property rights. As Mr Bernstein outlines, and I will outline, and any number of other philosophers on property rights will suggest - there is no such thing as an absolute property right, it just does not exist - there is always some other force exerting itself over your property right. However, in terms of Aboriginal land trusts, I would argue that the way they are structured requires a system by which individuals or small groups, and I am talking about nothing larger than a family group, are able to draw an income from that property right where they get to keep most of what they generate in terms of value.
Aboriginal people are in an envious situation, believe it or not - I hear it from my own lips to my own ears, and I find it hard to believe - in one respect - they have a control over a vast amount of land. The problem is, that control is limited by the operation of a Land Rights Act that creates land trusts in such a fashion that individuals and small family groups are actually alienated from the process of being able to generate wealth directly to get an income for themselves; and that is through the system of land trusts.
Where there are groups, such as on the Tiwi Islands where there is a single land council operating, in the Anindilyakwa Land Council area, you do start to see small operations picking up, such as the Great Southern operation which, sadly, has been the victim of the slings and arrows of the marketplace; and there is the tourism arrangement on Groote Eylandt. Those are very hope-building projects and there should be more of them. In fact, I would argue there is no reason for there not to be hundreds of them all over Aboriginal land today; there is no reason why that cannot happen, but there are certain barriers. One of those barriers is the lack of connection between the property rights that land rights are supposed to grant, and the property right actually experienced by the people who live on the ground.
I will give honourable members an example. The Haasts Bluff Land Trust is not only so large it covers various family groups; it covers a raft of language groups. We are talking about different people; culturally different people - Latvians and Spaniards is probably a bit extreme, but to illustrate the point. What I would prefer to see is if the property rights which exist under traditional law - this is my country, I have capacity to make decisions over my land for my family - could be exerted at a local level rather than a land trust, as a collective, determining what happens across the whole land trust so someone in Kintore is making a decision for someone in Haasts Bluff. The result is you do not get an effective decision-making process. Whilst I appreciate the Land Rights Act was designed to protect Aboriginal people, economically that protection becomes a prison, as a result. That is because of the structural way it works.
The member for Braitling pointed out an example, and I will share my own. I believe it is now Kuminjia Djugadi out at Haasts Bluff; I introduced him to Gary Dann from one of the local cattle stations, and it turns out they knew each other as boys. We sat down around the camp fire one night and by the end we had nailed down a cattle station operating on the Haasts Bluff Land Trust using all the technology and investment from Ambalindum, I believe it was. They had a proper share arrangement, local jobs, and Haasts Bluff community put a house on the property for the person who managed the cattle station. There is no reason why that could not work except there was an impediment somewhere in the land council system that prevented it from being advanced. What a tragedy. That could have opened up thousands of square kilometres to cattle as one particular type of industry.
It is those types of impediments which deprive the individual family groups of the property rights they used to exert before the arrival of Europeans. I would like to see those individual family groups be able to exert the property right they used to have. That requires some legislative change, and some serious anthropology on the part of the land councils.
I do not believe it is legitimate simply to say the Land Rights Act will not change, therefore we should not change it. No matter who is in power in Canberra, they have a vested interest in keeping the north shore of Sydney happy, rather than the Aboriginal people of Central Australia, the Tiwi Islands, or anywhere else. When 250 000 walk across a bridge saying they want to express their sympathy to Aboriginal people for the last 200 years of occupation, Canberra’s decision-making process is oriented towards those 250 000 people, not towards what is happening in the bush in Australia.
That is why we cannot get Canberra to change its mind, because it is politically too messy. There are land councils, particularly the CLC, which will be only too happy to jump on a plane and go and stir the pot every time we attack the Lands Right Act. But I do not really care about the land councils in the sense I do not care if they keep their jobs or not; this is not about them. This is about creating wealth in remote Aboriginal communities by generating wealth under their steam. They will be subject to all the threats and deviances of the marketplace - that is how it works.
The second point Bernstein makes is scientific rationalism. I am not going to go there because it already exists, and is not really central to the points I want to make here today.
The third point I move onto is capital markets. Aboriginal people need access to capital. This is what the business about leasing is all about, and I do not have to lecture anyone in this House about the logic behind the leasing - it is a way of raising capital. If I am sitting there with $10m and want to invest in either Sydney or in Central Australia, I can go to Sydney and go into a legal environment and know exactly how I am going to operate and what the laws are in that environment; it is easy to invest in that environment. However, if I knock on a land council’s door and say I want to invest $10m in a tourism project at Papunya, then there has to be meetings and there has to be more meetings, and the whole thing takes two years. Capital in that environment just runs off and goes somewhere it is going to make a quid.
So in keeping access to capital open, there has to be a liberalisation - and I do not mean that in the political sense - of how capital finds it way into these traditional environments. That is also something that is utterly absent when you have so many bars, hurdles and barriers to capital finding its way into Aboriginal lands. I know that there has been an improvement in this attitude from land councils. They are starting to shift away from the land acquisition to the land development models, but I would like to see from government a clear understanding that certain principles have to be pursued.
I do want to go back to one other thing. Simply to give up on amending the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act as something which is undoable is less than a comforting from the Chief Minister. I do not believe you should give up trying to do something simply because it is impossible when it is the right thing to do. When people believe in the right thing to do, the impossible so often becomes surprisingly possible.
The last area of the Bernstein’s observations was there needs to be a fast and efficient communications and transportation system. That is where government does have a role, a much more hands-on role than in the other areas I have described, and basically making it possible for investment in these remote places to be cost-effective. Communication is not a problem. I have been to these Aboriginal communities, and they often have more channels on their television set than are available to me on Austar - I swear it - there is more broadband and high definition and all that stuff in the communities. So communication is not a problem. Transportation is. It is the capacity to move product from these remoter places, or get product to these remote places; and when I say product I am including services, so you are talking tourists and that sort of thing, to these places in a cost-effective way.
I heard the member for Braitling refer to this in terms of getting roads improved and that sort of thing, which is a hands-on role for government. It may also be a hands-on role, in part, for the private money that is trying to find its way into these places. Whilst I appreciate Newmont’s good corporate citizenry in the Tanami, I notice there is an almost perpetual reliance by them on the Northern Territory government to deal with the Tanami Road. I am unsure how charitable they have been towards the Northern Territory government when it comes to actually fixing that road themselves, and I know why, because roads are not cheap - they are expensive as hell.
So that is the place I would hope government starts to construct a framework where they can then start to say: these are the principles which will guide us through development. We need to guarantee a property right for the developer, as well as the investor in terms of the Aboriginal person making their land available for development. We need to guarantee the ideas that are generated in the bush are the intellectual property right, if you like, of the Aboriginal people themselves, or anything they generate in terms of intellectual property rights are protected, and that can be done under Australian law. Intellectual property rights legislation is now well established both in copyright as well as patents.
Capital markets; access to capital - government cannot pay for all this stuff. I do not want to go back into the housing debate of last week, but if we are going to build $700m of houses, that is fine, but then what? What happens then? They get trashed and run into the ground, and then what? We are back to square one. I heard the member for Arafura say we have gotten to that point. Yes, we have gotten to that point, but there is more to do in terms of enabling land to be leased. I would like to see commercial land leased, and those types of things as well. I am sure it is being worked on, but I sense a frustrating urgency in my own heart when it comes to these things. On those occasions when my heart tends to quicken in this House, it is because of what I sense is a lack of urgency, a lack of lust and desire to do anything about this stuff, when a road forward can be so clearly identified.
Of course, there is a role for government in education. The Chief Minister is entirely right when he says we need to train, etcetera. But for what? We can have doctors of philosophy sitting around in Hermannsburg just as unemployed as uneducated people are now. There needs to be a job at the other end. So, I do not see the roof of development being held up by one pillar. Education is one pillar. If you just put education under that roof, it is going to collapse. There needs to be a job out there. We talk about health, education, law and order, all those things; and each one of those is a pillar. The more pillars you have under the roof of development the stronger that roof will be. If health and education are up to standard, there is capital investment and law and order so property rights are protected, then you have four pillars holding up the roof, and the roof will stay up.
In that process, the Aboriginal people will then have become part of the general economy of Australia. I often get irritable when we talk about Aboriginal development, for no other reason than it is a convenient tag line – and that is all it should be. What we should be saying is there is a group of people in the Northern Territory who are poor - land rich, dirt poor. Just let us stop talking about Aboriginality for a second, just identify them as individuals. What I say is, they are subject to a legislative regime which is different to everyone else, in an economic sense. What I desperately hope to see is legislative regime sufficiently changed - and I am not saying take away land and all that sort of thing - to enable those people who are treated differently economically, to be treated economically the same. Then, they become part of the economy of this country, and of the world. Achieve that, get them involved at that level - no matter if they are black, white, brown, brindle, or pink - and you will start to see a change.
When I have described this in the past, the criticism has been levelled at me that that will lead to a differentiation in wealth on Aboriginal lands in these remote places. That is true, it will. Some people will make it, some people will not. Some people will be rich, some people will be poorer. I would rather have 50% of Aboriginal people doing well for themselves than none at all. Whilst we might debate the niceties of these things, the truth is we need to build a class of Aboriginal people who, for a lack of better words, become almost the envy of the people around them - as an inspiration as well - not because they are Aboriginal, but because they are successful. I look forward to the day; I have this dream of seeing people being successful and other people, rather than envying them and trying to take away their success, try to emulate it.
Let us not have a debate about the redistribution of wealth. I would like to see the day when we have debates about the redistribution of something like a work ethic; that would change things fundamentally.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I suppose I am a little cynical. I have heard all this before. If there is a place for statistics, it should be in this discussion, because the government has been in power since 2001 and now, in 2009, I would love to see a comparison in Aboriginal employment over that period of time.
I am talking about Aboriginal employment in remote areas because, when we talk about unemployment, that is where the unemployment is. It is not so much in Darwin or in areas where people can get jobs; it is out there where people cannot get jobs. It is unfortunate we believe there will be a magic wand that will, all of a sudden, turn these remote parts of the Northern Territory into large developing areas which will provide work for everyone. The reality is, that is not, and probably never will be, the case.
I was recently at Bathurst Island where the awards were given to those people who had successfully done their training at the trade school there, its proper name I have forgotten. Malarndirri McCarthy, the Minister for Children and Families, was there, and she said something which I fully believe: that the people who are being trained have to understand they will have to leave where they live, and find work elsewhere. That is the reality. It is a harsh reality, but it is the reality. If people who live in these remote communities wish to use their training to have a better life then, I believe, there is only one way, and that is to look elsewhere for work.
That is not to say there will not be work on those communities, but it is only to some extent and in selected communities, at the present time. ERA, which just happens to be a mine nearby, employs any number of people, but I bet it does not employ, by a long shot, all the people who could work. In Nhulunbuy, it is the same thing. It certainly employs local people, but does it employ everyone? No, it does not. McArthur River Mine, employs X number of people, but how many Indigenous young men work out there? How many does it employ? Yes, there will be some employment. In the Tanami Desert, at Yuendumu, if I am right, the people there get some work out there, but they certainly do not have the whole community working out there.
So you might say they are lucky to get a well paid job working in the mines, and there are those who may get jobs in tourism, they may get jobs in art, but those jobs are relatively limited. Tourism, for instance, will always be a seasonal industry in the Northern Territory, whether we like it or not; and tourism in general, unless you are talking about five star-type of tourism, will have little effect on places like Yuendumu until there is a road of good standard so people will travel through that area often.
The member for Port Darwin, who was talking to a large extent about a philosophical approach to what we are talking about tonight, mentioned communication, and the way Australia has been developed regardless of whether it is Aboriginal people, or veterans of World War I or World War II who came back from war and the government decided to cut up all the land, and they put in rail and they put in roads. That is how parts of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia developed. If we are to develop the Northern Territory, we must have good transport links and the A Working Future policy that is one of the key indicators - if we are to increase the chances of employment in these remote communities, we have to upgrade the transport links
When I think of some of these communities such as Alpurrurulam, how can a place like that employ all of the people? There are some pastoral properties, but how many ringers do you need? There might be 300 young blokes who could be ringers, but the stations probably only want 20. They have black soil plain roads; the tourists are not going to go there too often, especially in the Wet Season - again limited. They might sell some art - again limited. They might have the odd football star to earn a few dollars - very limited. You look at the future of some communities and you ask: ‘What is the future for people living there?’ I would say: it is either stay there and depend on social welfare for the rest of their lives, or let us make sure these people are trained well enough so they can find jobs in the wider community.
I know that can be extremely hard for people; I believe the Tiwi Islanders are the most homesick group of people which exists. Many years ago they were sent down to Brisbane to do training, and I am told some blokes who went down there were so homesick, and they did not have any money, but they found their way back to the Tiwi Islands. I have no doubt the ties with one’s home are extremely strong and are not easy to break, but at least if people always recognise their home is somewhere, they know they can work away and come back to their home. That is what we need to emphasise.
We have to do the best with what we have; there are many opportunities we need to work on, not just the big picture. Even though most of our communities are basically funded by the federal government through social welfare, like the new local government councils, 2% is raised from rates, which means 98% comes from federal and Northern Territory government money. To some extent, these are artificial communities purely dependant on taxpayers money. Be that as it may, it still creates opportunities for people.
It would be good if we could get down to some of the smaller things people could do: such as hairdressing, or mowing lawns in the community; many places do not have bakeries any more. In some of the smaller communities around Darwin there are work opportunities - a handyman who can fix leaking taps; someone who can do painting - they do not need a lot of capital. You just need someone who is smart and goes out there and tries to earn his way. Unfortunately, that can sometimes be cut off, or some people might say fortunately, with the problem of someone painting a house for their relations who might not pay them. That is a reality. Someone may mow their brother’s lawn and they do not get paid. There has to be some way to ensure people understand if someone runs a business you have to pay that person, otherwise the business collapses.
I believe there are opportunities for many small businesses in these communities. How you kick-start that, I am not sure. I know there is the department of Business, but we also need people who really want to change, who really want to do something for themselves. As the saying goes - from little things, big things grow – and once people see other people working they might think it is not a bad idea, and might do something themselves. There are opportunities out there; the only problem is they are not going to employ everyone.
I note there are people out near the Moyle trying to do something different; friends of mine from Melbourne have recently been there trying to establish a bicycle path through the bush, out near Peppimenarti going out towards Emu Point. My good friend, Phil Kenyon, who lived out there for quite a while and whom I went to go to school with, has been looking at the possibility of developing an adventure trail, where you can walk or ride a mountain bike, through that area.
The road to Port Keats is not the best road, member for Goyder; it needs upgrading, so you are limited. Once the Wet Season comes, that is not an area you can keep going into. It is an opportunity to get young people involved in developing tourism in that area. Until now there have been cattle and after that, social welfare.
The government should think outside the square. We have mining and gas opportunities. By putting Alcan where it is and not in Darwin Harbour, for instance, you are creating employment in a decentralised position. McArthur River is decentralised. It is not near Darwin; it is out in the communities. We have plonked INPEX in the middle of Darwin Harbour and the gas is coming from the west side of the Northern Territory. Blacktip has developed its gas plant at Port Keats; we should have thought outside the square and considered putting INPEX at Port Keats - that is what gives people opportunities. People would go to school thinking: if I study hard I have an opportunity to work at INPEX. What else can you do in Port Keats and Wadeye? Where would you go after you finished school? I do not know - there are not many opportunities. We have to start looking at putting industry in the bush. You can take the work to the people, or you can send people to where the work is - we need to look at both ways.
There was not much mention about councils. I know there have been some famous statements made in this House about the importance of councils creating employment. I do not want to get too much into that, except to say that councils do employ people, so they are part of economic development and they would play an important role. Even though I have problems about the number of the agencies they take on, they do play an important role and do create jobs through contracts and that sort of work.
In relation to the growth towns which are part of the concept of developing the Northern Territory, especially from an Indigenous point of view - but not only from an Indigenous point of view. We must be careful we do not have this statement ‘Indigenous Economic Development’ as though you can take it away from the rest of development in the Northern Territory - you cannot - you have to say, if we are going to build a growth town, it is open to everyone; anyone can come there and help develop that town. I say it again: with the growth towns we should be looking at Mt Isa and Kununurra. Those boundaries between Western Australia and Queensland tend to stop our thinking when it comes to this. If we want people in outback and remote communities to get jobs, then we should be thinking wider than just the Northern Territory.
What will stop Indigenous economic development is poor literary and numeracy, and also a work ethic. I have said this many times: we have to go back to where we were before. If we are to introduce a work ethic back into many of the communities then unemployment benefits should go out the door. The federal government should supply adequate funding or full-time employment for anyone who wants it, plus capital equipment, plus good management. If you do not have a work ethic you are not going to run a tourist operation; you are not going to turn up at the mining company on time; the garden will die because no one bothered to water it. Why do people do those things? Because they have a work ethic and they believe in what they do, and they believe it is important to turn up for work on time, and be responsible and consistent.
Unfortunately, unemployment benefits have destroyed much of that. It is just a straight-out fact of life, and if we do not make some really solid changes we will just continue down the path of: why would I bother getting a job? Why bother getting a job if I can just humbug around and get some money in the post each week? We have to change that and, at the same time, start to work on literacy and numeracy.
I saw Australian Story about the family who took some young people from out at Pukatja to a boarding school in Adelaide. They are great kids, but their literacy and numeracy standards were at Year 2, and those kids must have been around about 14 or 15. When my wife was 14 or 15 she had a Year 6 education; she was educated by the missionaries in the 1950s and I believe we have gone backwards. Someone was talking to me about Sister Freddie at Port Keats in her day; everyone turned up to school all clean, because Sister Freddie told them to turn up to school, and they all got educated. Of course, we moved away from that system and the missions were no good and they were terrible people. Well, many of those people who went to missionary schools are probably our leaders today in Aboriginal communities, but many of the young people coming up behind them do not have that depth; they do not have that understanding.
So, the foundation of economic development is good numeracy and literacy and developing the work ethic and until we do that, especially in remote communities, it will be very hard. But, if we do not try, we will not achieve anything.
I have raised this before in estimates - the government talks about the number of Aboriginal people working in the public service. That is fine, but I ask them to divide that up between urban Aboriginal people and remote people who work in the public service. I believe the difference will be like chalk and cheese. If we are to give people opportunities, then we have to give those people out there in remote areas an equal opportunity of working in the public service; whether it is working in their communities in public service jobs, or giving them opportunities in centres like Katherine and Tennant Creek. Basically, if we have some jobs there, we offer them to people from remote communities. It is positive discrimination, to some extent, but it is too easy to put the word ‘Aboriginal’ over how many people we employ, and then find out 80% or 90% of those people come from Casuarina and Palmerston.
