2009-10-22
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10.10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table a document relating to pairs for the entire day today for the members for Karama and Sanderson.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it is with deep regret I advise of the death on 16 October 2009 of Wamud Namok AO, a man of great vision and leadership in Western Arnhem Land, in the South Alligator River region.
I advise honourable members that Wamud Namok’s wife, Mary, sons Junior, Frederick, Keith, daughters Lois, Hagar, Donna, June, Rhonda, and grandchildren and great grandchildren are listening to the parliamentary tribute at an outstation, Kabulwarnamyo, in remote Western Arnhem Land, and also at Gunbalanya. I also advise of the presence in the gallery of Wamud Namok’s family and colleagues. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members that on completion of the debate, I will ask members to stand in silence for one minute as a mark of respect. I call the Chief Minister.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that this Assembly:
(a) express its deep regret at the death of Wamud Namok AO, Aboriginal leader, conservationist, scientist, and artist; and
Madam Speaker, the life of the man we honour in the Legislative Assembly this morning is emblematic of the history of the Northern Territory. His life of more than eight decades spans the story of this place, and its people. It was a life that encompassed both pre- and post-contact worlds, but one which also points to our shared future.
I was made very much aware of that in my meetings with Wamud Namok; aware of his enormous knowledge, and the history his knowledge embraced. Memorably, one of those meetings was with him being given a Northern Territory Innovation Award. He received the award for using traditional knowledge at the cutting edge of greenhouse gas science.
He was a man who could truly communicate with two widely divergent world views and knowledge systems, and a man who could speak to the future of ‘caring for country’.
Madam Speaker, it was a very special meeting with a very special man. The breadth of the history which sums up his life and the changes we have all seen is perhaps reflected by the fact that this will be the first Condolence Motion that has been broadcast by this parliament over the Internet. I pass on my condolences to those of Wamud’s family and friends who may be accessing the Internet this morning.
Wamud Namok was born about 83 years ago, at best estimate. As one of his friends pointed out the other day, we do not know the exact year for sure, let alone the day and the month of his birth on the Arnhem Land sandstone plateau country. In those days, his birthplace was on the other side of the frontier, and the Julian calendar had not made it to that part of the land by then.
His early life was undoubtedly that of a traditional boy and a young man. It was a time before the drastic depopulation of the Arnhem Land plateau that occurred from World War II onwards. Over that time, he, along with his family, travelled the traditional walking tracks of Western and Southern Arnhem Land and beyond, to as far south as Katherine, east to the Maningrida area, and west to Kakadu and Darwin.
The Church Missionary Society had only established its mission at Oenpelli in 1925 and, indeed, Arnhem Land itself was not gazetted as an Aboriginal Reserve until 1934, when Wamud Namok was perhaps only eight years old.
It was a childhood and youth in which his travels and participation in hunting, ceremony, and customary trading networks equipped him with the beginnings of the extensive traditional knowledge about vast tracts of the Top End of the Territory that he would acquire - knowledge about land, its languages, its people and its management.
But it was a life in which he came into contact with settler society as it consolidated in the north. As a teenager in the Katherine and Maranboy regions, he gave unrecognised service with the military in World War II, as well as labouring on the Maranboy tin mines.
After the war, while Wamud Namok and his family increasingly looked to the mission as a source of tobacco and other trade items, they still lived out bush. While they were aware of the visit to Oenpelli of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Wamud did not meet up with them as his family was occupied with a major ceremony at the time. There may have been another reason for his disinterest in the scientific expedition which I will mention in a moment.
As Wamud’s family increasingly focused on Oenpelli, new opportunities also presented themselves through the sale of traditional artworks, bark painting in particular. It would first be through ethnographers and art lovers, later through Aboriginal art centres.
Over the next 60 years, the artists of Western and other parts of Arnhem Land established Aboriginal art as a focus for international attention, many years, in fact, before our desert artists took up their brushes on the international art scene.
Wamud has, for many years, been at the centre of this movement, painting bark paintings that now hang in major private, national, and international collections.
Over the years he has been a strong supporter of Injalak Arts since its establishment, in 1989 at Gunbalanya, and Maningrida Arts before then. Wamud’s position in this movement has been pivotal. As well as his work in collections, he is also acknowledged as the last Territory artist to undertake rock paintings in his sandstone home country, a number of which can be viewed on the Internet.
In the documentation of rock art, Wamud has played a key role working with researchers such as George Chaloupka and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in advancing the international community’s knowledge and understanding of the oldest artistic traditions on the planet. The value of the knowledge and learning made possible through Wamud is immeasurable.
It would be wonderful, and I am sure both sides of the Assembly and the Independents would agree, for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory to work with other public collections to produce a major exhibition and publication, commemorating Wamud’s major contributions, in the years to come.
Members: Hear, hear.
Mr HENDERSON: Wamud’s knowledge, and his generosity in sharing his wisdom, went beyond that of art. I mentioned that back in 1948, 61 years ago, the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land arrived with 17 scientists and support staff. It was an interdisciplinary research venture co-sponsored by Washington’s Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, and the Australian Commonwealth. Led by ethnologist Charles Mountford, its task was to study both the natural environment and Aboriginal people. For a while, in November 1948, the expedition was based at the mission at Oenpelli. Six decades on, the science and its subjects are vastly different, yet oddly the same.
For much of the past decade, this grand old man of Arnhem Land, Wamud Namok, along with his countrymen, have been working with western scientists to re-establish traditional land management practices using fire across the Arnhem Land escarpment north and east to Maningrida, and south to the head waters of the Mann and Katherine Rivers.
In doing so, they have established a world first in scientific land management through the sequestration of greenhouse gases through re-invoking millennia old fire management regimes. It has led to the first climate change partnership on the planet between Indigenous people and an energy producer. Darwin Gas and its American parent company ConocoPhillips are two years or so into a 17-year greenhouse substitution agreement - an agreement which also promotes biodiversity on the plateau, and ensures long-term employment for Aboriginal people.
Wamud did not make it down to the Oenpelli Mission while the scientists were there, although his relations surely did. Wamud was probably about 15 at the time and, for those who know him well, may have been a bit disinterested in this most recent group of whitefellas because the mission had banned the distribution of tobacco in 1948!
In any case, little could any of the experts back then have realised that their scientific inheritors would be working with him 60-odd years on as part of the desperate challenge we now all confront: climate change and global warming.
Since the early 1990s, visionary Territorians such as Wamud Namok have been working to reinstate traditional Aboriginal land and fire management practices in their country on the Arnhem plateau. With the aid of organisations such as the Jawoyn Association and Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, traditional owners have built ranger programs from the ground up in preparation for the realisation of this dream. This is of enormous importance to all of us in this House today.
The results of their research have been verified by the Australian Greenhouse Office, and show that well-managed early Dry Season fires can substantially reduce the amount of CO equivalent produced by fires in the same area late in the year. It is knowledge which is transforming land management across northern Australia. It was for this Wamud and his team were awarded the Northern Territory Innovation Award, as well as the prestigious Eureka Award several years later.
It may seem odd - for a man who represented many thousands of years of knowledge - to describe Wamud as a Renaissance Man but it is difficult to characterise him any other way. For many years Wamud worked as a fount of knowledge and consultant to anthropologists, art historians, biologists, botanists, and a diverse group of other researchers from both the social and natural sciences, and was a regular speaker at regional land management conferences.
His generosity in giving his knowledge has been unparalleled, taking on a role as a ‘bush professor’ to both non-Aboriginal people and younger generations of Aboriginal countrymen. In sharing knowledge, he has personified the real values and philosophy behind reconciliation.
Perhaps this is best summed up by Murray Garde who worked with Wamud over many years:
In commemorating the life of this great man we must look to the central legacy he has left us all – the vital importance of caring for country and, in that way, caring for each other. It is a legacy that must be embraced by all Territorians wherever we live and work. In this way we can repay the wonderful generosity of this great old man.
I pass on my sincere condolences to Wamud Namok’s family and friends.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition joins with the government members and Independents in supporting this motion of condolence to the family, and acknowledging the legacy to which we are indebted.
In sitting down to prepare some notes for this condolence speech, I had cause to ask myself when I first came into contact with works by Wamud Namok. I wondered if it was at one of the number of Territory galleries where his works hang, which I have had occasion to visit over many years; if it was through his dramatic painting of the Rainbow Serpent at Darwin Airport which has welcomed so many visitors, or if it was his work on the 40 postage stamps issued by Australia Post in 1982.
Whenever it was, and while I cannot come up with a definitive time, I suspect it was the postage stamp. It is safe to say that Wamud Namok’s work has been entrenched in my consciousness and the consciousness of many Australians for many years; more broadly, they have been etched in the minds of Australians and international art enthusiasts for the best part of a generation.
His place in the Territory is unique. He was to Western Arnhem Land what Albert Namatjira was to Hermannsburg: a driving force, but one that let his art talk for him. I wonder whether anyone has counted the number of completed works by Wamud - I would estimate thousands, although his family may be better placed to confirm this - each of them rich and dramatic and memorable.
It is interesting to read through some of the commentaries which have accompanied Wamud’s works, and it made me smile a little, such is the power of the art, when I read a review prepared when he was at an exhibition at a gallery in the inner-suburb of Carlton. The critique began:
Later, the author went on:
That is power; when art communicates such feeling, such sense.
Wamud’s response to that commentary is lost in time, but it is a safe bet he was not trying to spook anyone; more likely he was trying to tell a story effectively and convey something powerful through art. But there is no denying for anyone the mystery of these works; there is no denying also their captivating nature. He was one of the key exponents of the X-ray style of painting that had its roots in the rock art of the region.
Wamud was around 80 at the time of that exhibition in 2006, travelling to Melbourne for that and other exhibitions of his work at the National Gallery. A quick count of the galleries where he has been featured in Australia comes to about 40. Most of these are joint displays, but a couple of solo shows as well. It is not known how many galleries Wamud is featured in overseas, possibly a dozen, but his work has taken to the world a slice of Western Arnhem Land’s stone country that he loved.
It is remarkable, thinking back to the time when Wamud was born - 1926 or thereabouts - a time when Darwin was truly a frontier town and the wonderful potential of Indigenous art was still waiting to captivate the world as it still is. One can only imagine what the Mann River, about 250 km from Oenpelli, was like in 1926. It was probably remarkably similar to what it had been for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
It was home then, as now, to a richly diverse culture and a people who loved to share their stories with outsiders. It was in this environment that Wamud began to paint and learn the stories of his people. Of the many Territorians to whom we have paid tribute in this House over the years, I doubt there would be many who lived in the Northern Territory for the best part of 83 years. Many who died when they were old arrived later in life; others were born here but died relatively young. All loved the Northern Territory for one reason or another, and made a contribution in one way or another.
Wamud’s story is one of kinship and connection which saw him return near to his place of birth at the end of his life. To be born here, to live here for 83 years, and to die here, is a rare honour - unique. That Wamud was able to die in the country of his birth, in the outstation he made his home suggests, very powerfully, a contentment with life which is reflected in a life well lived.
It is a magnificent tribute to Wamud’s longevity, as well as his heritage, that he is widely regarded as one of the last Aboriginal painters to paint on cave walls.
He travelled the traditional highways throughout Arnhem Land, worked in a tin mine in his early years, as well as learning to paint from his father. Time spent in Katherine during the war years brought him closer to Australia’s European heritage, but he was never too old to learn and absorb new experiences. During the early and middle years of his life, experiences came in droves. As well as the tin mines, he worked as a wood cutter’s labourer, loaded cargo trains, was a buffalo shooter, stockman, and market gardener. Despite having painted for decades, it was not until 1969 he began to paint commercially with prompting from the missionary, Peter Carroll.
When he first visited Sydney, there is a story about Wamud shedding tears when he saw his works on exhibition in a gallery in suburban Annandale. He was honoured that his works were on exhibition together with other painters on display. His honour was the audience’s delight: an artist with decades of heritage and stories and success to his credit still moved by the simple acknowledgement of the regard for his work. It was this love for painting which saw him continue to work until the end. While his first experiences of painting were inside the caves, he never lost his fondness for his traditions or his ancestors. His later works were done on paper. In between, he built a reputation as one of the finest bark painters in recent memory.
In recent times, as well as painting, Wamud has spread stories about his country, his people, and the ceremonies in other ways. Stories of floods of visitors arriving at his small outstation dominate recent years. He went from telling his stories through the natural pigments he once used for rock art and then transferred to bark and paper, to providing visitors with oral histories of his people. As Nicholas Rothwell wrote in The Australian last week:
I have a picture in my mind of this man welcoming southerners or well-travelled international experts to his beautiful homeland after a long flight to Darwin, then a drive to Western Arnhem Land. It is additionally satisfying because, for the visitors, it would have been worth the expense and the duration of the journey. The information passed on by Wamud would have been of the highest quality - a museum with a heartbeat.
When he died he was feted with high praise by the Warddeken Land Management group who said:
A life like Wamud Namok’s has its own rewards, but he was honoured by others as well. In 1999, it was in the works on paper section of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, and, in 2004, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. In these days of climate change awareness, Wamud was well and truly ahead of the pack, campaigning successfully for controlled burning in his beloved Western Arnhem Land.
Wamud Namok and his wife, Mary, had eight children and, while I understand none of them painted, he has, no doubt, passed on his stories to his family and helped to make them great and rich.
Madam Speaker a remarkable Territorian has left us, and left a legacy. We pass on our condolences on to his family.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to stand here as a Yanyuwa woman and the member for Arnhem to pay tribute in the parliament of the Northern Territory to a great Territorian, Wamud of the Mok clan of Western Arnhem Land. As we have heard from the Chief Minister, the life of Wamud transcended an incredible part of Northern Territory history.
His early life was all about living on the land, a member of one of the greatest enduring cultures of humankind. Eminent Territorian, George Chaloupka, has given his adult life, as have others, to learning, understanding, and celebrating the wonderful culture of the stone people of Western and Central Arnhem Land - people of the stone country, the majestic, complicated biological and cultural treasure trove we know as the Arnhem Land Plateau.
As part of Chaloupka’s voyage of discovery, he came to learn of an annual pilgrimage which Wamud, his family, and many others undertook on an annual cycle, as recently as the pre-war years. This was their regular travel, by foot, of course, traversing the Arnhem Land Plateau, and gathering to meet with kinsfolk from far and wide on the floodplains of the Alligator Rivers. They came to feast on geese, to trade implements and objects important in their day-to-day life, and perhaps, most importantly for a young man, to learn and participate in ceremony, and to learn law and culture to guide day-to-day life and social cohesion. Today, those parts of Kakadu are celebrated as World Heritage of universal significance.
Beyond Kakadu, the land of Wamud and his countrymen and women in Arnhem Land is now being considered for nomination as World Heritage for its unique and priceless, in international terms, heritage of rock art. Just last month, we saw the land of Wamud and other families recognised as a unique and significant conservation area, the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, ensuring appropriate support for the continuing stewardship of this precious resource by local clans and custodians.
It is important to set the scene in telling the story of Wamud; how he was born of a people and a generation whose total energy and focus was day-to-day living, law and culture, and the custodianship of that very special landscape. Later, as a young man, Wamud travelled with his family to explore other places and engage with the outside world: tin mining at Maranboy, timber cutting, stock work, the experience of the war years at Mataranka, and life at Gunbalanya and Maningrida settlements.
In 1994, Wamud, in recounting his life story to art curator, Margie West, recalled how he was known in those days as Wamud the worker. Wamud the worker – all the time working, learning, and growing in status within his family and society as a humble, knowledgeable, and respectful man.
For those of us outside this world, his story begins about this time - perhaps from the late 1960s, as he became a prolific artist on bark; preserving, developing, and celebrating the artistic traditions of Central Western Arnhem land. To aficionados of Aboriginal art, Wamud is master of the Western Arnhem style, a style with a unique earthiness and naturalistic symbolism connecting people and the land from where it comes, the inspiring, evocative, and mysterious pinnacles, chasms, and caverns of the Western Arnhem Land Plateau. As with all masters, a wonderful feature of his art is the layers of meaning embodied in each painting. Stories of creation, stories giving meaning to life, stories articulating proper ways of living, and stories explaining obligations to land and to culture.
We are blessed that he was such a prolific painter, and while he would often wonder at the reason so many people were drawn to his art, he obliged, seeing this as one way he could share the things that sustained him, his country, and his heritage.
Most recently, we were again blessed by his selfless dedication to his position as Emeritus Professor of the Bush University at Kabulwarnamyo, his outstation on the upper catchment of the Liverpool River. He inspired and enabled the coming together of two worlds and knowledge systems, fostering the kind of work we look for in the finest of our universities, research partnerships, unique and ground-breaking research, innovation, and experimentation.
He became the inspiration, the light, and the font of wisdom for other younger Aboriginal people committed to not letting go; younger men and women staying true to their inheritance, sustaining knowledge and wisdom. Working on a day-to-day basis, caring for country, and talking to people who had the privilege of living and working with Wamud, you are struck by some key elements of his personality: his selflessness and willingness to share with all, even when he was most tired and so deserving of rest; his infectious smile and love for his country, a love which clearly sustained and motivated him over all these years; his gentleness; his knowledge. But perhaps, most of all, the respect people of all ages held for him and his status as a local hero, a living legend to so many young Indigenous people, especially young men.
Another word comes to mind, and that is dignity. Wamud exuded dignity; dignity which came from his self-confidence, his selflessness, his knowledge, and his humility. In recent years we know many Aboriginal men have felt their dignity challenged and attacked; men themselves acknowledge they have work to do addressing family and community instability through men behaving badly. Wamud showed a good way, a way we need to acknowledge, respect, and encourage.
Wamud, and the things he has done through all of his eight decades, embodies what we all should want for the future; a future of respect, acceptance, and celebration of Indigenous culture, but also active participation in all that the world has to offer.
Wamud was blessed with a large family. I know his wife Mary, daughters Hagar, June, Donna, Rhonda, and Deacon Lois Nadjamerrek, and sons Lajunbi, Keith, and Frederick, will be grieving terribly at their loss. I also know they are immensely proud of their father, knowing how he touched the lives of so many people here, across the Northern Territory, across this country, and overseas. I wish them well and thank them for sharing their husband and father with us, particularly as he grew older, and send them my love and that of all Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Mara, Gudanji peoples of the Gulf region, and of all the Arnhem people.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I support this motion of condolence. The phenomenal popularity of Indigenous arts has its roots in other generations, way beyond the civilised world of up-market suburban art galleries in the major southern cities.
Many Australian families bought re-creations of Aboriginal arts long before it became the multimillion dollar industry it is today. My parents had Aboriginal paintings spread throughout the house during my childhood. Their appreciation was based on the simplicity of the work, the story told, the earthy tones, and the quality of the craftsmanship. For me, it is work everyone can connect with and can understand. In short, we all get it.
Wamud Namok was one of the finest practitioners of the art we know of. He began painting on cave walls in his very early years. Born in 1926, it is nice to believe the global recession which began devastating economies just three years after his birth, was not especially noticed in Western Arnhem Land. The place of his birth was on the land known as the stone country, near the Mann and Liverpool Rivers. From an early age he learned to paint with his father, inside caves. It seemed remarkable that a tradition, with literally thousands of years of history, was still practised in the very recent past. Wamud is sometimes described as the last practitioner of cave painting. From caves he went on to paint on bark and later on paper. His Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award was for best piece on paper.
Like many in this Chamber, I never knew Wamud Namok, and also, like many, I wish I had. I would have asked him about his early years and about the key landmarks in his remarkable journey. About how a young Aboriginal child following his father’s footsteps, painting on the inside of caves, became a favourite with the southern gallery owners and their customers, and whose work regularly sold for tens of thousands of dollars at a time. This story would be fascinating enough on its own, but then he could share with me the stories of his people, the people of Western Arnhem Land who have lived in that remarkable civilisation for thousands of years. The stories would be fascinating.
Hundreds of people over recent years have benefited from Wamud’s knowledge. For some time now his little outstation has been a focal point for visitors from Australia and overseas who are of an academic bent. In the future I hope to read more about their studies and what they were able to learn in the brief time they had spent in the stone country.
In 2004, Wamud Namok was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia, the first Indigenous artist to achieve this honour. The gong was not only for his art; over the past decade or so he worked unrelentingly to bring about change in burn-off practices around Western Arnhem Land. This triumph of sustainability and forward-thinking provided a role model for his people in his later years, as his art did in his younger days.
His experiences were not just limited to painting of course. During the war years, and beyond, he held down a number of jobs in mining, market gardening, and as a stockman. His love for his country and his people extended to protecting the environment into which he was born. Savannah burning is responsible for close to 50% of the Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions, an issue that has to be addressed if the Territory is going to contribute to the global push for a cleaner environment. Wamud Namok helped found a scheme which involved working with young Indigenous rangers to reintroduce the traditional burning practices which respected the environment but, over recent years, had fallen in to abeyance.
He also led the movement that helped win for his people, in 2002, an area about one third the size of Tasmania which stretched from the high, rocky country of his birth to the islands off north Australia. The sweep of that land was as diverse as his life: it included sandstone gorges, pristine rivers, tropical savannahs, and coastal wetlands. Under the federal agreement, 137 Aboriginal groupings, which made up the traditional owners, managed the reserves helped by Indigenous rangers employed out of Canberra. It says volumes of a man who, late in his life, was still focused on getting maximum benefit for his community and the land from which he came.
In 1982, one of his paintings was used on the Australian 40 stamp, and, in 1993, he was commissioned by the authorities to paint a large mural based on a painting of Ngalyod which hangs in the foyer of Darwin Airport. His win in the work on paper section of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 1999 was a formal acknowledgement of what art lovers from around the world had known for years. In 2004 he became the first Indigenous artist to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
Wamud Namok married Mary in the early 1950s, and the couple have five daughters and three sons. May his memory and art last forever, while his body rests. Bless you and your family.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, I join my parliamentary colleagues in supporting this condolence motion, and I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this motion to the Assembly today.
Wamud Namok was a very old man by both western and Indigenous standards, and for that we must be thankful because his longevity gave many people the opportunity to work alongside him and share in his love and understanding of his culture and his land.
I was not one of those people who had the pleasure to know this old man and I am very sorry to say that this was the case, because all the people I have talked to recently about him have spoken of him in terms of awe and wonder; they have mentioned his big heart, his kindness, the inspiration he gave, and his leadership.
This old man was a man of great dignity and humility who treated everyone he met with generosity and patience. Through the spirit of this generosity, he was able to share his knowledge of his country with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. His understanding of Territory history, places, land management, available resources, and religious significance, has become invaluable in recent years.
This old man’s familiarity with the art of Western Arnhem Land was rare and, without it, we would have been left guessing as to the significance of many of the thousands of rock sites on the Arnhem Plateau. Since the 1980s, this old man worked with anthropologists to survey rock art and other sites of significance. Art historians, botanists, ecologists, and other researchers from social and natural sciences sought out the wisdom of this man as they studied the Northern Territory and its Indigenous people.
He worked for many years with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory’s Emeritus Curator Aboriginal Rock Art, George Chaloupka. Together, they recorded and documented hundreds of sites. Today, this precious knowledge is deposited at the museum. It is extraordinary to think this man was present when the more recent paintings were executed, providing us with the most valuable information about this remarkable rock art heritage - the longest, continuous record of human endeavour. This man, a talented artist in his own right, also painted on rock. He painted his last image on rock in 2005, a large djugerre, the female black wallaroo, one of his favourite subject matters.
This man was a gifted bark painter who started to produce art works for the art market in the 1960s at Gunbalanya. He enjoyed a very successful career, and his work is represented in most national collections including, of course, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. His work is reminiscent of rock art styles found on the Arnhem Plateau - figurative works on stark backgrounds, a simple palette of colours, fine lines, and images which are incredibly alive and filled with the power of the land.
During his life, this man participated in many landmark exhibitions including Spirit in Land at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1990; Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in 1995; and, more recently, his work featured in Culture Warriors, the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial, a touring exhibition currently in Washington DC.
An example of how this man was held in high esteem is reflected when we look around and see the people in the galleries listening to what we are saying and, by being here, they are paying their own tribute to Wamud Namok. I know there is a number of staff from the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport here today. Probably every division of the department had much contact with this old man, and were enlightened by his knowledge.
May he rest in peace.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, it is with sadness I acknowledge the passing of this great man, and I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this motion.
I acknowledge the presence of individuals who are here today and all of those listening and watching who have all shared and have individual memories of this great man. As I make my contribution to the motion, I know those individuals who are listening and present here today, will know the feeling of the last time we all shared, and the day we shared with this great man.
By the time the final traditional funerary rights are performed for Wamud Namok AO, many people, including individuals considerably more eminent than me, will have joined with his family in mourning the passing of this outstanding man, and celebrating the remarkable and valuable life of this grand old man of Western Arnhem Land.
Obituaries and testimonials will have touched on his encyclopaedic knowledge of country, his impressive body of artistic work, and his contribution to scientific research and understanding.
Wamud’s status with traditional art and culture was already well established when, on 26 January 2004, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. The official citation said:
Since that time, Wamud also achieved prominence for his critical role in the success of the Western Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project, an innovative strategy which is now being seen as a model for adoption elsewhere. Three years ago, the ABC Catalyst program documented the progress that had already been made by Wamud and his WALFA team at Kabulwarnamyo in remote Western Arnhem Land.
In one part of that program, the narrator set the scene with these words:
Climate change and the best way forward in relation to a carbon pollution reduction scheme are topical issues which will remain on the national and international agenda for a long time to come. I predict that the WALFA, and Wamud’s role in its establishment, will attract ever increasing recognition and acclaim.
The homage I want to pay to this old man relates to something more basic than art and climate change science. It is the example, the option, he offered in terms of physical and social lifestyle and life choices to our young people, especially the young people of Gunbalanya and Maningrida in my electorate.
Gunbalanya and Maningrida are both large communities which are accessible by the main road which leads eventually to Nhulunbuy. They are the closest largest communities to Kabulwarnamyo. Gunbalanya has a licensed drinking place called a club, where the people can drink every day. Maningrida has a liquor permit system which allows permit holders to legally access alcohol at the community every fortnight. Grog is a killer; it kills people’s health, motivation and, ultimately, their culture. Ganja is another problem substance, and the scourge of petrol sniffing raises its ugly head in Gunbalanya from time to time when the community drops its guard. Takeaway food at both communities entrenches the unhealthy diets of many family members.
By contrast, to get to Kabulwarnamyo, you need to drive a long, meandering route away from the main road, and the social patterns of its residents do not revolve around the availability of alcohol. Food supplies brought in from outside are restricted to necessary items, and supplemented by regularly obtained bush tucker. That was how the old man wanted it. It was part of his vision. He wanted to bring kids and young people from Gunbalanya to Kabulwarnamyo so that they too could learn to live a healthy and worthwhile life.
I shared with Wamud the vice of smoking. It is not something I am proud of but, in Wamud’s case, the fact remains that, despite his smoking for most of his life, he was a strong and energetic physically healthy man. In an era where so many of our men sicken and die from avoidable diseases at a much younger age, Wamud lived to be 83.
He was born in 1926, which means that he outlived my own father. He lived for so long because he stayed focused and busy doing worthwhile things, maintained his culture and a sense of self-worth and self-esteem, and because he valued an outstation life, free from alcohol, where Aboriginal people could build a future for themselves on their terms. He made it clear, in his words in the Catalyst program: it was not a future which excluded non-Aboriginal people, nor worthwhile and meaningful engagement with the wider Australian society and economy. It was a future in which he wanted his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, to learn and thrive, and to grow to be as old and wise as him. It was a future which was to herald a homecoming for the descendents of his ancestors.
None of us will forget the man himself; his humour and his enthusiasms. I now quote from a couple of others who knew him well:
That was from Margie West, Emeritus Curator Aboriginal Art and George Chaloupka, Emeritus Curator Aboriginal Rock Art.
I will also quote someone who knew, and was very close to, Wamud for 40 years, Peter Cooke. He said this, and I quote, with permission:
In the past seven years we have seen many people set their tracks on their country for the first time while Wamud Namok called out to their ancestors to welcome them home. Tears have flowed; rights and responsibility to manage country have been renewed.
At the signing of the WALFA agreement, I described the project and Wamud’s critical involvement in it. For many years, artists such as Wamud, kept their outstations thriving through the creation and sale of their work. Caring for their country, through activities such as traditional fire burning practices, is an integral part of their understanding of country and their art. It is, as I said back then, a virtuous cycle in which the work of artists keeps their country alive, the very country that is at the heart of their creativity.
That virtuous circle reminds me of a gospel hymn, Let the Circle Be Unbroken. It is a song that speaks of there being a ‘better home awaiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky’. That circle is unbroken. Wamud lived and passed away in that better home awaiting, and made everyone welcome to share in its richness and bounty.
I send my love and thoughts to Mary, his wife; his children, daughters Lois, Doreen, Hagar, Rhonda; and sons Junior, Frederick, and Keith, his sons-in-law, his daughters-in-law, his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I know that I speak on behalf of all my constituents and their respective organisations in the Kakadu/Western Arnhem Land region - the Djabulugku Association, through its CEO, Liam Maher, who first introduced me to this great man; Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation; the Djelk Rangers; Gundjemi Aboriginal Corporation; Injalak Arts; Maningrida Arts and Culture; and the staff and rangers of Kakadu National Park.
I send my respects and acknowledgement to the amazing Warddeken Rangers. These rangers, young and old, were a big part of this old man’s vision and they will miss him, but they will continue to build his great legacy.
Finally, my thoughts go to Jan and Peter Cooke, and family, who have shared so much of their lives with this grand old man of Western Arnhem Land. All of Western Arnhem Land will stand and say: Bor Bor Wamud.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also extend my condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Wamud Namok, a man of vision and an inspiration to many. He will be sadly missed, but remembered forever through his family, friends, and his impressive artwork.
Motion agreed to.
Members stood and observed one minute’s silence as a mark of respect.
Madam SPEAKER: I thank all members for their contributions to this motion, and I invite family and friends who are gathered here today, and interested members, to a morning tea in the main hall.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 6 to 10 Borroloola school students accompanied by Mrs Cheryl Caulfield, Ms Clare Schoeller, and Mr Geoff Perry. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table a document relating to pairs for the members for Casuarina and Araluen from the conclusion of Question Time today until the end of the sitting day.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 797 petitioners praying that Araluen Galleries returns to a place with dedicated community involvement. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders. Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 177 petitioners praying transitional housing be provided on the old ConocoPhillips work camp site near Palmerston. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirement of standing orders. Madam Speaker, I move the petition be read.
Motion agreed; petition read:
Continued from 14 October 2009.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is an unusual matter to contend with because, when we assess the motivator - the factor which has prompted this response from the government and for the opposition to consider its position – we recognise it commences with a strong position adopted by the Territory government with regard to public sector wages; that strong position is 2.5%.
It is a pre-emptive strike and it sets the tone for the negotiations which will follow, all going according to plan, which allows tough negotiation to then ensue.
However, once the dust had just begun to settle, and the battlelines were clearly defined, into the public domain came the announcement there would be a 3% increase in salary for politicians …
Dr Burns: 3.2%.
Mr MILLS: 3.2%, to be correct, and in excess of the 2.5% pre-emptive strike centred on the negotiations of the public sector.
Therefore, what must one do? Politicians and the government would recognise, as contained in the second reading speech by the Chief Minister, the issue of pay is a great challenge for politicians, because it is not popular. If you follow that argument to the lowest common denominator - follow it dot by dot, line by line through the argument - people, if you appeal to the crowd, would say that we should not be paid at all. In fact, we should pay for the honour of serving such long hours and placing this huge demand on our families. You could go down that path. It would show no leadership whatsoever to abandon that post to the call of the popular cry of the crowd.
It is a dilemma, a very difficult one, and a political one. However, if we weigh these things -and I believe the government has got itself into a bind - and thought, what the heck are we going to do now that we have said this here, and then this has occurred over here, how are we going to fix it?
I am grateful there have been voices raised about the value of politicians. Largely, they are not joined by a chorus of support, but it is important to hold a position. Because if we do not provide any defence in these times of discussion we are not providing any leadership or challenge to the underlying issues surrounding parliamentary democracy and the role that politicians play in civic leadership.
It is a difficult job and we are not going to get people weeping in the galleries when I start talking about that, because that is not appropriate. All of us, privately in this Chamber, recognise the personal cost, the hours, and the demand that is placed, of which we gladly respond to, year after year. All of that is fine if we did it in isolation, but it is our families as well.
Having spent some time with Tony Abbott recently, I found it good to spend time having discussions about the nature of the task, and particularly when you have been in this job for some time, to think about what it is that holds you in the job. Is it the pay? What level of pay would compensate the sacrifice, the contribution, and the effort that is made? You never really get any quarter with the media, with the wider community, and it is ongoing. If you weigh it all up, you think why would you do it?
Reading a book by Tony Abbott – he made a comment to me also which is reinforced in the book – when speaking about ‘the job’ it is, in fact, ‘more of a vocation than an occupation’. If you follow that through, it would be akin to asking why would a teacher put in that extraordinarily difficult, long, and extra effort with difficult students? It is above and beyond - it is not just the job, there is something more to it. You could a look at a whole range of occupations. Why would someone spend that extra time working in the health system not for reward, but because of a deeper satisfaction? Why would you spend that extra time with someone who is dying if it was just a job, just an occupation?
It is the same with politicians. Why would we do it? If we just weighed it all up and put a money value on it, why would we do it? Because there is a deeper thing to it, there is another purpose that holds us here. It is a very difficult matter to unpack publicly and it causes us to assess the value of our work.
We would have to recognise this whole situation that has been brought here for us to respond to has allowed a little consideration of the fundamental question about the value of work. It has given us greater insight into the capacity to respond to preserve the political positions and to make sure we are not going to compromise the initial position when it comes to the strong stance taken with negotiation with the public sector. That is of concern because it actually reduces the capacity to have a reasoned debate on such matters.
The response has been a complicated mechanism. I pay credit to the member for Fong Lim who recognised that a disconnect is established, breaking the nexus between the calibrations which determine a federal member of parliament’s salary and then the flow-on to the Territory. If that nexus is broken and we create a new connection, that connection could, in fact, propel us, in time to come to a position way beyond our federal counterparts. I understand that this issue was recognised in negotiations between the member for Fong Lim and the Leader of Government Business, and there were another few cogs put in the wheel so we prevent that occurring.
So we go back again. It reminds us we have not had the opportunity - not that we would be able to have it - for the community discussion about the value of those who have the privilege of working in this House. I believe the nature of the negotiations with the public service is critical. I am very concerned that negotiations must be conducted in good faith first. This appears to be a position adopted in order to preserve some stance at a table and that concerns me. I will battle on for some time and come to some kind of conclusion.
Recognising the situation we faced, and the decision, therefore, to create a mechanism to link increases to the Territory public sector, making sure those increases do not exceed the previous position we had, are complicated. I understand the politics of it. I am grateful for contributions I have had in discussions, in reading Tony Abbott’s book, and also, for once, I was really heartened to read comments by young Scott Stirling, in the Sunday paper. I believe those kinds of voices should be heard from time to time. I believe it would have been better for the opposition to have allowed that kind of discussion to occur. Instead we find the ground has shifted, largely directed by the interests of preserving a political position, rather than having a deeper discussion about the value of work and the value of public office. Otherwise we could end up, quite easily, in a rush to the bottom, and we could further expose any value there is for civic office.
Understanding the landscape and the need for constant and ongoing discussion on these matters, I believe we should do our best to maintain our bearing in the time we are in this office, recognising, with grace, we are required to buy lots of raffle tickets but if we win one we are required to hand it back, and all that sort of stuff.
Mr Wood: I know, but not all the time. Not all the time.
Mr MILLS: No, no. No, I know. Required; it is like a suggestion you should do so. The whole strange business of our place in our community, how we value work, and all those things, should be an ongoing discussion; we should not abandon that and be afraid - those discussions should occur. If we want to hold the office of leadership then those discussions should occur, despite the unpopularity of such matters. This is what I fear; that this whole construct has actually eroded the position of leadership.
The position of the opposition is that we recognise the situation we have come to and we will not be opposing the passage of this legislation.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, listening to the opposition’s words on this bill made me wonder about something that is probably relevant to this debate: how the public view us as members of parliament rather than politicians. There is no doubt when you say you are a politician, people either drop their jaw and do not want to talk to you, or they have a problem, which is you, the work you do, or there is a particular matter they would like to raise with you. None of that particularly worries me.
I believe, when you hear the criticism about what politicians get paid or whether they are going to get a pay rise, the reason we get criticised is because in the public view we are regarded as down at the bottom end of the scale when it comes to types of employment.
It is a sad reflection on our society. It is a sad reflection, to some extent, on the media, and, perhaps, it is a sad reflection on ourselves. If you look in today’s paper you see Casuarina High School students saying the behaviour of some of our politicians was terrible - and at times it is terrible – but at other times it is also very good. I do not believe any of us stand in this parliament just to have a nice day; we come here - and you have to fight to come here, especially through an election - to do something for the betterment of the Territory.
What worries me is the continued put-down, sometimes in the public arena, by various spokesmen, media commentators, via SMS short texts in a newspaper; it makes it difficult to promote the life of someone in parliament or the life of someone in public office as being a worthwhile occupation, if I can put it that way.
I say it is more than that. it is more like a vocation, like nurses and teachers. We come here to serve the people. it is not self-serving, as some people say. It is a 24-hour, 365 day a year job, which has an effect on your family, and on yourself. We know, in some cases, politicians have ruined their health by taking on this job.
I believe we, the media and public commentators, have a duty to look at what this particular job is and to promote it as something worthwhile. We are easy shots. We can be the pick of the cartoonists, a sharp letter in the newspaper – which many times we cannot respond to – or we can be the butt of an editorial, but that is all part and parcel of the job, no problem with that. However, how many times have you read an article which says this job is a worthwhile job? How many times have you heard someone stand up in front of a classroom and say: ‘I hope you will be a politician one day, because it is a worthwhile job’?
What we are hearing today about a pay increase for members of parliament, and the criticism we sometimes get for accepting a pay increase, reflects the lack of support for people who take on the job of public service. Compared to my federal counterparts my job is relatively easy - although I do not say it is easy - because my electorate is quite small in number and relatively small in area. When you look at someone who has the seat of Kalgoorlie – which is nearly three quarters the size of Western Australia, with a large population, probably about one third of the Territory - you can see they have enormous work to do, not only to retain their seat, but also to go out and meet the people in those areas.
I felt this presented an opportunity to put a good light on the job of parliamentarians because, although there will always be some denigration and criticism - and rightly so, we are people in the public arena - and we will get criticism from time to time, which is what keeps us on our toes and what will, hopefully, keep us honest and keep the government motivated to do a better job. Let us not put the job down so much that many of the young people who come to watch us, who hear what we have to say, will be put off from being our future leaders.
If we do not promote this job in the right way - if people hear us in parliament sounding, as the paper said today, ‘like Year 4 children’ – and if we do not carry on in a right and proper way, then people will not think this is a good job. We need high-quality, clever, and smart people to take on this job. It will not be for the pay because you see where the smart and clever people go in society; into private business or the higher echelons of the public service, because the pay will be much higher.
If we want to capture people who want to help the community - where the salaries are not as high as those in private industry - if we want them to lead the Territory into the future, so the Territory is a better place when we are old - because they will be the people who are governing the Territory when we are well past it – then we have to promote the benefits. It is a good job. It is an important and fulfilling job, and we need to promote that in our society if we are to do our job as politicians.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I commend the member for Fong Lim. We had discussions about some amendments which could be made to this bill. I believe they were positive and constructive discussions. In essence, if there were to be successive pay rises and we broke what was the nexus of the $3000 gap between what federal and Northern Territory politicians receive, then the $3000 gap should prevail. I believe that was wise counsel from the member for Fong Lim.
I was very interested in what the Opposition Leader and the member for Nelson said about this issue. To summarise that, they were talking about the difficulty of the job we do and, in many ways, the lot of politicians, or the way politicians are viewed within our community, which, basically, is not positive. As the member for Nelson said, some of it has to do with the media and some to do with our own behaviour.
I cannot help reflecting; someone asked me what this tie was earlier today. It is a Pharmacy Guild tie. I started off working as a pharmacist and went on to acquire further qualifications, as most people know, and spent time as an academic. I worked hard and, I believe, built up some respect in the research field I was working in which was, principally, Indigenous health and health services research. However, I noticed as soon as one gets into parliament – that sort of respect – people view you in a different way as a politician, and tend to be suspicious.
As the member for Nelson said, sometimes we do ourselves no favours. I go back to the comments that I made in 2005 to the member for Port Darwin, which I regret, and I have apologised to him personally, and to this parliament. But as politicians, you make a mistake and you live with it. People outside this place make a mistake or do something wrong, and I suppose there is a circle of people who know about it, but in the media, and in the public perception, these things go on. In the case of the government, you have ministerial portfolios and people will be very critical of you and the job that you are doing, even though you are acting in good faith and trying to do the right thing. There are extra responsibilities and extra burdens that we face as politicians.
In terms of the remuneration, I believe we are fairly remunerated. There is our base pay, which is approximately $124 000 per year, and those of us who hold other offices receive additional money to carry out our functions as ministers, Whips, Leader of the Opposition, a whole range of things. Sometimes you think, is it worth it? In my case, I am glad I came into this place and have been given the opportunity to make a contribution. Some of the work we do is difficult. When you go to the supermarket and you are in hurry to get a pint of milk to take home and someone wants to tell you something, we need to be courteous at all times, but sometimes you think, I wish I could just go in there and get the pint of milk. When you get home, the family asks: ‘Why did it take you so long to get that pint of milk?’ They have given up asking that now because they understand.
I started off my professional life as a pharmacist. I recently attended the 40th anniversary of my pharmacy year, which was 1969 at Queensland University, and it was great to catch up with people. I have kept in contact with some of them, and all of them who attended have done very well out of pharmacy. They have dedicated their lives to pharmacy and, as a by-product of that, a number of them have become quite wealthy. I applaud them for their dedication to a career and to a profession, but I always saw my future as lying elsewhere. I never looked at the remuneration as being the major reason why I did things. That is why I came to the Territory in the first place, to become a YMCA Recreation Officer at Maningrida. I have never regretted that decision. I could probably have made much more money at that time by doing something different.
It is the same with this job. There are people in this place who could probably make more money. We have had people on the other side, like Dr Lim, who gave up his medical practice where he could have made much more money, but he came into this place to make a contribution. I am sure there are other people who could make more money in the outside world but, for most of us, it is probably more than we have made in our previous careers. I believe we need to look at that aspect of it. Compared to the general population, we are remunerated pretty well. There are long hours and negatives about it, but I am quite prepared to accept the 2.5% pay rise, and I believe we all understand why it is there.
Regarding what the member for Nelson said, it is a shame the way politicians are viewed within our community, not just in the Northern Territory, but around Australia. Sometimes when I get in a taxi cab people ask me what I do for a living and I say, ‘I will give you three guesses’. Sometimes they get it, but not very often. It is probably when we are interstate that we do not go around saying: ‘I am a politician’. The next question is, ‘which side?’ - that is always the inevitable question. You have a 50% chance of getting a smile or a frown, but that is the lot we have as politicians. It is something we need to look at. We are the master of our own destiny, or misery in some cases. It behoves all of us to learn from our mistakes, or the mistakes of others, and try to present a positive, professional face of politics and politicians within the Northern Territory.
As the Leader of the Opposition mentioned, the main reason for doing this is that there was a 3.2% pay rise handed down by the Commonwealth. With our wages policy set at 2.5%, it was a decision by the government to show restraint. We should not ask more of our public servants than we were prepared to move with ourselves. It is also useful to note the pay policies in other jurisdictions are around 2.5%. It is not just in the Territory; it is a time for restraint and it is a time for us to show some leadership. I believe this is a way we can gain respect from the community; by showing restraint in what we do. Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to the House.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition and the Independents for their support of this bill.
When the issue of politicians pay comes around it is an absolute no-win for everyone. The community feels, and I believe, that members of parliament - as I speak to schoolchildren about it - are well remunerated compared to most people in society, who also work long hours. I believe what we are proposing in this bill is responsible and sensible, it makes common sense, and it shows leadership.
None of us put our hands up for this job for the money. I do not believe anyone in this parliament, or any other parliament, put their hand up for this job because of the money. We all come here, to this House, because we are passionate about the Northern Territory. We believe we can make a difference in the work we do on an electorate level and the work we do in this parliament, and if you are fortunate enough to be in government and hold ministerial portfolios, what you bring to those portfolio areas. We all come here because we believe in the Territory and we want to make a difference. We would all like to believe, when we leave this role, that we can look back with a sense of pride; that we did a pretty good job and the contribution we made, at whatever level, has been positive. I believe that is the motivating factor.
The other thing we should think about in this legislation, and all legislation, is what is in the best interests of the Northern Territory. That is what we are debating: what is in the best interests of the Northern Territory? Given that the issue about our remuneration is a no-win situation, I believe it is logical and in the best interests of the Northern Territory and its people - and trying to take the politics and the rancour out of this debate – that our salaries are tied to the general wages movement in the Northern Territory public sector.
Now that we are tied to the Remuneration Tribunal of federal members of parliament we get caught up in a debate which is not of our making. None of us know when those wage movements are going to occur in the federal parliament. They just pop up, out of the blue, and all of a sudden there is rancorous debate about the wages of politicians. Linking our wages to wage movements of our public service, and having transparency in that, will take much of the rancour out of the debate about politicians pay rises, because we will move with the bulk of our public servants. I doubt there is going to be a great deal of debate about the issue.
I go to the Leader of the Opposition’s comments and, again, I thank the opposition for its support. It is an unusual matter and it is a dilemma, given the wages policy of the government. If we are entering into negotiations, in good faith, yet we are accepting wage rises outside what we are offering our public servants, I do not believe that is a good faith position to start the negotiation process from; it becomes contentious, political, and a point of division. Are these things in the best interest of the Northern Territory? I do not believe so.
Given that we find ourselves in a position of restraint, in terms of the budget and our financial situation, as a result of the global financial crisis and the collapse in GST revenues, the responsible thing is to show restraint; to tie our increases to the general movement in the public sector and enter into those negotiations with a political point put to one side so we can negotiate in good faith and achieve good outcomes for various sectors of the public service and for the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, I thank members for their contribution to this debate and for their support. I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Continued from 21 October 2009.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on mining. It is a crucial industry for the Northern Territory and a mighty contributor to our economy and the wellbeing of a number of regions throughout the Northern Territory.
My department, the Department of Business and Employment - I have the Business part, and the Chief Minister has the Employment part - is committed to the work of the Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources to further develop our mining industry sector.
The mining industry is the biggest contributor to the Territory’s economy, and accounts for nearly a quarter of our GSP. The $14.4m Bringing Forward Discovery strategy details the elements of this government’s exploration investment attraction approach, which are:
the acquisition of high quality pre-competitive, geoscientific data increasingly being made available to industry, free of charge, via the Internet;
When I visited Japan earlier this year, it was my pleasure to host a Northern Territory Investment Seminar in Tokyo. I have told the House this before, but there were a number of players there from major Japanese companies, and the presentation was given by departmental officers and professionals about the mineral prospectivity of the Northern Territory. The feedback from the embassy officials was that the Territory really punches above its weight, particularly in the proactive way we go out and present opportunities to various players in Japan and China, and elsewhere around the globe. Also, that much of the geoscientific data is available free of charge to companies at an electronic level, and once they show further interest, the core samples and some of the analysis of those core samples are made available to companies.
The minister fought hard for a large building to house those core samples, which are a real asset; they are the Fort Knox of the Northern Territory. The minister has been very proactive in his support over many years in the mining industry and the resources sector. I also pay tribute to Chris Natt, who held the portfolio for a number of years, and also took a lead in the China investment strategy and some of these strategies. We have a wonderful minister, the member for Casuarina, who throws himself enthusiastically into promoting the resources sector within the Northern Territory. I commend him for that.
The Department of Business and Employment has a number of industry development funding programs and strategic business advice services which provide advice to businesses, including those in the mining sector. Over the past couple of weeks of this parliamentary session, I have mentioned Territory Business Growth, Territory Business Upskills, ecoBiz NT, and client management services, which are available to all industry sectors including the mining sector.
I have also talked about the Trade Support Scheme and the benefits it provides to Territory exporters and prospective exporters. The Trade Support Scheme is an export marketing assistance program which is co-managed by the Department of Chief Minister and the Department of Business and Employment. Grants from the scheme have recently been provided to assist the offshore activities of miners and mining support businesses.
The minister mentioned the success of the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar, or AGES, held in March this year. The AGES is held in conjunction with the Alice Springs Mining Support Expo. The Business Support Division, in conjunction with the Business and Industry Development Division of my department, coordinates the annual Alice Springs Mining Support Expo. I have had the opportunity to visit a number of small- to medium-sized enterprises in Alice Springs which are involved in the mining support industry. The range of products and services which are offered by these relatively small companies to a large sector, the mining sector, particularly the exploration sector amazed me - everything from toilet paper to flags, and implements used in marking out and prospecting prospective leases.
The mining expo attracted 38 businesses, exploration companies, and a number of mining industry stakeholders. Exhibitors commented on the positive atmosphere in the exhibition hall and, on several occasions, the comment was made it was difficult to believe the world was experiencing an economic downturn. Many of the visiting businesses also requested booths for next year.
As Minister for Asian Relations and Trade, I also fully support our investment attraction strategies for China and Japan. The China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy is delivering fantastic results, including 67 visits to the Northern Territory by 37 Chinese companies. There have also been four major Chinese investment deals, including the recent $32m Arafura and ECE deal, and four memorandums of understanding, or heads of agreement, signed to progress preliminary investment proposals to the finalisation of formal investment deals.
It is my understanding that some of the larger companies in Japan and China are looking to become involved in exploration and the development of mineral prospectivity at a much earlier stage. Previously, they used to come along when a particular project was fairly well advanced or had progressed along the path to production. However, they are now becoming involved at the ground level stage of the development. That is very positive and it really shows the growing relationship, particularly between Japan and China and the Northern Territory.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you mind if I acknowledge these young people? Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 8 Palmerston Christian School students, accompanied by Ms Ana Abbott and Ms Bev Garside. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, a warm welcome to those students from Palmerston.
As Minister for Asian Relations, and Trade, I also support the development of a Japan investment strategy, and I talked about that a little earlier in my speech. The success of those seminars in Tokyo - there have been two now - is the establishment of three joint ventures with Japanese partners, which I believe is a positive result and justifies the strategies put in place by this government. These investment attraction strategies are working and will bring positive results to the Territory economy and to Territorians.
A whole-of-government web-based investment portal, called Invest NT, is currently under development, and will be delivered through the Department of Business and Employment. Invest NT will provide a global entry point for potential investors and interested parties seeking investment opportunities and information about the Northern Territory’s economy. It has been my privilege to have a sneak preview of the development of the website, and it is very exciting. It will provide a whole range of information, not only investment information per se, but also the social and demographic landscape of the Northern Territory, and some of the infrastructure within the Northern Territory to support investment. This will assist those who are looking at investment in the Northern Territory to see what the Northern Territory is all about; what we are as a community, our economy, our workforce, and what our infrastructure offers in terms of potential investment.
As you are aware, I also have responsibility for the Land Development Corporation, which has strategies to support the oil, gas, and mining industries. The Land Development Corporation’s stock of serviced land has been reducing rapidly in the past 12 to 18 months. In response, the corporation has moved quickly to design and tender for a further development to meet anticipated growing market demand for large tracts of strategic industrial land.
Work on the development of an additional 20 large industrial parcels of land at Darwin Business Park South on East Arm is now well under way, with sales off the plan anticipated by late 2009 and 2010. Part of the conditions of people taking up much of that land is that their industry is pertinent to the oil and gas industry, and has a link with the oil and gas industry. This is part of what this government is doing in promoting the resources sector and supporting industries for the resource sector. All the parcels will be fully serviced and about 1 ha in size, enabling construction of large fabrication sheds with good access for road trains and large areas for storage. Immediately following the development of Darwin Business Park South, civil works will commence on a further 11 blocks at Darwin Business Park North, creating a total of 30 large industrial parcels. These parcels will be fast-tracked to the market by the Land Development Corporation to complement the short-term rental facility at the common user area.
In response to industry calls for the development of a common user area facility in Darwin, the Land Development Corporation has commenced the development of this area in East Arm. It was my pleasure to see the initial works around the common user area, the access works, and starting to build that hardstand area within the common user area. The site is suitably located for business to access for fabrication, modularisation, short-term storage, or construction solutions, and transport by road, rail, or sea. The common user area is intended to be utilised by organisations engaged in a range of activities that tie in with the role of East Arm as an intermodal services hub, and support for the oil, gas, mining and other industries.
I encourage people to see what is happening around the business parks. The developments which have occurred are spectacular; the industries which have begun and flourished, the employment opportunities that they offer, the economic and logistic support these particular industries give to our oil and gas industries, and the port generally.
Madam Speaker, in closing, I commend the minister for his statement, which I believe is very positive statement. I also commend the minister for his hard work in promoting the Territory and the Territory’s resource sector, both within Australia and overseas.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the former member for Port Darwin, Ms Sue Carter. On behalf of honourable members I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I support of the minister’s statement on this important subject. The mineral sector, and mining and exploration is a big contributor – indeed, a huge contributor - to the Northern Territory economy and the communities they operate in. It generates millions of dollars in export earnings and taxes for government, which allows us to build capital for expenditure on vital services like health, hospitals, education, and schools. Equally as important, it provides employment for thousands of Territorians and people beyond our borders from around Australia and overseas.
You only need to glance at the website of the Northern Territory Resources Council to see those listed under their membership as producers, explorers, and service to industry providers, and that the employment and services sector grows exponentially. During my time with Nabalco and, subsequently, Alcan and Rio Tinto Alcan, I spent a little time involved with the NT Resources Council’s forerunner, the Northern Territory Minerals Council which, at that time, was under the stewardship of the then CEO, the member for Goyder.
In my electorate of Nhulunbuy, mining has generated enormous wealth and jobs. In fact, the whole reason the township of Nhulunbuy was established around 40 years ago was because of the Gove joint venture. Of course, today the town is much more than a mining town; it has evolved to be an important regional centre, delivering services across north-east Arnhem Land. Even so, without the initial investment, Nhulunbuy as a town, as a region, would not be where it is today.
By way of a snapshot and a quick history lesson, in my region, bauxite was discovered in the 1950s following a period of fairly significant activity after World War II. Bauxite is the mineral which contains aluminium oxide which, when processed, produces aluminium. There were a few years of exploration prior to the start of operations, and quite an effort in raising the investment. We are talking about capital of some $320m which, in the 1960s, was a massive amount of money. The cost was associated not only with the establishment of mining and processing operations but, under the agreement with the federal government, there was to be the establishment of a whole township as well - hospital, schools, houses, a town centre. The reason was that the federal government and the Territory had a vested interest in seeing Nhulunbuy developed as a regional centre.
Parallel to the exploration and the raising of capital to see the Gove joint venture under way was negotiation of leases with the clans, which led to a challenge in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in the early 1970s, where the main clans of the region affected by the possible excision of a lease area were going to be impacted. It was the first land rights case which had been heard in the Northern Territory. The outcome of that case is well known and well documented; the clans lost the case. Justice Blackburn ruled in favour of Nabalco, so the Gove joint venture was able to proceed.
Forty years, or more, down the road, the situation is very different in mining and the landscape within which we are operating legally. We have recognition of native title today, and I am very pleased the traditional owners are in a much stronger position now than they were all those years ago. I acknowledge, for the record, while we see clans and Yolngu people reaping some of the many benefits of mining, there remain those who oppose it and, perhaps, who wish the outcome of the legal challenge had been very different then and they could turn back the clock and have things the way they were. It is a view I respect and recognise, as far as some Yolngu, especially some of the old people, are concerned not all that came with mining in the late 1960s and early 1970s was good.
I have to confess I really knew very little about mining until I found myself living in a mining community. On arrival in Nhulunbuy nearly 20 years ago, I was probably what you would describe as a greenie. My views changed over time, though. First of all, being a small community, I got to know a number of people who worked for the mining company, the huge range of jobs people worked in, and how passionate many of those people were about what they did and the industry they worked in. Second, I became a convert when I won a position there as a community relations officer at the end of 1996. My learning curve was huge, but I can say, in all honesty, that I loved every minute of it until I departed immediately after last year’s Northern Territory election.
Having never really thought too much about where things like my lemonade cans came from or where the alfoil which is in my kitchen drawer had come from – and I will bet it is in the kitchen drawers or cupboards of just about every member of this House – I learned very quickly about how these items were produced, because my job depended on it. I had to understand how bauxite mining works, how ore is processed to produce alumina, and how, once it left Gove, it was further processed into aluminium.
Interestingly, I had a quick chat with the member for Nelson a little while ago about a few things, including the mining industry. We both talked about how ignorant, in some ways, the members of the public are about where things come from and the importance the mining sector has in our lives. I was explaining to the member for Nelson that when I worked for Nabalco, Alcan, and Rio Tinto Alcan one of my core duties was to be tour guide of the operations. Every Friday, the company operates a tour that takes around about three-and-a-half hours to get right through the operations. I had some people who, at the beginning of the tour, would be a little suspicious or full of questions about how the company operated – recognising that you cannot have these sorts of operations without some sort of impacts, but it is about minimising those impacts – and invariably I would say to people: ‘Put your hand up if you do not have alfoil in your house’, or ‘Put your hand up if you came into Nhulunbuy by air on the Qantas jet’. I would ask people a few questions about the items they have in their homes; if they have a tinny to go fishing. I would then explain to them: ‘These products you have that we depend on are all the result of mining’, and it made people stop and think twice.
I had to learn all about the process, and with it I learned about steam power generation, as the company provides power, not only for its operations, but also for the township and neighbouring communities. It operates a deep water port for the huge ships to come in to take out exports. I learned much about purchase and supply chains, and about environment and safety systems as well. I can say, in all honesty, that one of the most impressive parts of the operation was, and still is, the mine site rehabilitation program, which sees mined out areas restored with the very same native species which were there originally. This program was ahead of its time when it was developed, with the close involvement of traditional owners, before mining commenced back in 1971.
Let us also remember that back then there was no requirement to undertake an environmental impact study, to engage with stakeholders in any really deep way, and no environmental protection authority. In the Territory, Australia and, I guess, around the world, we have all come a long way since then in ensuring that mining operations are environmentally sustainable.
I will also talk about the company’s approach to Indigenous employment because, as the member for Brennan said when he spoke last night, there are some very progressive ideas about employing Indigenous people in the resource sector in the Northern Territory. Back in the days of Nabalco, there was always a commitment - I guess you would call it a memorandum of understanding - to providing training and employment opportunities to local Yolngu people. The mine site rehabilitation program was the first and very obvious place for those opportunities. Yolngu people are the experts in caring for country and have always been involved in the rehabilitation program. It is part of their belief that the tree known as Gadaka, or the Stringy Bark, must be returned to the mine site, and it has.
Obviously, the rehabilitation program is very labour-intensive as far as the seed collection goes. All the seeds that are used to seed mined out areas have to be collected, and they are all collected from within the mine site area, including revegetated areas. There is no easy way of doing that; seeds have to be manually collected or harvested. Depending on the species, there is also certain preparation that goes with storage of the seeds.
Most of the Yolngu who work on the rehabilitation program are employed through a company called YBE Proprietary Limited, or YBE2, to be correct, which is wholly owned by the clans of the region, and it is a major employer and trainer of Yolngu people. This company, now in its 40th year of operation, has always had a close working relationship with the mining company, Nabalco, Alcan, and Rio Tinto Alcan, as it is today. It is contracted to undertake a host of roles, but the core business is operating plant equipment and earthworks. This includes loading and hauling bauxite from satellite ore bodies, along with mud farming in the residue disposal area, and loading and hauling limestone from the general cargo wharf which is used in the alumina production process.
YBE have worked hard to continue to provide services to Rio Tinto Alcan, and at the same time provide ongoing training opportunities. It has been a challenging time with the current downturn in the global financial situation, which has hit the resource sector quite hard. Rio Tinto Alcan is not immune from that, with a drop in demand, and therefore prices, for aluminium. There is a domino effect downstream for service providers and contractors, and YBE have not been immune. However, through hard work and some very determined negotiation, YBE has managed to minimise the impact on its company and its employees, and has managed to actually step into some of the gaps left by larger contracting companies. I am really pleased it has continued seeing success, and continued to see dividends paid to the clans. The advantage for YBE is that it is locally based and does not have all the issues of trying to house a workforce which is flying in and out. For YBE and Rio Tinto Alcan it has been quite a win-win situation.
During my years there, there were always groups of visitors, other mining companies, others from the resource sector from overseas and around Australia who were always very interested to see how the relationship worked and how the company met its obligations to provide employment and training to Indigenous people.
The other cornerstone for Rio Tinto Alcan, through the Indigenous employment program, is its ALERT training program, which was recognised recently in the Northern Territory Training Awards in Darwin. It won the Northern Territory Training Initiative award. It is a credit not only to the company, but to the students, their families and communities, and the input of Charles Darwin University, in seeing such successful outcomes. I have an extract from our local newspaper, the Arafura Times, talking about this award. I cannot tell you how proud families and communities are when they see their young people participate, graduate, and come out the other end ready for jobs, and to see so many of them picking up employment.
I quote an extract from Dhangal Gurruwiwi, whom I have known for many years. She is an artist, a leader, and a very talented linguist, fluent in her own language and English as well. She also lectures at Charles Darwin University teaching Yolngu to people. She has this lovely metaphor, and I have heard her use this before, but when she spoke at the ceremony about this ALERT award she said:
Rio Tinto Alcan has a really good track record in Indigenous employment and training, and since taking on the operations at Gove almost two years ago, it is determined to take it even further to see more Yolngu employed at its Gove operations. This is not unlike its commitment to, and partnership with, the Department of Education and Training, and the people at Jabiru and Gunbalanya through its ERA operations - I know the member for Arafura has spoken about this - a partnership that will see 30 young people taken into a training program with ERA and which, on completion, we would hope will deliver real jobs to these people.
The Northern Territory government, through the Department of Education and Training, has a big role to play in this. The experience to date at Gove is that the challenge in bringing young people into the workforce to be work-ready and with sufficient literacy and numeracy needs work; there is a gap that needs to be filled. It comes back to the very core of improving outcomes in Indigenous education; to ensure kids go to school, they are literate and numerate, and complete secondary school, so they are ready to take up those training and employment opportunities when they leave school.
It goes without saying that the resource sector employs many people across a huge range of jobs. As the member for Barkly rightly pointed out yesterday, mining is not just one job, and as a large employer in the Territory, we need to continue to grow our own. While many mining communities have a degree of transience, Gove is less so and always has been. I believe it has much to do with the beautiful location and the lifestyle that goes with it, and people who think they will stay for a couple of years, often end up staying much longer.
The member for Katherine was quite right when he said we need to offer incentives to target home-grown professionals, tradespeople, and skilled workers. While we are in the midst of a downturn, and the job market is not as tight as it was a couple of years ago, I know, from my time with the mining company, that many engineers of all disciplines, civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical and so on, who were recruited to work at Gove were recruited from places like South Africa and, more recently, from India. There is a gap in our secondary and tertiary education system which needs to be addressed. I am sure the resource sector is working on this in partnership with the Australian and Territory governments.
Speaking of partnerships, I believe it is important to talk about the many positive things that come from partnerships mining companies have with the communities they operate in. In my electorate, the community has enjoyed years of financial and in-kind support for a whole host of projects and programs, from the very small to the very large scale.
On the large scale, at Gove, we have seen a recent demonstration of this with the Telstra fibre-optic cable project which was a partnership between Telstra, the Northern Territory government, Rio Tinto, and the Northern Land Council, which last year saw the laying of nearly 800 km of fibre-optic cable from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy, delivering high-speed broadband. While, of course, Rio Tinto Alcan will benefit from the investment, so too will many remote communities along the way.
Some six or so years ago, a new airport terminal building was built at Gove to the tune of around $8m. Again, the mining company had a vested interest in this because they needed the capacity to cope with the huge increase in passenger traffic, most of whom were associated with the $2.5bn G3 expansion project, a project which everyone benefits from.
Let us not forget that Rio Tinto is also a major sponsor of our very own Territory Thunder AFL team. It is sponsorship such as this which has enabled the Northern Territory to compete in Aussie Rules at a national level, which is fantastic.
The benefits for the Territory from the contribution of the resource sector are enormous. This is why, in this resource rich place, the Northern Territory government continues to actively pursue and attract investment from companies like INPEX, which will be coming to the Northern Territory in the not too distant future. I know they are already active on the ground, in terms of community consultation, and we will see the largest investment in construction in Australia, to the tune of some $11 or $12bn.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement, and commend it to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I respond to the minister’s statement, which begins with the phrase:
When I read this document it was hard to believe it was an overview of our resource industry; I thought it was an overview of exploration, how many trips to China the minister was going to make, and where our investment was going to come in for exploration. Whilst I would agree it is very important for the future development of mines in the Northern Territory, it only seems to be half the story, because the heading of the statement is: ‘Mining in the Northern Territory’.
I was a little disappointed we did not get an update in this statement on mining as it is today in the Northern Territory. The reason I say that is because we know there has been a downturn in the global economy, and the Territory relies very much on royalties from mining. It would have been good for the government to come to the House and give us an update on the present situation in relation to mining production now.
When you look at the regional production figures for 2008-09 you realise, when you start to put dollar figures to our mining, how much we depend on mining. In the East Arnhem region, the total value of our mining production is $2 153 677bn. The area around Darwin, which includes my electorate, has a value of $2278m, which is much less than the East Arnhem region. The Darwin region, which is further out to Frances Creek and gold mining areas, has a total value of $668 139m - I might be including uranium in this. In the Katherine region, it is approximately $194m. In the Barkly Region, it is $195 459m. In the Central region, it is around $231m. That gives you an indication of how important mining is to the Northern Territory.
Although the area around Darwin does not have a high value for the mining which occurs - because it is nearly all extractive mining - it is extremely important. This is because nearly every building in Darwin uses sand from Howard Springs or the area nearby, which, I could say, fairly surely, would not have been built if we did not have the sand mines in that rural area. Sand, in the 2008-09 year, was quoted as production, 98 932 tonnes, with a value of $1412m.
There are other important commodities such as gravel which we build our roads with, which was valued at nearly $0.5m and soil at around $150 000. Crushed rock is another important – I will not call it mineral in the sense of gold and manganese ...
A member: It is a quarry product.
Mr WOOD: Yes, a quarry product, of $150 000 from the Darwin area. The Darwin region, which is further out towards Kakadu, at the Mt Bundy Mine, is worth $7m, and in the Katherine region another $382 000.
When we are talking about mining, we should not forget the extractive areas which are officially called the non-metallic minerals section. Basically, that is what keeps the Territory going and growing. Without the crushed rock we would not have road material when we are putting bitumen on roads; without our gravel we would not have the base; and without sand we would not have our buildings. It is important to recognise that particular industry.
I would have liked the minister to talk about the bauxite. I would have asked the minister to give us an update on the gold GBS in Pine Creek. We know it closed, and we believe it is opening up again, so it would be good if we had an update on the state of gold mining in the Pine Creek region.
We have heard a little about McArthur River, and I asked a question in parliament about it. I do not know whether I got as fulsome an answer as I would have liked, but I am interested to know a little more about the realignment of the river, especially in relation to whether all the trees were planted. As we know, McArthur River closed down for a while this year. I believe the trees that were being prepared in the nursery at that time stayed in the nursery; I was under the impression they were either root bound or just left alone. I am not sure what the story is, but that is one of the reasons I asked the minister the question: Were the banks of the realigned river re-vegetated? That is important because, even though I was not opposed to the realignment of the river, I expect the strict requirements put in by the government to make sure the project is not adversely affecting the environment are met. The answer to that question should come back to this parliament.
Bootu is a manganese mine. As that is the only manganese mine I have visited, I thought, that is pretty big mine. In fact, when you look at the figures, again for 2008-09, manganese produced in the Barkly region, has a value of $195m. Then you go to Groote Eylandt, where the other manganese mine is situated, with a value of $1206bn. So, you can see Bootu is big, but it is not as big as the other mine.