When I look at the unemployment figures from Yuendumu, they are very high. I could only find the 2006 figures, but Indigenous unemployment in 2006 was about 27.7% of 15 to 17-year-olds; 20% for 18 to 24-year-olds; 15.8% for 25 to 34-year-olds. In 2006, the 25 to 34 age group was 4.9% for non-Indigenous. If you include CDEP which, to some extent, throws this out, there are a great many people unemployed. They are the ones we have to work hard to change.
Minister, you quoted something from Martin Luther King. You said:
- There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society who feel they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose ...
If we do not turn it around, we are in danger of having some very angry young people in our society, and I know where that can sometimes lead. We might believe when we work and live in a fairly affluent society in the suburbs in the Northern Territory that things are all rosy. I am interested to know whether they are as rosy as we believe. Why are kids petrol sniffing? Why are they abusing drugs? Why are they getting stuck into alcohol? It is not just because they are attracted to it; is it a sign they are angry young people who do not have a chance to be part of the society they see around them? We owe a group of people – and I am not saying ‘owe’ in the sense they do not have a responsibility for changing their lives themselves - but we have to make the effort. If we have to put a bit of stick out there, then we should put a bit of stick out there. We have to get those young people back into the workforce to give them a reason for living …
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member for Nelson, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: To finish off, if we do not make that effort – I have stood here many times and spoken about unemployment in Aboriginal communities – to have people working; if we do not have people working we are not doing anyone a favour – not those people and not the Territory.
I have been told if we had a system where all Aboriginal people on remote communities had to work or they would not get unemployment benefits, it would be discriminatory. I do not believe it is. Most of those Aboriginal communities are there artificially because the federal government pays them money. If we took the federal government’s money in social welfare and grants away, there is absolutely nothing in most of those communities to keep people there. Part of the responsibility is for the government to say: ‘We will keep your community going, we will keep supplying grants, money for the power station, housing, hopefully, and money for your local government. But the other side of the equation is, you will work and you will not claim those local government benefits; we will give you enough money to work’. It is time we said: ‘It is time for change’. We have had 30 years since unemployment benefits came in, and all I see is young people who have no reason to live, very poor education; and it is extremely sad.
When I see - and I am not trying to brag - my three kids who regard themselves as Aboriginal, all have great jobs. You might say that is lucky because of me and I have had opportunities many Aboriginal people would not have had. My wife comes from the bush and maybe if she had not met me, that would not have happened. But circumstances are that my three children are all employed by the Commonwealth government; they all have good qualifications, and they have taken advantage of circumstances, which many young people today do not get a chance to do.
So, we have to give those young people a chance; but they also have to take it and make the effort. If they do not, and we give them a chance, that is their fault. Unless we try together nothing will change, and we will not have economic development. We will have a very poor class of people and a very rich class of people in our society, and that will not do anyone any good.
Mr KNIGHT (Local Government): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I believe Imelda Wood would have survived. I have seen her sisters and, although on government welfare payments, they are certainly looking after the property they are given and making the most of the little money that comes into their community. But Imelda has done much better, Gerry, for sure.
The Minister for Regional Development has brought an important statement to the House. He had a quote from Martin Luther King, and the quote which always rings in my ears is: ‘Idle hands do the devil’s work’. I have only been in the Territory 21 or 22 years, and the member for Nelson has been here much longer, and other members in this House have been here their whole lives. In the time I have been here growing up with little five and 10-year-olds and seeing where they are now, there is a lot of despondency. Work does not only bring money. It brings pride, a sense of responsibility, and being active - keeping your mind active and keeping your body active. Coming home at the end of the day worn out is a good thing.
I have worked on many communities and with major CDEP projects, and have seen that sense of pride when you ask someone: ‘What job do you do?’, and they say they are a CDEP participant. They say it with a sense of pride. Having worked for a resource centre in Timber Creek where we went from 170 to 300 participants, nearly every adult who was not in full-time employment or was an aged pensioner, was on CDEP, and the whole community was active. Those 18 hours a week going to CDEP where every single one of them was actually improving their own lives, and their own communities certainly did benefit.
I came from Tennant Creek where the outstations had no CDEP and it was difficult to get projects happening that they wanted to happen. People have varying views on CDEP but I find they are very productive programs. People actually have pride in what they do, and when you have a majority of the community on the program and going to work, as opposed to sitting down and doing nothing, the community actually became mobilised. I reflect on some wasted opportunities at Wadeye, the biggest community in Australia, and yet it only had a CDEP of about 100 people. If it had the proportions it should have had, there would have been a vast change in that community.
I welcome the statement from the minister. It is an issue which has been around for a while, and we have to keep hacking away at solving this problem because it is affecting, not only the lives of people in those communities and remote areas who do not have jobs, but it affects the Territory as a whole. We have to turn that around.
The strategy is focused on providing long-term economic growth for Aboriginal people. The goal is: by 2020, there will be some parity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the Territory. That is a massive task. It is very ambitious and there is a great deal of work to be done, but we have to set that goal and we have to be focused on it. It proposes three key areas of developing economies and thus jobs for Aboriginal people.
In the aquaculture and fisheries areas there is a huge opportunity for that to happen, not just in the commercial capture and sale, but in recreational fishing. I am fortunate to have a bush electorate where, as a job, I get to go to these fabulous places. I get very excited driving along the Stuart Highway to my electorate and into the bush, and to be able to visit fabulous beaches and go out fishing with people. I have seen, down in the Daly, how much money fishermen from down south and overseas will pay a guide to go out. In Darwin Harbour, it costs about $250 for a full day fishing charter, from 7 am and back at 4 pm. People are paying that sort of money and they get a dozen people on those boats - just in Darwin Harbour with someone who has been in Darwin for a short while, maybe even a backpacker.
The opportunities for people to be able to go to a remote fishing location which has not had a great deal of pressure on it, to be able to catch a whole range of fish with a local Aboriginal person, and not only have the fishing experience, but to hear the stories and experience the people out there. People will be prepared to pay for it, and even if you filled up a tinny with a half a dozen people, you could make a healthy living out of that.
There are vast opportunities in the fisheries area, and the arts. Art is a massive area, but we have to make sure the majority of the money paid for the artwork goes back to the artist for the welfare of the artist. There is a great deal of work to be done by the government. I know the member for Barkly, the Minister for Arts and Museums, is focused on this area, and also the Minister for Indigenous Policy, in making sure the money goes back to the artist, and their rights are protected.
The construction area is something we are keenly focused on with SIHIP and the requirement for 20% of the workforce to be employed. Some people thought it was ambitious but, in the first set of packages, it has been exceeded and not just in the normal run-of-the-mill training. The tradesmen who have come in are training these trainees up to a standard where they can take them anywhere in Australia and they can perform the particular task they have been trained for. On the Tiwi Islands, we have 38 local, Indigenous employees working and receiving training. On Groote Eylandt we have 15 employees, and in Tennant Creek we have 11. That is 64 people employed already. I look forward to many more announcements in this House about hundreds of Aboriginal people, in those remote locations, who get employment through this program. Probably the biggest achievement of the program will be human development. One of the pre-requisites of the alliance partners is to look at where these trainees go, and they certainly have the opportunity to move with those companies. These are national companies and they could be offered work in Darwin, they could be offered work in Brisbane or Perth or wherever it may be, if people want to move; because an Aboriginal employee is just as hard-working as any other employee, given the right opportunities.
As we have seen on the Tiwi Islands, forestry and agri-businesses offers opportunities, although they bring dangers. Aboriginal people in those remote locations are sitting on assets, they are sitting on land which can be used to make money; the challenge is about communicating that, getting that message across, not the sale of land, but the use of land to make a living and to earn money.
The member for Nelson talked about Peppimenarti and Emu Point. I have a lot to do with Emu Point and that community is really striving. Terry Sands has the boys there painting rocks nearly every day; there is not a piece of rubbish anywhere and he really has those guys active. If he had 30 or 40 jobs bringing money in, he would be able to sustain that community quite successfully. So, it is looking for those opportunities, whether it is in the forestry area or cropping or whatever, and people are keen to look at those, and certainly he is.
One of the other areas is in government. With my Public Employment hat on, it is a goal for us within the next five years to have our Indigenous employment up to 10%. Currently, it is about 8%, so we have certainly come a long way. I pick up on the point from the member for Nelson with regard to where these people are. I cannot say whether the people who are recruited to work in government offices in Palmerston are born in Palmerston, or whether they have come into town to seek employment. But I do take his point that we have some 17 000 public servants in the Territory, and if we can get an extra 2% who come from the bush it would certainly provide more money into the pockets and the families of people living in remote locations - that is really the challenge. Where those jobs are is where the economy is, and the economies are in those major centres. It is a challenge to either move the people where the economy is, or move the economy to where the people are. A challenge of this strategy as well is getting businesses, getting economies going out bush and keeping them there and having a workforce which is going to encourage those jobs.
Horticulture: I have seen a really huge potential in Ti Tree. I am not an expert, but I believe the soil type and the water aquifer there provides a water basin which provides some unique horticultural opportunities to grow grapes and a whole range of other fruit and vegetables. It disappoints me that we get pickers coming in not only from interstate, but from overseas, to harvest those crops when we have communities surrounding Ti Tree which are living on an extremely basic wage.
One of the areas the minister highlighted was knowledge and culture. When you talk about the public service and the work that goes on within government and the public service, we employ consultants to tell us about the knowledge they have gained through academic studies or work they have experienced. They are paid well for that knowledge and to provide that advice. Recognition needs to be given to Aboriginal people who have knowledge of what is going on in their local community, knowledge of country, and knowledge of particular societies and solutions, and that knowledge should not be expected to be given free; it should be regarded as much as the knowledge provided by an academic or a consultant.
The mining area is an area of huge opportunities with the economy starting to turn around and getting those mines back in place. In Tennant Creek, there is the opportunity to employ many people in the mining industry, and I know the local member has his mind on that. When you look at companies like Ngarda Civil & Mining which started in Western Australia, they have a strategy of multiskilling, a skills base which can be transferred between the civil area and the mining area, and the new area they are going into is the housing services area. It is a skill set which, if they are getting contracts in a particular area, they can ship people across to that; if that starts to dry up, they can start to chase contracts in other areas. For Tennant Creek, where it is boom and bust, perhaps there is a lot of civil works on, perhaps the mines start to close down, and there is the opportunity to shift people around. Those miners are paid decent money, and that money can well support local Aboriginal people and their families.
The natural resource management area is a huge area, and the rangers - whether sea rangers or land rangers - have really taken off and they are coming into their own. The work they do with quarantine, with Fisheries, and the Customs area, is expanding, and I see some real opportunities for them into the future. We really need to think outside the square regarding the roles these people, who are growing in skills, can play into the future. They are attracting a great number of participants, and they are keen to jump in a boat, a car, or a quad, and get out on country and look after their own country. In many areas the people are from only one clan, but communities have been set up there and a whole range of clans come off country to that one location for the services, and getting back to the individual clan is quite attractive to people. And because the north is quite sparsely populated and there is some unprotected coastline, this needs to be protected from invasive species of different kinds.
The pastoral area is a difficult one. Many cattle stations were bought over the years by the Indigenous Land Council , and the management of these stations is difficult in some ways for Aboriginal people because, basically, successful cattle stations are a dictatorship - the station manager is the boss and people have to listen to one person. From my experience at Kildurk, you cannot run them as a cooperative because you need one person to make a decision and everyone listens and does what they are told. So, it is a difficult situation, but in the stockman, the ringers there is a wealth of experience in generations of Aboriginal people who have proven they can very successfully undertake the work – and there are some unique opportunities. It really bugs me that we have these properties earning millions of dollars throughout the Territory, and we have other properties, which were former cattle stations, which are not being put under full production, and not creating wealth for those families.
There are other areas in retail and tourism. Tourism is a huge area to move into. I acknowledge, even for the average non-Indigenous person, a Dry Season with thousands of tourists can really wear you thin, and it is very stressful and difficult work. In my time at Yellow Waters with the boaties, they were pretty well knackered by the end of the Dry Season. I know many of the Indigenous boating guys there were very successful and tourists absolutely loved them. So, there certainly is a range of opportunities.
Through SIHIP, there are those opportunities, and we will be making the most of them. We are keenly focused on hundreds of jobs being given to local Indigenous employees; and we are also very focused, through the public service, to increase the percentage of Indigenous employees. I pick up the point from the member for Nelson - we must start to get those people in remote areas employed at that local level. We have this fly-in/fly-out mentality, and we have to change that and turn that around ...
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I move an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77, for the member.
Motion agreed to.
Mr KNIGHT: I thank the Minister for Tourism. Also through SIHIP, we are giving local Indigenous businesses opportunities. We have the Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island Enterprises;AminjarrinjaEnterprises; Gebie Green Ants; Groote Eylandt Automotive; Groote Eylandt Bakery; Tiwi Enterprises; Bathurst Island Housing Association - the Tiwi Islands Shire Council is certainly getting work out of SIHIP; and also Julalikari. Pushing that money into those organisations which have a huge Indigenous employment is a strong focus of the program.
With the local government shires, we have had the job matching, the CDEP conversion and we have created 400 full-time jobs out of that program. It is winding down, but it is something I would like to see renewed. I have written to the federal minister with regard to renewal of that program, and it is something I hope my department will be working on with FaHCSIA.
Another area of local government is the interpreter service; they do an absolutely fabulous job, and it is a part of the department that has been growing. We have some 300 Aboriginal interpreters registered with the service, and in the last five years the service has increased by over 200%. The service took 5000 bookings last year alone, so the interpreters are coming into their own, and with government programs going out there, with private sector programs or non-government organisations going out there, speaking the language, conveying the message in a clear, concise and understandable way just makes common sense. Using the Aboriginal Interpreter Service is something that people, luckily, have now realised is the way to go. It also means local people getting paid the award wage and getting in their own community for doing something that they have knowledge of. I can only speak English, and a few words of different Aboriginal languages, but those interpreters are able to speak several Aboriginal languages and are also fluent in English, and they do a great job.
I thank the minister for bringing this forward. It is an area we have to crack, we have to make some inroads, and we have to get those employment numbers up. We have to get those businesses out bush; we have to move the economy out bush, as well as in the major centres. This has to be in collaboration with traditional owners, the land councils and the private sector. It will not be solved straight away, but the commitment to go towards 2020 and getting that parity is the goal.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement, and I look forward to ongoing progress updates.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing on this statement about Indigenous economic development. It is a part of our makeup, our society, and probably one of the most difficult issues to address in any real and meaningful way, because there are a great number of impediments to getting sustainable Indigenous economic development up and running in the Northern Territory. I would like to speak about certain parts of the minister’s statement, but also just share some of my experiences, and hope that the minister might be able to take some of that on board as he fleshes out the strategies he has in mind to develop the economies in Indigenous communities.
I like the statement; it is a worthwhile issue to bring before the parliament. The only thing I would say is I am not fussed on your speech writer. There was a deal of superfluous content and it was a 30 minute speech which probably could have been brought down to 15 minutes. Nonetheless, it is a very important issue.
My experience, in very broad terms, having worked in and with Aboriginal communities in the Territory for some 20 or more years now, is that the economic businesses I have seen start and subsequently fail have been businesses brought out to communities by well meaning, but ultimately, paternalistic people who brought only their own ideas to the table as far as what the Indigenous people in those communities needed. I remember a few examples of businesses which failed; businesses brought out to communities by non-Indigenous people and they have had their run, but they have not worked because the people on the communities did not take any ownership of them. They did not particularly want them because it was not their idea. Beswick cattle station, to the east of Katherine, used to be a viable cattle station. That was taken over by Aboriginal people who were not that interested in running it as a cattle station and consequently they let the fences decay; they shot the cattle and ate them; they had no ownership of the business. It was brought to them by people who thought it would be good for them to have. That was a very large enterprise.
There were smaller ones like Barunga, which used to have a pig farm. That was also brought about by the intervention of non-Indigenous people who thought it would be a good idea for the community to have a pig farm. Again, the people there were not interested, they had no ownership of it, therefore it failed. There is a raft of other examples I could recite. The point here is the government needs, in whatever form it decides, or whatever path it decides to take regarding Indigenous economic development, the first and foremost thing to consider is whether the business enterprise is an initiative from the community or from the people themselves.
Personally, I would rather see fewer enterprises up and running that actually work because they have been initiated from within, than for this government to set itself some ambit target and work like hell, spend like hell, to meet that target when, in fact, what they are doing is pumping money into a bunch of black holes, and those businesses do not end up being sustainable.
I hope that is taken in vein in which is intended. The unfortunate part of many Aboriginal communities is the fact they are indeed communities and not towns. I know the government has its A Working Future policy for the 20 growth towns, but we need the government to take seriously the concept of turning communities into towns which can go a long way towards sustaining themselves. Communities like Wadeye, and correct me if I am wrong, I believe 2500 people, there are probably one or maybe two businesses in the whole community which operate as a business. A similar sized town in another part of Australia would have a main street full of businesses and what would be considered perhaps a more normal level of unemployment, a normal level of welfare money going into that community, and that town would be basically self-sustaining given its own business structure and the region it might support with the businesses included in that immediate area.
I cannot overstate the importance of having a focus such as that, otherwise we will end up doing the same thing over and over again instead of trying something different, as the minister said in his statement. You have an opportunity, minister, as a young minister not only in terms of your length of time in parliament but also your age and the enthusiasm you have for addressing Indigenous issues of economic development. I hope you are able to carry that enthusiasm forward and get some real and meaningful results in the Indigenous communities that take up some of the opportunities this strategy will present.
I mentioned before that I had some concerns about ambit targets. It is great to have targets and it is great to have goals; without a goal anything you want to do is just a dream. I suppose you could draw a similarity between goals and targets, but you need to be careful for the very same reasons that I articulated a moment ago - do not try to reach that target just for the sake of reaching that target without having a sustainable outcome at the end of it. For years and years we have seen money pumped into Aboriginal communities by all forms of government with no result and no output for that expenditure. I believe that, together with the ingrained welfare system Indigenous people have had to endure for so many years has really set Indigenous people back a long way. There needs to be a paradigm shift in the way governments deal with Indigenous people.
The stronger activists out there – the Noel Pearsons and those sorts of people - are getting it right. They are telling everyone that their people do not want to be on unemployment benefits; they want to have real and meaningful jobs; they want to be able to get up in the morning with a purpose; they want to go to work, come home, have a couple of knock-off beers, have dinner, watch a bit of telly and go to bed. It is good to see people like the Noel Pearsons of this world are finally coming out with a message to government, not only in Queensland where he hails from, but in the Northern Territory and right across Australia, that Indigenous people are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens.
It seems to me that Labor governments tend to want to have this underclass of people in our community so they can keep that underclass as their support base. What they do is they rush out there and champion the cause of the under-class of people. The days of Indigenous people falling for that are fast disappearing. Indigenous people are becoming far more savvy; they can see, over many years, the policies have been letting them down
When I say that I certainly refer to Labor governments, but also to conservative governments; and the reason for that, apart from wanting to keep themselves in power, is this is a difficult issue to deal with. Indigenous disadvantage is a huge issue across Australia, and it takes some real political guts to make what will probably be unpopular policy decisions to better the lives of those people who are affected adversely by earlier policies which keep them as an under-class.
The minister mentioned in his statement the need for government support and infrastructure, and I cannot stress too much how important the infrastructure side of that will be. One example is the Daly River Road to Wadeye. I use that because I have been out there a couple of times in recent months. It is in an appalling condition and, unless that road - and many other roads around the Northern Territory - get to a state where they far more easily facilitate transport to remote parts of the Northern Territory, then any Indigenous development that occurs in those places is, at best, going to be far more difficult than it needs to be and, at worst, will fail because of the failure of the infrastructure to support those businesses.
A specific area regarding Indigenous development that could well work - I know it has been on the radar for a while now – is the issue of camels in the Northern Territory. The federal government said they would commit $19m to eradicate camels. From memory, when I received a briefing from a person in the meat industry recently, that equates to a cost of something like $127 per camel to shoot from the air and leave it to rot on the ground. I have a fundamental problem with killing a resource and just letting it rot; I would much rather see it used. There are avenues which could well present viable alternatives to just shooting camels on the ground, and that involves the catching and transportation of camels to Katherine, where the abattoir may well reopen.
What needs to happen is a coordinated effort on the part of government, the businesses involved, and the Indigenous people who live in those areas, to bring together a plan which will facilitate those things happening. These things cannot happen in isolation; there needs to be a coordinated approach. I am aware there is an Indigenous business in Central Australia which does welding, and they have been working on camel transport containers which, basically, are shipping containers with the sides cut out, rails welded in their place, and they have open tops, or tarps on them and they can take about 18 camels each. They can be stacked one on top of another on railway cars and transported from the central parts of Australia to Katherine. Fortuitously, the railway actually runs right through the south-west corner of the property the abattoir is on.
With some political will, and some policy change from the federal government, which needs to be driven by the Northern Territory government, we might be able to see a resource that can actually be used. That is an example, in my opinion, of a sustainable Indigenous business emanating from Central Australia, instead of just leaving that resource on the ground to rot.
I have some reservation about talking too much about Indigenous employment in a statement on Indigenous economic development. I realise they are not mutually exclusive terms and they do interrelate, but if we talking about Indigenous economic development, then we need to separate development of Indigenous business that employs Indigenous people in a sustainable way, from employment as such, and specifically employment in the Northern Territory Public Service.
I notice there are some targets here - an additional 3000 Indigenous Territorians to enter the workforce across the private and public sectors. How are you going to achieve that without some degree of paternalism? What happens if you do not achieve 3000 Indigenous Territorians employed by 2012 or, the next one down, Indigenous employment levels in the Northern Territory public sector to rise to 10%? What happens if you do not get 10% employment in the public service, or if you get near the end of 2011 and discover you only have an additional 2000 Indigenous Territorians in the workforce? What are you going to do to get that extra thousand across the line? Again, it comes back to: do you want to have sustainable and real outcomes here; you do not want to be paying lip service …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that the member be given an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the member for Johnston for putting that motion forward.
So, you do not want to be throwing money into a business that is not going to work, and which is the same as throwing money into 1000 extra employees in the public and private sectors that is not going to have a sustainable outcome. From my experience around the Territory, this is a word of caution to be careful about the way you approach that.
The government also really needs to consider the role of the land councils in all of this. The statement talks about land tenure and about negotiating secure leases. I will come back to the issues of leases and bank securities and other things in a moment. I gather the leases the minister mentions in his statement are leases where the lessor is the relevant land council, through the land trust. The question I have is: where do those lease funds go, and how are they going to be utilised better for Indigenous people?
Land councils get bucket-loads of money, yet I do not see very much going back into developing economies within Indigenous communities. I see land councils spending a great deal of money on some of their other work which is extremely important, like anthropology, but I would have thought significant sums of money which go into our Indigenous organisations, whether it be lease payments or royalty payments should, perhaps, form part of the basis for expanding Indigenous self-determination, including economic development. I do not believe it is the role wholly and solely of government to support these types of enterprises in Indigenous communities. Perhaps the minister should bear that in mind with a view to negotiations, down the track, to ensure some of what is effectively millions of dollars, go back into Indigenous communities. I often hear complaints about the cycle of money and where it all disappears - never to be seen again.
The member for Braitling also mentioned land tenure, which is an enormous issue when it comes to developing Indigenous economies in the Northern Territory and across Australia. I was slightly confused about something the statement says: the same applies when banks loan money for business activities; they want security over the commercial premises and the land.
I do not know that tenure of land under a land trust, or any other arrangement, actually facilitates any formal security for a bank. If I have my house mortgaged, it is freehold land. If I do not make my repayments, the bank will take my house and my land. I do not know if that can occur under land tenure arrangements in those areas.
Mr Elferink: A lease is a tradeable commodity. That is what gives them tradeable value.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: But tenure issues need to be considered because I know banks like to have real estate, which is a term used for land.
I hope the minister is sincere and genuine about moving Indigenous development forward; he certainly sounds as if he is, and it will be interesting to see how the strategy unfolds.
I do not like to be a knocker, but I picked up a copy of the 2005 Indigenous Economic Strategy today and had a scan through it. Some of the topics at the back discuss where there has been some expendable strategy by the industry sector in such things as aquaculture and fisheries, and it talks about sponges and trepang. I do not know if there are any Indigenous enterprises up and running with sponges and trepang. That is another caution - how much money does government use to support businesses that have pie-in-the-sky aspirations, but no real sustainability? That sounds to me like someone has come in and said to the Indigenous groups in that area: ‘This would be a good idea, why don’t you try this?’ I suspect it probably has not worked for the same reasons I outlined earlier.
We must do something; as a government it is incumbent on us to ensure Indigenous people have every opportunity to develop and become less reliant on government money. There needs to come a time where governments will have to say enough is enough and you need to stand on your own two feet far more than you are now. But, the same word of caution is: do not throw good money after bad just to appease politically correct sensibilities - aim for some really sustainable outcomes - fewer good ones which actually work, as opposed to taking a bucket of money and throwing it all over the Northern Territory and hoping some of it sticks.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on Indigenous Economic Development, and I welcome the statement by the minister. It is very important for the Northern Territory and the statement he has brought forward outlines a strategy to be employed to facilitate Indigenous economic development.
I recall in my maiden speech in this place in 2001, I expressed the view that we need to move forward together to realise the mighty economic, social and cultural potential of the Northern Territory - I still believe that is our aim - that is the aim of all of us in this place. We have incredible potential within the Northern Territory that we must realise for the sake, particularly, of Indigenous people and the generations of Indigenous people who will follow. We know the Indigenous population is a particularly young population and, as I said before in this House, looking up in the public gallery last week and seeing children from the Katherine region and the look of hope of their faces and wondering what their future would be, only steels my resolve and the resolve of all of us in this place, to ensure children do have a better future.
The minister in his statement alluded to A Working Future, and that is a key part of government strategy in turning, as the member for Katherine said, Aboriginal communities into towns and places where there is real opportunity, real work, and a place people can look to for the future, particularly for their children.
However, I disagree with what the member for Katherine said: that it almost seems like a conspiracy by the Australian Labor Party to keep Indigenous people as an oppressed minority to bolster our electoral chances. It does not do him any good to say that, and it is certainly far from the truth. All of us on this side are absolutely committed and focused on improving economic outcomes, educational outcomes, and health outcomes for Indigenous people. I have spent much of my working life in the Northern Territory to that end.
Also, what I said in my maiden speech about the need to move forward together to realise the mighty economic, social and cultural potential of the Northern Territory is much easier said than done. It is a difficult undertaking, and will take time, but our government and the minister, who wants to drive forward the policy objectives which have been outlined, is very focused on this.
I will go through some of my portfolio areas in support of the minister’s statement, starting with the Department of Business and Employment. I have the Business side, and my colleague, the Chief Minister, has the Employment side, so I will mainly be talking about the business side of the equation.
There is a range of strategies supporting Indigenous economic development and regional development which have been outlined by the minister, and we work together very closely on these strategies. The department has allocated full-time resources to coordinate the Territory growth towns project, which is an integral part of the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy. Under this initiative DBE is providing employment and business advice to the Service Delivery Coordination Unit in the Chief Minister’s Department to help with the local implementation plans for the towns; and this work is progressing.
The department is preparing a number of programs to be rolled out in the towns, including training on economic and financial literacy, a key pillar of the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy. It is also coordinating both Territory and Australian government agencies, non-government agencies, and other stakeholders in arranging new purpose-built facilities for service delivery in the growth towns, which is driving private investment in the towns. These new facilities will also reinforce the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s town plans by creating a town centre.
The department is applying for funding to develop support for joint ventures between the private sector and Indigenous organisations in the Northern Territory, and this Commonwealth support is crucial to success. The joint ventures will facilitate skill transfer and enhance the economic participation of Indigenous Territorians as they enter real jobs on their own country.
The minister also spoke about economic and financial literacy as an enabler to Indigenous economic development: understanding the economy, how money works, and how the financial systems works are important elements in encouraging participation. The Department of Business and Employment is providing funding for the development of a software program which cuts through all of the normal financial complexities to deliver pictorial and graphic explanations of business balance sheets and budgets. This ensures people who do not have a background in accounting procedures can understand and engage in business and develop business opportunities.
Through the department’s ICT contracts, we are providing $30 000 in funding to further develop The Money Story, developed by the local award-winning company, Little Fish. Little Fish is a Northern Territory software development company based in Alice Springs, which specialises in developing visual financial management tools, particularly in a cross-cultural context.
I turn now to Indigenous employment - a priority of this government. Northern Territory statistical workforce data provided by the Department of Business and Employment is used by organisations to inform policy and programs that benefit Indigenous employment and economic development outcomes. Indigenous Training for Employment Program, or ITEP, is a jointly-funded grant program run in conjunction with the Australian government which aims to increase employment opportunities for working-age Indigenous people in regional and remote communities. There are 12 funded ITEP projects in 2009 totalling $2.1m which have been supported by the Department of Business and Employment. These are designed to deliver sustainable job outcomes and workforce and career development initiatives for Indigenous Territorians. Expectations for the 2009 ITEP-funded projects are 500 positions, or people, positively impacted through ITEP.
Indigenous employment in the public service - my colleague, the member for Daly, has also addressed this. A Working Future project has a target of 10% Indigenous employees in the Northern Territory public sector in five years, and 30% in 20 years; and that reflects the broader population demographic. A significant number of Indigenous NTPS employees are already employed in jobs which will develop as Indigenous-specific roles, including Aboriginal Health Workers, Aboriginal Community Police Officers, and Aboriginal Teaching Assistants. A base grade administrative stream employment program for Indigenous people has been piloted in the NTPS, and eight people have recently graduated. A second intake is planned for early 2010.
The Chief Minister announced the Northern Territory government’s support of the Australian Employment Covenant, or AEC initiative, in December 2008. The Northern Territory public sector will provide up to 200 ongoing positions for Indigenous jobseekers under the Indigenous Employment and Career Development Strategy and its commitment to increase Indigenous employment in the Territory. In line with the commitment to significantly increase numbers of Indigenous NTPS employees, the Northern Territory Public Service also plans to increase cross-cultural training for all Northern Territory Public Sector employees. A Working Future establishes a target of 50% of the NTPS to have access to cross-cultural training within five years.
Agencies such as the Department of Education and Training, the Department of Health and Families, and the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services already have cross-cultural training arrangements in place for staff who work full-time in remote communities. Training programs would initially include an introductory program for new recruits to the NTPS, and a more intensive program for established staff. Content analysis for the training programs has been completed by Charles Darwin University, and cross-cultural training courses will be tendered for, for commencement in January 2010.
I turn to initiatives in the tourism area, particularly Indigenous tourism development. I have always maintained, in many ways, the tourism industry is a natural place for Indigenous people given the fact that so many of our tourists who travel to the Northern Territory rate very highly the opportunity to meet Indigenous people and to find out more about Indigenous culture. It is certainly a drawcard for many tourists, not only international, but from all over Australia, to the Northern Territory.
Coupled with the joint management of parks, which has often been criticised by some, we believe the joint management structures will provide Aboriginal people with a wonderful opportunity to enter into tourism ventures with the private sector, and be able to profit from tourism both in a monetary sense and in an employment sense but, more importantly, to really give life to their country and the stories of their country to tourists who visit the Northern Territory.
There is already a model operating in Nitmiluk Park. It is a fantastic model, although it was criticised many years ago when it was first established. Some people did not want it, and the stories of negativity and resistance were recounted by many people, including a number of Indigenous people, at the celebrations held in Nitmiluk for the anniversary of the hand-back about a month ago. Today they stand proud, and it is certainly a great tourist attraction. Around 200 000 people visit Nitmiluk annually. There is a lot of development: new chalets have been built in the park, and there are plans for further development. I commend the Jawoyn people for all they have achieved in a relatively short time frame.
It provides a model for the joint management of other parks in the Northern Territory which are just as spectacular, in their own way, as Nitmiluk. Right across the Territory there are some wonderful parks and joint management, in my view, provides a wonderful opportunity for Indigenous groups and individuals to really expand, to get into the tourism business and participate in economic development.
Reporting on what Tourism NT is doing: it is currently working with over 100 market-ready Indigenous experiences and tourism operators across the Northern Territory through mentoring, product development, accreditation and tourism training. Tourism NT provides product development support to 22 potential and emerging Indigenous experiences and tour operators, and the development of market-ready Indigenous tourism types is increasing in the Northern Territory. In the National Indigenous Tourism Product Manual, produced in collaboration with Tourism Australia, there are now 42 market or export-ready Indigenous tourism products and, since the launch, three additional products have been added to the online manual. These figures do not include other Indigenous experiences such as Indigenous cultural festivals and art centres, which feature separately in the manual.
The three Indigenous tourism business hubs supported by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, DEEWR, are all operational and provide much needed support to Indigenous tourism operators with a range of services including back-of-office administration, sales, and marketing.
Central Aboriginal Experience, or CAE, in Alice Springs, currently has 10 Indigenous tour operators and experiences receiving support. A new coordinator has been recruited for the CAE, commencing on 10 August 2009. Aboriginal Bush Traders, or ABT, in Darwin, are delivering services and support to non-Indigenous operators from their office in Cavanagh Street, while continuing their shopfront presence at Browns Mart.
Tourism NT has secured funding from DEEWR for the continuation of the East Arnhem Indigenous Tourism Hub with the initial contract finishing on 30 June 2009. The hub is currently in a transition phase, including the identification of a new host agency. This process has included a public call for expressions of interest to operate and develop the all Yolngu Hub. While this process continues, it is business as usual for the hub and its existing clients.
Tourism NT was a part of the Fourth Indigenous Economic Development Forum which was held in Alice Springs on 6 and 7 October 2009. This included sponsoring 10 Indigenous operators from across the Territory to attend and participate at the forum and the expo. The three Indigenous tourism hubs were present at the events, specifically showcasing at the expo.
Tourism NT administers funds from DEEWR to support two tourism development officer positions with the Central Land Council and the Northern Land Council. Tourism NT secured funding from Indigenous Business Australia to administer the accreditation support program to improve industry standards to clients, and sustainability, for up to 10 Indigenous tourism operators being supported to achieve tourism accreditation over the next year. Four businesses have commenced, and the second stage will be rolled out shortly. Additional funding support has been secured through the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism to support this project by undertaking an accreditation needs audit to support operators to obtain accreditation, and support three Indigenous operators to achieve accreditation.
The second of four scheduled Indigenous tour guide training programs was successfully completed by four Indigenous trainees, and the next two training programs are scheduled for completion by the end of 2009. The funding was secured through DEEWR, and this training expects to provide places for work and training for up to 35 Indigenous participants.
I commend the minister’s statement to the House. It is an important statement, and government is very focused on Indigenous economic development. All speakers from this side highlighted the achievements this government has facilitated and also the challenges which remain in training, business support, and our policy of A Working Future for the key towns across the Territory.
Madam Speaker, I commend the statement, and I look forward to hearing from other members on this very important statement.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for bringing on this statement. It is an important issue, and an issue that seems to keep appearing year after year, decade after decade. We are often left with statements, media releases and announcements like this, offering hope to Indigenous Territorians. Unfortunately, that hope is often seen to sail down the river because there are very few results from what must be a great deal of money spent over many years.
Like the member for Nelson, I, too, am cynical of this government’s approach because time and time again, as I said, they release information and have these great announcements. I recall seeing the 2005 release from the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin. Here we are in 2009 and we have another release, another change in the way we do things. The member for Nelson has been around many more years than I have so for him to say it, it certainly must have some credibility.
For over 20 years we have had a federal Labor member for Lingiari, and I sometimes wonder whether he can honestly stand up and say he is proud of the differences he has been able to bring to Indigenous Territorians in all that time. If we are really honest with ourselves, all sides of government, federal and Territory, this is one group of people, our Indigenous Australians, who we have all let down from time to time. There is no doubt there has been a lot of money spent from all levels of government, but what have we really achieved? Have things improved? Over the years we have hidden behind land rights, land access, permits, etcetera, but who benefits? Certainly not Aboriginal people - they have not benefited one bit.
Labor has ridden the coat-tails of Indigenous people for decades, hoping for their votes. I wonder whether it is because they are the best salespeople in the world or whether they do use scare tactics. How have Indigenous people benefited from successive Labor governments either federally or at Territory level? The 2005 announcement spoke of how there were going to be big changes, how there were going to be improvements for Indigenous people. Since then we have seen the intervention and the Little Children are Sacred report - damning evidence of failure upon failure - and, in many cases, absolutely tragic.
I will go to the report, and I am seriously hoping this time it will be different, but it is hard not to be cynical. This statement says:
- Our Indigenous Economic Development Strategy 2009-12 has, at its heart, a vision for improving the quality of life for Indigenous Territorians.
As I said, every few years we appear to have these new statements come out, and here we go again. Is this not just another motherhood statement? I sincerely hope, from the bottom of my heart, that this minister has what it takes to make a difference. It says in here:
- Last month the ANZ Bank said the Northern Territory economy leads the nation; a tribute to the Henderson government …
The same document only a few lines lower it says:
- Indigenous Territorians are three times more likely to be unemployed that non-Indigenous Territorians. They are nine times less likely to be self-employed.
So after eight years I ask: how have things improved for Aboriginal Territorians under a Labor administration? It goes on:
- Indigenous Territorians earn far less. They own far less as well.
After eight years, this is where we are. It says:
- The good news is that Indigenous Territorians are not content with the status quo, and neither is the government.
Well, that is interesting because I read in The Australian newspaper an article about Aboriginal jobs stifled by legislation. Noel Pearson said:
- Restructuring the lives of Aboriginal people away from welfare dependency was more than just ensuring children attended school, but was dependent on their getting real employment and the ability to own their own homes, Aboriginal leader, Noel Pearson, said yesterday.