I would also like an update on Melville Island. We know the sand mining enterprise collapsed for some time, and we believe it has started up again. It would have been good for the minister to give us an update on the current position of the sand mining project.
The same with Compass. We know Compass closed down for a while, and there is talk it will be reopened in the Batchelor area. Again, there is nothing in this statement, which is a pity. Angela Pamela, the uranium mine in Alice Springs - it would be good to have an update on where that is at the moment. I am sure Alice Springs people would be interested to hear what is happening with that mine.
There is a mention about Ranger doing some more exploration and finding more uranium nearby but an update on that would be good.
GEMCO – I do not know much about these mines on Groote Eylandt, but there is nothing in this statement that gives an update on that. I know that some of our production has gone up, but some of the value has gone down. It is important to have that updated in our document.
Mt Todd has been discussed in this House for years, and most people would know that when mining closed down there were some environmental problems which have been debated long and hard in this parliament. The government is spending a fair amount of money on rehabilitation at Mt Todd and there was also the prospect of a new mine starting up. I have not heard for quite a while the state of the Mt Todd Mine, or the company working there. Has it decided to continue to mine and are they doing the required rehabilitation? Again, there is no report on that. If we are looking at an overview of the current state of our resource industry, then we should be notified about that mine.
There is also a mine near the Robinson River - the member for Goyder might give me the correct name, I believe it is the Redbank Mine - which has an application in to start mining again. I do not see anything in this statement about that. It is an important mine, in one of our more isolated areas. As the member for Nhulunbuy said, mines are good for employment, so what are the prospects for this mine starting up and employing local Indigenous people?
This is the type of information that would provide a good overview of the current state of our resource industry. I do not always have the ability to find out these things, so there is an opportunity for the government, when it makes a statement - I do not mind if the statement is long – to provide an update, not only to parliamentarians but also to people listening. As you know, we are now on the web and people can listen to what the minister has to say and gain an understanding of the resource industry in the Territory.
Whilst I welcome the statement, it is only a 50% statement. We have one side of mining, which is the exploration, but we have forgotten to talk about the production side, which is important. The members for Nhulunbuy and Katherine raised the issues of employment opportunities, training, and other benefits from the mining industry. Issues about roads and transport of mining materials would be worth discussing. We can talk about mining in certain areas, but are the roads in a state which allows production to be delivered to ports or railheads?
Another area I noted, when I was going through the figures, is that we had Merlin Diamond Mine. I do not see any report on whether it is producing diamonds at the moment, but it appears as a mine on the mining map on the website. It would be interesting to hear about that. I understand there is also the possibility of diamonds in the Timber Creek region, because it is in the same area as Lake Argyle; there is no update on that. There are probably quite a few other smaller minerals that do not receive much of a mention. The Territory used to be famous for tin mining and production. We produced some tin in the 1990s, not a huge amount, but there was some. I believe there is a tin mine – it might be abandoned now – on the Cox Peninsula. It would be interesting to have an update on some of these things. The names occur in the department’s production figures, but unless someone explains why there is no production in subsequent years, we would not know if there is no need for tin, or if the mine has closed down.
Vermiculite is an interesting one, which is often used in nursery production. In the regional production figures for 2008-09, vermiculite is produced in Central Australia, with a value of $1.9m. I am interested to know where it is produced and what it is used for.
Ms Purick: Kitty litter.
Mr WOOD: Kitty litter. I hope it is used for something more useful like nursery potting mixes.
I thank the minister for his statement. But I feel it is half full or half depleted, because there should have been much more information. I do not expect every statement to be something we are going to argue about, but I expect them to be informative, to tell the House what is actually going on.
Mr Styles: Not just a good news story.
Mr WOOD: That is right. If there is a mine that has gone bad, tell us that. If there is a problem at Mt Todd, tell us about the problem. Give it to us, warts and all, so we understand what is going on in the mining industry. If there are problems, we are partly here to work together. I know the government will always be subject to criticisms, but that is the way the system works. There is no reason not to have a debate about the mining industry in the Northern Territory. We do not all contribute positive ideas to the government, but constructive criticism is part of the reason we are here.
I thank the minister for his statement, but I will wait patiently for the second half.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker. A new thing for me, Acting Deputy Speakers, I do not know where this has come from.
I agree with the member for Nelson, I believe he is spot on when he says there is not much in the statement; it is absolute fluff. I inform the member for Nelson that there is not much in it because the government does not have much positive to say about its activities, because it has done nothing. It is a do-nothing government - it sits on its hands, watches things happen with, seemingly, no control to influence at all - it is a do-nothing government.
What can it say about mining? As far as this government is concerned, mines are cash cows; they are something to bleed, something for its union mates to belt up. That is basically the extent of it, for this government. There was no mention of uranium mining. I wonder why. Faced with the possibility of more uranium mining a few years ago, the government, at the time - the Martin Labor government - went to ground. It did not know how to respond at all. It was not prepared to countenance more uranium mines because of some ideological bent it has in relation to uranium mining; it could not do it.
At the time, the federal Resources minister, Ian Macfarlane, came and had a chat with the then Territory mining minister, Kon Vatskalis, who came downstairs, walked out the front of Parliament House and abdicated control of uranium mining to the federal government, because it was all beyond him; he did not know how to get a uranium mine going in the Northern Territory. He abdicated all responsibility for uranium mining to the federal government. These people have the audacity to talk about statehood when they are prepared to shelve things off like that to the Australian government. I was very embarrassed at the time. I thought it was poor form for a minister of the Territory government to do that.
How has the government pushed and encouraged uranium mining in the Northern Territory? We see the Jabiluka lease; it has been sitting dormant for years. Has this government gone to the leaseholder and said: ‘You either develop it, or you lose it’? When has the wood been put on that company to say: ‘Come on, you have had this lease for a long time; there is a big demand around the world for Australia’s uranium’? Australia is a significant player - whether we like it or not - in the uranium industry. When has the government gone out and pushed uranium mining? I will tell you when - never. Never has this government promoted uranium mining.
The government is quite prepared to come into this joint and bang on about greenhouse gas emissions, and the like, and how we have to curb our ways to stop polluting, and we all know the atomic energy industry is one of those clean industries as far as greenhouse gases are concerned. You would think the government, with an ideological bent like that, would be trying to assist the world by selling more uranium and opening up more uranium mines; but no, this government does not do that at all.
Where was the mention on gold in the statement? Nothing. Not a mention. Where was the mention in the statement on the McArthur River Mine? Nothing. Why would it mention the McArthur River Mine? The government was quite prepared a few months ago to sit back and watch it close; it said it was all out of its hands. It was not going to Canberra to lobby the federal Environment minister and the Prime Minister to ensure their federal comrades did something to ensure the mine stayed open. No, it washed its hands of it. The government said it was nothing to do with it; it was not at all in the gambit of the Territory government, it wanted nothing to do with it.
There was not one word during the period when McArthur River Mine was having so many troubles. It had seen all of the electricity generators blow up on its site, and it had a great expense to bring in generators from interstate and run its operations on diesel for a long period of time. It had all sorts of problems with the global downturn in mineral prices and problems with the regulations put in place by the Commonwealth government. The mine looked like it would close; there were 400 jobs hanging off it. What support did it get from this government? None, zero, nought, nothing. The government could not pick up the phone to the federal Environment minister or the Prime Minister - absolutely appalling!
The reason these guys make these silly statements is because they are trying to put a little gloss where there is a vacant space; where there is nothing happening. They come in here and talk about things – I note we are going to talk about road safety this afternoon; that will be interesting, because the government has done five-eighths of nothing in regard to road safety. But, first, we have to endure the mining minister’s statement on mining. He makes a statement because he wants to cover up the fact he has done nothing to forward the interests of mining.
This government is all about spin and style, but with very little substance or action; you do not see that with this government at all. We saw yesterday, in Question Time, the Chief Minister talk about the emissions trading scheme, greenhouse gases, and global warming. If …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I call your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. We have a quorum. Continue, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker. As I was saying, this government talks about its concern with global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, and its utter and loyal following for that environmental zealot, Penny Wong, and the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. It is quite prepared to sacrifice the Northern Territory’s farming and grazing industries, and, I bet London to a brick, it has done nothing to support the Territory’s mining industry in relation to the emissions trading scheme plans the Prime Minister has.
I guarantee that the mines minister has not once picked up the phone to Kevin Rudd or to Penny Wong, and said: ‘Hey guys, hold back, this is going to hurt the Northern Territory. This is going to hurt large industries in the Northern Territory, namely, mining, agriculture, and a whole range of others. Let us have a look at it. I am sure we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but you do not need to ruin some of our foundation industries’. That would not happen. What we do see is a Chief Minister who is quite prepared to jump up and misrepresent the comments members make in this place, and the Leader for Government Business is quite prepared to do the same thing.
In Question Time yesterday, the government quoted from a report on the science of geosequestration of carbon dioxide. The report was done by the Science and Innovation Committee in the last federal parliament, and it was called Between a rock and a hard place. The Science and Innovation Committee - I emphasise the word ‘science’ - was tasked with investigating the success or failure of carbon geosequestration. A number of us put in a dissenting report to the eventual findings of that committee because, and I quote from the report:
1.1 We dissent from some of the statements made in the report Between a Rock and a Hard Place by the Standing Committee on Science and Innovation on its investigation into the Geosequestration of Carbon Dioxide.
1.2 We disagree with the report’s unequivocal support for the hypothesis that global warming is caused by man - so-called anthropogenic global warming (AGW).
1.3 We are concerned that the Committee’s report strays well outside of its terms of reference. In fact, the committee did not take any evidence relating to anthropogenic global warming.
When you are tasked to do something, particularly when you are sitting on a committee like the Science and Innovation Committee, you take in a range of evidence. We were inquiring about the geosequestration of carbon dioxide, and the inquiry went on for a number of years. We did not take one jot - not one iota - of evidence on greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, or anything of that nature. But, lo and behold, when the report came out, it was almost entirely about global warming, irrespective of the fact that we never took any evidence.
The Chief Minister, for his own base political reasons, might like to call us all global warming sceptics and that sort of stuff, but he has clearly misrepresented the intentions of this report. Yesterday, in Question Time, he got up – he does this, and members of the government are quite happy to do this; they selectively quote from documents – and read a section:
For the information of the Chief Minister, at no stage were we making those comments. Those comments were all referenced below that passage by other people, scientists and the like, and I could go through them all to say where those references came from. But the point I am making is at no stage have we said, or have I said, that I do not believe in climate change. Climate change is happening all the time. It has been happening since day one, since the big bang. Since the start of this planet, the climate has been changing. The question seems to be whether the climate is changing because of manmade actions, and I have to say, particularly as I sat on the Science and Innovation Committee, that I am sceptical about that, because the whole basis of science is about scepticism. It is not taking anything as a fact, it is about testing issues; testing, trying, working things through, and actually proving, one way or the other.
No matter what members on the other side think, this is a controversial area; it is not cut and dried. There is a big slab of scientists who say the world is warming because of man made activities. There are also a number of scientists, probably not as big a group, but still a significant group, who say it is all bunkum, it is because of factors such as the sun, the moon, and cycles we are going through on this planet. I do not know, but I have an open mind on the matter.
Of course I support all efforts to see greenhouse gas emissions curbed and slowed down. I do not think it is worth the risk of finding out, down the track, that we have caused this and we failed to do anything about it. But, to stand up and say we are all deniers, and all this nonsense, does not serve any purpose, apart from a political purpose, and that is what this is all about.
This is why we hear these dumb statements in the parliament; it is all about politics. It is not about anything real; it is all about spin. It is all about contriving an argument, but there is nothing really getting done.
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells.
Mr GILES: Can you please stop the clock too, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker?
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Stop the clock and ring the bells please. A quorum is present. Continue member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
Dr Burns: He can count to 10.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, I missed that one.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr TOLLNER: The man who gets so offended about interjections, interjects.
This government is all about style over substance. It is all about spin over fact; trying to paper over the deficiencies of its actions. It is a sad indictment that we seem to be constantly coming into this House debating statements; debating things which really have no impact on anything. I would say not even 10% of this week has been spent debating legislation and regulations; doing what we are supposed to do in this House.
There are many people out there who are sitting on the edge of their chairs waiting for this government to make decisions on a whole range of things: whether they have development proposals which can go ahead, whether we are going to be bringing no smoking laws into pubs on 2 January, or if it will be delayed. There is a whole range of things we could be discussing, but the government does not want to discuss that, why? Because it has done nothing. They are lazy and incompetent, and they have done nothing. Instead we come in and debate meaningless statements. Statements which take 20 or 30 minutes to read out, but when you read through them, there is nothing of any value or substance.
It is great the minister wants to fly to China on a regular basis; I encourage him to do that. More ministers should get out and travel and promote the Northern Territory. I have no problems with that. But to waste the time of this Chamber in meaningless debate when we could be doing real things which are for the good of Territorians I believe is reprehensible. The statement by the minister is a farce, and these sorts of statements should not be tolerated in this Chamber.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I call your attention to the state of the House.
Mr Knight: The member for Braitling just walked out; he will be back in a second.
Mr TOLLNER: Ring the bells, he might come back quicker. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I do not think you heard me; I just called your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am counting to verify the state of the House, thank you very much, member for Fong Lim. Ring the bells. A quorum is present.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the Chief Minister, I present the 2008-09 Annual Report of the Ombudsman for the Northern Territory. Pursuant to section 154(1) of the Ombudsman’s Act 2009, there is a requirement to table this report before the Assembly within six sitting days.
The Ombudsman 2008-09 Annual Report provides a comprehensive appraisal of the officer’s performance over the last financial year: financial statements required under the Financial Management Act, 24 case studies, and three detailed accounts of investigations undertaken by the Ombudsman, and the subsequent recommendations to the agency.
2009 was a significant year for the Ombudsman. Internationally, it marked the 200th anniversary of the world’s first Ombudsman. Locally, it marked the commencement of the new Ombudsman Act. As members would be aware, the government gave a commitment to major legislative reform to establish a modern, best practice, and comprehensive scheme for the ongoing operation of the Ombudsman in the Northern Territory. The new Ombudsman Act honours that commitment, and requires that Territorians have in place an accessible and comprehensive scheme …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I call your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is present.
Dr BURNS: … for resolving complaints about the administrative actions of government agencies.
The key powers we added to the Ombudsman’s armoury include: a clearer and more transparent delivery of a complaints process; own initiative power to investigate and deal with police conduct; codifying the range of options for dealing with complaints about the conduct of police officers while they are on duty; and providing police officers with the ability to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about another police officer in defined circumstances. The purpose of this is to allow police officers access to the Ombudsman without compromising the Commissioner of Police’s management responsibilities, and the introduction of an alternate dispute resolution process.
The annual report highlights a substantial increase in the activities and the public profile of the office. The Ombudsman entered into a joint venture with Charles Darwin University to train public servants in the skills required to conduct investigations. The Ombudsman’s staff are to be commended for this excellent initiative.
This report indicates that, while there are cases where people behave in a way which goes beyond their power and beyond reasonableness, by and large, a good job is done by the vast majority of the Territory’s 17 500 public servants, dealing with a broad range of services.
The Ombudsman’s Office ensures there is an effective place to deal with matters and complaints. I extend my thanks to the Ombudsman and her staff for their commitment towards improving the quality of government administration in the Northern Territory.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this report.
Debate adjourned.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the incidence of trauma and tragedy on our roads is too high. As a father and a proud Territorian, when I think of Territory families needlessly losing their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters, it shocks me to the core.
As Transport Minister, and a member of the Henderson government, I am committed - we are committed - to making our roads safer for Territory families. It is painfully true the Northern Territory road toll is about three times the national average. While changes recommended by the Road Safety Task Force, and introduced by this government since 2007, have the potential to address many of the issues related to traffic casualties in the Territory, it will take years before we can assess the actual impact of these reforms in reducing the burden of road trauma in the Northern Territory.
A reduction in our road toll will require a change in our driving culture, and this will take time. That is why this government has introduced a raft of road safety reforms over the past few years. As a former teacher, I will start with education and awareness:
I was pleased to reopen the Parap Road Safety Centre in April this year. The centre is delivering bicycle road safety training three days per week to Years 4 to 6 primary school students.
the Top End tour of Muttacar - Sorry Business performed 22 shows over a four-week period. In addition to the performances in Darwin and Katherine schools and Corrections Centres, the tour visited 14 communities.
the Indigenous Road Safety AFL partnership program commenced in March 2009, with participation in remote community healthy lifestyle carnivals held in Utopia, Barunga, Katherine, and Darwin.
an early childhood curriculum resource named Safer Roads for Early Childhood, based on a similar Western Australian program, is currently being trialled by 21 teachers in eight different schools in Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, and Darwin, as part of the Road Safety Curriculum Development Project.
during January to June 2009, road safety officers, including Hector the Road Safety Cat, delivered presentations to over 2000 children across the Territory.
the Back to School Road Safety Awareness Campaign targeting drivers, parents and students was promoted through newspaper and radio advertising.
I wanted to start with programs which mainly targeted schoolchildren, because we have to get the message to our young people early. It is a sad fact we have to do this so early but, if it saves just one life, it is worth it.
On 6 June 2009, the Barunga Road Safety Song Competition was held. Eight bands from across the Northern Territory competed for prize money, with Barunga Primary School winning the Best School Song Group, while Best Band was won by White Water Band with second prize going to Eleanor Dixon and her band.
Twelve road safety presentations were delivered to Defence Force personnel during June and July 2009, with more to come. These will be presented in conjunction with senior personnel from the Royal Darwin Hospital National Critical Care and Trauma Response Unit, and Emergency Services. The list goes on, but we cannot underestimate the value of education and awareness activities.
The Henderson government knows reckless and dangerous behaviour on our roads is unacceptable. Drivers who jump behind the wheel, who speed, who drink, who do not wear a seat belt, who engage in ‘whatever, she’ll be right mate’ behaviour, which puts their lives and the lives of other Territorians at risk, are idiots. The government bit the bullet, because we know that road safety is everyone’s business, and saving Territorians’ lives on our roads is beyond politics.
We have increased penalties with fines, automatic driver licence suspensions, introduced demerit points, and we have cracked down on hoons. Drink-driving, not wearing seat belts, and speeding remain major contributors to our road toll, and the government is targeting these crimes through our road safety reforms.
The Country Liberals continue to oppose speed limits on our roads, because they say speed does not kill; they say there is no evidence that speed kills. They are so out of touch that they continue to play politics with the road toll and the lives of Territorians.
I assure you there is nationwide and worldwide evidence which shows that reducing speed reduces the impact of a crash and reduces the resulting carnage. It is basic physics. On average, since the introduction of speed limits on Territory highways, deaths in the 130 km/h zones have halved compared to the previous five years. It is not rocket science; speed kills, and speed remains a significant problem on both urban and rural roads, particularly for non-Indigenous people. But, unlike the Country Liberals opposite, whose actions amount to neglect, this government is serious about reducing acts of stupidity on our roads, not encouraging them.
Drink-driving is a big problem in the Territory, and far too many fatal crashes are alcohol related. The Henderson government is listening to the experts in road safety, in the interests of Territorians’ lives. We are introducing world’s best practice.
In April this year, the alcohol ignition lock program commenced. As of 16 September, the courts have imposed 221 ignition lock periods: seven of six months; 191 of 12 months; 17 of 18 months; and, six two-year periods against drivers found guilty of a second or subsequent drink-driving offence. These sentences are in addition to the existing penalty framework for drink-driving offences, and offenders still need to complete mandatory disqualification periods and successfully complete drink-driver education courses.
Members opposite have expressed their agenda to seize cars from Territory families for drink-driving offences. As the Minister for Transport, I will not rule out initiatives that save Territorians’ lives, but we have to be practical with our approach to change the behaviour of drink-drivers. Taking away the car that may be the only way partners or family members have of getting themselves around needs to be thought out very carefully. By contrast, the Henderson government will keep looking at practical and effective ideas, and we will keep raising awareness and seek to change the drink-driving culture that too many drivers have.
Running red lights is reckless, stupid, and dangerous behaviour. I make no apologies for wanting to protect Territorians by introducing an additional eight red light and speed cameras across the Darwin arterial road network this year. This morning, I announced that four new cameras are going live tomorrow, and traffic offenders caught on these cameras will be issued with fines and demerit points. There are an additional four cameras to commence later this year. People must choose not to run red lights. Drivers must choose to do the right thing and be safe on Territory roads. I would rather see no fines paid. I would like to set an aspirational target of the total fines paid to be zero - nothing - because that would mean the message is getting through to Territorians and our visitors alike: road safety is everyone’s business.
There is no doubt not wearing seat belts in the Territory leads to an inflated number of fatalities and casualties from road accidents. The continuing lack of restraint use, particularly among Indigenous people, and generally in rural areas, is costing Territorian lives. Seat belts save lives. The culture of not wearing seat belts has to change.
Our younger drivers are particularly at risk on our roads, and are over represented in crash statistics. Targeting measures to address safety in this group is imperative. To refocus and enhance driver training, a 2008 election commitment boosted funding for learner driver education to $2m, through the provision of an additional $1m. The government is considering options for the development of a new program which will provide novice drivers throughout the Territory the opportunity to develop the appropriate knowledge and skills to drive safely on our roads.
Improving road safety is a challenge for every government around Australia, and for governments worldwide. There is no secret recipe, but a combination of education, awareness, technology, and enforcement are part of the ingredients for effective policy. We still have a long way to go, there is no doubt about that, and the Henderson government is taking the challenge head on.
While this year’s official road toll stands at 27, on average, 53 people die on Territory roads each year. We know the overall rate of road traffic related casualties in the Northern Territory is decreasing. I am not for a moment suggesting we can sit back and watch the road toll decline - no way. Each and every Territorian needs to work together towards this.
The Australian Medical Association supports the Henderson government’s approach to improving road safety. Hospitals are clogged needlessly with road accident victims. I do not for one moment accept, and I totally reject, inferences made in this House by members opposite that placing innocent lives at risk by promoting reckless and dangerous behaviour is a lifestyle choice. When innocent Territorian lives are needlessly wasted in carnage on our roads; that is not lifestyle.
This is why the Henderson government has made the tough decisions, and we will continue to take action to reduce the carnage. Road safety is everyone’s business and one life lost on Territory roads is one too many.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, during this speech I will provide a broad overview of the transport sector, as I see it.
I will also describe concerns I have, which relate to my portfolio, in terms of transport, concerns in central Australia, and for the electors of Braitling. The member for Brennan will talk of concerns relating to Palmerston; the member for Sanderson, regarding the northern suburbs; the member for Katherine, regarding Katherine; and the member for Port Darwin, regarding Darwin.
I believe road safety is part of the issue, but it is incorrect to talk only of road safety. What we are really talking about is the broader strategic position which logistics plays on all of us. While I would not expect the minister to be fully aware of the broad ranging issues affecting road safety, I would expect one or two of his parliamentary colleagues to have provided more sense to the statement to be debated today. To talk on road safety is to talk of infrastructure, and to assess people as part of that infrastructure. We must completely analyse the situation as the current and future freight challenge.
Our future is that of a fully-integrated logistic system which is seamless in its delivery, from the front door of our house to anywhere in the world, linking cars, buses, trains, boats, planes, etcetera. To lose, or not have access to, any mediums of such an intermodal system ensures we have systemic breaks in what should be a seamless process. When the breakdown occurs, many things can happen as a result: social dislocation; problems for the mining industry in terms of access to services or delivery of goods; and birthing services such as in Tennant Creek, where mothers-to-be have significant transport problems in getting to Alice Springs to give birth. If a form of transport falls down it is difficult for people to access medical services. There is a significant economic impact if the breakdown occurs in the logistic process: higher transportation costs, the impact on the cost of living through inflation, and the rising cost of groceries, fuel, goods and services. We feel it all.
I will talk about the transport industry in Australia and quote from Infrastructure Partnerships Australia’s conference booklet titled Partnerships 2009:
Another outcome from the breakdown of the logistical process is increased deaths on our roads. But we cannot judge the success or failure of a government policy just by road deaths or serious injury statistics. We must recognise the role the previous Country Liberal and Howard governments played in forming the Northern Territory to where we are now, and their role in creating a seamless freight transport sector, with the building of the Adelaide to Darwin railway line, which provides the potential for Australia, the Northern Territory and Darwin to have a greater gateway for trade relations with Asia. The railway line potentially provides greater support for cheaper prices for goods and services to the Territory.
It is very important to understand the transport industry in terms of infrastructure in the Northern Territory, because road safety forms part of it, but is not the only part. Transport is important to ensure our economy continues to operate, our children can get to school, and our groceries can be delivered on the shelves.
Our transport industry needs to be speedy; it should not have long delays, it must have restrictions moved, and permits taken away. We must ensure that our roads are safe and good for our family members, our relatives, and our constituents to travel on. We have to make sure they are environmentally friendly; we have to reduce the impact on the environment and on the climate, and we also must look at the impact of climate change.
I quote again from the Partnerships 2009 booklet:
It is very important we do not take our eye off the ball in terms of the environmental constraints on the transport logistics sector. There are a number of restraints in our sector – but the minister did not happen to touch on those things. One of those restraints is the future direction of the commercial passenger vehicle industry in the Northern Territory. There was a review conducted in 2007, the consultants, Fivenines, were appointed in 2008, the synopsis was conducted in 2009 with comments due by 22 May this year, and we were supposed to hear in September what is happening, but still nothing has occurred. We have the industry waiting for advice about its future direction.
National models for fatigue management were implemented around the country, but the Northern Territory is still not in a position to know the future of fatigue management in the Northern Territory. The cattle, mining, and tourism industry hang in limbo. This is a significant economic impact on the Northern Territory, and these people want certainty. They have been waiting for two years to find out what is happening with fatigue management in the Northern Territory, and still there are no answers.
The port is very disappointing on the national scale. We are charging more for goods and services crossing our port than every other port in Australia. We have unsafe work practices at the port and we are losing money hand over fist. It does not appear we have any future direction on the port, how we are going to improve the port and the situation of the port in 10, 15, 50 years time.
I have said before in this House, our road conditions used to be the best in the country and now they are the worst. We have verges overgrown, shoulders on roads breaking away, and roads which have not been graded. This significantly impacts on the economy, because we now have businesses refusing to travel on our roads because they are unsafe. That also has an impact on remote communities, because members of communities are driving on unsafe roads, vehicles are becoming damaged, and more accidents are occurring.
I will talk about a certain sector of logistics, and point out some of the holes that exist, as a breakdown of the sector, specifically, vehicles. While statistics on the transport sector are minimal from the government, I can share a little information, once again, from the Infrastructure Partnerships Australia document. It provides good background context.
Since the 1950s, distance travelled by car in Australia has increased 15-fold, and will grow by a further 30% by 2020. We will see significant growth and it is very important we continue to have safe roads in the Northern Territory, and have policies which provide appropriate safe environments for our families and businesses.
In 2006, this government undertook a study of a broad range of issues in relation to road safety. The government introduced fines, demerit points, reducing speed limits, and undertaking education campaigns through the media. The government stated at the time these initiatives were very important to try to reduce the road toll. In the two years after that, the road toll actually increased. But, as I said before, you cannot judge the performance of a transport strategy just on road toll statistics.
What the government did not tell you in 2006, was that in 2005, before it even undertook the review, it was undertaking cost benefit analyses on the projected revenue streams to identify what income streams could be brought to the Northern Territory government to help support their bottom line in the budget. They wanted to put a regulatory scheme in place to put more fines on Northern Territorians. We are hearing now about more speed cameras and more red light cameras. Of course, the responsibility has to go back on the person, but, this was all about income generation for the government; it was not about road safety.
We have heard in the statement by the minister about the alcohol ignition locks. I was quite surprised to read about the alcohol ignition locks and to find out there are a number of sentences which have been given to people. The shortest sentence you could have was a three-month period before you received an alcohol ignition lock, and then it went up to higher levels. The alcohol ignition lock system came into place in April this year so, potentially, there should be alcohol ignition locks three months from that point, or in July this year.
I know there has not been an alcohol ignition lock put into a car yet, despite the numbers quoted in the ministerial statement about the people who have had an alcohol ignition lock at some point in time. I know that the supplier, Guardian, which is supposed to be providing the alcohol ignition locks, does not have a large backlog of stock of alcohol ignition locks. They only have one distributor, supplier, and installer in the Northern Territory, Peter Brown Auto Electrics in the Top End. We still do not have anyone in Nhulunbuy, Katherine, Alice Springs or Tennant Creek that can install alcohol ignition locks. I understand there is one person in the Territory with an alcohol ignition lock who actually had theirs installed in Victoria, and Peter Brown Auto Electrics is following that person.
It is six months since the commencement of the alcohol ignition lock process. We are three or four months past the start of the new year and I do not understand why there are no alcohol ignition locks installed in cars in the Northern Territory. Throughout the legislative process, I raised concerns about putting alcohol ignition locks in cars, the number of people who are from remote locations who would require alcohol ignition locks, and how they would be installed in those locations. There are still no installers of alcohol ignition locks in those locations. It seems to me that, while this alcohol ignition lock might have a potential future, it has really been set back from the start, because there has not been one installed in the Northern Territory by a Northern Territory installer.
Aside from the alcohol ignition locks, and recognising the government did not accept my amendments at the time, I still do not believe the government went far enough. The government has made sure it can rake in fines, it has put in red light and speed cameras everywhere, which will continue to increase while this government is short on cash, but it did not go far enough. The pathway program required for driver training needs to have improvements.
The Country Liberals policy to provide young people with the opportunity to have a limited kilowatt of power in a car is a good idea. The Country Liberals have sound policies that were put to the 2008 election. We have had amendments that have come forward before and we have legislation that will be coming up in the November sittings. One of those pieces of legislation is about confiscation of vehicles of high-range, repeat drink-drivers, and I am bringing in other pieces of legislation to try to improve the safety on our roads. I will be looking to increase penalties for low-range DUI drivers on our roads. I will be introducing a bill that looks at minimum sentencing for those who cause death or seriously maim people while drink-driving. I will be looking at confiscating cars for unregistered, uninsured, and unroadworthy vehicles on our roads. This is not just a visually unpleasant, but also an unsafe aspect on our roads that should not be there.
I have not spoken about the bus services in the Northern Territory. I know there is a consultation process going on with GHD about the Integrated Regional Transport Strategy. I know about the workshops that have been held, and the limited numbers of people who have been at those workshops, but I still do not see anything coming out. I hope this is not another two year process like the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Review, or the delays with the fatigue management. I would really like to know how we are going to start servicing these communities with regular buses; they deserve public transport. We all do.
I would like to know about air travel. We saw the air services taken away in Tennant Creek, and they have not come back. It is like the birthing services in Tennant Creek; they have gone, and have not come back. If you live in Nhulunbuy, you keep your planes and your birthing services. Perhaps Nhulunbuy has a good local member who can make sure things turn up. But if you live in the Barkly, you seem to lose everything; transport, birthing services, and air travel.
I will move on to speed limits. We had a very ordinary display last week by the minister talking about speed limits, and trying to pronounce that his department offered me a copy of some statistical analysis in a departmental briefing, despite the fact that the briefing was held in Darwin and I was in a video conference in Alice Springs. it was pretty hard to get them over the telecommunications system. My inquiry in that briefing was: how do we know what was a speed-related incident on 130 km/h roads? I wanted to know if speed was the only factor on roads which were previously open roads, and now 130 km/h roads, or 110 km/h roads, or something else. The department cannot tell me if speed was the only factor in accidents. We had the representative from the George Institute, but the department still could not tell me that. The figures became quite irrelevant when they said it was speed. I put the question, was there alcohol in that accident? They could not tell me if it was alcohol or if it was speed. They could say the person was speeding, but they could not say whether there were any other contributing factors to the accident. It makes the figures too hard to assess.
I note the pontificating by the minister last week, but if you do not have the right information, you cannot really table this sort of information, because it is false. It is like trying to get information from the government about how many people transition from low-level drink-driving to medium-level drink-driving on a second, third or subsequent offence, and also to high-range drink-driving. The government does not even have those figures; either that or they will not provide the figures to me.
You need to have a good evidence base before you can make policy. I have not seen any evidence base which relates to speed limits on Northern Territory roads or to drink-driving to help support a policy. I am putting forward legislation to increase low-level drink-driving fines. I will make the speech in November, and it will be heard again on the following GBD next year. I am putting that policy up without the substantive evidence because the government cannot provide it; it said it does not have it. The transport department says: we do not have that; you will have to talk to the police. I talk to the police, we do not have that; you have to talk to transport. Surely someone has information which can be provided so we can have a good evidence base to create policy.
I will talk about my electorate. I have considerable concerns about the crossing at the Northside shops in the suburb of Braitling. I have spent some time over the last 12 months conversing with the Northern Territory government, asking the Minister for Infrastructure to make the crossing safe. I know the government has put fences and lights up, have trimmed hedges, and put some signs up for me. But, it is still not safe. I was at the crossing the other day and nearly got run over by a road train, and I am pretty switched on when I am crossing the road.
There are people who cross there all the time. I did not realise how dangerous it was. I have crossed there on a bike several times. When you see people running across the road, it is clearly dangerous, and the Northern Territory government will not do anything about it. There have been multiple deaths at that spot, and there will be deaths again soon. Nothing is being done. People come across from Hoppy’s Camp to the shops, get their grog, whether they are drunk or not, and then run across with small children. There are three carriage road trains coming past. It is an unsafe location, and I call on the Northern Territory government to do something about it.
The intersection of Lovegrove and Larapinta Drive is a problem. It is not a high traffic spot; it is not peak hour in Sydney, but we do have peak times in the morning and the afternoon. People in cares turning out of Lovegrove Drive into Larapinta Drive put their lives at risk when trying to get across because there are too many cars crossing. This was an election commitment by the Country Liberals in 2008; it continues to be our policy platform, and I have been lobbying for that.
I have a petition which has not been widely distributed, but it has quite a number of signatures. I will be presenting this to parliament, probably in the November sittings. I have applied for black spot funding from the federal government. I have sent it to Northern Territory government, but it has not come back to me yet with a response; that was a couple of months ago, and I would like to see a response. It is an important intersection for us to take action on; it is about improving safety for people in my electorate. That is what this statement is about; it is about road safety.
While I believe road safety is an important issue, it forms part of a much broader logistical system. There are holes right through the logistical system in the Northern Territory, whether it is the lack of air services from Tennant Creek, the degradation of the port, the reliability of the train as it links up in places such as Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs, the ability for the train to work at the port, or just the lack of bus services to get kids to school.
Schooling in the Northern Territory is still the biggest issue; I believe the schooling system in the Northern Territory is a national disgrace. We have a number of outstations or small settlements around the north of Alice Springs where kids cannot get to Yeperenye School every day; we cannot get the Northern Territory government to provide bus services to get those kids to school. We cannot get the Northern Territory or federal governments to provide a boarding school so these kids can go to school, so they do not go. This is why a logistic system, which may incorporate bus services, is important. It is about road safety, because if these kids do not have that service and their parents try to drive 150 km or 200 km on shoddy roads into town and back every day, that is when it becomes unsafe. That is why it is about the whole transport system, about the logistical system, and not just about roads.
Madam Speaker, I repeat what the member for Fong Lim said before: we are again talking about a statement which is just a waste of time in the sense that the government should be bringing on legislation and reforming the Territory, rather than just talking about things. We were elected to be legislators, not to stand up and talk and waffle like this statement, and every other statement every other day.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement. The member for Braitling questioned the need for this statement, and he inferred it was a waste of time to have this statement and debate today. I strongly disagree with that. Given the attitude and the lack of knowledge displayed by the member for Braitling on this issue, and other members of the opposition, I believe it is very important that we have this debate today.
As the previous Minister for Transport, I was largely responsible for developing this strategy and implementing it, although my successor, the member for Karama, finally had carriage of that in 2007, or a large part of it in 2007. In recognising that, I want to go over some history here, which I hope will be informative for members opposite, because there was much debate in this House over this issue. I remember it because I was on my feet arguing why these changes had to occur. And why did they have to occur? In essence, at that time the Northern Territory had a fatality rate, without even looking at the injury rate, three times the national average. By far …
Mr Tollner: Still is.
Dr BURNS: Let me argue my case, please, member for Fong Lim, and you will have a chance to argue yours.
We had, and still have, a relatively high rate of death and other injury because of accidents on our roads. I will hark back to this report which was compiled and published in June 2006, Safer Road Use: A Territory Imperative by the Road Safety Task Force. The task force was made up, not by interstate blow-ins or anything like that, but by Territorians, many senior people within the public service of the Northern Territory, from a number of agencies, not just Transport, but also Police and a whole range of agencies, drew this report together to look at the issue to try to give government, and the Northern Territory community, most importantly, a way forward on this issue. It is a shame we cannot have a bipartisan approach to road safety, which largely exists elsewhere in Australia.
This report made a whole suite of recommendations to the government, with the underlying rationale being that you had to have a comprehensive, complementary set of recommendations, strategies, and policies to be implemented to have an effect. It was not about addressing the one area by itself such as enforcement. It was not just about enforcement, education, or penalties, which are the three main elements of this road safety initiative and report which was bought forward with its recommendations. It had to be comprehensive, funded, and also supported by the government. I argue very strongly, that this government, in its previous form and now, supports those recommendations and has implemented them.
When you look at the statistics, Indigenous people are incredibly over-represented in the crash and fatality statistics, but non-Indigenous Territorians are also significantly above the national average. In fact, the national average is about eight deaths per 100 000 - or was at the time - and the NT non-Indigenous fatality rate is 12.62; it was approximately 50% higher for non-Indigenous Territorians, and, from memory, it was three times higher for Indigenous Territorians. It was a situation which could not persist. The government bit the bullet, although the decisions we made were not popular decisions.
We had a culture on our road which was a major contributing factor to this scenario. We saw other jurisdictions such as Victoria, which had started implementing road safety initiatives in the 1970s and 1980s, had a reduction from the levels we had in 2005 to the national average I talked about before. There was a significant reduction in the road safety statistics, both in death and injury, by implementing a complementary and comprehensive strategy with the support of the government.
I will discuss the culture on our roads, and I quote from an article in the NT News on 17 June 2006:
Why was it one in 42 compared to one in 314? Because there was not enough enforcement; people thought they could have a few drinks, drive home over the limit, and they would not be caught. Why was there not enough enforcement? I cannot remember the exact year, but I know the former CLP government abolished the Traffic Branch. Part of the recommendations of this report was to re-form the Traffic Branch, and to establish highway patrols and rural and regional patrols, principally based in Katherine and Alice Springs. This came at a fairly high cost; from memory, it was around $19m, but I could be corrected on that.
There were a whole suite of recommendations which came to the government in the report, including the recommendation about speeding. The recommendation was that the Northern Territory should go to a speed limit of 110 km/h. All of the recommendations were debated very passionately within the Caucus and the Cabinet. The government decided to implement a 130 km/h speed limit on our open highways, and there would be speed restrictions, on some of the side arterial roads, of 110 km/h. That decision, along with demerit points, has probably been the most controversial.
These issues were debated up hill and down dale in this House. I have not heard what the opposition has had to say so far, whether they are opposed either to red light cameras or demerit points, but I did hear the member for Braitling say that this whole business about red light cameras was really a revenue grab by the government. I can assure the member for Braitling, having been the Cabinet minister responsible, in the Cabinet and in the Caucus arguing on this issue, that not once was this said to be a revenue raising move - quite the opposite. I mentioned the extensive costs of reinstituting the Traffic branch, of having highway patrols, and a whole range of other measures in terms of the recommendations of this report, and it was not the intention of the government to have this as a revenue raiser. I dismiss it, and I believe it is a cheap shot. It is not true, member for Braitling.
Mr Giles: It is completely true.
Dr BURNS: The overriding factor of the Cabinet, the Chief Minister at the time, Clare Martin, and me, as minister - I can assure you, I can look you in the eye, member for Braitling - was focused on saving lives. I will take a lie detector test - I will do whatever you like - that was the intention of the government, and there was never any suggestion of this being a revenue raising method. I believe it is a cheap political slant you have on it, when you should be arguing and debating the substantial issues.
Let us turn to speed, which is what you are focused on; that is what your little bumper sticker or computer sticker is focused on. You are arguing from the point of view, saying: ‘No one can point to me that speed alone was the causative factor in the accidents along the 130 km/h …’
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Madam Speaker, I do not recall you saying those things.
Dr BURNS: The member for Braitling, sorry.
Mr TOLLNER: I thought you were talking to Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, resume your seat.
Dr BURNS: Thank you for that. I understand we have had eight days, so the Speaker had to focus to get our electorate names, and our names out there, so let us have a little give and take.
I am sure the member for Braitling was arguing that no one can show me figures where speed alone is the causative factor. I do not believe we will ever get that, member for Braitling, because we know accidents are often a combination of things. There could be alcohol, speed, fatigue, or drugs involved; there could be a whole combination of things. But we do know, member for Braitling, the higher the speed, the greater the risk of damage and injury to the person. I quote from page 24 the report, which delves into this area:
I understand your argument, member for Braitling, but I am saying, and I believe the international evidence is saying, the faster you are travelling, the more likely you are to be damaged in an accident, and that other causative factors are exacerbated. There are some studies which indicate, and have set that parameter. I quote from page 26 of the report:
On the Lasseter Highway - you asked about any instances within the Northern Territory. I am pretty sure you said you had not seen any evidence from the Northern Territory about speed and the relationship between speed and fatalities. I quote from page 26 of the report:
And there are a number of other things alluded to in this report:
Acknowledging the relative numbers – there is a four year period – the relative numbers may be small, but I believe it is a signpost to what lowering the speed limit can do. As the then Transport minister, I argued very strongly publicly, and in this House, on this issue, although I must say the final legislative changes came through under my colleague, the member for Karama. However, she happened to be on holidays in January 2007 and I was the acting Transport minister. I will table these photos – this is me with the 130 km/h speed sign being put along the Stuart Highway. I am prepared to table this and it has my picture all over it. I am proud to have been instrumental in those changes, and I hope and pray there will be lives saved through those changes. I firmly believe there will be lives saved by these changes.
It grieves me the opposition is arguing about the 130 km/h speed limit. I understand people’s attachment to that. When I first came to the Territory, about 30 years ago, that was the situation; you could drive as fast as you liked, virtually on any road that you liked, but things have changed in the Territory, our …
Mr Elferink: That is not true. That is wrong.
Dr BURNS: Not on every road, but the open highway.
Mr Elferink: It is not true.
Dr BURNS: Sorry, thank you for the correction, member for Port Darwin. The highway, particularly the Stuart Highway, has become very busy. You only have to look at the track between Katherine and Darwin to see that. We have many more ‘grey nomads’ and more road transport on our roads, and vehicles have become more high powered in that time as well. I suggest times have changed in the Territory, and the 130 km/h speed limit imposed by this government, which I was instrumental in, is appropriate. I know when I travel along the open road, 130 km/h is as fast as Chris Burns wants to travel.
Mr Elferink: That was always your choice.
Dr BURNS: That was always my choice. However, the information we compiled in that time showed that was probably an optimum speed along our highways.
I am proud to have been part of this. There were a couple of horrible years, and last year, in particular, was very bad with all the deaths on the roads. The information I have from the minister’s office is that deaths in the 130 km/h zones have halved compared to the previous five years before the introduction of speed limits. I believe that is very important, because it shows there is an effect, and it would be very interesting to have a look at the injury statistics also …
Mr Elferink: I am glad you said that.
Dr BURNS: The support for what the government has done - I know there is opposition to it - but look at the organisations that support it: the College of Surgeons, the College of Emergency Physicians, the AMA generally; these are the people who are dealing with the effects of our road carnage, day-in and day-out. I have a figure from a study that was done showing what it costs the Northern Territory per year. If road injuries were reduced by 10% this would result in a nett benefit to the Northern Territory economy of approximately $22m per year.
Mr GUNNER: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS: I thank members for their indulgence. If the road injuries were reduced by 10%, this would result in a nett benefit to the Northern Territory economy of approximately $22m per year. I believe we have much work to do. We started off about three times the national average in terms of fatalities on our roads, and the injuries would also be horrendous. We have to reduce our road toll. It grieves and saddens me we cannot have a bipartisan approach with the opposition on this. I believe these strategies will work, but we need to keep focused and we all need to support them. We need to change the culture on our roads, ensure the penalties are appropriate, and provide education to ensure people understand their obligations on our highways.
This is a very important issue. I disagree with the member for Braitling; I do not believe it is a useless exercise to discuss it in this House. I had a quote by Winston Churchill – I should have had it ready. Basically, he says even the most beautiful strategy – or something like that – needs …
Mr Conlan: It does not sound like Churchill to me.
Dr BURNS: That is right. We have a few of us in this place.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: All right, I will not quote Winston Churchill, I will quote Chris Burns: I believe in evidence, and using an evidence-based approach in what you do.
Mr Elferink: No, you do not.
Dr BURNS: Yes, I do.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr BURNS: I believe in an evidence-based approach. I believe we have to look at the evidence and we have to adjust our policies accordingly. I have every confidence that this comprehensive - I have the quote from Churchill:
I know members opposite are going to grab hold of that, but I challenge members opposite: we are dealing with people’s lives; this is a very important issue. You talk about the government not being willing to make decisions, but these are decisions the government has made, based on evidence and recommendations of an expert committee. They are comprehensive and they are funded. I believe it behoves all of us to join together to ensure the results are sustained, the road toll in the Northern Territory is reduced, and the terrible cost to families and communities in the Northern Territory is reduced, because one death on our roads is one death too many.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I will address a couple of issues. I am glad he finished on that hoary old chestnut: ‘one death on the road is one death too many’. Nonsense! I will tell you why that is nonsense. If you truly believed that you would move to ban cars; it is as simple as that. We are talking about a balancing act; about what is acceptable risk and what is not.
I also heard the minister say he believes in an evidence-based approach. If that is true, the speed limit on the Stuart Highway would be 110 km/h, because he was told, when he was the minister, that was the speed recommended by the police who did the investigation. If he believed in an evidence-based approach, he would have applied the recommended 110 km/h speed on the Stuart Highway. He chose not to, and I will tell you why. They stuck a couple of speed guns on the Stuart Highway, and discovered that 85% of drivers chose, voluntarily, to drive below the speed of 130 km/h. The speed of 130 km/h was not chosen because it was the evidence-based speed, but because it was the politically ‘do-able’ speed. For this minister, who had carriage of this particular policy at the time, to come in and say he believes in an evidence-based approach, when it was actually politics that chose the 130 km/h speed zones - not evidence - basically puts paid to his assertion he believes in an evidence-based approach. He does not; he believes in a politics-based approach.
The other fact is it is all about getting your balances right. Some jurisdictions have applied 110 km/h on the open road. I have driven from Kulgera to Port Augusta at 110 km/h, and your gums bleed after a few hours, because it is so slow, especially in modern vehicles which the minister says are so much faster. They are designed to be safer and more comfortable on our roads, and also to be more crash resistant.
I ask the minister to pay attention to a couple of annual reports. I am a little frustrated because the Police annual report used to have this really useful graph, in the year 2005-06, at the back of the annual report, where it showed year-in, year-out, dating back to 1998-99, the number of accidents, the number of fatal accidents, the number of fatalities - so it distinguished between fatal accidents and fatalities, to accommodate multiple fatalities - injuries, casualties per 10 000 population, casualties per 10 000 drivers licences, and casualties per 10 000 registered vehicles. That number was reproduced without the historical chart in the next annual report, which was the 2006-07 report. Now you have to marry these two reports together where, in previous times, they were much more apparent.
I have pencilled in what was on page 45 of the 2007 annual report to the other end of this chart from the 2005-06 report, so I can marry those figures up. Lo and behold! There is a downward trend in the number of accidents between 1998-99 and 2006-07, which is quite pronounced. I am not going through all the numbers, but it ups and downs up until about 2002-03 and, then, it trends down. This is about the same time some of these safer vehicles, with better crash resistance, were finding their way into the marketplace and some of those older cars were starting to get shelved into junk yards.
I struggle to rely on the number of fatal accidents because you can track it back over the years, in calendar years in this annual report, and I refer to page 176 of the 2005-06 report. You will see the fatal accidents jump up and down and, indeed, you do not have a big enough pool to rely on for a significant difference. If you believe you do have a big enough pool to rely on - bearing in mind 1 January 2007 was when the speed limit changed - the very year the speed limit was changed, there was only a drop of two fatal accidents from the year before. It was changed halfway through the financial year and you already start to see a substantial drop. The next year, the number of fatal accidents jumped to 59 in the same period, and that is evidenced from page 37 of the 2007-08 Police annual report.
Many of these other figures, like the number of fatalities, casualties per 10 000 population, etcetera, disappear from the police report in 2007-08, so they changed the way, in that financial year, how these casualties are represented. But, curiously, you still get enough of an inkling to notice, in the second year of operation of the great traffic plan, the number of accidents, at 2294, are substantially higher than the previous three years, before the plan started operating, but then start to show a slight trend back up towards 1998. I am confused by that, and I am not quite sure why it has happened. I have some suspicions.
Annoyingly, we then get the expression of number of fatal crashes, on page 37 of the 2007-08 report, but there is no separation of the number of fatal crashes in the number of fatalities, so the measures have changed, and you cannot measure apples with apples.
I draw members attention to one simple thing - by the way, this is why I was so anxious to have the police annual report tabled for the current year, because I would like to see what the current year says. I suspect it is a little better this year as I know the fatalities have come down. But there is one piece of evidence, above all else, which screams out that there is something fundamentally wrong with the government’s policy. If the open roads are so much safer, then our urban roads must be less safe; they must be devastatingly dangerous if our open roads are safer, and I will tell you why. I draw the minister’s attention - I am glad to see he is paying attention - to this quote from page 11 of the Motor Accident Compensation Report, Statement of Corporate Intent, for the year 2008-09, from what we achieved:
If there is one piece of evidence which tells me all of this is smoke and mirrors, and an argument to support a campaign which is not working it, would have to be that quote.
Can the minister advise this House why there is an 11% increase above the last five year average in numbers of claims, not amount of money, individual claims in the last financial year, two years into the operation of this government’s road safety campaign? If it is not happening on the highways, then it is happening more in our communities and towns. This is why I have trouble believing government members when they come in and spruik about what a great job they are doing, because there is no reason for TIO to lie about this, none whatsoever. Whilst all of these figures start disappearing out of the police annual reports, that number stands out as a singularly most convincing number for me that the government’s road traffic campaign has failed.
They sit there and they say: ‘Oh my goodness gracious me, it is so dangerous to have that little black circle with the line through it on the back of your computers. You guys are promoting recklessness’ - arrant nonsense. The minister said, during his speech, words to the effect of: ‘When I came here 30 years ago, you could drive on any road at any time, I do not mean in built-up areas. But you could not drive as fast as you like‘. Nothing in the Northern Territory law ever said you could drive dangerously. I argue that when I was a policeman and saw a Kombi van driving down the road at 150 km/h in an open speed zone, I would have arrested the driver for dangerous driving. There are all sorts of things that you take into consideration which describe dangerous driving and non-dangerous driving.
The point is this government believes you can control human behaviour through regulation and that is all you need to do. Pass a law, set up a few speed cameras and human behaviour will change. Wrong. I suspect the lower number of fatalities is because the pool is too small to know exactly whether or not it is working. I suspect - and the minister acknowledged - even on the Lasseter Highway the pool was too small to truly rely on the figures. He says it is a signpost but as a man of a scientific background he knows that he needs stronger numbers to make his case than those.
But MACA is receiving more claims; it is as simple as that. Those will include fatalities as well as injury claims. So there is something wrong. I am confused by the government’s claim of success and it says it has hooning laws. I urge the minister to go to McLachlan Street, next to the Catholic Cathedral, and tell me that it does not look like a drag strip with the amount of skid marks on it. Where are your hooning laws when you can see so many skid marks on one small back street of Darwin? I raised that issue here in parliament last week. I said this is an outrageous problem. The hooning laws are not working. You have what? Three or four cars, 10, 20? There are so many skid marks that you will not have to replace the bitumen, it is being replaced by rubber. You have more MACA claims coming in. The minister tells me the highways are safer but, if that is the case, then our city streets are ever more dangerous.
I hear what they are trying to say. There is this undeniable logic to believe that if you lower speed limits and you have all these things, you will change human behaviour successfully and have this huge effect. I do not have it in front of me, but in Germany there is a little town called Bohmtewhich got rid of every sign in the town. No pedestrian crossings, no give way signs, no traffic signs, no traffic lights, nothing. One rule: 50 km/h. Nothing else. There was no appreciable change in car accidents, fender benders, or anything else like that. Some people have criticised their approach, but people started relying on their own wits in that town to share the space. There is a philosophy attached to the shared space between cyclists, pedestrians, motor car drivers, and truck drivers. As a consequence there was no appreciable change. Human behaviour has not changed because of the absence of street signs. It has made people more reliant on their own judgment. Pedestrians, cyclists, auto drivers, truck drivers – they all share the same spaces.
I am not convinced regulation under all circumstances is your fix. It is tempting, but it is not being borne out by what is being delivered as evidence in this place. I cannot see how you can adhere to a policy that has now been running the best part of three years.
Dr Burns: Parts of it.
Mr ELFERINK: The policy has been running for three years and yet the MACA claims are going up; it reports the highest results. I cannot see why; it does not make sense to me. I believe it is time - and I appreciate what you have been saying – for us not to play politics with this. But let us then re-examine the philosophy of what we are doing, if the TIO is reporting they are receiving more claims for injury. Maybe fewer people are dying in cars. It is possible. Maybe they are only being injured more in cars because cars are safer. The engineering and design of cars nowadays - air bags, the little bleeping light and annoying noise in my Prius every time I get into it because I have not put my seat belt on immediately. All those sorts of things contribute to people changing their habits. You put your seat belt on because you do not like the annoying noise. When you run into something, a great big airbag goes, poof! in front of you and you have an injury.
But if that is true, then there is no change in driver behaviour, they are still running into things, but more are surviving because of the engineering in vehicles. If that is the case, then this policy has contributed nothing to road safety; it is the policy of good car design.
I am guessing that might be an outcome - there is no causal link. In fact, there is evidence before me, and this House, to demonstrate there is no causal link between the policy and the number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. If there is any evidence that speaks louder than the evidence I have seen, it is the quote that I gave before from page 11 from the MAC. On average, there are more MAC claims now than you have had in the last five years.
I would like to hear the minister’s explanation about why, in the first 18 months of the operation of the policy, the annual number of fatalities and accidents went up before they came down. Although I do not have the other details for casualties per 10 000 population, I do have them for as late as 2006-07, or for six months while this policy was working. Casualties per 10 000 population were 48, up from 46 the year prior; for 10 000 licensed drivers, 84, up from 77 before the policy was implemented; and casualties per 10 000 registered vehicles, 72, up from 67 the year before the policy was implemented.
There are more accidents in the six months - I presume in the six months - from when the policy started. Certainly, in the financial year when the policy started there were more accidents and injuries - about the same number of fatalities per 10 000 population up, per 10 000 licensed drivers up, per 10 000 registered vehicles up. I am truly suspicious of this policy.
If this government is genuinely committed to believing in evidence-based approaches, then that evidence needs to be examined in the cold, hard light of day and, even if you do not like the result, if you are going to apply a scientific mind, you must be drawn and driven by the evidence that you have.
Madam Speaker, it is for this reason I remain hesitant to join the chorus saying: ‘Yep, we will support you in this great battle’, because the evidence I have in front of me, from the MACA Report and the information from the police annual reports is not indicative of a successful policy. If it is not working, then you have to find something that does.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I support the Transport Minister’s statement and I thank him for bringing it before the House.
I support this as Police minister, as well as Chief Minister, because our police force has a key role in policing the rules of the road and the laws that surround road use in the Northern Territory, enforcing those laws, being out there as a proactive presence on our roads, and being a deterrent in regards to people who do the wrong thing.
I remind honourable members it was this government which re-established the Police Traffic Squads, the dedicated traffic units in Darwin and Alice Springs, and introduced, for the first time, the highway patrols. It was the previous CLP governments that disbanded the traffic squads back in the 1990s, when they were deliberately shrinking the police budget. Who knows how much of the road toll was due to lack of enforcement of the road rules. It is not easy to quantify, but not having dedicated police traffic squads focusing full-time on enforcing our road rules has contributed, over time, to the major issue that affects our road toll, which is the culture of driving on our roads in the Territory.
The changes this government made a couple of years ago with demerit points, ratcheting up the fines, introducing the speed limit on the highway, and the other reforms we put in place, came about as a result of the road safety report which was put together by experts who understand the policy regimes that need to be put in place to see the culture on our roads change and, consequently, the road tolls change.
I was listening to the member for Port Darwin who talked about evidence-based issues; the evidence is in the report. It was in the report written by experts most of whom were from the Northern Territory - not a bunch of southerners. We have four former police officers, who are now members in this House and sitting on the opposition benches, and as Police Minister, I know how strongly supportive the police were of the measures this government put in place. In fact, the police wanted us to go much further in some of the measures, such was the desire from police to do something about the road toll, acknowledging things could not continue as they were and the culture had to change.
In the Transport Minister’s call - and it is a very genuine call – to the opposition to seek a bipartisan approach to this, I urge the four former police officers, who sit on the opposition benches, to take the views of the police force, strongly represented to me, to support these measures. They are very strongly supported by every police officer I speak to who has to deal, on occasions, with the tragedy of the toll on our roads. The police have a very clear and explicit focus; a dedicated budget allocation of nearly $20m a year to road safety. This was a budget allocation put in place by this government, after it had been stripped out by previous governments, and it is there as a clear and explicit focus to policing our road toll.
The output group, Road Safety Services, in the budget papers states:
And our police do a magnificent job. If you look at the focus regarding vehicles passing the mobile speed camera checkpoint, there is an estimate for one million vehicles a year to go past a mobile speed camera checkpoint, and around 70 000 drivers per year to be breath tested. In discussions I have had with police, and I am really pleased to see they do this - coming into the Christmas period, and I am sure police will do this again - is to have a very significant RBT presence throughout the Northern Territory to the extent that, last year, around the Christmas period, Darwin was, essentially, locked down on a Friday and a Saturday night with every road out of Darwin having an RBT presence. Anyone driving out of the city to the northern suburbs, Palmerston or the rural area, after about 10 pm, was pulled over and breath tested. That message got through. Unfortunately, too many people are still found to be drinking and driving, but this type of enforcement does get the message out.
Too many of our fatalities are alcohol-related, as a result of people not wearing seat belts, or as a result of people driving at speeds in conditions which do not support the speed the car was travelling. When we talk about those fatalities, and the really serious accidents resulting in people in hospital for long periods of time, it is a tragedy. All of us have family members, friends and, even as local members, prominent people in our electorates who have died on our roads.
When that happens, the grief which surrounds families and communities is extraordinary; it is very deep and personal. There have been a number of high profile people over the last few years - sporting people – and to attend those funerals and to see the grief at those funerals, where you have people living active, productive, energetic family lives, and then, in an instant, it is gone, is an absolute tragedy.
From a policy perspective, and we are elected into this parliament to do the right thing by Territorians, trying to achieve a bipartisan approach to this is something that we should strive for, and I am pleased that my colleague has got his door open to that effect. There are a number of proactive measures the police are using in policing our roads and trying to effect that cultural change, including:
publicising speed camera locations, while reserving the right to target other locations. Every morning I turn the radio on, and Hot 100 and Mix - they are the radio stations I listen to in the mornings - announce where the speed cameras are going to be;
using a mobile speed monitoring advisory trailer on prominent arterial roads which display speeds to road users and focuses driver attention. I believe you drive up to it and it tells you how fast you are going;
marking speed cameras to provide a visible presence;
targeting locations and times that are shown to be crash hot spots in areas of community concern, such as schools and arterial roads during high offending periods. All of us attend school council meetings or Neighbourhood Watch meetings where we voice concerns from the community about people speeding on suburban roads. As a local member, through Neighbourhood Watch, I contact the Traffic section and police actually run a blitz on some of those roads to get the message out. They are responsive to those community concerns; and
breath-testing drivers at specifically targeted times and location hot spots.
The member for Port Darwin was talking about the rising MACA claims. We need to continue to look at the data and understand what is happening on our roads. Our roads are busier, with the population and economic growth we are seeing in the Territory. We look at the motor vehicle sales. I know there has been a slight decrease this quarter, but quarter-on-quarter, for the last few years, we have many more cars on our roads, not only in terms of population growth, but the number of tourists on our roads. In spite of high fuel prices, we have more people travelling on our roads to the Northern Territory from elsewhere in Australia. Our highways are busier as well, with the growth of Darwin, business and industry, and Darwin’s expanding economy, much still has to be freighted to Darwin and is transported on our roads.
Our roads are much busier than they were 10 years or 20 years ago, and the more people you have on the roads, the more chance there will be of collisions and accidents. It is not rocket science. Every accident should be studied, particularly fatalities, to look at what we could learn to prevent it from happening again.
It goes to changing the culture. I notice in the Hansard, during debate this week, the member for Fong Lim was lamenting the fact we were losing, on the roads, the spirit of the Northern Territory. The Territory is not the place it was 20 years ago. There are many more people living here now. Cars are more powerful and there is more traffic on the roads. To hang out the memory card and say: ‘I wish it was like it was 20 years ago’ and ‘we should go back to the culture we had on our roads 20 years ago’, is not sound public policy. We cannot go backwards; we have to go forwards. Twenty years ago there was an accepted culture of drink-driving; that was the culture of the Northern Territory, you go down to the pub after work, have a few beers and drive home.
That culture is condemned today, but it was not condemned 20 to 25 years ago. It should have been, but that was not the case with the culture of the place. Do we want to go back to that? I do not think so. I do not want to go back to the culture that says it is okay to have a few beers and drive home. It is not just about the person who is behind the wheel of the car who has done that. It is the potential horror that can be confronted on another person coming the other way. It could be a car with mum and dad and three kids in the back. The Territory has changed, and our road rules had to change to accommodate the change in the Territory. We had to work to drive the change in the culture in the Territory so we can reduce the road toll. This is what the government is working hard to do.
I also condemn any suggestion from members opposite these initiatives have been implemented as some sort of money grab by the government. I do not find that assertion personally offensive, but offensive to the institution of collective government and the way policy is made. Everyone agreed what was happening with our road toll was unacceptable. The expert report provided to the government on the measures the government should adopt to change the culture on our roads and see our road toll decline, all the expert evidence and measures adopted from around the world, indicated we had to put a range of provisions in place that provided financial consequences for people who broke the road rules.
It flies in the face of all logic, evidence, and advice which came to the government, that this was initiated as some sort of money grab. I believe the members of this parliament who enunciate that should hang their heads in shame, because it is so far removed from the truth. I would love it if we did not collect one dollar in revenue from people breaking the road rules; if you obey the rules you are not going to get fined. We do not want to fine people; it is a voluntary contribution. I am not holier than thou; I have had my share of speeding fines over the years. I do try to keep an eye on the speedometer when I am driving on our roads, and I am conscious of the speed at which I am driving. But, like all of us, I have had my share of speeding tickets and you do not like to pay them; no one wants to pay a fine. You think afterwards, I wish I had not done that, and it moderates your behaviour over time.
I urge members not to throw those allegations around, because the member who throws those allegations around looks pretty stupid. Anyone who understands and looks at this issue knows governments around the world are trying to reduce the number of fatalities and accidents on our roads; that is the policy. If there was a magic wand for this, it would have been waved by now, and we would not have a problem; but there is no magic wand. It is policy which has to evolve over time. My colleague, the Transport Minister, put some numbers in his statement about the number of people who are running red lights - it beggars belief we have so many people running red lights - it is an astounding number, and everyone who runs a red light potentially puts other people’s life in danger. How do you stop people from doing that, unless you put red light cameras in place and fine people? How do you stop people from running red lights? I wish there was a simple answer, apart from fining people. But the alternative of not fining people is to see them continue to run red lights. It is a ludicrous assertion to say it has been put in place just to raise revenue, because it is not the case.
I thank my colleague, the Transport Minister, for bringing this important statement before the House today. I thank the police, who do a mighty job across the Northern Territory in enforcing the road rules.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr HENDERSON: I also thank them for the often heart-wrenching work they do when they attend the scene of an accident, not only our police but our fire services and ambulance personnel. To attend the scene of an accident and confront people who are badly injured or a death on the roads, especially when children are involved, must leave a tremendous scar on the soul of our frontline respondents. They do a tremendous job on behalf of all Territorians; so my thanks go to them and thanks to the minister for bringing this before the House.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, no one disagrees with the philosophical view regarding road safety, which is: we need to do whatever we can to reduce the number of needless deaths on our roads. The unfortunate thing about this issue is you cannot legislate for every conceivable situation. We need to ensure, if we intervene with legislation, it is based on science and not on political consensus. It is also an unfortunate reality of life that even with the most stringent legislation, you cannot legislate for stupidity. You cannot put an old head on young shoulders and, perhaps, one of the greatest killers of all, not just in regard to road safety, is peer pressure.
It is clear there are opposing views in this House, but what I find interesting with these views is the government seems to think the Country Liberals have no idea or experience to deal with this; no appreciation of what works at the coalface, from an operational or practical point of view, or appreciate the heartache involved with road deaths. I find the government’s position astounding, given the fact many of the Country Liberals MLAs are ex-police officers and, together with ambulance and emergency services, form part of the very group of people who are at the coalface. To even suggest that this side of the House, the Country Liberals team, has no experience, understanding, or appreciation of road safety issues, is absolutely nave at best, and arrogant in the first degree.
Police officers, particularly in regional and remote areas, are more often than not the first on the scene at an accident site. These guys must have horrible images burned into their minds, and know better, perhaps, than anyone else, the tragedy of the circumstances, particularly when young children are involved. I ask how many government ministers have had to deal with that time and time again? How many ministers in this government have stood on the doorstep and informed parents their son or daughter was killed tonight? It disgusts me when I hear this government say members on this side of the House, long-serving police officers, have no idea in regard to road safety.
I am astounded and extremely worried at the times this government relies on the NT News to provide it with facts on an issue. Early this week, the opposition raised a number of issues using ABS statistics to back our claims, while time and again, we have seen the minister holding up cuttings or copies of the NT News to discredit the opposition. Last night I referred to the government looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses and how it criticised the opposition for being oppositionists and for scaremongering. No, we were quoting facts - real stories and real tragedies; this stuff is not made up.
It occurred to me, when I was writing this statement this afternoon, the government relies solely on the NT News for its advice and information on how the world really works. If it is true, and I now believe it is, then I apologise, wholeheartedly, because the government would not be aware of what is really happening in the world.
For instance, the article which referred to the CLP backflip, was yet another incorrect version of an interview, and led to the Labor Party distributing another postcard around the Katherine area, I believe. Interestingly, the photo on the card showed the Stuart Highway with extremely dry grass along the verges which indicated the verges had not been maintained in a very long time. The government boasts about road safety, yet even its own postcards, trying to discredit an incorrect reference or interview which was printed in the NT News, shows a length of highway with grass as long as this along the verges - and you talk about road safety. I have seen verges with large termite mounds growing proudly, indicating the time between maintenance, and a real example of how serious this government is with road safety. Are not most of our highways federally funded? What is going on there?
While no one can deny accidents happen in built-up areas, and these include deaths, I suggest that most involve speed in an area where speed limits apply. This demonstrates that limits do not necessarily prevent accidents, including serious accidents. However, many serious accidents happen on open roads, but you never see speed camera vans hiding on some back road; you only find them on busy roads. Is that about road safety or about revenue? No one doubts a statistic can demonstrate a head hitting a wall of 30 km/h will be different to one hitting a 130 km/h. The Country Liberals have said all along that in most cases involving accidents, it is a combination of factors which has led to the accident occurring.
Let us look at some local issues. In Palmerston, whenever I can, I help out at the Bakewell Primary School crossing. It is a large school and you would think, with a large school, there would be large number of parents who would have the time to help with school crossings. Yet, because of the situation we find ourselves in today, most families that live in my area, both parents need to have jobs to pay the bills - high mortgages, power, rents and everything else and they need two incomes coming in. You do not have many parents left over to do things like volunteering for school crossings.
I note, in many southern jurisdictions, the government or local councils pay school crossing monitors - albeit it is only a low pay so they are still considered volunteers, however, we do not see this in the Territory. If the government was serious about road safety - and we have seen some accidents around schools with young children - it would be funding schools to pay volunteers on school crossings. I use the word ‘volunteers’ because it is not normally a highly-paid job, but at least enough to attract a few more people into the role.