Mr Pearson said that at the halfway mark of a trial on welfare reform in Cape York communities, attendances were excellent and child protection had reached a new high-water mark, but government was dragging its heels on housing and jobs.
That last part ‘government was dragging its heels on housing and jobs’, why is it when governments get involved, it seems to slow up progress and just get in the way? I suggest this exactly mirrors what is happening in the Northern Territory.
Peter Holmes a Court completed a 2500 km week-long road trip around Cape York. It is interesting that he says in the same article:
- The penny dropped for me this week after sitting down and listening to the views of scores of Aboriginal people that they desperately want to get off welfare and have what all Australians aspire to - jobs, dignified lives, and a future for their children ...
Peter Holmes a Court went on the say:
- Home ownership is a vital aspect in that equation and industries have to be developed in these remote places to provide jobs.
Promote a local economy through job creation. Home ownership has to be the way forward in the Northern Territory. If we need to legislate it all, let us legislate to get out of the way, not in the way.
In the same article, Mr Pearson said:
- When we say welfare reform, we mean a transition for people from welfare to employment and economic development. … We don’t just mean tweaking a few rules around what people must do to continue receiving welfare payments.
The guts of the program is about employment and home ownership and enabling enterprises to develop for the productive use of land that people have.
He went on to say:
- The scorecard is looking fine on the social responsibility side but we are making absolutely no progress on the employment and economic development side of welfare reform and on housing.
Mr Holmes a Court was referring to the wild rivers legislation introduced by the Queensland government, which controls development on thousands of square kilometres of Cape York, most of it held under hard-earned native title, and all of it including land on which Aboriginal communities exist.
Mr Pearson and the Cape York Land Council have mounted a campaign to have the laws overturned, but the Queensland government has not budged.
I think that when decisions are being made that deeply affect the lives of people and affect communities, it is incumbent upon our political leaders to really inform themselves of the possible outcomes, and to act with great care.
I do not think that is something we really have been focusing on in the last decades.
In his statement, the minister said:
- Almost half of all Territorians, some 100 000 people, live outside of Darwin in our towns and communities, or at mining sites or on pastoral properties. Quite rightly so, they expect their government to invest in their futures …
What have we done to date, other than more announcements? I hope it does change for the better. The minister also talked about the A Working Future policy:
- … the Territory government wants to see secure land tenure to underpin development.
So let us seriously not talk about it - let us make it happen. Let us not allow this document to go down the river like so many documents before it - down the river of spin. Let us see if we can make a difference. As I said before, there was a strategy launched in 2005, and how successful was that? We have seen the intervention since then, so we can rule out that it was very successful. This strategy presents a new direction. We have finally, it would seem by those few words, admitted failure and admitted what we have done up until now has not worked.
The strategy goes on to say:
- The vision for the strategy is increased employment, increased business participation and ownership, and increased wealth, all of which would contribute to an improved quality of life for Indigenous Territorians.
It sounds fantastic, but it is more like a motherhood statement and it is not backed up by a real plan. It does say there is a strategy, and I do not believe anyone would disagree that anything here is wrong; but how do you do it?
The strategy says:
- … improve Indigenous employment opportunities including flexible employment practices …
Well, that is a strategy, but it does not say how you area going to do it
- establishing growing Indigenous businesses …
It does not say how you are going to it.
- … provide better opportunities for Indigenous Territorians to make informed choices about their economic participation …
Again, how are you going to make this happen?
- … contribute to increased wealth and home ownership …
Again, how?
- … provide flexibility in approaches to economic development; and promote partnerships between Indigenous communities and organisations, all levels of government, and the private sector to close the gap on economic disadvantage.
Fantastic statements, but how do you it? Please do not use your track record:
- It sets out the following targets to be achieved by 2012: an additional 3000 Indigenous Territorians to enter the workforce …
How is this measured, and who comes up with these numbers? Why could it not be 3050, why not 4500, why 3000? It says here:
- As the saying goes, if we continue to do what we have always done, we will continue to get what we have always got.
There is no truer statement; but will this be any different? As I said before, does this acknowledge the government has failed? But it is strange; I do not believe they have really learned at all, because a number of the responses tonight, by different ministers and members, have promoted some of the things they have done over the last few years as their success story, but the Minister for Regional Development, says:
- As the saying goes, if we continue to do what we have always done, we will continue to get what we have always got.
And he says:
- That is just not good enough.
How can other ministers come into this Chamber and promote the things they have done in their responses to this statement? If the minister and this government sincerely feel they have it wrong - and they have it wrong, and they acknowledge they have it wrong - you would not be promoting things you have done because you are changing direction, it says here. It says you are going in a new direction and you are going to try new things, new strategies to address the concerns of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory. How can you, on one hand, promote the things you have done as success stories, if you are going to turn and go in a new direction? That just does not make sense, and it is a true reflection of how this government really feels, or really wants to make a difference. I believe, deep down, this is just another statement.
On page 13, it says:
- The Northern Territory government wants to work with land councils and traditional owners to develop their assets in such a way that responds to the business aspirations of Indigenous Territorians.
I note the strategy encourages these partnerships and the need for all parties to work together to achieve sustainable business development on Indigenous land. Over the years, there must have been millions, if not billions, of dollars spent on Indigenous initiatives, whether they be housing, welfare, or infrastructure and, in business, when you spend so much money you expect to see some dramatic results. With Indigenous issues we spend a great deal of money and we only see these minute little steps, little bunny hops. We do not see the momentous change in the future for these people; massive investment of money with few long-term, positive outcomes for Indigenous people.
I also note the Action Plan for the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy outlines a number of new initiatives, such as formal Indigenous mentoring and business network. Are these just new names for strategies which already exist? Are we trying to reinvent the wheel with nothing new but more headlines, more names, and covering up the fact we do not really know what we are doing, so we are trying to make it look like we are doing something different? I really hope not.
We only want what is best for Indigenous people, both sides of the House; there is no argument in that whatsoever. As the member for Nelson said earlier, how can you not be cynical, not just of this government, but of any government? For years, for decades, we know there has been money spent, but has it gone into the right areas? We can go out into the communities today and note things have not improved in the last few years, the last decades, or longer. Indigenous people are suffering and we all stand here and, again, release some information, release a dream, if you like, but - and I really hope there is an intent - we all say it: can we deliver this time? Can we do what is required to make a difference?
It says here the Territory government, the Commonwealth government, Indigenous Territorians and the private sector must all pull in the same direction if we want to, or are to, achieve lasting results. Absolutely no argument; but are we not assuming here that everyone wants to go in the same direction? Are we all working with the best intentions for Indigenous people, seriously, at the lowest level?
If we are not, if we are going around in circles - I remember my father saying at our wedding many years ago here in Darwin, when you enter into a relationship, when you get married, it is like you have both been handed a pair of oars and you pull together and you will go down the river of life. If one person is pulling harder than the other, or one is not pulling at all, you are just going to go continually in circles. You have to pull together to make the boat go straight down the river of life.
We have to ensure that local government, the Territory government and the Commonwealth government all want the same things for Indigenous people; and we can do that by pulling together. If we do not, this is a waste of time, a wasted effort, and the minister has wasted his time here today, because we are going to go over the same ground, and we will be here in three or four years from now debating a new strategy, debating a new way to go forward.
There was a recent Developing Our Futures Together Forum in Alice Springs, and I heard the member for Braitling praise the forum. I know there were 140 Indigenous people in business, or considering starting a business, 25 corporations, and 113 representatives from three levels of government. Put that into a business context - It is like saying 113 people from government are needed to manage 140 Indigenous people - if it was the private sector there would only be 23 to manage 140. I cannot help but believe the government gets in the way more than ever, because it is all about the bureaucracy. There is no doubt money has been spent on the machine, but is it being spent in the right areas?
This is a heart-felt plea: please, minister, do not make this another motherhood statement. People, particularly Indigenous people, are sick and tired of statements floating down the river of Labor spin.
I will finish up with this: young Jessica Watson headed off around the world yesterday on her boat on her own at 16 years of age. That takes real courage, and she would have spent months if not years, planning to head off yesterday. What a journey to go on. It takes real guts. Perhaps it is going to take real guts for the federal government, the Territory government and local government to make this happen.
Ms McCARTHY (Indigenous Policy): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of this statement. I begin with the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy of 2009-12, and would like to make particular mention of some of the examples in this strategy. By examples I mean some of the Indigenous people who speak about their businesses. People like Michelle Alley from the Indigenous Tourism Hub who is a coordinator for the Aboriginal Bush Traders. I quote Michelle:
- Starting a business is hard, it takes courage and commitment and comes with a risk that it may not work out. Those people and organisations that do have a go at starting a business, at whatever level, are inspirational - they show that they have the courage to take a risk to achieve their aspirations and build a better future for themselves, their families and their people.
Going through the strategy and listening to the speakers in the House this evening, it is the examples that we see not only this strategy, but for now I will focus particularly on this strategy, people like Damien Djerrkura and Djwalpi Marika, Darren Ah Chin, the owner/manager of Katherine Regional Mechanical Services, and Karen Leong the owner/manager of Jade Ebony’s Caf - a small number of examples but very positive examples about why it is important to focus on economic development across the Northern Territory, and important to encourage Indigenous employment not only in the public sector but, just as importantly, in the private sector.
We have heard in these sittings the continued strong forecasts of economic growth for the Northern Territory, well above national averages. We have also been reminded of forecast population growth and as Minister for Indigenous Policy I am very focused on important features of our demographic profile.
Seventy-five percent of our Indigenous population lives outside of our major regional centres. Over one third of our Northern Territory Indigenous population is children under 15 years of age. By 2012, more then two thirds of our Indigenous population will be of working age. My personal objective and as a minister of the Crown is one that I expect is shared by members by this Assembly, and that is that Aboriginal Territorians like every Territorian have every opportunity to benefit from the prosperity that we will see from our continued economic growth. That is a significant job. According to the 2006 census about 80% of the 20 000 Indigenous people of working age, 15 to 64 years in remote areas of the Northern Territory are underemployed.
I congratulate my colleague, minister Hampton, for embracing this challenge and continuing our government’s commitment to supporting economic development and jobs for Indigenous Territorians especially those in our remote region. The role of government is to create and maintain conditions supportive of private investment and economic growth, realising that market conditions can often be dictated by events beyond our control. We also have a role in supporting the development and maintenance of infrastructure and services that businesses and employees would expect to have available. We have the important role of ensuring health, education and other government services to support the work readiness of our growing population.
I am pleased that I will be contributing to this work from my own role with other ministers in the implementation of A Working Future. Just in these past few months as I look at A Working Future and think about the important impact that this plan will have, and is having, on our regions, it is about the focus of our service delivery in these areas, not only as the Northern Territory government but in partnership with the federal government. A Working Future will include a special focus on our 20 growth towns and their role as a service hub to outline communities. This work will include information collection about existing assets and also the identification with local people which are the key investments required to help spring board the development of each town.
A couple of people from the Ngukurr community came to see me recently, talking about the future of Ngukurr and I use this as an example for the House. The people of Ngukurr are looking at their future. It is a community in my electorate, and one I am very close to. One of the things I said to the people of Ngukurr, and the Roper Gulf Shire in particular, was A Working Future policy and looking at our growth towns was all about responsibility; that families, individuals, communities, and organisations look at their own future development and how can they grow. What is it they would like to see? How can they benefit from the knowledge which is out there?
We have seen, for decades, many researchers of different organisations go into communities wanting to understand the knowledge of communities and, then, taking that knowledge away to respective organisations and universities, interstate, and overseas. To the people from Ngukurr, I said: ‘It is now time for you to take the knowledge from others around the Northern Territory and Australia and tap into that knowledge’. By ‘knowledge’ I mean the business knowledge, the housing knowledge, the real estate knowledge, and the stock exchange knowledge - all the knowledge out there Aboriginal people in these 20 growth towns can also tap into.
A suggestion I made was to call together a forum, a Ngukurr futures forum, where they can invite people to come into Ngukurr and ask these guests, whoever they may be - from the Real Estate Institute, from private enterprise, or from the women’s network in Darwin - to do their own research about Ngukurr and then tap into the expertise of these people, and mix and match the way they would like to use it for their own purposes in the Ngukurr region.
That is one example of how exciting it is for communities, clan groups and organisations starting to really think about what they can do in tapping into the A Working Future policy, how they will grow their towns and families in a way that the responsibility comes back to individuals, their families, and the people in the towns themselves. This work will include information collection about existing assets, as I said. Priorities will differ according to location and local circumstances; in some locations the priority may be improved communications; in many places it will be improvements to transport infrastructure.
I have said in this House on a number of occasions the ability of our government to focus on the transport needs is integral to the success of A Working Future; it is also integral to the success of any economic development in all these communities and regions right across the Northern Territory. My colleague, the Minister for Transport, is very passionate about looking at the transport strategy our government wants to see come to fruition in the coming months.
A key feature of A Working Future is we will prioritise infrastructure needs in each place. It was clear when I came into government the absolute need to ensure our airstrips were sealed in communities like Ramingining, Bulman in particular, and Minyerri, which was in my electorate at that time. Our government was committed to ensuring, as part of the transport infrastructure, these airstrips were sealed because we knew once the rivers were up, the roads were flooded and it was boggy to get in and out in the Wet Season, the only way in and out, usually, was by air, and If the airstrips were not sealed, it was then an added challenge. We have recognised since coming to government the vital priority for Top End communities in the Wet Season was sealing these airstrips.
Importantly, we will ensure infrastructure investments are properly sequenced so we ensure maximum return on investment. This work, completed in partnership with local people, reflects our long-term commitment to our towns, and the Territorians who call these towns home. This commitment and the certainty which will be provided as a consequence of our work will create an environment of confidence for the future of these towns, a very necessary precursor for private investment, business activity and job creation.
One fundamental necessity for private sector investment is security of tenure. All four Northern Territory land councils share that commitment to enhancing the wellbeing of Indigenous Territorians living outside the major centres. The land councils also have a legal obligation to ensure that landowners have a key role in decision-making in relation to the land and, as landowners, they benefit from the use of their land. The future we see is of traditional owners moving beyond compensation for the use of the land to one where they embrace and benefit from economic activity on their land.
An important issue is township leasing and other forms of leasing to facilitate business investment being progressed through the land councils. Again, I digress to look at some of the examples in my electorate, of Ngukurr with the Anindilyakwa Land Council and the remote partnership agreement on Groote Eylandt. The Groote Eylandt people have made tremendous advances in economic activity through organisations like GEBIE, the Groote Eylandt/Bickerton Island Enterprise job shop. A tremendous amount of work has been done through GEBIE, and it has been well recognised in Umbakumba, Angurugu, Bickerton, and nearby Numbulwar.
The Dugong Beach Resort at Alyangula is an outstanding example of enterprise and the partnership between the land council and private business. When members of parliament and visitors go to Groote and see the Dugong Beach Resort, they not only get a sense of the amount of work that has obviously been done to build such an incredible resort, but to see the everyday impact it clearly has on the lives of people there: the land council, the workers who are working with GEBIE, and the tourism enterprise that has come out of the Dugong Beach Resort - it is exciting, and it is innovative.
We want to see that example in other communities, and it will be wonderful the day we can stand up in parliament and say: ‘Yes, well, that is quite an ordinary thing’. We should not be excited about it, because we want to see it as commonplace for any Indigenous person across the Northern Territory to own their own business, be a part of a business enterprise, and to pave the way for their children in this area. It will be great the day we do not have to speak about it any more because it is part of the way of life here in the Northern Territory.
The other example on Groote Eylandt is the relationship between the Groote Eylandt people and the Groote Eylandt Mining Company, GEMCO. The relationship is one that has taken decades to get to a point where there is mutual respect of the cultural importance. The mining company recognises the cultural importance to the Groote Eylandt people of certain places on the island in terms of language and the maintenance of culture but, at the same time, the Groote Eylandt people are hard negotiators and they know how to negotiate with an international company for benefits to their people. That is a very good example that can be shared right across the Northern Territory and across Australia.
A Working Future is not, however, just about land leasing, private investment and infrastructure - it is also about services. We are working with the Australian government on a detailed analysis of existing services and service delivery standards in the 15 service towns identified in the Remote Service Delivery National Partnership. There are many service gaps out bush and we need to identify and work on these gaps, employing the $1.5bn investment available under our COAG National Partnership Agreements to underpin the development of our remote communities and supporting development of healthy and work-ready communities.
We also need to look at the way we design and deliver our services: how we do it, job design, and the recruitment and retention of staff. We need to think more broadly about the return on investment from expenditure of taxpayer dollars. An issue raised by Bob Beadman our independent Coordinator-General for Remote Services, is the need to review procurement policies to ensure government expenditure is engendering training and job opportunities out bush, as well as in our towns.
There are a huge number of people out bush with limited job opportunities relying on income support. We need to be creative in using government investments to create training and employment opportunities, as we certainly are doing, and I have seen this in communities in Arnhem with the current SIHIP program.
A clear message from our success to date is the need to celebrate, value, and work with our own unique assets such as the world of music, art, heritage and culture. An important issue here is the connection of people and country; it is the land which inspires these things, and this makes the Territory special. We must ensure we treasure these things and they are properly valued.
I am also mindful of the role of outstations and homelands in the mix. One key objective of our current outstations policy consultations is discussion about new forms of economic activity to help supplement the income of outstations. We know we have to look at these things place by place and, like all new business ventures, there is a need for planning, capital, and marketing.
Our aim is to support innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit and make connections with the business community to underpin new business ventures. I am especially heartened by the emerging tourism ventures established by families who are opening up access to exciting new destinations across the Northern Territory; and many of these are taking place on homelands.
We should not forget the Territory has always been justly proud of its record of innovation; this is a tradition we need to celebrate and encourage, coming up with interesting and unique ideas and exploring new business opportunities like the Wadekken fire abatement and land management work in West Arnhem Land.
I have spoken mostly of business in the bush because the remote parts of the Territory are a key focus of A Working Future. That is not to diminish the good things happening in our major towns and cities where Indigenous Territorians are embracing business opportunities, and expressing their individuality by taking risks. An example is a ranger who has taken to the air - Richard Baker, one of our very successful Indigenous helicopter pilots and a Garrawa Yanyuwa man from Borroloola, who is currently in Katherine.
I acknowledge that individual opportunity is always about choice, in my view. Indigenous people, like any Australian, want to have a choice of what they do, where they live, how they raise their children and to use the gifts of their culture, and the strength and richness of home and country as part of the way forward in economic development. I congratulate Richard Baker on his skills in getting his helicopter pilot licence.
The Territory has always been a great place of opportunity, and I know it will continue to be so. We are totally committed to ensuring all Territorians can enjoy and benefit from a prosperous future.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, it has been interesting listening to this debate. I cannot say there is much of it I have not heard before, and I take note of what the member for Brennan had to say in his remarks.
It seems like we come into this House, politicians of any ilk, no matter where they are - Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, or the federal parliament - constantly come into their Chambers and have these types of discussions. These discussions have been going on for decades and decades.
The reality is, over that period of time the lot of Aboriginal people has seemed to get worse. In many ways I believe we have thrown the baby out with the bath water with many of the policies which have been put in place.
I remember my old mate out at Munmarlary Station, he had an abattoir …
Ms Purick: Jay Pendarvis.
Mr TOLLNER: Not Jay Pendarvis; John Lord, the Lord of Kakadu they called him. He had pictures from the 1950s and 1960s of what life was like in Kakadu with the abattoir; it was a real home-spun sort of affair. He came from Sydney and carved a living out of the bush and worked with many Aboriginal people. He had photographs of whole families and tribes of Aborigines from the littlest kids up to the oldest adults, all working in the buffalo abattoir, all looking healthy. Admittedly, in those days there was no equal pay, and people of all persuasions lived pretty damn tough. For anyone to go out into those conditions, a white man from Sydney to carve a living out of the bush was an incredible achievement, and he did it very hard.
The fact the Aboriginals who were working with him were not being paid a great deal of money was no reflection of how he cared for them. He was a great advocate for Aboriginal people, but then as time went on and Kakadu came into being, the buffaloes were gotten rid of, and all of a sudden the Aboriginal people had land rights, he was moved on, and all of a sudden there is nothing.
A few years ago I went out to Munmarlary and I saw his old mate, a bloke called Left-hand Johnny; at that time, Left-hand was probably the most senior traditional owner alive in Kakadu. Now he was living in a stinking, rotting demountable asking for money to buy petrol for his generator so he could pump some water up to make a cup of tea. Left-hand had one old lady looking after him; she had been a victim of leprosy and had no fingers on either hand, and was his sole carer. He passed away only a couple of years ago. When you look at the pictures John Lord had of Left-hand, the young warrior, a strong man, strong family, strong connections, working hard, shooting buffalo, boning them out and sending buffalo meat right across Arnhem Land, you have to ask the question: where did we go wrong? Where have we gone wrong over this period? It was an incredibly sad thing to see the way we seemingly have stuffed it up.
We heard from the member for Nelson about the old missions. In some wonderful, modern thinking we decided we should not be forcing religion on these people, so we moved all of the missionaries out of those communities. Maybe it was the wrong thing to try to ram religion down people’s throats - certainly growing up I had it rammed down my throat - I am sure there are many members in the parliament here who did not have much of a choice either. There was no chance I was ever going to grow up Jewish or Muslim or Hindu; my family were Christian and every Sunday they went to church, and all the kids used to follow behind. In these enlightened times that might be deemed a bad thing, but certainly it was the way of the world when I was growing up. I do not necessarily believe it was a bad thing, it taught us respect, it gave us some moral grounding and it made us into the people we are today. But somewhere along the line that was deemed inappropriate for Aboriginal people across Australia.
A few years ago in my former role as the member for Solomon, I found myself on the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. Being a new bloke in parliament I went to Canberra because committee positions were coming up and I nominated for positions on particular committees. Word got back to me that I had missed out on this committee and that committee, but they decided to put me on this Aboriginal affairs committee. It was a committee I had not even nominated for; it was the last committee I wanted to be on because I have seen the way race relations and Aboriginal affairs affects people. In many ways it is a kiss of death to get caught up in that because, as I say, we have gone through decades and decades of talk, inquiries, and nothing ever got done, and I did not want to be a part of that.
But, I ended up part of it. I was on that committee and for three years we travelled the length and breadth of Australia visiting communities - not just in the Northern Territory, but Western Australia, north Queensland, central Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania, country Victoria - all over the show. We were inquiring into capacity building and service delivery in Indigenous communities the length and breadth of the country. The member for Macdonnell will remember that committee well; the member for Macdonnell was on the ATSIC Board at the time, and we had quite a bit to do with ATSIC. We had an interesting crew of people on our committee I have to say, with a number of interesting people on the ATSIC Board at the time - people who, in some ways, are legendary.
It was interesting, because we talked to all these people tied up in different aspects of the Aboriginal industry – which is how I refer to it - and it seems to me there is a plethora of these organisations around the country. We travelled through communities, we talked to organisations, and everyone was well intentioned. At the end we put together a report for the federal parliament and, I have to say, I could not stomach the contents of that report, so I put in some dissenting remarks. Rather than be accused of plagiarism, I thought I might read my dissenting remarks. I do not think you can plagiarise your own remarks, can you? I would like to read my dissenting remarks onto the Parliamentary Record:
- While acknowledging the commitment and good intentions of committee members, I cannot in all conscience sign off on the report without expressing reservations. As the sole Country Liberal Party MHR, I have a duty to represent the broad policies of my party and the views that I believe best reflect my Northern Territory constituency.
The Northern Territory is unique in Australia in that Aborigines constitute a significant proportion of population, many times their representation in any other state or territory. Nowhere in Australia are Aboriginal people more clearly defined, most protected from dispossession, most resourced with natural wealth, best equipped with knowledge of traditional beliefs and culture than in the Northern Territory. And nowhere are Aboriginal people more institutionalised to need a plethora of competing bureaucracies and agencies, charities and councils, trusts and associations.
The recommendations of the committee will, therefore, impact proportionately upon the Northern Territory. For these reasons - my party membership and the people I represent - I am compelled, regrettably, to submit these dissenting remarks.
- State intrusion: Aboriginal Australians are excluded from Australian society and a healthy lifestyle and economy by being treated differently, by being treated as a special race-based problem; by seeing separate structures set up to determine their future as though it was somehow separate to the future of all Australians. The direct relationship between the collapse of responsibility in Aboriginal society and the growth and assumption of responsibility by the state is not addressed, nor the issue of services without obligation or reciprocity, even though they have been identified as major factors in disempowering Aboriginal communities and causing social dysfunction. I believe it is time to recognise the terrible, unintended effects of well-intentioned policy, to decide that people do not need soothing, they need jolting; they need to be shocked, and to mention the unmentionables of many Aboriginal communities today.
- The committee expresses its disappointment that past parliamentary committee recommendations, such as those of the House of Representatives Steering Committee on Aboriginal Affairs Report, A Chance for the Future: Training and Skills for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Management and Development, have not been implemented, and that problems identified 15 years ago continue to persist. The committee acknowledges, in reference to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs report, We Can Do It, in the words of Cape York leader, Noel Pearson: ‘We have produced mountains of thinking around Aboriginal affairs, but as the mountains of paper have accumulated, the social situation has gone down.’
The committee cites evidence from a Harvard project that the cycle of welfare dependency runs counter to capacity building in Aboriginal communities, and quotes Reverend Nick Francis’ submission that: ‘Passive welfare limits choice for individuals and communities’, and adds, ‘there is a time for governments to stand back and get out of the way’.
Despite these references, the recommendations call for a greater government effort from its agencies and additional layers of administrative process and government monitoring, with only the briefest reference to the role of the private sector in advancing the ability of Aboriginal communities to gain control over their affairs. The report proposes that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs become a permanent agenda item at future COAG meetings, and seeks to establish an overarching role for parliament to measure progress against the priority outcomes of the headline indicators of Indigenous disadvantage as established by the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision.
While acknowledging past failures and continuing counterproductive intrusion of government agencies in community affairs, particularly in relation to welfare services, the recommendations fail to tackle the central issues, thus risking a judgment that the report will only add to Noel Pearson’s ‘mountains of accumulated paper’, while continuing, and even magnifying, the public sector role in Aboriginal administration.
I go on to land rights:
I am disappointed that my attempts to make the disincentives to community advancement of the Commonwealth protectionist land rights legislation in the Northern Territory were considered to be beyond the scope of the committee’s inquiry. I believe that, in the Northern Territory, the differing and complex land laws and regulations impact negatively on Aboriginal advancement; but the committee has chosen neither to examine nor comment on the issue. It has been argued that a former ATSIC committee dealt with the issue at length in its consideration of the Reeves Review. However, there is no doubt that that committee’s deliberations were manipulated to ensure the Reeves Review was discredited, and that any real consideration of reform of the 1976 legislation was shelved.
The uncertainties regarding dual native title and land rights legislation are continuing disincentives to capacity building in Aboriginal communities. In the Northern Territory, even the provision of government education, health, transport, and other essential services are compromised by a land management regime which fails to allow for public ownership and, to a great extent, private investment.
Those were my dissenting comments on that report. That report was tabled in June 2004, more than five years ago. If things do not sound familiar in what I just read, you have not been listening; because that was five years ago, and here we are talking about exactly the same situation right now. I guarantee you 10 years ago they were talking about it, and 15 years ago, and more. To me, these things are so obvious, but for whatever reasons - party ideology, political correctness, whatever - we fail to face up to the challenges right in front of us.
Welfare-ism and apartheid have killed Aboriginal people, and are killing Aboriginal people. We set up these different structures for Aboriginal people as if they were somehow different to us. I have heard the member for Macdonnell speaking in the past; I forget the exact phrase she used, but it was Aboriginal people are not different, but you know …
Mr Elferink: There is not a white way or a black way; there is only the right way.
Mr TOLLNER: That is exactly right; the member for Port Darwin has hit the nail on the head. There is not a black way or a white way; there is just the right way. And we should all be treated the same.
Mr Elferink: I did not say it. She did.
Mr TOLLNER: You gave me the quote, member for Port Darwin. I hope I got that right, member for Macdonnell. I am pretty close to the mark.
That is really what we are facing in this country – apartheid – but because of political correctness, we do not call it that. We have set up a whole range of institutions all about Aboriginal people. We have Aboriginal health services, Aboriginal education services, land exclusively for Aboriginal people. It does not matter where you look; in every sector we have a separate body set up for Aboriginal people like they are somehow different from the rest of us; they are treated differently. No wonder they feel they are different, because, as a society, we have set them apart from how we are.
Welfare-ism kills people – a constant stream of welfare, whether you are black, white or brindle, it does not matter. I see white people in my own electorate who are hooked and addicted to welfare; cannot get off it. This is not a black problem or a white problem. This is a problem we need to address as governments, and stop the welfare cycle. Ultimately, much of this - and I hear the Chief Minister expressing his comments – is a role for private industry, and I agree there is a role for private industry; there is a role for government, although I believe the role for government needs to be diminished, not enhanced. We have to get government out of that picture, because government is only getting in the way of development.
Ultimately, and most importantly, it comes down to Aboriginal people themselves; they have to pull their socks up; they have to participate in the wider economy; they have to start working and trying. You can lead a horse to water; you can put in place all the systems of government …
Mr CONLAN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move an extension of time for the member to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker.
As I was saying, there is not much we can do unless Aboriginal people themselves want to get up on their hind legs, as they say, and participate in the wider economy. We can have all of the programs under the sun; we can have the most benevolent private sector under the sun; we can do as much as we possibly can; we can put roads, and parks, and goodness knows what into Aboriginal communities, but unless there is that seed of desire, that seed of wanting to get ahead from people themselves, it is not going to work. We can try and try but, as the old saying goes: you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.
Somewhere along the line there has to come some responsibility; and it would be great to see governments getting in there and giving that little kick, that little nudge to encourage people to get up and to have a go.
I can understand how debilitating years and years of welfare dependency must be. I cannot imagine it myself because I come from a community and a family environment where you were encouraged to get out and try new things and do new things. I do not believe I know an unemployed person these days, apart from my role in the electorate. I do not believe I have a friend who is unemployed at the moment. That is in stark contrast to many Aboriginal people living in remote areas. There are children born today where the mother and father have never had a job, their brother and sisters have never had a job, they do not know a single person who has a job; welfare is supplied to them, and to the whole community. How can they possibly hope to have that spark of desire to own a house, the desire to have a job, the desire to be educated? It is very difficult, and I understand that.
Despite this, there are some incredible Aboriginal people out there who have done well in the face of all this, and they are to be applauded, and respected, and listened to. People like my old mate, Dave Gulpilil; I saw him sitting in the park yesterday doing some paintings. I know as Territorians we tend to have a bit of fun with Dave because he is slightly eccentric at times; not everyone walks down the main drag with a machete. In any case, he is a man who has done us all proud here in the Northern Territory. The circumstances he has come from and where he has been - he is an absolute Northern Territory legend - he has walked on the world’s stage.
Galarrwuy Yunupingu: I have been quite scathing in some of my comments over the years in relation to Galarrwuy Yunupingu, but when you actually look at the history of that man, he is a living treasure; there is no doubt in my mind about that. As I say, I have had great opposition to some of the things he has come up with, but you cannot - and I do not believe anyone can - diminish what he has actually achieved as a person. People like Sid Ruska who started an earth moving business. I heard about Ian Conway last week, and I remember meeting him. He took the member for Braitling, the Opposition Leader and the federal member for Warringah, Tony Abbott, for a spin around his block …
Mr Elferink: His block? It is a pretty big block.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, I know he has a cattle station. Sorry, I am from the land myself. Anyway, he took the guys for a look around his cattle station and, by goodness, the things I have heard about him - is he is an achiever. It really does not matter where you look, you will always find fantastic examples of what some people can do.
The unfortunate thing is these people are a minority; they are the exception rather then the rule. Let us be honest about this, some things have to be said, but for fear and political correctness people are most likely not prepared to say them. I heard the Minister for Tourism in his speech talk about the fantastic tourism opportunities the government has created by handing over 49 parks - a huge number of parks - great tracks of land right across the Northern Territory have been handed over. The minister, for some reason, seems to believe this is going to launch them into tourism.
Minister, I do not know if you are aware, but for many years now almost half of the Northern Territory land mass has come under the control of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act, administered from Canberra; exactly the way you planned to hand these parts over, convert them to Aboriginal land. If these guys were seriously interested in tourism and getting up and having a go, they have had a long time, certainly in the last 20 or 30 years, plenty of opportunities to start their own tourism businesses on their own land.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of these things; although I do agree with the minister inasmuch as I believe tourism is one of those great opportunities Indigenous people in the Northern Territory have. However, what is the point of having an opportunity if you are not prepared to seize it? These great government-funded programs are really nothing more than welfare-ism. We talk about the range of programs and the caring for country; if many of these people were truly caring for country do you think we would go to a community and find rubbish from one end to the other? Rubbish bags, empty wine bladders, baked beans cans, old tyres and car wrecks – that is no way to care for country. We talk about the wondrous traditional knowledge these people have. What kind of traditional knowledge tells you it is all right to just throw your wrappers all over the joint? It seems no one is prepared to say this; no one says: ‘Go and clean up your own town first’. Let us have an emu parade.
I remember where I grew up, a little place just outside of Woorabinda Aboriginal community; Woorabinda was an absolutely spotless community 35 years ago. I imagine things have changed quite substantially in the last 35 years, but these places were neat and tidy. You are hard pressed anywhere in Australia - not just in the Northern Territory - to go to a community where you do not see the houses trashed, graffiti on every wall you walk past, rubbish, beer cans, empty wrappers, old blankets, and dogs with no hair. Goodness me! These things are everywhere. However, for some reason we, as a society, seem to be able to turn a blind eye to that; overlook that …
Mr Conlan: Political correctness.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, political correctness. The idea is you cannot say a negative word about Aboriginal people. As I said, I have heard these arguments 1000 times before; anyone in this Chamber who has been around for a little while, no matter what side of this place you sit, have all heard these arguments before. My biggest concern is we are just going to add more mountains of paper and think about Aboriginal affairs but, ultimately, things are only going to get worse while we sit around here having talkfests and debating these things.
As soon as government gets out of this square, and the sooner many of these other organisations get out of the square, the better. The sooner Aboriginal people are treated as Australians - no more, no less - the better off they will be. The sooner we get a hold on this welfare monster, this welfare poison, for all Australians - not just Aboriginal Australians - black white, brindle, Chinese decent, Greek decent, German decent, Aboriginal decent, it does not matter; we have to get a hold of this welfare poison. Poison can be useful, but you do not want to start throwing it around everywhere because you kill everything, and we do not want that.
These have just been a few remarks from my heart; I do not know whether they will have any impact, but I appreciate the Chamber’s time in hearing them.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I contribute to the statement also. I say to the member for Fong Lim about the ‘member for Warringah’. The Bushranger, last weekend I believe, quoted Warringah in the Warlpiri language as ‘crazy’. Well, it is not. It is ‘warrungka’ if they want to use the word ‘crazy’; it is not warringah. I thought I would correct that on the Parliamentary Record.
I have heard from both sides of this Chamber on what has gone wrong in Aboriginal communities - economic development, I can honestly stand here and say the member for Nelson is the one who hit the nail on the head in the discussion in this Chamber. When we talk about regional development, you have to go back, as the member for Fong Lim said; there has been policy after policy for decades; politicians after politicians - black and white, both sides of the political spectrum - federal and Territory parliaments and every state parliament - have discussed how to get Indigenous people out of the rut they find themselves in. I would like to say it is the hopelessness created by bad policy; and the member for Fong Lim also said that all those decades ago, for some unknown reason, the baby was thrown out with the bath water.
In the past, in remote Aboriginal communities, there was viability. There was economic development. There were butcher shops, bakeries, stockmen going off to work, and wood choppers making furniture. We had what were called manual arts learning centres in remote Aboriginal communities. Hermannsburg had the tannery. There were manual arts learning units at Yuendumu, Papunya and some of the islands in the Top End.
It is interesting to listen to people who contribute to statements like this. I have heard people say that government policy is for all Territorians, yet this statement is Indigenous Economic Development, so there is that separatism caused, unintentionally, by the way you think and how you put things together. Either we are here for all Territorians, black and white, or we are just doing things in a separate manner on regional economic development for Indigenous people. The language I have heard from people contributing to this statement has been that the Territory government is looking after all Territorians, and this statement certainly is for Indigenous Territorians.
Yes, as I said, Aboriginal people do have choices in life to change their circumstances, but those choices can only be made if people are educated and healthy. A future is determined by how you are educated, where you live, and how healthy you are. The future of Indigenous people in the Northern Territory has been doomed for many decades since the changes that happened to people living in houses. We had a system where we lived in humpy, but there was transitional housing to a better house. I remember we went from a humpy to a one-bedroom South African-style house, to a two-bedroom tin shed until my parents could prove they could live inside a four-bedroom or three-bedroom house.
That was the day of my life when my Mum and Dad got an upstairs house at Papunya. We were like monkeys sliding down the staircase, and Mother had to tell us very quickly if we acted like that we would soon be thrown out. But it was a real achievement for Aboriginal people in those communities during the old welfare days. My Aunty was a baker, and my Uncle was a butcher, and that is the work ethic the member for Nelson talked about. We grew up seeing our people work so we thought we had to work. We had no welfare.
But two generations after me, and I go back to something the member for Fong Lim said, a couple of my nephews have never had a job, because they have never had the good idea to be educated properly. This education system we put into remote Aboriginal communities is always second-class. You cannot expect children to learn when there is second rate education and second rate health services put into remote Aboriginal communities for one class of people. That is why it is really important that we go back to not a black way, not a white way, but a right way to deliver services for all Territorians, and for all Australians.