I turn to licences. If you were serious about road safety, you would completely and utterly change the process for getting a licence to drive on our roads. When I was in the Air Force many years ago, there were a number of licences required, all of which included driving tests. Just because I had a civilian licence which allowed me to jump into a four-wheel drive at home, it did not necessarily mean I could jump into an RAAF four-wheel drive at any time; I had to pass the driving tests. We were taken to an area and provided instruction on hill climbs, rocky, smooth, wet and dry conditions, learning about the high centre of gravity being different from a sedan, and only after I could competently demonstrate to my instructor I was capable, was I issued a licence for a four-wheel drive, a far cry from what happens here. Look at the example of an international tourist who flies into town, is handed a map and a set of keys to a troop carrier, and off they go. If you want to get serious, start to look at issues like this.
The example I spoke about was for a four-wheel drive. Much later, after more training and instruction, I was issued with a truck licence. I still recall enjoying the spoils of an oil skid pan on the RAAF Base, also enjoyed by many police officers of the day. It was always interesting to note the condition and the colour of the police vehicle as it came off the skid pan later in the day. Seriously, though, to feel a vehicle sliding sideways, and, more importantly, having the knowledge to keep that vehicle under control, in both wet and dry conditions, on both sealed and unsealed roads, should be an absolute minimum for any driver on our roads. Of course, it would be an expensive exercise. If you are serious about this issue, you would look into and review the learner driver program.
Later, in another role, I undertook an advanced driver program at Hidden Valley - a course I encourage everyone to take. To learn how to drive in a controlled environment, through wet and dry conditions and on a variety of roads surfaces, is invaluable and, could perhaps be part of the process in getting a driver’s licence.
The government could look at setting up a controlled environment, where mums and dads could take their children, as young as 13 or 14, to get experience with driving. We know many parents take their children out into the bush at some time to give their children their first experience in driving. I know my own father, in company with my grandfather, allowed me to drive for the first time in the local cemetery. Perhaps there was a lesson there. In fact, I recall dad saying, ‘You get this wrong and this is where you will end up’. A controlled area would allow parents to provide some early instruction to kids and have some real experience before they are allowed onto our streets.
Tourists, at least international tourists, could be provided with a restricted licence with provisions specifically designed to limit their exposures to the dangers of long distance driving, rough surfaces, etcetera. This is one example the government could investigate, if it was serious about road safety.
I provide an experience of my brother, who has been a paramedic in northern Victoria for over 30 years. I believe he is the most senior paramedic in that area. Some of the experiences he has told me about road accidents would scare you. But his thoughts on speed took me by surprise. David is often tasked with taking ambulances from the northern Victoria area to Bendigo. Many times this is at night, sometimes during the day, and they drive at higher speeds if it is urgent. After all the years of driving as a paramedic, he suggests many of the accidents today are caused through fatigue from driving too slow. His thoughts amazed me. He said when you are driving 130 km/h or 140 km/h along a highway, you usually do not get time to get fatigued, that is, you are alert, your eyes are open, your hands are holding on tight, and you are on your way. It would only be if there was some type of incident with a tyre, or something like that, you might have a problem. The reality is, when you back off to 70 km/h or 80 km/h, in some cases over long distances, which happens in places like Victoria - when I say long distances, it may be 50 km or 60 km between towns - after a few towns, people get tired, particularly at that speed.
It amazed me to hear from a paramedic, who has been in the business for 30-odd years, that going slower has more potential to cause problems with people going to sleep, but that is the case there. Sometimes, going slower can be a bigger problem than going faster.
It is interesting to listen to most of the statements delivered by the government. You sincerely hope their heart is in the right place, they are serious, and it is not just another advertisement, like another glossy brochure. It is not just another announcement about what the government are going to do. Hopefully, the government is serious and it will make a difference.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! Before we start I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Continue, member for Katherine.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you. I do not believe I had actually started, but I will …
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: You can now commence, member for Katherine.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, road safety is one of the most serious issues the Northern Territory, in fact any jurisdiction or country, has to deal with. It is very difficult to apply a scale to the seriousness with which we should treat this particular issue. But, when you are talking about the lives and safety of people in the Northern Territory, and in other jurisdictions, then it arguably ranks amongst some of the other more important issues in the Northern Territory, like the ability of the government to look after our children and ensure they have safe places to live. I am referring to the matter brought up in the Question Time today with the minister for Families.
It is indeed a very serious issue, and I can assure you that, as a former police officer with 21 years of policing experience, I have seen things I would never speak about with any detail in this House. They would offend the sensibilities of probably 99.9% of people who are listening. I assure you, I have seen the horrors of the results of fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle accidents during my time.
I have lived in Katherine for seven years, six of those as a police officer, three years living at Mataranka, on the highway, two-and-a-half years at Maranboy, and eight years or so at Alice Springs. During those periods, and particularly during my time at Katherine, Mataranka, and Maranboy, I had cause to go to many accidents, both on the Stuart Highway and other parts of the road network in the Northern Territory.
In my time attending road accidents, I have never been to an accident on the Stuart Highway where speed was the sole cause of the accident. Of the accidents I have been to - I am thinking about accidents where truck drivers and people travelling with them have died, where entire families have been wiped out in one car, and where mums and children have died - the overarching reasons these accidents occur are fatigue and alcohol. I can safely say that seat belts are not the cause of accidents, but assist with surviving in an accident. In my experience, speed, on its own, has not caused any accidents I have been to on the Stuart Highway, but I suppose speed contributes to surviving an accident, as well.
One of the interesting things about this is the government’s unwillingness to look deeper into how it might change driver behaviour. I heard the Chief Minister talk about red light cameras and speed cameras and things like that, and he said something like, we do not want to fine people, but there is no other simple way to stop people from driving badly - I apologise if I have paraphrased that off the mark, but that is basically what I got out of it. I point out to this House there are no simple solutions to this; simply fining people is not an answer to the question because, ultimately, and we see it across the spectrum of the justice system, punitive measures, on their own, do not work. If you raise or increase a penalty, it does not stop people from doing things, and fines, on their own, do not add to road safety in any meaningful way.
You can look at that, and it is evidenced by the fact this jurisdiction, the Labor government administration, has so much outstanding in fines and unpaid traffic infringement notices. I remember hearing in the Estimates process this year about how much money was still outstanding in fines. That says to me if people get a fine, they simply do not care; they do not pay the fine, and they do not care. At the end of the reporting period for 2008-09, there is something like $3.5m worth of outstanding infringement notice money which is still owed to the government. When I look a little further into the table I have in front of me – I believe it might have been an answer to a question proposed during estimates – the percentage of penalties outstanding has increased over the last three years, from 17% in 2006-07, to 23% in 2007-08, and to 43% in 2008-09.
When you look at that, for, let us say, a police officer who stands out on the highway with his laser or speed gun, pulling up motorists who are speeding - and he is standing in the hot sun for a couple of hours – two out of every five infringement notices he writes will not be paid. When you are talking about changing driver behaviour, the influences which will change driver behaviour have to come from everywhere. If a policeman is standing on the road writing out infringement notices and he knows that two out of five of those are not going to get paid, how do you think he feels about his job? I can tell you, because I have been there. It is ‘we are just doing this because we have to write out infringement notices’ The young guys start out with an attitude of wanting to make a difference but, I can tell you, police officers in the Northern Territory become jaded pretty quickly because they do not see any results for the hard work they put in. Try as they might to maintain a very professional attitude – and I am sure they do, and I take my hat off to the coppers, they do it hard and they do a fine job - when they are standing there in 38C heat, knowing full well two-fifths of their fines are not going to be paid, the attitude they carry with them at the time is, in my opinion, passed on to the motorists. So, there you go, that is the beginning of the failure to change driver behaviour, because of the latent attitude that is passed on.
I am going to feign a little indignation now and say this: I am horrified, surprised and shocked no one on the other side of the House has bothered to ask anyone on this side of the House for any real or meaningful input into this road safety strategy. Sitting on this side of the House are four ex-police officers, who have been, and remain, very passionate about the time they had in the job. Between us, there are - I served 21 years, the member for Drysdale served 10 years, which makes 31, the member for Sanderson served 28, which makes 59, and the member for Port Darwin served 13 years, if I remember rightly - 72 …
Mr Conlan: Seventeen years.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: … seventeen years, we are looking at approximately 80 collective years of policing experience on this side of the House. I am going to stop feigning indignation now, because I am genuinely annoyed the members on that side of the House treat the experience on this side of the House with total disdain and disregard. They say the people on our side of the House have no experience, we do not know what we are talking about; we would not have a clue.
The Chief Minister often stands up and calls us names. ‘Police officers in exile’, is a disparaging remark to the entire Northern Territory Police Force. Most of the Northern Territory Police Force look to us, with the experience we have, and expect us to come in and put the truth on the table, make some sense, and put out the explanations so people will understand the issues we know about through our own experience in the job. They expect us to stand here and effect real change.
But, the government is satisfied to run its own course, its own agenda. I stood here the other night and said the member for Barkly was a hypocrite, and I say it again today. In so many of the debates he speaks on, and answers in Question Time, he says he wants a bipartisan approach to this and a bipartisan approach to that, but not once, have I seen any form of action from the member for Barkly in trying to have a bipartisan approach. Absolute hypocrisy!
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, there probably is not much more that I want to say on this statement. It is quite clear the policies this government has been espousing and promoting over the last number of years …
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I draw you attention to the state of the House and the lack of attention on your side.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: A quorum is not present. Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Member for Katherine, you have the call.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
Members interjecting.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, hold on, please. Member for Greatorex, the member for Katherine has the call and he is continuing his speech.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the member for Port Darwin pointed out, quite rightly, the increased number of claims through the Motor Accidents Compensation scheme. That is a strong indicator of the road accident situation. That is the state of the play in the Northern Territory at the moment. One only has to look at the headlines and the articles in the local paper: ‘Hoon runs down man in street’. This is indicative of what I was talking about people not really caring about fines, even though they are not happening yet, they will be as of tonight, there were 11 000-odd fines in the trial. You think the fines will change their behaviour, but we know it will not work. ‘Besotted rammed radar in new driving strife’, there is another one; ‘Horror rollover’, ‘Drivers get crash happy’; ‘Seven accidents in four hours’; ‘Run down by own car’, ‘She faces a $60 fine talking on a telephone in her car’.
Here are a couple from today’s paper: ‘Driver almost decapitated’, and on page 3: ‘Man fighting for life after hit and run’. I had a thought this morning the member for Barkly, the Minister for Transport, probably woke up today, looked at the newspaper and thought, ‘Oh, goodness me, do I have to talk about road safety today’.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the government pretends, or thinks it might have all the answers to our road safety problems, but the problem is, it will not listen to sense. I will make this offer, I renew it - I have made it before - if anyone on the government side of the House wants to approach me, or any of my colleagues who were police officers, for some assistance, information, new insight or perspective on some of their proposals, then I am more than happy to spend some time with you.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I support the statement delivered by the Minister for Transport, who is well qualified to talk about our roads, and safety when travelling on them, given the thousands of kilometres he has clocked up driving between Tennant Creek and Darwin.
Also, because he is keenly interested in, and very passionate about understanding his portfolio, he drove along the Central Arnhem Road to Nhulunbuy recently, which has road safety issues, being mainly a dirt road stretching about 700 km from the Stuart Highway to Nhulunbuy. I agree with him about the needless loss of life on our roads, and the government is doing all it can to make our roads safe for everyone who uses them.
I am disappointed members of the opposition said they see this discussion as a complete waste of time.
A member: I never said that.
Ms WALKER: The members for Fong Lim and Braitling, I believe, uttered words about it being a discussion that was a waste of time. I apologise, it was not all members of the opposition, but two are on the record of having said that.
When I look back to my own teenage years in rural South Australia, where I was brought up in a small country town, and see how far governments have come in keeping people safe on our nation’s roads, there are significant changes which have occurred over the years. I remember the days when seat belts did not have to be worn, there was no such thing as random breath testing, and you could sit for your learner’s licence plates at 16 and have a full licence two weeks later, assuming you could pass the practical test, which back in those days in my home town was conducted by the local police officer.
I went to my first funeral when I was 16, and a couple more after that; funerals of young people who had been killed in car accidents on country roads, due to inexperience, not wearing seat belts, alcohol involved, and of course, all six-foot tall, and bullet proof.
My father was the local doctor in the country town where we lived, and saw, firsthand, the results from governments in South Australia failing to address these issues. He knew firsthand what the results were: needless and very preventable deaths of children and adults. He attended, like the member for Katherine has just talked about, countless road accidents over his 30 or so years, along with St John Ambulance officers and police and emergency services people. He lobbied hard to see legislation introduced to make the wearing of seat belts compulsory in South Australia. Of course, he was not a lone voice in the wilderness, but it did take a fight to see the legislation brought in.
Thankfully, we have come a long way from those days and this government has come a long way, as we must, being in a jurisdiction where the road toll is three times higher than the national average. The cost is enormous, and the cost of the loss of life and the loss of someone’s family member, immeasurable. There are huge costs for police, emergency services, hospitals, doctors, nurses, St John Ambulance - the list goes on. As the Chief Minister mentioned, the investment of $20m in road safety is a significant sum of money, but, sadly, a necessary investment by this government to try to drive down the road toll.
As outlined by the minister, the Northern Territory government has introduced a raft of reforms, programs, and legislation in a bid to address our unacceptably high road toll. Unfortunately, addressing entrenched behaviours in drivers is a very real challenge and unfortunately, as the member for Brennan has already mentioned, you cannot legislate for someone not to be an idiot. But, you can work hard at education and awareness, drumming into road users, and into the collective community conscious, the need to accept responsibility to bring about behavioural change.
As the minister said, we know this will take time and, while the noble target for any government is for zero deaths on our roads, the sad reality is we will continue to see loss of life. We must reduce the road toll in the Northern Territory – and we are. The current Northern Territory road toll stands at 27 and, I am very sad to say, a young person from Gove has recently been included in the toll. He was a young fellow, around 24 years of age. I did not actually know him. He was not a local, in the sense of the word, but a contractor, and was killed when his vehicle went out of control and crashed at around 2.30 am, about three weeks ago, driving near Wallaby Beach, a stretch of road between the township and the alumina refinery. He was not wearing a seat belt and there is also the suggestion alcohol was involved. As I said, he was a contractor working at Rio Tinto Alcan and he was someone’s son and grandson, a brother, and a mate. I extend my sincere condolences to his family and workmates.
A member: Hear, hear!
Ms WALKER: The photo which appeared in the Northern Territory News showed a vehicle which was just about flattened, and apparently he was pulled from beneath it. Remarkably, his female passenger, also without a seat belt, was found alive some metres from the vehicle. She was medivaced to the Royal Darwin Hospital with quite serious injuries, and I wish her all the best for her recovery.
High levels of alcohol consumption and drink-driving are big issues in the Northern Territory and we are really up against it to turn around an accepted culture of drink-driving. On the subject of alcohol ignition locks, I believe it was probably one of the first pieces of legislation that saw passage through this House when I became the member for Nhulunbuy. I looked closely through the bill, had a briefing, took many opportunities for questions and answers about the case for putting up legislation to see these ignition locks introduced for repeat drink-drivers. It seems fairly radical but quite necessary where we have such high levels of repeat drink-driving. Those people are risks, not only to themselves but every other road user, and that is simply unacceptable.
When people have had too much to drink, and are not making the right decisions about whether they should be drinking and driving, the introduction of a device which makes the decision for them, has to be a good thing. I was staggered to hear in the minister’s statement that, as of 16 September 2009, 221 ignition lock periods have been imposed by courts in the Northern Territory.
With regards to drink-driving in my own community, I have nothing but praise for our local and very proactive police officers who regularly conduct random breath testing and speed checks. To be honest with you, for people who live in the township of Nhulunbuy, there is no excuse for drink-driving. It is a small town, there are bike and footpaths throughout, we are not short of taxis, and for those who choose to patronise the Arnhem Club, there is a free bus service which operates in the afternoons and evenings.
I digress for a moment to say a quick word about alcohol management, because it has a part to play in dealing with drink-driving issues. Having heard the latest, quite flawed policy platform of the CLP about extending bottle shop and liquor shop hours in Alice Springs, I shake my head - it beggars belief. I encourage any members of the opposition to make contact with the Harmony Group in Nhulunbuy, the group which has overseen the introduction of a takeaway liquor permit system introduced into Nhulunbuy in March 2008. We have seen a dramatic reduction in antisocial behaviour and all the issues associated with it through that system.
A member: How much is dramatic?
Ms WALKER: A reduction in police lock ups - I do not have all the statistics in front of me –a reduction in the number of presentations to the district hospital, at accident and emergency, a reduction in the number of call-outs to ambulance, the streets are cleaner and quieter, and the current figure in the reduction of pure alcohol in the township is around 20%, so it is huge. The Liquor Commission made a visit to Gove a couple of weeks ago. I met with them, as did a couple of members of the Harmony Group, to speak about this system and how it has worked.
Obviously, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach, we know that, which is why these grassroots programs, from the community level - this one came from community members, driven by some very strong, mainly women, from one of the clans - have huge support. We have a Harmony Group meeting in one week’s time, and I will raise the Alice Springs matter with them, and make a suggestion for the committee to write a letter to the opposition outlining the successes in Gove, and ask them to think twice about what they are planning, or would like to see done, in Alice Springs.
On the subject of speed - a very vexatious subject - I welcomed, as did many people, the end of open speed limits on the Stuart Highway, and the introduction of a speed limit capped at 130 km/h under this government and former Chief Minister, Clare Martin. When I first came to the Territory, as a much younger person with a fast, new car, and with very regular trips between Darwin and Katherine, I thought open speed limits were great. How young and foolish I was.
I concur with my colleague, the member for Johnston, that 130 km/h is more than adequate. Given most of my driving, for the last 20 years, has been on bush roads around Nhulunbuy and the Gove Peninsula, with the occasional long drive to Katherine and Darwin, I feel a tad nervous when I drive on the Stuart Highway. I last drove with my family to Darwin from Nhulunbuy in July, which is a total journey of about 1000 km. Of course, 20 years older and wiser, with three children in the back seat, and noticeably more traffic on the road than when I drove for the first time on the Stuart Highway in 1987, with what seemed like bumper-to-bumper caravans and trailers and a high number of interstate plates, my husband and I agreed, as we shared the driving, even 130 km/h seemed too fast.
As the Chief Minister said, you cannot go backwards on this; you have to go forward. But, no, not for the opposition. It is quite determined to go backward, in the face of so much compelling evidence that speed does kill; in the face of evidence, support, and testimonials of Police, Fire and Emergency Services, ambulance people, accident and emergency staff at hospitals, doctors and nurses, all those who have had to deal firsthand with the awful trauma and carnage of road accidents, but the opposition are committed to the open speed limits. I sometimes wonder if the members of the opposition are fully subscribed members to the Flat Earth Society; it is difficult to work out their thinking.
Apart from that, I do not have a great deal more to add. As a parent of a 16-year-old, who is on her learner plates, I am grateful that she, unlike me, was not able to get her licence within two weeks of her learner licence but, instead, she has to wait at least six months to build her skills, confidence, and experience. I am seeing the evidence of a young person coming through, who is starting to learn from the education awareness programs. In the same way, I do not see so many young people smoking cigarettes these days, I see young people picking up on the messages we are trying to put out there about the need to be responsible for your behaviour and to be safe on the roads at all times.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement and commend it to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement regarding road safety, which is a very important issue. The minister has raised many issues, in that he has given us a pretty good rundown of the many programs operating in the Northern Territory to try to reduce the road toll. There is no one in their right mind who would say that is not a good thing. Perhaps, with so many programs operating, the government should, from time to time, assess whether those programs are achieving anything. You can have many programs, you can get on a website and say, there is a, b, c and d programs in operation, but are they doing anything, or are they just feel-good type programs? When you have so many programs operating, they should be assessed. I say that especially in relation to the ignition locks.
Using the figures in the statement, on page 6, it says, as of 16 September, the courts have imposed 221 Ignition Lock periods, seven for six months, 191 for 12 months, 17 for 18 months, and six for two-year periods, against drivers found guilty of a second or subsequent drink-driving offence.
It may be too early, because this has only happened since 16 September, but I believe we need to see if they work. We have heard reports they are good from overseas or in other states, but we need to see how they work. Can people get around the system? At the end of the trial, will it make any difference? Will a person who has had an ignition lock, finish their time - they have a time when they cannot drive - see whether they come back and re-offend, because I believe this is one of the programs designed to try to stop people drink-driving.
The other area is drink-driving itself. I know, minister, you made a statement about the opposition’s move to look at the possibility of using similar legislation or, you might say, joining up with the existing hooning legislation, so that people who continually offend will lose their vehicles. In general, I support that; I have said it before. How it is worked out is something we need to negotiate because, as you say, minister, we have to be careful we do not take cars away from people who live out bush and that is their only means of transport. That comment also applies to hoon legislation. I imagine what is good for the hoon, is good for the drinker.
I also consider, and I have said this over many years, the person who continually offends by having an un-roadworthy car, over a long period of time, or an unregistered car, should simply lose that car. Whether it is one, two or three offences, could be debated. The point is, if the car is not registered, it should not be on the road. You do not mind when people have run out of registration and forgotten, but people who are deliberately avoiding paying registration fees, or driving cars which are unroadworthy and they cannot get them registered, then those cars should be off the road. The simple thing is, if you want your car back, get it registered. That does not sound too harsh, because you should not be on the road in the first place. Unregistered and unroadworthy cars should be taken off the road, especially on repeat offences.
I do not want to go right through the statement, because the statement is self-explanatory, but there are a few issues in relation to road safety I need to ask. In his summing up, the minister may be able to cover them. To some extent, it relates to the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, because some of the issues of road safety go between both ministers.
In relation to some of the matters the road safety review brought up, regarding Highway Patrols and Remote Area Traffic Patrol units, there were two recommendations made. Recommendation 16 said the government should approve - and it was approved, because it has ‘approved’ next to the column I am speaking from - the approval was given for the formation of highway patrol units to operate out of Katherine and Alice Springs from 1 July 2007. There was also additional funding approved to the Northern Territory Police of $1.5m in 2007-08 to establish the Highway Patrol units, and $638 000 in 2008-09 and ongoing to maintain the patrols. The other recommendation was to approve the formation of the Remote Area Traffic Control units to operate out of Katherine and Alice Springs from 1 July 2007, and additional funding was approved to the NT Police of $1.5m in 2007-08 to form the Remote Area Traffic Patrols and $638 000 in 2008-09 and ongoing to maintain the patrols.
I want to know - because it is an important part of road safety, but it is also a lot of money - are those patrols operating? I go up and down the highway, and I sometimes see police cars close to towns like Katherine and Mataranka. I have not seen many police cars on the road, may be that is only my impression; they might be out there more than I know. But it would be good to hear from the government about how these patrols are working. Are they effective? Are they still operating? Has there been a change by the government in their form of operation? The government made quite an issue about this and it will be worth hearing about from the minister in his response.
We also have the Territory Police Traffic Branch. In December 2006, the then Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Dr Chris Burns, announced that the Territory’s Police Traffic Branch had been reactivated after 15 years, and I quote:
As someone who drives around the countryside, I keep looking for the Traffic Branch, but I do not see more police motorbikes or cars than usual. I do see them, but I do not get the impression there is a dedicated Traffic Branch. There are vehicles, but whether they are units operating from Palmerston, Casuarina and Darwin, or specifically part of the Traffic Branch, I am not sure. It would be good to find out, because it says in the media release dated 18 December:
Occasionally I see a motorbike - they are the ones that give you a fright because you do not see them coming - but I do not see a strong presence.
I am also interested in receiving a response to some of the concerns I have heard about the changes to the Northern Territory’s Road Safety Division. I quote from a story in the NT News, dated 27 June 2009:
It continues:
That is what the NT News said. I am interested to hear why we got rid of the safety division. I understand it was turned into the Greater Darwin Support Division, under the Greater Darwin Regional Command. Bob Rennie became responsible for Watch Commander, Traffic Enforcement, Speed Cameras, Darwin City Watch-house, First Response Patrol, Youth Crime Unit, Scene of Crime Officers, Domestic and Personal Violence Protection Unit, and the Commander’s Tactical Unit. His road safety colleagues will merge with existing units.
I am interested to know whether the restructure has been a good thing. I understand there were many unhappy police who did not really like those changes. Following on from that, and I believe linked to it, there was a media release by the Northern Territory Police on the 26 June 2009 in relation to the Major Crash Investigation Section, and I quote:
It continues:
I was approached by someone who has some knowledge of this, who said this change had been for the worse, and the only reason the police had changed the existing situation was because of a Coronial inquest, where the judge made a recommendation and, I believe, some of the police feel that recommendation was not strong enough to make the changes that occurred. I am told that is the basis of how some of these changes came into being.
I quote again from the media release:
I am not an expert on the structure of the police, but these matters relate to road safety. I read what it said in the paper, and I have been contacted by a number of people who are very unhappy about the restructure. Also, I understand – and it would be good to get clarification - this new Major Crash Investigation Section is not as good as the previous investigation section. I will stand corrected, but I have had people come to me who are very close to the situation, and they would not have come to see me if they did not have some concerns about this aspect of road safety. It is really important not only for the government to have all these programs put in place - and they are very good programs - but you also have to investigate crashes so you can gain a better understanding of why accidents occur, and therefore set programs to aim at trying to reduce traffic accidents based on the information from those accidents.
You did have an NT Road Safety Division, which no longer exists. I believe, by getting rid of that name, people tend to say the government is not giving it much priority, because you have absorbed it into something else. Whereas, on its own, it tended to be a proactive part of policing, going out and saying we are concerned about road safety, and we are not just being reactive; going to car accidents and having the sad part of telling people their son, daughter or someone has been killed. The reactive part is also the investigation afterwards but, by having the NT Road Safety Division you sent out a message of being proactive within the police force. I stand to be corrected on some of those issues which have been raised with me, but I thought this was an opportunity to speak about them.
Another issue - you might feel this is not quite within the realms of this statement - but it was put to me the new red light and speed cameras are contracted to a private company. We have just passed some laws about declared organisations and, within those laws, there are certain businesses you cannot belong to. One of the issues raised was: could a person, from one of these declared organisations, start to work for the contractor – it might not be a person from the declared organisation, but someone they put into that business - would they be capable of connecting into the police system by using information from the traffic light cameras? The traffic light and the red light cameras connect into the fines unit somewhere - they go into a database and hold information about each and every one of us. It would be good to know whether there is any risk someone could work for the company which has the contract for the red light cameras, and be able to get in and misuse information through that process.
I want to talk on - and you mentioned it, minister - is Indigenous issues in relation to road safety. I was surprised. I received some of those figures you gave us on the number of injuries and fatalities in the Territory over the last five years, which provided some averages. This is where you get the problem of generalising that more Aboriginal people die on the roads than non-Aboriginal people, and more Aboriginal people are involved in accidents than non-Aboriginal people. But, when you look at the figures - I do not have the figures in front of me, but I was looking at them before - the difference is not so great. Many non-Indigenous people end up in hospital with injuries, many more than Indigenous people. The population does have an effect and, also, the number of people who own cars, so you cannot use that as a baseline and make too many estimates from those figures.
Sometimes we can generalise and say Aboriginal people are driving and drinking, many people are hurt in one accident, and it ends up on the front page of the newspaper. But, in reality, there are many non-Indigenous people who are just as bad when it comes to driving.
I say, in relation to Indigenous communities, we have to try to put road safety as a high priority. I laugh a little - I do not know who spent the money - because I have been to quite a few Aboriginal communities in recent times, and there are big signs out the front which must have cost a fortune - they are not the intervention signs. I do not know if they went to school, but the signs say: ‘Look for children’. I do not know where the grammar came from, or if they want to try to cut out words and save money, but, ‘Look Out for Children’ is what you would normally say. ‘Look for children’ means you will look around for them. I wonder about who it was who invented those signs. I do not believe it helped the road safety campaign in Indigenous communities.
We need to have programs which focus on those communities. I read some reports from Western Australia, Queensland, and Victoria …
Mr KNIGHT: You are rushing. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member of for Nelson to finish his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: I have been reading some reports from Victoria on programs set up specifically to help Indigenous people with road safety. Most of us know, if you go out bush, you often see a car full of people and there is no way they all have seat belts on. You probably see cars which are not even roadworthy. The reality of life in the bush is that is how you are going to get around sometimes. We changed certain things even in Indigenous communities. When I first went to Daly River, we all sat in the back of the truck. We had an entire school sleeping in the back of a big truck going home, from the show, and we thought nothing of it. We thought it was a pain in the butt when they came along and said you cannot sit in the back of the truck anymore.
They put on all those big cages, and I am not sure if that was worse. If you were thrown around in the back in the big cage, you may have had more damage. Eventually, we have at least changed some of those ideas. You will have to get a better vehicle if you want to cart large numbers of people around. I believe the big issues - like for the rest of us - will be drink-driving and seat belts. I am not sure if some of the vehicles I see out bush can get up to fast speed, although people can drive erratically even at a low speed, go around a corner at an inappropriate speed, or drive at an inappropriate speed on corrugated roads.
We should not forget the government’s responsibility is to maintain the roads. I know it is very difficult, with the amount of money and the number of roads. But, when I went out to Hermannsburg about three or four weeks ago - you go past Hermannsburg on the way to Areyonga - the corrugations are first class. They are nearly a tourist attraction, because they are so big and deep. By gee, you know you are on a corrugated road. On those kinds of roads, if you do not know how to handle the corrugations, it can be very dangerous. We need to have programs which concentrate on people living in remote areas, and another factor is tourists.
We know there have been a number of fatalities in the Northern Territory, which, from my reading, and from what I have heard, involved people who come from Europe or America, who drive on the right-hand side of the road, and sometimes forget we drive on the left-hand side of the road. I know a couple of cases where that is what the Coroner said, that someone had driven on the wrong side of the road. Recently, there was a poor motorcyclist killed near Coomalie Creek who was on the wrong side of the road. He was Dutch, I believe, and it looks like he must have driven out on to the road, as if he was at home, and went straight into a car.
We need to tell tourists continually. I see the odd sign saying that you must drive on the left-hand side, but that is an area we should promote. I have been to America, and I drove the car a little way in the country, out in the farming area, and you have to think all the time when you are on a different road system; it only takes one mistake and it could be fatal.
Minister, thank you for your statement. I do not believe anyone will be knocking your programs. But there will be issues raised concerning the speed limit and drink-driving. In relation to drink-driving, and whether a car can be forfeited, I believe it is worth looking at, along with the issue of unroadworthy or unregistered cars. Thank you, minister, for your statement.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, before I speak on this, I commend the minister for doing something. Unfortunately, these days, we see many things coming from the government which are just rhetoric. To give credit where credit is due, it is good that someone is doing something and someone is making some decisions.
I will discuss some of those decisions, but before I do, I qualify a few things before we start. I believe the police are doing a fabulous job, given the resources and the management they have. Average police officers are working extremely hard and putting in much, because they are community-minded members.
As a former police officer, volunteer firefighter, and volunteer ambulance driver, who has attended accidents in these roles, I have seen the carnage accidents create in our community. Not only that, but also the carnage to the families that are left. You watch what happens to families when you knock on their door, and you have to tell them a loved one has been tragically killed or, in some cases, you have to go and see relatives and tell them, tragically, an entire family has been taken out by a drunk driver, or some other stupid idiot, cruising around on our roads. With that in mind, I will address a couple of things.
The minister said in his speech – it is not exact, I tried to write it down, but I will get as close as I can - he asked everyone to change their ways and restrain their children; I commend the minister for doing that. I do recall though, a former ALP minister, Dr Toyne, pleading to people to stop committing crime, and sometimes I believe these pleas fall on deaf ears. As the member for Nelson pointed out, in the bush some things are a little different; people say it is different, but I do not necessarily agree that is the way it should be. I believe it is beholden on us, as leaders in the community, to establish programs to get people educated about the dangers.
The Chief Minister pointed out a number of issues. He asserted that the CLP deliberately disbanded the Traffic Unit in the early 1990s. That is true; the traffic section was disbanded and multiskilling was taken up. I believe the reason was – and I do not have the Cabinet documents –because the ALP government in Canberra slashed the budget, which was common in the police force at the time. With the stroke of a pen, my understanding is that $258m - and I will stand corrected – but a substantial part of the budget, it was between 20% and 30% of the budget, and with the stroke of a pen, in the recession we had to have, caused by our friend, and members from the other sides friend, Mr Keating. There was a period when the Northern Territory Police Force, and also health, education, and the public service, were not sure whether they were going to be paid, because of the mismanagement of the economy by the Labor government, which was then in power in Canberra.
To assert we deliberately disbanded the traffic section, for some reason - because we do not like people, we are incompetent or whatever - is not true. There were severe financial restraints on the Territory, and I am sure any government in power, which had between 20% and 30% of its budget cut, would be in a little trouble. Around the public service at the moment, I know public servants and CEOs have been asked to cut their budgets. If you asked them to cut their budgets by somewhere between 20% and 30%, I believe you would have an enormous human outcry. But to do it to the Territory seems to be fine, and the people on the other side do not seem to acknowledge, or want to acknowledge, that is the case.
For instance, in the first year of this government introducing the 130 km/h speed limit, I understand the death toll on the roads almost doubled. I hear the other side, which says this is fabulous; it is a great idea. I do not dispute that some things they are saying are great ideas, and these things do not happen overnight - I understand that. But when you do something, which you claim is going to make a huge difference, and your death toll doubles, it says something about the research and the statements the government made at the time.
The Chief Minister went on to say, in relation to the reduction of speed limits, that police in the Northern Territory wanted to go even further, maybe that is a few who he talked to. However, the general consensus of police officers - and I was in the police force at the time - was not that. In fact, I recall speaking to senior police officers from Western Australia, who said they were pushing the government there to increase the speed limit from 100 km/h or 110 km/h to 130 km/h, for all the reasons I have heard articulated from this side of the House this afternoon, including fatigue. Fatigue is an enormous killer, and you only have to look at some of the statistics. I hear the government saying that reducing the speed limit is going to fix the road toll.
There are other factors I will address, which brings me to the minister’s statement, in relation to education, because that is one part of a toolbox of things we will need to fix the problem. Why is it the Northern Territory Police Association wants an independent inquiry into the allocation of police resources? Great question. I hear members of the government saying, we are doing this, we are doing that, it is fantastic, it is wonderful. Yet, the Northern Territory Police Association want an independent inquiry into where police resources are being put.
For instance, we have 300 extra police; I hear the Chief Minister say we have 300 extra police. Throughout my police career, I have often thought about what is important, and where the priorities are, in policing.
When I was a police officer, if I was going around to get a statement from someone, and I saw someone drive through a red light, my priority immediately changed, and I would go after the person who just sped through the red light. That is a natural reaction of most police officers, given they have the ability to do it, and they have the desire or the training to switch and do those types of things.
If someone takes your TV set, it is a terrible thing, and I have been to many places and spoken to many people who have lost, tragically lost, much personal property, and it is a tragedy, which brings devastation to people. However, when you go to a traffic accident - and there are a number of people on this side of the House who have been to more traffic accidents than they care to remember - and you do some of the things you have to do at traffic accidents. I recall my colleague, the member for Katherine, saying he did not want to graphically describe some of those things, because we do not know who is listening to this broadcast. But, perhaps we should make training available, where people can have a look at the carnage and destruction caused by that sort of thing, so they are actually aware of it. I believe it might be a good thing, and something we need to look at.
But if you have your TV set stolen or you lose someone in a traffic accident, I am pretty sure most people in this House, and most people listening and watching this, would agree that losing someone in a traffic accident or having someone horrifically maimed, is more serious than losing your TV set.
The 300 extra police officers the Chief Minister is so proud of, and says this is where we are going, but looking at the data tabled by the Police minister, in response to a question during Estimates this year, there are a number of figures: Road Safety and Darwin Property Division, Northern Traffic Operations - 12; Traffic Camera Unit - 4; Alice Springs and Southern Command Southern Traffic Operations – 9; Katherine and Western Operational Services Division, that is Essential Traffic Operations - 4. This adds up to 29 people out of 1200, which is 2.41% of the police force. The government says how great it is doing and how important this issue is, and says, we need to do this and we need to do that, and currently it has 2.41% of the police force involved in traffic duties.
When I was a member, just over a year ago - and I recall when this came in - but prior to this increase in the traffic section, there were only about six people in what was then the Accident Investigation Unit in Darwin. In fact, most of the time I believe there were only about three or four, because some were on leave, some were on sick leave, on long service leave, and all the other things that naturally occur in any organisation; so we did not have many at all. I note the member for Nelson asked if there is really a traffic section out there, because you do not often see these people out there. I wonder whether these positions are filled to the maximum capacity of 29 people.
Of the new 300 police - and I tried to be generous - I believe we might have an increase of six in Darwin, the Traffic Camera Unit of four people already existed; there may have been two in Alice Springs and there are now nine, so perhaps they have found seven extra; and in Katherine – none - so I have given them four. There are 17 new police officers who may have gone in there, it maybe lower, but not any higher. That is 5.6% of all the new recruits the Chief Minister so proudly says this government has achieved. Mind you, he has done that with an extra, at least, $1.3bn and the rivers of gold from the GST. It is great if I can help a neighbour, if I win Tattslotto and I have much more money, I can go out and help, as I do with the Salvation Army, the Red Cross - all those things I support - I can help them in a far greater capacity if I had this windfall of money.
I find it quite amazing the government says: ‘We have done this, we have done that, we have provided more money than the CLP ever put in’. Things have moved on, budget-wise, with the amount of money the Territory is allocated since the government won the election in 2001. The GST has been a real windfall for this government to be able to do many things for the Territory. I admit there have been some good things done for the Territory with that money; mind you, I also think there has been huge wastage, and some golden opportunities missed, due to the mismanagement by the Treasurer.
There you go; 2.4% is what the government wants to put out there to fight a horrific situation in our community, with horrific results. There are plenty of people to look out for your stolen TV set - and I accept we need those - but not many to look after the traffic accidents. None more so, than the Aboriginal people living in communities, who are well and truly over-represented in the statistics of those who are killed and maimed.
I ask the minister, as a result of his statement and some of the information he has from our side of the House, to take note of some of those things, deliver some education packages, and put some money into it.
Speaking of money, I understand - I did some quick calculations earlier, and I stand to be corrected – someone said 17 000 vehicles had been checked over four weeks going through currently non-operational red light cameras . If they are all a minimum of $100 per ticket, there is a truckload of money which could be flowing into road safety education and road safety enforcement. I accept there is a whole raft of things governments and people have to do, to prevent and reduce the road toll. Obviously, it is the goal of governments, oppositions, Independents, and any other interested parties to reduce the carnage on our roads and the horrific results some families have to face after their loved ones are lost.
I quote from page 1 of the minister’s statement:
Well, it is, and it is legislation, enforcement, education, and real consequences. Real consequences, so when police officers go out and do much hard work and many investigations, when they go to court, the courts hand sentences out. I recall, years ago, when you went to court for DUI, a magistrate was required to say to defendants when they were convicted, and they were giving out the sentence: ‘You are disqualified from driving for a period of time and, are you aware that if you drive disqualified, you will probably go to gaol’. In fact, I believe they used to say: ‘You will go to gaol’. Because most people, as I recall in those days, went to gaol. If you were caught driving disqualified, it was a serious offence. You were supposed to be doing some time to make you think about whether you drink and drive the next time.
But, these days, there are many instances I have heard about from serving police officers, when I was in the police force myself, and since then, where people drive disqualified, go to court, come up with a great story, and they do not seem to go to gaol. They might get home detention, a fine, or a suspended sentence. I have heard of people being gaoled to the rising of court, or they are in gaol for two weeks and, in 10 days, they are out. That is an issue, probably not for this debate, when people are being released, prior to their sentence being served, because the gaol is full and they seem to be able to get out a few days early. Maybe that is for good behaviour.
I will now move on with the statement, part of which says, and I quote:
I recall, in November 2001 – actually, I will come back to that one. I am sure that the minister, as a former teacher, would agree that early intervention is so important, it is probably the basis of everything, and, as a community, we should be supporting early intervention, and that means we start as young as possible to get people to understand what the rules are. I recall my mother teaching me rules, from when I can actually remember, probably before I can remember, but always instructing and teaching, about what is right and wrong, but learning as a child of, say, two years of age, and I believe it is very important we do this. Even in preschool, Transition and Year 1, we need to be there teaching these young people about road safety, drug education, and a whole raft of things. Numeracy and literacy is great, but if you are dead, it is no good to you.
As a community, we spend much time, effort, love, and care to get young people to an age, to adulthood; it takes much blood, sweat, and tears by parents and by the community, and to have them killed in car accidents, because they have not had that part of their education fulfilled, or to have them killed by drug abuse or something, it is terrible. So, I agree, start with education and awareness.
I recall, in November 2001, the then minister for Police, Syd Stirling, who was the member for Nhulunbuy, sent a letter to the police department, and said, ‘scrap school-based policing, we do not need it, see you later’. This caused a huge outcry across the Territory, and the community put so much pressure on the government, that it did a backflip and it did not actually get rid of it. The government had a review, which came out in 2003 - and I will not go into the results of that review - but the government wanted to can …
Mr CHANDLER: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the member be given extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker and thank you members. This is a government that was prepared to get rid of something which was seen by the community as an excellent arm to teach young people a whole range of things. Much of what school-based police officers used to do was teach about road safety and drug education. The DARE program, which is an acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is what many people - not just me – many teachers and young people, who see me from time to time, say how it influenced them.
There is one particular young Territorian, and I will not mention names, who we are all immensely proud of, who said to me recently: ‘You know, I go places, and I am offered drugs all the time, but I remember what you said and what you taught me’. I run into many young people who say that, given that I taught just under 40 000 of those young people around the Territory, it is fabulous when they come back and tell you they are on the straight and narrow because you had a large part to do with educating them about what to do and what not to do, backed up by other people in the community and their parents. It is also about road education and road safety.
I was appalled when the government closed the Road Safety section in Parap. Everyone in the community was saying, do not do it, where are our kids going to go, where are they going to learn? When you talk about starting with education awareness, why would the government shut the Road Safety Centre in Parap? Fortunately for the community, there has been enough pressure on the government to have it reopened. But I hear people say: ‘I am very proud to reopen the road safety’, well, why did you close it in the first place? These principles you put in these statements are about early intervention.
When we talk about young people - and young people are our future, I understand they are 18% of our population and 100% of our future - it is beholden on us, as community leaders, to make sure we give them the best possible education we can, along the broadest range of issues and problems out there, so they are better prepared. I often used to teach young people about knowledge, and I used to say to them, when you make a decision, at whatever point in your life, you make it based on the amount of information you have at that very minute, not what you learn tomorrow, but what you have learned, what you have been told and what you remembered, and you make that decision and you wear the consequences of it. If you get some more information the next day, you would probably make a different decision, as we do in this House.
We debate things, we gain new information, and we go away and think, maybe people have a point, and we make a different decision, based on the knowledge we have. It is our responsibility, as leaders in the community, to make sure we give these young people, and anyone in the community, the knowledge to make the decisions. How do we do that? We need to have good education programs. How do you have good education programs in school? You have raft of people, with credibility, who come in and give people information.
I noticed the school-based policing program, irrespective of what the government might like to say, does not seem to have the same level of support it had a number of years ago. I say that probably happened after November 2001, when the then minister for Police said to scrap the program. From that point on, my understanding is, the government, although it said it supports it, does not seem to be behind it. I believe it is important to have people, with a particular nature, to go in and impart knowledge to young people, to empower them; to empower young girls in the school not to put up with bullying, to give them a better understanding, and to give them the knowledge, so we can prevent them from getting run over, from getting into drugs and driving when they are drunk, and from getting the living day lights beaten out of them in domestic violence problems.
There is a whole raft of things, and I do not know whether people on the other side of this House understand the things you do have, the golden opportunities you have, to teach young people. Alas, we see the government does not seem to want to promote the school-based policing program very well, because there are so many other reactive issues. I understand there are operational concerns, but there are an extra 300 police officers, no wonder the Northern Territory Police Association wants an independent inquiry into where everyone is.
I quote again from the minister’s statement:
There you go. I have just said a few things about that and, lo and behold, it is on page 3 of the statement. While I commend the minister and say, excellent, well done, it is a great statement, and I support that statement wholeheartedly, it is what you do about educating young people and how you do it; how you get the message across and get the message to stick. The minister is a former teacher, so perhaps he understands some of the things I am talking about. You have to get in and actually get people to like you, because if they do not they probably will not listen to you. You can go in with an iron fist, do all sorts of things and threaten people and other things, but you need people wanting to listen and learn.
There are people, apart from teachers, who have a whole raft of experience and knowledge, who can come in as guests and instructors and pass on valuable knowledge, because they tell real stories. They tell it as it is, they are not telling it out of a book. They tell real stories. Like the firies who come along and tell young people about what is like to have to cut off the top of a car so they can drag people out, some alive, some not; like the police officers who have to clean up the carnage of bodies at severe traffic accidents where there are multiple injuries and multiple deaths; and the ambos. These are the things we probably need to make available.
We go further into the statement, and I quote again:
But, when you have a government which has actually pulled back on awareness training and awareness activities, what do we have? We have downgraded programs with which to interact with young people and we have restrictions placed on the amount of time you can impart this type of knowledge to people. These are the things I have asked the government to look at and consider.
The next point says:
I congratulate the government on putting in red light cameras. I believe they are a great idea, but they are only one part of the tools. Given we had 17 000 go through and get sprung in a month, once the money starts to come in, I ask the government to consider putting it into education and enforcement, and, if we need to, increase the police force, or increase the numbers from 2.41% involved in traffic to a much higher figure, so we have people out there doing proactive patrolling and getting the message out.
There is a difference between speed cameras and real police officers. The speed cameras do not determine whether people are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, fatigued, have a driver’s licence, or driving disqualified. It is simply someone pays some money. I believe it is a great idea, but it is only a small part. Having real police officers being able to apprehend people and then ascertain a whole raft of things, like whether these people are drunk, under the influence of drugs, or whatever.
There many reasons why we need police officers to complement all these other measures. But with only 2.4% of the police force tied up with that, and with the number of fatals some of these police officers have to investigate, it takes up much of their time, so they are not out patrolling or catching people. I have said this before in the House: the number of people who sail through red lights in this town is an absolute tragedy. Maybe the government will have to put a red light camera on every set of traffic lights to get that to stop. I note the member for Johnston said earlier, what do we have to do? Maybe that is what we have to do.
There is so much more I wanted to say on this, but I note we are fighting the clock. I congratulate someone in the government for making some decisions, although they probably need many more.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I have not read such a load of back-slapping garbage since the last statement came out in this House. The propaganda puff pieces this government is prepared to deliver and spend good taxpayers’ money debating for five or six hours every day this parliament sits is incredible. How many bills have we debated this week, or this sittings?
A member: Not many.
Mr CONLAN: I believe three. We have introduced a couple. We have done about three bills; a couple of those went into committee. If it was not for the Health bill yesterday, which took one and a half hours- it took three days to come on, but one-and-a-half hours in committee stage. Thank goodness the opposition had the nous to introduce a matter of public importance; that was debated for at least two hours. But what if the opposition had not highlighted some of the deficiencies in the Hospital Boards Bill and was able to spend an hour-and-a-half debating, or negotiating those amendments with the government, and spent two hours debating the MPI? Where would we be? We would be running out of time quick smart. This would be the only parliament in Australia that spends five or six hours every day debating propaganda puff pieces to back-slap the government.
No one else does it. No other parliament in this country would spend eight days debating these puff pieces, and most of them go for 30 or 40 minutes; this one is 10 pages long, and there is nothing in it. In fact, the minister basically gave us a run-down, a prcis version of the statement in Question Time today. He has repeated himself about three or four times. The whole thing is repetitive, because he spent a good 10 minutes in Question Time today informing us, basically, what was coming up in this statement.
We started this at about 3.30 pm or 4 pm, and it is now 7.30 pm, if I take up 20 minutes and the minister responds, given no other member on the opposite side of the House speaks again, takes us to at least 8 pm, and then what happens? What do we do? Do we adjourn the House? We are already knocking off at 9 pm and you are spending five or six hours, every day, talking about nonsense, back-slapping, your own rubbish. It is shameful.
This parliament costs $7000 an hour; that is the guesstimate figure I have been told by staff in the building. We are spending five, six, seven hours a day introducing statements, to talk up the government, to make yourselves feel good. You obviously have some problem with the opposition. Obviously, the opposition has something on you guys, because you spend half of your time talking about the opposition. You talk about this bill, and half this stuff is talking about how bad the opposition is. Even in your own statement, you cannot talk about how good you guys are. Although you make a pretty good attempt though, I have to say.
I cannot believe the eight days we have spent in this Chamber, this is the eighth ministerial propaganda puff piece introduced into this parliament. It is incredible - absolutely dumbfounding. As I say, there is no other parliament in the country which does this. Even your defunct Labor mates, in the other states, do not do it. The Queensland parliamentary website shows they do one each morning, between the Premier and the Opposition Leader, which lasts for about half-an-hour. At least they have some bills to introduce, debating legislation, taking things into committee; they are trying to get on with the business of governing Queensland. It is the same with your other defunct Labor mates. I am astounded. This has been going on every day of the two-and-a-half years I have been in the parliament. Every day we come in, and you guys table another ministerial statement …
A member: About nothing.
Mr CONLAN: About absolutely nothing. This one is really quite pathetic. Some might have a little substance; this one has nothing. Plus the minister gave us a run down in Question Time today. He has even repeated himself. He mentioned ‘world best practice’ three or four times.
Effectively, we added an extra day to the parliament. What for? Why have we added an extra day to the sittings? It is not like we have much work to do. We have plenty of work to do on this side, but you guys, obviously, have nothing to do. Obviously, there is nothing for you to do, and yet you want to tack another day on parliament. For what? Nothing. For a propaganda puff piece. It is an outstanding example of your pathetic-ness. And …
Mr Giles: Nothing is working in the Territory.
Mr CONLAN: I beg your pardon?
Mr Giles: Nothing is working in the Territory; there are no houses being built.
Mr CONLAN: I want to get to that. I have to take it up with the member for Johnston, because he did say they are evidence-based. The member for Port Darwin raised the issue of evidence-based, and highlighted how fundamentally flawed that was from the member for Johnston.
But, if you were committed to evidence-based approaches - we have already seen last week your complete disrespectful dismissal of the AMA’s report into hospital waiting lists across the country, and the state of our hospitals - there is some evidence for you. But, no, it does not suit you to accept that, because it paints a pretty grim picture. It is also backed up by The state of our public hospitals report, which is compiled by the Commonwealth government’s Department of Health and Ageing, and it painted an appalling picture of our hospitals ...
Mr Tollner: Their own comrades.
Mr CONLAN: Your own comrades, exactly. Your own Labor mates in Canberra have highlighted how appalling our hospitals are in the Northern Territory. For the record, it is not a shot at our hospital staff, they are working under tremendous pressures, because you are putting them under tremendous pressures. This government is putting our hospital staff under enormous unfair pressures, not to mention the bureaucratic red tape running our hospital system. It is almost impossible to encourage health professionals to come to the Northern Territory because of the red tape. The amount of paperwork you have to shuffle back and forth to get on the payroll, or to get some accommodation in the Northern Territory, no wonder we are not getting people here.
If you want an evidence-based model, member for Johnston and member for Barkly, then, let us take evidence-based models, but let us not just throw out the ones that suit you, rather, dismiss the ones that do not suit you and accept the ones that do suit you. Let us look at that. The Minister for Health’s approach to last week’s questions, on the Australian Medical Association’s report on our hospitals, was a disgrace. How disrespectful can you get? He stopped short of calling the facts and figures in the report mistruths. We are talking about a credible organisation, not just a bunch of cowboys. These guys know what they are talking about, surely. But no, it does not suit the government to accept that. So, let us accept evidence-based reports, or let us make decisions on these evidence-based reports, but let us do it for everything, not just what suits you.
What has this government done with Freedom of Information requests? It has made it just about impossible for anyone to access information from the Northern Territory government. I believe there were 1200 or so FOI requests approved. Do you know how many were not approved? 330 000-plus. That is 330 000-plus Freedom of Information requests not approved by the Northern Territory government. Half of those, I was reading on the ABC website, were lost, and they could not find the information because it had disappeared somewhere.
To come into this parliament to debate legislation, as legislators, which we all, particularly the government, like to proclaim, ‘we are legislators and we are here to legislate, make laws for the Northern Territory, and make it a better and safer place’. All you are trying to do is wrap us all up in cotton wool and make everything so damn hard in this place it is hardly worth being here. It is an absolute shocker. Honestly. Then you turn up with these ministerial statements. I cannot understand how an elected government has nothing else to do. I have not seen the new Minister for Health introduce a ministerial statement, by the way. Hasn’t the new Minister for Health got much to say? In fact, in my two-and-a-half years in this parliament, I have debated one …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 67, Digression from subject. The member has been on his feet for nearly 10 minutes. This is a statement about road safety, and I understand …
Members interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: … I am sure there are people, I am sure the Australian Royal College of Surgeons, the College of Emergency Physicians, and the AMA are interested in what he has to say about road safety and how it impacts on our hospital and health system, so let us get on with it.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The member for Greatorex is constructing an argument about the government’s attitude to a number of things, including road safety, and he is constructing that argument by way of reflecting on other attitudes, and I believe it is entirely to the point and legitimate.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Member for Greatorex, I appreciate the standing order the member for Johnston referred to. I ask you to be relevant to the statement. I am prepared to give leniency in this instance. You have the call.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. In fact, the argument that I am developing is about statements as a whole, and about the waste of parliamentary time these statements have become. You have nothing else to do, no legislation, no governance. You have lost the battle on just about everything. You have lost the battle on law and order, completely dropped the ball, completely lost the ball …
Ms Scrymgour: You are so bitter, you are so bitter.
Mr CONLAN: That is interesting. I will take up the interjections by the member for Arafura, the most senior Aboriginal politician in the Northern Territory. When she was a minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Indigenous Affairs Minister, how many media releases did she put out as Indigenous Affairs minister in her time?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I believe actions speak louder than media releases.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Member for Greatorex, you have the call.
Mr CONLAN: They should, but in this case they did not. How many ministerial statements?
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! The member for Greatorex has been in this place long enough to direct his comments through the Chair.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Johnston. Member for Greatorex, before you resume, I remind members of Standing Order 51.
At the moment the member for Greatorex has the call. I ask the member to stand and speak. I also ask the member for Greatorex, if he can, to be relevant to the statement.
Mr CONLAN: It is about statements. It is about statements overall, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Like this statement, and the member for Arafura: how many statements did she introduce on Aboriginal affairs, or Aboriginal issues when she was Aboriginal affairs minister? The answer is zero, none at all. She clearly had nothing to say on the issue.
Yet, the member for Barkly has 10 pages or so of nothing. We heard it all before when he wanted to waste our Question Time, mind you, that was directed towards the member for Arnhem, the Minister for Children and Families. There were very serious issues the Minister for Children and Families had no idea about; she could not answer the questions, she has no grip on her portfolio. That was too much for the government, so the minister got up and started to waste time about issues that were already highlighted in this statement and would be brought on later in the day.
Again, we are seeing time wasting, on so many levels, in this parliament by the Northern Territory government. I cannot believe they not only introduced an extra day in parliament, yet spent that whole day talking about nothing. The whole day talking about statements, back-slapping, patting each other on the back, about how great we are and what we are doing. Everyone knows you are not doing anything at all. We had the members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy supporting a bill which had seven or eight amendments made to it. We still do not know which particular bill they were supporting.
Clearly they need to read these bills first. If the member for Nhulunbuy had her way, she would have passed this bill, and then we would have seen the hospital boards diminish to where they would have been suspended, amalgamated or abolished. That is the way she would have liked it. The same with the member for Barkly, getting up and blindly supporting bills as they come through. You have a great history of not reading bills and then standing up and supporting them.
Members interjecting.
Mr CONLAN: You are the government. That is the point. You are the government, and 12 months ago you had a 19 seat majority, you just passed everything. You all got up and said: ‘This is so fantastic, we are going to support this bill. This is a great bill. Fantastic. The best bill we have ever seen. All those in favour say aye, aye’, and the bill goes through. Then we find out there is a whole stack of errors in the bill and we have to revisit the thing later. Thank goodness the opposition had the nous and the wit to pick up on some of these issues in the biggest bill which has gone through, one of only three bills which have gone through this parliament in the last eight days.
We have spent eight days in this House, debating three bills, which we could have done in one day. Let us take out that one day, we have seven days, and we have spent seven days with propaganda puff pieces like this. That is all you have.
To the member for Nhulunbuy and the member for Barkly, I believe you owe the opposition a great deal, because we have single-handedly saved your hospital boards. If the government had its way, and the opposition had not highlighted these deficiencies, with the support of the member for Nelson - thank goodness the member for Nelson is here to help with this - then we would have lost hospital boards. There is no doubt about it. The member for Johnston and the Minister for Health know it. Thank goodness the Minister for Health, I believe, has the wit to appreciate what his department is trying to do with these hospital boards. But, no, it was okay for the member for Nhulunbuy; she got up and blindly supported the bill without even reading it. The members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy did not read the bill. I mean, how pathetic …
Ms Walker: Wrong.
Mr CONLAN: If she had read the bill, why did she support it? Do you not support the amendments approved by your government?
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The member for Greatorex knows he should be addressing his comments through the Chair.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, I accept that.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, if you could do it through the Chair, and if you could try to come to the point which relates to the ministerial statement. Thank you.
Mr CONLAN: It is all about statements, Madam Speaker, statements as a whole, and it is about the ridiculous situation we have in this parliament about wasting parliamentary time and wasting Territorians’ time, at great expense, by introducing propaganda puff pieces day after day.
Dr Burns: Where do you stand on the 130 km/h? Come on, let us hear it.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: I believe you know very well where we stand on this.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, can I draw your attention to Standing Order 51?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, you may have noticed I called order, so I would appreciate you not reflecting on the Chair in that manner.
Mr CONLAN: Definitely, Madam Speaker.
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the member be given 10 minutes extension to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, if the members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy had read the bill, I am confused why they would have supported it, considering their own government accepted amendments and put amendments through.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I call relevance again. This member has been on his feet now for 20 minutes and he has not really addressed any of the elements in relation to road safety. As the shadow Health minister, I am sure those in the health sector are very interested in what he has to say about 130 km/h and a whole range of issues related to road safety …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker. This is the fifth or sixth time the member for Johnston has called a point of order, taking time off the member for Greatorex …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, resume your seat, thank you. Resume your seat, member for Greatorex. We have before us a statement relating to road safety transport. Standing Order 67 relates to no digression from the subject. Member for Greatorex, while there is a fair amount of latitude, it would be important to actually mention road safety, rather than the health board’s legislation, which has already been passed in this House. You would be aware that there are other standing orders relating to comments on legislation already passed in the same sittings. Member for Greatorex, please continue and bear those things in mind.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, I will be getting to road safety as I develop my argument, but hospital boards are integral to road safety. Clearly, it is about health service delivery in our regions and our regional hospitals. If it was up to the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly, I am sure they just would have passed the bill. They got up and supported it in its entirety; they said it was a great bill. Yet we had seven or eight amendments accepted by the government, in fact, many of those proposed by the government, so obviously there is some disconnect between what is going on with the members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy, and the reality of what is happening with the bill. I am not sure what happened there, but the members did not read the bill, and we have seen that happen many times.
This is just a puff piece, they are such great words, ‘puff piece’. It is the old radio slogan. If you have to fill up a little time, you have nothing else to do, so let us pad out for a bit. This is what is happening with this government. They have nothing else to do. We have spent eight days in this place and we have debated three bills which could have been done in one day, and the other seven days is taken up wasting everyone’s time - Territorians’ time, members’ time, staff time, the general public’s time and, of course, taxpayers’ money.
I want to see a statement introduced into this House on health. I would like to see the new Minister for Health introduce a statement. The last statement I debated in this House on health was the Building Better Hospitals statement, which was not long after I was first elected, it was probably the first sittings, August 2007 ...
Mr Tollner: Who was the minister?
Mr CONLAN: The minister was the member for Johnston. We have seen much happen there, obviously. The Minister for Health is also the Minister for Alcohol Policy, and we have seen nothing from him on that, which is integral to road safety. We have heard that mentioned all throughout the debate tonight - for the last six hours - alcohol on our roads, yet we have not has a statement from the minister on alcohol policy.
This is a government which has failed to get a grip on law and order. We have a 65% rise in violent crime, in fact, 65% of assaults in Alice Springs last year were alcohol-related. The recently released June quarter crime statistics show that offences against the person jumped 25% in Alice Springs, sexual assaults nearly doubled, property offences remain unacceptably high, and motor vehicle thefts and related offences have more than doubled. That is just in Alice Springs. We have a government which has failed to get a grip on the alcohol issue.
Their answer is to shut down business and to deprive people of choice. They think restricting trading hours is going to stop people buying alcohol, but opening the bottle shop at 10 am or earlier is not going to create any more drunks. Obviously you do not come from a background of small business or private enterprise. None of you have any idea of what happens in the retail sector, or how retail works. Opening earlier or later does not generate more business; it just shifts it. I can tell you that from personal experience. If you open at 5 pm instead of 12 o’clock, people sleep in and shop after lunch. It is a fact; that is what happens.
Opening the bottle shops at 10 am is not going to create a whole bunch of new drunks, because the same people will go in and shop earlier. It is a fact; ask any bottle shop or any key retailer about trading hours, extended trading hours or restricted trading hours, and they will tell you there has not been a decrease in sales because of a 2 pm trade in Alice Springs. Absolutely not. What happens on Saturday mornings in Alice Springs, for example? The bottle shops can open at 10 am. Do we see more sales? No. We see the same amount of sales, just people buying earlier. That is a fact. If you have any concept of small business or retail, then you would understand that. But, you do not. I do not know what your backgrounds are, but it clearly is not from a small business background. If it is not, it is a shame because, if we had more of that expertise in the executive, then we might see some real decisions made.
The member for Johnston is waving his Pharmacy Guild tie. I ask the member for Johnston, through you, Madam Speaker, did the he run a small pharmacy?
Madam SPEAKER: This is not Question Time, member for Greatorex.
Dr Burns: I did.
Mr CONLAN: Can you tell me then, I am interested to know …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, direct your comments through the Chair, please.
Mr CONLAN: I am interested to know about the trading patterns of a small pharmacy, because a small pharmacy is a retail business, and if it was open later, or for longer or shorter periods of time, do you sell any more prescriptions? Are more people coming in? No. Those people are coming in and filling the prescriptions at a different time. That is all; it is as simple as that.
This government has lost the fight on hospital waiting lists. It will not accept evidence-based data when it is damning data. We have seen that with the Australian Medical Association Report into hospitals last week. Yet the member for Johnston will stand here and say, the road safety business with the 130 km/h speed limit, they said, these are the facts and figures. If that is the case, why do you not accept what the AMA has to say about hospitals? You have already been disproved by the member for Port Darwin about your evidence-based stuff anyway, because if it was evidence-based, the speed limits would be 110 km/h. That is clear.
The minister talked about families in his statement. But, what are you doing about Acacia Hill School? What about the families of children at Acacia Hill School in Alice Springs? This government is presiding over a government school, which has breached 75 or more disability policies. There was an audit done in 2005, there were 75 breaches of access, doorways not right, no ramps. There are more than 75, nearly 80. I do not know what you think about this. You might think you are doing much for families, minister, but this is a disastrous situation. The government has let this fall completely through the cracks. The school is at its wit’s end, and I suggest that you put a call through to the school and find out what you can do about it quick smart.
This government is smoke and mirrors. We have seen it in statement after statement and, unfortunately, this will not be the end, because I am sure there will be more and more statements to come, to fill up time because you have nothing. You have absolutely nothing. You are a government of smoke and mirrors and there will be more to come, I fear.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, your time has expired.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, it is rare you find such a well-crafted speech as the one I just heard from the member for Greatorex. He hit the nail on the head; he is dead right.
We come into this place and waste time on absolute nonsense statements like the one the member for Barkly has presented here today. He is dead right. There is no other parliament in Australia where you could get away with spending 99% of the time debating puff pieces. We do not come here to debate legislation. It is as rare as hen’s teeth to come here and debate legislation.
A member: Three times in eight days.
Mr TOLLNER: Three times in eight days - which could have been done in half a day. Here is a little advice for the government: if you want to put out puff pieces, fine, but, why not get the House committee to have a provision where we can seek leave to table our puff pieces, put them out for everyone to read, and make them public. Then we do not have to waste everyone’s time, spend the taxpayers’ money, or sit here debating this nonsense. If someone wants to read it, they can easily pick it up and have a read.
The member for Barkly, I have to admit, I like the guy, he is a character – there is no doubt about it. He livens up Question Time with some of his random responses. I have to say though, member for Barkly, it is sad, because you are such a nice bloke, a very gregarious character, but you have absolutely no idea of your portfolio. He is completely all at sea; he has no idea what he is doing.
I look at some of the things he comes out with. The first comment was, and I quote:
What a great opening statement. He says it with passion and apparent conviction, but what do we see coming from him and his portfolio area? Nothing but dribble and motherhood statements; there is actually no meat on the bones whatsoever. There are some classic ones in this statement. He says:
It’s not rocket science Madam Speaker …
He even typed in the ‘Madam Speaker’:
We now have race-based road problems. Goodness me, he is somehow or other saying this is a black and white issue now. Somehow, speed kills more non-Indigenous people than Indigenous people, and that seems to matter, and will determine how the government does its road policy.
This is a great quote, I am sure the minister believes this:
Obviously, someone in his office has worded him up on this, because who could disagree? Running red lights is reckless. No one wants to see people running red lights; it is stupid and dangerous behaviour. He is dead right about that. But, as far as ‘making no apologies for wanting to protect Territorians by introducing an additional eight red light and speed cameras across the Darwin area’, he is now talking about nine intersections, in the whole of the Northern Territory, where the traffic lights will have red light and speed cameras, and he honestly believes this nonsense.
Not so long ago, we had the Estimates hearings, and the minister, the member for Barkly, lobbed up to those Estimates hearings, and provided great entertainment for some of us. He was asked about the one existing red light and speed camera in the Northern Territory, the one near the Palms. He was asked what the revenue was for this financial year. The minister referred it to Mr Richard Hancock - as he does, because he did not have the information; the minister is not told this information - who did not know the answer, so he referred it to Mr Papandonakis, who said they had raised $1.6m this financial year from the red light and speed camera out the front of the Palms Caravan Park.
You know where this is going, because he has decided this has worked so well, but, in actual fact, the minister has not decided this. I have a suspicion it has come from Madam Treasurer. She has seen this $1.6m come out of one camera, and said: ‘What are we doing with only one camera? This is a road safety issue, minister McCarthy, get out there and save more lives. Get us another few cameras’. She thinks: hang on, $1.6m times nine, $14.5m; that is going to look good in the coffers. You can see them sitting around in a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister sitting there rubbing his hands thinking: another $14.5m, goodness me, the public are becoming a little tired of it, maybe we are going to beef up our PR unit, it is costing us $9m a year; goodness me, maybe we can double that and we will get some really bang for our buck. Because that is the way Labor operates. Any time there is a problem, it throws money at it; it does not look for a solution, just throws money. We see it time and time again all over the place.
We saw it in Question Time today, when the member for Arnhem was responding on childcare matters and the like, and she said: ‘We have thrown more money at it. I cannot tell you what we have actually done with the money, but we can tell you we are throwing more money at it; spent more money than you guys ever spent’, as if it is some great achievement.
I do not want to denigrate the member for Barkly, because I honestly believe he thinks he is doing the right thing by sticking these speed and red light cameras all over the place. We all agree speed is a problem, and people have to be slowed down, but you tend to get better outcomes by having police cars on the road. I know in the mornings, if you are driving down Bagot Road, and people are whizzing past at 15 km/h or 20 km/h over the speed limit; put one paddy wagon on the road and you see they all slow right down, it all becomes calm and easygoing. The minute you do not have a police car, it goes back to normal; people rushing into work and home from work - that is the way it is. But, one way which has worked, to slow the traffic down, is to put a police car on the road.