You can see it currently with the art industry - the easiest industry in the country - 1% of Indigenous people are employed in this industry; there should be 80% to 90% of Indigenous people in remote Aboriginal communities employed in the art industry. Everywhere you go there are arts centres funded by the federal minister in joint partnership with the Northern Territory government. You see Aboriginal people painting, but you will not see Aboriginal people serving. There was an incident when I took the Governor-General out to my own community of Papunya, and the story of a painting was translated for the Governor-General, not by an Indigenous person, but by the non-Indigenous art coordinator. It is so offensive that someone who does not belong to that culture and is not attached to that culture thinks it is necessary to translate the culture to someone else. I am sure the Governor-General was very offended by that as well. It would be nice to have Indigenous people standing up and talking about their own dreamings. The dreaming is not something someone can interpret. It is something you know in your heart, something that is part of you. You are attached to that Tjukurrpa, that story, therefore it is only you who can translate where the story begins and where the story ends, and your attachment, or your family’s attachment, to that painting.
Some of the big employment opportunities we need to have a look at are in the art industry. As I said, the art industry is the easiest industry in the Northern Territory to have 80% to 90% of Indigenous employment, if we talking about real employment. I go back to a person’s own beliefs and what you do as individuals. The fact you live in a house, the fact you have been educated, the fact you are healthy determines and gives you the determination to strive for something better and bigger, and you set yourself a standard of where you want to go.
I go to an e-mail I received a couple of days ago from a person I will not name. If we are talking about real employment, then we need to make sure we tell people that this is real employment. In a community in my electorate the nurse establishment has gone from four to three. There were two jobs, and instead of one job being offered as a permanent job to one person, it was cut down to two people. The driver’s hours were cut back from 20 to 10. How can people who are working 10 hours a week have a dream of home ownership, or even think of purchasing a home? If we are serious about engaging in Indigenous employment, then let us get serious and give them real jobs, not CDEP jobs because, at the end of the day, CDEP is still welfare.
My own niece left my community with a dream of going to live in Alice Springs to find herself a job. She was very successful. She worked at Centrelink, but she was homeless and she was going to Centrelink to work every day from the creek, on occasions from a car body, sometimes from relatives’ places; she would just camp around. Last week she had enough. She said: ‘I do not want to work any more. I tried in Alice Springs, I got myself a job, but I cannot get myself any accommodation.’ She went to every place and put her name down, and she started blaming the real estate industry saying every time blackfellas line up, it is always the whitefellas in front who get the houses. I said: ‘That is not the reason. The real estate agents have to work for the owner of the house. If the owner of the house says I do not want to rent my house out to Aboriginal people, then the real estate agent is only doing the job for the owner of the house’. I said: ‘You cannot blame other people’.
There is a real shortage in Alice Springs of housing; a real shortage. This is a young, 28-year-old woman struggling, who has already left her job and is going to go back to the hopelessness we are all talking about of a remote Aboriginal community, because she could not survive. And it is not of her doing. She did all the right things, getting herself through a qualification to interpret and she worked at Centrelink doing all the interpreting, but she just could not find accommodation. She lived everywhere for a whole year, and she has come to the end of her tether. Now she is saying it is easier to go back and sit down at Papunya, because it is just too hard to live and work in town.
These are some of the things we are going to have to identify in the debate on this statement, and we are going to have to address them if we are to help these people who are really struggling.
Oak Valley is a family-owned tourism business just outside Titjikala and it is doing really well as a family enterprise. It has been done mainly out of their own money; they are both pensioners and they sit on various committees in Alice Springs and put this money back into their business. They have a garden, and they have olive trees. In 2002, they could not even get jars from the Northern Territory government to put their olives in. There is no system of quick response for people who do not want to go through the bureaucratic process of putting in an application for 100 jars; there is nowhere they can ring someone up and say: ‘I am starting an enterprise, can I get 100 jars from you to put my olives in?’
Finke, where they have grapevines, is also in my electorate and is another classic example. I actually opened the beautiful garden they have at Finke and people went to the garden to get pumpkins and cabbages to cook their own stew at home. The old aged care program used the garden, and so did the school programs to feed the schoolchildren. But they could not get a chiller to take the grapes from there to wherever they had to go; if they had used the back of a ute or a troopie, it would have been grape juice within five minutes.
So these are the small, easy things where we can get wins on the board that we are not doing. We are looking at the high end of the market, not at the bottom end of the market to make things easier for people to obtain. It is always the rolls and rolls of red tape and bureaucracy that you have to go through to find where to get the money, the help, and by that time people give up. People just say they do not want to do it anymore and they just walk away, even from their own businesses, because it is too hard.
One of the other places I looked at was Utopia. In my trip to Ampilatwatja there was 5 ha of land that was cleared a couple of years ago for a citrus farm. They had capped four bores and those four bores are still capped - the land is cleared but nothing new is happening.
In my area between Yuendumu, Nyirripi, Papunya and Kintore you have the largest water basin sitting right in the middle on Mt Wedge. You could have some kind of economic zone for people in that whole area and you would feed and have real economic growth and economic development and employment opportunities not for 1000 or 2000 people, but for 4000 or 4500 people, because you are taking in seven communities. Some of the things I spoke to Centre Farm about were having abattoirs at Mt Liebig, Yuendumu and Hermannsburg, so they are catering for west, north, and south; we could look at having economic zones through Centre Farm, and maybe they are one of the players we need to bring in to look at regional economic development in the Northern Territory.
Education is also the key, and health is also the key. If we are looking at health it is very important we do not just concentrate on the hospitals but we look at primary health care and preventative health care as well, and ensure the bottom end is looked after as well as the top end, because by the time people go to hospital it is too late. They are too sick, they have seen the doctors, and they are all on medication. We have to try to get people at the bottom end before they get see the doctor, before they go into the hospitals.
It is vital, in the 21st century, that we have good quality education in the remote bush, not just someone standing up and saying: ‘We are doing this and we are doing that.’ Let us get away from the politics and really search and ask ourselves the questions as to whether we are delivering for all Territorians - whether we are giving them the highest quality education to make the choices in life to be business people, to be politicians, and do the things we have all done.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, I support the statement on Indigenous economic development presented to this House by the minister, the Honourable Karl Hampton MLA, an Indigenous man who walks in two worlds. A man who is a role model, a mentor and a man who brings to this House government policy that eschews with a number of other big, bold policies - policies that are not without risk. It takes a courageous person to deliver in the face of adversity and criticism and face the challenges of delivering. However, that is what the Henderson government is about, and these policies, including the Indigenous economic development policy, are policies we know will close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage.
This evening I acknowledge the Larrakia people, the traditional owners of the land I am standing on and we are gathering on at the moment. I acknowledge those traditional people because it is the traditional people of the Northern Territory who inspired me to come here as a visitor. Tonight I heard what the member for Johnston described as a conspiracy, and other interpretations of history. I have talked briefly about policy, and what we have to take into account is British colonialism - the colonial policies created, to a large degree, the challenges we have today.
We have heard some great anecdotes of Territory history. The member for Fong Lim has a fabulous anecdote of history. But, to me, we need to debate British colonialism and colonial policies because, whilst there were some wonderful images, I am afraid the era of self-determination, freedom, and shedding the shackles of oppression joined the race. There was no getting away from that; it happened globally, it did not just happen in Australia or the Northern Territory. Suddenly, Indigenous people - and in my patch of the world the pastoral industry, the cattle industry, was literally built on their backs - said: ‘Enough is enough’. They wanted a change.
These changes, in a very simplified form in a very elaborate history, put the men out of work. I came at an interesting period in this process when the men were moving off cattle stations, taking their families off cattle stations, and they were without work for the first time in generations. The member for Macdonnell outlined another example of people living in highly-organised and ordered communities; and the member for Fong Lim added the changes which came with the changes to colonial policies with a movement into a whole new era of policy development for all Australians - and they were faced with the same challenges.
I go back about 28 years to a Friday afternoon at Robinson River School where I used to impose a role reversal. I used to throw my hands in the air and say to the group of infants and primary children there: ‘You are now the teacher for the afternoon and I am the student’, and off we would go. We would go into places and spaces, and along the way we would collect and catch food, and we would cook that food and share a meal together. That could be at places like Gullajung or places up the river under Luba Luba Hill, or down at Whalon; and they were the teachers. Now, 28 years later, I go back to that same place and talk to those same people, they look me eye-to-eye and they are adults, and I tell them another story about those places: ‘You know, you could make a lot of money out of that, because people from all around the globe will pay to do exactly what we used to do.’ So I try to inspire Territorians to think about economic development in a whole raft of ways that will shift their culture, their ambitions and their freedom.
We have to be aware in this debate that some members are getting stuck on what I remember well, the Endeavour Reading Scheme with the characters of Dick and Dora. There are the Indigenous kids sitting on the mat and the non-Indigenous teacher sharing the images of Dick and Dora in a suburban home, with a television and one dog with hair, generally groomed, a car in the driveway and in the garden grew lovely flowers. The kids loved those books, and I am afraid educational policy and philosophy changed, too
I was a teacher here for 30 years, and I shed blood, sweat and tears to make myself unemployed; I did not achieve that in my teaching career but, who knows, I might go back to a teaching career one day, and I will continue in the same vein to make myself unemployed. I believe that is where we start to deconstruct what is available.
For the member for Port Darwin, I am really honoured to say that, from his time as the member for Macdonnell to now as the member for Port Darwin, things have changed, and they have changed for the better. The Mungkarta community on McLaren Creek Station have decided to utilise their land - they lease it to a well-known pastoralist from the southern Barkly - and they chose not to actually work their land themselves but to lease that land. This pastoralist is now developing infrastructure, running live export cattle, and also providing employment for local people.
I believe it is all about land use; and we not only have land, but we also have the sea. In the Barkly alone, we have communities aspiring to do road maintenance and earthworks; communities aspiring to do business and retail; communities aspiring to run shire services and become essential services officers. We have school positions; health positions; justice positions; police positions, and pastoral positions. All these are engrossed in the policy the minister has brought today which meshes and fuses with the other big, bold policies of the Henderson government to join forces in addressing the gap and to do things differently. We have left colonial policies and gone into an era of great uncertainty. Now we are a government that is going to find that light at the end of the tunnel to come out of this, and Indigenous people will be the benefactors but, as the member for Macdonnell says, Territorians and Australians will be the benefactors - because we are all in this together.
The Indigenous Economic Development Strategy has a number of key initiatives and identifies opportunities for economic development in 13 industry sectors. It is a strong plan with a clear vision for the future. Indigenous youth are needed in the pastoral industry, but do not stop there, guys. The pastoral industry means not only stock camps, but the possibility of looking after cattle on live export boats and ending up in the Philippines or Vietnam. That is what I call world vision - not the World Vision involved in the welfare of disadvantaged people, but a world vision that will show you what the member for Daly has elaborated in the House - wellbeing, the satisfaction of hard earned pay for a good day’s work.
There are no bounds to this policy, and it is going to take guts and determination. When the minister commits to 3000 more Indigenous jobs in the public and private sectors, then that is a gutsy effort and I believe the minister should be commended for that - a future focus to achieve sustainable outcomes and be responsive to community and regional aspirations - that is what it is about, and that is where this policy is taking us.
In terms of my portfolio areas, I am passionate about the Integrated Regional Transport Strategy and we agree, right across the House, transport underpins everything. Wherever I have been with the strategy, on ministerial travel and electorate travel, everyone talks transport, and we know the challenges we are up against. An overarching 10-year transport strategy to provide a high level framework and a set of guiding principles for the development of transport policy and the coordinated delivery of transport services across the Territory into the future, underpins the economic development strategy. I am going left of centre here in terms of transport. We talk about the infrastructure side, and most people do, however, I want to talk about the operational side, about drivers, mechanics, tyre fitters, auto electricians, mentors, supervisors, managers; and I am just scratching the surface. The Chief Minister summed it up: this Indigenous economic strategy is also welding the policy to the private sector.
In my brief time in this portfolio I have met some very influential people who have made their livelihood out of transport, substantial livelihoods out of operational transport, and they are interested in supporting Territorians - particularly young Territorians, and young, Indigenous Territorians. The Minister for Regional Development has a policy to go forward and we are now going to weld this to the private sector and we are going to grab every opportunity available. This will deliver far bigger than economic outcomes; this will deliver social outcomes on the way forward.
The provision of stronger and more reliable transport links between remote towns and urban centres will be fundamental to the success of all our initiatives, and the social wellbeing and the economic benefit to Indigenous communities and Indigenous people should not be underestimated. It is the key focus of the Henderson government.
Education and health underpin our basic sustainable livelihood, it underpins who we are and it underpins the potential we have to go forward. I am very pleased to say the Henderson government’s education strategies are about making education meaningful with the concept of backward mapping where we will look at jobs available in the community. It has been debated here widely, and it is very true, if you look at Epenarra cattle station which was run by a family - two sons, mum and dad - a community of 200 Indigenous people live on that same pastoral property now, and there is no way there will be enough jobs to sustain 200 people in the pastoral industry; so we are thinking bigger, broader, we are backward mapping in a regional sense, a Territory sense, and also an Australian sense of where the jobs are, who wants those jobs, and how they can get those jobs.
I have a wonderful experience to share with you about an ex-student of mine. When I was at the opening of Bootu Creek mine, the student had almost completed his training course at the mine; he had experienced a real job in a highly sophisticated industry, had experienced real wages, had purchased a motor car, and was very proud to share all those experiences with me, his ex-teacher; and I was very proud to be an active listener. Once again, I stereotype the situation. I said to this ex-student of mine: ‘Of course, on your time off you would drive home to your home community’. And the answer came back, very proudly: ‘No, not always, Mr McCarthy, sometimes I choose to go where I want to go; sometimes I choose to not go home but to experience the big, wide world’. Then I threw in, from my perspective: ‘Well, that could mean driving to Alice Springs, or getting on a plane and going to see Collingwood play at the Melbourne Cricket Ground’. This young fellow smiled because he knew what I was talking about. That is just one example; that is just one small step, and that is what this economic development strategy for Indigenous people has right in its sights.
We also have McArthur River where we have Mine Makers and their operation, Emerson; Excalibur; West Gold all out actively exploring new ventures, as well. I share with the Chief Minister, and he enjoys my anecdotes when I say I want my kids from the Barkly working with the best boilermakers in the world, and that means wherever in the world; we do not have to stay home. The potential here is unlimited, and the potential for development is unlimited. We are supporting Indigenous entrepreneurs and develop the whole processes through a very stable start of work readiness.
There are arts and museums, and the member for Macdonnell is right, it is a wonderful sector to engage Indigenous people and to provide real jobs and economic outcomes. This plan aligns the job opportunities from within the sector and also feeds job creation into other sectors. The plan is all about regional and cultural development incorporating the redevelopment of urban museums and galleries, and examining the possibility of a national centre for Indigenous art to better connect museums, art, heritage, libraries, parks and gardens. As the member for Macdonnell elaborated, the new Living Arts policy is another example of a policy meshing with the Indigenous economic policy to go forward and provide arts at the centre of lives for Territorians. I want to see our internationally famous art continue to create jobs and opportunities. That is why the draft policy, Living Arts, will focus on arts as a central part of lifelong learning and support regional development through the regional delivery of arts and cultural programs.
The other area of great potential is the Indigenous music industry, and we are all aware of how powerful and how forward thinking that industry is, and how fast paced that industry has become. One of the key foundations of this employment partnership was launched in August by the Minister for Regional Development and me. The Indigenous Employment Partnership for the NT Music Sector is the concept of regional music hubs which will incorporate all aspects relating to training, mentoring, pathways of employment, touring, performance, festivals, recording and, last but not least, the equipment and transport necessary to do all this. Dare I say it in this House, but Dr Fluoride of the Winanjjikari Music Centre, look out, man, you are going to be unemployed because there are Indigenous people who are coming up through this industry and they are going to take your job, and mine, Doctor. So, do not worry, we will be in that same boat together.
In addition to the avenues for Indigenous employment in the arts, new directions outlined in Living Arts will be supported by a new service provision model aimed at brokering resource inputs across a range of organisations and agencies, and maximising community outcomes which go way beyond the arts portfolio.
I am proud to represent the people of the Barkly, and to be a member of the Henderson government, a government that takes action and creates jobs and investment and spreads the good times around the Territory. I have been in the game a very short time, but we are going to get out there and we are going to have a go. There is a deal of risk and, to conclude and sum up where I started with colonial policies and with the challenges we face today - be under no illusions, there is much passive resistance within the community, within the Territory. There is also much active resistance which testifies to the large numbers of young Indigenous in our prisons today. None of this is without its challenges, and if there is anything we do agree on today, from what I have heard so far in the debate, is everyone is on the way forward. That means Indigenous economic development which will equate to economic development for all Territorians.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I will start off in relation to this statement by referring to a book I read titled The Birth of Plenty, How the Prosperity of the Modern World was Created in which the author, William Bernstein, points out in a very good manner how the wealth of the world was created and how the wealth of nations and communities is created.
Without going in to a great speech in relation to the book, I would like to point out there are four very basic things any country, any community, needs present all at the one time for wealth to be created. Those four things are first, private ownership; the second is scientific rationalisation; the third is access to capital and, the fourth, is an efficient communication and transport system. Any country which has not had any of those, or has had only three of them, has never been sustainable in relation to wealth creation. The history shows very convincingly, as does the research, you must have all of those four things present at the same time to generate wealth. I will refer to that set of four requirements as I go through the statement, which I have read. There are some good things in there, and some things that need to be discussed.
First, I will deal with micro-financing issues, because that comes as a basic requirement for many things the minister spoke about in his statement. I went recently, as part of my scholarship with the Australian Rural Leadership Program, to India where we did a whole raft of different things, one of which was looking at micro-financing. We went to communities where poverty prevails; people are destitute and living in very poor and squalid conditions. The whole idea was for us to see what happens in a country where there are no social services, no welfare, and where, if you do not participate and do things, then you simply die. It was very evident from the trip there are people who actually are in that situation and, some, through no fault of their own, actually pass away because there is no safety net, no welfare system.
The interesting thing was, when you go to these villages and talk to people, there is a change in some, and not in others. The ones we noticed a change in were the ones where micro-financing is working, and working well, to the point where people find even tiny bits of money, and they gather together as a community and lend it to one so that one can get a start; and once things start to be paid back, then, so it goes on; the little community gathers another little pot of money and they lend it to another. What they are doing is demonstrating the basics of entrepreneurial-ship where you get a lift and a hand from people and, then, you have to develop your own drive and energy to fulfil whatever it is you want to do.