You have police in unmarked vans, hiding behind bushes with speed cameras, and you put speed cameras in places where you hope people will not see them - that is about revenue raising - it has nothing to do with road safety. The first time a bloke knows about it, is when he opens his letterbox and he sees a picture of himself. He has already done the crime. No one has actually trying to stop him doing the crime; all they are trying to do is get their grubby little hand into his back pocket. That is what it is about. It is not about trying to curb people from speeding. That is also the issue with this unlimited speed limit. We see the former Transport minister so proud to say he is the bloke who put up the 130 km/h speed limit - he took the old ones out - like it is some great achievement that the nanny state is stepping into the Northern Territory.
We know why the government put the 130km/h speed limit in place. It has nothing to do with road safety, well it is, sort of, but it is because they are not prepared to put the money into the roads. When I first came to the Northern Territory, it was a place where people used to brag we had the best roads in Australia, bar none. Over the 21 years or so I have been here, things have declined. It is amazing. When you drive from Queensland, you come through Camooweal, and you do that horrible run between Mount Isa and Camooweal, it is just dreadful - a goat track, up and down. In Queensland, believe it or not, it is much better. Queensland has spent a lot of money putting in a new bridge, then, all of a sudden, you drive across the border, and you are on a corrugated bitumen road. I do not believe I have ever seen corrugated bitumen roads, apart from the Northern Territory, and that is why we have 130km/h speed limits. It is true those on this side of the House want to abolish those 130km …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House. It is a very important speech.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, ring the bells. I am a little concerned. There seems to be something going on in relation to the calling of a quorum. We will call it, because there is not a quorum at the moment. Ring the bells.
The member for Greatorex is aware of what I am talking about. It was feared there was something strange about to happen when the member for Braitling went out before. We have called a quorum, and we have a quorum now. Thank you, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and member for Braitling. It is great to ensure there are enough people in the House.
Mr Knight: Your members leave every time you talk. Your members leave every time you get up.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: There is no doubt, our policy is to try to get rid of those 130 km/h speed limits and open up as much of the road as we can. However, any reasonable person at the moment - and pretty well everyone on this side of the Chamber, and I am certain people on the other side of the Chamber recognise it too – knows you cannot, because the roads have declined to such a shambles that we have to put speed limits in place for safety reasons. You used to be able to belt down the Stuart Highway. The beauty of the Territory was it put its money into policing the motor cars which people drive, ensuring they were continually tested and were roadworthy. We had better quality cars on the road than any other place in Australia, because you had to have a good car to handle driving at the higher speeds.
These days, I do not believe it matters how good your car is. You need an Abrams tank to go down the Stuart Highway in some places, the roads have deteriorated so much. I have said before, I get down the highway on a regular basis. I know the member for Barkly does not believe me on this, but in some places between Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs, you see ant hills three feet high on the verge of the bitumen. Those things do not magically appear; they take years to grow that high. This tells you is no one is keeping the verges of the road clear. There is no maintenance happening.
We saw the Barkly Highway washed out a year ago. Why was it washed out? ...
Members interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: … it was a freak flood. Ask the Bureau of Meteorology if it was a freak flood. Yes, they had a downpour, they will tell you that. I rang the Bureau of Meteorology; I checked it out. It was no freak flood. I heard the Chief Minister saying: ‘Terrible floods have gone through, floods so bad they washed the road away’ What a load of nonsense. There some classic ones in this statement, and I quote again:
I noticed the first thing he said was education. It stands to reason; he is a former educator, a school principal. He runs a program around the Territory called, Muttacar, and I quote.
Minister, I suggest the term Muttacar would be patronising and insulting to many Indigenous people. You talk to these people like they are idiots. You spell things to them like they are idiots. We jump up and down about the fact we have such poor levels of literacy and numeracy in Aboriginal communities, and here we are running programs called Muttacar - Sorry Business. Muttacar, goodness me, you cannot even spell the word right. As a former school principal, you would think you would try to get something right.
I go out to Ngukurr and Numbulwar, and see the street signs, East Street, Smith Street, spelt ‘strit’. I am going down the ‘strit’. Goodness me. The Minister for Transport is a former teacher, and you wonder why we have such appalling levels of education in literacy and numeracy in remote communities. We have a whole bunch of bureaucrats running around, putting up a side show, and performances called Muttacar - Sorry Business. No wonder people have trouble reading and writing, you have the minister running around talking about ‘muttacars’. I believe the minister is told these things are all fantastic and wonderful, and he believes it.
I remember being stunned while sitting in Estimates - I do not have the transcript, I am sorry, so I cannot quote exactly, I may get parts of it wrong – when the minister jumped up and said: We are very proud we are leading the push on the National Fatigue Management regulations and requirements’. He said: ‘The Territory has been punching above its weight and making sure that these things are …’, and I said: ‘Hang on minister, backtrack a little. Could you repeat that? You are supporting it?’ The one place the National Fatigue Management impacts most is in the Northern Territory.
I have been involved in the fatigue management issue since 2001. I believe it was one of the first issues I got my teeth into when I was elected into the federal parliament. I became very involved with the Northern Territory Transport Association, truckers, and cattle boards, the Cattlemen’s Association, as well as tourism associations, because the proposals for the National Fatigue Management would cripple the Territory. It would almost stop any haulage of live cattle occurring in the Northern Territory. It would almost cripple the tourism industry, because the requirements are so strict and rigid …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extra 10 minutes for the member for Fong Lim.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the member for Katherine and to all other members present for your strong vote of support in giving me a little extra time to conclude my remarks.
The National Fatigue Management scheme would cripple our live cattle haulage industry and it will seriously hurt the tourism industry in many ways. But, we find out during Estimates the minister is not down in Canberra going to these National Transport Forums, railing against it, kicking up a big stink. He is the one leading the charge. When he was questioned about it, he says: Oh no, everyone likes it, they love it’. I am looking at him thinking: what planet are you on mate? Where did you come from? Surely you cannot honestly believe that everyone supports it. How can you park a road train, loaded full of cattle, on the side of the road in the middle of the day, and go to sleep for eight hours?
Mr Wood: Where are going to unload the cattle?
Mr TOLLNER: Where do you unload? There was a study done in the Northern Territory by the Cattlemen’s Association which showed if it was to make this plan practical, the government would have to spend something like $60m building cattle yards and supplying water and feed, so that live haulage mobs could pull up, unload their cattle, water and feed them, and go to sleep for eight hours, load them up again, and continue on their trip. There were about 15 or 20 of these sites required around the Territory to meet the need that was being put in place by these zealots who want to introduce National Fatigue Management processes.
This is all because of truck drivers between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, who go back and forth along the Hume, Bruce, and Pacific Highways, and do several trips at a time. They go to sleep and when they go to sleep they have an accident. They wipe out and they kill dozens of people. These accidents are happening with regular monotony between Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. Rather than saying: ‘Let us address the problems between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne’, we have these zealots who say: ‘There has to be a national response and we want a national program’. It does not work here, minister. The whole industry - the tourism industry is outraged with it, the cattlemen’s industry, the trucking industry - is outraged with it in the Northern Territory, but, lo and behold, we hear at Estimates you are leading the charge.
Dr Burns: I did not hear that.
Mr TOLLNER: The minister says:
Hang on, I have it in here. I will not go through this. It will take me a couple of minutes. Someone has just dropped it on my desk.
Mr Conlan: He said it and you know it. Do not be stupid.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, you are not allowed to speak unless you have been called.
Mr Conlan: You cannot even see what you are doing.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Greatorex, cease interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, the point I am trying to make is that the minister’s advisors treat him like a mushroom. They do not tell him about any of the problems out there. They word him up and trot him out. He comes into the parliament with statements like this, prepared to dribble out whatever these advisors tell him, without taking any effort to check the facts. There is a classic line in this statement, and I quote:
Hector, the Road Safety Cat, has been out there and has delivered over 2000 presentations to Territory children. I have to tell you …
Mr Wood interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: Get this one, member for Nelson, you will love this. Hector, the Road Safety Cat, was knocked over by a bus in front of a school in Darwin River Dam while he was delivering road safety messages on behalf of the government. He was knocked over by a bus. Is not this guy, Hector, the Road Safety Cat, a role model? What a great role model. He is run over by a bus while delivering messages on behalf of the minister. You would think any advisor with the least skerrick of honesty would come out and say: ‘Minister, maybe we should just go easy on this Hector the Cat business. We sent him out and he got run over by a bus at Darwin River’. Goodness me.
I will go back to national driver fatigue in Estimates. Mr Giles says:
The minister replied:
It came out during Estimates that the Territory voted in favour of something which is going to cripple the cattle industry, live haulage industry, and stuff up the tourism industry.
Members interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: But you know, the minister …
A member: Put your hand up if you believe it.
Mr TOLLNER: You want me to table it? It is on Hansard, minister. Your key advisor put you right in it, and you did not even realise. A little like Hector the Cat. You think Mr Hancock would have wandered in and said: ‘Gerry, about this Hector the Cat stuff and the school kids, can we find a better role model? We sent him out to Darwin River and he got knocked over by a bus while he was standing on the side of the road delivering road safety messages.’
Goodness me, minister, you take the cake. This type of stuff reinforces exactly to a T, what the member for Greatorex was saying. We come in and waste time debating this total, utter nonsense about rubbish that is fed to the minister. Minister, I do not believe you are a bad person at all; you are a gregarious bloke, you seem passionate about your job, but I wish you would ask for more information. They are making you look like an absolute bloody fool; a bloody idiot.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, I ask you to withdraw those comments, thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, Madam Speaker, I withdraw it.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Minister, they are making you look like a bloody idiot.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, we do not swear in this Chamber, thank you. Withdraw.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, I am quoting from his statement.
Madam SPEAKER: It does not matter whether you are quoting, member for Fong Lim, it is still swearing. You will withdraw, please.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, let me go back. One of the lines that the minister made in his wonderful statement is:
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, can you please withdraw those comments?
Mr TOLLNER: But, Madam Speaker, I was quoting from the document.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, whether you are quoting it or not, it is still swearing, and I ask you to withdraw. Member for Fong Lim, just withdraw.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, the political correctness in this joint drives me around the bend.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He seems to be challenging your ruling.
Mr TOLLNER: I am not challenging the ruling.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, can you resume your speech?
Dr Burns: You are showing disrespect.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, continue, and direct your comments through the Chair.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Speaker. This joint is an absolute joke. We have to come in and listen to this nonsense. For some reason or another, ministers can get away with saying whatever they like; they can swear in this place and they are never pulled up. The minute someone else jumps up and says the same thing …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim. You will withdraw those comments. It is a reflection on the Chair.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I thank my other colleagues for their input tonight. This statement is very important in the sense it does at least bring to light some issues regarding road safety. As a former police officer of 10 years, and, as was worked out by my colleague, the member for Katherine, a joint collective of over 70 years of policing experience on this side of the House, every time the Chief Minister gets to his feet and denigrates the 70-plus years of work we have done on our side, alongside hundreds of other police officers, I hope he understands the mess he is putting upon his own nest. I am proud of my time as a police officer. I am sure my colleagues are also very proud of the time they served. I am proud of the current serving members of the Northern Territory Police Force.
The Chief Minister discussed issues tonight around what he believed were police who supported his policy line regarding removing open speed limits. I was a serving police officer at the time it was brought in, like many of my former police colleagues. I tell you now that there was a great majority of general duties police, and other ranks like detectives and superintendents, who did not agree with this proposal. You definitely had a Commissioner of Police at the time who supported it, and the immediate rank and file under him, who supported it. It needed to be supported at the time …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is called. I remind all honourable members that a quorum relates to all members of the Chamber. A quorum is achieved.
Mr BOHLIN: There was a great majority of police working the beat who did not support it. There were many who were saying, in the muster room: ‘I am not going to enforce that’. As a supervisor at the time, it posed many problems for me. I knew the government line and what our directions were, so I had to direct my officers to enforce those issues. I personally do not agree with it, on our three main arterial roads. That is our basic stance: we do not support the reintroduction on all minor feed roads which are definitely not suitable.
If the government even considered asking for a briefing, it might have learned that. It is a flippant comment from the government to claim we have failed to seek a briefing, when many of the times our briefing comes from the people on the ground. On many issues, the government should eat their own words and seek a briefing from our side, to try to understand our point.
There has never been, in my mind, a doubt that speed limits around the towns and built-up areas are vitally important. They are a critical part of ensuring the safety of our public around our built-up areas and our towns. But, on our highways, I disagree. I consider places such as the autobahn an example and, yes, it is different to our highways, but so are the highways of the southern states. They are different to our highways. They have a town, often every 20 km or 30 km, with an off-ramp. You can pull over and go to a coffee shop or a major service station. We will go hundreds of kilometres without seeing a major town, without seeing another person, for that matter.
There are many issues to continue to discuss in regard to those speed limits, and they will need to be properly thrashed out, with appropriate information to guide you. Having filled out accident reports in the police force for over 10 years and then vetted accident reports by subordinates, I can guarantee the data is correlated and quite adequately fed to your government, but it is not as clear as it may seem. It needs proper analysing to determine the root causes for accidents. If you want to find a reasoning for a certain pattern, that can be obtained. You can always obtain a result out of data to suit your need.
Likewise, we could be accused of finding data which suits our need when we look at the data. However, when you simply have to tick one box which is either ‘speed’, ‘side impact’, or ‘weather’, in excuses or reasons for why an accident occurred, how are you going to get accurate data? You then have four lines, as a word picture, on the accident report to determine and explain what happened in that accident. Do you think four lines are necessarily suitable in all circumstances? I would say not, but much of our data is based upon four lines, several very small boxes with ticks in them, and a drawing.
It is not clear cut argument, we do not doubt that. We believe it is reasonable to suggest open speed limits will be a reasonable cause in some areas. The fact the road conditions have been neglected for eight years, under this current government, has not helped this issue. We understand the roads are in such a poor condition that an open slathered release of open speed limits would not be the wisest approach. We know, because there are currently speed restrictions, and some of those restrictions would need to continue.
I cannot believe the member for Barkly, and I am sure he does a lot of travel, did not keep driving through those speed restricted areas and say: ‘Gees, I have the portfolio to fix this. I should ask my department why those areas have not been fixed’. It confuses me how the Minister for Transport could drive through those places, and he claims he does many kilometres - he claims he has done about 80 000 km this year, it would be pretty close to what he claimed the other day in parliament - and I am sure he has driven through those speed restrictions several times, many more perhaps. Why did he not have them fixed? They were outright dangerous. If he was serious, he would have demanded they be fixed as a matter of urgency; as a priority.
The wear on the shoulders of the roads has been ridiculous. It is offensive to think that our major highway, once a fantastic arterial to supply the Territory, has been neglected to such a degree. The shoulders were worn away, the drops were not in centimetres but in inches, which will make a car unstable. I do not know what happened where the roads were washed away, during the miraculous floods brought down from the heavens last year, but I bet the road shoulders were so poorly neglected it did not take long for the water to cut under the asphalt and rip it away. From the video I saw of some of it, I would say that is exactly what happened. It easily got under the lip and ripped the bitumen away. It would not have taken long at all, purely from neglect.
It is horrible that I know of accidents, since coming into this House, which have been caused by the neglect of the road shoulders. I know of incidents where, after police attended an accident, and clearly wrote in their report, ‘This was as a result of poor road conditions’, road crews were there within the next couple of days. That stretch was fixed. It is shameful, because it took an accident where someone’s life was taken, nearly taken, or put at risk, to get action, and only in a stretch surrounding the accident.
I had dinner, maybe five weeks ago, with people from Central Australia, and they continue to tell me these road shoulders are no better. This is eight years of neglect which has left no other choice but to control and restrict the roads. To add to that, those who have lived in southern states for some time, understand the great tyranny of fatigue. Fatigue is the number one killer in many of the southern states. Unfortunately, we see many crosses, marking the dearly lost souls, upon their highways and long stretches of roads. They have a speed limit of 100 km/h or 110 km/h but, unfortunately, their roads are littered with signs of souls that have been lost; not because of excessive speed in all cases. I daresay you would find many that are not from excessive speed but fatigue.
I have suffered fatigue; I understand the dangers behind fatigue. I have travelled many roads in Australia, and know there is a point in time when you need to take a break. I also know that when travelling through the Territory, before our speed limits were brought in, I suffered less fatigue as I travelled through Katherine and beyond, down to the South Australian border, than I did once I reached the South Australian border. It was almost as if you were hit by a big cricket bat as you crossed the border and you were pulled back to 110km/h. Before the road speed reductions to 130km/h were brought in, I travelled that road, in a very capable sports car, at 180 km/h. That was a complete trip from Darwin to the South Australian border. The only time we had trouble on that trip was when I hit a rock, which was thrown on the road from slashers. Back in those days we saw regular slashing on the side of the road. I was only doing a 110km/h, but it was a big rock, bigger than my fist, and caused substantial damage because I was in a pretty low sports car.
During that time, sitting on 180 km/h, we passed a handful of people, we stopped regularly, and we were only passed once. The notion that could be thrown up, that people drove like absolute lunatics, is easily dismissed in the sense that we were not getting overtaken madly, and we did not overtake people madly. If it took me several kilometres to overtake someone safely, that is how long it would take me. There was no rush or intent, but I do enjoy going fast.
The next time we did that trip was sometime later in a Nissan X-Trail, and we travelled at 140km/h. We were comfortable in the car, with the family, and with the road conditions. But, when we hit the South Australian border - gee whiz Jim, bring on the coffee - it was a hard yard. We travelled through Victoria, on the Great Ocean Road, and it is not as easy as people think. I know in South Australia there have been calls for years for the road from Whaler through to Port Lincoln and the Nullarbor to have its speed limits lifted; people die there, unfortunately, too often. Again, it is fatigue. They are similar roads to ours. There are many farming areas, but you go for hundreds of kilometres without seeing anyone. Big open roads and fatigue is the big player.
I talk on alcohol in relation to this and, for the Northern Territory, I say alcohol is probably one of our biggest killers, without a doubt. We have the statistics that show 50-odd percent of road deaths were a result of alcohol. But, this government has refused to penalise people strongly enough, by removing their cars when they have re-offended. The member for Braitling introduced a very good proposal, it may not have been in the right order for the government, but, the thing is, if this government was serious about the road safety, it would have adopted the bill itself, brought it to parliament the next day and said: ‘Let us run this because, member for Braitling, you were right’.
I will tell you why: if you can take away someone’s car for introducing alcohol into a restricted area, having too many barramundi - and their boat, while you are at it - and for hooning, I guarantee, you should be able to take away their car for drink-driving under repeat offence circumstances, because there is an extremely high chance they will kill someone. Not a choice, they will kill someone. We have the statistics, and they are very strong to say: if you are drink-driving, you are likely to kill someone. Fifty percent of our road deaths are related to alcohol, not hooning, not taking alcohol into restricted areas, not fishing or taking too many barramundi, but alcohol. And this government has failed to adopt that policy, which I strongly believe is the right policy.
If you say it would put too much hardship on the family, can you honestly tell me that someone who might have been caught during a burnout or similar, does not have a family? They might have a family, kids, or grandparents; they do have a family. It is a farce to use that defence, and I am ashamed you have not picked it up. Take away the repeat drink-drivers’ cars, and you will start cracking down, and lead the way in Australia on drink-driving. If you want to do something visionary in this parliament; do this, do something which will work. Fifty percent of our road deaths last year …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the member for Drysdale be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker and member for Katherine. I repeat, 50% of road deaths were related to alcohol. The government is not even serious about dealing with it. An alcohol interlock will not prevent the final result. Teach the lesson that must be taught - remove their cars and save people’s lives. Is it too great a penalty? No. The penalty of taking someone’s life is far greater; it should never be messed with. Added to that, are seat belts. Not wearing seat belts also rate in the range of 50% of road deaths in the Northern Territory.
As the member for Katherine said, he has seen things he would not repeat in this Chamber. I am sure the member for Port Darwin has also seen things he would not repeat in this Chamber, when it comes to road death and trauma; and the same for the member for Sanderson. Attending road accidents does not bring back fond memories, but none of the road deaths I attended were directly related only to speed. I will give you two factors: alcohol and not wearing a seat belt.
It is not hard to work out where you need to target your approach. It is not hoons which rate at 50% of the cause of road deaths, is it? Yet, you have taken that target and you have hit them up hard, and proudly boasted the fact you have taken some cars off them. How many people you have gaoled lately for drink-driving? Are you serious about dealing with that?
I digress, because I was talking about seat belts. As you can see, the issue of alcohol and drink-driving is a passionate issue for me. I cannot tell you how many people I have breath tested, but I made no apologies when I breath tested someone. I had the sentence down pretty well; the introduction was pretty good. But, when you do not wear a seat belt, the trauma at 60 km/h is enough to kill you.
Strangely enough, I believe it was in Africa, in the mid-1990s, an Australian company took a rolling bed – it is like a roller-coaster - to Africa. It was a demonstration device they could take to communities to show people the effect of not wearing a seat belt. People would sit in this device, without any great harm or fear, and realise, at 60 km/h, which is achieved on a very short little ramp they have, no matter how strong they were or how many times they go to the gym, they cannot physically hold their weight up against the impact. That is at 60 km/h. Seat belts are vitally important and need to continue to be targeted.
I have one local businessman who discussed this idea with me. He has talked to a few agencies and some car manufacturers about it - and from my knowledge as a mechanic, I can understand the principle. If the government in Australia, let alone the Northern Territory, is serious, it could include an activation device so, if the seat belt is not plugged in, it will not only beep at you, like it does on a modern car, but it will restrict the ability of a car to go more than 40 km/h.
With the modern air-fired computers, including on diesels, you can do that. It will activate a ‘limp home’ mode, which means the car has enough power to get out of an intersection, if it has an accidental fault, so it will not become involved in an accident. There is enough power to get you home in case you have a fault in the middle of nowhere, and it is related directly to your seat belt. If you do not have your seat belt on, the car will only be able to do 45 km/h. It is not hard. I am surprised the Australian government has not picked up on the idea, with all the grey mass it apparently has, and that the car makers have not done this. Why have the car makers not done it? Because the governments have not forced them to do it.
Mr Chandler: It is like a pit lane speed limit.
Mr BOHLIN: It is very similar to what the member for Brennan just said. It is because the governments have …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Unfortunately, I believe the clock is not working.
Madam SPEAKER: No, I believe it is working, I can see it working. Please continue, member for Drysdale.
Mr BOHLIN: Madam Speaker, thank you very much. I can see the clock is still moving somewhat.
This can be done quite easily. I dare say that with a degree of retrofit it could be achieved. However, it is up to the federal government, and the territory and state governments to lobby the federal government, to impose such a change. The car manufacturers will not do it off their own bat. It may cost them 30; that is probably the cost of it. It is a reprogramming issue, which is not hard, but I will not bore you with the details.
The last of my points is first aid training. We can penalise people all we like; we can put up speed cameras, and bring in the millions of dollars of extra revenue. Red lights are dangerous; I have seen many accidents caused as a direct result of running red lights. I am not too concerned by red light cameras. But, you could make it compulsory for every new driver, or for people obtaining a Northern Territory driver’s licence, to do a one-day intensive road crash rescue first aid course particularly tailored with the intent of demonstrating how graphic road accidents are, and the vital first aid training they may need if they come across a road accident.
There used to be figures which showed that if appropriate first aid treatment was given in the first 30 minutes of a road crash, a certain percentage of road deaths could be avoided. If every person holding a licence in the Northern Territory was compelled to do this course then, first, they would have the skills to provide aid on the side of the road, if they come across trauma, particularly with the fact we are such a sparse landscape and, second, the fact they are directly confronted, in the most intimate manner, with some of the road trauma they may come across, should drive it into their brain that if they drive like a fool they could cause a death or trauma like this.
Madam Speaker, there are some very easy things which can be done; they are not hard to achieve. The cost of the first aid would be borne through the driver’s licence. I note on the web, in Europe, I believe it is Germany, it costs nearly $2000 to get your driver’s licence, because you have to go to so many driving schools before you are allowed a licence. You go through driver training; you go through 48-hours of theory alone, I believe it was; and you go through various different categories of physical driving on the road, through to the autobahns. It takes you time and it also costs you about $2000. So, the impost of a first aid course would be nothing, but perhaps it would have a dramatic effect which would benefit and, perhaps, get into the mindset of some of our younger drivers, and some of our foolish older drivers, that driving is a privilege, not a right.
At the same time, I believe the government can do more. The Transport Minister knows the member for Braitling is right about the drink-driver legislation introduced by this side. Madam Speaker, if he is serious, step up to the plate and do his job.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, this is my first statement to the House, and I am very proud it is about road safety and saving Territorians’ lives. I am very proud of what it achieved; it united brothers and sisters, it united mothers and fathers, it united sons and daughters, and it united Territorians. It is a good day when you learn something, and I have learned much. I thank all members for this debate.
I was a little disappointed that the member for Greatorex and the member for Fong Lim used their valuable time to offset the debate - to move the debate into politics. In terms of politicising an important issue, I have already cited in this House my theatrical background. I will Google the Alice Springs theatrical club, because I am qualified to cast, and I feel a pantomime coming on. I will ask the member for Greatorex and the member for Fong Lim to play as Tweedledee and Tweedledum in this year’s pantomime.
On the subject of theatre, I support the member for Sanderson, a learned man, who understands early intervention and early childhood education, the importance of Hector the Safety Cat, and the importance of the message. I have been Hector the Safety Cat …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr McCARTHY: There are fine public servants in the road safety section who value that. We have had many discussions about the importance of early childhood education and early intervention for delivering road safety messages. Member for Fong Lim, I have a better story than the bus. Hector the Safety Cat was savaged by a blue heeler on his way to the preschool in Borroloola. I will share that with you, maybe over drinks.
Also, on the subject of theatre, I table, in relation to Muttacar - Sorry Business, that Artback NT is one of three finalists for national Not-For-Profit Project of the Year Award. The other two are Ronald McDonald House Charities Australia NSW and Reading for Life, Learning Links NSW. It is up against multinational companies for a national award. The announcement will be made on 12 November 2009, and I look forward to updating the House on that. Muttacar - Sorry Business received a nomination at The Deadlys 2009, for effectiveness in communicating to Indigenous Australians on road safety - an outstanding achievement in live theatre. We cannot underestimate this powerful approach to getting the message across that one life lost, is one too many.
I will go to the members and their valuable comments, and begin with the member for Braitling, who pulled together the infrastructure component of road safety, and I thank him for that. The relationship between the minister for Planning and Infrastructure and the Minister for Transport, we like to call it: planning and infrastructure - bitumen and below, and transport - above the bitumen, and we work together. The record infrastructure spend, directly on transport; on our roads, rail, marine, and air infrastructure, by the Henderson government, has been tabled many times over the last eight days, due to the stimulus package from the Rudd Labor government.
The member for Braitling went into the areas of cost of living and inflation and emission control, which was interesting. What came together was an outline of the scope of the enormous challenges we face. In the infrastructure side alone, I believe everyone is well aware how many challenges we have in delivering road infrastructure in the Northern Territory - the great frontier of the Northern Territory.
In my electorate alone, between Murun Murula and Nudjabarra, a distance of 80 km, can take me three-and-a-half hours. I need a vehicle which crawls like a mountain goat, and can tow vehicles out of trouble or off major highways. I use a vehicle to tow trailers. It is all about understanding the road conditions you are operating in, and that message has to get out. There have been some very valuable points about educating children, visitors to the Territory, and Indigenous communities. Being in the Barkly, I am very privileged to be amongst that, operating motor vehicles and getting that message out there.
I believe the member for Braitling did not value data and statistical input into solving this issue. However, the member for Port Darwin does, so he should get together with the shadow for Transport to discuss the value of data and statistics, to provide baseline data which represent world’s best practice, represent research and findings, and document predictions and trends, to go forward in this argument.
The member for Port Darwin tabled a very good document and some very good statistics. The Chief Minister debated that, and I believe statistics like this are very volatile, and we have to look at longer trends. The paragraph after the quote used by the member for Port Darwin, in the important document tabled, the TIO Motor Accident Compensation Report, states, and I will quote:
Important stuff.
In relation to the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Review, and I have made it clear in this House, it is important to work with industry and explore policy and service delivery implications. This is a major body of work which is ongoing, and will deliver, as the member for Braitling challenged, good outcomes for Territorians.
The member for Fong Lim was very vocal about fatigue management in the Northern Territory, and there was half a quote, quarter of a quote, or maybe a couple of lines pulled out of Estimates. If we look at it in its entirety, it says this is a national regulation - this is the federal government - and I am working with Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia and we are working closely with the cattle industry and the tourism industry on fatigue management in the Northern Territory.
For the record, for the member for Fong Lim, operators in the Northern Territory must already comply with occupational and health and safety laws. We are going forward with this and there will be a fight for me: there will be no reduction in our cost productivity benefits, and this is a very important message to take to the table. My next opportunity is the Transport Ministers’ Council in Sydney in November and, member for Fong Lim, I will take your good advice with me; I learn something from everyone.
Regarding the port, we heard this week, about a $150m investment in the port. The port investment will go on, because the port is our gateway, and we all know the importance of it. The Henderson government has that right in the frame.
If we talk about the alcohol ignition locks, it is important to remember that the alcohol ignition lock, or the alcohol ignition licence, is a sentence. It is an additional sentence and an increase in the penalty. We have not seen much with the take-up rates yet. If you do not want to take up the opportunity to change your driving culture, and to prove to society you can be trusted to not drink and drive, then you will sit it out with your sentence. When your sentence is completed, you will go through the drink-driver education course and you will be assessed before your licence is returned.
The Chief Minister and the member for Johnston spoke very strongly about the red light and speed cameras, and the incredible conspiracy with them. I table today, that when we are talking about changing driving cultures, the red light speed camera at the BP Palms - and I go through that camera at least twice a week, I am very aware of it - is a very powerful influence in driving behaviour. It went online on 2 September 2008, and there were 250 people breaking the law per day, that level has gone down to 50. Now, I believe that is changing driving culture. We are now rolling out more to protect more Territorians, and I am glad to see member on the other side have supported red light and speed cameras.
I am interested in the Country Liberals policies, and the policies for improving road safety. I am interested in any opportunities, but I believe we have seen demonstrated in this debate the difference between policy and politics, and people who want to politicise things, turn it into a joke. I am afraid that I do not value that. The member for Katherine has thrown out a great invitation to contact him and to do business on road safety, and I thank him for that. I learn much in this House, because every time I go home to my electorate, I work Saturday and Sunday writing letters to ministers. I have written many letters to ministers to progress issues from my electorate, to inform ministers, to be in partnership with ministers. I am sorry I was on the wrong track. I will have to write to the members of the opposition to have a briefing. I am glad I have been put straight on that. I thank the member for Katherine; I have to write to you to organise this, then you will be next on my list and I will organise a letter so we can get together and talk about briefings.
On briefings, member for Braitling, I have to introduce you to the Minister for Information, Communications, and Technology Policy to teach you how to e-mail between Alice Springs and Darwin. In future, ask for an e-mail and we will send it down the line. It will be like a $50 note squeezing through that wire and popping out in Alice Springs at an ATM. Do not worry about that, we can fix that. I must make note that The George Institute, whom we have been dealing with, is world’s best practice. If they are not good enough, then I do not know what is. But, I am very proud to be working with an elite institute on road safety in the Northern Territory.
A change in culture and behaviour, informed by world’s best practice and, member for Brennan, and respect. Respect, I like it. I like the word and the concept. I value your input regarding licensing, and I will reinforce from the statement the Henderson government’s initiatives in the new graduated driver licensing scheme which is being developed for better training and better outcomes. I quote:
That is early intervention, focusing on our young drivers. The world’s best practice and research says the 17 to 25 age group is the high-risk group, that is what we are targeting, member for Brennan. Thank you for your input.
The member for Nelson, once again, made a valuable input. You are right: the alcohol ignition locks need to be reviewed; all legislation needs to be reviewed, and I will be very happy to share that as we start working down that road. With the drink-driving and the confiscation of cars amendments you are putting forward, may I request a briefing with your amendments, because I am very interested? You have heard the clich - the door is open, the e-mail does work, and I probably have an old HF radio out the back that I could go back to if we need to.
The unregistered cars, is a good point from the member for Nelson, and we need to look at that. The questions over the Highway Patrol, the NT Road Safety Division, and the Major Crash Investigation Section are valid. You made a good point on the possible organised crime relationship with the red light and speed cameras and the outsourced companies. I will write to the minister and ask those questions, and I will get a reply, because that is how I do business. I look forward to receiving those replies, and we need to talk more about that.
Indigenous people and road safety, member for Nelson, I agree. With our growth towns policy and the way we are moving forward, it is imperative we bring Aboriginal people into this frame. Road safety is very important for all Territorians, and we need to start working on English as a Second Language, and strategies to get that powerful message about road safety through; it is about education and awareness.
Madam Speaker, the member for Sanderson had many good points. It is good to see members opposite are agreeing with what the Henderson government is trying to do, and they are ex-police, who were on the front line of policing, and saw the cause and effect of the carnage firsthand.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it being 9.10 pm, the Assembly is now adjourned.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, last night I adjourned on the Dancing with the Celebrities event, which Total Recreation organised, and I have a few more words to add.
I give a huge thanks to Rebecca Forrest, from Forrest PR, who did much of the organisational work. You always get a lift when speaking to Rebecca, as she has so much positive energy, and she needed it, because she coordinated the ball, and the night ran like a charm. She also gave Margaret and me a private dance lesson, which I needed.
Thanks to Paris Lord, the MC on the evening, who did a fantastic job - obviously a professional, from his day job - as did Simon Watts from Ray White, who ran the auction.
Finally, a huge thank you to all the sponsors: the Northern Territory government, Top End Hire, Forrest PR, LHMU, Casuarina All Sports Club, Australia Post, City of Palmerston, Southern Cross Television, Larrakia Development Corporation, Palmerston Sports Club, Andrew Barcroft - the Good Guys, Jape Homemaker Village, SKYCITY Darwin, Darwin Central Hotel, the member for Karama, Simon Watts from Ray White Real Estate, Floral Way in Palmerston, CMax Cinemas, YOTS, The Deckchair Cinema, The Wilderness Resort, and Kabuki, which styled all the ladies’ hair for the evening.
Without the general support of these sponsors, the ball could not have gone ahead, and none of us would have been part of this fantastic experience. If you would like to see photos or videos from the evening, there are some up on the Total Recreation website, and also on Facebook, at the Fannie Bay electorate fan page.
The Darwin Trailer Boat Club hosted the Bluewater Classic the weekend before last. It is a huge event now. The Trailer Boat Club has built the Blue Water Classic from nine boats in its first year in 2002, to 34 teams and over 180 competitors this year. It was not just locals throwing a line in; there were fishermen from interstate who made the trip up. I caught up with a few of them at the sign-on day and it was not their first trip up; they look forward to the Bluewater Classic. It was a huge rap for the Darwin Trailer Boat Club which has built this competition into a huge event for locals and tourists. It takes much work from volunteers, and it has become so big they may have to outsource some of the work next year to special event organisers. That is not a reflection on the competency of the volunteer staff who have put in so much work to date to make this event the success it is, but a reflection on the huge amount of work involved in organising an event of this size and stature. It is a real credit to all those involved.
For those who do not know, the competition is a release and weigh-in event, which sees teams searching for the biggest of a number of fish species. The bigger and heavier the fish, the better, the fish being ranked on a points-per-kilo system.
The winners for each of the categories were: Junior Angler in a boat under 5 m - Nathan Daniel; Junior Angler in a boat 5 m to 5.99 m - Mitchell Copley; Female Angler - Jacky Lamb; Billfish Champion - David Baskeyfield with a 1.92 m sailfish; Team Boat under 5 m – Wet Spot, made up of Gavin Schultz, Jaroslaw Inglot, and Danny Wright; Team Boat 5 m to 5.99 m - Teaze em up, made up of Health Waller, Jade Rodda, and Stewart Harding; and Team Boat 6 m and over - P&M Contracting, made up of Paul Van Bruggun, Jordon Doevendans, and Jeremy Harmsworthy.
Overall, the champion anglers were: Champion Angler in a Boat under 5 m - Christo Beck with 201 points; Champion Angler in a Boat 5 m to 5.99 m - Heath Waller with 302.5 points; and Champion Angler in a Boat 6 m and over - Chris Hams with 455.25 points.
It was great to be at the sign-on day to see the huge queue of people signing up. We delayed formalities, the opening speeches - I am sure, no one complained about the speeches being delayed - and the briefing on the rules, so everyone could sign up, as it was a much longer queue than anticipated. The presentation night was on during parliamentary sittings. As you can imagine, and I have heard, it was a great night, with many tall tales being told. Congratulations to the Darwin Trailer Boat Club - a great club - for another successful Blue Water Classic.
Congratulations to: the event coordinators - Tony and Trisha Butler; assistant - Ron Cormick; Weightmasters - Dave Connell and Keith Wynnes; team registrars and scorers - Rachel Mayhead, Cath Halkin, and Carole and Neil Murray; photographer - Ian Bartlem of Rural Photography and Framing; the grounds and bar staff of the club; and Di in the office.
Congratulations also to the sponsors whose generosity allowed the event to go ahead: BH Marine; Lion Nathan XXXX Gold; Dreamedia; Southern Cross Television; Hot100 and Mix104.9; ENZED; Pete’s Glass and Aluminium; Fishing and Outdoor World; Shimano; Advance Weighing Technology NT; Caroldale Plumbing; Boatcom; GME; Trading Post; BTC Parts and Accessories; Darwin Reef and Wrecks; Top End Tackle World; Matt Flynn; TTF Sports; and Fish Darwin.
It is a credit to the Trailer Boat Club that they have so many sponsors and, as everyone knows, these things do not happen without sponsors and volunteers. Congratulations to everyone involved. I am not the world’s greatest fisherman, but I enjoy throwing a line in. If I could find couple of people who are happy to join a team with me for a few days, I look forward to getting out on the water for next year’s classic; maybe I could get some of my colleagues out on the water as well.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I express, what I call, reserved excitement in learning today that Anthony Sandford from Regional Pacific Airlines is proposing to establish an air link between Mt Isa and Alice Springs.
Earlier today, I received an e-mail, as did the members for Stuart, Araluen, and Greatorex, amongst others, advising of a proposal to re-establish an air link between Mt Isa and Alice Springs, which is great and exciting news. Anything which has the potential to open up business links and tourism opportunities is great for Alice Springs. I believe it will go further to support the relations between Central Australia and Mt Isa, and potentially link up people from Perth, Cairns, Townsville, and Brisbane, possibly even further.
Madam Speaker, it is an exciting time. I hope the Northern Territory government gets on board. It let the Tennant Creek Air Service go, but this is an opportunity for Alice Springs to have a greater service.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute to my Electorate Officer, Amy Sternberg, who has worked so hard for me, the residents of Brennan, and the greater Palmerston area and beyond for the last 14 months. It is with great sadness I say goodbye to this young lady, who, for many years I thought of as a daughter. Amy will be following her husband Steven, who was recently promoted in the Army and is now being posted to Puckapunyal in Victoria. I wish them both well with their posting. Steven will make an excellent supervisor and manager of staff in his training role. The Army is lucky to have such a dedicated member. However, I will now always blame the Army for taking this young couple away from the Territory and of course, for taking the best electorate officer a local member could hope for.
I have known Amy for many years and I have had the privilege of being her manager in another government agency, and of course, her boss as the local member, although, at times, I never really knew who the boss was. Seriously, I thank Amy for bringing me into line when required, giving me the boot up the backside or, as is more often the case, just being an absolute pain in the butt.
I first met Amy when I took over as Manager, Regulatory Services for the City of Palmerston. I was soon to learn this young lady was far bigger than her petite size indicated. Amy was a bundle of energy, a real busy bee, and her corporate knowledge of council, her professionalism, customer service skills, and knowledge of the local area were not lost on me then, and it is not lost on me now. Of course, who would have known then, that her experience would later on provide such a solid foundation for the position of an Electorate Officer?
A few years after first meeting Amy, she and her husband Steven were posted out of Darwin to sunny Brisbane. You will not find a more proud Queenslander than Amy though she does have her limitations. However, as you can imagine, the move was very much looked forward to and she resigned from the City of Palmerston in preparation for her move to Brisbane.
I tell you this story because of one e-mail I received from Amy while she was in Brisbane, where she described sitting on a very cold aluminium seat, on a very cold and windy platform, waiting to catch her train into work, so all was not greener on the other side. Amy and Steven returned to Darwin, and Amy commenced working for the City of Palmerston again. After last year’s election, I was successful in encouraging Amy to leave council for the second time and join me over at the Brennan Electorate Office.
I am sure many new MLAs over the years have had to hit the ground running, with little or no experience in running an electorate office. With Amy, I did not worry. I might have let on that I was worried about what was needed, what the processes were, what the expectations of, and of course, the limitations of an office. The truth was, however, I never worried about that because of who I had chosen as my EO. Amy has an absolute work ethic and together with her ability and attitude to her role, was more than enough to build an office, to fill any void left very quickly, and organise an open and efficient and, more importantly, an effective electorate office for the residents of Brennan and beyond.
However, from what I have said so far, I might have given you the impression that I must have it so easy, particularly given the talents of this young lady. Well let me tell you, there is a serious cost. In addition to being an absolute brilliant EO, there is side of Amy I have to describe and, please, I do say this in jest: Amy is the most melodramatic person I have ever known. I sincerely love her like a daughter, but jiminy cricket, she can drive you crazy. I look forward so much to when Steven comes home from being away, so he can take up some of the load, it makes me tired just thinking about it!
Seriously, in my opinion I have had the best, and finding a replacement has been a difficult job. Not so much in the people I have interviewed, as I was extremely fortunate to have interviewed a few lovely ladies who would all make good Electorate Officers. My problem was, that the bar had been set and it was perhaps an unachievable bar, because no person could ever have the same long-term working relationship and friendship that I had with Amy. In fact, perhaps the reason I ended up entering into a shared electorate officer role, when replacing Amy, was really because I did not believe one person could fill the void.
I have been doubly blessed, first in having the opportunity to share part of my working life with this young dynamo and second, the delight in finding two lovely and very capable ladies as Amy’s replacement.
Amy leaves in around three weeks, with Alison and Robyn taking over in a shared role. I will miss her, absolutely. Will I miss her badgering and annoying habits that drive me crazy? Absolutely. Madam Speaker, Amy’s mother told her they broke the mould when they made her, and I agree with Amy’s mum - the world could not handle another one. Amy, thank you, and I sincerely hope you and Steven stay safe and have a wonderful future together.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I will provide a round-up of the many things that have been happening in Nhulunbuy. There is a strong focus on the sporting stuff, but a couple of other bits and pieces as well.
The Gove Beach Volleyball Day, organised by the Rotary Club of Nhulunbuy as an annual event, was held last month. Once again, it was a huge success with 40 teams participating. Djurrpun, the team from Dhalingbuy, won after a very hard-fought grand final against the Blue Bayonets. Last year the Dhalingbuy team just missed out on place in the final, so it was great to see them victorious this year.
Gove beach volleyball is a fantastic community event, possible only due to the combined community efforts including assistance from Gove Peninsular Surf Lifesaving Club, who patrolled the beach, Gove Peninsular Tennis Club, who organised children’s activities, Rio Tinto Alcan came on board and provided a bus service, Nhulunbuy Speedway cooked the barbecue, and Gove FM provided a live broadcast and a public address system. All the profits made from the day are put straight back into community; so a fantastic event.
Tournament of Minds: congratulations to Nhulunbuy High School students, Rosie O’Dell, Zoe Dunn, Lanka Alahakoon, Brenton Ellis, Emily Osborne, Hayley Kohn on winning the Northern Territory regional finals of Tournament of Minds in the Language Literature category, recently. As a result, the students will represent the Northern Territory at the Australasian Pacific final of Tournament of Minds in Brisbane this coming weekend. I also acknowledge the fantastic support of their teachers, Linda Baret and Lorraine White, who will be travelling with the students to Brisbane.
Gove Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club hosted the Northern Territory Surf Lifesaving Championships on 29 and 30 September, in Gove. There were 176 competitors in the events coming from Gove, Darwin, Mindil Beach, Broome, and the newest surf lifesaving club in Australia, the Walngawu Djakamirri Surf Lifesaving Club, which is from Yirrkala.
Overall, these competitors took part in some 120 events. I will go through some of the results. The Open Men’s Surfboat race and relay was won by Gove; the Under-15 female events were dominated by Gove’s Maddi Reid and Gabby Parsons; the Under-17 male events were all won by Sam Putland, except for the Under-17 Ironman, which was won by Keegan Kelly.
The Under-17 female events were shared between Emma Whelan and Maria McGill. The Open Men’s Board Race was won by Alan Cross, and the Male Masters Ski Race bronze went to Charles Rue. The Female Masters, both beach events were won by Adrienne Willing, and the Senior Iron Man’s race was won by Alan Cross. The overall club points score for the senior championships saw Gove come out well in front with 639 points as the winners - well done. The Gove Peninsular Surf Lifesaving Club was completely dominant in the Under-8, Under-9, Under-10 and Under-11 categories, and congratulations go to age champions Tyler Beauchamp, Olivia Russel, Nicolaas Ploegsma, Jordin Ritchie, Tom McGrath, Sinead Salisbury, William Briggs, and Elizabeth Kestall. Ellen Guiney had a great day to win the Under-13 female title.
Surf Lifesaving NT President, Bob Creek, said the standard of competition in the Northern Territory continued to increase and he paid special tribute to Mundal Ganawurra, Rulminydjawuy Mununggur, and Yanggurrk Wunungmurra for being the first members of the newest surf lifesaving club from Yirrkala to contest the championship events. Mundul was the centre of another special occasion, when she was drafted by Broome for the All Age Relay, resulting in a bronze medal.
The overall club points score for the Junior Championships was Gove Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club way out in front with 731 points, and points went all the way down to Broome, who got the wooden spoon with 31 points.
It is no secret that Nhulunbuy is a place which is absolutely fishing mad, and this was clearly demonstrated by the huge support for the inaugural East Arnhem Land Fishing Exhibition which was organised by Jeff and Kelly Murray, owners of Gove Tackle and Outdoors. It is worth noting that Jeff and Kelly took over this business just over one year ago, and are doing an absolutely fantastic job. Nhulunbuy shoppers have very good reason to support the ‘Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local’ campaign, which was launched in Nhulunbuy at the start of the year, when we have businesses like this operating in our community.
The inaugural East Arnhem Land Fishing Exhibition was held on the weekend of 2 and 3 October. There were eight representatives from companies and exhibitors who travelled all the way to Nhulunbuy to showcase the latest and greatest fishing techniques and tackle. There were displays, hands-on demonstrations, a junior fishing clinic, and a charity auction - so there was plenty to see and do.
The event would not have been possible without the support of Nhulunbuy Regional Sports Fishing Club, which is a very active club supporting our mad keen fishermen, fisherwomen, and fisher kids in the Gove region. Last weekend, the club oversaw the conclusion of the Walkabout Lodge John Jones Memorial Billfish Challenge, and the results, as I understand, are currently being finalised for the presentation which is going to be held this Saturday evening. Apparently the weather conditions were quite challenging, but, that aside, participants still managed to successfully tag and release a couple of black marlin and several sailfish.
The fishing competition is a great tribute to John Jones, who lost his battle with cancer several years ago, and this competition is a fitting tribute to his memory. There are many people who make things happen with Nhulunbuy Regional Sports Fishing Club, but I acknowledge Peter Cox, who seems to be so much a part of the driving force behind everything happening there.
Nhulunbuy BMX Club was well represented at the Northern Territory BMX Titles held in Palmerston on 2 to 4 October 2009 which was in the school holidays. Of the 33 riders - six of whom were Sprockets and not competing for Northern Territory plates - only six missed out on an NT plates. I also acknowledge the efforts of the club. It is quite an effort to get 33 riders with all their gear, bikes, parents, all the way from Gove to Darwin to participate in these events.
The participants and results in the six-year-old Sprockets, boys were Remi Grieve and Mardi Morvant. Amongst the five- and six-year-old Sprockets, girls, there were Gemma Hawthorne; Brooke Parish; and Jenna Tregillis. In the seven-year-old Sprockets, girls, was Charli Leahy. In the eight-year-old boys, Darcy Hawthorne came second in the Northern Territory, Tom Tregillis came third; and Zenoha Morvant came eighth. In the nine-year-old, boys, Lincoln Teagle was a semi finalist, and Josh Leahy took out third plate in the Northern Territory. In the 10-year-old girls, the NT number one plate was won by Chloe Grieve, and NT number four was Bree Roath. In the 11-year-old girls, Laura Hawthorne came third in the Northern Territory, Reagan Roath came fourth, and Jordina Grieve came fifth. Amongst the 11-year-old boys, Andrew Parish was a semi finalist; Joel McCarthy and Justin Parish participated, and well done to Kobe Simmonds, who came third in the Territory.
In the 12-year-old girls, fourth in the Northern Territory was Ruby Dulvarie, and fifth was Tiana Jensen. In the 12-year-old boys, second in the Northern Territory was Liam Tregillis; and fifth was Tim Baxter. Competing in the 13- and 14-year-old girls was Mikaela Bridge, who came fifth in the Northern Territory. The 13-year-old boys saw Bill Gibsone and Aubrey Hawthorne participate. In the Men’s Cruisers, 30-plus, Brendan Parish came third in the Territory, and Paul Tregillis came seventh. In the Open Women’s section Tayla Simmonds was third in the Territory, Jade Dulvarie came fifth, and Shaylee Harrison came seventh. In the Open Men’s, Jace Betts, who is a Year 11 high school student, came second in the Territory.
A special mention needs to be made of Gemma Sloane, who was number one in the Open Women’s section, and Zoe Sloane, who was number one in the 13- and 14-year-old girls section. While both of those girls, sisters of course, are from Nhulunbuy, they were not riding for Nhulunbuy BMX Club.
Gove Peninsula Tennis Club held their open competition on the weekend of 3 and 4 October 2009, attracting a total of 83 competitors, including 14 from Darwin, two from Alice Springs, and two from Melbourne. The list of participants is so long, I seek leave to have the results tabled in parliament.
Leave granted.
[Editor’s note: Please refer to Attachment A.]
Ms WALKER: Thank you. There is one other thing I wanted to mention. There is generally a citizenship ceremony, held once a month in Nhulunbuy on a Friday, by the Nhulunbuy Corporation, and the one I most recently attended was to see the wonderful Mariel Abanes and her little four-year-old boy, John, sworn in as Australian citizens. They are from Philippines, and have lived in Gove for a couple of years. She works for the Arafura Times, and is a fantastic person. I wish Mariel and John all the very best as citizens of our great country.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to say a few things this evening. I have a few thanks to give to people regarding a caravan park in the rural area. Two weeks ago it was looking likely it would be closed, which would have meant roughly 26 people would have been thrown out of the caravan park. Thankfully, after quite a number of discussions between the owner and some of the departments, there has been an agreement to keep the park open. I thank Frank Morandini for the work he has done in enabling those people to stay on at the caravan park.
There were a number of issues. Tonight, we had a meeting in the Holtze area. A number of the residents attended, as well as Frank Morandini and his manager, Dave Fuller. Frank was able to tell those people that, with some upgrades to the park, and also with a request for a number of park residents to pay their rent, which was outstanding in a few cases - not everyone, but there were a few people who had got into arrears - it looks like we have a good result. I also thank Alf Leonardi, who helped, because this was a big issue two weeks ago, and I was really concerned these people would be thrown out.
I do not have fond memories, but I remember well the problems we had with the Sundowner Caravan Park. It always irks me when I drive past WOW, where at the back there is a vacant block of land, which used to be the Sundowner Caravan Park, and 55 people lost their homes for a shopping centre which has not been built. I believe that is a disgrace and those people had to struggle to find a new place to live.
I thank all those people involved. It is a good story. It has been worked through with consultation between everyone. There are some matters which have to be fixed at the park, there is no doubt about that, and having attended the meeting tonight, I believe the owner, Frank Morandini, is willing to fix those problems, which is a great relief for those people. I sometimes call the park the half star park, because it is not the greatest park in the world, but it is a cheap place for people to stay. It has toilets and showers, and shady trees. It does not have the bitumen roads and the fancy ensuites you might get in other caravan parks, but that is all many people can afford, and they are happy there. You talk to the residents, and I sometimes find with people in caravan parks, the first time you think, oh, who lives here, but when you get to know them, you see a great cross-section of humanity, and they are good people.
They do not stand on their airs, because when I drove in tonight, there is a sign up that says ‘8 km’ - you have to work out how you get 8 km/h on your speedometer – and Cecilia, who is now the on-site collector of rent, flies around on her pushbike, and as I got out of the car, I got a mouthful. I probably deserved a mouthful, but that is the sort of people out there. A spade is a spade, and I was driving too fast. I asked her what speed I was doing, and she said: ’30’. I said: ‘How do you know?’ She said: ‘I know these things’. But they are good people out there, and I am grateful those people have made the effort to keep that park going.
I also want to take up something the member for Fong Lim said. I know he can be quite a colourful character, and he is known from time to time to be a slight exaggerator, but his comments on the Rankin River were so out of sync with reality, I will make a comment. I travelled out to the Barkly Highway and the Rankin River this year to see the damage, because there have been reports the damage had been caused by lack of maintenance by the government. So I thought I had better get out and have a look myself, because I was sure it was going to come up in parliament. This was not a maintenance issue; this was an enormous flood. This was the Rankin River breaking its banks and hitting a part of the road which simply could not hold back the amount of water. The river reached nearly to the roofs of Sudan Station, and I am told by a worker they were evacuated by helicopter. You are looking at a massive amount of water which the road simply could not hold.
The land on the downstream side was absolutely scarred; it ripped the surface of the land off. It took 20 culverts out approximately 500 m downstream, and they are big culverts, they are the ones you can walk through; I have the photographs.
I do not mind colour, or a good old debate, but I say that was not right. If you want to have your facts right, go out and check these things; that is the best thing to do.
At times I have said things which are not been accurate; I have gone on hearsay or on what I thought was the case. But, in this case, I made the effort to go out and have a look at this road, and it was more than a one-in-100 year flood - it was a natural disaster. That is the type of rainfall which occurred at the time. That is why I raised the question today. I am concerned if this work is not done quickly enough - although the minister tells me it will be eight weeks - I would not want to see it happen again. It held up our transport links, and the Barkly Highway is so important, it needs to be an all-weather link. Since they did the bridge on the Georgina at Camooweal, it is pretty well always accessible.
Also, I will say something about the Council of Territory Cooperation. It is up and running and has had its first two meetings, and it is great. I have no doubt this is going to be a very tough process. I am not here to brag about it, and I am not here to say it is going to change the world. However, we are going to put in as much effort as possible to make it work. I believe with everyone working together, trying to get good outcomes and, of course, there will be disagreement between us all, that is fair enough. But if we can try to get some good outcomes, especially try to improve government policy, then I believe we are on the right path.
We need to do it with good will, and with a feeling we are there to do a job for the Territory, and I hope it will be a success. There are some doubters, and I understand that. To some extent, I have my own doubts, but sometimes you have to put those doubts away, look at things positively, and do your best to make them work. I sincerely hope it works, and I will be doing my best to make sure it does.
Last, I thank my research officer, who has been thrown into this, you might say ‘change of life’ which I have had, a very rapid change in life. My life is much busier than it used to be, and I thought it was busy then. But Michelle, my research officer, has worked so hard to give me a hand through this period; she is helping out with the Council of Territory Corporation, getting charts ready, helping with possible meetings, and putting names down for people we might ask to come to those meetings. I put on the record, thank you, Michelle, for that work. She has worked tirelessly during these last eight days, especially. She is a fantastic lady, and I thank her very much for the work she has put into it.
You get a good feeling inside sometimes, when the person you hope will stick with you comes up and says: ‘I renewed my contract’; that is nice. She told me this week she has renewed the contract to keep working with me and I thank her for that. She shows much faith in me and I respect her and think she is a great lady. I thank her very much for all the work she has done.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I report to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on my recent role and representation at both the 29th Small Branches Conference and the 55th General Assembly of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to table my formal report.
Leave granted.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker. These two conferences were held one after each other in the country of Tanzania, in the city of Arusha. Tanzania is located in the south eastern side of Africa. It has a long history in both the slave trade and spice trade. Today, the island of Zanzibar relies heavily on tourism surrounding its former dark days of slave trading, and flavoured days of spice trading.
It is fair to say a major part of its industry is tourism and, in particular, wildlife safaris, with many national parks and hundreds of tourist vehicles. Two of the most significant places of interest are Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, and the Serengeti National Park.
The city of Arusha is situated centrally in the north of Tanzania; it is elevated and experiences cooler temperatures than those of the savannah floor. Tanzania is not a rich place, with no government welfare system, but a system where you work, and you work hard, or you may die. With such a strong incentive, you see very few people not working or not being productive within the family group; there are gardens everywhere and shops of all kinds. But, even with such levels of poverty, you see little sickness, and much in the way of people continually cleaning and then cleaning again.
The two conferences, the 29th Small Branches Conference and the 55th General Assembly of the CPA, were held between 28 September and 6 October 2009. In my opinion, if you have the privilege and honour to attend such a parliamentary development opportunity, you should not only embrace the opportunity, but you should put in 100% and give all you have, becoming involved at every possible point; you achieve nothing sitting on the fence.
With that in mind, the first conference was the 29th Small Branches Conference over two intense days. On the first day, with around 200 international delegates present, the day started with an official opening ceremony. Following the ceremony, we got down to serious business. The first plenary session was: Policy Response to the Global Financial Crisis in Small Economies. In this plenary, the main point raised was the overall agreement that any stimulus funding spent, it must be very targeted and not cash handouts. It should not be a project that will need continual funding. There were also concerns in relation to external influences, particularly when some countries have no internal resources.
The second plenary session was: Machinery of Government in Small States - Issues and Challenges. This plenary discussion led into the physical and operational processes of parliaments. It was a very interesting plenary, covering different types of parliamentary settings and various problems they face, including our own parliament and its fine balance of power.
The following morning brought on another solid day of debate. The third plenary session was: Utilising Committees in Small Parliaments. I was one of the three discussion leaders during this plenary. My presentation was delivered as a question on the Council of Territory Cooperation. The plenary went on to mainly revolve around committees. There was much discussion as to how these operate and how they do not. It was highlighted that PACs should be chaired by the opposition, with strong discontent for government to chair them. The point was raised that accountability was key. Another part of this plenary was a presentation from the World Bank, but this received little interest.
The fourth plenary session was: The Vulnerability of Small States - What Technical and Practical Advice Can the Commonwealth Offer? I was one of two discussion leaders. The second discussion leader spoke as an economic advisor of the Commonwealth Secretariat; it drew little interest, but had some interesting points.
I spoke on the dramatic rise in illegal immigration, and this raised a massive response. I will forward some information to the federal minister and shadow ministers for the relevant portfolios. It is of particular interest, considering the continued crisis which is unfolding since I returned from Tanzania. I also raised an additional issue in relation to illegal fishing in our waters, and the appearance it is now going unchecked, due to the increase in illegal immigration. This drew to an end the Small Branches Conference phase.
The next day saw the opening ceremony for the 55th General Assembly. This was held at the AICC, the Arusha International Conference Centre, which is also the location of the United Nations Rwanda War Crimes Commission. I will add to that. That aspect made it an extremely powerful place; it was quite a moving aspect, to know that such important business was conducted around us while we were there.
The opening ceremony of the 55th General Assembly was a massive coordination feat, and although not all was smooth, Tanzania should be commended for the conference and the amazing level of friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, all in traditional dress. The conference opening brought together 900 international delegates - an amazing sight.
After the opening, a large lunch was served, before delegates broke away into regional meetings. The Australian region included Norfolk Island and was chaired by Senator Alan Ferguson. Although this meeting was short, it was clear, in particular about the need to continually push open and accountable democracy. Later that day, delegates returned to the AICC, for further presentations.
The following day was a field trip to various national parks; I went to Manyara Lake National Park. Manyara was a two hour drive from Arusha and an experience in itself. The change in savannah alone was impressive, but to observe the society was sobering. Australia is truly a lucky country but, again, I must express, it was great to see everyone working and to see the skill levels of tradespersons, yet rudimentary tooling and then questions about workplace safety. Unlike at home, there is no free lunch, and the driving time was taken up discussing differences between countries, and in this case of Nigeria. I note the Nigerian official I spoke at length with, and with great passion, had many like-minded opinions on gatekeepers, accountability, and governance that builds gold silos and fails to deliver fundamental, basic human needs. To say the least, it was an interesting discussion.
Sunday began with workshops, and, I must say, there were so many workshops on at one time, it limited your ability to attend, and directly input to, more than three or four over the entire day, which for me was disappointing. The following is a list of workshops held: Workshop A: Coalition Governments - Parliamentary Democracy in Dilemma?; Workshop B: Policy Responses to the Global Financial Crisis; Workshop C: The Role of Commonwealth Parliaments in Combating Terrorism; Workshop D: The Role of Parliament in Shaping the Information Society; Workshop E: The Role of Parliamentarians in the Elimination of Violence Against Women with Particular Reference to Domestic Violence; Workshop F: Climate Change - Are Policy Solutions Working?; Workshop G: Developing Mechanisms to Remedy Root Causes of Political, Economic and Social Conflict; Workshop H: The Commonwealth and Youth – How to Engage Future Generations in Representative Democracy; Commonwealth Women’s Policy (CWP) Session: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Women; and the Final Plenary.
I will not finish the last page, but I was getting close, with 10 or so lines left.
This was as much an experience as a worldly lesson in political democracy and the need to continue to push for open and accountable governments. I also thank the Tanzanian government, CPA Secretary staff, and all persons involved in pulling together this massive conference.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the Barkly Muster Rodeo ‘went off’ once again as part of the total Wild West experience this month in Tennant Creek. Nominations came from all over the country, from both professional cowboys and Territory rough riders, pitting their skills and wit against the wildest bucking stock the muster has seen so far. The bulls featured in two divisions, with a huge score card that left most cowboys bruised and battered, with the feature bull on the night, Speckled Eggs, dominating the proceedings.
The buck jumpers entertained the large crowd with a traditional display of exciting horsemanship, ably supported by a superb pick up team from the Kalarla Rodeo Company, demonstrating skill and precision, in both getting cowboys off their bucking mounts, in addition to guiding the bucking horses safely into the back yards.
The crowd was absorbed into the rodeo experience gently on Saturday night, with a small, but entertaining barrel racing program, before an elegant grand parade and soulful singing of the National Anthem. However, it soon became a no holds barred encounter, with cowboys and rough stock going to battle like modern day gladiators, as the crowd roared their appreciation for both man and beast.
Rodeo has a long history in the Barkly, and judging by the support shown from the crowd, is here to stay as a celebration of our pastoral roots in the Territory.
The Longtails rocked out a great night, in what was a new element to the Barkly Muster Rodeo after party, with the final siren sounding at 2.00 am. ‘Cowboy Up’ was heard loud and clear from behind the chutes at the Barkly Muster Rodeo, but as the dust settled, the call echoed to the sound of, ‘when’s the next rodeo, Russell?’
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I put on the Parliamentary Record the colloquial language in my statement related to the well-known anti-drink-driving slogan. While the colloquial word was written in the statement to highlight a powerful advertising campaign, I did not utter the word in the parliament, in the interests of discretion, and not wanting to exhibit language that could be considered unparliamentary.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I mention a matter that seems to have slipped between the cracks. It is not a shot across the bow at anyone, and I am raising this issue for no other reason than to speak fondly of a fine institution in Katherine. What has occurred, or seems to have occurred, and has slipped past without so much as a whisper, is the fact that, on 1 October 2009, the Katherine Hospital turned 75. Yes, the stately old lady, that is the Katherine Hospital, turned 75 years old this year, and I wish her a very happy birthday.
I pay tribute to the dedicated and hard-working staff, past and present, at the hospital in Katherine. They continue to provide an excellent quality of health care to the people of Katherine and the regions, and I applaud their efforts to keep that old girl afloat.
Like many hospitals, which have been around for a while, Katherine Hospital carries with it much interesting history. I managed to pick up a document, titled: A Brief History of Katherine Hospital 1934-1994, which was compiled by Jo Ascot on behalf of the Katherine Hospital Management Board.
I thought it might be interesting to read a few excerpts out of this document, because I think, as time has gone by, since the 1930s and through the war years, there are some interesting things which have happened at the Katherine Hospital. This is an ideal opportunity to let people know there is some fascinating history in Katherine, and the Katherine region, and they should avail themselves of the information which is available through, amongst other places, the museum at Katherine.
Mr Bohlin: It is a brilliant museum.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: It is a brilliant museum, thank you, member for Drysdale. It has an enormous amount of fascinating stuff, going back many decades, on the history of Katherine. It is well and truly worth a visit when you are down that way. I will read a couple of excerpts from this document:
Is it not interesting how time has moved on? There is no evidence left, apart from Knott’s Crossing, which was the old crossing, referred to here, across the river.
(3) The town of Katherine was subject to flooding - the hospital site was considered to be rather high up.
(5) The hospital was adjacent to the airstrip used by Dr Fenton and its proximity eliminated many problems of access for patients and others.
For people who have been to Katherine, and driven out along the gorge road, if you look to the right, just before you get to the hospital, you will see the old airstrip where Clyde Fenton used to land his plane, which is adjacent to the museum.
The Katherine hospital went through the war years, and I quote another excerpt from the document:
I guess that goes to show, in some ways, staffing issues in the medical profession in the Territory are not unique to this decade or, indeed, probably any of the other decades between the 1930s and now.
Very interestingly, the document goes on to talk about the time in the 1940s and 1950s, past the war years. But, if I skip towards the end of the 1960s, two rather iconic names started appearing in the records. One is Jim Scattini and the other is the late Peter Short. Those two doctors dedicated their lives to looking after people on a medical level in Katherine and other places for a very long time. They left the government’s employ and started up their own clinic in Katherine many years ago. Those two doctors have been the stable medical force in Katherine for many years.
I take this opportunity to thank, the late Peter Short and Jim Scattini for the dedication and hard work they put into a place like Katherine. It can be a difficult at times for people to live on a long-term basis, but they made it home. I have seen some of thee medicos in action. In fact, I was at the Katherine Hospital one night when I saw Dr Jim Scattini save a fellow’s life. He was shot in the face with a rifle and Jim saved his life on the table as I watched him, with the help of the nurses. It was quite fascinating.
There are plenty of other things in the document which give an indication of what it was like in those days. There is talk about one particular doctor who prescribed vegemite, which was to be used liberally on all sorts of things like cuts, wounds and ulcers, and apparently …
Mr Bohlin: It has a lot of salt in it.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: So I hear. It is quite an effective treatment for those things. Probably given the lack of medical supplies they had to endure in tough times. But it is an interesting history, and there has been a great deal going on in the Katherine region; stories of hardships, and funny stories. That is what I believe comes out of many of these historical records, the truly entertaining stories, anecdotes, the people and the funny situations they found themselves in. I urge people to get a hold of this document; I am sure it is available quite easily on the Internet.
In closing, I wish the Katherine Hospital a very happy 75th birthday. I have said it here before, and made it public, I hope the Katherine Hospital does not have to celebrate its 100th birthday in its present location. I would dearly love to see a new, much upgraded, and expanded facility in a new location in Katherine, somewhere not affected by floods. I guess one of the original premises for putting the hospital on that site was it was not so prone to floods, but, since 1998, we discovered that just about every part of Katherine is prone to flooding. It would be great to see some forward thinking and some strategic planning going on, so the new Katherine Hospital can celebrate 100 years of having a hospital in Katherine, but not necessarily on that site.
Again, well done to the staff. I hope they pick up on this - if they have not done so already, and we can do something with the Katherine Hospital to make it a special celebration this month for its 75th birthday.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak on a couple of issues. The first being a fantastic event, the Friends of Fiji Ball, which I was fortunate to be invited to attend, last Friday, 16 October. It was a great event held at the SKYCITY Casino, in the ballroom upstairs, where they crammed nearly 300 people; people from all nationalities, but, predominantly, almost the entire Darwin and Northern Territory Fijian community were present. It was a fantastic event, with lots of cultural dressing and, of course, many people with black ties and beautiful ball gowns, and a combination of some Fijian traditional dress and ball gowns, made the night a spectacular event.
The event was conducted as a fundraiser to help sponsor the Church Conference of Fijian Congregations around Australia, which is scheduled to happen in Darwin between 7 and 10 January. There was some scepticism by some around Australia, because it has never been held outside of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, but despite their reservations and the traditional misconception of what Darwin and the Northern Territory have to offer, was overcome, and these people are now coming to spend some time in our fabulous city in the green season.
The Darwin community showed an enormous amount of support by purchasing tickets and attending the function, and then supporting a magnificent raffle with some fantastic prizes of traditional Fijian clothing and scarves.
The ball was an enjoyable event and portrayed the rich diversity of people, cultures and lifestyles which make up this fantastic city of Darwin and the Northern Territory. The event commenced with some fantastic entertainment by, none other, than a female Barbershop quartet. I had not seen a barbershop quartet with all females, but the style of singing was excellent and unaccompanied, and they managed to entertain the people with some fantastic songs. The four ladies in this group, two of whom work in this building and are in the Hansard office working at this very moment, and, I assume, listening to this speech about what a fantastic job they did, are Kini Tuiono and Drua Lotu. I sincerely pass on my thanks, to you ladies listening, for your fantastic hospitality. They were absolutely fantastic hostesses, and, in addition to that - I did not realise they were part of the quartet - they came on to entertain, as part of a quartet called Entity, with Kini and Drua, along with Jane and Jann. They did a fabulous job, and they go around doing community events and provide entertainment for one and all.
That was followed by some traditional dancing. The reason why I love living in this place is the richness of the cultures, and the joining of the cultures, and when you get traditional Fijian young ladies dancing with people from other ethnic groups, white, black and brindle, it is just a kaleidoscope of colours, people, costumes, flowers, and to see everybody getting in and choosing to do dancing from one culture and another, it is fantastic to see, which again makes it a great event and why we live in the Northern Territory.
The other thing that occurred there was some traditional songs. They get everyone up, no one is bashful, everyone gets up, they had the entire dance floor stage area at the front of the Fijian community to sing their National Anthem. That was great, because it just left a couple of us sitting down at the tables at the back of the room. There we were, I suppose, the people who were not directly related to the Fijians, and we were the minority sitting there, being entertained by this fantastic group of people who, first, stayed in tune, and second, knew all the words.
It was just fabulous, they got up there as a community and they really bonded together. It took me back to what happened in the great hall this morning, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, where we had somewhere between 600 and 700 young Territorians singing. I commented to someone that, at one stage, I had to stop singing, because the emotions get you, and there is a peak where the song and the energy that comes out of those people gets you, and sometimes you miss a word. Fortunately, that particular emotional feeling does not hit everyone at the same time, otherwise it would go quiet.
I experienced it at that show. I saw these people, obviously proud of where they have come from, singing traditional songs, as any culture is very pleased and proud to sing their cultural songs and to perform their cultural dances. It was fabulous. To finish off, the entire Fijian community of Darwin, who were up there in front of us, sang a farewell song, and I believe there were a few tears in the room, it is such an emotional song and these people did it so well.
I congratulate the Fijian community for putting on such an enormously successful event. I believe they raised a considerable amount of money to help them with their conference in January. I thank our hostesses, Kini and Drua, who made us feel very welcome. Thank you very much, ladies.
I now speak about some great achievements at Anula Primary School. Anula Primary School is very proactive in relation to doing a whole range of things. I am sure there are plenty of other schools that are just as proactive, but, of course, Anula is one of my schools and I am very proud of the people who are there, as I am of the other schools in my electorate. I will mention a couple of things which have occurred. Just recently, the art teacher at Anula School, Alison Dowell, was awarded a grant to represent the Northern Territory at an Arts in Asia conference in Melbourne next week. I have seen some of Alison’s work, and the results of her teaching these young people. In fact, I purchased a piece of art recently, and decided it was so good, I would try to sponsor some sort of an art award, at the end of the year, for students who participate in her art classes.
Anula Primary School ran an expo recently, where they put on displays of all sorts of things which are going on, one of which is a huge art display. I walked into the art display and I saw work that might have consisted of 10 to 15 people contributing to one piece of art. These young people go through the art area, where there are big canvasses in the art area, to which they all contribute. So what I will have hanging in my office, when I pick it up, is this fantastic piece of art contributed to by about 15 of the young students at Anula Primary School. She has really motivated these young people, and I can understand why she has been awarded a grant to attend that conference. Congratulations to Alison, and I hope that she continues that fantastic work in motivating young people to express themselves through the arts.
At the Assembly last week, we picked out some prizes for people who had 100% attendance in Term 3. There were 102 students out of 409 who had 100% attendance in Term 3. Those people are: Georgina Kefaloukos; Ansumana Mansaray; Juoao Baptista; Meiying He; Nemo Shang; Dylan Newall; Banjamin Han; Evita Tomakin; and Aezel Ayson. These people were drawn out the hat and were the fortunate winners of some prizes, so they could be rewarded for having 100% attendance.
The other thing occurring at Anula at the moment is the Early Years teaching team at Anula has been short-listed for the Teaching in the Territory Excellence Awards for their educational leadership, in relation to introducing the Australian Developmental Curriculum, and their development of the ADC teacher learning network across the Top End.
Fabulous things are happening at Anula, led by some fantastic teachers, Karen Modoo, the Principal; Carin Symonds, the Assistant Principal; and, until very recently …
Madam Acting DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, your time has expired.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Pairing Arrangement –
Members for Karama and Sanderson
Pairing Arrangement –
Members for Karama and Sanderson
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table a document relating to pairs for the entire day today for the members for Karama and Sanderson.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Death of Wamud Namok AO
Death of Wamud Namok AO
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it is with deep regret I advise of the death on 16 October 2009 of Wamud Namok AO, a man of great vision and leadership in Western Arnhem Land, in the South Alligator River region.
I advise honourable members that Wamud Namok’s wife, Mary, sons Junior, Frederick, Keith, daughters Lois, Hagar, Donna, June, Rhonda, and grandchildren and great grandchildren are listening to the parliamentary tribute at an outstation, Kabulwarnamyo, in remote Western Arnhem Land, and also at Gunbalanya. I also advise of the presence in the gallery of Wamud Namok’s family and colleagues. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members that on completion of the debate, I will ask members to stand in silence for one minute as a mark of respect. I call the Chief Minister.
CONDOLENCE MOTION
Wamud Namok AO
Wamud Namok AO
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that this Assembly:
(a) express its deep regret at the death of Wamud Namok AO, Aboriginal leader, conservationist, scientist, and artist; and
Madam Speaker, the life of the man we honour in the Legislative Assembly this morning is emblematic of the history of the Northern Territory. His life of more than eight decades spans the story of this place, and its people. It was a life that encompassed both pre- and post-contact worlds, but one which also points to our shared future.
I was made very much aware of that in my meetings with Wamud Namok; aware of his enormous knowledge, and the history his knowledge embraced. Memorably, one of those meetings was with him being given a Northern Territory Innovation Award. He received the award for using traditional knowledge at the cutting edge of greenhouse gas science.
He was a man who could truly communicate with two widely divergent world views and knowledge systems, and a man who could speak to the future of ‘caring for country’.
Madam Speaker, it was a very special meeting with a very special man. The breadth of the history which sums up his life and the changes we have all seen is perhaps reflected by the fact that this will be the first Condolence Motion that has been broadcast by this parliament over the Internet. I pass on my condolences to those of Wamud’s family and friends who may be accessing the Internet this morning.
Wamud Namok was born about 83 years ago, at best estimate. As one of his friends pointed out the other day, we do not know the exact year for sure, let alone the day and the month of his birth on the Arnhem Land sandstone plateau country. In those days, his birthplace was on the other side of the frontier, and the Julian calendar had not made it to that part of the land by then.
His early life was undoubtedly that of a traditional boy and a young man. It was a time before the drastic depopulation of the Arnhem Land plateau that occurred from World War II onwards. Over that time, he, along with his family, travelled the traditional walking tracks of Western and Southern Arnhem Land and beyond, to as far south as Katherine, east to the Maningrida area, and west to Kakadu and Darwin.
The Church Missionary Society had only established its mission at Oenpelli in 1925 and, indeed, Arnhem Land itself was not gazetted as an Aboriginal Reserve until 1934, when Wamud Namok was perhaps only eight years old.
It was a childhood and youth in which his travels and participation in hunting, ceremony, and customary trading networks equipped him with the beginnings of the extensive traditional knowledge about vast tracts of the Top End of the Territory that he would acquire - knowledge about land, its languages, its people and its management.
But it was a life in which he came into contact with settler society as it consolidated in the north. As a teenager in the Katherine and Maranboy regions, he gave unrecognised service with the military in World War II, as well as labouring on the Maranboy tin mines.
After the war, while Wamud Namok and his family increasingly looked to the mission as a source of tobacco and other trade items, they still lived out bush. While they were aware of the visit to Oenpelli of the 1948 American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land, Wamud did not meet up with them as his family was occupied with a major ceremony at the time. There may have been another reason for his disinterest in the scientific expedition which I will mention in a moment.
As Wamud’s family increasingly focused on Oenpelli, new opportunities also presented themselves through the sale of traditional artworks, bark painting in particular. It would first be through ethnographers and art lovers, later through Aboriginal art centres.
Over the next 60 years, the artists of Western and other parts of Arnhem Land established Aboriginal art as a focus for international attention, many years, in fact, before our desert artists took up their brushes on the international art scene.
Wamud has, for many years, been at the centre of this movement, painting bark paintings that now hang in major private, national, and international collections.
Over the years he has been a strong supporter of Injalak Arts since its establishment, in 1989 at Gunbalanya, and Maningrida Arts before then. Wamud’s position in this movement has been pivotal. As well as his work in collections, he is also acknowledged as the last Territory artist to undertake rock paintings in his sandstone home country, a number of which can be viewed on the Internet.
In the documentation of rock art, Wamud has played a key role working with researchers such as George Chaloupka and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in advancing the international community’s knowledge and understanding of the oldest artistic traditions on the planet. The value of the knowledge and learning made possible through Wamud is immeasurable.
It would be wonderful, and I am sure both sides of the Assembly and the Independents would agree, for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory to work with other public collections to produce a major exhibition and publication, commemorating Wamud’s major contributions, in the years to come.
Members: Hear, hear.
Mr HENDERSON: Wamud’s knowledge, and his generosity in sharing his wisdom, went beyond that of art. I mentioned that back in 1948, 61 years ago, the American-Australian Scientific Expedition to Arnhem Land arrived with 17 scientists and support staff. It was an interdisciplinary research venture co-sponsored by Washington’s Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, and the Australian Commonwealth. Led by ethnologist Charles Mountford, its task was to study both the natural environment and Aboriginal people. For a while, in November 1948, the expedition was based at the mission at Oenpelli. Six decades on, the science and its subjects are vastly different, yet oddly the same.
For much of the past decade, this grand old man of Arnhem Land, Wamud Namok, along with his countrymen, have been working with western scientists to re-establish traditional land management practices using fire across the Arnhem Land escarpment north and east to Maningrida, and south to the head waters of the Mann and Katherine Rivers.
In doing so, they have established a world first in scientific land management through the sequestration of greenhouse gases through re-invoking millennia old fire management regimes. It has led to the first climate change partnership on the planet between Indigenous people and an energy producer. Darwin Gas and its American parent company ConocoPhillips are two years or so into a 17-year greenhouse substitution agreement - an agreement which also promotes biodiversity on the plateau, and ensures long-term employment for Aboriginal people.
Wamud did not make it down to the Oenpelli Mission while the scientists were there, although his relations surely did. Wamud was probably about 15 at the time and, for those who know him well, may have been a bit disinterested in this most recent group of whitefellas because the mission had banned the distribution of tobacco in 1948!
In any case, little could any of the experts back then have realised that their scientific inheritors would be working with him 60-odd years on as part of the desperate challenge we now all confront: climate change and global warming.
Since the early 1990s, visionary Territorians such as Wamud Namok have been working to reinstate traditional Aboriginal land and fire management practices in their country on the Arnhem plateau. With the aid of organisations such as the Jawoyn Association and Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation, traditional owners have built ranger programs from the ground up in preparation for the realisation of this dream. This is of enormous importance to all of us in this House today.
The results of their research have been verified by the Australian Greenhouse Office, and show that well-managed early Dry Season fires can substantially reduce the amount of CO equivalent produced by fires in the same area late in the year. It is knowledge which is transforming land management across northern Australia. It was for this Wamud and his team were awarded the Northern Territory Innovation Award, as well as the prestigious Eureka Award several years later.
It may seem odd - for a man who represented many thousands of years of knowledge - to describe Wamud as a Renaissance Man but it is difficult to characterise him any other way. For many years Wamud worked as a fount of knowledge and consultant to anthropologists, art historians, biologists, botanists, and a diverse group of other researchers from both the social and natural sciences, and was a regular speaker at regional land management conferences.
His generosity in giving his knowledge has been unparalleled, taking on a role as a ‘bush professor’ to both non-Aboriginal people and younger generations of Aboriginal countrymen. In sharing knowledge, he has personified the real values and philosophy behind reconciliation.
Perhaps this is best summed up by Murray Garde who worked with Wamud over many years:
- [Wamud] has always had a positive attitude in the face of the often overwhelming social problems which confront Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land. He has encouraged his family to combine the best from both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures and is presently engaged in the creation of a new community on his own country where Balanda and Bininj can come together to learn about the depth of traditional Indigenous knowledge as it relates to the relationship between people and place on the Arnhem Land plateau.
In so doing, the community is exploring the relevance of traditional knowledge in a modern world.
In commemorating the life of this great man we must look to the central legacy he has left us all – the vital importance of caring for country and, in that way, caring for each other. It is a legacy that must be embraced by all Territorians wherever we live and work. In this way we can repay the wonderful generosity of this great old man.
I pass on my sincere condolences to Wamud Namok’s family and friends.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition joins with the government members and Independents in supporting this motion of condolence to the family, and acknowledging the legacy to which we are indebted.
In sitting down to prepare some notes for this condolence speech, I had cause to ask myself when I first came into contact with works by Wamud Namok. I wondered if it was at one of the number of Territory galleries where his works hang, which I have had occasion to visit over many years; if it was through his dramatic painting of the Rainbow Serpent at Darwin Airport which has welcomed so many visitors, or if it was his work on the 40 postage stamps issued by Australia Post in 1982.
Whenever it was, and while I cannot come up with a definitive time, I suspect it was the postage stamp. It is safe to say that Wamud Namok’s work has been entrenched in my consciousness and the consciousness of many Australians for many years; more broadly, they have been etched in the minds of Australians and international art enthusiasts for the best part of a generation.
His place in the Territory is unique. He was to Western Arnhem Land what Albert Namatjira was to Hermannsburg: a driving force, but one that let his art talk for him. I wonder whether anyone has counted the number of completed works by Wamud - I would estimate thousands, although his family may be better placed to confirm this - each of them rich and dramatic and memorable.
It is interesting to read through some of the commentaries which have accompanied Wamud’s works, and it made me smile a little, such is the power of the art, when I read a review prepared when he was at an exhibition at a gallery in the inner-suburb of Carlton. The critique began:
- There is something deeply creepy about seeing these works.
Later, the author went on:
- These works are downright spooky.
That is power; when art communicates such feeling, such sense.
Wamud’s response to that commentary is lost in time, but it is a safe bet he was not trying to spook anyone; more likely he was trying to tell a story effectively and convey something powerful through art. But there is no denying for anyone the mystery of these works; there is no denying also their captivating nature. He was one of the key exponents of the X-ray style of painting that had its roots in the rock art of the region.
Wamud was around 80 at the time of that exhibition in 2006, travelling to Melbourne for that and other exhibitions of his work at the National Gallery. A quick count of the galleries where he has been featured in Australia comes to about 40. Most of these are joint displays, but a couple of solo shows as well. It is not known how many galleries Wamud is featured in overseas, possibly a dozen, but his work has taken to the world a slice of Western Arnhem Land’s stone country that he loved.
It is remarkable, thinking back to the time when Wamud was born - 1926 or thereabouts - a time when Darwin was truly a frontier town and the wonderful potential of Indigenous art was still waiting to captivate the world as it still is. One can only imagine what the Mann River, about 250 km from Oenpelli, was like in 1926. It was probably remarkably similar to what it had been for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
It was home then, as now, to a richly diverse culture and a people who loved to share their stories with outsiders. It was in this environment that Wamud began to paint and learn the stories of his people. Of the many Territorians to whom we have paid tribute in this House over the years, I doubt there would be many who lived in the Northern Territory for the best part of 83 years. Many who died when they were old arrived later in life; others were born here but died relatively young. All loved the Northern Territory for one reason or another, and made a contribution in one way or another.
Wamud’s story is one of kinship and connection which saw him return near to his place of birth at the end of his life. To be born here, to live here for 83 years, and to die here, is a rare honour - unique. That Wamud was able to die in the country of his birth, in the outstation he made his home suggests, very powerfully, a contentment with life which is reflected in a life well lived.
It is a magnificent tribute to Wamud’s longevity, as well as his heritage, that he is widely regarded as one of the last Aboriginal painters to paint on cave walls.
He travelled the traditional highways throughout Arnhem Land, worked in a tin mine in his early years, as well as learning to paint from his father. Time spent in Katherine during the war years brought him closer to Australia’s European heritage, but he was never too old to learn and absorb new experiences. During the early and middle years of his life, experiences came in droves. As well as the tin mines, he worked as a wood cutter’s labourer, loaded cargo trains, was a buffalo shooter, stockman, and market gardener. Despite having painted for decades, it was not until 1969 he began to paint commercially with prompting from the missionary, Peter Carroll.
When he first visited Sydney, there is a story about Wamud shedding tears when he saw his works on exhibition in a gallery in suburban Annandale. He was honoured that his works were on exhibition together with other painters on display. His honour was the audience’s delight: an artist with decades of heritage and stories and success to his credit still moved by the simple acknowledgement of the regard for his work. It was this love for painting which saw him continue to work until the end. While his first experiences of painting were inside the caves, he never lost his fondness for his traditions or his ancestors. His later works were done on paper. In between, he built a reputation as one of the finest bark painters in recent memory.
In recent times, as well as painting, Wamud has spread stories about his country, his people, and the ceremonies in other ways. Stories of floods of visitors arriving at his small outstation dominate recent years. He went from telling his stories through the natural pigments he once used for rock art and then transferred to bark and paper, to providing visitors with oral histories of his people. As Nicholas Rothwell wrote in The Australian last week:
- Filmmakers, zoologists, ecologists and landcare specialists flocked in recent times to the tents of his modest outstation, which became the intellectual centre of the Arnhem Land Plateau.
I have a picture in my mind of this man welcoming southerners or well-travelled international experts to his beautiful homeland after a long flight to Darwin, then a drive to Western Arnhem Land. It is additionally satisfying because, for the visitors, it would have been worth the expense and the duration of the journey. The information passed on by Wamud would have been of the highest quality - a museum with a heartbeat.
When he died he was feted with high praise by the Warddeken Land Management group who said:
- His knowledge of the contemporary significance of rock art in the region was unparalleled and represents a link with the past and a particular way of life has now changed forever.
A life like Wamud Namok’s has its own rewards, but he was honoured by others as well. In 1999, it was in the works on paper section of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, and, in 2004, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. In these days of climate change awareness, Wamud was well and truly ahead of the pack, campaigning successfully for controlled burning in his beloved Western Arnhem Land.
Wamud Namok and his wife, Mary, had eight children and, while I understand none of them painted, he has, no doubt, passed on his stories to his family and helped to make them great and rich.
Madam Speaker a remarkable Territorian has left us, and left a legacy. We pass on our condolences on to his family.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to stand here as a Yanyuwa woman and the member for Arnhem to pay tribute in the parliament of the Northern Territory to a great Territorian, Wamud of the Mok clan of Western Arnhem Land. As we have heard from the Chief Minister, the life of Wamud transcended an incredible part of Northern Territory history.
His early life was all about living on the land, a member of one of the greatest enduring cultures of humankind. Eminent Territorian, George Chaloupka, has given his adult life, as have others, to learning, understanding, and celebrating the wonderful culture of the stone people of Western and Central Arnhem Land - people of the stone country, the majestic, complicated biological and cultural treasure trove we know as the Arnhem Land Plateau.
As part of Chaloupka’s voyage of discovery, he came to learn of an annual pilgrimage which Wamud, his family, and many others undertook on an annual cycle, as recently as the pre-war years. This was their regular travel, by foot, of course, traversing the Arnhem Land Plateau, and gathering to meet with kinsfolk from far and wide on the floodplains of the Alligator Rivers. They came to feast on geese, to trade implements and objects important in their day-to-day life, and perhaps, most importantly for a young man, to learn and participate in ceremony, and to learn law and culture to guide day-to-day life and social cohesion. Today, those parts of Kakadu are celebrated as World Heritage of universal significance.
Beyond Kakadu, the land of Wamud and his countrymen and women in Arnhem Land is now being considered for nomination as World Heritage for its unique and priceless, in international terms, heritage of rock art. Just last month, we saw the land of Wamud and other families recognised as a unique and significant conservation area, the Warddeken Indigenous Protected Area, ensuring appropriate support for the continuing stewardship of this precious resource by local clans and custodians.
It is important to set the scene in telling the story of Wamud; how he was born of a people and a generation whose total energy and focus was day-to-day living, law and culture, and the custodianship of that very special landscape. Later, as a young man, Wamud travelled with his family to explore other places and engage with the outside world: tin mining at Maranboy, timber cutting, stock work, the experience of the war years at Mataranka, and life at Gunbalanya and Maningrida settlements.
In 1994, Wamud, in recounting his life story to art curator, Margie West, recalled how he was known in those days as Wamud the worker. Wamud the worker – all the time working, learning, and growing in status within his family and society as a humble, knowledgeable, and respectful man.
For those of us outside this world, his story begins about this time - perhaps from the late 1960s, as he became a prolific artist on bark; preserving, developing, and celebrating the artistic traditions of Central Western Arnhem land. To aficionados of Aboriginal art, Wamud is master of the Western Arnhem style, a style with a unique earthiness and naturalistic symbolism connecting people and the land from where it comes, the inspiring, evocative, and mysterious pinnacles, chasms, and caverns of the Western Arnhem Land Plateau. As with all masters, a wonderful feature of his art is the layers of meaning embodied in each painting. Stories of creation, stories giving meaning to life, stories articulating proper ways of living, and stories explaining obligations to land and to culture.
We are blessed that he was such a prolific painter, and while he would often wonder at the reason so many people were drawn to his art, he obliged, seeing this as one way he could share the things that sustained him, his country, and his heritage.
Most recently, we were again blessed by his selfless dedication to his position as Emeritus Professor of the Bush University at Kabulwarnamyo, his outstation on the upper catchment of the Liverpool River. He inspired and enabled the coming together of two worlds and knowledge systems, fostering the kind of work we look for in the finest of our universities, research partnerships, unique and ground-breaking research, innovation, and experimentation.
He became the inspiration, the light, and the font of wisdom for other younger Aboriginal people committed to not letting go; younger men and women staying true to their inheritance, sustaining knowledge and wisdom. Working on a day-to-day basis, caring for country, and talking to people who had the privilege of living and working with Wamud, you are struck by some key elements of his personality: his selflessness and willingness to share with all, even when he was most tired and so deserving of rest; his infectious smile and love for his country, a love which clearly sustained and motivated him over all these years; his gentleness; his knowledge. But perhaps, most of all, the respect people of all ages held for him and his status as a local hero, a living legend to so many young Indigenous people, especially young men.
Another word comes to mind, and that is dignity. Wamud exuded dignity; dignity which came from his self-confidence, his selflessness, his knowledge, and his humility. In recent years we know many Aboriginal men have felt their dignity challenged and attacked; men themselves acknowledge they have work to do addressing family and community instability through men behaving badly. Wamud showed a good way, a way we need to acknowledge, respect, and encourage.
Wamud, and the things he has done through all of his eight decades, embodies what we all should want for the future; a future of respect, acceptance, and celebration of Indigenous culture, but also active participation in all that the world has to offer.
Wamud was blessed with a large family. I know his wife Mary, daughters Hagar, June, Donna, Rhonda, and Deacon Lois Nadjamerrek, and sons Lajunbi, Keith, and Frederick, will be grieving terribly at their loss. I also know they are immensely proud of their father, knowing how he touched the lives of so many people here, across the Northern Territory, across this country, and overseas. I wish them well and thank them for sharing their husband and father with us, particularly as he grew older, and send them my love and that of all Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Mara, Gudanji peoples of the Gulf region, and of all the Arnhem people.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I support this motion of condolence. The phenomenal popularity of Indigenous arts has its roots in other generations, way beyond the civilised world of up-market suburban art galleries in the major southern cities.
Many Australian families bought re-creations of Aboriginal arts long before it became the multimillion dollar industry it is today. My parents had Aboriginal paintings spread throughout the house during my childhood. Their appreciation was based on the simplicity of the work, the story told, the earthy tones, and the quality of the craftsmanship. For me, it is work everyone can connect with and can understand. In short, we all get it.
Wamud Namok was one of the finest practitioners of the art we know of. He began painting on cave walls in his very early years. Born in 1926, it is nice to believe the global recession which began devastating economies just three years after his birth, was not especially noticed in Western Arnhem Land. The place of his birth was on the land known as the stone country, near the Mann and Liverpool Rivers. From an early age he learned to paint with his father, inside caves. It seemed remarkable that a tradition, with literally thousands of years of history, was still practised in the very recent past. Wamud is sometimes described as the last practitioner of cave painting. From caves he went on to paint on bark and later on paper. His Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award was for best piece on paper.
Like many in this Chamber, I never knew Wamud Namok, and also, like many, I wish I had. I would have asked him about his early years and about the key landmarks in his remarkable journey. About how a young Aboriginal child following his father’s footsteps, painting on the inside of caves, became a favourite with the southern gallery owners and their customers, and whose work regularly sold for tens of thousands of dollars at a time. This story would be fascinating enough on its own, but then he could share with me the stories of his people, the people of Western Arnhem Land who have lived in that remarkable civilisation for thousands of years. The stories would be fascinating.
Hundreds of people over recent years have benefited from Wamud’s knowledge. For some time now his little outstation has been a focal point for visitors from Australia and overseas who are of an academic bent. In the future I hope to read more about their studies and what they were able to learn in the brief time they had spent in the stone country.
In 2004, Wamud Namok was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia, the first Indigenous artist to achieve this honour. The gong was not only for his art; over the past decade or so he worked unrelentingly to bring about change in burn-off practices around Western Arnhem Land. This triumph of sustainability and forward-thinking provided a role model for his people in his later years, as his art did in his younger days.
His experiences were not just limited to painting of course. During the war years, and beyond, he held down a number of jobs in mining, market gardening, and as a stockman. His love for his country and his people extended to protecting the environment into which he was born. Savannah burning is responsible for close to 50% of the Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions, an issue that has to be addressed if the Territory is going to contribute to the global push for a cleaner environment. Wamud Namok helped found a scheme which involved working with young Indigenous rangers to reintroduce the traditional burning practices which respected the environment but, over recent years, had fallen in to abeyance.
He also led the movement that helped win for his people, in 2002, an area about one third the size of Tasmania which stretched from the high, rocky country of his birth to the islands off north Australia. The sweep of that land was as diverse as his life: it included sandstone gorges, pristine rivers, tropical savannahs, and coastal wetlands. Under the federal agreement, 137 Aboriginal groupings, which made up the traditional owners, managed the reserves helped by Indigenous rangers employed out of Canberra. It says volumes of a man who, late in his life, was still focused on getting maximum benefit for his community and the land from which he came.
In 1982, one of his paintings was used on the Australian 40 stamp, and, in 1993, he was commissioned by the authorities to paint a large mural based on a painting of Ngalyod which hangs in the foyer of Darwin Airport. His win in the work on paper section of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 1999 was a formal acknowledgement of what art lovers from around the world had known for years. In 2004 he became the first Indigenous artist to be made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
Wamud Namok married Mary in the early 1950s, and the couple have five daughters and three sons. May his memory and art last forever, while his body rests. Bless you and your family.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, I join my parliamentary colleagues in supporting this condolence motion, and I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this motion to the Assembly today.
Wamud Namok was a very old man by both western and Indigenous standards, and for that we must be thankful because his longevity gave many people the opportunity to work alongside him and share in his love and understanding of his culture and his land.
I was not one of those people who had the pleasure to know this old man and I am very sorry to say that this was the case, because all the people I have talked to recently about him have spoken of him in terms of awe and wonder; they have mentioned his big heart, his kindness, the inspiration he gave, and his leadership.
This old man was a man of great dignity and humility who treated everyone he met with generosity and patience. Through the spirit of this generosity, he was able to share his knowledge of his country with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. His understanding of Territory history, places, land management, available resources, and religious significance, has become invaluable in recent years.
This old man’s familiarity with the art of Western Arnhem Land was rare and, without it, we would have been left guessing as to the significance of many of the thousands of rock sites on the Arnhem Plateau. Since the 1980s, this old man worked with anthropologists to survey rock art and other sites of significance. Art historians, botanists, ecologists, and other researchers from social and natural sciences sought out the wisdom of this man as they studied the Northern Territory and its Indigenous people.
He worked for many years with the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory’s Emeritus Curator Aboriginal Rock Art, George Chaloupka. Together, they recorded and documented hundreds of sites. Today, this precious knowledge is deposited at the museum. It is extraordinary to think this man was present when the more recent paintings were executed, providing us with the most valuable information about this remarkable rock art heritage - the longest, continuous record of human endeavour. This man, a talented artist in his own right, also painted on rock. He painted his last image on rock in 2005, a large djugerre, the female black wallaroo, one of his favourite subject matters.
This man was a gifted bark painter who started to produce art works for the art market in the 1960s at Gunbalanya. He enjoyed a very successful career, and his work is represented in most national collections including, of course, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. His work is reminiscent of rock art styles found on the Arnhem Plateau - figurative works on stark backgrounds, a simple palette of colours, fine lines, and images which are incredibly alive and filled with the power of the land.
During his life, this man participated in many landmark exhibitions including Spirit in Land at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1990; Rainbow, Sugarbag and Moon at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory in 1995; and, more recently, his work featured in Culture Warriors, the inaugural National Indigenous Art Triennial, a touring exhibition currently in Washington DC.
An example of how this man was held in high esteem is reflected when we look around and see the people in the galleries listening to what we are saying and, by being here, they are paying their own tribute to Wamud Namok. I know there is a number of staff from the Department of Natural Resources, Environment, the Arts and Sport here today. Probably every division of the department had much contact with this old man, and were enlightened by his knowledge.
May he rest in peace.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, it is with sadness I acknowledge the passing of this great man, and I thank the Chief Minister for bringing this motion.
I acknowledge the presence of individuals who are here today and all of those listening and watching who have all shared and have individual memories of this great man. As I make my contribution to the motion, I know those individuals who are listening and present here today, will know the feeling of the last time we all shared, and the day we shared with this great man.
By the time the final traditional funerary rights are performed for Wamud Namok AO, many people, including individuals considerably more eminent than me, will have joined with his family in mourning the passing of this outstanding man, and celebrating the remarkable and valuable life of this grand old man of Western Arnhem Land.
Obituaries and testimonials will have touched on his encyclopaedic knowledge of country, his impressive body of artistic work, and his contribution to scientific research and understanding.
Wamud’s status with traditional art and culture was already well established when, on 26 January 2004, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. The official citation said:
- For service to the preservation of Indigenous culture as a senior traditional man, a significant artist whose work documents the relationship of the land and its ancestral past by the Mimih spirits of rock art.
Since that time, Wamud also achieved prominence for his critical role in the success of the Western Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project, an innovative strategy which is now being seen as a model for adoption elsewhere. Three years ago, the ABC Catalyst program documented the progress that had already been made by Wamud and his WALFA team at Kabulwarnamyo in remote Western Arnhem Land.
In one part of that program, the narrator set the scene with these words:
- It’s late May, and Arnhem land is still drying out after the big wet. Aboriginal people start burning Arnhem land soon after the rains, as they’ve done for millennia, to regenerate useful plants and animals. But over the last 50 years this early burning was interrupted as people started to move into townships.
As a result, around half the landscape is incinerated by uncontrolled wild fires late in the dry season.
Now carbon trading offers an elegant win-win solution: for a company needing greenhouse credits; and for Aboriginal people wanting to restore traditional burning on a grand scale.
They’re led by this man …
I wanted a place where both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people are together, a combination of our laws and culture.
With the other senior men, he established a remote outstation called Kabulwarnamyo, nearly 400 km east of Darwin.
After a cold night, it looks like a sleepy camp - but this is the regional fire station for all of western Arnhem Land.
Climate change and the best way forward in relation to a carbon pollution reduction scheme are topical issues which will remain on the national and international agenda for a long time to come. I predict that the WALFA, and Wamud’s role in its establishment, will attract ever increasing recognition and acclaim.
The homage I want to pay to this old man relates to something more basic than art and climate change science. It is the example, the option, he offered in terms of physical and social lifestyle and life choices to our young people, especially the young people of Gunbalanya and Maningrida in my electorate.
Gunbalanya and Maningrida are both large communities which are accessible by the main road which leads eventually to Nhulunbuy. They are the closest largest communities to Kabulwarnamyo. Gunbalanya has a licensed drinking place called a club, where the people can drink every day. Maningrida has a liquor permit system which allows permit holders to legally access alcohol at the community every fortnight. Grog is a killer; it kills people’s health, motivation and, ultimately, their culture. Ganja is another problem substance, and the scourge of petrol sniffing raises its ugly head in Gunbalanya from time to time when the community drops its guard. Takeaway food at both communities entrenches the unhealthy diets of many family members.
By contrast, to get to Kabulwarnamyo, you need to drive a long, meandering route away from the main road, and the social patterns of its residents do not revolve around the availability of alcohol. Food supplies brought in from outside are restricted to necessary items, and supplemented by regularly obtained bush tucker. That was how the old man wanted it. It was part of his vision. He wanted to bring kids and young people from Gunbalanya to Kabulwarnamyo so that they too could learn to live a healthy and worthwhile life.
I shared with Wamud the vice of smoking. It is not something I am proud of but, in Wamud’s case, the fact remains that, despite his smoking for most of his life, he was a strong and energetic physically healthy man. In an era where so many of our men sicken and die from avoidable diseases at a much younger age, Wamud lived to be 83.
He was born in 1926, which means that he outlived my own father. He lived for so long because he stayed focused and busy doing worthwhile things, maintained his culture and a sense of self-worth and self-esteem, and because he valued an outstation life, free from alcohol, where Aboriginal people could build a future for themselves on their terms. He made it clear, in his words in the Catalyst program: it was not a future which excluded non-Aboriginal people, nor worthwhile and meaningful engagement with the wider Australian society and economy. It was a future in which he wanted his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, to learn and thrive, and to grow to be as old and wise as him. It was a future which was to herald a homecoming for the descendents of his ancestors.
None of us will forget the man himself; his humour and his enthusiasms. I now quote from a couple of others who knew him well:
- With the passing of Wamud Namok the nation has lost a cherished and iconic individual. He was one of the most talented artists painting in Western Arnhem Land tradition, whose eye for detail, technical virtuosity, and exquisitely fine brush work produced paintings of unsurpassed energy and lyricism.
- He grew up painting on the rock shelters of his country and by transferring this knowledge to his contemporary artwork he brought the traditions of his people to the world. He was nicknamed ‘Wamud the worker’ in the early days of Oenpelli Mission because of his capacity for hard work. Throughout his adult life he worked tirelessly as an artist, a key ceremonial man and mentor, and the primary contributor to a range of important scientific and cultural programs. He was widely valued for his immense ceremonial knowledge by his people and was greatly esteemed in the art world.
- Despite his fame outside his community, he remained a humble and devoted family man whose only wish was to live and one day die on his home country.
We extend our deep sympathies to his family, for whom Wamud was the pivot focus in their lives. His passing is in many ways the end of an era as he was one the last of the few remaining links to the ancient practice of rock painting, and the traditional lifestyle it sustained.
- His legacy will always live on in the extensive body of painting he reproduced on rock, bark, and paper. Through the many important projects he was involved in towards to the end of his life, and in the art work being produced now by many of his grandchildren, it is with great sadness we say: Bor Bor Wamud.
That was from Margie West, Emeritus Curator Aboriginal Art and George Chaloupka, Emeritus Curator Aboriginal Rock Art.
I will also quote someone who knew, and was very close to, Wamud for 40 years, Peter Cooke. He said this, and I quote, with permission:
- I guess what is not documented are his personal qualities; his infectious respect and love of all beings. When cane toads arrived over land he was aghast that we should want to strike them dead. He was almost never angry, though once I saw him furious with kids who were catching black bream for the fun of it and just chucking them on the bank. He growled at them severely. He would not have appreciated the tag and release sport fishing.
There was also his ongoing relationship with his long dead father. Indeed, there is a great scene in a film in which he appears where he explains to his dad what films are. There were mornings where he would be sitting beside his fire talking to a sulphur crested cockatoo up in a tree, who he said was not a sulphur crested cockie, but his father, Kela. He was just, in the most matter-of-fact way, passing on the news of his life and the WALFA Project to the spirits of the plateau.
- Dean Yibarbuk recalls many times listening to him talk of his vision of bringing back to the plateau the descendents of those who were drawn down to places like Maranboy, Katherine, and Pine Creek in the 19th century and, later, Oenpelli and Jabiru. While others might have become resigned to drift with the tide of history, Wamud was determined to turn that tide and reunite the plateau diaspora with their lands.
In the past seven years we have seen many people set their tracks on their country for the first time while Wamud Namok called out to their ancestors to welcome them home. Tears have flowed; rights and responsibility to manage country have been renewed.
At the signing of the WALFA agreement, I described the project and Wamud’s critical involvement in it. For many years, artists such as Wamud, kept their outstations thriving through the creation and sale of their work. Caring for their country, through activities such as traditional fire burning practices, is an integral part of their understanding of country and their art. It is, as I said back then, a virtuous cycle in which the work of artists keeps their country alive, the very country that is at the heart of their creativity.
That virtuous circle reminds me of a gospel hymn, Let the Circle Be Unbroken. It is a song that speaks of there being a ‘better home awaiting in the sky, Lord, in the sky’. That circle is unbroken. Wamud lived and passed away in that better home awaiting, and made everyone welcome to share in its richness and bounty.
I send my love and thoughts to Mary, his wife; his children, daughters Lois, Doreen, Hagar, Rhonda; and sons Junior, Frederick, and Keith, his sons-in-law, his daughters-in-law, his grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I know that I speak on behalf of all my constituents and their respective organisations in the Kakadu/Western Arnhem Land region - the Djabulugku Association, through its CEO, Liam Maher, who first introduced me to this great man; Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation; the Djelk Rangers; Gundjemi Aboriginal Corporation; Injalak Arts; Maningrida Arts and Culture; and the staff and rangers of Kakadu National Park.
I send my respects and acknowledgement to the amazing Warddeken Rangers. These rangers, young and old, were a big part of this old man’s vision and they will miss him, but they will continue to build his great legacy.
Finally, my thoughts go to Jan and Peter Cooke, and family, who have shared so much of their lives with this grand old man of Western Arnhem Land. All of Western Arnhem Land will stand and say: Bor Bor Wamud.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also extend my condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Wamud Namok, a man of vision and an inspiration to many. He will be sadly missed, but remembered forever through his family, friends, and his impressive artwork.
Motion agreed to.
Members stood and observed one minute’s silence as a mark of respect.
Madam SPEAKER: I thank all members for their contributions to this motion, and I invite family and friends who are gathered here today, and interested members, to a morning tea in the main hall.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 6 to 10 Borroloola school students accompanied by Mrs Cheryl Caulfield, Ms Clare Schoeller, and Mr Geoff Perry. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
TABLED PAPER
Pairing Arrangement –
Members for Casuarina and Araluen
Pairing Arrangement –
Members for Casuarina and Araluen
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table a document relating to pairs for the members for Casuarina and Araluen from the conclusion of Question Time today until the end of the sitting day.
PETITIONS
Changes of Direction at Araluen Galleries
Changes of Direction at Araluen Galleries
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 797 petitioners praying that Araluen Galleries returns to a place with dedicated community involvement. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders. Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the Honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory,
We, the undersigned, respectfully call upon the Northern Territory government to return Araluen Galleries to a place with dedicated community involvement in its planning decisions by establishing a board of management made up of community representatives.
We also respectfully call upon the government to return Araluen Gallery 3 to an exhibition facility open to all community groups in the region.
ConocoPhillips Work Camp Site – Transitional Housing
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 177 petitioners praying transitional housing be provided on the old ConocoPhillips work camp site near Palmerston. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirement of standing orders. Madam Speaker, I move the petition be read.
Motion agreed; petition read:
- To the Honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory,
We, the undersigned, respectfully showeth that in light of the absolute and comprehensive failure of the Henderson Labor government to release land and building social housing, there is now a critical shortage of land and housing and, as such, both the rental price and build/purchase price of a house in the Darwin and Palmerston area is so high that it is out of reach of many people. The state of the housing market now means there are people with good jobs who simply either cannot get houses or cannot afford houses and have resorted to sleeping in their cars, friend’s lounge rooms, or in tents. The situation is a disgrace and immediate action by the government must be taken.
Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that we the undersigned call on the Henderson Labor government and Gerry Wood to support Terry Mills and the Country Liberals’ action plan for transitional housing on the old ConocoPhillips work camp site near Palmerston and, in doing so, provide transitional housing for up to 60 families, giving the Territory government time to get land released and social housing established.
And your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
ASSEMBLY MEMBERS AND STATUTORY OFFICERS (REMUNERATION AND OTHER ENTITLEMENTS) AMENDMENT BILL (No 2)
(Serial 67)
(Serial 67)
Continued from 14 October 2009.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is an unusual matter to contend with because, when we assess the motivator - the factor which has prompted this response from the government and for the opposition to consider its position – we recognise it commences with a strong position adopted by the Territory government with regard to public sector wages; that strong position is 2.5%.
It is a pre-emptive strike and it sets the tone for the negotiations which will follow, all going according to plan, which allows tough negotiation to then ensue.
However, once the dust had just begun to settle, and the battlelines were clearly defined, into the public domain came the announcement there would be a 3% increase in salary for politicians …
Dr Burns: 3.2%.
Mr MILLS: 3.2%, to be correct, and in excess of the 2.5% pre-emptive strike centred on the negotiations of the public sector.
Therefore, what must one do? Politicians and the government would recognise, as contained in the second reading speech by the Chief Minister, the issue of pay is a great challenge for politicians, because it is not popular. If you follow that argument to the lowest common denominator - follow it dot by dot, line by line through the argument - people, if you appeal to the crowd, would say that we should not be paid at all. In fact, we should pay for the honour of serving such long hours and placing this huge demand on our families. You could go down that path. It would show no leadership whatsoever to abandon that post to the call of the popular cry of the crowd.
It is a dilemma, a very difficult one, and a political one. However, if we weigh these things -and I believe the government has got itself into a bind - and thought, what the heck are we going to do now that we have said this here, and then this has occurred over here, how are we going to fix it?
I am grateful there have been voices raised about the value of politicians. Largely, they are not joined by a chorus of support, but it is important to hold a position. Because if we do not provide any defence in these times of discussion we are not providing any leadership or challenge to the underlying issues surrounding parliamentary democracy and the role that politicians play in civic leadership.
It is a difficult job and we are not going to get people weeping in the galleries when I start talking about that, because that is not appropriate. All of us, privately in this Chamber, recognise the personal cost, the hours, and the demand that is placed, of which we gladly respond to, year after year. All of that is fine if we did it in isolation, but it is our families as well.
Having spent some time with Tony Abbott recently, I found it good to spend time having discussions about the nature of the task, and particularly when you have been in this job for some time, to think about what it is that holds you in the job. Is it the pay? What level of pay would compensate the sacrifice, the contribution, and the effort that is made? You never really get any quarter with the media, with the wider community, and it is ongoing. If you weigh it all up, you think why would you do it?
Reading a book by Tony Abbott – he made a comment to me also which is reinforced in the book – when speaking about ‘the job’ it is, in fact, ‘more of a vocation than an occupation’. If you follow that through, it would be akin to asking why would a teacher put in that extraordinarily difficult, long, and extra effort with difficult students? It is above and beyond - it is not just the job, there is something more to it. You could a look at a whole range of occupations. Why would someone spend that extra time working in the health system not for reward, but because of a deeper satisfaction? Why would you spend that extra time with someone who is dying if it was just a job, just an occupation?
It is the same with politicians. Why would we do it? If we just weighed it all up and put a money value on it, why would we do it? Because there is a deeper thing to it, there is another purpose that holds us here. It is a very difficult matter to unpack publicly and it causes us to assess the value of our work.
We would have to recognise this whole situation that has been brought here for us to respond to has allowed a little consideration of the fundamental question about the value of work. It has given us greater insight into the capacity to respond to preserve the political positions and to make sure we are not going to compromise the initial position when it comes to the strong stance taken with negotiation with the public sector. That is of concern because it actually reduces the capacity to have a reasoned debate on such matters.
The response has been a complicated mechanism. I pay credit to the member for Fong Lim who recognised that a disconnect is established, breaking the nexus between the calibrations which determine a federal member of parliament’s salary and then the flow-on to the Territory. If that nexus is broken and we create a new connection, that connection could, in fact, propel us, in time to come to a position way beyond our federal counterparts. I understand that this issue was recognised in negotiations between the member for Fong Lim and the Leader of Government Business, and there were another few cogs put in the wheel so we prevent that occurring.
So we go back again. It reminds us we have not had the opportunity - not that we would be able to have it - for the community discussion about the value of those who have the privilege of working in this House. I believe the nature of the negotiations with the public service is critical. I am very concerned that negotiations must be conducted in good faith first. This appears to be a position adopted in order to preserve some stance at a table and that concerns me. I will battle on for some time and come to some kind of conclusion.
Recognising the situation we faced, and the decision, therefore, to create a mechanism to link increases to the Territory public sector, making sure those increases do not exceed the previous position we had, are complicated. I understand the politics of it. I am grateful for contributions I have had in discussions, in reading Tony Abbott’s book, and also, for once, I was really heartened to read comments by young Scott Stirling, in the Sunday paper. I believe those kinds of voices should be heard from time to time. I believe it would have been better for the opposition to have allowed that kind of discussion to occur. Instead we find the ground has shifted, largely directed by the interests of preserving a political position, rather than having a deeper discussion about the value of work and the value of public office. Otherwise we could end up, quite easily, in a rush to the bottom, and we could further expose any value there is for civic office.
Understanding the landscape and the need for constant and ongoing discussion on these matters, I believe we should do our best to maintain our bearing in the time we are in this office, recognising, with grace, we are required to buy lots of raffle tickets but if we win one we are required to hand it back, and all that sort of stuff.
Mr Wood: I know, but not all the time. Not all the time.
Mr MILLS: No, no. No, I know. Required; it is like a suggestion you should do so. The whole strange business of our place in our community, how we value work, and all those things, should be an ongoing discussion; we should not abandon that and be afraid - those discussions should occur. If we want to hold the office of leadership then those discussions should occur, despite the unpopularity of such matters. This is what I fear; that this whole construct has actually eroded the position of leadership.
The position of the opposition is that we recognise the situation we have come to and we will not be opposing the passage of this legislation.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, listening to the opposition’s words on this bill made me wonder about something that is probably relevant to this debate: how the public view us as members of parliament rather than politicians. There is no doubt when you say you are a politician, people either drop their jaw and do not want to talk to you, or they have a problem, which is you, the work you do, or there is a particular matter they would like to raise with you. None of that particularly worries me.
I believe, when you hear the criticism about what politicians get paid or whether they are going to get a pay rise, the reason we get criticised is because in the public view we are regarded as down at the bottom end of the scale when it comes to types of employment.
It is a sad reflection on our society. It is a sad reflection, to some extent, on the media, and, perhaps, it is a sad reflection on ourselves. If you look in today’s paper you see Casuarina High School students saying the behaviour of some of our politicians was terrible - and at times it is terrible – but at other times it is also very good. I do not believe any of us stand in this parliament just to have a nice day; we come here - and you have to fight to come here, especially through an election - to do something for the betterment of the Territory.
What worries me is the continued put-down, sometimes in the public arena, by various spokesmen, media commentators, via SMS short texts in a newspaper; it makes it difficult to promote the life of someone in parliament or the life of someone in public office as being a worthwhile occupation, if I can put it that way.
I say it is more than that. it is more like a vocation, like nurses and teachers. We come here to serve the people. it is not self-serving, as some people say. It is a 24-hour, 365 day a year job, which has an effect on your family, and on yourself. We know, in some cases, politicians have ruined their health by taking on this job.
I believe we, the media and public commentators, have a duty to look at what this particular job is and to promote it as something worthwhile. We are easy shots. We can be the pick of the cartoonists, a sharp letter in the newspaper – which many times we cannot respond to – or we can be the butt of an editorial, but that is all part and parcel of the job, no problem with that. However, how many times have you read an article which says this job is a worthwhile job? How many times have you heard someone stand up in front of a classroom and say: ‘I hope you will be a politician one day, because it is a worthwhile job’?
What we are hearing today about a pay increase for members of parliament, and the criticism we sometimes get for accepting a pay increase, reflects the lack of support for people who take on the job of public service. Compared to my federal counterparts my job is relatively easy - although I do not say it is easy - because my electorate is quite small in number and relatively small in area. When you look at someone who has the seat of Kalgoorlie – which is nearly three quarters the size of Western Australia, with a large population, probably about one third of the Territory - you can see they have enormous work to do, not only to retain their seat, but also to go out and meet the people in those areas.
I felt this presented an opportunity to put a good light on the job of parliamentarians because, although there will always be some denigration and criticism - and rightly so, we are people in the public arena - and we will get criticism from time to time, which is what keeps us on our toes and what will, hopefully, keep us honest and keep the government motivated to do a better job. Let us not put the job down so much that many of the young people who come to watch us, who hear what we have to say, will be put off from being our future leaders.
If we do not promote this job in the right way - if people hear us in parliament sounding, as the paper said today, ‘like Year 4 children’ – and if we do not carry on in a right and proper way, then people will not think this is a good job. We need high-quality, clever, and smart people to take on this job. It will not be for the pay because you see where the smart and clever people go in society; into private business or the higher echelons of the public service, because the pay will be much higher.
If we want to capture people who want to help the community - where the salaries are not as high as those in private industry - if we want them to lead the Territory into the future, so the Territory is a better place when we are old - because they will be the people who are governing the Territory when we are well past it – then we have to promote the benefits. It is a good job. It is an important and fulfilling job, and we need to promote that in our society if we are to do our job as politicians.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I commend the member for Fong Lim. We had discussions about some amendments which could be made to this bill. I believe they were positive and constructive discussions. In essence, if there were to be successive pay rises and we broke what was the nexus of the $3000 gap between what federal and Northern Territory politicians receive, then the $3000 gap should prevail. I believe that was wise counsel from the member for Fong Lim.
I was very interested in what the Opposition Leader and the member for Nelson said about this issue. To summarise that, they were talking about the difficulty of the job we do and, in many ways, the lot of politicians, or the way politicians are viewed within our community, which, basically, is not positive. As the member for Nelson said, some of it has to do with the media and some to do with our own behaviour.
I cannot help reflecting; someone asked me what this tie was earlier today. It is a Pharmacy Guild tie. I started off working as a pharmacist and went on to acquire further qualifications, as most people know, and spent time as an academic. I worked hard and, I believe, built up some respect in the research field I was working in which was, principally, Indigenous health and health services research. However, I noticed as soon as one gets into parliament – that sort of respect – people view you in a different way as a politician, and tend to be suspicious.
As the member for Nelson said, sometimes we do ourselves no favours. I go back to the comments that I made in 2005 to the member for Port Darwin, which I regret, and I have apologised to him personally, and to this parliament. But as politicians, you make a mistake and you live with it. People outside this place make a mistake or do something wrong, and I suppose there is a circle of people who know about it, but in the media, and in the public perception, these things go on. In the case of the government, you have ministerial portfolios and people will be very critical of you and the job that you are doing, even though you are acting in good faith and trying to do the right thing. There are extra responsibilities and extra burdens that we face as politicians.
In terms of the remuneration, I believe we are fairly remunerated. There is our base pay, which is approximately $124 000 per year, and those of us who hold other offices receive additional money to carry out our functions as ministers, Whips, Leader of the Opposition, a whole range of things. Sometimes you think, is it worth it? In my case, I am glad I came into this place and have been given the opportunity to make a contribution. Some of the work we do is difficult. When you go to the supermarket and you are in hurry to get a pint of milk to take home and someone wants to tell you something, we need to be courteous at all times, but sometimes you think, I wish I could just go in there and get the pint of milk. When you get home, the family asks: ‘Why did it take you so long to get that pint of milk?’ They have given up asking that now because they understand.
I started off my professional life as a pharmacist. I recently attended the 40th anniversary of my pharmacy year, which was 1969 at Queensland University, and it was great to catch up with people. I have kept in contact with some of them, and all of them who attended have done very well out of pharmacy. They have dedicated their lives to pharmacy and, as a by-product of that, a number of them have become quite wealthy. I applaud them for their dedication to a career and to a profession, but I always saw my future as lying elsewhere. I never looked at the remuneration as being the major reason why I did things. That is why I came to the Territory in the first place, to become a YMCA Recreation Officer at Maningrida. I have never regretted that decision. I could probably have made much more money at that time by doing something different.
It is the same with this job. There are people in this place who could probably make more money. We have had people on the other side, like Dr Lim, who gave up his medical practice where he could have made much more money, but he came into this place to make a contribution. I am sure there are other people who could make more money in the outside world but, for most of us, it is probably more than we have made in our previous careers. I believe we need to look at that aspect of it. Compared to the general population, we are remunerated pretty well. There are long hours and negatives about it, but I am quite prepared to accept the 2.5% pay rise, and I believe we all understand why it is there.
Regarding what the member for Nelson said, it is a shame the way politicians are viewed within our community, not just in the Northern Territory, but around Australia. Sometimes when I get in a taxi cab people ask me what I do for a living and I say, ‘I will give you three guesses’. Sometimes they get it, but not very often. It is probably when we are interstate that we do not go around saying: ‘I am a politician’. The next question is, ‘which side?’ - that is always the inevitable question. You have a 50% chance of getting a smile or a frown, but that is the lot we have as politicians. It is something we need to look at. We are the master of our own destiny, or misery in some cases. It behoves all of us to learn from our mistakes, or the mistakes of others, and try to present a positive, professional face of politics and politicians within the Northern Territory.
As the Leader of the Opposition mentioned, the main reason for doing this is that there was a 3.2% pay rise handed down by the Commonwealth. With our wages policy set at 2.5%, it was a decision by the government to show restraint. We should not ask more of our public servants than we were prepared to move with ourselves. It is also useful to note the pay policies in other jurisdictions are around 2.5%. It is not just in the Territory; it is a time for restraint and it is a time for us to show some leadership. I believe this is a way we can gain respect from the community; by showing restraint in what we do. Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to the House.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition and the Independents for their support of this bill.
When the issue of politicians pay comes around it is an absolute no-win for everyone. The community feels, and I believe, that members of parliament - as I speak to schoolchildren about it - are well remunerated compared to most people in society, who also work long hours. I believe what we are proposing in this bill is responsible and sensible, it makes common sense, and it shows leadership.
None of us put our hands up for this job for the money. I do not believe anyone in this parliament, or any other parliament, put their hand up for this job because of the money. We all come here, to this House, because we are passionate about the Northern Territory. We believe we can make a difference in the work we do on an electorate level and the work we do in this parliament, and if you are fortunate enough to be in government and hold ministerial portfolios, what you bring to those portfolio areas. We all come here because we believe in the Territory and we want to make a difference. We would all like to believe, when we leave this role, that we can look back with a sense of pride; that we did a pretty good job and the contribution we made, at whatever level, has been positive. I believe that is the motivating factor.
The other thing we should think about in this legislation, and all legislation, is what is in the best interests of the Northern Territory. That is what we are debating: what is in the best interests of the Northern Territory? Given that the issue about our remuneration is a no-win situation, I believe it is logical and in the best interests of the Northern Territory and its people - and trying to take the politics and the rancour out of this debate – that our salaries are tied to the general wages movement in the Northern Territory public sector.
Now that we are tied to the Remuneration Tribunal of federal members of parliament we get caught up in a debate which is not of our making. None of us know when those wage movements are going to occur in the federal parliament. They just pop up, out of the blue, and all of a sudden there is rancorous debate about the wages of politicians. Linking our wages to wage movements of our public service, and having transparency in that, will take much of the rancour out of the debate about politicians pay rises, because we will move with the bulk of our public servants. I doubt there is going to be a great deal of debate about the issue.
I go to the Leader of the Opposition’s comments and, again, I thank the opposition for its support. It is an unusual matter and it is a dilemma, given the wages policy of the government. If we are entering into negotiations, in good faith, yet we are accepting wage rises outside what we are offering our public servants, I do not believe that is a good faith position to start the negotiation process from; it becomes contentious, political, and a point of division. Are these things in the best interest of the Northern Territory? I do not believe so.
Given that we find ourselves in a position of restraint, in terms of the budget and our financial situation, as a result of the global financial crisis and the collapse in GST revenues, the responsible thing is to show restraint; to tie our increases to the general movement in the public sector and enter into those negotiations with a political point put to one side so we can negotiate in good faith and achieve good outcomes for various sectors of the public service and for the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, I thank members for their contribution to this debate and for their support. I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MOTION
Note statement – Mining in the
Northern Territory
Note statement – Mining in the
Northern Territory
Continued from 21 October 2009.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on mining. It is a crucial industry for the Northern Territory and a mighty contributor to our economy and the wellbeing of a number of regions throughout the Northern Territory.
My department, the Department of Business and Employment - I have the Business part, and the Chief Minister has the Employment part - is committed to the work of the Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources to further develop our mining industry sector.
The mining industry is the biggest contributor to the Territory’s economy, and accounts for nearly a quarter of our GSP. The $14.4m Bringing Forward Discovery strategy details the elements of this government’s exploration investment attraction approach, which are:
the acquisition of high quality pre-competitive, geoscientific data increasingly being made available to industry, free of charge, via the Internet;
When I visited Japan earlier this year, it was my pleasure to host a Northern Territory Investment Seminar in Tokyo. I have told the House this before, but there were a number of players there from major Japanese companies, and the presentation was given by departmental officers and professionals about the mineral prospectivity of the Northern Territory. The feedback from the embassy officials was that the Territory really punches above its weight, particularly in the proactive way we go out and present opportunities to various players in Japan and China, and elsewhere around the globe. Also, that much of the geoscientific data is available free of charge to companies at an electronic level, and once they show further interest, the core samples and some of the analysis of those core samples are made available to companies.
The minister fought hard for a large building to house those core samples, which are a real asset; they are the Fort Knox of the Northern Territory. The minister has been very proactive in his support over many years in the mining industry and the resources sector. I also pay tribute to Chris Natt, who held the portfolio for a number of years, and also took a lead in the China investment strategy and some of these strategies. We have a wonderful minister, the member for Casuarina, who throws himself enthusiastically into promoting the resources sector within the Northern Territory. I commend him for that.
The Department of Business and Employment has a number of industry development funding programs and strategic business advice services which provide advice to businesses, including those in the mining sector. Over the past couple of weeks of this parliamentary session, I have mentioned Territory Business Growth, Territory Business Upskills, ecoBiz NT, and client management services, which are available to all industry sectors including the mining sector.
I have also talked about the Trade Support Scheme and the benefits it provides to Territory exporters and prospective exporters. The Trade Support Scheme is an export marketing assistance program which is co-managed by the Department of Chief Minister and the Department of Business and Employment. Grants from the scheme have recently been provided to assist the offshore activities of miners and mining support businesses.
The minister mentioned the success of the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar, or AGES, held in March this year. The AGES is held in conjunction with the Alice Springs Mining Support Expo. The Business Support Division, in conjunction with the Business and Industry Development Division of my department, coordinates the annual Alice Springs Mining Support Expo. I have had the opportunity to visit a number of small- to medium-sized enterprises in Alice Springs which are involved in the mining support industry. The range of products and services which are offered by these relatively small companies to a large sector, the mining sector, particularly the exploration sector amazed me - everything from toilet paper to flags, and implements used in marking out and prospecting prospective leases.
The mining expo attracted 38 businesses, exploration companies, and a number of mining industry stakeholders. Exhibitors commented on the positive atmosphere in the exhibition hall and, on several occasions, the comment was made it was difficult to believe the world was experiencing an economic downturn. Many of the visiting businesses also requested booths for next year.
As Minister for Asian Relations and Trade, I also fully support our investment attraction strategies for China and Japan. The China Minerals Investment Attraction Strategy is delivering fantastic results, including 67 visits to the Northern Territory by 37 Chinese companies. There have also been four major Chinese investment deals, including the recent $32m Arafura and ECE deal, and four memorandums of understanding, or heads of agreement, signed to progress preliminary investment proposals to the finalisation of formal investment deals.
It is my understanding that some of the larger companies in Japan and China are looking to become involved in exploration and the development of mineral prospectivity at a much earlier stage. Previously, they used to come along when a particular project was fairly well advanced or had progressed along the path to production. However, they are now becoming involved at the ground level stage of the development. That is very positive and it really shows the growing relationship, particularly between Japan and China and the Northern Territory.
____________________
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you mind if I acknowledge these young people? Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 8 Palmerston Christian School students, accompanied by Ms Ana Abbott and Ms Bev Garside. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
____________________
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, a warm welcome to those students from Palmerston.
As Minister for Asian Relations, and Trade, I also support the development of a Japan investment strategy, and I talked about that a little earlier in my speech. The success of those seminars in Tokyo - there have been two now - is the establishment of three joint ventures with Japanese partners, which I believe is a positive result and justifies the strategies put in place by this government. These investment attraction strategies are working and will bring positive results to the Territory economy and to Territorians.
A whole-of-government web-based investment portal, called Invest NT, is currently under development, and will be delivered through the Department of Business and Employment. Invest NT will provide a global entry point for potential investors and interested parties seeking investment opportunities and information about the Northern Territory’s economy. It has been my privilege to have a sneak preview of the development of the website, and it is very exciting. It will provide a whole range of information, not only investment information per se, but also the social and demographic landscape of the Northern Territory, and some of the infrastructure within the Northern Territory to support investment. This will assist those who are looking at investment in the Northern Territory to see what the Northern Territory is all about; what we are as a community, our economy, our workforce, and what our infrastructure offers in terms of potential investment.
As you are aware, I also have responsibility for the Land Development Corporation, which has strategies to support the oil, gas, and mining industries. The Land Development Corporation’s stock of serviced land has been reducing rapidly in the past 12 to 18 months. In response, the corporation has moved quickly to design and tender for a further development to meet anticipated growing market demand for large tracts of strategic industrial land.
Work on the development of an additional 20 large industrial parcels of land at Darwin Business Park South on East Arm is now well under way, with sales off the plan anticipated by late 2009 and 2010. Part of the conditions of people taking up much of that land is that their industry is pertinent to the oil and gas industry, and has a link with the oil and gas industry. This is part of what this government is doing in promoting the resources sector and supporting industries for the resource sector. All the parcels will be fully serviced and about 1 ha in size, enabling construction of large fabrication sheds with good access for road trains and large areas for storage. Immediately following the development of Darwin Business Park South, civil works will commence on a further 11 blocks at Darwin Business Park North, creating a total of 30 large industrial parcels. These parcels will be fast-tracked to the market by the Land Development Corporation to complement the short-term rental facility at the common user area.
In response to industry calls for the development of a common user area facility in Darwin, the Land Development Corporation has commenced the development of this area in East Arm. It was my pleasure to see the initial works around the common user area, the access works, and starting to build that hardstand area within the common user area. The site is suitably located for business to access for fabrication, modularisation, short-term storage, or construction solutions, and transport by road, rail, or sea. The common user area is intended to be utilised by organisations engaged in a range of activities that tie in with the role of East Arm as an intermodal services hub, and support for the oil, gas, mining and other industries.
I encourage people to see what is happening around the business parks. The developments which have occurred are spectacular; the industries which have begun and flourished, the employment opportunities that they offer, the economic and logistic support these particular industries give to our oil and gas industries, and the port generally.
Madam Speaker, in closing, I commend the minister for his statement, which I believe is very positive statement. I also commend the minister for his hard work in promoting the Territory and the Territory’s resource sector, both within Australia and overseas.
Debate suspended.
VISITOR
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the former member for Port Darwin, Ms Sue Carter. On behalf of honourable members I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
MOTION
Note Statement – Mining in the
Northern Territory
Note Statement – Mining in the
Northern Territory
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I support of the minister’s statement on this important subject. The mineral sector, and mining and exploration is a big contributor – indeed, a huge contributor - to the Northern Territory economy and the communities they operate in. It generates millions of dollars in export earnings and taxes for government, which allows us to build capital for expenditure on vital services like health, hospitals, education, and schools. Equally as important, it provides employment for thousands of Territorians and people beyond our borders from around Australia and overseas.
You only need to glance at the website of the Northern Territory Resources Council to see those listed under their membership as producers, explorers, and service to industry providers, and that the employment and services sector grows exponentially. During my time with Nabalco and, subsequently, Alcan and Rio Tinto Alcan, I spent a little time involved with the NT Resources Council’s forerunner, the Northern Territory Minerals Council which, at that time, was under the stewardship of the then CEO, the member for Goyder.
In my electorate of Nhulunbuy, mining has generated enormous wealth and jobs. In fact, the whole reason the township of Nhulunbuy was established around 40 years ago was because of the Gove joint venture. Of course, today the town is much more than a mining town; it has evolved to be an important regional centre, delivering services across north-east Arnhem Land. Even so, without the initial investment, Nhulunbuy as a town, as a region, would not be where it is today.
By way of a snapshot and a quick history lesson, in my region, bauxite was discovered in the 1950s following a period of fairly significant activity after World War II. Bauxite is the mineral which contains aluminium oxide which, when processed, produces aluminium. There were a few years of exploration prior to the start of operations, and quite an effort in raising the investment. We are talking about capital of some $320m which, in the 1960s, was a massive amount of money. The cost was associated not only with the establishment of mining and processing operations but, under the agreement with the federal government, there was to be the establishment of a whole township as well - hospital, schools, houses, a town centre. The reason was that the federal government and the Territory had a vested interest in seeing Nhulunbuy developed as a regional centre.
Parallel to the exploration and the raising of capital to see the Gove joint venture under way was negotiation of leases with the clans, which led to a challenge in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in the early 1970s, where the main clans of the region affected by the possible excision of a lease area were going to be impacted. It was the first land rights case which had been heard in the Northern Territory. The outcome of that case is well known and well documented; the clans lost the case. Justice Blackburn ruled in favour of Nabalco, so the Gove joint venture was able to proceed.
Forty years, or more, down the road, the situation is very different in mining and the landscape within which we are operating legally. We have recognition of native title today, and I am very pleased the traditional owners are in a much stronger position now than they were all those years ago. I acknowledge, for the record, while we see clans and Yolngu people reaping some of the many benefits of mining, there remain those who oppose it and, perhaps, who wish the outcome of the legal challenge had been very different then and they could turn back the clock and have things the way they were. It is a view I respect and recognise, as far as some Yolngu, especially some of the old people, are concerned not all that came with mining in the late 1960s and early 1970s was good.
I have to confess I really knew very little about mining until I found myself living in a mining community. On arrival in Nhulunbuy nearly 20 years ago, I was probably what you would describe as a greenie. My views changed over time, though. First of all, being a small community, I got to know a number of people who worked for the mining company, the huge range of jobs people worked in, and how passionate many of those people were about what they did and the industry they worked in. Second, I became a convert when I won a position there as a community relations officer at the end of 1996. My learning curve was huge, but I can say, in all honesty, that I loved every minute of it until I departed immediately after last year’s Northern Territory election.
Having never really thought too much about where things like my lemonade cans came from or where the alfoil which is in my kitchen drawer had come from – and I will bet it is in the kitchen drawers or cupboards of just about every member of this House – I learned very quickly about how these items were produced, because my job depended on it. I had to understand how bauxite mining works, how ore is processed to produce alumina, and how, once it left Gove, it was further processed into aluminium.