I heard the member for Barkly talk about the pastoral industry, and he spoke about a particular station where a husband and wife and their two sons ran that station. He spoke about a community of about 200 Aboriginal people who reside on that station and, obviously, there are insufficient jobs to employ all 200. That is a situation where we need to create other opportunities for people, especially the young people coming through those communities who need something to do so they do not get involved in alcohol and other drugs, and the domestic violence which wrecks some of these communities and, of course, crime and other issues these young people face.
So, with that, I thought about jobs. When you give jobs to people you might create industry, you might create all kinds of things for them. What do people work for? What are those people working for? What do they aspire to? The member for Barkly gave some of his experiences where some young people aspire to buy a car and go off to have a look at the world; and I absolutely agree.
Having been a recent traveller to some parts of the world, one comes across people who appear to be obviously of Aboriginal descent in all parts of the world, travelling around, looking, learning, and enjoying finding out about other cultures; it is a great pastime. But there are also many Aboriginal people I have spoken to in my time where I have sat down and, like the member for Macdonnell says, they aspire to own a home; they aspire to have a place they call their own, and they aspire for some of the conveniences that modern inventions provide. However, in many of these communities, there is a lack of housing, and that, of course, goes back to SIHIP; it goes back to the systemic failures of many politicians over many years. It is something that I believe, as a community, we need to address; where you can give these people hope, because I am sure all peoples of the world - black, white and brindle - have dreams, have aspirations, and aspire to improve their lot.
These 200 people the member for Barkly spoke about on the pastoral station, for instance, I have actually seen at Marrara Christian College, some fantastic programs. I mentioned this before in the hope that the Housing minister may have taken up the idea of going out and speaking to these people and, in fact, involving them in SIHIP. They take wonderful young people, many of whom are Aboriginal people from communities both near and far, and remote, and give them a friendly environment to live in. They live in communal houses where there will be at least 10 young Aboriginal people from all over the Territory; they are not the same skin groups, and they are from all over the place. They have house parents who look after them and teach them all types of trades. Again, I quote the member for Barkly, who said he was looking for electricians, tyre fitters, mechanics, and a whole raft of vocations which are required, and we have a shortage of, in these remote and rural areas we talk about. So they bring these people in, they teach them how the world works, and the ways of the world.
I would like to relate a story about a young lady which I believe I have mentioned it in this House before. This young lady comes from a remote community, I will not mention her name, nor will I mention the community, but I would like to tell the story that surrounds her. She spent five years of her high school education at Marrara Christian College; she performed very well, she studied hard; she was supported well, learned a lot of skills, and graduated from Year 12 to go into the workforce. She gained a really good job, because she is a smart young lady. She then decided she did not want to go back to her community and, like the young man described from Bootu Creek mine who might have wanted to go and have a look at Collingwood, this young lady wanted to have a look at the world and experience some of the things she had seen on television documentaries and the Internet. That was a couple of years ago. My understanding from people I know at that school is she has achieved those dreams and has done a considerable amount of international travel, and has come back and has passed that knowledge and that enthusiasm on to her very close friends.
What we have here is a system that works, where people come in from outlying areas, especially young men who used to be able to work in the pastoral industry, but these days there are insufficient jobs for the population of young people out there, so they come in and they are teach real skills, building real homes to be transported out to the communities from which they come. When these homes go out, the people look after them because they were built by young people from that community. If people want to wreck them, they have to deal with families and, of course, the people who built and maintained them.
I would like to go to the statement where the minister quotes from the Reverend Martin Luther King, who says:
- There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in I; who feel they have nothing to lose. People, who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don’t have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it.
In my time travelling around the Territory in outlying areas and communities within this country I have seen the welfare dependency which has beset some of these people who have been out there for three generations without any direction, and without any training.
The fact remains, as a community we all have to evolve. I recall a former Labor member of this House, Dr Peter Toyne, who once said you cannot keep Aboriginal people in a cultural museum. He went on to say they need to evolve and they need to grow, and I see those sentiments in this document - obviously Aboriginal people need to grow. However, I do not know if the way this government is going about it will do the best possible job; but I will come to that when I get to page 12.
I go to the comment at the bottom of page three: ‘Indigenous Territorians are three times more likely to be unemployed than non-Indigenous Territorians’. Well, one has to value economic development, one has to understand it, and I agree with members on the other side when they say education is the key. In a short period of time we will be required to get as many young Aboriginal people in rural and remote Australia educated as best we possibly can. There are some great innovations in relation to the Internet and electronic education moving into those outer areas, but we also need to get some of those people in, if they choose to, and encourage families to participate in the type of programs they run at Marrara Christian College.
I really value the time I spent there because I saw a system which actually worked, and I saw young people having a great time, receiving their education, and then able to go out and participate fully with a good education and a complete understanding of what the world is about. One hears from time to time the old saying: you need an education to understand why you need an education. When we are able to do that, it is great, but we also need to get as many people educated as quickly as we can and, again, I believe there are issues in the education portfolio as to how the government is going about doing that.
Page 3 of the statement says: ‘They are nine times less likely to be self-employed’. The first time I heard the word ‘entrepreneur’ used was by the member for Barkly five or 10 minutes ago; the member for Barkly said they are supporting Aboriginal entrepreneurs. That is the only time I have heard it, and I do not see in this document where the government has great strategies. When you go back to what William Bernstein was saying in The Birth of Plenty, the ideas of private ownership, scientific rationalisation, capital, and efficient communication and transport systems, all revolve around getting people to get out and do things, to drive themselves. You have to give them a reason to go out and do it, whether it is a house, a job, travel, whatever it is. I do not believe Aboriginal people are much different to anyone else; most of the young people I have spoken to want to travel, they want a big screen television; they want the same things most young people in the world would like.
Quite often, if we give them some entrepreneurial training - and there are young Aboriginal people, and older Aboriginal people, out there who have done very well and succeeded when given that training. However, I do not know that we have a huge thrust on that side of things; what I do see in this document is a thrust of more of the same. And we get to that on page 12. I note time is moving on and I am only up to page 3.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, if I could just interrupt. Because it is 9 pm, we normally automatically adjourn. You do have another five minutes, but if you are looking for an extension of time, I can grant you up until 10 minutes past 9 if you wish to continue, but that would be the very latest.
Mr STYLES: I will finish at a later date, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Sanderson.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, it now being 9 pm, pursuant to standing order 41A, we have completed this item of business which will be carried over to the next sitting day. I propose to the Assembly that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, following on from adjournment speech last week, I congratulate four more students who are recognised by their schools as recipients of my book vouchers for Semester 3.
Jingili Primary School: Jack Taylor and Michelle Lu were singled out as being Quiet Achievers.
At Millner: Beverlynn Lyiambiam in Transition/Year 1, and Melijina Waiang in Year 5 also received Quiet Achiever Awards.
I also acknowledge the new acting principals in both of these schools: Mr Tim Morgan has taken over from Jodie Green who moved to Sanderson Middle School from Jingili this term. Jodie will be a hard act to follow, but I am sure Tim will enjoy the fantastic school of which he is now in charge. I have had the opportunity to meet Tim, and I am sure he is going to be a great principal. The Jingili community is a very close-knit with many great kids, teachers and parents.
At Millner, since the departure of Terry Quong, another strong and much-respected principal, Michael Jones, has been holding the fort since the beginning of Term 3 when he moved from Henbury Avenue. Terry had been at Millner for four-and-a-half years and achieved a great deal of success in his time there. He has taken up a principal’s position in a school in Hong Kong for a number of years, but we hope to see him back here in the Northern Territory one day to share with us his experiences in Hong Kong. I am sure everyone joins with me in wishing Terry all the best. He comes from a dyed-in-the-wool Territory family and I am sure he will be returning to Darwin, which is really his home.
Back at Moil Primary School, the sporting achievements are massive. Keely Palmer excelled in the gymnastic competition with a third on beam, fourth on bars and overall, and fifth on the floor. Ben Rehrmann, Xavier Cubillo, Mie Sorenson and Jacinta Creeper did very well at the NT Track and Field Championships with Jacinta, Xavier and Mie making through to the national level. Ari Manning and Daniel Tutt won a 2009 Achievement Award from the Darwin Dragons Soccer Club and a Participation Medal in the Under 7s competition, with Daniel scoring four goals in the last game. Well done! The boys’ team was only beaten once in the whole competition. Alannah Tutt also received a 2009 Achievement Award and Participation Medal in the Under 11s. Well done, Alannah!
The Darwin District Cricket Club awarded the Team of the Year Medal to Nicholas Cowling. Fantastic effort! Kristine O’Meara was the first in the 2009 Team Championships Sub-Junior Division Aggregate Winners with the NT Callisthenics Association. What a fantastic result, Kristine, and well done! Rebecca Rayner Cecchetti scored 90.5 out of a possible 100 in her Honours Grade 2 Ballet exam. This is a very high score, a wonderful achievement, and a testament to Rebecca’s hard work. Rachel Fisher graduated from the Level 6 Dolphin Program at the Goldfish Bowl Swim School; an appropriate name for an up and coming swimming champion, we hope. In the Under 8s Mixed Hockey Competition, medals were awarded to Ashley Birkin, Cayl Dela Pena, Megan Rollings and Braith Franklin-Wellard. In the Under 10s Girls Hockey Competition at St Mary’s, Temika Carrodus, Sarah Rolling and Ngaire Gahan each received a medal.
In the Gymnastics Northern Territory Championships the following champions were made: Stephanie Rayner with a 1st Level 2C Team, second on the beam, third on the floor and in the WAG Level 2C. Eden Palmer won third on the beam, and third Overall. Keely Palmer was first on the beam, and third overall in the WAG Level 3A/B, and third on the beam at Level 3C. Ngaire Gahan won first on the beam Level 2A/B, second on the vault, and third in the team. Well done to the gymnasts! What an outstanding effort.!
At the Darwin Athletic Centre, the 2009 Junior Outstanding Athlete was awarded to Taaliyah Markos, who also received nine medals in the 9-year girls’ competition: first in the 70 m, 100 m, 200 m long jump, high jump, 60 m hurdles; second in the 400 m, discus, and third in the shot put. That is an outstanding achievement and she is someone to watch in the future. Braith Franklin was awarded the South Darwin Junior Rugby League Player’s Trophy for as great effort. Noah Harwood was recognised by the Casuarina Junior Football Club for his efforts in the Under 6 White Team.
It is fantastic to see our kids playing all these different sports and activities, honing their skills and bringing glory to their clubs and schools. Keep up the good work.
The Minister for Housing recently announced the winners of the Gardening Competition for Public Housing Tenants, and I congratulate Delphine Newton and Vikki Riley of my electorate for their outstanding results in this competition. It is gratifying to know that hard work and dedication to beautifying our surroundings is awarded. Heartiest congratulations to Delphine of Millner on her second prize in the Best House Garden Category; and Vikki on her High Commendation for the Best Recently Developed Garden/Best New Garden in Coconut Grove.
It is always a pleasure to talk about the exploits and achievements of people in the Johnston electorate, from the kids in school excelling in sport - and they also excel academically and in the arts - and people who are winning wonderful prizes for being very proud of their gardens, and being a real asset to our community.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute and recognise one of the people I have had a bit to do with since taking over as member for Port Darwin - a lady by the name of Patsy Hickey, a person very keen on planning issues around Darwin. One of the problems with my electorate it is, in some respects, an electorate without a strong sense of community, partly caused by the transient nature of many people who move into and leave the high-rises in the electorate.
However, there are stalwarts within my electoral boundaries, and one of them is Patsy. She cares very much about planning issues around Darwin and, whether you agree with Patsy or not, one thing I notice is her level of passion and dedication. I often look to people like her and think to myself: if there were more people in our community who have the passion and drive of people like Patsy for the communities in which they live, I suspect our communities would be better planned and would be much more considered places than they are at the moment. There are many constructions and buildings in Darwin which receive criticism and, then, the criticism dies away. However, there are stalwarts like Patsy who continually seek to demonstrate there should be some consistency in the way we plan our fine city.
I draw honourable members’ attention to Patsy and the work she has done in our community to try to keep, if you like, the government - I was going to say the bastards – honest in how it goes about its planning processes. I draw honourable members’ attention to her name and to her, as a fighter for the planning future of our city. As I said, whether you agree with her or not, her level of dedication earns her the recognition of this House and, I believe, the gratitude of this House because, if there were more people like her in our community, we would have a better community as a whole.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Madam Deputy Speaker, I was extremely pleased to attend the official opening of the new Masonic Aged Care Facility called ‘Ponti Mews’, which was held in my electorate in the suburb of Tiwi last week. It is the latest addition to Masonic Homes’ Tiwi Gardens Seniors’ Living Community, and will definitely enhance the Territory’s existing aged care services. This new facility is specifically built for disadvantaged, elderly Territorians and consists of 12 aged care units and a community centre. Residents will benefit from the close proximity to Royal Darwin Hospital, and they will also have access to nursing, pharmaceutical and meal services which will allow them to continue living relatively independent lives.
The official opening of the $3.2m Ponti Mews aged care facility was attended by federal minister Anthony Albanese, Deputy Chief Minister Delia Lawrie, and Solomon MP Damian Hale. It was named after Ian Pontifex, a tireless advocate for quality aged care in the Territory. My sincere thanks to Masonic Homes, the Northern Territory government and the federal government for making significant contributions to bring this latest facility to completion; a truly great result for our community and all Territorians, especially senior Territorians.
Dripstone Middle School’s annual Dripstone Day fundraising celebration was held on Friday 11 September, and was another huge success this year. This special day each year gives Darwin musical students an opportunity to showcase their talent, raise funds for the school and various charities, such as the Cancer Council. The morning commenced with a cross country run, followed by a range of stalls and fun events to raise funds for charities and the Year 9 dinner dance.
The annual football game between Dripstone students versus Kormilda College was won by Dripstone this year. A Crop and Colour event raised $5240 for two worthy causes: $4000 to assist one of their own students, Anthony Andreou, who suffers from cerebral palsy, to purchase a walking frame for use at school and home. The remainder of the fundraising will go to the Bone Marrow Donor Institute.
The afternoon saw many talented student performers participate in a talent quest. As a judge of the Talent Quest, I was so impressed with the talent shown by the students, I applauded them, I sometimes did not know which one to mark first. Thank you also to the other wonderful judges: Joel Gelding from Hot 100, Mara Dobrini from Wanguri Primary School, and Kate Fegan from CDU.
Dripstone Middle School students should also be congratulated for their fundraising for the World Vision 40-hour famine, which raised a huge $3414.
I take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Alawa Primary School Principal, Sharon Reeves, who has left the school to work in the department for a change. I appreciate your warm welcome during my regular visits to your school assemblies, the farm, the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden, and the many activities hosted by Alawa Primary School throughout the year. We worked very closely together; she has been a wonderful principal, and has really has taken Alawa to great heights; it has become one of the best small schools around Darwin.
I welcome the new Principal, Fathma Mauger, and look forward to meeting you at the next school assembly, and also to working closely with you during the building of Alawa Primary Stage 2, which is about to commence very soon.
Congratulations to Nakara Primary School for your excellent results in the recent Northern Territory Tournament of the Minds. Nakara Primary School entered two teams, the Language/Literature team, who won the division; and the Maths Engineering team, who received a highly commended. Tournament of the Minds is a program for young, innovative primary and middle schoolchildren which is challenging and tests their ability to find creative solutions to a range of different problems.
The Nakara Primary School team of six students: Felicity Williams, Becky Spain, Nathaniel Kelly, Zahra Crough-Heaton, Lauren Northcote, and Sage Walle will be accompanied by facilitators to travel to Brisbane on 24 October to compete in the Australasian/Pacific Finals. I was very pleased to donate $100 towards their fundraising as they have been working very hard in the past few months.
I join the teachers, students and parents of Nakara Primary School in wishing Principal, Barry Griffin, a very happy 60th birthday today, 19 October. He is trying to escape without a big fuss about his celebrations, but it is now recorded for prosperity in Hansard.
As patron of the Language Teachers Association of the Northern Territory, I was invited to attend the annual Language Speaking Competition on 22 August, and I was thrilled to present some of the awards. I was also happy to donate book vouchers, which went towards purchasing books for the Darwin High and Darwin Middle School libraries for all students to share. I was amazed at how many parents took time on a Saturday morning to support their children in this wonderful educational experience. Well done to Paula Simeone and the Language Teachers Association of the Northern Territory for again doing such a great job of organising this year’s Language Speaking Competition.
I have a number of people who have retired from the Department of Health and Families:
Ms Wandee Fluri retired on 6 September 2009 after 28 years of service. She worked in the food services area of Royal Darwin Hospital, and was a very supportive colleague and a diligent employee. I wish her all the best in her retirement.
I also wish all the best in retirement to Mr Brian Sylvester, who retired on 10 July 2009 after 30 years service at the Alice Springs Hospital where he commenced work in August 1979. He was an orderly before moving to housekeeping services, and is described as a quiet achiever and a loyal employee.
I would like to say goodbye to two employees I knew very well. Mrs Sharon Padovan did not retire even when she retired from the department after 26 years of service with the Northern Territory government. Sharon commenced employment in 1983 in an administrative role with the Department of Community Development; and she commenced with the Department of Health and Community Services in 1987, and worked primarily in corporate support services. She was recognised for her work in the development of the 2007-08 annual report, and was crucial in establishing the department’s Central Recruitment Unit. I met Sharon for the first time in 1993 when I came to Darwin to work for the Department of Health and Families, as it was known then, and she worked with me in Casuarina Plaza.
Mr John Montz retired on 30 September 2009 after 17 years of continuous service with the department. He served with the former Department of Community Development for five years, before taking a break to return to his home town of New Orleans, USA. He fulfilled several roles at the executive level position, and he contributed to the development of legislation for the Hospital Boards Act, and managed the Health Professionals Licensing Authority. I knew John very well. He worked very closely with the Health department, although he was placed in Mitchell Street, in Health House, and I was in Casuarina Plaza; we worked very well and very closely for many years.
Happy retirement to the people who have retired, and to Sharon I hope you enjoy the new challenges in your life.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I raise an important issue which, sadly, I suspect many Top End members are not aware of. I believe government ministers, in particular, should be aware of it, and I am very happy to see the minister for Arts in the Chamber tonight because he should know about this; if he does not, I am sure after my short speech he will become aware of it, and I hope he will take direct and decisive action.
The purpose of my contribution tonight is to make some observations of the Araluen Cultural Precinct Development Plan. There are many issues important to the people of Alice Springs and the Araluen precinct, the Araluen Centre, is one of them. I believe, as do many others, it is something of a sacred cow in our town and people tamper with it at their peril.
I will come to some of the issues shortly, but one of them is this, and I am holding up two copies of the same plan. The first plan which was disseminated or distributed publicly was the Araluen Cultural Precinct Development Plan 2009-2015. After a degree of public outcry, a ‘draft’ sticker was affixed to the same plan, namely, the Araluen Cultural Precinct Development Plan 2009-2015 - clearly a knee-jerk response to the public criticism made in relation to the appalling consultation undertaken or, more specifically, the consultation not properly undertaken in relation to such an important icon in our town; namely, a development plan into the years ahead.