Interestingly, I had a quick chat with the member for Nelson a little while ago about a few things, including the mining industry. We both talked about how ignorant, in some ways, the members of the public are about where things come from and the importance the mining sector has in our lives. I was explaining to the member for Nelson that when I worked for Nabalco, Alcan, and Rio Tinto Alcan one of my core duties was to be tour guide of the operations. Every Friday, the company operates a tour that takes around about three-and-a-half hours to get right through the operations. I had some people who, at the beginning of the tour, would be a little suspicious or full of questions about how the company operated – recognising that you cannot have these sorts of operations without some sort of impacts, but it is about minimising those impacts – and invariably I would say to people: ‘Put your hand up if you do not have alfoil in your house’, or ‘Put your hand up if you came into Nhulunbuy by air on the Qantas jet’. I would ask people a few questions about the items they have in their homes; if they have a tinny to go fishing. I would then explain to them: ‘These products you have that we depend on are all the result of mining’, and it made people stop and think twice.
I had to learn all about the process, and with it I learned about steam power generation, as the company provides power, not only for its operations, but also for the township and neighbouring communities. It operates a deep water port for the huge ships to come in to take out exports. I learned much about purchase and supply chains, and about environment and safety systems as well. I can say, in all honesty, that one of the most impressive parts of the operation was, and still is, the mine site rehabilitation program, which sees mined out areas restored with the very same native species which were there originally. This program was ahead of its time when it was developed, with the close involvement of traditional owners, before mining commenced back in 1971.
Let us also remember that back then there was no requirement to undertake an environmental impact study, to engage with stakeholders in any really deep way, and no environmental protection authority. In the Territory, Australia and, I guess, around the world, we have all come a long way since then in ensuring that mining operations are environmentally sustainable.
I will also talk about the company’s approach to Indigenous employment because, as the member for Brennan said when he spoke last night, there are some very progressive ideas about employing Indigenous people in the resource sector in the Northern Territory. Back in the days of Nabalco, there was always a commitment - I guess you would call it a memorandum of understanding - to providing training and employment opportunities to local Yolngu people. The mine site rehabilitation program was the first and very obvious place for those opportunities. Yolngu people are the experts in caring for country and have always been involved in the rehabilitation program. It is part of their belief that the tree known as Gadaka, or the Stringy Bark, must be returned to the mine site, and it has.
Obviously, the rehabilitation program is very labour-intensive as far as the seed collection goes. All the seeds that are used to seed mined out areas have to be collected, and they are all collected from within the mine site area, including revegetated areas. There is no easy way of doing that; seeds have to be manually collected or harvested. Depending on the species, there is also certain preparation that goes with storage of the seeds.
Most of the Yolngu who work on the rehabilitation program are employed through a company called YBE Proprietary Limited, or YBE2, to be correct, which is wholly owned by the clans of the region, and it is a major employer and trainer of Yolngu people. This company, now in its 40th year of operation, has always had a close working relationship with the mining company, Nabalco, Alcan, and Rio Tinto Alcan, as it is today. It is contracted to undertake a host of roles, but the core business is operating plant equipment and earthworks. This includes loading and hauling bauxite from satellite ore bodies, along with mud farming in the residue disposal area, and loading and hauling limestone from the general cargo wharf which is used in the alumina production process.
YBE have worked hard to continue to provide services to Rio Tinto Alcan, and at the same time provide ongoing training opportunities. It has been a challenging time with the current downturn in the global financial situation, which has hit the resource sector quite hard. Rio Tinto Alcan is not immune from that, with a drop in demand, and therefore prices, for aluminium. There is a domino effect downstream for service providers and contractors, and YBE have not been immune. However, through hard work and some very determined negotiation, YBE has managed to minimise the impact on its company and its employees, and has managed to actually step into some of the gaps left by larger contracting companies. I am really pleased it has continued seeing success, and continued to see dividends paid to the clans. The advantage for YBE is that it is locally based and does not have all the issues of trying to house a workforce which is flying in and out. For YBE and Rio Tinto Alcan it has been quite a win-win situation.
During my years there, there were always groups of visitors, other mining companies, others from the resource sector from overseas and around Australia who were always very interested to see how the relationship worked and how the company met its obligations to provide employment and training to Indigenous people.
The other cornerstone for Rio Tinto Alcan, through the Indigenous employment program, is its ALERT training program, which was recognised recently in the Northern Territory Training Awards in Darwin. It won the Northern Territory Training Initiative award. It is a credit not only to the company, but to the students, their families and communities, and the input of Charles Darwin University, in seeing such successful outcomes. I have an extract from our local newspaper, the Arafura Times, talking about this award. I cannot tell you how proud families and communities are when they see their young people participate, graduate, and come out the other end ready for jobs, and to see so many of them picking up employment.
I quote an extract from Dhangal Gurruwiwi, whom I have known for many years. She is an artist, a leader, and a very talented linguist, fluent in her own language and English as well. She also lectures at Charles Darwin University teaching Yolngu to people. She has this lovely metaphor, and I have heard her use this before, but when she spoke at the ceremony about this ALERT award she said:
- We are all in the canoe, you, your parents, and grandparents. This graduation is a stop, you get out of your canoe today to receive your award, but then you must get back in and continue your journey.
Rio Tinto Alcan has a really good track record in Indigenous employment and training, and since taking on the operations at Gove almost two years ago, it is determined to take it even further to see more Yolngu employed at its Gove operations. This is not unlike its commitment to, and partnership with, the Department of Education and Training, and the people at Jabiru and Gunbalanya through its ERA operations - I know the member for Arafura has spoken about this - a partnership that will see 30 young people taken into a training program with ERA and which, on completion, we would hope will deliver real jobs to these people.
The Northern Territory government, through the Department of Education and Training, has a big role to play in this. The experience to date at Gove is that the challenge in bringing young people into the workforce to be work-ready and with sufficient literacy and numeracy needs work; there is a gap that needs to be filled. It comes back to the very core of improving outcomes in Indigenous education; to ensure kids go to school, they are literate and numerate, and complete secondary school, so they are ready to take up those training and employment opportunities when they leave school.
It goes without saying that the resource sector employs many people across a huge range of jobs. As the member for Barkly rightly pointed out yesterday, mining is not just one job, and as a large employer in the Territory, we need to continue to grow our own. While many mining communities have a degree of transience, Gove is less so and always has been. I believe it has much to do with the beautiful location and the lifestyle that goes with it, and people who think they will stay for a couple of years, often end up staying much longer.
The member for Katherine was quite right when he said we need to offer incentives to target home-grown professionals, tradespeople, and skilled workers. While we are in the midst of a downturn, and the job market is not as tight as it was a couple of years ago, I know, from my time with the mining company, that many engineers of all disciplines, civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical and so on, who were recruited to work at Gove were recruited from places like South Africa and, more recently, from India. There is a gap in our secondary and tertiary education system which needs to be addressed. I am sure the resource sector is working on this in partnership with the Australian and Territory governments.
Speaking of partnerships, I believe it is important to talk about the many positive things that come from partnerships mining companies have with the communities they operate in. In my electorate, the community has enjoyed years of financial and in-kind support for a whole host of projects and programs, from the very small to the very large scale.
On the large scale, at Gove, we have seen a recent demonstration of this with the Telstra fibre-optic cable project which was a partnership between Telstra, the Northern Territory government, Rio Tinto, and the Northern Land Council, which last year saw the laying of nearly 800 km of fibre-optic cable from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy, delivering high-speed broadband. While, of course, Rio Tinto Alcan will benefit from the investment, so too will many remote communities along the way.
Some six or so years ago, a new airport terminal building was built at Gove to the tune of around $8m. Again, the mining company had a vested interest in this because they needed the capacity to cope with the huge increase in passenger traffic, most of whom were associated with the $2.5bn G3 expansion project, a project which everyone benefits from.
Let us not forget that Rio Tinto is also a major sponsor of our very own Territory Thunder AFL team. It is sponsorship such as this which has enabled the Northern Territory to compete in Aussie Rules at a national level, which is fantastic.
The benefits for the Territory from the contribution of the resource sector are enormous. This is why, in this resource rich place, the Northern Territory government continues to actively pursue and attract investment from companies like INPEX, which will be coming to the Northern Territory in the not too distant future. I know they are already active on the ground, in terms of community consultation, and we will see the largest investment in construction in Australia, to the tune of some $11 or $12bn.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement, and commend it to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I respond to the minister’s statement, which begins with the phrase:
- … an overview of the current state of our resource industry …
When I read this document it was hard to believe it was an overview of our resource industry; I thought it was an overview of exploration, how many trips to China the minister was going to make, and where our investment was going to come in for exploration. Whilst I would agree it is very important for the future development of mines in the Northern Territory, it only seems to be half the story, because the heading of the statement is: ‘Mining in the Northern Territory’.
I was a little disappointed we did not get an update in this statement on mining as it is today in the Northern Territory. The reason I say that is because we know there has been a downturn in the global economy, and the Territory relies very much on royalties from mining. It would have been good for the government to come to the House and give us an update on the present situation in relation to mining production now.
When you look at the regional production figures for 2008-09 you realise, when you start to put dollar figures to our mining, how much we depend on mining. In the East Arnhem region, the total value of our mining production is $2 153 677bn. The area around Darwin, which includes my electorate, has a value of $2278m, which is much less than the East Arnhem region. The Darwin region, which is further out to Frances Creek and gold mining areas, has a total value of $668 139m - I might be including uranium in this. In the Katherine region, it is approximately $194m. In the Barkly Region, it is $195 459m. In the Central region, it is around $231m. That gives you an indication of how important mining is to the Northern Territory.
Although the area around Darwin does not have a high value for the mining which occurs - because it is nearly all extractive mining - it is extremely important. This is because nearly every building in Darwin uses sand from Howard Springs or the area nearby, which, I could say, fairly surely, would not have been built if we did not have the sand mines in that rural area. Sand, in the 2008-09 year, was quoted as production, 98 932 tonnes, with a value of $1412m.
There are other important commodities such as gravel which we build our roads with, which was valued at nearly $0.5m and soil at around $150 000. Crushed rock is another important – I will not call it mineral in the sense of gold and manganese ...
A member: It is a quarry product.
Mr WOOD: Yes, a quarry product, of $150 000 from the Darwin area. The Darwin region, which is further out towards Kakadu, at the Mt Bundy Mine, is worth $7m, and in the Katherine region another $382 000.
When we are talking about mining, we should not forget the extractive areas which are officially called the non-metallic minerals section. Basically, that is what keeps the Territory going and growing. Without the crushed rock we would not have road material when we are putting bitumen on roads; without our gravel we would not have the base; and without sand we would not have our buildings. It is important to recognise that particular industry.
I would have liked the minister to talk about the bauxite. I would have asked the minister to give us an update on the gold GBS in Pine Creek. We know it closed, and we believe it is opening up again, so it would be good if we had an update on the state of gold mining in the Pine Creek region.
We have heard a little about McArthur River, and I asked a question in parliament about it. I do not know whether I got as fulsome an answer as I would have liked, but I am interested to know a little more about the realignment of the river, especially in relation to whether all the trees were planted. As we know, McArthur River closed down for a while this year. I believe the trees that were being prepared in the nursery at that time stayed in the nursery; I was under the impression they were either root bound or just left alone. I am not sure what the story is, but that is one of the reasons I asked the minister the question: Were the banks of the realigned river re-vegetated? That is important because, even though I was not opposed to the realignment of the river, I expect the strict requirements put in by the government to make sure the project is not adversely affecting the environment are met. The answer to that question should come back to this parliament.
Bootu is a manganese mine. As that is the only manganese mine I have visited, I thought, that is pretty big mine. In fact, when you look at the figures, again for 2008-09, manganese produced in the Barkly region, has a value of $195m. Then you go to Groote Eylandt, where the other manganese mine is situated, with a value of $1206bn. So, you can see Bootu is big, but it is not as big as the other mine.
I would also like an update on Melville Island. We know the sand mining enterprise collapsed for some time, and we believe it has started up again. It would have been good for the minister to give us an update on the current position of the sand mining project.
The same with Compass. We know Compass closed down for a while, and there is talk it will be reopened in the Batchelor area. Again, there is nothing in this statement, which is a pity. Angela Pamela, the uranium mine in Alice Springs - it would be good to have an update on where that is at the moment. I am sure Alice Springs people would be interested to hear what is happening with that mine.
There is a mention about Ranger doing some more exploration and finding more uranium nearby but an update on that would be good.
GEMCO – I do not know much about these mines on Groote Eylandt, but there is nothing in this statement that gives an update on that. I know that some of our production has gone up, but some of the value has gone down. It is important to have that updated in our document.
Mt Todd has been discussed in this House for years, and most people would know that when mining closed down there were some environmental problems which have been debated long and hard in this parliament. The government is spending a fair amount of money on rehabilitation at Mt Todd and there was also the prospect of a new mine starting up. I have not heard for quite a while the state of the Mt Todd Mine, or the company working there. Has it decided to continue to mine and are they doing the required rehabilitation? Again, there is no report on that. If we are looking at an overview of the current state of our resource industry, then we should be notified about that mine.
There is also a mine near the Robinson River - the member for Goyder might give me the correct name, I believe it is the Redbank Mine - which has an application in to start mining again. I do not see anything in this statement about that. It is an important mine, in one of our more isolated areas. As the member for Nhulunbuy said, mines are good for employment, so what are the prospects for this mine starting up and employing local Indigenous people?
This is the type of information that would provide a good overview of the current state of our resource industry. I do not always have the ability to find out these things, so there is an opportunity for the government, when it makes a statement - I do not mind if the statement is long – to provide an update, not only to parliamentarians but also to people listening. As you know, we are now on the web and people can listen to what the minister has to say and gain an understanding of the resource industry in the Territory.
Whilst I welcome the statement, it is only a 50% statement. We have one side of mining, which is the exploration, but we have forgotten to talk about the production side, which is important. The members for Nhulunbuy and Katherine raised the issues of employment opportunities, training, and other benefits from the mining industry. Issues about roads and transport of mining materials would be worth discussing. We can talk about mining in certain areas, but are the roads in a state which allows production to be delivered to ports or railheads?
Another area I noted, when I was going through the figures, is that we had Merlin Diamond Mine. I do not see any report on whether it is producing diamonds at the moment, but it appears as a mine on the mining map on the website. It would be interesting to hear about that. I understand there is also the possibility of diamonds in the Timber Creek region, because it is in the same area as Lake Argyle; there is no update on that. There are probably quite a few other smaller minerals that do not receive much of a mention. The Territory used to be famous for tin mining and production. We produced some tin in the 1990s, not a huge amount, but there was some. I believe there is a tin mine – it might be abandoned now – on the Cox Peninsula. It would be interesting to have an update on some of these things. The names occur in the department’s production figures, but unless someone explains why there is no production in subsequent years, we would not know if there is no need for tin, or if the mine has closed down.
Vermiculite is an interesting one, which is often used in nursery production. In the regional production figures for 2008-09, vermiculite is produced in Central Australia, with a value of $1.9m. I am interested to know where it is produced and what it is used for.
Ms Purick: Kitty litter.
Mr WOOD: Kitty litter. I hope it is used for something more useful like nursery potting mixes.
I thank the minister for his statement. But I feel it is half full or half depleted, because there should have been much more information. I do not expect every statement to be something we are going to argue about, but I expect them to be informative, to tell the House what is actually going on.
Mr Styles: Not just a good news story.
Mr WOOD: That is right. If there is a mine that has gone bad, tell us that. If there is a problem at Mt Todd, tell us about the problem. Give it to us, warts and all, so we understand what is going on in the mining industry. If there are problems, we are partly here to work together. I know the government will always be subject to criticisms, but that is the way the system works. There is no reason not to have a debate about the mining industry in the Northern Territory. We do not all contribute positive ideas to the government, but constructive criticism is part of the reason we are here.
I thank the minister for his statement, but I will wait patiently for the second half.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker. A new thing for me, Acting Deputy Speakers, I do not know where this has come from.
I agree with the member for Nelson, I believe he is spot on when he says there is not much in the statement; it is absolute fluff. I inform the member for Nelson that there is not much in it because the government does not have much positive to say about its activities, because it has done nothing. It is a do-nothing government - it sits on its hands, watches things happen with, seemingly, no control to influence at all - it is a do-nothing government.
What can it say about mining? As far as this government is concerned, mines are cash cows; they are something to bleed, something for its union mates to belt up. That is basically the extent of it, for this government. There was no mention of uranium mining. I wonder why. Faced with the possibility of more uranium mining a few years ago, the government, at the time - the Martin Labor government - went to ground. It did not know how to respond at all. It was not prepared to countenance more uranium mines because of some ideological bent it has in relation to uranium mining; it could not do it.
At the time, the federal Resources minister, Ian Macfarlane, came and had a chat with the then Territory mining minister, Kon Vatskalis, who came downstairs, walked out the front of Parliament House and abdicated control of uranium mining to the federal government, because it was all beyond him; he did not know how to get a uranium mine going in the Northern Territory. He abdicated all responsibility for uranium mining to the federal government. These people have the audacity to talk about statehood when they are prepared to shelve things off like that to the Australian government. I was very embarrassed at the time. I thought it was poor form for a minister of the Territory government to do that.
How has the government pushed and encouraged uranium mining in the Northern Territory? We see the Jabiluka lease; it has been sitting dormant for years. Has this government gone to the leaseholder and said: ‘You either develop it, or you lose it’? When has the wood been put on that company to say: ‘Come on, you have had this lease for a long time; there is a big demand around the world for Australia’s uranium’? Australia is a significant player - whether we like it or not - in the uranium industry. When has the government gone out and pushed uranium mining? I will tell you when - never. Never has this government promoted uranium mining.
The government is quite prepared to come into this joint and bang on about greenhouse gas emissions, and the like, and how we have to curb our ways to stop polluting, and we all know the atomic energy industry is one of those clean industries as far as greenhouse gases are concerned. You would think the government, with an ideological bent like that, would be trying to assist the world by selling more uranium and opening up more uranium mines; but no, this government does not do that at all.
Where was the mention on gold in the statement? Nothing. Not a mention. Where was the mention in the statement on the McArthur River Mine? Nothing. Why would it mention the McArthur River Mine? The government was quite prepared a few months ago to sit back and watch it close; it said it was all out of its hands. It was not going to Canberra to lobby the federal Environment minister and the Prime Minister to ensure their federal comrades did something to ensure the mine stayed open. No, it washed its hands of it. The government said it was nothing to do with it; it was not at all in the gambit of the Territory government, it wanted nothing to do with it.
There was not one word during the period when McArthur River Mine was having so many troubles. It had seen all of the electricity generators blow up on its site, and it had a great expense to bring in generators from interstate and run its operations on diesel for a long period of time. It had all sorts of problems with the global downturn in mineral prices and problems with the regulations put in place by the Commonwealth government. The mine looked like it would close; there were 400 jobs hanging off it. What support did it get from this government? None, zero, nought, nothing. The government could not pick up the phone to the federal Environment minister or the Prime Minister - absolutely appalling!
The reason these guys make these silly statements is because they are trying to put a little gloss where there is a vacant space; where there is nothing happening. They come in here and talk about things – I note we are going to talk about road safety this afternoon; that will be interesting, because the government has done five-eighths of nothing in regard to road safety. But, first, we have to endure the mining minister’s statement on mining. He makes a statement because he wants to cover up the fact he has done nothing to forward the interests of mining.
This government is all about spin and style, but with very little substance or action; you do not see that with this government at all. We saw yesterday, in Question Time, the Chief Minister talk about the emissions trading scheme, greenhouse gases, and global warming. If …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I call your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. We have a quorum. Continue, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker. As I was saying, this government talks about its concern with global warming and greenhouse gas emissions, and its utter and loyal following for that environmental zealot, Penny Wong, and the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. It is quite prepared to sacrifice the Northern Territory’s farming and grazing industries, and, I bet London to a brick, it has done nothing to support the Territory’s mining industry in relation to the emissions trading scheme plans the Prime Minister has.
I guarantee that the mines minister has not once picked up the phone to Kevin Rudd or to Penny Wong, and said: ‘Hey guys, hold back, this is going to hurt the Northern Territory. This is going to hurt large industries in the Northern Territory, namely, mining, agriculture, and a whole range of others. Let us have a look at it. I am sure we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but you do not need to ruin some of our foundation industries’. That would not happen. What we do see is a Chief Minister who is quite prepared to jump up and misrepresent the comments members make in this place, and the Leader for Government Business is quite prepared to do the same thing.
In Question Time yesterday, the government quoted from a report on the science of geosequestration of carbon dioxide. The report was done by the Science and Innovation Committee in the last federal parliament, and it was called Between a rock and a hard place. The Science and Innovation Committee - I emphasise the word ‘science’ - was tasked with investigating the success or failure of carbon geosequestration. A number of us put in a dissenting report to the eventual findings of that committee because, and I quote from the report:
1.1 We dissent from some of the statements made in the report Between a Rock and a Hard Place by the Standing Committee on Science and Innovation on its investigation into the Geosequestration of Carbon Dioxide.
1.2 We disagree with the report’s unequivocal support for the hypothesis that global warming is caused by man - so-called anthropogenic global warming (AGW).
1.3 We are concerned that the Committee’s report strays well outside of its terms of reference. In fact, the committee did not take any evidence relating to anthropogenic global warming.
When you are tasked to do something, particularly when you are sitting on a committee like the Science and Innovation Committee, you take in a range of evidence. We were inquiring about the geosequestration of carbon dioxide, and the inquiry went on for a number of years. We did not take one jot - not one iota - of evidence on greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, or anything of that nature. But, lo and behold, when the report came out, it was almost entirely about global warming, irrespective of the fact that we never took any evidence.
The Chief Minister, for his own base political reasons, might like to call us all global warming sceptics and that sort of stuff, but he has clearly misrepresented the intentions of this report. Yesterday, in Question Time, he got up – he does this, and members of the government are quite happy to do this; they selectively quote from documents – and read a section:
- Another problem with the view that it is anthropogenic greenhouse gases have caused global warming is that warming has also been observed on Mars, Jupiter, Triton, Pluto, Neptune, and others.
For the information of the Chief Minister, at no stage were we making those comments. Those comments were all referenced below that passage by other people, scientists and the like, and I could go through them all to say where those references came from. But the point I am making is at no stage have we said, or have I said, that I do not believe in climate change. Climate change is happening all the time. It has been happening since day one, since the big bang. Since the start of this planet, the climate has been changing. The question seems to be whether the climate is changing because of manmade actions, and I have to say, particularly as I sat on the Science and Innovation Committee, that I am sceptical about that, because the whole basis of science is about scepticism. It is not taking anything as a fact, it is about testing issues; testing, trying, working things through, and actually proving, one way or the other.
No matter what members on the other side think, this is a controversial area; it is not cut and dried. There is a big slab of scientists who say the world is warming because of man made activities. There are also a number of scientists, probably not as big a group, but still a significant group, who say it is all bunkum, it is because of factors such as the sun, the moon, and cycles we are going through on this planet. I do not know, but I have an open mind on the matter.
Of course I support all efforts to see greenhouse gas emissions curbed and slowed down. I do not think it is worth the risk of finding out, down the track, that we have caused this and we failed to do anything about it. But, to stand up and say we are all deniers, and all this nonsense, does not serve any purpose, apart from a political purpose, and that is what this is all about.
This is why we hear these dumb statements in the parliament; it is all about politics. It is not about anything real; it is all about spin. It is all about contriving an argument, but there is nothing really getting done.
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells.
Mr GILES: Can you please stop the clock too, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker?
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Stop the clock and ring the bells please. A quorum is present. Continue member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
Dr Burns: He can count to 10.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, I missed that one.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr TOLLNER: The man who gets so offended about interjections, interjects.
This government is all about style over substance. It is all about spin over fact; trying to paper over the deficiencies of its actions. It is a sad indictment that we seem to be constantly coming into this House debating statements; debating things which really have no impact on anything. I would say not even 10% of this week has been spent debating legislation and regulations; doing what we are supposed to do in this House.
There are many people out there who are sitting on the edge of their chairs waiting for this government to make decisions on a whole range of things: whether they have development proposals which can go ahead, whether we are going to be bringing no smoking laws into pubs on 2 January, or if it will be delayed. There is a whole range of things we could be discussing, but the government does not want to discuss that, why? Because it has done nothing. They are lazy and incompetent, and they have done nothing. Instead we come in and debate meaningless statements. Statements which take 20 or 30 minutes to read out, but when you read through them, there is nothing of any value or substance.
It is great the minister wants to fly to China on a regular basis; I encourage him to do that. More ministers should get out and travel and promote the Northern Territory. I have no problems with that. But to waste the time of this Chamber in meaningless debate when we could be doing real things which are for the good of Territorians I believe is reprehensible. The statement by the minister is a farce, and these sorts of statements should not be tolerated in this Chamber.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I call your attention to the state of the House.
Mr Knight: The member for Braitling just walked out; he will be back in a second.
Mr TOLLNER: Ring the bells, he might come back quicker. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I do not think you heard me; I just called your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am counting to verify the state of the House, thank you very much, member for Fong Lim. Ring the bells. A quorum is present.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
TABLED PAPER
Ombudsman for the Northern Territory
Annual Report 2008-09
Ombudsman for the Northern Territory
Annual Report 2008-09
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the Chief Minister, I present the 2008-09 Annual Report of the Ombudsman for the Northern Territory. Pursuant to section 154(1) of the Ombudsman’s Act 2009, there is a requirement to table this report before the Assembly within six sitting days.
The Ombudsman 2008-09 Annual Report provides a comprehensive appraisal of the officer’s performance over the last financial year: financial statements required under the Financial Management Act, 24 case studies, and three detailed accounts of investigations undertaken by the Ombudsman, and the subsequent recommendations to the agency.
2009 was a significant year for the Ombudsman. Internationally, it marked the 200th anniversary of the world’s first Ombudsman. Locally, it marked the commencement of the new Ombudsman Act. As members would be aware, the government gave a commitment to major legislative reform to establish a modern, best practice, and comprehensive scheme for the ongoing operation of the Ombudsman in the Northern Territory. The new Ombudsman Act honours that commitment, and requires that Territorians have in place an accessible and comprehensive scheme …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I call your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is present.
Dr BURNS: … for resolving complaints about the administrative actions of government agencies.
The key powers we added to the Ombudsman’s armoury include: a clearer and more transparent delivery of a complaints process; own initiative power to investigate and deal with police conduct; codifying the range of options for dealing with complaints about the conduct of police officers while they are on duty; and providing police officers with the ability to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about another police officer in defined circumstances. The purpose of this is to allow police officers access to the Ombudsman without compromising the Commissioner of Police’s management responsibilities, and the introduction of an alternate dispute resolution process.
The annual report highlights a substantial increase in the activities and the public profile of the office. The Ombudsman entered into a joint venture with Charles Darwin University to train public servants in the skills required to conduct investigations. The Ombudsman’s staff are to be commended for this excellent initiative.
This report indicates that, while there are cases where people behave in a way which goes beyond their power and beyond reasonableness, by and large, a good job is done by the vast majority of the Territory’s 17 500 public servants, dealing with a broad range of services.
The Ombudsman’s Office ensures there is an effective place to deal with matters and complaints. I extend my thanks to the Ombudsman and her staff for their commitment towards improving the quality of government administration in the Northern Territory.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this report.
Debate adjourned.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Road Safety
Road Safety
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the incidence of trauma and tragedy on our roads is too high. As a father and a proud Territorian, when I think of Territory families needlessly losing their fathers, mothers, brothers, or sisters, it shocks me to the core.
As Transport Minister, and a member of the Henderson government, I am committed - we are committed - to making our roads safer for Territory families. It is painfully true the Northern Territory road toll is about three times the national average. While changes recommended by the Road Safety Task Force, and introduced by this government since 2007, have the potential to address many of the issues related to traffic casualties in the Territory, it will take years before we can assess the actual impact of these reforms in reducing the burden of road trauma in the Northern Territory.
A reduction in our road toll will require a change in our driving culture, and this will take time. That is why this government has introduced a raft of road safety reforms over the past few years. As a former teacher, I will start with education and awareness:
I was pleased to reopen the Parap Road Safety Centre in April this year. The centre is delivering bicycle road safety training three days per week to Years 4 to 6 primary school students.
the Top End tour of Muttacar - Sorry Business performed 22 shows over a four-week period. In addition to the performances in Darwin and Katherine schools and Corrections Centres, the tour visited 14 communities.
the Indigenous Road Safety AFL partnership program commenced in March 2009, with participation in remote community healthy lifestyle carnivals held in Utopia, Barunga, Katherine, and Darwin.
an early childhood curriculum resource named Safer Roads for Early Childhood, based on a similar Western Australian program, is currently being trialled by 21 teachers in eight different schools in Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, and Darwin, as part of the Road Safety Curriculum Development Project.
during January to June 2009, road safety officers, including Hector the Road Safety Cat, delivered presentations to over 2000 children across the Territory.
the Back to School Road Safety Awareness Campaign targeting drivers, parents and students was promoted through newspaper and radio advertising.
I wanted to start with programs which mainly targeted schoolchildren, because we have to get the message to our young people early. It is a sad fact we have to do this so early but, if it saves just one life, it is worth it.
On 6 June 2009, the Barunga Road Safety Song Competition was held. Eight bands from across the Northern Territory competed for prize money, with Barunga Primary School winning the Best School Song Group, while Best Band was won by White Water Band with second prize going to Eleanor Dixon and her band.
Twelve road safety presentations were delivered to Defence Force personnel during June and July 2009, with more to come. These will be presented in conjunction with senior personnel from the Royal Darwin Hospital National Critical Care and Trauma Response Unit, and Emergency Services. The list goes on, but we cannot underestimate the value of education and awareness activities.
The Henderson government knows reckless and dangerous behaviour on our roads is unacceptable. Drivers who jump behind the wheel, who speed, who drink, who do not wear a seat belt, who engage in ‘whatever, she’ll be right mate’ behaviour, which puts their lives and the lives of other Territorians at risk, are idiots. The government bit the bullet, because we know that road safety is everyone’s business, and saving Territorians’ lives on our roads is beyond politics.
We have increased penalties with fines, automatic driver licence suspensions, introduced demerit points, and we have cracked down on hoons. Drink-driving, not wearing seat belts, and speeding remain major contributors to our road toll, and the government is targeting these crimes through our road safety reforms.
The Country Liberals continue to oppose speed limits on our roads, because they say speed does not kill; they say there is no evidence that speed kills. They are so out of touch that they continue to play politics with the road toll and the lives of Territorians.
I assure you there is nationwide and worldwide evidence which shows that reducing speed reduces the impact of a crash and reduces the resulting carnage. It is basic physics. On average, since the introduction of speed limits on Territory highways, deaths in the 130 km/h zones have halved compared to the previous five years. It is not rocket science; speed kills, and speed remains a significant problem on both urban and rural roads, particularly for non-Indigenous people. But, unlike the Country Liberals opposite, whose actions amount to neglect, this government is serious about reducing acts of stupidity on our roads, not encouraging them.
Drink-driving is a big problem in the Territory, and far too many fatal crashes are alcohol related. The Henderson government is listening to the experts in road safety, in the interests of Territorians’ lives. We are introducing world’s best practice.
In April this year, the alcohol ignition lock program commenced. As of 16 September, the courts have imposed 221 ignition lock periods: seven of six months; 191 of 12 months; 17 of 18 months; and, six two-year periods against drivers found guilty of a second or subsequent drink-driving offence. These sentences are in addition to the existing penalty framework for drink-driving offences, and offenders still need to complete mandatory disqualification periods and successfully complete drink-driver education courses.
Members opposite have expressed their agenda to seize cars from Territory families for drink-driving offences. As the Minister for Transport, I will not rule out initiatives that save Territorians’ lives, but we have to be practical with our approach to change the behaviour of drink-drivers. Taking away the car that may be the only way partners or family members have of getting themselves around needs to be thought out very carefully. By contrast, the Henderson government will keep looking at practical and effective ideas, and we will keep raising awareness and seek to change the drink-driving culture that too many drivers have.
Running red lights is reckless, stupid, and dangerous behaviour. I make no apologies for wanting to protect Territorians by introducing an additional eight red light and speed cameras across the Darwin arterial road network this year. This morning, I announced that four new cameras are going live tomorrow, and traffic offenders caught on these cameras will be issued with fines and demerit points. There are an additional four cameras to commence later this year. People must choose not to run red lights. Drivers must choose to do the right thing and be safe on Territory roads. I would rather see no fines paid. I would like to set an aspirational target of the total fines paid to be zero - nothing - because that would mean the message is getting through to Territorians and our visitors alike: road safety is everyone’s business.
There is no doubt not wearing seat belts in the Territory leads to an inflated number of fatalities and casualties from road accidents. The continuing lack of restraint use, particularly among Indigenous people, and generally in rural areas, is costing Territorian lives. Seat belts save lives. The culture of not wearing seat belts has to change.
Our younger drivers are particularly at risk on our roads, and are over represented in crash statistics. Targeting measures to address safety in this group is imperative. To refocus and enhance driver training, a 2008 election commitment boosted funding for learner driver education to $2m, through the provision of an additional $1m. The government is considering options for the development of a new program which will provide novice drivers throughout the Territory the opportunity to develop the appropriate knowledge and skills to drive safely on our roads.
Improving road safety is a challenge for every government around Australia, and for governments worldwide. There is no secret recipe, but a combination of education, awareness, technology, and enforcement are part of the ingredients for effective policy. We still have a long way to go, there is no doubt about that, and the Henderson government is taking the challenge head on.
While this year’s official road toll stands at 27, on average, 53 people die on Territory roads each year. We know the overall rate of road traffic related casualties in the Northern Territory is decreasing. I am not for a moment suggesting we can sit back and watch the road toll decline - no way. Each and every Territorian needs to work together towards this.
The Australian Medical Association supports the Henderson government’s approach to improving road safety. Hospitals are clogged needlessly with road accident victims. I do not for one moment accept, and I totally reject, inferences made in this House by members opposite that placing innocent lives at risk by promoting reckless and dangerous behaviour is a lifestyle choice. When innocent Territorian lives are needlessly wasted in carnage on our roads; that is not lifestyle.
This is why the Henderson government has made the tough decisions, and we will continue to take action to reduce the carnage. Road safety is everyone’s business and one life lost on Territory roads is one too many.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, during this speech I will provide a broad overview of the transport sector, as I see it.
I will also describe concerns I have, which relate to my portfolio, in terms of transport, concerns in central Australia, and for the electors of Braitling. The member for Brennan will talk of concerns relating to Palmerston; the member for Sanderson, regarding the northern suburbs; the member for Katherine, regarding Katherine; and the member for Port Darwin, regarding Darwin.
I believe road safety is part of the issue, but it is incorrect to talk only of road safety. What we are really talking about is the broader strategic position which logistics plays on all of us. While I would not expect the minister to be fully aware of the broad ranging issues affecting road safety, I would expect one or two of his parliamentary colleagues to have provided more sense to the statement to be debated today. To talk on road safety is to talk of infrastructure, and to assess people as part of that infrastructure. We must completely analyse the situation as the current and future freight challenge.
Our future is that of a fully-integrated logistic system which is seamless in its delivery, from the front door of our house to anywhere in the world, linking cars, buses, trains, boats, planes, etcetera. To lose, or not have access to, any mediums of such an intermodal system ensures we have systemic breaks in what should be a seamless process. When the breakdown occurs, many things can happen as a result: social dislocation; problems for the mining industry in terms of access to services or delivery of goods; and birthing services such as in Tennant Creek, where mothers-to-be have significant transport problems in getting to Alice Springs to give birth. If a form of transport falls down it is difficult for people to access medical services. There is a significant economic impact if the breakdown occurs in the logistic process: higher transportation costs, the impact on the cost of living through inflation, and the rising cost of groceries, fuel, goods and services. We feel it all.
I will talk about the transport industry in Australia and quote from Infrastructure Partnerships Australia’s conference booklet titled Partnerships 2009:
- Australia invests around $16bn each year in transport infrastructure. By 2050, Australia will need to invest at least $62bn in transport each year, if supply chains, roads and other transport are to keep pace with growth …
Australia’s freight sector generates 14.5% of gross domestic product and is worth over $150bn to the economy each year.
Another outcome from the breakdown of the logistical process is increased deaths on our roads. But we cannot judge the success or failure of a government policy just by road deaths or serious injury statistics. We must recognise the role the previous Country Liberal and Howard governments played in forming the Northern Territory to where we are now, and their role in creating a seamless freight transport sector, with the building of the Adelaide to Darwin railway line, which provides the potential for Australia, the Northern Territory and Darwin to have a greater gateway for trade relations with Asia. The railway line potentially provides greater support for cheaper prices for goods and services to the Territory.
It is very important to understand the transport industry in terms of infrastructure in the Northern Territory, because road safety forms part of it, but is not the only part. Transport is important to ensure our economy continues to operate, our children can get to school, and our groceries can be delivered on the shelves.
Our transport industry needs to be speedy; it should not have long delays, it must have restrictions moved, and permits taken away. We must ensure that our roads are safe and good for our family members, our relatives, and our constituents to travel on. We have to make sure they are environmentally friendly; we have to reduce the impact on the environment and on the climate, and we also must look at the impact of climate change.
I quote again from the Partnerships 2009 booklet:
- Carbon emissions from transport account for 14% of total greenhouse emissions, and they are rapidly growing. Over the period from 1990 to 2006, overall transport emissions grew by 27.4%, but emissions from freight grew by a staggering 40% …
To curb emissions, we must address imbalances in the modal-mix, promoting the use of alternative fuels and lower emission modes such as rail and coastal shipping.
It is very important we do not take our eye off the ball in terms of the environmental constraints on the transport logistics sector. There are a number of restraints in our sector – but the minister did not happen to touch on those things. One of those restraints is the future direction of the commercial passenger vehicle industry in the Northern Territory. There was a review conducted in 2007, the consultants, Fivenines, were appointed in 2008, the synopsis was conducted in 2009 with comments due by 22 May this year, and we were supposed to hear in September what is happening, but still nothing has occurred. We have the industry waiting for advice about its future direction.
National models for fatigue management were implemented around the country, but the Northern Territory is still not in a position to know the future of fatigue management in the Northern Territory. The cattle, mining, and tourism industry hang in limbo. This is a significant economic impact on the Northern Territory, and these people want certainty. They have been waiting for two years to find out what is happening with fatigue management in the Northern Territory, and still there are no answers.
The port is very disappointing on the national scale. We are charging more for goods and services crossing our port than every other port in Australia. We have unsafe work practices at the port and we are losing money hand over fist. It does not appear we have any future direction on the port, how we are going to improve the port and the situation of the port in 10, 15, 50 years time.
I have said before in this House, our road conditions used to be the best in the country and now they are the worst. We have verges overgrown, shoulders on roads breaking away, and roads which have not been graded. This significantly impacts on the economy, because we now have businesses refusing to travel on our roads because they are unsafe. That also has an impact on remote communities, because members of communities are driving on unsafe roads, vehicles are becoming damaged, and more accidents are occurring.
I will talk about a certain sector of logistics, and point out some of the holes that exist, as a breakdown of the sector, specifically, vehicles. While statistics on the transport sector are minimal from the government, I can share a little information, once again, from the Infrastructure Partnerships Australia document. It provides good background context.
Since the 1950s, distance travelled by car in Australia has increased 15-fold, and will grow by a further 30% by 2020. We will see significant growth and it is very important we continue to have safe roads in the Northern Territory, and have policies which provide appropriate safe environments for our families and businesses.
In 2006, this government undertook a study of a broad range of issues in relation to road safety. The government introduced fines, demerit points, reducing speed limits, and undertaking education campaigns through the media. The government stated at the time these initiatives were very important to try to reduce the road toll. In the two years after that, the road toll actually increased. But, as I said before, you cannot judge the performance of a transport strategy just on road toll statistics.
What the government did not tell you in 2006, was that in 2005, before it even undertook the review, it was undertaking cost benefit analyses on the projected revenue streams to identify what income streams could be brought to the Northern Territory government to help support their bottom line in the budget. They wanted to put a regulatory scheme in place to put more fines on Northern Territorians. We are hearing now about more speed cameras and more red light cameras. Of course, the responsibility has to go back on the person, but, this was all about income generation for the government; it was not about road safety.
We have heard in the statement by the minister about the alcohol ignition locks. I was quite surprised to read about the alcohol ignition locks and to find out there are a number of sentences which have been given to people. The shortest sentence you could have was a three-month period before you received an alcohol ignition lock, and then it went up to higher levels. The alcohol ignition lock system came into place in April this year so, potentially, there should be alcohol ignition locks three months from that point, or in July this year.
I know there has not been an alcohol ignition lock put into a car yet, despite the numbers quoted in the ministerial statement about the people who have had an alcohol ignition lock at some point in time. I know that the supplier, Guardian, which is supposed to be providing the alcohol ignition locks, does not have a large backlog of stock of alcohol ignition locks. They only have one distributor, supplier, and installer in the Northern Territory, Peter Brown Auto Electrics in the Top End. We still do not have anyone in Nhulunbuy, Katherine, Alice Springs or Tennant Creek that can install alcohol ignition locks. I understand there is one person in the Territory with an alcohol ignition lock who actually had theirs installed in Victoria, and Peter Brown Auto Electrics is following that person.
It is six months since the commencement of the alcohol ignition lock process. We are three or four months past the start of the new year and I do not understand why there are no alcohol ignition locks installed in cars in the Northern Territory. Throughout the legislative process, I raised concerns about putting alcohol ignition locks in cars, the number of people who are from remote locations who would require alcohol ignition locks, and how they would be installed in those locations. There are still no installers of alcohol ignition locks in those locations. It seems to me that, while this alcohol ignition lock might have a potential future, it has really been set back from the start, because there has not been one installed in the Northern Territory by a Northern Territory installer.
Aside from the alcohol ignition locks, and recognising the government did not accept my amendments at the time, I still do not believe the government went far enough. The government has made sure it can rake in fines, it has put in red light and speed cameras everywhere, which will continue to increase while this government is short on cash, but it did not go far enough. The pathway program required for driver training needs to have improvements.
The Country Liberals policy to provide young people with the opportunity to have a limited kilowatt of power in a car is a good idea. The Country Liberals have sound policies that were put to the 2008 election. We have had amendments that have come forward before and we have legislation that will be coming up in the November sittings. One of those pieces of legislation is about confiscation of vehicles of high-range, repeat drink-drivers, and I am bringing in other pieces of legislation to try to improve the safety on our roads. I will be looking to increase penalties for low-range DUI drivers on our roads. I will be introducing a bill that looks at minimum sentencing for those who cause death or seriously maim people while drink-driving. I will be looking at confiscating cars for unregistered, uninsured, and unroadworthy vehicles on our roads. This is not just a visually unpleasant, but also an unsafe aspect on our roads that should not be there.
I have not spoken about the bus services in the Northern Territory. I know there is a consultation process going on with GHD about the Integrated Regional Transport Strategy. I know about the workshops that have been held, and the limited numbers of people who have been at those workshops, but I still do not see anything coming out. I hope this is not another two year process like the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Review, or the delays with the fatigue management. I would really like to know how we are going to start servicing these communities with regular buses; they deserve public transport. We all do.
I would like to know about air travel. We saw the air services taken away in Tennant Creek, and they have not come back. It is like the birthing services in Tennant Creek; they have gone, and have not come back. If you live in Nhulunbuy, you keep your planes and your birthing services. Perhaps Nhulunbuy has a good local member who can make sure things turn up. But if you live in the Barkly, you seem to lose everything; transport, birthing services, and air travel.
I will move on to speed limits. We had a very ordinary display last week by the minister talking about speed limits, and trying to pronounce that his department offered me a copy of some statistical analysis in a departmental briefing, despite the fact that the briefing was held in Darwin and I was in a video conference in Alice Springs. it was pretty hard to get them over the telecommunications system. My inquiry in that briefing was: how do we know what was a speed-related incident on 130 km/h roads? I wanted to know if speed was the only factor on roads which were previously open roads, and now 130 km/h roads, or 110 km/h roads, or something else. The department cannot tell me if speed was the only factor in accidents. We had the representative from the George Institute, but the department still could not tell me that. The figures became quite irrelevant when they said it was speed. I put the question, was there alcohol in that accident? They could not tell me if it was alcohol or if it was speed. They could say the person was speeding, but they could not say whether there were any other contributing factors to the accident. It makes the figures too hard to assess.
I note the pontificating by the minister last week, but if you do not have the right information, you cannot really table this sort of information, because it is false. It is like trying to get information from the government about how many people transition from low-level drink-driving to medium-level drink-driving on a second, third or subsequent offence, and also to high-range drink-driving. The government does not even have those figures; either that or they will not provide the figures to me.
You need to have a good evidence base before you can make policy. I have not seen any evidence base which relates to speed limits on Northern Territory roads or to drink-driving to help support a policy. I am putting forward legislation to increase low-level drink-driving fines. I will make the speech in November, and it will be heard again on the following GBD next year. I am putting that policy up without the substantive evidence because the government cannot provide it; it said it does not have it. The transport department says: we do not have that; you will have to talk to the police. I talk to the police, we do not have that; you have to talk to transport. Surely someone has information which can be provided so we can have a good evidence base to create policy.
I will talk about my electorate. I have considerable concerns about the crossing at the Northside shops in the suburb of Braitling. I have spent some time over the last 12 months conversing with the Northern Territory government, asking the Minister for Infrastructure to make the crossing safe. I know the government has put fences and lights up, have trimmed hedges, and put some signs up for me. But, it is still not safe. I was at the crossing the other day and nearly got run over by a road train, and I am pretty switched on when I am crossing the road.
There are people who cross there all the time. I did not realise how dangerous it was. I have crossed there on a bike several times. When you see people running across the road, it is clearly dangerous, and the Northern Territory government will not do anything about it. There have been multiple deaths at that spot, and there will be deaths again soon. Nothing is being done. People come across from Hoppy’s Camp to the shops, get their grog, whether they are drunk or not, and then run across with small children. There are three carriage road trains coming past. It is an unsafe location, and I call on the Northern Territory government to do something about it.
The intersection of Lovegrove and Larapinta Drive is a problem. It is not a high traffic spot; it is not peak hour in Sydney, but we do have peak times in the morning and the afternoon. People in cares turning out of Lovegrove Drive into Larapinta Drive put their lives at risk when trying to get across because there are too many cars crossing. This was an election commitment by the Country Liberals in 2008; it continues to be our policy platform, and I have been lobbying for that.
I have a petition which has not been widely distributed, but it has quite a number of signatures. I will be presenting this to parliament, probably in the November sittings. I have applied for black spot funding from the federal government. I have sent it to Northern Territory government, but it has not come back to me yet with a response; that was a couple of months ago, and I would like to see a response. It is an important intersection for us to take action on; it is about improving safety for people in my electorate. That is what this statement is about; it is about road safety.
While I believe road safety is an important issue, it forms part of a much broader logistical system. There are holes right through the logistical system in the Northern Territory, whether it is the lack of air services from Tennant Creek, the degradation of the port, the reliability of the train as it links up in places such as Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs, the ability for the train to work at the port, or just the lack of bus services to get kids to school.
Schooling in the Northern Territory is still the biggest issue; I believe the schooling system in the Northern Territory is a national disgrace. We have a number of outstations or small settlements around the north of Alice Springs where kids cannot get to Yeperenye School every day; we cannot get the Northern Territory government to provide bus services to get those kids to school. We cannot get the Northern Territory or federal governments to provide a boarding school so these kids can go to school, so they do not go. This is why a logistic system, which may incorporate bus services, is important. It is about road safety, because if these kids do not have that service and their parents try to drive 150 km or 200 km on shoddy roads into town and back every day, that is when it becomes unsafe. That is why it is about the whole transport system, about the logistical system, and not just about roads.
Madam Speaker, I repeat what the member for Fong Lim said before: we are again talking about a statement which is just a waste of time in the sense that the government should be bringing on legislation and reforming the Territory, rather than just talking about things. We were elected to be legislators, not to stand up and talk and waffle like this statement, and every other statement every other day.
Dr BURNS (Business): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement. The member for Braitling questioned the need for this statement, and he inferred it was a waste of time to have this statement and debate today. I strongly disagree with that. Given the attitude and the lack of knowledge displayed by the member for Braitling on this issue, and other members of the opposition, I believe it is very important that we have this debate today.
As the previous Minister for Transport, I was largely responsible for developing this strategy and implementing it, although my successor, the member for Karama, finally had carriage of that in 2007, or a large part of it in 2007. In recognising that, I want to go over some history here, which I hope will be informative for members opposite, because there was much debate in this House over this issue. I remember it because I was on my feet arguing why these changes had to occur. And why did they have to occur? In essence, at that time the Northern Territory had a fatality rate, without even looking at the injury rate, three times the national average. By far …
Mr Tollner: Still is.
Dr BURNS: Let me argue my case, please, member for Fong Lim, and you will have a chance to argue yours.
We had, and still have, a relatively high rate of death and other injury because of accidents on our roads. I will hark back to this report which was compiled and published in June 2006, Safer Road Use: A Territory Imperative by the Road Safety Task Force. The task force was made up, not by interstate blow-ins or anything like that, but by Territorians, many senior people within the public service of the Northern Territory, from a number of agencies, not just Transport, but also Police and a whole range of agencies, drew this report together to look at the issue to try to give government, and the Northern Territory community, most importantly, a way forward on this issue. It is a shame we cannot have a bipartisan approach to road safety, which largely exists elsewhere in Australia.
This report made a whole suite of recommendations to the government, with the underlying rationale being that you had to have a comprehensive, complementary set of recommendations, strategies, and policies to be implemented to have an effect. It was not about addressing the one area by itself such as enforcement. It was not just about enforcement, education, or penalties, which are the three main elements of this road safety initiative and report which was bought forward with its recommendations. It had to be comprehensive, funded, and also supported by the government. I argue very strongly, that this government, in its previous form and now, supports those recommendations and has implemented them.
When you look at the statistics, Indigenous people are incredibly over-represented in the crash and fatality statistics, but non-Indigenous Territorians are also significantly above the national average. In fact, the national average is about eight deaths per 100 000 - or was at the time - and the NT non-Indigenous fatality rate is 12.62; it was approximately 50% higher for non-Indigenous Territorians, and, from memory, it was three times higher for Indigenous Territorians. It was a situation which could not persist. The government bit the bullet, although the decisions we made were not popular decisions.
We had a culture on our road which was a major contributing factor to this scenario. We saw other jurisdictions such as Victoria, which had started implementing road safety initiatives in the 1970s and 1980s, had a reduction from the levels we had in 2005 to the national average I talked about before. There was a significant reduction in the road safety statistics, both in death and injury, by implementing a complementary and comprehensive strategy with the support of the government.
I will discuss the culture on our roads, and I quote from an article in the NT News on 17 June 2006:
- During a 24-hour period earlier this year 2500 motorists ran red lights in Darwin. Since the start of the decade …
- … more than 200 accidents in Darwin resulted from people running red lights. Of these 100 resulted in injuries and four in fatalities. During a Christmas to New Years road blitz 10,000 NT motorists were breath-tested by Police – one in 42 was over the limit. Similar testing in Victoria revealed one in 314 drivers was over the limit.
Why was it one in 42 compared to one in 314? Because there was not enough enforcement; people thought they could have a few drinks, drive home over the limit, and they would not be caught. Why was there not enough enforcement? I cannot remember the exact year, but I know the former CLP government abolished the Traffic Branch. Part of the recommendations of this report was to re-form the Traffic Branch, and to establish highway patrols and rural and regional patrols, principally based in Katherine and Alice Springs. This came at a fairly high cost; from memory, it was around $19m, but I could be corrected on that.
There were a whole suite of recommendations which came to the government in the report, including the recommendation about speeding. The recommendation was that the Northern Territory should go to a speed limit of 110 km/h. All of the recommendations were debated very passionately within the Caucus and the Cabinet. The government decided to implement a 130 km/h speed limit on our open highways, and there would be speed restrictions, on some of the side arterial roads, of 110 km/h. That decision, along with demerit points, has probably been the most controversial.
These issues were debated up hill and down dale in this House. I have not heard what the opposition has had to say so far, whether they are opposed either to red light cameras or demerit points, but I did hear the member for Braitling say that this whole business about red light cameras was really a revenue grab by the government. I can assure the member for Braitling, having been the Cabinet minister responsible, in the Cabinet and in the Caucus arguing on this issue, that not once was this said to be a revenue raising move - quite the opposite. I mentioned the extensive costs of reinstituting the Traffic branch, of having highway patrols, and a whole range of other measures in terms of the recommendations of this report, and it was not the intention of the government to have this as a revenue raiser. I dismiss it, and I believe it is a cheap shot. It is not true, member for Braitling.
Mr Giles: It is completely true.
Dr BURNS: The overriding factor of the Cabinet, the Chief Minister at the time, Clare Martin, and me, as minister - I can assure you, I can look you in the eye, member for Braitling - was focused on saving lives. I will take a lie detector test - I will do whatever you like - that was the intention of the government, and there was never any suggestion of this being a revenue raising method. I believe it is a cheap political slant you have on it, when you should be arguing and debating the substantial issues.
Let us turn to speed, which is what you are focused on; that is what your little bumper sticker or computer sticker is focused on. You are arguing from the point of view, saying: ‘No one can point to me that speed alone was the causative factor in the accidents along the 130 km/h …’
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Madam Speaker, I do not recall you saying those things.
Dr BURNS: The member for Braitling, sorry.
Mr TOLLNER: I thought you were talking to Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, resume your seat.
Dr BURNS: Thank you for that. I understand we have had eight days, so the Speaker had to focus to get our electorate names, and our names out there, so let us have a little give and take.
I am sure the member for Braitling was arguing that no one can show me figures where speed alone is the causative factor. I do not believe we will ever get that, member for Braitling, because we know accidents are often a combination of things. There could be alcohol, speed, fatigue, or drugs involved; there could be a whole combination of things. But we do know, member for Braitling, the higher the speed, the greater the risk of damage and injury to the person. I quote from page 24 the report, which delves into this area:
- It is recognised nationally and internationally that reducing speed is fundamental to increasing the safety of the road transport system. Speed affects both the risk of a crash occurring and the severity of any crash that occurs - including crashes caused by factors other than speed.
I understand your argument, member for Braitling, but I am saying, and I believe the international evidence is saying, the faster you are travelling, the more likely you are to be damaged in an accident, and that other causative factors are exacerbated. There are some studies which indicate, and have set that parameter. I quote from page 26 of the report:
- A review of studies on speed limit changes from several countries (South Africa, Belgium, Finland, France, Great Britain, Germany, USA, and New Zealand) where a speed limit was reduced or a new limit was introduced found a reduction in road crashes ranging from 8% to 40%.
On the Lasseter Highway - you asked about any instances within the Northern Territory. I am pretty sure you said you had not seen any evidence from the Northern Territory about speed and the relationship between speed and fatalities. I quote from page 26 of the report:
- Consistent with this body of evidence …
And there are a number of other things alluded to in this report:
- … as an example of the possible impact of a lower signposted speed limit on open roads in the NT is the Lasseter Highway. This road, which leads to Yulara from the Stuart Highway south of Alice Springs, had a signposted speed limit of 110 km/h implemented in December 2001.
A comparison of crash statistics for the four-year period prior to the implementation of the speed limit to the four-year period after the speed limit was implemented shows that there has been a reduction of 37% in fatalities and 44% in serious injuries. Overall, all injuries have reduced by 40% and total crashes by 33%. Further, “overturned” and “run off road” crashes, which imply loss of control and excessive speed, have reduced by 38% and 27% respectively.
Acknowledging the relative numbers – there is a four year period – the relative numbers may be small, but I believe it is a signpost to what lowering the speed limit can do. As the then Transport minister, I argued very strongly publicly, and in this House, on this issue, although I must say the final legislative changes came through under my colleague, the member for Karama. However, she happened to be on holidays in January 2007 and I was the acting Transport minister. I will table these photos – this is me with the 130 km/h speed sign being put along the Stuart Highway. I am prepared to table this and it has my picture all over it. I am proud to have been instrumental in those changes, and I hope and pray there will be lives saved through those changes. I firmly believe there will be lives saved by these changes.
It grieves me the opposition is arguing about the 130 km/h speed limit. I understand people’s attachment to that. When I first came to the Territory, about 30 years ago, that was the situation; you could drive as fast as you liked, virtually on any road that you liked, but things have changed in the Territory, our …
Mr Elferink: That is not true. That is wrong.
Dr BURNS: Not on every road, but the open highway.
Mr Elferink: It is not true.
Dr BURNS: Sorry, thank you for the correction, member for Port Darwin. The highway, particularly the Stuart Highway, has become very busy. You only have to look at the track between Katherine and Darwin to see that. We have many more ‘grey nomads’ and more road transport on our roads, and vehicles have become more high powered in that time as well. I suggest times have changed in the Territory, and the 130 km/h speed limit imposed by this government, which I was instrumental in, is appropriate. I know when I travel along the open road, 130 km/h is as fast as Chris Burns wants to travel.
Mr Elferink: That was always your choice.
Dr BURNS: That was always my choice. However, the information we compiled in that time showed that was probably an optimum speed along our highways.
I am proud to have been part of this. There were a couple of horrible years, and last year, in particular, was very bad with all the deaths on the roads. The information I have from the minister’s office is that deaths in the 130 km/h zones have halved compared to the previous five years before the introduction of speed limits. I believe that is very important, because it shows there is an effect, and it would be very interesting to have a look at the injury statistics also …
Mr Elferink: I am glad you said that.
Dr BURNS: The support for what the government has done - I know there is opposition to it - but look at the organisations that support it: the College of Surgeons, the College of Emergency Physicians, the AMA generally; these are the people who are dealing with the effects of our road carnage, day-in and day-out. I have a figure from a study that was done showing what it costs the Northern Territory per year. If road injuries were reduced by 10% this would result in a nett benefit to the Northern Territory economy of approximately $22m per year.
Mr GUNNER: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS: I thank members for their indulgence. If the road injuries were reduced by 10%, this would result in a nett benefit to the Northern Territory economy of approximately $22m per year. I believe we have much work to do. We started off about three times the national average in terms of fatalities on our roads, and the injuries would also be horrendous. We have to reduce our road toll. It grieves and saddens me we cannot have a bipartisan approach with the opposition on this. I believe these strategies will work, but we need to keep focused and we all need to support them. We need to change the culture on our roads, ensure the penalties are appropriate, and provide education to ensure people understand their obligations on our highways.
This is a very important issue. I disagree with the member for Braitling; I do not believe it is a useless exercise to discuss it in this House. I had a quote by Winston Churchill – I should have had it ready. Basically, he says even the most beautiful strategy – or something like that – needs …
Mr Conlan: It does not sound like Churchill to me.
Dr BURNS: That is right. We have a few of us in this place.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: All right, I will not quote Winston Churchill, I will quote Chris Burns: I believe in evidence, and using an evidence-based approach in what you do.
Mr Elferink: No, you do not.
Dr BURNS: Yes, I do.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Dr BURNS: I believe in an evidence-based approach. I believe we have to look at the evidence and we have to adjust our policies accordingly. I have every confidence that this comprehensive - I have the quote from Churchill:
- However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.
I know members opposite are going to grab hold of that, but I challenge members opposite: we are dealing with people’s lives; this is a very important issue. You talk about the government not being willing to make decisions, but these are decisions the government has made, based on evidence and recommendations of an expert committee. They are comprehensive and they are funded. I believe it behoves all of us to join together to ensure the results are sustained, the road toll in the Northern Territory is reduced, and the terrible cost to families and communities in the Northern Territory is reduced, because one death on our roads is one death too many.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I will address a couple of issues. I am glad he finished on that hoary old chestnut: ‘one death on the road is one death too many’. Nonsense! I will tell you why that is nonsense. If you truly believed that you would move to ban cars; it is as simple as that. We are talking about a balancing act; about what is acceptable risk and what is not.
I also heard the minister say he believes in an evidence-based approach. If that is true, the speed limit on the Stuart Highway would be 110 km/h, because he was told, when he was the minister, that was the speed recommended by the police who did the investigation. If he believed in an evidence-based approach, he would have applied the recommended 110 km/h speed on the Stuart Highway. He chose not to, and I will tell you why. They stuck a couple of speed guns on the Stuart Highway, and discovered that 85% of drivers chose, voluntarily, to drive below the speed of 130 km/h. The speed of 130 km/h was not chosen because it was the evidence-based speed, but because it was the politically ‘do-able’ speed. For this minister, who had carriage of this particular policy at the time, to come in and say he believes in an evidence-based approach, when it was actually politics that chose the 130 km/h speed zones - not evidence - basically puts paid to his assertion he believes in an evidence-based approach. He does not; he believes in a politics-based approach.
The other fact is it is all about getting your balances right. Some jurisdictions have applied 110 km/h on the open road. I have driven from Kulgera to Port Augusta at 110 km/h, and your gums bleed after a few hours, because it is so slow, especially in modern vehicles which the minister says are so much faster. They are designed to be safer and more comfortable on our roads, and also to be more crash resistant.
I ask the minister to pay attention to a couple of annual reports. I am a little frustrated because the Police annual report used to have this really useful graph, in the year 2005-06, at the back of the annual report, where it showed year-in, year-out, dating back to 1998-99, the number of accidents, the number of fatal accidents, the number of fatalities - so it distinguished between fatal accidents and fatalities, to accommodate multiple fatalities - injuries, casualties per 10 000 population, casualties per 10 000 drivers licences, and casualties per 10 000 registered vehicles. That number was reproduced without the historical chart in the next annual report, which was the 2006-07 report. Now you have to marry these two reports together where, in previous times, they were much more apparent.
I have pencilled in what was on page 45 of the 2007 annual report to the other end of this chart from the 2005-06 report, so I can marry those figures up. Lo and behold! There is a downward trend in the number of accidents between 1998-99 and 2006-07, which is quite pronounced. I am not going through all the numbers, but it ups and downs up until about 2002-03 and, then, it trends down. This is about the same time some of these safer vehicles, with better crash resistance, were finding their way into the marketplace and some of those older cars were starting to get shelved into junk yards.
I struggle to rely on the number of fatal accidents because you can track it back over the years, in calendar years in this annual report, and I refer to page 176 of the 2005-06 report. You will see the fatal accidents jump up and down and, indeed, you do not have a big enough pool to rely on for a significant difference. If you believe you do have a big enough pool to rely on - bearing in mind 1 January 2007 was when the speed limit changed - the very year the speed limit was changed, there was only a drop of two fatal accidents from the year before. It was changed halfway through the financial year and you already start to see a substantial drop. The next year, the number of fatal accidents jumped to 59 in the same period, and that is evidenced from page 37 of the 2007-08 Police annual report.
Many of these other figures, like the number of fatalities, casualties per 10 000 population, etcetera, disappear from the police report in 2007-08, so they changed the way, in that financial year, how these casualties are represented. But, curiously, you still get enough of an inkling to notice, in the second year of operation of the great traffic plan, the number of accidents, at 2294, are substantially higher than the previous three years, before the plan started operating, but then start to show a slight trend back up towards 1998. I am confused by that, and I am not quite sure why it has happened. I have some suspicions.
Annoyingly, we then get the expression of number of fatal crashes, on page 37 of the 2007-08 report, but there is no separation of the number of fatal crashes in the number of fatalities, so the measures have changed, and you cannot measure apples with apples.
I draw members attention to one simple thing - by the way, this is why I was so anxious to have the police annual report tabled for the current year, because I would like to see what the current year says. I suspect it is a little better this year as I know the fatalities have come down. But there is one piece of evidence, above all else, which screams out that there is something fundamentally wrong with the government’s policy. If the open roads are so much safer, then our urban roads must be less safe; they must be devastatingly dangerous if our open roads are safer, and I will tell you why. I draw the minister’s attention - I am glad to see he is paying attention - to this quote from page 11 of the Motor Accident Compensation Report, Statement of Corporate Intent, for the year 2008-09, from what we achieved:
- During 2008-09, MAC accepted 486 claims for compensation, one of the highest number of claims received in recent time, an 11% increase from the prior 5 year average, with a surge in the second half of 2008 in line with the Territory’s increased road toll.
If there is one piece of evidence which tells me all of this is smoke and mirrors, and an argument to support a campaign which is not working it, would have to be that quote.
Can the minister advise this House why there is an 11% increase above the last five year average in numbers of claims, not amount of money, individual claims in the last financial year, two years into the operation of this government’s road safety campaign? If it is not happening on the highways, then it is happening more in our communities and towns. This is why I have trouble believing government members when they come in and spruik about what a great job they are doing, because there is no reason for TIO to lie about this, none whatsoever. Whilst all of these figures start disappearing out of the police annual reports, that number stands out as a singularly most convincing number for me that the government’s road traffic campaign has failed.
They sit there and they say: ‘Oh my goodness gracious me, it is so dangerous to have that little black circle with the line through it on the back of your computers. You guys are promoting recklessness’ - arrant nonsense. The minister said, during his speech, words to the effect of: ‘When I came here 30 years ago, you could drive on any road at any time, I do not mean in built-up areas. But you could not drive as fast as you like‘. Nothing in the Northern Territory law ever said you could drive dangerously. I argue that when I was a policeman and saw a Kombi van driving down the road at 150 km/h in an open speed zone, I would have arrested the driver for dangerous driving. There are all sorts of things that you take into consideration which describe dangerous driving and non-dangerous driving.
The point is this government believes you can control human behaviour through regulation and that is all you need to do. Pass a law, set up a few speed cameras and human behaviour will change. Wrong. I suspect the lower number of fatalities is because the pool is too small to know exactly whether or not it is working. I suspect - and the minister acknowledged - even on the Lasseter Highway the pool was too small to truly rely on the figures. He says it is a signpost but as a man of a scientific background he knows that he needs stronger numbers to make his case than those.
But MACA is receiving more claims; it is as simple as that. Those will include fatalities as well as injury claims. So there is something wrong. I am confused by the government’s claim of success and it says it has hooning laws. I urge the minister to go to McLachlan Street, next to the Catholic Cathedral, and tell me that it does not look like a drag strip with the amount of skid marks on it. Where are your hooning laws when you can see so many skid marks on one small back street of Darwin? I raised that issue here in parliament last week. I said this is an outrageous problem. The hooning laws are not working. You have what? Three or four cars, 10, 20? There are so many skid marks that you will not have to replace the bitumen, it is being replaced by rubber. You have more MACA claims coming in. The minister tells me the highways are safer but, if that is the case, then our city streets are ever more dangerous.
I hear what they are trying to say. There is this undeniable logic to believe that if you lower speed limits and you have all these things, you will change human behaviour successfully and have this huge effect. I do not have it in front of me, but in Germany there is a little town called Bohmtewhich got rid of every sign in the town. No pedestrian crossings, no give way signs, no traffic signs, no traffic lights, nothing. One rule: 50 km/h. Nothing else. There was no appreciable change in car accidents, fender benders, or anything else like that. Some people have criticised their approach, but people started relying on their own wits in that town to share the space. There is a philosophy attached to the shared space between cyclists, pedestrians, motor car drivers, and truck drivers. As a consequence there was no appreciable change. Human behaviour has not changed because of the absence of street signs. It has made people more reliant on their own judgment. Pedestrians, cyclists, auto drivers, truck drivers – they all share the same spaces.
I am not convinced regulation under all circumstances is your fix. It is tempting, but it is not being borne out by what is being delivered as evidence in this place. I cannot see how you can adhere to a policy that has now been running the best part of three years.
Dr Burns: Parts of it.
Mr ELFERINK: The policy has been running for three years and yet the MACA claims are going up; it reports the highest results. I cannot see why; it does not make sense to me. I believe it is time - and I appreciate what you have been saying – for us not to play politics with this. But let us then re-examine the philosophy of what we are doing, if the TIO is reporting they are receiving more claims for injury. Maybe fewer people are dying in cars. It is possible. Maybe they are only being injured more in cars because cars are safer. The engineering and design of cars nowadays - air bags, the little bleeping light and annoying noise in my Prius every time I get into it because I have not put my seat belt on immediately. All those sorts of things contribute to people changing their habits. You put your seat belt on because you do not like the annoying noise. When you run into something, a great big airbag goes, poof! in front of you and you have an injury.
But if that is true, then there is no change in driver behaviour, they are still running into things, but more are surviving because of the engineering in vehicles. If that is the case, then this policy has contributed nothing to road safety; it is the policy of good car design.
I am guessing that might be an outcome - there is no causal link. In fact, there is evidence before me, and this House, to demonstrate there is no causal link between the policy and the number of accidents, injuries, and fatalities. In fact, there is evidence to the contrary. If there is any evidence that speaks louder than the evidence I have seen, it is the quote that I gave before from page 11 from the MAC. On average, there are more MAC claims now than you have had in the last five years.
I would like to hear the minister’s explanation about why, in the first 18 months of the operation of the policy, the annual number of fatalities and accidents went up before they came down. Although I do not have the other details for casualties per 10 000 population, I do have them for as late as 2006-07, or for six months while this policy was working. Casualties per 10 000 population were 48, up from 46 the year prior; for 10 000 licensed drivers, 84, up from 77 before the policy was implemented; and casualties per 10 000 registered vehicles, 72, up from 67 the year before the policy was implemented.
There are more accidents in the six months - I presume in the six months - from when the policy started. Certainly, in the financial year when the policy started there were more accidents and injuries - about the same number of fatalities per 10 000 population up, per 10 000 licensed drivers up, per 10 000 registered vehicles up. I am truly suspicious of this policy.
If this government is genuinely committed to believing in evidence-based approaches, then that evidence needs to be examined in the cold, hard light of day and, even if you do not like the result, if you are going to apply a scientific mind, you must be drawn and driven by the evidence that you have.
Madam Speaker, it is for this reason I remain hesitant to join the chorus saying: ‘Yep, we will support you in this great battle’, because the evidence I have in front of me, from the MACA Report and the information from the police annual reports is not indicative of a successful policy. If it is not working, then you have to find something that does.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I support the Transport Minister’s statement and I thank him for bringing it before the House.
I support this as Police minister, as well as Chief Minister, because our police force has a key role in policing the rules of the road and the laws that surround road use in the Northern Territory, enforcing those laws, being out there as a proactive presence on our roads, and being a deterrent in regards to people who do the wrong thing.
I remind honourable members it was this government which re-established the Police Traffic Squads, the dedicated traffic units in Darwin and Alice Springs, and introduced, for the first time, the highway patrols. It was the previous CLP governments that disbanded the traffic squads back in the 1990s, when they were deliberately shrinking the police budget. Who knows how much of the road toll was due to lack of enforcement of the road rules. It is not easy to quantify, but not having dedicated police traffic squads focusing full-time on enforcing our road rules has contributed, over time, to the major issue that affects our road toll, which is the culture of driving on our roads in the Territory.
The changes this government made a couple of years ago with demerit points, ratcheting up the fines, introducing the speed limit on the highway, and the other reforms we put in place, came about as a result of the road safety report which was put together by experts who understand the policy regimes that need to be put in place to see the culture on our roads change and, consequently, the road tolls change.
I was listening to the member for Port Darwin who talked about evidence-based issues; the evidence is in the report. It was in the report written by experts most of whom were from the Northern Territory - not a bunch of southerners. We have four former police officers, who are now members in this House and sitting on the opposition benches, and as Police Minister, I know how strongly supportive the police were of the measures this government put in place. In fact, the police wanted us to go much further in some of the measures, such was the desire from police to do something about the road toll, acknowledging things could not continue as they were and the culture had to change.
In the Transport Minister’s call - and it is a very genuine call – to the opposition to seek a bipartisan approach to this, I urge the four former police officers, who sit on the opposition benches, to take the views of the police force, strongly represented to me, to support these measures. They are very strongly supported by every police officer I speak to who has to deal, on occasions, with the tragedy of the toll on our roads. The police have a very clear and explicit focus; a dedicated budget allocation of nearly $20m a year to road safety. This was a budget allocation put in place by this government, after it had been stripped out by previous governments, and it is there as a clear and explicit focus to policing our road toll.
The output group, Road Safety Services, in the budget papers states:
- Provides education and enforcement activities to develop good driving behaviour and compliance with road laws, including providing the capacity to respond to motor vehicle accidents and adequate investigation and reporting to the Coroner and other relevant stakeholders.
The outcome is an environment that encourages road users to behave safely and lawfully.
And our police do a magnificent job. If you look at the focus regarding vehicles passing the mobile speed camera checkpoint, there is an estimate for one million vehicles a year to go past a mobile speed camera checkpoint, and around 70 000 drivers per year to be breath tested. In discussions I have had with police, and I am really pleased to see they do this - coming into the Christmas period, and I am sure police will do this again - is to have a very significant RBT presence throughout the Northern Territory to the extent that, last year, around the Christmas period, Darwin was, essentially, locked down on a Friday and a Saturday night with every road out of Darwin having an RBT presence. Anyone driving out of the city to the northern suburbs, Palmerston or the rural area, after about 10 pm, was pulled over and breath tested. That message got through. Unfortunately, too many people are still found to be drinking and driving, but this type of enforcement does get the message out.
Too many of our fatalities are alcohol-related, as a result of people not wearing seat belts, or as a result of people driving at speeds in conditions which do not support the speed the car was travelling. When we talk about those fatalities, and the really serious accidents resulting in people in hospital for long periods of time, it is a tragedy. All of us have family members, friends and, even as local members, prominent people in our electorates who have died on our roads.
When that happens, the grief which surrounds families and communities is extraordinary; it is very deep and personal. There have been a number of high profile people over the last few years - sporting people – and to attend those funerals and to see the grief at those funerals, where you have people living active, productive, energetic family lives, and then, in an instant, it is gone, is an absolute tragedy.
From a policy perspective, and we are elected into this parliament to do the right thing by Territorians, trying to achieve a bipartisan approach to this is something that we should strive for, and I am pleased that my colleague has got his door open to that effect. There are a number of proactive measures the police are using in policing our roads and trying to effect that cultural change, including:
publicising speed camera locations, while reserving the right to target other locations. Every morning I turn the radio on, and Hot 100 and Mix - they are the radio stations I listen to in the mornings - announce where the speed cameras are going to be;
using a mobile speed monitoring advisory trailer on prominent arterial roads which display speeds to road users and focuses driver attention. I believe you drive up to it and it tells you how fast you are going;
marking speed cameras to provide a visible presence;
targeting locations and times that are shown to be crash hot spots in areas of community concern, such as schools and arterial roads during high offending periods. All of us attend school council meetings or Neighbourhood Watch meetings where we voice concerns from the community about people speeding on suburban roads. As a local member, through Neighbourhood Watch, I contact the Traffic section and police actually run a blitz on some of those roads to get the message out. They are responsive to those community concerns; and
breath-testing drivers at specifically targeted times and location hot spots.
The member for Port Darwin was talking about the rising MACA claims. We need to continue to look at the data and understand what is happening on our roads. Our roads are busier, with the population and economic growth we are seeing in the Territory. We look at the motor vehicle sales. I know there has been a slight decrease this quarter, but quarter-on-quarter, for the last few years, we have many more cars on our roads, not only in terms of population growth, but the number of tourists on our roads. In spite of high fuel prices, we have more people travelling on our roads to the Northern Territory from elsewhere in Australia. Our highways are busier as well, with the growth of Darwin, business and industry, and Darwin’s expanding economy, much still has to be freighted to Darwin and is transported on our roads.
Our roads are much busier than they were 10 years or 20 years ago, and the more people you have on the roads, the more chance there will be of collisions and accidents. It is not rocket science. Every accident should be studied, particularly fatalities, to look at what we could learn to prevent it from happening again.
It goes to changing the culture. I notice in the Hansard, during debate this week, the member for Fong Lim was lamenting the fact we were losing, on the roads, the spirit of the Northern Territory. The Territory is not the place it was 20 years ago. There are many more people living here now. Cars are more powerful and there is more traffic on the roads. To hang out the memory card and say: ‘I wish it was like it was 20 years ago’ and ‘we should go back to the culture we had on our roads 20 years ago’, is not sound public policy. We cannot go backwards; we have to go forwards. Twenty years ago there was an accepted culture of drink-driving; that was the culture of the Northern Territory, you go down to the pub after work, have a few beers and drive home.
That culture is condemned today, but it was not condemned 20 to 25 years ago. It should have been, but that was not the case with the culture of the place. Do we want to go back to that? I do not think so. I do not want to go back to the culture that says it is okay to have a few beers and drive home. It is not just about the person who is behind the wheel of the car who has done that. It is the potential horror that can be confronted on another person coming the other way. It could be a car with mum and dad and three kids in the back. The Territory has changed, and our road rules had to change to accommodate the change in the Territory. We had to work to drive the change in the culture in the Territory so we can reduce the road toll. This is what the government is working hard to do.
I also condemn any suggestion from members opposite these initiatives have been implemented as some sort of money grab by the government. I do not find that assertion personally offensive, but offensive to the institution of collective government and the way policy is made. Everyone agreed what was happening with our road toll was unacceptable. The expert report provided to the government on the measures the government should adopt to change the culture on our roads and see our road toll decline, all the expert evidence and measures adopted from around the world, indicated we had to put a range of provisions in place that provided financial consequences for people who broke the road rules.
It flies in the face of all logic, evidence, and advice which came to the government, that this was initiated as some sort of money grab. I believe the members of this parliament who enunciate that should hang their heads in shame, because it is so far removed from the truth. I would love it if we did not collect one dollar in revenue from people breaking the road rules; if you obey the rules you are not going to get fined. We do not want to fine people; it is a voluntary contribution. I am not holier than thou; I have had my share of speeding fines over the years. I do try to keep an eye on the speedometer when I am driving on our roads, and I am conscious of the speed at which I am driving. But, like all of us, I have had my share of speeding tickets and you do not like to pay them; no one wants to pay a fine. You think afterwards, I wish I had not done that, and it moderates your behaviour over time.
I urge members not to throw those allegations around, because the member who throws those allegations around looks pretty stupid. Anyone who understands and looks at this issue knows governments around the world are trying to reduce the number of fatalities and accidents on our roads; that is the policy. If there was a magic wand for this, it would have been waved by now, and we would not have a problem; but there is no magic wand. It is policy which has to evolve over time. My colleague, the Transport Minister, put some numbers in his statement about the number of people who are running red lights - it beggars belief we have so many people running red lights - it is an astounding number, and everyone who runs a red light potentially puts other people’s life in danger. How do you stop people from doing that, unless you put red light cameras in place and fine people? How do you stop people from running red lights? I wish there was a simple answer, apart from fining people. But the alternative of not fining people is to see them continue to run red lights. It is a ludicrous assertion to say it has been put in place just to raise revenue, because it is not the case.
I thank my colleague, the Transport Minister, for bringing this important statement before the House today. I thank the police, who do a mighty job across the Northern Territory in enforcing the road rules.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr HENDERSON: I also thank them for the often heart-wrenching work they do when they attend the scene of an accident, not only our police but our fire services and ambulance personnel. To attend the scene of an accident and confront people who are badly injured or a death on the roads, especially when children are involved, must leave a tremendous scar on the soul of our frontline respondents. They do a tremendous job on behalf of all Territorians; so my thanks go to them and thanks to the minister for bringing this before the House.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Speaker, no one disagrees with the philosophical view regarding road safety, which is: we need to do whatever we can to reduce the number of needless deaths on our roads. The unfortunate thing about this issue is you cannot legislate for every conceivable situation. We need to ensure, if we intervene with legislation, it is based on science and not on political consensus. It is also an unfortunate reality of life that even with the most stringent legislation, you cannot legislate for stupidity. You cannot put an old head on young shoulders and, perhaps, one of the greatest killers of all, not just in regard to road safety, is peer pressure.
It is clear there are opposing views in this House, but what I find interesting with these views is the government seems to think the Country Liberals have no idea or experience to deal with this; no appreciation of what works at the coalface, from an operational or practical point of view, or appreciate the heartache involved with road deaths. I find the government’s position astounding, given the fact many of the Country Liberals MLAs are ex-police officers and, together with ambulance and emergency services, form part of the very group of people who are at the coalface. To even suggest that this side of the House, the Country Liberals team, has no experience, understanding, or appreciation of road safety issues, is absolutely nave at best, and arrogant in the first degree.
Police officers, particularly in regional and remote areas, are more often than not the first on the scene at an accident site. These guys must have horrible images burned into their minds, and know better, perhaps, than anyone else, the tragedy of the circumstances, particularly when young children are involved. I ask how many government ministers have had to deal with that time and time again? How many ministers in this government have stood on the doorstep and informed parents their son or daughter was killed tonight? It disgusts me when I hear this government say members on this side of the House, long-serving police officers, have no idea in regard to road safety.
I am astounded and extremely worried at the times this government relies on the NT News to provide it with facts on an issue. Early this week, the opposition raised a number of issues using ABS statistics to back our claims, while time and again, we have seen the minister holding up cuttings or copies of the NT News to discredit the opposition. Last night I referred to the government looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses and how it criticised the opposition for being oppositionists and for scaremongering. No, we were quoting facts - real stories and real tragedies; this stuff is not made up.
It occurred to me, when I was writing this statement this afternoon, the government relies solely on the NT News for its advice and information on how the world really works. If it is true, and I now believe it is, then I apologise, wholeheartedly, because the government would not be aware of what is really happening in the world.
For instance, the article which referred to the CLP backflip, was yet another incorrect version of an interview, and led to the Labor Party distributing another postcard around the Katherine area, I believe. Interestingly, the photo on the card showed the Stuart Highway with extremely dry grass along the verges which indicated the verges had not been maintained in a very long time. The government boasts about road safety, yet even its own postcards, trying to discredit an incorrect reference or interview which was printed in the NT News, shows a length of highway with grass as long as this along the verges - and you talk about road safety. I have seen verges with large termite mounds growing proudly, indicating the time between maintenance, and a real example of how serious this government is with road safety. Are not most of our highways federally funded? What is going on there?
While no one can deny accidents happen in built-up areas, and these include deaths, I suggest that most involve speed in an area where speed limits apply. This demonstrates that limits do not necessarily prevent accidents, including serious accidents. However, many serious accidents happen on open roads, but you never see speed camera vans hiding on some back road; you only find them on busy roads. Is that about road safety or about revenue? No one doubts a statistic can demonstrate a head hitting a wall of 30 km/h will be different to one hitting a 130 km/h. The Country Liberals have said all along that in most cases involving accidents, it is a combination of factors which has led to the accident occurring.
Let us look at some local issues. In Palmerston, whenever I can, I help out at the Bakewell Primary School crossing. It is a large school and you would think, with a large school, there would be large number of parents who would have the time to help with school crossings. Yet, because of the situation we find ourselves in today, most families that live in my area, both parents need to have jobs to pay the bills - high mortgages, power, rents and everything else and they need two incomes coming in. You do not have many parents left over to do things like volunteering for school crossings.
I note, in many southern jurisdictions, the government or local councils pay school crossing monitors - albeit it is only a low pay so they are still considered volunteers, however, we do not see this in the Territory. If the government was serious about road safety - and we have seen some accidents around schools with young children - it would be funding schools to pay volunteers on school crossings. I use the word ‘volunteers’ because it is not normally a highly-paid job, but at least enough to attract a few more people into the role.
I turn to licences. If you were serious about road safety, you would completely and utterly change the process for getting a licence to drive on our roads. When I was in the Air Force many years ago, there were a number of licences required, all of which included driving tests. Just because I had a civilian licence which allowed me to jump into a four-wheel drive at home, it did not necessarily mean I could jump into an RAAF four-wheel drive at any time; I had to pass the driving tests. We were taken to an area and provided instruction on hill climbs, rocky, smooth, wet and dry conditions, learning about the high centre of gravity being different from a sedan, and only after I could competently demonstrate to my instructor I was capable, was I issued a licence for a four-wheel drive, a far cry from what happens here. Look at the example of an international tourist who flies into town, is handed a map and a set of keys to a troop carrier, and off they go. If you want to get serious, start to look at issues like this.
The example I spoke about was for a four-wheel drive. Much later, after more training and instruction, I was issued with a truck licence. I still recall enjoying the spoils of an oil skid pan on the RAAF Base, also enjoyed by many police officers of the day. It was always interesting to note the condition and the colour of the police vehicle as it came off the skid pan later in the day. Seriously, though, to feel a vehicle sliding sideways, and, more importantly, having the knowledge to keep that vehicle under control, in both wet and dry conditions, on both sealed and unsealed roads, should be an absolute minimum for any driver on our roads. Of course, it would be an expensive exercise. If you are serious about this issue, you would look into and review the learner driver program.
Later, in another role, I undertook an advanced driver program at Hidden Valley - a course I encourage everyone to take. To learn how to drive in a controlled environment, through wet and dry conditions and on a variety of roads surfaces, is invaluable and, could perhaps be part of the process in getting a driver’s licence.
The government could look at setting up a controlled environment, where mums and dads could take their children, as young as 13 or 14, to get experience with driving. We know many parents take their children out into the bush at some time to give their children their first experience in driving. I know my own father, in company with my grandfather, allowed me to drive for the first time in the local cemetery. Perhaps there was a lesson there. In fact, I recall dad saying, ‘You get this wrong and this is where you will end up’. A controlled area would allow parents to provide some early instruction to kids and have some real experience before they are allowed onto our streets.
Tourists, at least international tourists, could be provided with a restricted licence with provisions specifically designed to limit their exposures to the dangers of long distance driving, rough surfaces, etcetera. This is one example the government could investigate, if it was serious about road safety.
I provide an experience of my brother, who has been a paramedic in northern Victoria for over 30 years. I believe he is the most senior paramedic in that area. Some of the experiences he has told me about road accidents would scare you. But his thoughts on speed took me by surprise. David is often tasked with taking ambulances from the northern Victoria area to Bendigo. Many times this is at night, sometimes during the day, and they drive at higher speeds if it is urgent. After all the years of driving as a paramedic, he suggests many of the accidents today are caused through fatigue from driving too slow. His thoughts amazed me. He said when you are driving 130 km/h or 140 km/h along a highway, you usually do not get time to get fatigued, that is, you are alert, your eyes are open, your hands are holding on tight, and you are on your way. It would only be if there was some type of incident with a tyre, or something like that, you might have a problem. The reality is, when you back off to 70 km/h or 80 km/h, in some cases over long distances, which happens in places like Victoria - when I say long distances, it may be 50 km or 60 km between towns - after a few towns, people get tired, particularly at that speed.
It amazed me to hear from a paramedic, who has been in the business for 30-odd years, that going slower has more potential to cause problems with people going to sleep, but that is the case there. Sometimes, going slower can be a bigger problem than going faster.
It is interesting to listen to most of the statements delivered by the government. You sincerely hope their heart is in the right place, they are serious, and it is not just another advertisement, like another glossy brochure. It is not just another announcement about what the government are going to do. Hopefully, the government is serious and it will make a difference.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! Before we start I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Continue, member for Katherine.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you. I do not believe I had actually started, but I will …
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: You can now commence, member for Katherine.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, road safety is one of the most serious issues the Northern Territory, in fact any jurisdiction or country, has to deal with. It is very difficult to apply a scale to the seriousness with which we should treat this particular issue. But, when you are talking about the lives and safety of people in the Northern Territory, and in other jurisdictions, then it arguably ranks amongst some of the other more important issues in the Northern Territory, like the ability of the government to look after our children and ensure they have safe places to live. I am referring to the matter brought up in the Question Time today with the minister for Families.
It is indeed a very serious issue, and I can assure you that, as a former police officer with 21 years of policing experience, I have seen things I would never speak about with any detail in this House. They would offend the sensibilities of probably 99.9% of people who are listening. I assure you, I have seen the horrors of the results of fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle accidents during my time.
I have lived in Katherine for seven years, six of those as a police officer, three years living at Mataranka, on the highway, two-and-a-half years at Maranboy, and eight years or so at Alice Springs. During those periods, and particularly during my time at Katherine, Mataranka, and Maranboy, I had cause to go to many accidents, both on the Stuart Highway and other parts of the road network in the Northern Territory.
In my time attending road accidents, I have never been to an accident on the Stuart Highway where speed was the sole cause of the accident. Of the accidents I have been to - I am thinking about accidents where truck drivers and people travelling with them have died, where entire families have been wiped out in one car, and where mums and children have died - the overarching reasons these accidents occur are fatigue and alcohol. I can safely say that seat belts are not the cause of accidents, but assist with surviving in an accident. In my experience, speed, on its own, has not caused any accidents I have been to on the Stuart Highway, but I suppose speed contributes to surviving an accident, as well.
One of the interesting things about this is the government’s unwillingness to look deeper into how it might change driver behaviour. I heard the Chief Minister talk about red light cameras and speed cameras and things like that, and he said something like, we do not want to fine people, but there is no other simple way to stop people from driving badly - I apologise if I have paraphrased that off the mark, but that is basically what I got out of it. I point out to this House there are no simple solutions to this; simply fining people is not an answer to the question because, ultimately, and we see it across the spectrum of the justice system, punitive measures, on their own, do not work. If you raise or increase a penalty, it does not stop people from doing things, and fines, on their own, do not add to road safety in any meaningful way.
You can look at that, and it is evidenced by the fact this jurisdiction, the Labor government administration, has so much outstanding in fines and unpaid traffic infringement notices. I remember hearing in the Estimates process this year about how much money was still outstanding in fines. That says to me if people get a fine, they simply do not care; they do not pay the fine, and they do not care. At the end of the reporting period for 2008-09, there is something like $3.5m worth of outstanding infringement notice money which is still owed to the government. When I look a little further into the table I have in front of me – I believe it might have been an answer to a question proposed during estimates – the percentage of penalties outstanding has increased over the last three years, from 17% in 2006-07, to 23% in 2007-08, and to 43% in 2008-09.
When you look at that, for, let us say, a police officer who stands out on the highway with his laser or speed gun, pulling up motorists who are speeding - and he is standing in the hot sun for a couple of hours – two out of every five infringement notices he writes will not be paid. When you are talking about changing driver behaviour, the influences which will change driver behaviour have to come from everywhere. If a policeman is standing on the road writing out infringement notices and he knows that two out of five of those are not going to get paid, how do you think he feels about his job? I can tell you, because I have been there. It is ‘we are just doing this because we have to write out infringement notices’ The young guys start out with an attitude of wanting to make a difference but, I can tell you, police officers in the Northern Territory become jaded pretty quickly because they do not see any results for the hard work they put in. Try as they might to maintain a very professional attitude – and I am sure they do, and I take my hat off to the coppers, they do it hard and they do a fine job - when they are standing there in 38C heat, knowing full well two-fifths of their fines are not going to be paid, the attitude they carry with them at the time is, in my opinion, passed on to the motorists. So, there you go, that is the beginning of the failure to change driver behaviour, because of the latent attitude that is passed on.
I am going to feign a little indignation now and say this: I am horrified, surprised and shocked no one on the other side of the House has bothered to ask anyone on this side of the House for any real or meaningful input into this road safety strategy. Sitting on this side of the House are four ex-police officers, who have been, and remain, very passionate about the time they had in the job. Between us, there are - I served 21 years, the member for Drysdale served 10 years, which makes 31, the member for Sanderson served 28, which makes 59, and the member for Port Darwin served 13 years, if I remember rightly - 72 …
Mr Conlan: Seventeen years.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: … seventeen years, we are looking at approximately 80 collective years of policing experience on this side of the House. I am going to stop feigning indignation now, because I am genuinely annoyed the members on that side of the House treat the experience on this side of the House with total disdain and disregard. They say the people on our side of the House have no experience, we do not know what we are talking about; we would not have a clue.
The Chief Minister often stands up and calls us names. ‘Police officers in exile’, is a disparaging remark to the entire Northern Territory Police Force. Most of the Northern Territory Police Force look to us, with the experience we have, and expect us to come in and put the truth on the table, make some sense, and put out the explanations so people will understand the issues we know about through our own experience in the job. They expect us to stand here and effect real change.
But, the government is satisfied to run its own course, its own agenda. I stood here the other night and said the member for Barkly was a hypocrite, and I say it again today. In so many of the debates he speaks on, and answers in Question Time, he says he wants a bipartisan approach to this and a bipartisan approach to that, but not once, have I seen any form of action from the member for Barkly in trying to have a bipartisan approach. Absolute hypocrisy!
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, there probably is not much more that I want to say on this statement. It is quite clear the policies this government has been espousing and promoting over the last number of years …
Mr BOHLIN: A point of order, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker! I draw you attention to the state of the House and the lack of attention on your side.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: A quorum is not present. Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Member for Katherine, you have the call.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
Members interjecting.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, hold on, please. Member for Greatorex, the member for Katherine has the call and he is continuing his speech.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the member for Port Darwin pointed out, quite rightly, the increased number of claims through the Motor Accidents Compensation scheme. That is a strong indicator of the road accident situation. That is the state of the play in the Northern Territory at the moment. One only has to look at the headlines and the articles in the local paper: ‘Hoon runs down man in street’. This is indicative of what I was talking about people not really caring about fines, even though they are not happening yet, they will be as of tonight, there were 11 000-odd fines in the trial. You think the fines will change their behaviour, but we know it will not work. ‘Besotted rammed radar in new driving strife’, there is another one; ‘Horror rollover’, ‘Drivers get crash happy’; ‘Seven accidents in four hours’; ‘Run down by own car’, ‘She faces a $60 fine talking on a telephone in her car’.
Here are a couple from today’s paper: ‘Driver almost decapitated’, and on page 3: ‘Man fighting for life after hit and run’. I had a thought this morning the member for Barkly, the Minister for Transport, probably woke up today, looked at the newspaper and thought, ‘Oh, goodness me, do I have to talk about road safety today’.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the government pretends, or thinks it might have all the answers to our road safety problems, but the problem is, it will not listen to sense. I will make this offer, I renew it - I have made it before - if anyone on the government side of the House wants to approach me, or any of my colleagues who were police officers, for some assistance, information, new insight or perspective on some of their proposals, then I am more than happy to spend some time with you.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Speaker, I support the statement delivered by the Minister for Transport, who is well qualified to talk about our roads, and safety when travelling on them, given the thousands of kilometres he has clocked up driving between Tennant Creek and Darwin.
Also, because he is keenly interested in, and very passionate about understanding his portfolio, he drove along the Central Arnhem Road to Nhulunbuy recently, which has road safety issues, being mainly a dirt road stretching about 700 km from the Stuart Highway to Nhulunbuy. I agree with him about the needless loss of life on our roads, and the government is doing all it can to make our roads safe for everyone who uses them.
I am disappointed members of the opposition said they see this discussion as a complete waste of time.
A member: I never said that.
Ms WALKER: The members for Fong Lim and Braitling, I believe, uttered words about it being a discussion that was a waste of time. I apologise, it was not all members of the opposition, but two are on the record of having said that.
When I look back to my own teenage years in rural South Australia, where I was brought up in a small country town, and see how far governments have come in keeping people safe on our nation’s roads, there are significant changes which have occurred over the years. I remember the days when seat belts did not have to be worn, there was no such thing as random breath testing, and you could sit for your learner’s licence plates at 16 and have a full licence two weeks later, assuming you could pass the practical test, which back in those days in my home town was conducted by the local police officer.
I went to my first funeral when I was 16, and a couple more after that; funerals of young people who had been killed in car accidents on country roads, due to inexperience, not wearing seat belts, alcohol involved, and of course, all six-foot tall, and bullet proof.
My father was the local doctor in the country town where we lived, and saw, firsthand, the results from governments in South Australia failing to address these issues. He knew firsthand what the results were: needless and very preventable deaths of children and adults. He attended, like the member for Katherine has just talked about, countless road accidents over his 30 or so years, along with St John Ambulance officers and police and emergency services people. He lobbied hard to see legislation introduced to make the wearing of seat belts compulsory in South Australia. Of course, he was not a lone voice in the wilderness, but it did take a fight to see the legislation brought in.
Thankfully, we have come a long way from those days and this government has come a long way, as we must, being in a jurisdiction where the road toll is three times higher than the national average. The cost is enormous, and the cost of the loss of life and the loss of someone’s family member, immeasurable. There are huge costs for police, emergency services, hospitals, doctors, nurses, St John Ambulance - the list goes on. As the Chief Minister mentioned, the investment of $20m in road safety is a significant sum of money, but, sadly, a necessary investment by this government to try to drive down the road toll.
As outlined by the minister, the Northern Territory government has introduced a raft of reforms, programs, and legislation in a bid to address our unacceptably high road toll. Unfortunately, addressing entrenched behaviours in drivers is a very real challenge and unfortunately, as the member for Brennan has already mentioned, you cannot legislate for someone not to be an idiot. But, you can work hard at education and awareness, drumming into road users, and into the collective community conscious, the need to accept responsibility to bring about behavioural change.
As the minister said, we know this will take time and, while the noble target for any government is for zero deaths on our roads, the sad reality is we will continue to see loss of life. We must reduce the road toll in the Northern Territory – and we are. The current Northern Territory road toll stands at 27 and, I am very sad to say, a young person from Gove has recently been included in the toll. He was a young fellow, around 24 years of age. I did not actually know him. He was not a local, in the sense of the word, but a contractor, and was killed when his vehicle went out of control and crashed at around 2.30 am, about three weeks ago, driving near Wallaby Beach, a stretch of road between the township and the alumina refinery. He was not wearing a seat belt and there is also the suggestion alcohol was involved. As I said, he was a contractor working at Rio Tinto Alcan and he was someone’s son and grandson, a brother, and a mate. I extend my sincere condolences to his family and workmates.
A member: Hear, hear!
Ms WALKER: The photo which appeared in the Northern Territory News showed a vehicle which was just about flattened, and apparently he was pulled from beneath it. Remarkably, his female passenger, also without a seat belt, was found alive some metres from the vehicle. She was medivaced to the Royal Darwin Hospital with quite serious injuries, and I wish her all the best for her recovery.
High levels of alcohol consumption and drink-driving are big issues in the Northern Territory and we are really up against it to turn around an accepted culture of drink-driving. On the subject of alcohol ignition locks, I believe it was probably one of the first pieces of legislation that saw passage through this House when I became the member for Nhulunbuy. I looked closely through the bill, had a briefing, took many opportunities for questions and answers about the case for putting up legislation to see these ignition locks introduced for repeat drink-drivers. It seems fairly radical but quite necessary where we have such high levels of repeat drink-driving. Those people are risks, not only to themselves but every other road user, and that is simply unacceptable.
When people have had too much to drink, and are not making the right decisions about whether they should be drinking and driving, the introduction of a device which makes the decision for them, has to be a good thing. I was staggered to hear in the minister’s statement that, as of 16 September 2009, 221 ignition lock periods have been imposed by courts in the Northern Territory.
With regards to drink-driving in my own community, I have nothing but praise for our local and very proactive police officers who regularly conduct random breath testing and speed checks. To be honest with you, for people who live in the township of Nhulunbuy, there is no excuse for drink-driving. It is a small town, there are bike and footpaths throughout, we are not short of taxis, and for those who choose to patronise the Arnhem Club, there is a free bus service which operates in the afternoons and evenings.
I digress for a moment to say a quick word about alcohol management, because it has a part to play in dealing with drink-driving issues. Having heard the latest, quite flawed policy platform of the CLP about extending bottle shop and liquor shop hours in Alice Springs, I shake my head - it beggars belief. I encourage any members of the opposition to make contact with the Harmony Group in Nhulunbuy, the group which has overseen the introduction of a takeaway liquor permit system introduced into Nhulunbuy in March 2008. We have seen a dramatic reduction in antisocial behaviour and all the issues associated with it through that system.
A member: How much is dramatic?
Ms WALKER: A reduction in police lock ups - I do not have all the statistics in front of me –a reduction in the number of presentations to the district hospital, at accident and emergency, a reduction in the number of call-outs to ambulance, the streets are cleaner and quieter, and the current figure in the reduction of pure alcohol in the township is around 20%, so it is huge. The Liquor Commission made a visit to Gove a couple of weeks ago. I met with them, as did a couple of members of the Harmony Group, to speak about this system and how it has worked.
Obviously, there is not a one-size-fits-all approach, we know that, which is why these grassroots programs, from the community level - this one came from community members, driven by some very strong, mainly women, from one of the clans - have huge support. We have a Harmony Group meeting in one week’s time, and I will raise the Alice Springs matter with them, and make a suggestion for the committee to write a letter to the opposition outlining the successes in Gove, and ask them to think twice about what they are planning, or would like to see done, in Alice Springs.
On the subject of speed - a very vexatious subject - I welcomed, as did many people, the end of open speed limits on the Stuart Highway, and the introduction of a speed limit capped at 130 km/h under this government and former Chief Minister, Clare Martin. When I first came to the Territory, as a much younger person with a fast, new car, and with very regular trips between Darwin and Katherine, I thought open speed limits were great. How young and foolish I was.
I concur with my colleague, the member for Johnston, that 130 km/h is more than adequate. Given most of my driving, for the last 20 years, has been on bush roads around Nhulunbuy and the Gove Peninsula, with the occasional long drive to Katherine and Darwin, I feel a tad nervous when I drive on the Stuart Highway. I last drove with my family to Darwin from Nhulunbuy in July, which is a total journey of about 1000 km. Of course, 20 years older and wiser, with three children in the back seat, and noticeably more traffic on the road than when I drove for the first time on the Stuart Highway in 1987, with what seemed like bumper-to-bumper caravans and trailers and a high number of interstate plates, my husband and I agreed, as we shared the driving, even 130 km/h seemed too fast.
As the Chief Minister said, you cannot go backwards on this; you have to go forward. But, no, not for the opposition. It is quite determined to go backward, in the face of so much compelling evidence that speed does kill; in the face of evidence, support, and testimonials of Police, Fire and Emergency Services, ambulance people, accident and emergency staff at hospitals, doctors and nurses, all those who have had to deal firsthand with the awful trauma and carnage of road accidents, but the opposition are committed to the open speed limits. I sometimes wonder if the members of the opposition are fully subscribed members to the Flat Earth Society; it is difficult to work out their thinking.
Apart from that, I do not have a great deal more to add. As a parent of a 16-year-old, who is on her learner plates, I am grateful that she, unlike me, was not able to get her licence within two weeks of her learner licence but, instead, she has to wait at least six months to build her skills, confidence, and experience. I am seeing the evidence of a young person coming through, who is starting to learn from the education awareness programs. In the same way, I do not see so many young people smoking cigarettes these days, I see young people picking up on the messages we are trying to put out there about the need to be responsible for your behaviour and to be safe on the roads at all times.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement and commend it to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement regarding road safety, which is a very important issue. The minister has raised many issues, in that he has given us a pretty good rundown of the many programs operating in the Northern Territory to try to reduce the road toll. There is no one in their right mind who would say that is not a good thing. Perhaps, with so many programs operating, the government should, from time to time, assess whether those programs are achieving anything. You can have many programs, you can get on a website and say, there is a, b, c and d programs in operation, but are they doing anything, or are they just feel-good type programs? When you have so many programs operating, they should be assessed. I say that especially in relation to the ignition locks.
Using the figures in the statement, on page 6, it says, as of 16 September, the courts have imposed 221 Ignition Lock periods, seven for six months, 191 for 12 months, 17 for 18 months, and six for two-year periods, against drivers found guilty of a second or subsequent drink-driving offence.
It may be too early, because this has only happened since 16 September, but I believe we need to see if they work. We have heard reports they are good from overseas or in other states, but we need to see how they work. Can people get around the system? At the end of the trial, will it make any difference? Will a person who has had an ignition lock, finish their time - they have a time when they cannot drive - see whether they come back and re-offend, because I believe this is one of the programs designed to try to stop people drink-driving.
The other area is drink-driving itself. I know, minister, you made a statement about the opposition’s move to look at the possibility of using similar legislation or, you might say, joining up with the existing hooning legislation, so that people who continually offend will lose their vehicles. In general, I support that; I have said it before. How it is worked out is something we need to negotiate because, as you say, minister, we have to be careful we do not take cars away from people who live out bush and that is their only means of transport. That comment also applies to hoon legislation. I imagine what is good for the hoon, is good for the drinker.
I also consider, and I have said this over many years, the person who continually offends by having an un-roadworthy car, over a long period of time, or an unregistered car, should simply lose that car. Whether it is one, two or three offences, could be debated. The point is, if the car is not registered, it should not be on the road. You do not mind when people have run out of registration and forgotten, but people who are deliberately avoiding paying registration fees, or driving cars which are unroadworthy and they cannot get them registered, then those cars should be off the road. The simple thing is, if you want your car back, get it registered. That does not sound too harsh, because you should not be on the road in the first place. Unregistered and unroadworthy cars should be taken off the road, especially on repeat offences.
I do not want to go right through the statement, because the statement is self-explanatory, but there are a few issues in relation to road safety I need to ask. In his summing up, the minister may be able to cover them. To some extent, it relates to the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, because some of the issues of road safety go between both ministers.
In relation to some of the matters the road safety review brought up, regarding Highway Patrols and Remote Area Traffic Patrol units, there were two recommendations made. Recommendation 16 said the government should approve - and it was approved, because it has ‘approved’ next to the column I am speaking from - the approval was given for the formation of highway patrol units to operate out of Katherine and Alice Springs from 1 July 2007. There was also additional funding approved to the Northern Territory Police of $1.5m in 2007-08 to establish the Highway Patrol units, and $638 000 in 2008-09 and ongoing to maintain the patrols. The other recommendation was to approve the formation of the Remote Area Traffic Control units to operate out of Katherine and Alice Springs from 1 July 2007, and additional funding was approved to the NT Police of $1.5m in 2007-08 to form the Remote Area Traffic Patrols and $638 000 in 2008-09 and ongoing to maintain the patrols.
I want to know - because it is an important part of road safety, but it is also a lot of money - are those patrols operating? I go up and down the highway, and I sometimes see police cars close to towns like Katherine and Mataranka. I have not seen many police cars on the road, may be that is only my impression; they might be out there more than I know. But it would be good to hear from the government about how these patrols are working. Are they effective? Are they still operating? Has there been a change by the government in their form of operation? The government made quite an issue about this and it will be worth hearing about from the minister in his response.
We also have the Territory Police Traffic Branch. In December 2006, the then Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Dr Chris Burns, announced that the Territory’s Police Traffic Branch had been reactivated after 15 years, and I quote:
- This is a significant day. After being scrapped by the CLP in 1991, the Territory will once again have a dedicated Traffic Branch.
As someone who drives around the countryside, I keep looking for the Traffic Branch, but I do not see more police motorbikes or cars than usual. I do see them, but I do not get the impression there is a dedicated Traffic Branch. There are vehicles, but whether they are units operating from Palmerston, Casuarina and Darwin, or specifically part of the Traffic Branch, I am not sure. It would be good to find out, because it says in the media release dated 18 December:
- The Territory government has committed $1.4m to the new unit, which will be made up of 12 officers in Darwin and five in Alice Springs. It will have five patrol cars and four motorbikes in Darwin, and four cars in Alice Springs.
Occasionally I see a motorbike - they are the ones that give you a fright because you do not see them coming - but I do not see a strong presence.
I am also interested in receiving a response to some of the concerns I have heard about the changes to the Northern Territory’s Road Safety Division. I quote from a story in the NT News, dated 27 June 2009:
- The Territory’s top traffic cop will be moved from his post in a major shake-up of NT Police’s organisational structure.
And, under the shuffle, the NTs Road Safety Division will no longer exist.
Superintendent Bob Rennie has been the head of road safety for 4 years - the longest standing officer in the position.
He was the driving force behind many of the high-profile campaigns against drink-driving and speeding that has seen the Territory’s road toll plummet this year.
It continues:
- Supt Rennie is said to be privately furious over the decision to dismantle the road safety command.
That is what the NT News said. I am interested to hear why we got rid of the safety division. I understand it was turned into the Greater Darwin Support Division, under the Greater Darwin Regional Command. Bob Rennie became responsible for Watch Commander, Traffic Enforcement, Speed Cameras, Darwin City Watch-house, First Response Patrol, Youth Crime Unit, Scene of Crime Officers, Domestic and Personal Violence Protection Unit, and the Commander’s Tactical Unit. His road safety colleagues will merge with existing units.
I am interested to know whether the restructure has been a good thing. I understand there were many unhappy police who did not really like those changes. Following on from that, and I believe linked to it, there was a media release by the Northern Territory Police on the 26 June 2009 in relation to the Major Crash Investigation Section, and I quote:
- A Major Crash Investigation Section will be established as part of an on-going organisational restructure within the Northern Territory Police.
It continues:
- The creation of a Major Crash Investigation Section was one of the recommendations to come from an external review of motor vehicle crash investigations within the NT Police.
The establishment of the section aims to achieve a higher standard of investigations and ultimately enhance crash investigation capabilities.
I was approached by someone who has some knowledge of this, who said this change had been for the worse, and the only reason the police had changed the existing situation was because of a Coronial inquest, where the judge made a recommendation and, I believe, some of the police feel that recommendation was not strong enough to make the changes that occurred. I am told that is the basis of how some of these changes came into being.
I quote again from the media release:
- The changes will not affect our ability to provide our other policing services, for example, the traffic enforcement unit currently have carriage of fatal vehicle crash investigation files as well as conducting other road safety and enforcement activities. As the implementation takes effect the most serious investigation will be assigned to the specialist Section.
I am not an expert on the structure of the police, but these matters relate to road safety. I read what it said in the paper, and I have been contacted by a number of people who are very unhappy about the restructure. Also, I understand – and it would be good to get clarification - this new Major Crash Investigation Section is not as good as the previous investigation section. I will stand corrected, but I have had people come to me who are very close to the situation, and they would not have come to see me if they did not have some concerns about this aspect of road safety. It is really important not only for the government to have all these programs put in place - and they are very good programs - but you also have to investigate crashes so you can gain a better understanding of why accidents occur, and therefore set programs to aim at trying to reduce traffic accidents based on the information from those accidents.
You did have an NT Road Safety Division, which no longer exists. I believe, by getting rid of that name, people tend to say the government is not giving it much priority, because you have absorbed it into something else. Whereas, on its own, it tended to be a proactive part of policing, going out and saying we are concerned about road safety, and we are not just being reactive; going to car accidents and having the sad part of telling people their son, daughter or someone has been killed. The reactive part is also the investigation afterwards but, by having the NT Road Safety Division you sent out a message of being proactive within the police force. I stand to be corrected on some of those issues which have been raised with me, but I thought this was an opportunity to speak about them.
Another issue - you might feel this is not quite within the realms of this statement - but it was put to me the new red light and speed cameras are contracted to a private company. We have just passed some laws about declared organisations and, within those laws, there are certain businesses you cannot belong to. One of the issues raised was: could a person, from one of these declared organisations, start to work for the contractor – it might not be a person from the declared organisation, but someone they put into that business - would they be capable of connecting into the police system by using information from the traffic light cameras? The traffic light and the red light cameras connect into the fines unit somewhere - they go into a database and hold information about each and every one of us. It would be good to know whether there is any risk someone could work for the company which has the contract for the red light cameras, and be able to get in and misuse information through that process.
I want to talk on - and you mentioned it, minister - is Indigenous issues in relation to road safety. I was surprised. I received some of those figures you gave us on the number of injuries and fatalities in the Territory over the last five years, which provided some averages. This is where you get the problem of generalising that more Aboriginal people die on the roads than non-Aboriginal people, and more Aboriginal people are involved in accidents than non-Aboriginal people. But, when you look at the figures - I do not have the figures in front of me, but I was looking at them before - the difference is not so great. Many non-Indigenous people end up in hospital with injuries, many more than Indigenous people. The population does have an effect and, also, the number of people who own cars, so you cannot use that as a baseline and make too many estimates from those figures.
Sometimes we can generalise and say Aboriginal people are driving and drinking, many people are hurt in one accident, and it ends up on the front page of the newspaper. But, in reality, there are many non-Indigenous people who are just as bad when it comes to driving.
I say, in relation to Indigenous communities, we have to try to put road safety as a high priority. I laugh a little - I do not know who spent the money - because I have been to quite a few Aboriginal communities in recent times, and there are big signs out the front which must have cost a fortune - they are not the intervention signs. I do not know if they went to school, but the signs say: ‘Look for children’. I do not know where the grammar came from, or if they want to try to cut out words and save money, but, ‘Look Out for Children’ is what you would normally say. ‘Look for children’ means you will look around for them. I wonder about who it was who invented those signs. I do not believe it helped the road safety campaign in Indigenous communities.
We need to have programs which focus on those communities. I read some reports from Western Australia, Queensland, and Victoria …
Mr KNIGHT: You are rushing. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member of for Nelson to finish his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: I have been reading some reports from Victoria on programs set up specifically to help Indigenous people with road safety. Most of us know, if you go out bush, you often see a car full of people and there is no way they all have seat belts on. You probably see cars which are not even roadworthy. The reality of life in the bush is that is how you are going to get around sometimes. We changed certain things even in Indigenous communities. When I first went to Daly River, we all sat in the back of the truck. We had an entire school sleeping in the back of a big truck going home, from the show, and we thought nothing of it. We thought it was a pain in the butt when they came along and said you cannot sit in the back of the truck anymore.
They put on all those big cages, and I am not sure if that was worse. If you were thrown around in the back in the big cage, you may have had more damage. Eventually, we have at least changed some of those ideas. You will have to get a better vehicle if you want to cart large numbers of people around. I believe the big issues - like for the rest of us - will be drink-driving and seat belts. I am not sure if some of the vehicles I see out bush can get up to fast speed, although people can drive erratically even at a low speed, go around a corner at an inappropriate speed, or drive at an inappropriate speed on corrugated roads.
We should not forget the government’s responsibility is to maintain the roads. I know it is very difficult, with the amount of money and the number of roads. But, when I went out to Hermannsburg about three or four weeks ago - you go past Hermannsburg on the way to Areyonga - the corrugations are first class. They are nearly a tourist attraction, because they are so big and deep. By gee, you know you are on a corrugated road. On those kinds of roads, if you do not know how to handle the corrugations, it can be very dangerous. We need to have programs which concentrate on people living in remote areas, and another factor is tourists.
We know there have been a number of fatalities in the Northern Territory, which, from my reading, and from what I have heard, involved people who come from Europe or America, who drive on the right-hand side of the road, and sometimes forget we drive on the left-hand side of the road. I know a couple of cases where that is what the Coroner said, that someone had driven on the wrong side of the road. Recently, there was a poor motorcyclist killed near Coomalie Creek who was on the wrong side of the road. He was Dutch, I believe, and it looks like he must have driven out on to the road, as if he was at home, and went straight into a car.
We need to tell tourists continually. I see the odd sign saying that you must drive on the left-hand side, but that is an area we should promote. I have been to America, and I drove the car a little way in the country, out in the farming area, and you have to think all the time when you are on a different road system; it only takes one mistake and it could be fatal.
Minister, thank you for your statement. I do not believe anyone will be knocking your programs. But there will be issues raised concerning the speed limit and drink-driving. In relation to drink-driving, and whether a car can be forfeited, I believe it is worth looking at, along with the issue of unroadworthy or unregistered cars. Thank you, minister, for your statement.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, before I speak on this, I commend the minister for doing something. Unfortunately, these days, we see many things coming from the government which are just rhetoric. To give credit where credit is due, it is good that someone is doing something and someone is making some decisions.
I will discuss some of those decisions, but before I do, I qualify a few things before we start. I believe the police are doing a fabulous job, given the resources and the management they have. Average police officers are working extremely hard and putting in much, because they are community-minded members.
As a former police officer, volunteer firefighter, and volunteer ambulance driver, who has attended accidents in these roles, I have seen the carnage accidents create in our community. Not only that, but also the carnage to the families that are left. You watch what happens to families when you knock on their door, and you have to tell them a loved one has been tragically killed or, in some cases, you have to go and see relatives and tell them, tragically, an entire family has been taken out by a drunk driver, or some other stupid idiot, cruising around on our roads. With that in mind, I will address a couple of things.
The minister said in his speech – it is not exact, I tried to write it down, but I will get as close as I can - he asked everyone to change their ways and restrain their children; I commend the minister for doing that. I do recall though, a former ALP minister, Dr Toyne, pleading to people to stop committing crime, and sometimes I believe these pleas fall on deaf ears. As the member for Nelson pointed out, in the bush some things are a little different; people say it is different, but I do not necessarily agree that is the way it should be. I believe it is beholden on us, as leaders in the community, to establish programs to get people educated about the dangers.
The Chief Minister pointed out a number of issues. He asserted that the CLP deliberately disbanded the Traffic Unit in the early 1990s. That is true; the traffic section was disbanded and multiskilling was taken up. I believe the reason was – and I do not have the Cabinet documents –because the ALP government in Canberra slashed the budget, which was common in the police force at the time. With the stroke of a pen, my understanding is that $258m - and I will stand corrected – but a substantial part of the budget, it was between 20% and 30% of the budget, and with the stroke of a pen, in the recession we had to have, caused by our friend, and members from the other sides friend, Mr Keating. There was a period when the Northern Territory Police Force, and also health, education, and the public service, were not sure whether they were going to be paid, because of the mismanagement of the economy by the Labor government, which was then in power in Canberra.
To assert we deliberately disbanded the traffic section, for some reason - because we do not like people, we are incompetent or whatever - is not true. There were severe financial restraints on the Territory, and I am sure any government in power, which had between 20% and 30% of its budget cut, would be in a little trouble. Around the public service at the moment, I know public servants and CEOs have been asked to cut their budgets. If you asked them to cut their budgets by somewhere between 20% and 30%, I believe you would have an enormous human outcry. But to do it to the Territory seems to be fine, and the people on the other side do not seem to acknowledge, or want to acknowledge, that is the case.
For instance, in the first year of this government introducing the 130 km/h speed limit, I understand the death toll on the roads almost doubled. I hear the other side, which says this is fabulous; it is a great idea. I do not dispute that some things they are saying are great ideas, and these things do not happen overnight - I understand that. But when you do something, which you claim is going to make a huge difference, and your death toll doubles, it says something about the research and the statements the government made at the time.
The Chief Minister went on to say, in relation to the reduction of speed limits, that police in the Northern Territory wanted to go even further, maybe that is a few who he talked to. However, the general consensus of police officers - and I was in the police force at the time - was not that. In fact, I recall speaking to senior police officers from Western Australia, who said they were pushing the government there to increase the speed limit from 100 km/h or 110 km/h to 130 km/h, for all the reasons I have heard articulated from this side of the House this afternoon, including fatigue. Fatigue is an enormous killer, and you only have to look at some of the statistics. I hear the government saying that reducing the speed limit is going to fix the road toll.
There are other factors I will address, which brings me to the minister’s statement, in relation to education, because that is one part of a toolbox of things we will need to fix the problem. Why is it the Northern Territory Police Association wants an independent inquiry into the allocation of police resources? Great question. I hear members of the government saying, we are doing this, we are doing that, it is fantastic, it is wonderful. Yet, the Northern Territory Police Association want an independent inquiry into where police resources are being put.
For instance, we have 300 extra police; I hear the Chief Minister say we have 300 extra police. Throughout my police career, I have often thought about what is important, and where the priorities are, in policing.
When I was a police officer, if I was going around to get a statement from someone, and I saw someone drive through a red light, my priority immediately changed, and I would go after the person who just sped through the red light. That is a natural reaction of most police officers, given they have the ability to do it, and they have the desire or the training to switch and do those types of things.
If someone takes your TV set, it is a terrible thing, and I have been to many places and spoken to many people who have lost, tragically lost, much personal property, and it is a tragedy, which brings devastation to people. However, when you go to a traffic accident - and there are a number of people on this side of the House who have been to more traffic accidents than they care to remember - and you do some of the things you have to do at traffic accidents. I recall my colleague, the member for Katherine, saying he did not want to graphically describe some of those things, because we do not know who is listening to this broadcast. But, perhaps we should make training available, where people can have a look at the carnage and destruction caused by that sort of thing, so they are actually aware of it. I believe it might be a good thing, and something we need to look at.
But if you have your TV set stolen or you lose someone in a traffic accident, I am pretty sure most people in this House, and most people listening and watching this, would agree that losing someone in a traffic accident or having someone horrifically maimed, is more serious than losing your TV set.
The 300 extra police officers the Chief Minister is so proud of, and says this is where we are going, but looking at the data tabled by the Police minister, in response to a question during Estimates this year, there are a number of figures: Road Safety and Darwin Property Division, Northern Traffic Operations - 12; Traffic Camera Unit - 4; Alice Springs and Southern Command Southern Traffic Operations – 9; Katherine and Western Operational Services Division, that is Essential Traffic Operations - 4. This adds up to 29 people out of 1200, which is 2.41% of the police force. The government says how great it is doing and how important this issue is, and says, we need to do this and we need to do that, and currently it has 2.41% of the police force involved in traffic duties.
When I was a member, just over a year ago - and I recall when this came in - but prior to this increase in the traffic section, there were only about six people in what was then the Accident Investigation Unit in Darwin. In fact, most of the time I believe there were only about three or four, because some were on leave, some were on sick leave, on long service leave, and all the other things that naturally occur in any organisation; so we did not have many at all. I note the member for Nelson asked if there is really a traffic section out there, because you do not often see these people out there. I wonder whether these positions are filled to the maximum capacity of 29 people.
Of the new 300 police - and I tried to be generous - I believe we might have an increase of six in Darwin, the Traffic Camera Unit of four people already existed; there may have been two in Alice Springs and there are now nine, so perhaps they have found seven extra; and in Katherine – none - so I have given them four. There are 17 new police officers who may have gone in there, it maybe lower, but not any higher. That is 5.6% of all the new recruits the Chief Minister so proudly says this government has achieved. Mind you, he has done that with an extra, at least, $1.3bn and the rivers of gold from the GST. It is great if I can help a neighbour, if I win Tattslotto and I have much more money, I can go out and help, as I do with the Salvation Army, the Red Cross - all those things I support - I can help them in a far greater capacity if I had this windfall of money.
I find it quite amazing the government says: ‘We have done this, we have done that, we have provided more money than the CLP ever put in’. Things have moved on, budget-wise, with the amount of money the Territory is allocated since the government won the election in 2001. The GST has been a real windfall for this government to be able to do many things for the Territory. I admit there have been some good things done for the Territory with that money; mind you, I also think there has been huge wastage, and some golden opportunities missed, due to the mismanagement by the Treasurer.
There you go; 2.4% is what the government wants to put out there to fight a horrific situation in our community, with horrific results. There are plenty of people to look out for your stolen TV set - and I accept we need those - but not many to look after the traffic accidents. None more so, than the Aboriginal people living in communities, who are well and truly over-represented in the statistics of those who are killed and maimed.
I ask the minister, as a result of his statement and some of the information he has from our side of the House, to take note of some of those things, deliver some education packages, and put some money into it.
Speaking of money, I understand - I did some quick calculations earlier, and I stand to be corrected – someone said 17 000 vehicles had been checked over four weeks going through currently non-operational red light cameras . If they are all a minimum of $100 per ticket, there is a truckload of money which could be flowing into road safety education and road safety enforcement. I accept there is a whole raft of things governments and people have to do, to prevent and reduce the road toll. Obviously, it is the goal of governments, oppositions, Independents, and any other interested parties to reduce the carnage on our roads and the horrific results some families have to face after their loved ones are lost.
I quote from page 1 of the minister’s statement:
- A reduction in our road toll will require a change in driving culture - and this will take time.
Well, it is, and it is legislation, enforcement, education, and real consequences. Real consequences, so when police officers go out and do much hard work and many investigations, when they go to court, the courts hand sentences out. I recall, years ago, when you went to court for DUI, a magistrate was required to say to defendants when they were convicted, and they were giving out the sentence: ‘You are disqualified from driving for a period of time and, are you aware that if you drive disqualified, you will probably go to gaol’. In fact, I believe they used to say: ‘You will go to gaol’. Because most people, as I recall in those days, went to gaol. If you were caught driving disqualified, it was a serious offence. You were supposed to be doing some time to make you think about whether you drink and drive the next time.
But, these days, there are many instances I have heard about from serving police officers, when I was in the police force myself, and since then, where people drive disqualified, go to court, come up with a great story, and they do not seem to go to gaol. They might get home detention, a fine, or a suspended sentence. I have heard of people being gaoled to the rising of court, or they are in gaol for two weeks and, in 10 days, they are out. That is an issue, probably not for this debate, when people are being released, prior to their sentence being served, because the gaol is full and they seem to be able to get out a few days early. Maybe that is for good behaviour.
I will now move on with the statement, part of which says, and I quote:
- I would like to start with education and awareness.
I recall, in November 2001 – actually, I will come back to that one. I am sure that the minister, as a former teacher, would agree that early intervention is so important, it is probably the basis of everything, and, as a community, we should be supporting early intervention, and that means we start as young as possible to get people to understand what the rules are. I recall my mother teaching me rules, from when I can actually remember, probably before I can remember, but always instructing and teaching, about what is right and wrong, but learning as a child of, say, two years of age, and I believe it is very important we do this. Even in preschool, Transition and Year 1, we need to be there teaching these young people about road safety, drug education, and a whole raft of things. Numeracy and literacy is great, but if you are dead, it is no good to you.
As a community, we spend much time, effort, love, and care to get young people to an age, to adulthood; it takes much blood, sweat, and tears by parents and by the community, and to have them killed in car accidents, because they have not had that part of their education fulfilled, or to have them killed by drug abuse or something, it is terrible. So, I agree, start with education and awareness.
I recall, in November 2001, the then minister for Police, Syd Stirling, who was the member for Nhulunbuy, sent a letter to the police department, and said, ‘scrap school-based policing, we do not need it, see you later’. This caused a huge outcry across the Territory, and the community put so much pressure on the government, that it did a backflip and it did not actually get rid of it. The government had a review, which came out in 2003 - and I will not go into the results of that review - but the government wanted to can …
Mr CHANDLER: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the member be given extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr STYLES: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker and thank you members. This is a government that was prepared to get rid of something which was seen by the community as an excellent arm to teach young people a whole range of things. Much of what school-based police officers used to do was teach about road safety and drug education. The DARE program, which is an acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is what many people - not just me – many teachers and young people, who see me from time to time, say how it influenced them.
There is one particular young Territorian, and I will not mention names, who we are all immensely proud of, who said to me recently: ‘You know, I go places, and I am offered drugs all the time, but I remember what you said and what you taught me’. I run into many young people who say that, given that I taught just under 40 000 of those young people around the Territory, it is fabulous when they come back and tell you they are on the straight and narrow because you had a large part to do with educating them about what to do and what not to do, backed up by other people in the community and their parents. It is also about road education and road safety.
I was appalled when the government closed the Road Safety section in Parap. Everyone in the community was saying, do not do it, where are our kids going to go, where are they going to learn? When you talk about starting with education awareness, why would the government shut the Road Safety Centre in Parap? Fortunately for the community, there has been enough pressure on the government to have it reopened. But I hear people say: ‘I am very proud to reopen the road safety’, well, why did you close it in the first place? These principles you put in these statements are about early intervention.
When we talk about young people - and young people are our future, I understand they are 18% of our population and 100% of our future - it is beholden on us, as community leaders, to make sure we give them the best possible education we can, along the broadest range of issues and problems out there, so they are better prepared. I often used to teach young people about knowledge, and I used to say to them, when you make a decision, at whatever point in your life, you make it based on the amount of information you have at that very minute, not what you learn tomorrow, but what you have learned, what you have been told and what you remembered, and you make that decision and you wear the consequences of it. If you get some more information the next day, you would probably make a different decision, as we do in this House.
We debate things, we gain new information, and we go away and think, maybe people have a point, and we make a different decision, based on the knowledge we have. It is our responsibility, as leaders in the community, to make sure we give these young people, and anyone in the community, the knowledge to make the decisions. How do we do that? We need to have good education programs. How do you have good education programs in school? You have raft of people, with credibility, who come in and give people information.
I noticed the school-based policing program, irrespective of what the government might like to say, does not seem to have the same level of support it had a number of years ago. I say that probably happened after November 2001, when the then minister for Police said to scrap the program. From that point on, my understanding is, the government, although it said it supports it, does not seem to be behind it. I believe it is important to have people, with a particular nature, to go in and impart knowledge to young people, to empower them; to empower young girls in the school not to put up with bullying, to give them a better understanding, and to give them the knowledge, so we can prevent them from getting run over, from getting into drugs and driving when they are drunk, and from getting the living day lights beaten out of them in domestic violence problems.
There is a whole raft of things, and I do not know whether people on the other side of this House understand the things you do have, the golden opportunities you have, to teach young people. Alas, we see the government does not seem to want to promote the school-based policing program very well, because there are so many other reactive issues. I understand there are operational concerns, but there are an extra 300 police officers, no wonder the Northern Territory Police Association wants an independent inquiry into where everyone is.
I quote again from the minister’s statement:
- Madam Speaker, I wanted to start with programs that mainly targeted schoolchildren because we have to get the message to our young people early.
There you go. I have just said a few things about that and, lo and behold, it is on page 3 of the statement. While I commend the minister and say, excellent, well done, it is a great statement, and I support that statement wholeheartedly, it is what you do about educating young people and how you do it; how you get the message across and get the message to stick. The minister is a former teacher, so perhaps he understands some of the things I am talking about. You have to get in and actually get people to like you, because if they do not they probably will not listen to you. You can go in with an iron fist, do all sorts of things and threaten people and other things, but you need people wanting to listen and learn.
There are people, apart from teachers, who have a whole raft of experience and knowledge, who can come in as guests and instructors and pass on valuable knowledge, because they tell real stories. They tell it as it is, they are not telling it out of a book. They tell real stories. Like the firies who come along and tell young people about what is like to have to cut off the top of a car so they can drag people out, some alive, some not; like the police officers who have to clean up the carnage of bodies at severe traffic accidents where there are multiple injuries and multiple deaths; and the ambos. These are the things we probably need to make available.
We go further into the statement, and I quote again:
- The list goes on - but we cannot underestimate the value of education and awareness activities.
But, when you have a government which has actually pulled back on awareness training and awareness activities, what do we have? We have downgraded programs with which to interact with young people and we have restrictions placed on the amount of time you can impart this type of knowledge to people. These are the things I have asked the government to look at and consider.
The next point says:
- … reckless and dangerous behaviour on our roads is unacceptable.
I congratulate the government on putting in red light cameras. I believe they are a great idea, but they are only one part of the tools. Given we had 17 000 go through and get sprung in a month, once the money starts to come in, I ask the government to consider putting it into education and enforcement, and, if we need to, increase the police force, or increase the numbers from 2.41% involved in traffic to a much higher figure, so we have people out there doing proactive patrolling and getting the message out.
There is a difference between speed cameras and real police officers. The speed cameras do not determine whether people are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, fatigued, have a driver’s licence, or driving disqualified. It is simply someone pays some money. I believe it is a great idea, but it is only a small part. Having real police officers being able to apprehend people and then ascertain a whole raft of things, like whether these people are drunk, under the influence of drugs, or whatever.
There many reasons why we need police officers to complement all these other measures. But with only 2.4% of the police force tied up with that, and with the number of fatals some of these police officers have to investigate, it takes up much of their time, so they are not out patrolling or catching people. I have said this before in the House: the number of people who sail through red lights in this town is an absolute tragedy. Maybe the government will have to put a red light camera on every set of traffic lights to get that to stop. I note the member for Johnston said earlier, what do we have to do? Maybe that is what we have to do.
There is so much more I wanted to say on this, but I note we are fighting the clock. I congratulate someone in the government for making some decisions, although they probably need many more.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I have not read such a load of back-slapping garbage since the last statement came out in this House. The propaganda puff pieces this government is prepared to deliver and spend good taxpayers’ money debating for five or six hours every day this parliament sits is incredible. How many bills have we debated this week, or this sittings?
A member: Not many.
Mr CONLAN: I believe three. We have introduced a couple. We have done about three bills; a couple of those went into committee. If it was not for the Health bill yesterday, which took one and a half hours- it took three days to come on, but one-and-a-half hours in committee stage. Thank goodness the opposition had the nous to introduce a matter of public importance; that was debated for at least two hours. But what if the opposition had not highlighted some of the deficiencies in the Hospital Boards Bill and was able to spend an hour-and-a-half debating, or negotiating those amendments with the government, and spent two hours debating the MPI? Where would we be? We would be running out of time quick smart. This would be the only parliament in Australia that spends five or six hours every day debating propaganda puff pieces to back-slap the government.
No one else does it. No other parliament in this country would spend eight days debating these puff pieces, and most of them go for 30 or 40 minutes; this one is 10 pages long, and there is nothing in it. In fact, the minister basically gave us a run-down, a prcis version of the statement in Question Time today. He has repeated himself about three or four times. The whole thing is repetitive, because he spent a good 10 minutes in Question Time today informing us, basically, what was coming up in this statement.
We started this at about 3.30 pm or 4 pm, and it is now 7.30 pm, if I take up 20 minutes and the minister responds, given no other member on the opposite side of the House speaks again, takes us to at least 8 pm, and then what happens? What do we do? Do we adjourn the House? We are already knocking off at 9 pm and you are spending five or six hours, every day, talking about nonsense, back-slapping, your own rubbish. It is shameful.
This parliament costs $7000 an hour; that is the guesstimate figure I have been told by staff in the building. We are spending five, six, seven hours a day introducing statements, to talk up the government, to make yourselves feel good. You obviously have some problem with the opposition. Obviously, the opposition has something on you guys, because you spend half of your time talking about the opposition. You talk about this bill, and half this stuff is talking about how bad the opposition is. Even in your own statement, you cannot talk about how good you guys are. Although you make a pretty good attempt though, I have to say.
I cannot believe the eight days we have spent in this Chamber, this is the eighth ministerial propaganda puff piece introduced into this parliament. It is incredible - absolutely dumbfounding. As I say, there is no other parliament in the country which does this. Even your defunct Labor mates, in the other states, do not do it. The Queensland parliamentary website shows they do one each morning, between the Premier and the Opposition Leader, which lasts for about half-an-hour. At least they have some bills to introduce, debating legislation, taking things into committee; they are trying to get on with the business of governing Queensland. It is the same with your other defunct Labor mates. I am astounded. This has been going on every day of the two-and-a-half years I have been in the parliament. Every day we come in, and you guys table another ministerial statement …
A member: About nothing.
Mr CONLAN: About absolutely nothing. This one is really quite pathetic. Some might have a little substance; this one has nothing. Plus the minister gave us a run down in Question Time today. He has even repeated himself. He mentioned ‘world best practice’ three or four times.
Effectively, we added an extra day to the parliament. What for? Why have we added an extra day to the sittings? It is not like we have much work to do. We have plenty of work to do on this side, but you guys, obviously, have nothing to do. Obviously, there is nothing for you to do, and yet you want to tack another day on parliament. For what? Nothing. For a propaganda puff piece. It is an outstanding example of your pathetic-ness. And …
Mr Giles: Nothing is working in the Territory.
Mr CONLAN: I beg your pardon?
Mr Giles: Nothing is working in the Territory; there are no houses being built.
Mr CONLAN: I want to get to that. I have to take it up with the member for Johnston, because he did say they are evidence-based. The member for Port Darwin raised the issue of evidence-based, and highlighted how fundamentally flawed that was from the member for Johnston.
But, if you were committed to evidence-based approaches - we have already seen last week your complete disrespectful dismissal of the AMA’s report into hospital waiting lists across the country, and the state of our hospitals - there is some evidence for you. But, no, it does not suit you to accept that, because it paints a pretty grim picture. It is also backed up by The state of our public hospitals report, which is compiled by the Commonwealth government’s Department of Health and Ageing, and it painted an appalling picture of our hospitals ...
Mr Tollner: Their own comrades.
Mr CONLAN: Your own comrades, exactly. Your own Labor mates in Canberra have highlighted how appalling our hospitals are in the Northern Territory. For the record, it is not a shot at our hospital staff, they are working under tremendous pressures, because you are putting them under tremendous pressures. This government is putting our hospital staff under enormous unfair pressures, not to mention the bureaucratic red tape running our hospital system. It is almost impossible to encourage health professionals to come to the Northern Territory because of the red tape. The amount of paperwork you have to shuffle back and forth to get on the payroll, or to get some accommodation in the Northern Territory, no wonder we are not getting people here.