There is no doubt the consultation has been shocking, and if you want to get anyone or any group offside, bugger up your consultation, then that is a good start. Unfortunately, it gets worse. For the record, I will be quoting from a number of documents ranging from articles in the local newspaper, The Centralian Advocate, Letters to the Editor and other documents individuals have provided to me. Having been the member for Araluen for eight years, I am as much as I can be, I believe, reasonably in tune with my community.
Judging from people I have spoken with, as well as Letters to the Editor, there is no doubt that this is a serious issue. I believe I have previously underestimated the seriousness of this issue and the depth of feeling people have in relation to the Araluen Centre, and the Araluen Art Gallery in particular, until I stood with members of the local non-Indigenous arts community outside the Post Office for a couple of days a couple of weeks ago gathering signatures for a petition. I did not think this was an issue which was registering in any significant way on the political Richter scale - I was mistaken.
I talked to many people during my hours, with others, in front of the Post Office, and there is no doubt in my mind now that this is an issue that goes beyond the local arts community and really hits home with the mums and dads of my electorate. People were coming thick and fast at various times and the major message was: ‘Do not mess with Araluen; we like it the way it is.’ I know people do not always go to Araluen, but they like having it there and they like what it offers. They are not averse to change, but they are opposed to appalling consultation, and they are equally opposed to the direction the gallery is taking, particularly Gallery 3.
When I, and I believe, politicians, see letters to the editor headed ‘Elitist Araluen Ignores Its Roots’, ‘Plans for Araluen Causes Concern’, ‘Don’t Touch Our Araluen’, ‘Araluen: a Meeting Place for Everyone’, one gets a sense that this is a serious issue. I do not tend to see many letters to the editor about Araluen but they are coming thick and fast, such is the degree of community concern.
I make the point that, and it is unfortunate that I only have five or six minutes left, but this point needs to be made very clearly for the Parliamentary Record. Members of the non-Indigenous arts community and members of the community I represent are in no way opposed to the development of Indigenous art; in fact, we are supportive and embracing of it. In particular, the local non-Indigenous arts community has for years, long before I came to Alice Springs, embraced and nurtured local Indigenous arts. But, the local arts community and beyond, are concerned that Gallery 3, the biggest gallery at Araluen, is now going to be closed to non-Indigenous artists. That is an enormous insult to the local non-Indigenous arts community.
The local President of the Central Australian Arts Society, Dugald Beattie, and Secretary, Mark Wilson, in particular, have been very outspoken about the effects of closing down of Gallery 3 to the local non-Indigenous arts sector. They say that by forcing the local non-Indigenous arts people to have their exhibitions in the Witchetty’s area at Araluen, which has 20% less hanging space than in Gallery 3, is a mistake. The problem for them also is, as a result of having to hang their work in Witchetty’s, they have to pay for, to fund, volunteers to work or be present during exhibitions, which was not the case when they had the space in Gallery 3. As Mr Beattie said in the Central Australian Advocate in September
- I am a little bit concerned that if two galleries of permanent Indigenous art collections at the moment they are not leaving enough scope for the local community artists and the travelling exhibitions of different works.
There is no doubt the local non-Indigenous arts community has its nose very strongly and very firmly out of joint as a result of this decision. I believe it is an enormous insult to that community, and I include the crafts people of Alice Springs as well, to basically say: ‘You exhibit your work in a smaller gallery where you have to pay for people to assist you’. What it is saying, in effect, is: ‘Your art is not good enough, and you go and hang it somewhere else’. When one considers the history of Araluen, which was opened in 1984 as a place to present local artists, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, it came from the community grassroots, and very proudly so.
The decision in this plan - although there are some aspects of the plan not in dispute, and some are supported. However, the direction of the gallery to restrict Gallery 3, or to move local non-Indigenous artists out of Gallery 3, the best and biggest hanging space, is one hell of a mistake. What has concerned people is, in recent times, there have been murmurings of: ‘The development plan is just a plan and we really encourage feedback’. Well, some parts of the plan have, in fact, been implemented. The Central Australian Arts Society met with Araluen authorities in December 2008, and was told in no uncertain terms they had to move the Advocate Art Award to the Witchetty Artspace, to be newly renovated in March. To be told you must have your exhibition somewhere else is not good enough. That is just one illustration of the lack of consultation.
I am running out of time, with 30 seconds on the clock. I implore the minister to go to Alice Springs, meet with the local non-Indigenous artists, hear from them what they want and why; hear from them their complaints about the appalling consultation – do not just rely on the bureaucrats; actually hear from the people you are meant to represent.
The direction is opposed in terms of Gallery 3, as it should be. Minister for the Arts, you have the responsibility of working for all artists - not just one group.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Deputy Speaker, all members of the Assembly would agree when it comes to the arts that the Territory is punching well above its weight. Last Thursday night, Territory songbird Jessica Mauboy, won three sections at the Deadly Awards ceremony at the Sydney Opera House; Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu won the Deadly Male Artist of the Year Award; and The Saltwater Band won the Deadly Band of the Year. In addition to the success of our musicians, Alice Springs filmmaker, Warwick Thornton, won yet another award for Samson and Delilah, this time a Deadly Outstanding Achievement in Film.
I was lucky enough to hear performances from Jess and Gurrumul at our own Northern Territory Indigenous Music Awards in August - two very contrasting styles, and two great ambassadors for the Territory.
Jessica has also been nominated for seven categories in the 2009 ARIA Awards to be held on 10 November, including Best Female Artist and Best Breakthrough Artist. In keeping with the tradition that anyone born in the Territory remains a Territorian for life, I proudly add to this list of achievements the fact that Katherine-born blues singer and writer CW Stoneking has been nominated for three ARIA Awards including Best Male Artist and Best Blues and Roots Album. I congratulate these artists on their wonderful accomplishments.
To quote from a song we all know well, written by Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody, From Little Things Big Things Grow, the Henderson government provides over $5m in grants to support, develop and promote the arts throughout the Northern Territory. These funds go to organisations, community groups, and individual artists to run programs and support projects ranging from skills workshops, showcasing and exhibition opportunities, development of new works, and major events such as our festivals. Funding is available for a number of programs including one-off projects, public art, scholarships, film and new media, artists in schools, and quick response.
Recently I announced recipients of a number of these funding opportunities, and 48 grants valued at more than $500 000 have been awarded. I provide the Assembly with details of some of these wonderful projects. The Artists in Schools Program provides students, teachers, and the wider community with opportunities to work with professional artists. This program is a joint initiative between the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sports through Arts NT, the Department of Education and Training, and the Australia Council for the Arts. Sixteen schools from across the Territory received grants to enrich their arts education programs and to encourage future artists and art audiences.
Alice Springs High School students will have the opportunity to work with the famous Tjanpi artists who specialise in weaving and basketry. At the end of this project, students will be exhibiting their work at the town library.
Students from the Casuarina Senior Secondary College will be participating in an intensive hip hop workshop, and also a girls’ song writing workshop which will include creating and recording music related to personal histories and cultural heritage.
Funding for performances was provided to both Darwin High School and Palmerston High School. Darwin High will be engaging with local artists Betchay Mondragon, Yoris Wilson and Kelly Blumberg to share skills and assist with the production of Smells like Impulse, a play by Stephen Carleton.
Palmerston High will be engaging a dance therapist to work with mainstream and special needs students, culminating in a performance piece.
The story of Christmas, in particular, the Nativity, will be the focus of an exciting project of the early childhood classes at Holy Spirit Primary School. The children will work with an artist to create a 3D nativity scene using recycled material. The process will be photographed, with the aim of eventually producing a story book using the photographs and illustrations.
The students of the Angurugu CEC and the Arnhem Group Schools will be celebrating local totemic culture by incorporating local clans’ dreaming into murals, Angurugu, Groote Eylandt and Milyakburra.
Public art adds value, both economic and aesthetic, to places and communities. It can be used to celebrate who we are, where we came from, and our future aspirations. In September, my colleague, the Minister for Central Australia, joined the Mayor of Alice Springs, Mr Damien Ryan, in opening the Gathering Garden Public Art project at the Alice Springs Civic Centre lawns. Artists from nine communities in the Alice Springs area worked with horticulturalists on this project, incorporating sculptures and native flora to celebrate Alice Springs’ rich history and cultural diversity.
Public art takes many forms and is not always permanent. Funding through the Public Art Grants was provided to Corrugated Iron Youth Arts to assist their participation in Origins, part of the celebrations of Charles Darwin’s birthday. The Darwin Festival Megaphone Project – an interactive performance playground featuring colour and sound – was also supported through Public Art funding.
The Henderson government encourages local government to support public art in their communities, and have provided funding for forums and workshops in Darwin, Katherine, and Alice Springs, as well as providing grants to assist in implementing public art programs in their communities. The grants announced last week included both project and regional arts funding in the areas of emerging artists, arts development, presentation and promotion, skills development, artist-to-artist support, and new ideas.
Samuel Alexander Chen from Alice Springs received funding for Treat ’em Green, Keep ’em Keen, a performance based around Central Australia’s natural assets, exploring the relationship between humans, science and the environment.
The City of the Second Chance is the title of a comedy/thriller novel, a work in progress by Peter Jonsberg, supported through an arts grant.
Two NT fibre artists, Janine Stanton from Central Australia, and Aly de Groot from the Top End, will travel to each other’s territory to exchange ideas and skills, culminating in the exhibition Head Miles - between the red and the green.
The list of exciting and innovative projects funded through arts grants is expensive, and my time tonight is limited, however, I am happy to provide members of the Assembly with a full list, if they are interested.
I might add, funding decisions for arts grants are not made by the minister. When Labor came to power in the Territory, we instigated an arm’s length and transparent process for arts grants funding and established an Arts Grants Board, a peer group consisting of artists and arts workers across a variety of genres, to assess applications and make funding decisions.
The new arts programs and grants opportunities for 2010 will be released shortly, and I will be announcing a new direction - dare I say, a new era - for arts funding in the Territory, and a new policy centred around arts and lifelong learning with three themes – Art and Learning Communities, Regional Art Services and Delivery, and Art Places and Spaces.
I look forward to providing the Assembly with the news of yet more achievements made and more awards won by our terrific Territory talent.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I wish to talk about letters I have sent to ministers in recent times regarding complaints I have had from my electorate. It is interesting; usually when we send letters to ministers those letters are answered in the week leading up sittings - in this case, that is not so.
Recently a lady came into my office very upset about the state of Crown land at the end of Buscall Avenue, near Bakewell. She walks through the land and has come across dumped carcasses and burnt-out vehicles in the creek bed. The land borders the area between Bakewell and Johnston, a new suburb, and is frequented by many walkers and children playing in the area. This is not the first complaint I have had in regard to this same issue; and it was certainly not the first letter I have sent to the minister.
On 19 August, I sent to the Honourable Delia Lawrie, Minister for Planning and Lands, the following letter:
- I write regarding a further complaint received by one of my constituents regarding the state of Crown land at the end of Buscall Avenue, behind residential housing on Maurice Terrace and Paterson Park, Bakewell. Throughout the area, there are a number of dumped animal carcases, a high number of car bodies and general waste, making the area resemble a dump. Many of the car bodies are in a dangerous condition, and with children and other residents using the area, the risk of someone being seriously hurt is extremely likely.
It would appear squatters may have used the area for many years; however, evidence in the area suggests they have moved on, at least for the time being. This area is very close to the new Johnston subdivision works, is on Crown land, and needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible. This is in addition to the area of Mitchell Creek, behind the suburb of Gunn, where a recent fire came particularly close to homes in the area. You may note this issue has been raised with you before, and to date no work has been undertaken to manage the high level load in the area, as I was led to believe in the earlier response.
The media may be particularly interested in this issue to highlight what is becoming the norm in many Crown land areas bordering our city, as it provides a sad demonstration of how many people abuse our environment. It also demonstrates how little government cares for some of our pristine areas surrounding the greater Darwin area, and how they manage this resource.
That letter was acknowledged by the office on 21 August, but no response to the letter has been received to date.
It is interesting that area is in what is called the Mitchell Creek Environment Zone, and is an area which is supposed to be kept in good order. So far we have certainly seen little evidence government is interested in our environment.
On 24 August I received another complaint, and I will not read the name:
- I currently live in the suburb of Gunn and want to discuss the issue of an ever-growing makeshift camp on Roystonea Drive, near the health clinic. I rang the council and they told me it is not their issue as it is Crown land.
The person then attempted to contact a number on the government website, to no avail. It goes on to say
- Can you please advise the right people to contact to ascertain if this issue is being addressed?
In the last couple of weeks there has been an increase in the number of campers, rubbish, cars, and yelling, not to mention drunks walking across Roystonea Avenue, which has no lighting, at all hours of the night.
I personally have been advised a number of fridges have been broken into in yards backing onto Roystonea Avenue, and one must put two and two together.”
On 28 August, I sent this letter to the Minister for Planning and Lands:
- Dear Minister
I write in regard to a number of complaints I have received about a growing campsite of itinerants in a section of vacant Crown land adjacent to Palmerston Health Precinct on Roystonea Avenue, Palmerston. I have seen on a number of occasions, during both the day and the night time, police in attendance at the camp, but the number of people continues to grow. While I am positive the police are dealing with any acts of antisocial behaviour that may occur, the reality is unless this campsite is disbanded and the itinerants are found alternative accommodation, the situation is likely to become more problematic as the number of people increase.”
I have already had reports of Indigenous people entering residents’ yards backing onto Roystonea Avenue in Gunn looking for food and alcohol. This problem is likely to increase if the camp is allowed to remain in its current location.
I am aware it is an offence to camp on Crown land, and therefore I am at a loss to understand why police or the department appear to take a blind eye approach to this issue. I would be extremely grateful …
- … if you would could provide any information on what your department is able to do with disbanding this camp site and finding alternative accommodation for the people using the area.
I appreciate the accommodation aspect is not the responsibility of your particular department; however, I assume that some level of coordination is able to occur if needed.
Signed by me, sent on 28 August, and acknowledged on 1 September. Still to date, and looking at my watch it is now the 19th, and I still have not had a response from the minister.
So, a couple of letters have been sent and have either been forgotten or fallen between the cracks. I do not believe MLAs should have to come into this House and reread letters which have been sent to ministers but, if that is what it takes to get some action on some of the issues, that is what we will continue to do.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, I often speak highly of some of the achievements of young people from Katherine in this House; and tonight will be no different. Last week I was talking about literature, and today it will be wholly and solely on sport.
In September this year, there was an Under 12 Northern Territory soccer side which went away to the Under 12 soccer championships in Adelaide. There were a couple of sides that went away, and Katherine featured in five of the total teams that went to Adelaide. There were four young ladies and a young gentleman, and the four young ladies were four of the 11 of the NT side, which is an extraordinary effort given the size of Katherine. We are a very sporting little town, and it is wonderful to see so many opportunities for our youngsters in sport.
I would like to say to Ebony McCombes, Hayley Lye, Sage Bowman-Kean and Megan Shaw, as well as young Isaac Bell, well done and congratulations on a superb effort in Adelaide.
I know the girls team, the Under 12 team, won their very first game for six years this year. They defeated South Australia 3 to 2; so well done to all of those people. I make a special mention of the parents and the helpers. It is hard to single out individual people, so I will not, but the parents put so much effort into getting their children to attend training, then on to the games, and then providing them with the means to go away on trips like this; it should not be understated, and they make an extraordinary effort. I was very pleased to be a part of the sponsorship crew so each of those sporting stars, as I like to call them, received some financial assistance from my office to get to Adelaide. So, well done to those five.
I also report on the 2009 Equestrian Australia interschool championships which were held in Werribee, in Victoria, just a few weeks ago. There was a team from the Northern Territory and that team consisted of Tessa Pate, Kym Henderson, Madelyn Farrington and Madina Hayden, all of whom come from Katherine, along with Shaylee Bird, Justine Burgess, Alicia Davies, Stephanie Glencross and Grace Symonds, who were part of the team, I believe, from Darwin.
Interestingly again, and highlighting some of the exceptional sportspeople who come from Katherine: Tessa Pate, Kym Hendersen, Madelyn Farrington and Madina Hayden, all from Katherine, comprised the entire dressage team for the Northern Territory - what an outstanding effort from youngsters in Katherine. Kym received sixth place in her event, and the other girls did exceptionally well. To quote from a report I received from Anne-Marie Hayman, who was one of the people instrumental in taking the girls away, they were super ambassadors for the Northern Territory. That speaks volumes for the quality of people the Northern Territory produces.
I also mention an event that happened in Katherine on the weekend; the 28th birthday carnival for the NT Interschool Swimming Competition which was held in Katherine’s wonderful pool. They expected around about 200 competitors to come from all over the Northern Territory and I believe we ended up pretty close too - about 180. I was there to do a couple of things: I judged the best march past team, and officially opened the event. I am very pleased to report, and can assure you it was a tough decision and there was no bias involved at all, but the Katherine team won the march past. It was nice a couple of people came up to me afterwards and said: ‘You made the right choice’ …
Ms Carney: And were they from Katherine?
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: No, they were not from Katherine, member for Araluen, they were actually from Darwin.
It was terrific to have those people turn up; we had people from all over the Territory. I especially acknowledge the teams from Gove and Alice Springs; we know how difficult it is to get to Katherine from both those places. It is quite a significant travelling achievement with a whole bunch of kids - it was a real pleasure to see them there. We had others from Darwin and the Darwin rural areas as well; and it was a terrific weekend. The sportsmanship over the course of the weekend - the event took place over Saturday afternoon and Sunday - was excellent. Everyone got along really well, the event went smoothly, and there were no problems at all. Well done!
I acknowledge the people who help, because without parents and coaches putting their time and effort into these things, they simply do not occur. I mention, in particular, some people who organised the event: the Katherine Swimming Club’s President, Anne-Marie Hayman, who was also involved in the dressage competition. I also mention Pru Ducey and Robyn Jackson, their coaches; Karen McGregor, the Vice President, and Kim Pate, the Treasurer, who is also involved with the equestrian events in Katherine. Once again, it has been a terrific weekend in sport.
Something a little different over the weekend in Katherine was the opening of the new airstrip for our Aero Modelling Club, which is situated in the middle of the racecourse in Katherine. Full credit goes to Lee Hunt, the President of that association. Local businessmen have some fantastic planes; some of them are extraordinary in their detail, and I witnessed some absolutely amazing flying over the course of the weekend. How they put it together has got me, I do not believe I have the skills; although I suspect my children would be able to pick up the hand controls a lot quicker than I.
I also mention the Katherine Town Council which was instrumental in assisting the Aero Modelling Club with their new facility. The runway is 10 m wide and 100 m long, so some significant infrastructure was put in place by the council and I thank them for their ongoing support.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016