If you want an evidence-based model, member for Johnston and member for Barkly, then, let us take evidence-based models, but let us not just throw out the ones that suit you, rather, dismiss the ones that do not suit you and accept the ones that do suit you. Let us look at that. The Minister for Health’s approach to last week’s questions, on the Australian Medical Association’s report on our hospitals, was a disgrace. How disrespectful can you get? He stopped short of calling the facts and figures in the report mistruths. We are talking about a credible organisation, not just a bunch of cowboys. These guys know what they are talking about, surely. But no, it does not suit the government to accept that. So, let us accept evidence-based reports, or let us make decisions on these evidence-based reports, but let us do it for everything, not just what suits you.
What has this government done with Freedom of Information requests? It has made it just about impossible for anyone to access information from the Northern Territory government. I believe there were 1200 or so FOI requests approved. Do you know how many were not approved? 330 000-plus. That is 330 000-plus Freedom of Information requests not approved by the Northern Territory government. Half of those, I was reading on the ABC website, were lost, and they could not find the information because it had disappeared somewhere.
To come into this parliament to debate legislation, as legislators, which we all, particularly the government, like to proclaim, ‘we are legislators and we are here to legislate, make laws for the Northern Territory, and make it a better and safer place’. All you are trying to do is wrap us all up in cotton wool and make everything so damn hard in this place it is hardly worth being here. It is an absolute shocker. Honestly. Then you turn up with these ministerial statements. I cannot understand how an elected government has nothing else to do. I have not seen the new Minister for Health introduce a ministerial statement, by the way. Hasn’t the new Minister for Health got much to say? In fact, in my two-and-a-half years in this parliament, I have debated one …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Standing Order 67, Digression from subject. The member has been on his feet for nearly 10 minutes. This is a statement about road safety, and I understand …
Members interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: … I am sure there are people, I am sure the Australian Royal College of Surgeons, the College of Emergency Physicians, and the AMA are interested in what he has to say about road safety and how it impacts on our hospital and health system, so let us get on with it.
Mr ELFERINK: Speaking to the point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The member for Greatorex is constructing an argument about the government’s attitude to a number of things, including road safety, and he is constructing that argument by way of reflecting on other attitudes, and I believe it is entirely to the point and legitimate.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Member for Greatorex, I appreciate the standing order the member for Johnston referred to. I ask you to be relevant to the statement. I am prepared to give leniency in this instance. You have the call.
Mr CONLAN: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. In fact, the argument that I am developing is about statements as a whole, and about the waste of parliamentary time these statements have become. You have nothing else to do, no legislation, no governance. You have lost the battle on just about everything. You have lost the battle on law and order, completely dropped the ball, completely lost the ball …
Ms Scrymgour: You are so bitter, you are so bitter.
Mr CONLAN: That is interesting. I will take up the interjections by the member for Arafura, the most senior Aboriginal politician in the Northern Territory. When she was a minister, Deputy Chief Minister and Indigenous Affairs Minister, how many media releases did she put out as Indigenous Affairs minister in her time?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I believe actions speak louder than media releases.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Member for Greatorex, you have the call.
Mr CONLAN: They should, but in this case they did not. How many ministerial statements?
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! The member for Greatorex has been in this place long enough to direct his comments through the Chair.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Johnston. Member for Greatorex, before you resume, I remind members of Standing Order 51.
- No Member may converse aloud or make any noise or disturbance which in the opinion of the Speaker …
- … is designed to interrupt or has the effect of interrupting a Member speaking.
At the moment the member for Greatorex has the call. I ask the member to stand and speak. I also ask the member for Greatorex, if he can, to be relevant to the statement.
Mr CONLAN: It is about statements. It is about statements overall, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Like this statement, and the member for Arafura: how many statements did she introduce on Aboriginal affairs, or Aboriginal issues when she was Aboriginal affairs minister? The answer is zero, none at all. She clearly had nothing to say on the issue.
Yet, the member for Barkly has 10 pages or so of nothing. We heard it all before when he wanted to waste our Question Time, mind you, that was directed towards the member for Arnhem, the Minister for Children and Families. There were very serious issues the Minister for Children and Families had no idea about; she could not answer the questions, she has no grip on her portfolio. That was too much for the government, so the minister got up and started to waste time about issues that were already highlighted in this statement and would be brought on later in the day.
Again, we are seeing time wasting, on so many levels, in this parliament by the Northern Territory government. I cannot believe they not only introduced an extra day in parliament, yet spent that whole day talking about nothing. The whole day talking about statements, back-slapping, patting each other on the back, about how great we are and what we are doing. Everyone knows you are not doing anything at all. We had the members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy supporting a bill which had seven or eight amendments made to it. We still do not know which particular bill they were supporting.
Clearly they need to read these bills first. If the member for Nhulunbuy had her way, she would have passed this bill, and then we would have seen the hospital boards diminish to where they would have been suspended, amalgamated or abolished. That is the way she would have liked it. The same with the member for Barkly, getting up and blindly supporting bills as they come through. You have a great history of not reading bills and then standing up and supporting them.
Members interjecting.
Mr CONLAN: You are the government. That is the point. You are the government, and 12 months ago you had a 19 seat majority, you just passed everything. You all got up and said: ‘This is so fantastic, we are going to support this bill. This is a great bill. Fantastic. The best bill we have ever seen. All those in favour say aye, aye’, and the bill goes through. Then we find out there is a whole stack of errors in the bill and we have to revisit the thing later. Thank goodness the opposition had the nous and the wit to pick up on some of these issues in the biggest bill which has gone through, one of only three bills which have gone through this parliament in the last eight days.
We have spent eight days in this House, debating three bills, which we could have done in one day. Let us take out that one day, we have seven days, and we have spent seven days with propaganda puff pieces like this. That is all you have.
To the member for Nhulunbuy and the member for Barkly, I believe you owe the opposition a great deal, because we have single-handedly saved your hospital boards. If the government had its way, and the opposition had not highlighted these deficiencies, with the support of the member for Nelson - thank goodness the member for Nelson is here to help with this - then we would have lost hospital boards. There is no doubt about it. The member for Johnston and the Minister for Health know it. Thank goodness the Minister for Health, I believe, has the wit to appreciate what his department is trying to do with these hospital boards. But, no, it was okay for the member for Nhulunbuy; she got up and blindly supported the bill without even reading it. The members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy did not read the bill. I mean, how pathetic …
Ms Walker: Wrong.
Mr CONLAN: If she had read the bill, why did she support it? Do you not support the amendments approved by your government?
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The member for Greatorex knows he should be addressing his comments through the Chair.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, I accept that.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, if you could do it through the Chair, and if you could try to come to the point which relates to the ministerial statement. Thank you.
Mr CONLAN: It is all about statements, Madam Speaker, statements as a whole, and it is about the ridiculous situation we have in this parliament about wasting parliamentary time and wasting Territorians’ time, at great expense, by introducing propaganda puff pieces day after day.
Dr Burns: Where do you stand on the 130 km/h? Come on, let us hear it.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: I believe you know very well where we stand on this.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, can I draw your attention to Standing Order 51?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, you may have noticed I called order, so I would appreciate you not reflecting on the Chair in that manner.
Mr CONLAN: Definitely, Madam Speaker.
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the member be given 10 minutes extension to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, if the members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy had read the bill, I am confused why they would have supported it, considering their own government accepted amendments and put amendments through.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I call relevance again. This member has been on his feet now for 20 minutes and he has not really addressed any of the elements in relation to road safety. As the shadow Health minister, I am sure those in the health sector are very interested in what he has to say about 130 km/h and a whole range of issues related to road safety …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker. This is the fifth or sixth time the member for Johnston has called a point of order, taking time off the member for Greatorex …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, resume your seat, thank you. Resume your seat, member for Greatorex. We have before us a statement relating to road safety transport. Standing Order 67 relates to no digression from the subject. Member for Greatorex, while there is a fair amount of latitude, it would be important to actually mention road safety, rather than the health board’s legislation, which has already been passed in this House. You would be aware that there are other standing orders relating to comments on legislation already passed in the same sittings. Member for Greatorex, please continue and bear those things in mind.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, I will be getting to road safety as I develop my argument, but hospital boards are integral to road safety. Clearly, it is about health service delivery in our regions and our regional hospitals. If it was up to the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly, I am sure they just would have passed the bill. They got up and supported it in its entirety; they said it was a great bill. Yet we had seven or eight amendments accepted by the government, in fact, many of those proposed by the government, so obviously there is some disconnect between what is going on with the members for Barkly and Nhulunbuy, and the reality of what is happening with the bill. I am not sure what happened there, but the members did not read the bill, and we have seen that happen many times.
This is just a puff piece, they are such great words, ‘puff piece’. It is the old radio slogan. If you have to fill up a little time, you have nothing else to do, so let us pad out for a bit. This is what is happening with this government. They have nothing else to do. We have spent eight days in this place and we have debated three bills which could have been done in one day, and the other seven days is taken up wasting everyone’s time - Territorians’ time, members’ time, staff time, the general public’s time and, of course, taxpayers’ money.
I want to see a statement introduced into this House on health. I would like to see the new Minister for Health introduce a statement. The last statement I debated in this House on health was the Building Better Hospitals statement, which was not long after I was first elected, it was probably the first sittings, August 2007 ...
Mr Tollner: Who was the minister?
Mr CONLAN: The minister was the member for Johnston. We have seen much happen there, obviously. The Minister for Health is also the Minister for Alcohol Policy, and we have seen nothing from him on that, which is integral to road safety. We have heard that mentioned all throughout the debate tonight - for the last six hours - alcohol on our roads, yet we have not has a statement from the minister on alcohol policy.
This is a government which has failed to get a grip on law and order. We have a 65% rise in violent crime, in fact, 65% of assaults in Alice Springs last year were alcohol-related. The recently released June quarter crime statistics show that offences against the person jumped 25% in Alice Springs, sexual assaults nearly doubled, property offences remain unacceptably high, and motor vehicle thefts and related offences have more than doubled. That is just in Alice Springs. We have a government which has failed to get a grip on the alcohol issue.
Their answer is to shut down business and to deprive people of choice. They think restricting trading hours is going to stop people buying alcohol, but opening the bottle shop at 10 am or earlier is not going to create any more drunks. Obviously you do not come from a background of small business or private enterprise. None of you have any idea of what happens in the retail sector, or how retail works. Opening earlier or later does not generate more business; it just shifts it. I can tell you that from personal experience. If you open at 5 pm instead of 12 o’clock, people sleep in and shop after lunch. It is a fact; that is what happens.
Opening the bottle shops at 10 am is not going to create a whole bunch of new drunks, because the same people will go in and shop earlier. It is a fact; ask any bottle shop or any key retailer about trading hours, extended trading hours or restricted trading hours, and they will tell you there has not been a decrease in sales because of a 2 pm trade in Alice Springs. Absolutely not. What happens on Saturday mornings in Alice Springs, for example? The bottle shops can open at 10 am. Do we see more sales? No. We see the same amount of sales, just people buying earlier. That is a fact. If you have any concept of small business or retail, then you would understand that. But, you do not. I do not know what your backgrounds are, but it clearly is not from a small business background. If it is not, it is a shame because, if we had more of that expertise in the executive, then we might see some real decisions made.
The member for Johnston is waving his Pharmacy Guild tie. I ask the member for Johnston, through you, Madam Speaker, did the he run a small pharmacy?
Madam SPEAKER: This is not Question Time, member for Greatorex.
Dr Burns: I did.
Mr CONLAN: Can you tell me then, I am interested to know …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, direct your comments through the Chair, please.
Mr CONLAN: I am interested to know about the trading patterns of a small pharmacy, because a small pharmacy is a retail business, and if it was open later, or for longer or shorter periods of time, do you sell any more prescriptions? Are more people coming in? No. Those people are coming in and filling the prescriptions at a different time. That is all; it is as simple as that.
This government has lost the fight on hospital waiting lists. It will not accept evidence-based data when it is damning data. We have seen that with the Australian Medical Association Report into hospitals last week. Yet the member for Johnston will stand here and say, the road safety business with the 130 km/h speed limit, they said, these are the facts and figures. If that is the case, why do you not accept what the AMA has to say about hospitals? You have already been disproved by the member for Port Darwin about your evidence-based stuff anyway, because if it was evidence-based, the speed limits would be 110 km/h. That is clear.
The minister talked about families in his statement. But, what are you doing about Acacia Hill School? What about the families of children at Acacia Hill School in Alice Springs? This government is presiding over a government school, which has breached 75 or more disability policies. There was an audit done in 2005, there were 75 breaches of access, doorways not right, no ramps. There are more than 75, nearly 80. I do not know what you think about this. You might think you are doing much for families, minister, but this is a disastrous situation. The government has let this fall completely through the cracks. The school is at its wit’s end, and I suggest that you put a call through to the school and find out what you can do about it quick smart.
This government is smoke and mirrors. We have seen it in statement after statement and, unfortunately, this will not be the end, because I am sure there will be more and more statements to come, to fill up time because you have nothing. You have absolutely nothing. You are a government of smoke and mirrors and there will be more to come, I fear.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, your time has expired.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, it is rare you find such a well-crafted speech as the one I just heard from the member for Greatorex. He hit the nail on the head; he is dead right.
We come into this place and waste time on absolute nonsense statements like the one the member for Barkly has presented here today. He is dead right. There is no other parliament in Australia where you could get away with spending 99% of the time debating puff pieces. We do not come here to debate legislation. It is as rare as hen’s teeth to come here and debate legislation.
A member: Three times in eight days.
Mr TOLLNER: Three times in eight days - which could have been done in half a day. Here is a little advice for the government: if you want to put out puff pieces, fine, but, why not get the House committee to have a provision where we can seek leave to table our puff pieces, put them out for everyone to read, and make them public. Then we do not have to waste everyone’s time, spend the taxpayers’ money, or sit here debating this nonsense. If someone wants to read it, they can easily pick it up and have a read.
The member for Barkly, I have to admit, I like the guy, he is a character – there is no doubt about it. He livens up Question Time with some of his random responses. I have to say though, member for Barkly, it is sad, because you are such a nice bloke, a very gregarious character, but you have absolutely no idea of your portfolio. He is completely all at sea; he has no idea what he is doing.
I look at some of the things he comes out with. The first comment was, and I quote:
- As Transport Minister and a member of the Henderson government, I’m committed - we are committed - to making our roads safer for Territory families.
What a great opening statement. He says it with passion and apparent conviction, but what do we see coming from him and his portfolio area? Nothing but dribble and motherhood statements; there is actually no meat on the bones whatsoever. There are some classic ones in this statement. He says:
It’s not rocket science Madam Speaker …
He even typed in the ‘Madam Speaker’:
- It’s not rocket science Madam Speaker –
Speed Kills - and speed remains a significant problem on both urban and rural roads - in particular - for non-Indigenous people.
We now have race-based road problems. Goodness me, he is somehow or other saying this is a black and white issue now. Somehow, speed kills more non-Indigenous people than Indigenous people, and that seems to matter, and will determine how the government does its road policy.
This is a great quote, I am sure the minister believes this:
- Running red lights is reckless, stupid and dangerous behaviour and I make no apologies for wanting to protect Territorians by introducing an additional eight red light and speed cameras across the Darwin arterial road network this year.
Obviously, someone in his office has worded him up on this, because who could disagree? Running red lights is reckless. No one wants to see people running red lights; it is stupid and dangerous behaviour. He is dead right about that. But, as far as ‘making no apologies for wanting to protect Territorians by introducing an additional eight red light and speed cameras across the Darwin area’, he is now talking about nine intersections, in the whole of the Northern Territory, where the traffic lights will have red light and speed cameras, and he honestly believes this nonsense.
Not so long ago, we had the Estimates hearings, and the minister, the member for Barkly, lobbed up to those Estimates hearings, and provided great entertainment for some of us. He was asked about the one existing red light and speed camera in the Northern Territory, the one near the Palms. He was asked what the revenue was for this financial year. The minister referred it to Mr Richard Hancock - as he does, because he did not have the information; the minister is not told this information - who did not know the answer, so he referred it to Mr Papandonakis, who said they had raised $1.6m this financial year from the red light and speed camera out the front of the Palms Caravan Park.
You know where this is going, because he has decided this has worked so well, but, in actual fact, the minister has not decided this. I have a suspicion it has come from Madam Treasurer. She has seen this $1.6m come out of one camera, and said: ‘What are we doing with only one camera? This is a road safety issue, minister McCarthy, get out there and save more lives. Get us another few cameras’. She thinks: hang on, $1.6m times nine, $14.5m; that is going to look good in the coffers. You can see them sitting around in a Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister sitting there rubbing his hands thinking: another $14.5m, goodness me, the public are becoming a little tired of it, maybe we are going to beef up our PR unit, it is costing us $9m a year; goodness me, maybe we can double that and we will get some really bang for our buck. Because that is the way Labor operates. Any time there is a problem, it throws money at it; it does not look for a solution, just throws money. We see it time and time again all over the place.
We saw it in Question Time today, when the member for Arnhem was responding on childcare matters and the like, and she said: ‘We have thrown more money at it. I cannot tell you what we have actually done with the money, but we can tell you we are throwing more money at it; spent more money than you guys ever spent’, as if it is some great achievement.
I do not want to denigrate the member for Barkly, because I honestly believe he thinks he is doing the right thing by sticking these speed and red light cameras all over the place. We all agree speed is a problem, and people have to be slowed down, but you tend to get better outcomes by having police cars on the road. I know in the mornings, if you are driving down Bagot Road, and people are whizzing past at 15 km/h or 20 km/h over the speed limit; put one paddy wagon on the road and you see they all slow right down, it all becomes calm and easygoing. The minute you do not have a police car, it goes back to normal; people rushing into work and home from work - that is the way it is. But, one way which has worked, to slow the traffic down, is to put a police car on the road.
You have police in unmarked vans, hiding behind bushes with speed cameras, and you put speed cameras in places where you hope people will not see them - that is about revenue raising - it has nothing to do with road safety. The first time a bloke knows about it, is when he opens his letterbox and he sees a picture of himself. He has already done the crime. No one has actually trying to stop him doing the crime; all they are trying to do is get their grubby little hand into his back pocket. That is what it is about. It is not about trying to curb people from speeding. That is also the issue with this unlimited speed limit. We see the former Transport minister so proud to say he is the bloke who put up the 130 km/h speed limit - he took the old ones out - like it is some great achievement that the nanny state is stepping into the Northern Territory.
We know why the government put the 130km/h speed limit in place. It has nothing to do with road safety, well it is, sort of, but it is because they are not prepared to put the money into the roads. When I first came to the Northern Territory, it was a place where people used to brag we had the best roads in Australia, bar none. Over the 21 years or so I have been here, things have declined. It is amazing. When you drive from Queensland, you come through Camooweal, and you do that horrible run between Mount Isa and Camooweal, it is just dreadful - a goat track, up and down. In Queensland, believe it or not, it is much better. Queensland has spent a lot of money putting in a new bridge, then, all of a sudden, you drive across the border, and you are on a corrugated bitumen road. I do not believe I have ever seen corrugated bitumen roads, apart from the Northern Territory, and that is why we have 130km/h speed limits. It is true those on this side of the House want to abolish those 130km …
Mr GILES: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House. It is a very important speech.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, ring the bells. I am a little concerned. There seems to be something going on in relation to the calling of a quorum. We will call it, because there is not a quorum at the moment. Ring the bells.
The member for Greatorex is aware of what I am talking about. It was feared there was something strange about to happen when the member for Braitling went out before. We have called a quorum, and we have a quorum now. Thank you, member for Fong Lim.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and member for Braitling. It is great to ensure there are enough people in the House.
Mr Knight: Your members leave every time you talk. Your members leave every time you get up.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr TOLLNER: There is no doubt, our policy is to try to get rid of those 130 km/h speed limits and open up as much of the road as we can. However, any reasonable person at the moment - and pretty well everyone on this side of the Chamber, and I am certain people on the other side of the Chamber recognise it too – knows you cannot, because the roads have declined to such a shambles that we have to put speed limits in place for safety reasons. You used to be able to belt down the Stuart Highway. The beauty of the Territory was it put its money into policing the motor cars which people drive, ensuring they were continually tested and were roadworthy. We had better quality cars on the road than any other place in Australia, because you had to have a good car to handle driving at the higher speeds.
These days, I do not believe it matters how good your car is. You need an Abrams tank to go down the Stuart Highway in some places, the roads have deteriorated so much. I have said before, I get down the highway on a regular basis. I know the member for Barkly does not believe me on this, but in some places between Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs, you see ant hills three feet high on the verge of the bitumen. Those things do not magically appear; they take years to grow that high. This tells you is no one is keeping the verges of the road clear. There is no maintenance happening.
We saw the Barkly Highway washed out a year ago. Why was it washed out? ...
Members interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: … it was a freak flood. Ask the Bureau of Meteorology if it was a freak flood. Yes, they had a downpour, they will tell you that. I rang the Bureau of Meteorology; I checked it out. It was no freak flood. I heard the Chief Minister saying: ‘Terrible floods have gone through, floods so bad they washed the road away’ What a load of nonsense. There some classic ones in this statement, and I quote again:
- Madam Speaker - improving road safety is a challenge for every government around Australia and for most governments worldwide. There is no secret recipe - but a combination of education, awareness, technology and enforcement are but part of the ingredients for effective policy.
I noticed the first thing he said was education. It stands to reason; he is a former educator, a school principal. He runs a program around the Territory called, Muttacar, and I quote.
- The Top End tour of Muttacar – Sorry Business performed 22 shows over a four week period. In addition to the performances in Darwin and Katherine schools and correction centres, the tour visited 14 communities.
Minister, I suggest the term Muttacar would be patronising and insulting to many Indigenous people. You talk to these people like they are idiots. You spell things to them like they are idiots. We jump up and down about the fact we have such poor levels of literacy and numeracy in Aboriginal communities, and here we are running programs called Muttacar - Sorry Business. Muttacar, goodness me, you cannot even spell the word right. As a former school principal, you would think you would try to get something right.
I go out to Ngukurr and Numbulwar, and see the street signs, East Street, Smith Street, spelt ‘strit’. I am going down the ‘strit’. Goodness me. The Minister for Transport is a former teacher, and you wonder why we have such appalling levels of education in literacy and numeracy in remote communities. We have a whole bunch of bureaucrats running around, putting up a side show, and performances called Muttacar - Sorry Business. No wonder people have trouble reading and writing, you have the minister running around talking about ‘muttacars’. I believe the minister is told these things are all fantastic and wonderful, and he believes it.
I remember being stunned while sitting in Estimates - I do not have the transcript, I am sorry, so I cannot quote exactly, I may get parts of it wrong – when the minister jumped up and said: We are very proud we are leading the push on the National Fatigue Management regulations and requirements’. He said: ‘The Territory has been punching above its weight and making sure that these things are …’, and I said: ‘Hang on minister, backtrack a little. Could you repeat that? You are supporting it?’ The one place the National Fatigue Management impacts most is in the Northern Territory.
I have been involved in the fatigue management issue since 2001. I believe it was one of the first issues I got my teeth into when I was elected into the federal parliament. I became very involved with the Northern Territory Transport Association, truckers, and cattle boards, the Cattlemen’s Association, as well as tourism associations, because the proposals for the National Fatigue Management would cripple the Territory. It would almost stop any haulage of live cattle occurring in the Northern Territory. It would almost cripple the tourism industry, because the requirements are so strict and rigid …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move an extra 10 minutes for the member for Fong Lim.
Motion agreed to.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and thank you to the member for Katherine and to all other members present for your strong vote of support in giving me a little extra time to conclude my remarks.
The National Fatigue Management scheme would cripple our live cattle haulage industry and it will seriously hurt the tourism industry in many ways. But, we find out during Estimates the minister is not down in Canberra going to these National Transport Forums, railing against it, kicking up a big stink. He is the one leading the charge. When he was questioned about it, he says: Oh no, everyone likes it, they love it’. I am looking at him thinking: what planet are you on mate? Where did you come from? Surely you cannot honestly believe that everyone supports it. How can you park a road train, loaded full of cattle, on the side of the road in the middle of the day, and go to sleep for eight hours?
Mr Wood: Where are going to unload the cattle?
Mr TOLLNER: Where do you unload? There was a study done in the Northern Territory by the Cattlemen’s Association which showed if it was to make this plan practical, the government would have to spend something like $60m building cattle yards and supplying water and feed, so that live haulage mobs could pull up, unload their cattle, water and feed them, and go to sleep for eight hours, load them up again, and continue on their trip. There were about 15 or 20 of these sites required around the Territory to meet the need that was being put in place by these zealots who want to introduce National Fatigue Management processes.
This is all because of truck drivers between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, who go back and forth along the Hume, Bruce, and Pacific Highways, and do several trips at a time. They go to sleep and when they go to sleep they have an accident. They wipe out and they kill dozens of people. These accidents are happening with regular monotony between Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. Rather than saying: ‘Let us address the problems between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne’, we have these zealots who say: ‘There has to be a national response and we want a national program’. It does not work here, minister. The whole industry - the tourism industry is outraged with it, the cattlemen’s industry, the trucking industry - is outraged with it in the Northern Territory, but, lo and behold, we hear at Estimates you are leading the charge.
Dr Burns: I did not hear that.
Mr TOLLNER: The minister says:
- Member for Braitling, great question. Having just attended a Transport ministerial council … I have a lot of background information on heavy vehicle driver fatigue reform. I would like to call an agency representative and I will do that through Mr Hancock …’
Hang on, I have it in here. I will not go through this. It will take me a couple of minutes. Someone has just dropped it on my desk.
Mr Conlan: He said it and you know it. Do not be stupid.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, you are not allowed to speak unless you have been called.
Mr Conlan: You cannot even see what you are doing.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Greatorex, cease interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, the point I am trying to make is that the minister’s advisors treat him like a mushroom. They do not tell him about any of the problems out there. They word him up and trot him out. He comes into the parliament with statements like this, prepared to dribble out whatever these advisors tell him, without taking any effort to check the facts. There is a classic line in this statement, and I quote:
- During January to June 2009, Road Safety Officers including Hector the Road Safety Cat delivered presentations to over 2000 children across the Territory.
Hector, the Road Safety Cat, has been out there and has delivered over 2000 presentations to Territory children. I have to tell you …
Mr Wood interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: Get this one, member for Nelson, you will love this. Hector, the Road Safety Cat, was knocked over by a bus in front of a school in Darwin River Dam while he was delivering road safety messages on behalf of the government. He was knocked over by a bus. Is not this guy, Hector, the Road Safety Cat, a role model? What a great role model. He is run over by a bus while delivering messages on behalf of the minister. You would think any advisor with the least skerrick of honesty would come out and say: ‘Minister, maybe we should just go easy on this Hector the Cat business. We sent him out and he got run over by a bus at Darwin River’. Goodness me.
I will go back to national driver fatigue in Estimates. Mr Giles says:
- Thank you. Minister, will the government be adopting the national model of fatigue management?
The minister replied:
- Member for Braitling, great question … blah, blah, blah.
- The Territory has voted in favour of the national heavy vehicle driver fatigue regulations.
It came out during Estimates that the Territory voted in favour of something which is going to cripple the cattle industry, live haulage industry, and stuff up the tourism industry.
Members interjecting.
Mr TOLLNER: But you know, the minister …
A member: Put your hand up if you believe it.
Mr TOLLNER: You want me to table it? It is on Hansard, minister. Your key advisor put you right in it, and you did not even realise. A little like Hector the Cat. You think Mr Hancock would have wandered in and said: ‘Gerry, about this Hector the Cat stuff and the school kids, can we find a better role model? We sent him out to Darwin River and he got knocked over by a bus while he was standing on the side of the road delivering road safety messages.’
Goodness me, minister, you take the cake. This type of stuff reinforces exactly to a T, what the member for Greatorex was saying. We come in and waste time debating this total, utter nonsense about rubbish that is fed to the minister. Minister, I do not believe you are a bad person at all; you are a gregarious bloke, you seem passionate about your job, but I wish you would ask for more information. They are making you look like an absolute bloody fool; a bloody idiot.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, I ask you to withdraw those comments, thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, Madam Speaker, I withdraw it.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Minister, they are making you look like a bloody idiot.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, we do not swear in this Chamber, thank you. Withdraw.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, I am quoting from his statement.
Madam SPEAKER: It does not matter whether you are quoting, member for Fong Lim, it is still swearing. You will withdraw, please.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, let me go back. One of the lines that the minister made in his wonderful statement is:
- Drivers who jump behind the wheel who speed, who drink, who do not wear a seat belt, who engage in whatever ‘she’ll be right behaviour’ that puts their lives - and the lives of other Territorians at risk - are bloody idiots.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, can you please withdraw those comments?
Mr TOLLNER: But, Madam Speaker, I was quoting from the document.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, whether you are quoting it or not, it is still swearing, and I ask you to withdraw. Member for Fong Lim, just withdraw.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Speaker, the political correctness in this joint drives me around the bend.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! He seems to be challenging your ruling.
Mr TOLLNER: I am not challenging the ruling.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, can you resume your speech?
Dr Burns: You are showing disrespect.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, continue, and direct your comments through the Chair.
Mr TOLLNER: Thank you, Madam Speaker. This joint is an absolute joke. We have to come in and listen to this nonsense. For some reason or another, ministers can get away with saying whatever they like; they can swear in this place and they are never pulled up. The minute someone else jumps up and says the same thing …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim. You will withdraw those comments. It is a reflection on the Chair.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I thank my other colleagues for their input tonight. This statement is very important in the sense it does at least bring to light some issues regarding road safety. As a former police officer of 10 years, and, as was worked out by my colleague, the member for Katherine, a joint collective of over 70 years of policing experience on this side of the House, every time the Chief Minister gets to his feet and denigrates the 70-plus years of work we have done on our side, alongside hundreds of other police officers, I hope he understands the mess he is putting upon his own nest. I am proud of my time as a police officer. I am sure my colleagues are also very proud of the time they served. I am proud of the current serving members of the Northern Territory Police Force.
The Chief Minister discussed issues tonight around what he believed were police who supported his policy line regarding removing open speed limits. I was a serving police officer at the time it was brought in, like many of my former police colleagues. I tell you now that there was a great majority of general duties police, and other ranks like detectives and superintendents, who did not agree with this proposal. You definitely had a Commissioner of Police at the time who supported it, and the immediate rank and file under him, who supported it. It needed to be supported at the time …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is called. I remind all honourable members that a quorum relates to all members of the Chamber. A quorum is achieved.
Mr BOHLIN: There was a great majority of police working the beat who did not support it. There were many who were saying, in the muster room: ‘I am not going to enforce that’. As a supervisor at the time, it posed many problems for me. I knew the government line and what our directions were, so I had to direct my officers to enforce those issues. I personally do not agree with it, on our three main arterial roads. That is our basic stance: we do not support the reintroduction on all minor feed roads which are definitely not suitable.
If the government even considered asking for a briefing, it might have learned that. It is a flippant comment from the government to claim we have failed to seek a briefing, when many of the times our briefing comes from the people on the ground. On many issues, the government should eat their own words and seek a briefing from our side, to try to understand our point.
There has never been, in my mind, a doubt that speed limits around the towns and built-up areas are vitally important. They are a critical part of ensuring the safety of our public around our built-up areas and our towns. But, on our highways, I disagree. I consider places such as the autobahn an example and, yes, it is different to our highways, but so are the highways of the southern states. They are different to our highways. They have a town, often every 20 km or 30 km, with an off-ramp. You can pull over and go to a coffee shop or a major service station. We will go hundreds of kilometres without seeing a major town, without seeing another person, for that matter.
There are many issues to continue to discuss in regard to those speed limits, and they will need to be properly thrashed out, with appropriate information to guide you. Having filled out accident reports in the police force for over 10 years and then vetted accident reports by subordinates, I can guarantee the data is correlated and quite adequately fed to your government, but it is not as clear as it may seem. It needs proper analysing to determine the root causes for accidents. If you want to find a reasoning for a certain pattern, that can be obtained. You can always obtain a result out of data to suit your need.
Likewise, we could be accused of finding data which suits our need when we look at the data. However, when you simply have to tick one box which is either ‘speed’, ‘side impact’, or ‘weather’, in excuses or reasons for why an accident occurred, how are you going to get accurate data? You then have four lines, as a word picture, on the accident report to determine and explain what happened in that accident. Do you think four lines are necessarily suitable in all circumstances? I would say not, but much of our data is based upon four lines, several very small boxes with ticks in them, and a drawing.
It is not clear cut argument, we do not doubt that. We believe it is reasonable to suggest open speed limits will be a reasonable cause in some areas. The fact the road conditions have been neglected for eight years, under this current government, has not helped this issue. We understand the roads are in such a poor condition that an open slathered release of open speed limits would not be the wisest approach. We know, because there are currently speed restrictions, and some of those restrictions would need to continue.
I cannot believe the member for Barkly, and I am sure he does a lot of travel, did not keep driving through those speed restricted areas and say: ‘Gees, I have the portfolio to fix this. I should ask my department why those areas have not been fixed’. It confuses me how the Minister for Transport could drive through those places, and he claims he does many kilometres - he claims he has done about 80 000 km this year, it would be pretty close to what he claimed the other day in parliament - and I am sure he has driven through those speed restrictions several times, many more perhaps. Why did he not have them fixed? They were outright dangerous. If he was serious, he would have demanded they be fixed as a matter of urgency; as a priority.
The wear on the shoulders of the roads has been ridiculous. It is offensive to think that our major highway, once a fantastic arterial to supply the Territory, has been neglected to such a degree. The shoulders were worn away, the drops were not in centimetres but in inches, which will make a car unstable. I do not know what happened where the roads were washed away, during the miraculous floods brought down from the heavens last year, but I bet the road shoulders were so poorly neglected it did not take long for the water to cut under the asphalt and rip it away. From the video I saw of some of it, I would say that is exactly what happened. It easily got under the lip and ripped the bitumen away. It would not have taken long at all, purely from neglect.
It is horrible that I know of accidents, since coming into this House, which have been caused by the neglect of the road shoulders. I know of incidents where, after police attended an accident, and clearly wrote in their report, ‘This was as a result of poor road conditions’, road crews were there within the next couple of days. That stretch was fixed. It is shameful, because it took an accident where someone’s life was taken, nearly taken, or put at risk, to get action, and only in a stretch surrounding the accident.
I had dinner, maybe five weeks ago, with people from Central Australia, and they continue to tell me these road shoulders are no better. This is eight years of neglect which has left no other choice but to control and restrict the roads. To add to that, those who have lived in southern states for some time, understand the great tyranny of fatigue. Fatigue is the number one killer in many of the southern states. Unfortunately, we see many crosses, marking the dearly lost souls, upon their highways and long stretches of roads. They have a speed limit of 100 km/h or 110 km/h but, unfortunately, their roads are littered with signs of souls that have been lost; not because of excessive speed in all cases. I daresay you would find many that are not from excessive speed but fatigue.
I have suffered fatigue; I understand the dangers behind fatigue. I have travelled many roads in Australia, and know there is a point in time when you need to take a break. I also know that when travelling through the Territory, before our speed limits were brought in, I suffered less fatigue as I travelled through Katherine and beyond, down to the South Australian border, than I did once I reached the South Australian border. It was almost as if you were hit by a big cricket bat as you crossed the border and you were pulled back to 110km/h. Before the road speed reductions to 130km/h were brought in, I travelled that road, in a very capable sports car, at 180 km/h. That was a complete trip from Darwin to the South Australian border. The only time we had trouble on that trip was when I hit a rock, which was thrown on the road from slashers. Back in those days we saw regular slashing on the side of the road. I was only doing a 110km/h, but it was a big rock, bigger than my fist, and caused substantial damage because I was in a pretty low sports car.
During that time, sitting on 180 km/h, we passed a handful of people, we stopped regularly, and we were only passed once. The notion that could be thrown up, that people drove like absolute lunatics, is easily dismissed in the sense that we were not getting overtaken madly, and we did not overtake people madly. If it took me several kilometres to overtake someone safely, that is how long it would take me. There was no rush or intent, but I do enjoy going fast.
The next time we did that trip was sometime later in a Nissan X-Trail, and we travelled at 140km/h. We were comfortable in the car, with the family, and with the road conditions. But, when we hit the South Australian border - gee whiz Jim, bring on the coffee - it was a hard yard. We travelled through Victoria, on the Great Ocean Road, and it is not as easy as people think. I know in South Australia there have been calls for years for the road from Whaler through to Port Lincoln and the Nullarbor to have its speed limits lifted; people die there, unfortunately, too often. Again, it is fatigue. They are similar roads to ours. There are many farming areas, but you go for hundreds of kilometres without seeing anyone. Big open roads and fatigue is the big player.
I talk on alcohol in relation to this and, for the Northern Territory, I say alcohol is probably one of our biggest killers, without a doubt. We have the statistics that show 50-odd percent of road deaths were a result of alcohol. But, this government has refused to penalise people strongly enough, by removing their cars when they have re-offended. The member for Braitling introduced a very good proposal, it may not have been in the right order for the government, but, the thing is, if this government was serious about the road safety, it would have adopted the bill itself, brought it to parliament the next day and said: ‘Let us run this because, member for Braitling, you were right’.
I will tell you why: if you can take away someone’s car for introducing alcohol into a restricted area, having too many barramundi - and their boat, while you are at it - and for hooning, I guarantee, you should be able to take away their car for drink-driving under repeat offence circumstances, because there is an extremely high chance they will kill someone. Not a choice, they will kill someone. We have the statistics, and they are very strong to say: if you are drink-driving, you are likely to kill someone. Fifty percent of our road deaths are related to alcohol, not hooning, not taking alcohol into restricted areas, not fishing or taking too many barramundi, but alcohol. And this government has failed to adopt that policy, which I strongly believe is the right policy.
If you say it would put too much hardship on the family, can you honestly tell me that someone who might have been caught during a burnout or similar, does not have a family? They might have a family, kids, or grandparents; they do have a family. It is a farce to use that defence, and I am ashamed you have not picked it up. Take away the repeat drink-drivers’ cars, and you will start cracking down, and lead the way in Australia on drink-driving. If you want to do something visionary in this parliament; do this, do something which will work. Fifty percent of our road deaths last year …
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 77, I move that the member for Drysdale be given an extension of time.
Motion agreed to.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker and member for Katherine. I repeat, 50% of road deaths were related to alcohol. The government is not even serious about dealing with it. An alcohol interlock will not prevent the final result. Teach the lesson that must be taught - remove their cars and save people’s lives. Is it too great a penalty? No. The penalty of taking someone’s life is far greater; it should never be messed with. Added to that, are seat belts. Not wearing seat belts also rate in the range of 50% of road deaths in the Northern Territory.
As the member for Katherine said, he has seen things he would not repeat in this Chamber. I am sure the member for Port Darwin has also seen things he would not repeat in this Chamber, when it comes to road death and trauma; and the same for the member for Sanderson. Attending road accidents does not bring back fond memories, but none of the road deaths I attended were directly related only to speed. I will give you two factors: alcohol and not wearing a seat belt.
It is not hard to work out where you need to target your approach. It is not hoons which rate at 50% of the cause of road deaths, is it? Yet, you have taken that target and you have hit them up hard, and proudly boasted the fact you have taken some cars off them. How many people you have gaoled lately for drink-driving? Are you serious about dealing with that?
I digress, because I was talking about seat belts. As you can see, the issue of alcohol and drink-driving is a passionate issue for me. I cannot tell you how many people I have breath tested, but I made no apologies when I breath tested someone. I had the sentence down pretty well; the introduction was pretty good. But, when you do not wear a seat belt, the trauma at 60 km/h is enough to kill you.
Strangely enough, I believe it was in Africa, in the mid-1990s, an Australian company took a rolling bed – it is like a roller-coaster - to Africa. It was a demonstration device they could take to communities to show people the effect of not wearing a seat belt. People would sit in this device, without any great harm or fear, and realise, at 60 km/h, which is achieved on a very short little ramp they have, no matter how strong they were or how many times they go to the gym, they cannot physically hold their weight up against the impact. That is at 60 km/h. Seat belts are vitally important and need to continue to be targeted.
I have one local businessman who discussed this idea with me. He has talked to a few agencies and some car manufacturers about it - and from my knowledge as a mechanic, I can understand the principle. If the government in Australia, let alone the Northern Territory, is serious, it could include an activation device so, if the seat belt is not plugged in, it will not only beep at you, like it does on a modern car, but it will restrict the ability of a car to go more than 40 km/h.
With the modern air-fired computers, including on diesels, you can do that. It will activate a ‘limp home’ mode, which means the car has enough power to get out of an intersection, if it has an accidental fault, so it will not become involved in an accident. There is enough power to get you home in case you have a fault in the middle of nowhere, and it is related directly to your seat belt. If you do not have your seat belt on, the car will only be able to do 45 km/h. It is not hard. I am surprised the Australian government has not picked up on the idea, with all the grey mass it apparently has, and that the car makers have not done this. Why have the car makers not done it? Because the governments have not forced them to do it.
Mr Chandler: It is like a pit lane speed limit.
Mr BOHLIN: It is very similar to what the member for Brennan just said. It is because the governments have …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Unfortunately, I believe the clock is not working.
Madam SPEAKER: No, I believe it is working, I can see it working. Please continue, member for Drysdale.
Mr BOHLIN: Madam Speaker, thank you very much. I can see the clock is still moving somewhat.
This can be done quite easily. I dare say that with a degree of retrofit it could be achieved. However, it is up to the federal government, and the territory and state governments to lobby the federal government, to impose such a change. The car manufacturers will not do it off their own bat. It may cost them 30; that is probably the cost of it. It is a reprogramming issue, which is not hard, but I will not bore you with the details.
The last of my points is first aid training. We can penalise people all we like; we can put up speed cameras, and bring in the millions of dollars of extra revenue. Red lights are dangerous; I have seen many accidents caused as a direct result of running red lights. I am not too concerned by red light cameras. But, you could make it compulsory for every new driver, or for people obtaining a Northern Territory driver’s licence, to do a one-day intensive road crash rescue first aid course particularly tailored with the intent of demonstrating how graphic road accidents are, and the vital first aid training they may need if they come across a road accident.
There used to be figures which showed that if appropriate first aid treatment was given in the first 30 minutes of a road crash, a certain percentage of road deaths could be avoided. If every person holding a licence in the Northern Territory was compelled to do this course then, first, they would have the skills to provide aid on the side of the road, if they come across trauma, particularly with the fact we are such a sparse landscape and, second, the fact they are directly confronted, in the most intimate manner, with some of the road trauma they may come across, should drive it into their brain that if they drive like a fool they could cause a death or trauma like this.
Madam Speaker, there are some very easy things which can be done; they are not hard to achieve. The cost of the first aid would be borne through the driver’s licence. I note on the web, in Europe, I believe it is Germany, it costs nearly $2000 to get your driver’s licence, because you have to go to so many driving schools before you are allowed a licence. You go through driver training; you go through 48-hours of theory alone, I believe it was; and you go through various different categories of physical driving on the road, through to the autobahns. It takes you time and it also costs you about $2000. So, the impost of a first aid course would be nothing, but perhaps it would have a dramatic effect which would benefit and, perhaps, get into the mindset of some of our younger drivers, and some of our foolish older drivers, that driving is a privilege, not a right.
At the same time, I believe the government can do more. The Transport Minister knows the member for Braitling is right about the drink-driver legislation introduced by this side. Madam Speaker, if he is serious, step up to the plate and do his job.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Speaker, this is my first statement to the House, and I am very proud it is about road safety and saving Territorians’ lives. I am very proud of what it achieved; it united brothers and sisters, it united mothers and fathers, it united sons and daughters, and it united Territorians. It is a good day when you learn something, and I have learned much. I thank all members for this debate.
I was a little disappointed that the member for Greatorex and the member for Fong Lim used their valuable time to offset the debate - to move the debate into politics. In terms of politicising an important issue, I have already cited in this House my theatrical background. I will Google the Alice Springs theatrical club, because I am qualified to cast, and I feel a pantomime coming on. I will ask the member for Greatorex and the member for Fong Lim to play as Tweedledee and Tweedledum in this year’s pantomime.
On the subject of theatre, I support the member for Sanderson, a learned man, who understands early intervention and early childhood education, the importance of Hector the Safety Cat, and the importance of the message. I have been Hector the Safety Cat …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr McCARTHY: There are fine public servants in the road safety section who value that. We have had many discussions about the importance of early childhood education and early intervention for delivering road safety messages. Member for Fong Lim, I have a better story than the bus. Hector the Safety Cat was savaged by a blue heeler on his way to the preschool in Borroloola. I will share that with you, maybe over drinks.
Also, on the subject of theatre, I table, in relation to Muttacar - Sorry Business, that Artback NT is one of three finalists for national Not-For-Profit Project of the Year Award. The other two are Ronald McDonald House Charities Australia NSW and Reading for Life, Learning Links NSW. It is up against multinational companies for a national award. The announcement will be made on 12 November 2009, and I look forward to updating the House on that. Muttacar - Sorry Business received a nomination at The Deadlys 2009, for effectiveness in communicating to Indigenous Australians on road safety - an outstanding achievement in live theatre. We cannot underestimate this powerful approach to getting the message across that one life lost, is one too many.
I will go to the members and their valuable comments, and begin with the member for Braitling, who pulled together the infrastructure component of road safety, and I thank him for that. The relationship between the minister for Planning and Infrastructure and the Minister for Transport, we like to call it: planning and infrastructure - bitumen and below, and transport - above the bitumen, and we work together. The record infrastructure spend, directly on transport; on our roads, rail, marine, and air infrastructure, by the Henderson government, has been tabled many times over the last eight days, due to the stimulus package from the Rudd Labor government.
The member for Braitling went into the areas of cost of living and inflation and emission control, which was interesting. What came together was an outline of the scope of the enormous challenges we face. In the infrastructure side alone, I believe everyone is well aware how many challenges we have in delivering road infrastructure in the Northern Territory - the great frontier of the Northern Territory.
In my electorate alone, between Murun Murula and Nudjabarra, a distance of 80 km, can take me three-and-a-half hours. I need a vehicle which crawls like a mountain goat, and can tow vehicles out of trouble or off major highways. I use a vehicle to tow trailers. It is all about understanding the road conditions you are operating in, and that message has to get out. There have been some very valuable points about educating children, visitors to the Territory, and Indigenous communities. Being in the Barkly, I am very privileged to be amongst that, operating motor vehicles and getting that message out there.
I believe the member for Braitling did not value data and statistical input into solving this issue. However, the member for Port Darwin does, so he should get together with the shadow for Transport to discuss the value of data and statistics, to provide baseline data which represent world’s best practice, represent research and findings, and document predictions and trends, to go forward in this argument.
The member for Port Darwin tabled a very good document and some very good statistics. The Chief Minister debated that, and I believe statistics like this are very volatile, and we have to look at longer trends. The paragraph after the quote used by the member for Port Darwin, in the important document tabled, the TIO Motor Accident Compensation Report, states, and I will quote:
The increased road toll reinforces the importance of a continued focus on the promotion of road safety to reduce the incidence and severity of motor accident trauma in the Northern Territory. In 2008 - 09, a dedicated resource was employed with the view to focus on developing and implementing a number of high profile promotion and awareness campaigns, working in close liaison with other members of the road safety community, including police and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
Important stuff.
In relation to the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Review, and I have made it clear in this House, it is important to work with industry and explore policy and service delivery implications. This is a major body of work which is ongoing, and will deliver, as the member for Braitling challenged, good outcomes for Territorians.
The member for Fong Lim was very vocal about fatigue management in the Northern Territory, and there was half a quote, quarter of a quote, or maybe a couple of lines pulled out of Estimates. If we look at it in its entirety, it says this is a national regulation - this is the federal government - and I am working with Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia and we are working closely with the cattle industry and the tourism industry on fatigue management in the Northern Territory.
For the record, for the member for Fong Lim, operators in the Northern Territory must already comply with occupational and health and safety laws. We are going forward with this and there will be a fight for me: there will be no reduction in our cost productivity benefits, and this is a very important message to take to the table. My next opportunity is the Transport Ministers’ Council in Sydney in November and, member for Fong Lim, I will take your good advice with me; I learn something from everyone.
Regarding the port, we heard this week, about a $150m investment in the port. The port investment will go on, because the port is our gateway, and we all know the importance of it. The Henderson government has that right in the frame.
If we talk about the alcohol ignition locks, it is important to remember that the alcohol ignition lock, or the alcohol ignition licence, is a sentence. It is an additional sentence and an increase in the penalty. We have not seen much with the take-up rates yet. If you do not want to take up the opportunity to change your driving culture, and to prove to society you can be trusted to not drink and drive, then you will sit it out with your sentence. When your sentence is completed, you will go through the drink-driver education course and you will be assessed before your licence is returned.
The Chief Minister and the member for Johnston spoke very strongly about the red light and speed cameras, and the incredible conspiracy with them. I table today, that when we are talking about changing driving cultures, the red light speed camera at the BP Palms - and I go through that camera at least twice a week, I am very aware of it - is a very powerful influence in driving behaviour. It went online on 2 September 2008, and there were 250 people breaking the law per day, that level has gone down to 50. Now, I believe that is changing driving culture. We are now rolling out more to protect more Territorians, and I am glad to see member on the other side have supported red light and speed cameras.
I am interested in the Country Liberals policies, and the policies for improving road safety. I am interested in any opportunities, but I believe we have seen demonstrated in this debate the difference between policy and politics, and people who want to politicise things, turn it into a joke. I am afraid that I do not value that. The member for Katherine has thrown out a great invitation to contact him and to do business on road safety, and I thank him for that. I learn much in this House, because every time I go home to my electorate, I work Saturday and Sunday writing letters to ministers. I have written many letters to ministers to progress issues from my electorate, to inform ministers, to be in partnership with ministers. I am sorry I was on the wrong track. I will have to write to the members of the opposition to have a briefing. I am glad I have been put straight on that. I thank the member for Katherine; I have to write to you to organise this, then you will be next on my list and I will organise a letter so we can get together and talk about briefings.
On briefings, member for Braitling, I have to introduce you to the Minister for Information, Communications, and Technology Policy to teach you how to e-mail between Alice Springs and Darwin. In future, ask for an e-mail and we will send it down the line. It will be like a $50 note squeezing through that wire and popping out in Alice Springs at an ATM. Do not worry about that, we can fix that. I must make note that The George Institute, whom we have been dealing with, is world’s best practice. If they are not good enough, then I do not know what is. But, I am very proud to be working with an elite institute on road safety in the Northern Territory.
A change in culture and behaviour, informed by world’s best practice and, member for Brennan, and respect. Respect, I like it. I like the word and the concept. I value your input regarding licensing, and I will reinforce from the statement the Henderson government’s initiatives in the new graduated driver licensing scheme which is being developed for better training and better outcomes. I quote:
- To refocus and enhance driver training, a 2008 election commitment boosted funding for learner-driver education to $2m …
The government is considering options for the development of a new program that will provide novice drivers throughout the Territory the opportunity to develop the appropriate knowledge and skills to drive safely on our roads.
That is early intervention, focusing on our young drivers. The world’s best practice and research says the 17 to 25 age group is the high-risk group, that is what we are targeting, member for Brennan. Thank you for your input.
The member for Nelson, once again, made a valuable input. You are right: the alcohol ignition locks need to be reviewed; all legislation needs to be reviewed, and I will be very happy to share that as we start working down that road. With the drink-driving and the confiscation of cars amendments you are putting forward, may I request a briefing with your amendments, because I am very interested? You have heard the clich - the door is open, the e-mail does work, and I probably have an old HF radio out the back that I could go back to if we need to.
The unregistered cars, is a good point from the member for Nelson, and we need to look at that. The questions over the Highway Patrol, the NT Road Safety Division, and the Major Crash Investigation Section are valid. You made a good point on the possible organised crime relationship with the red light and speed cameras and the outsourced companies. I will write to the minister and ask those questions, and I will get a reply, because that is how I do business. I look forward to receiving those replies, and we need to talk more about that.
Indigenous people and road safety, member for Nelson, I agree. With our growth towns policy and the way we are moving forward, it is imperative we bring Aboriginal people into this frame. Road safety is very important for all Territorians, and we need to start working on English as a Second Language, and strategies to get that powerful message about road safety through; it is about education and awareness.
Madam Speaker, the member for Sanderson had many good points. It is good to see members opposite are agreeing with what the Henderson government is trying to do, and they are ex-police, who were on the front line of policing, and saw the cause and effect of the carnage firsthand.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it being 9.10 pm, the Assembly is now adjourned.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, last night I adjourned on the Dancing with the Celebrities event, which Total Recreation organised, and I have a few more words to add.
I give a huge thanks to Rebecca Forrest, from Forrest PR, who did much of the organisational work. You always get a lift when speaking to Rebecca, as she has so much positive energy, and she needed it, because she coordinated the ball, and the night ran like a charm. She also gave Margaret and me a private dance lesson, which I needed.
Thanks to Paris Lord, the MC on the evening, who did a fantastic job - obviously a professional, from his day job - as did Simon Watts from Ray White, who ran the auction.
Finally, a huge thank you to all the sponsors: the Northern Territory government, Top End Hire, Forrest PR, LHMU, Casuarina All Sports Club, Australia Post, City of Palmerston, Southern Cross Television, Larrakia Development Corporation, Palmerston Sports Club, Andrew Barcroft - the Good Guys, Jape Homemaker Village, SKYCITY Darwin, Darwin Central Hotel, the member for Karama, Simon Watts from Ray White Real Estate, Floral Way in Palmerston, CMax Cinemas, YOTS, The Deckchair Cinema, The Wilderness Resort, and Kabuki, which styled all the ladies’ hair for the evening.
Without the general support of these sponsors, the ball could not have gone ahead, and none of us would have been part of this fantastic experience. If you would like to see photos or videos from the evening, there are some up on the Total Recreation website, and also on Facebook, at the Fannie Bay electorate fan page.
The Darwin Trailer Boat Club hosted the Bluewater Classic the weekend before last. It is a huge event now. The Trailer Boat Club has built the Blue Water Classic from nine boats in its first year in 2002, to 34 teams and over 180 competitors this year. It was not just locals throwing a line in; there were fishermen from interstate who made the trip up. I caught up with a few of them at the sign-on day and it was not their first trip up; they look forward to the Bluewater Classic. It was a huge rap for the Darwin Trailer Boat Club which has built this competition into a huge event for locals and tourists. It takes much work from volunteers, and it has become so big they may have to outsource some of the work next year to special event organisers. That is not a reflection on the competency of the volunteer staff who have put in so much work to date to make this event the success it is, but a reflection on the huge amount of work involved in organising an event of this size and stature. It is a real credit to all those involved.
For those who do not know, the competition is a release and weigh-in event, which sees teams searching for the biggest of a number of fish species. The bigger and heavier the fish, the better, the fish being ranked on a points-per-kilo system.
The winners for each of the categories were: Junior Angler in a boat under 5 m - Nathan Daniel; Junior Angler in a boat 5 m to 5.99 m - Mitchell Copley; Female Angler - Jacky Lamb; Billfish Champion - David Baskeyfield with a 1.92 m sailfish; Team Boat under 5 m – Wet Spot, made up of Gavin Schultz, Jaroslaw Inglot, and Danny Wright; Team Boat 5 m to 5.99 m - Teaze em up, made up of Health Waller, Jade Rodda, and Stewart Harding; and Team Boat 6 m and over - P&M Contracting, made up of Paul Van Bruggun, Jordon Doevendans, and Jeremy Harmsworthy.
Overall, the champion anglers were: Champion Angler in a Boat under 5 m - Christo Beck with 201 points; Champion Angler in a Boat 5 m to 5.99 m - Heath Waller with 302.5 points; and Champion Angler in a Boat 6 m and over - Chris Hams with 455.25 points.
It was great to be at the sign-on day to see the huge queue of people signing up. We delayed formalities, the opening speeches - I am sure, no one complained about the speeches being delayed - and the briefing on the rules, so everyone could sign up, as it was a much longer queue than anticipated. The presentation night was on during parliamentary sittings. As you can imagine, and I have heard, it was a great night, with many tall tales being told. Congratulations to the Darwin Trailer Boat Club - a great club - for another successful Blue Water Classic.
Congratulations to: the event coordinators - Tony and Trisha Butler; assistant - Ron Cormick; Weightmasters - Dave Connell and Keith Wynnes; team registrars and scorers - Rachel Mayhead, Cath Halkin, and Carole and Neil Murray; photographer - Ian Bartlem of Rural Photography and Framing; the grounds and bar staff of the club; and Di in the office.
Congratulations also to the sponsors whose generosity allowed the event to go ahead: BH Marine; Lion Nathan XXXX Gold; Dreamedia; Southern Cross Television; Hot100 and Mix104.9; ENZED; Pete’s Glass and Aluminium; Fishing and Outdoor World; Shimano; Advance Weighing Technology NT; Caroldale Plumbing; Boatcom; GME; Trading Post; BTC Parts and Accessories; Darwin Reef and Wrecks; Top End Tackle World; Matt Flynn; TTF Sports; and Fish Darwin.
It is a credit to the Trailer Boat Club that they have so many sponsors and, as everyone knows, these things do not happen without sponsors and volunteers. Congratulations to everyone involved. I am not the world’s greatest fisherman, but I enjoy throwing a line in. If I could find couple of people who are happy to join a team with me for a few days, I look forward to getting out on the water for next year’s classic; maybe I could get some of my colleagues out on the water as well.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I express, what I call, reserved excitement in learning today that Anthony Sandford from Regional Pacific Airlines is proposing to establish an air link between Mt Isa and Alice Springs.
Earlier today, I received an e-mail, as did the members for Stuart, Araluen, and Greatorex, amongst others, advising of a proposal to re-establish an air link between Mt Isa and Alice Springs, which is great and exciting news. Anything which has the potential to open up business links and tourism opportunities is great for Alice Springs. I believe it will go further to support the relations between Central Australia and Mt Isa, and potentially link up people from Perth, Cairns, Townsville, and Brisbane, possibly even further.
Madam Speaker, it is an exciting time. I hope the Northern Territory government gets on board. It let the Tennant Creek Air Service go, but this is an opportunity for Alice Springs to have a greater service.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay tribute to my Electorate Officer, Amy Sternberg, who has worked so hard for me, the residents of Brennan, and the greater Palmerston area and beyond for the last 14 months. It is with great sadness I say goodbye to this young lady, who, for many years I thought of as a daughter. Amy will be following her husband Steven, who was recently promoted in the Army and is now being posted to Puckapunyal in Victoria. I wish them both well with their posting. Steven will make an excellent supervisor and manager of staff in his training role. The Army is lucky to have such a dedicated member. However, I will now always blame the Army for taking this young couple away from the Territory and of course, for taking the best electorate officer a local member could hope for.
I have known Amy for many years and I have had the privilege of being her manager in another government agency, and of course, her boss as the local member, although, at times, I never really knew who the boss was. Seriously, I thank Amy for bringing me into line when required, giving me the boot up the backside or, as is more often the case, just being an absolute pain in the butt.
I first met Amy when I took over as Manager, Regulatory Services for the City of Palmerston. I was soon to learn this young lady was far bigger than her petite size indicated. Amy was a bundle of energy, a real busy bee, and her corporate knowledge of council, her professionalism, customer service skills, and knowledge of the local area were not lost on me then, and it is not lost on me now. Of course, who would have known then, that her experience would later on provide such a solid foundation for the position of an Electorate Officer?
A few years after first meeting Amy, she and her husband Steven were posted out of Darwin to sunny Brisbane. You will not find a more proud Queenslander than Amy though she does have her limitations. However, as you can imagine, the move was very much looked forward to and she resigned from the City of Palmerston in preparation for her move to Brisbane.
I tell you this story because of one e-mail I received from Amy while she was in Brisbane, where she described sitting on a very cold aluminium seat, on a very cold and windy platform, waiting to catch her train into work, so all was not greener on the other side. Amy and Steven returned to Darwin, and Amy commenced working for the City of Palmerston again. After last year’s election, I was successful in encouraging Amy to leave council for the second time and join me over at the Brennan Electorate Office.
I am sure many new MLAs over the years have had to hit the ground running, with little or no experience in running an electorate office. With Amy, I did not worry. I might have let on that I was worried about what was needed, what the processes were, what the expectations of, and of course, the limitations of an office. The truth was, however, I never worried about that because of who I had chosen as my EO. Amy has an absolute work ethic and together with her ability and attitude to her role, was more than enough to build an office, to fill any void left very quickly, and organise an open and efficient and, more importantly, an effective electorate office for the residents of Brennan and beyond.
However, from what I have said so far, I might have given you the impression that I must have it so easy, particularly given the talents of this young lady. Well let me tell you, there is a serious cost. In addition to being an absolute brilliant EO, there is side of Amy I have to describe and, please, I do say this in jest: Amy is the most melodramatic person I have ever known. I sincerely love her like a daughter, but jiminy cricket, she can drive you crazy. I look forward so much to when Steven comes home from being away, so he can take up some of the load, it makes me tired just thinking about it!
Seriously, in my opinion I have had the best, and finding a replacement has been a difficult job. Not so much in the people I have interviewed, as I was extremely fortunate to have interviewed a few lovely ladies who would all make good Electorate Officers. My problem was, that the bar had been set and it was perhaps an unachievable bar, because no person could ever have the same long-term working relationship and friendship that I had with Amy. In fact, perhaps the reason I ended up entering into a shared electorate officer role, when replacing Amy, was really because I did not believe one person could fill the void.
I have been doubly blessed, first in having the opportunity to share part of my working life with this young dynamo and second, the delight in finding two lovely and very capable ladies as Amy’s replacement.
Amy leaves in around three weeks, with Alison and Robyn taking over in a shared role. I will miss her, absolutely. Will I miss her badgering and annoying habits that drive me crazy? Absolutely. Madam Speaker, Amy’s mother told her they broke the mould when they made her, and I agree with Amy’s mum - the world could not handle another one. Amy, thank you, and I sincerely hope you and Steven stay safe and have a wonderful future together.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I will provide a round-up of the many things that have been happening in Nhulunbuy. There is a strong focus on the sporting stuff, but a couple of other bits and pieces as well.
The Gove Beach Volleyball Day, organised by the Rotary Club of Nhulunbuy as an annual event, was held last month. Once again, it was a huge success with 40 teams participating. Djurrpun, the team from Dhalingbuy, won after a very hard-fought grand final against the Blue Bayonets. Last year the Dhalingbuy team just missed out on place in the final, so it was great to see them victorious this year.
Gove beach volleyball is a fantastic community event, possible only due to the combined community efforts including assistance from Gove Peninsular Surf Lifesaving Club, who patrolled the beach, Gove Peninsular Tennis Club, who organised children’s activities, Rio Tinto Alcan came on board and provided a bus service, Nhulunbuy Speedway cooked the barbecue, and Gove FM provided a live broadcast and a public address system. All the profits made from the day are put straight back into community; so a fantastic event.
Tournament of Minds: congratulations to Nhulunbuy High School students, Rosie O’Dell, Zoe Dunn, Lanka Alahakoon, Brenton Ellis, Emily Osborne, Hayley Kohn on winning the Northern Territory regional finals of Tournament of Minds in the Language Literature category, recently. As a result, the students will represent the Northern Territory at the Australasian Pacific final of Tournament of Minds in Brisbane this coming weekend. I also acknowledge the fantastic support of their teachers, Linda Baret and Lorraine White, who will be travelling with the students to Brisbane.
Gove Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club hosted the Northern Territory Surf Lifesaving Championships on 29 and 30 September, in Gove. There were 176 competitors in the events coming from Gove, Darwin, Mindil Beach, Broome, and the newest surf lifesaving club in Australia, the Walngawu Djakamirri Surf Lifesaving Club, which is from Yirrkala.
Overall, these competitors took part in some 120 events. I will go through some of the results. The Open Men’s Surfboat race and relay was won by Gove; the Under-15 female events were dominated by Gove’s Maddi Reid and Gabby Parsons; the Under-17 male events were all won by Sam Putland, except for the Under-17 Ironman, which was won by Keegan Kelly.
The Under-17 female events were shared between Emma Whelan and Maria McGill. The Open Men’s Board Race was won by Alan Cross, and the Male Masters Ski Race bronze went to Charles Rue. The Female Masters, both beach events were won by Adrienne Willing, and the Senior Iron Man’s race was won by Alan Cross. The overall club points score for the senior championships saw Gove come out well in front with 639 points as the winners - well done. The Gove Peninsular Surf Lifesaving Club was completely dominant in the Under-8, Under-9, Under-10 and Under-11 categories, and congratulations go to age champions Tyler Beauchamp, Olivia Russel, Nicolaas Ploegsma, Jordin Ritchie, Tom McGrath, Sinead Salisbury, William Briggs, and Elizabeth Kestall. Ellen Guiney had a great day to win the Under-13 female title.
Surf Lifesaving NT President, Bob Creek, said the standard of competition in the Northern Territory continued to increase and he paid special tribute to Mundal Ganawurra, Rulminydjawuy Mununggur, and Yanggurrk Wunungmurra for being the first members of the newest surf lifesaving club from Yirrkala to contest the championship events. Mundul was the centre of another special occasion, when she was drafted by Broome for the All Age Relay, resulting in a bronze medal.
The overall club points score for the Junior Championships was Gove Peninsula Surf Lifesaving Club way out in front with 731 points, and points went all the way down to Broome, who got the wooden spoon with 31 points.
It is no secret that Nhulunbuy is a place which is absolutely fishing mad, and this was clearly demonstrated by the huge support for the inaugural East Arnhem Land Fishing Exhibition which was organised by Jeff and Kelly Murray, owners of Gove Tackle and Outdoors. It is worth noting that Jeff and Kelly took over this business just over one year ago, and are doing an absolutely fantastic job. Nhulunbuy shoppers have very good reason to support the ‘Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local’ campaign, which was launched in Nhulunbuy at the start of the year, when we have businesses like this operating in our community.
The inaugural East Arnhem Land Fishing Exhibition was held on the weekend of 2 and 3 October. There were eight representatives from companies and exhibitors who travelled all the way to Nhulunbuy to showcase the latest and greatest fishing techniques and tackle. There were displays, hands-on demonstrations, a junior fishing clinic, and a charity auction - so there was plenty to see and do.
The event would not have been possible without the support of Nhulunbuy Regional Sports Fishing Club, which is a very active club supporting our mad keen fishermen, fisherwomen, and fisher kids in the Gove region. Last weekend, the club oversaw the conclusion of the Walkabout Lodge John Jones Memorial Billfish Challenge, and the results, as I understand, are currently being finalised for the presentation which is going to be held this Saturday evening. Apparently the weather conditions were quite challenging, but, that aside, participants still managed to successfully tag and release a couple of black marlin and several sailfish.
The fishing competition is a great tribute to John Jones, who lost his battle with cancer several years ago, and this competition is a fitting tribute to his memory. There are many people who make things happen with Nhulunbuy Regional Sports Fishing Club, but I acknowledge Peter Cox, who seems to be so much a part of the driving force behind everything happening there.
Nhulunbuy BMX Club was well represented at the Northern Territory BMX Titles held in Palmerston on 2 to 4 October 2009 which was in the school holidays. Of the 33 riders - six of whom were Sprockets and not competing for Northern Territory plates - only six missed out on an NT plates. I also acknowledge the efforts of the club. It is quite an effort to get 33 riders with all their gear, bikes, parents, all the way from Gove to Darwin to participate in these events.
The participants and results in the six-year-old Sprockets, boys were Remi Grieve and Mardi Morvant. Amongst the five- and six-year-old Sprockets, girls, there were Gemma Hawthorne; Brooke Parish; and Jenna Tregillis. In the seven-year-old Sprockets, girls, was Charli Leahy. In the eight-year-old boys, Darcy Hawthorne came second in the Northern Territory, Tom Tregillis came third; and Zenoha Morvant came eighth. In the nine-year-old, boys, Lincoln Teagle was a semi finalist, and Josh Leahy took out third plate in the Northern Territory. In the 10-year-old girls, the NT number one plate was won by Chloe Grieve, and NT number four was Bree Roath. In the 11-year-old girls, Laura Hawthorne came third in the Northern Territory, Reagan Roath came fourth, and Jordina Grieve came fifth. Amongst the 11-year-old boys, Andrew Parish was a semi finalist; Joel McCarthy and Justin Parish participated, and well done to Kobe Simmonds, who came third in the Territory.
In the 12-year-old girls, fourth in the Northern Territory was Ruby Dulvarie, and fifth was Tiana Jensen. In the 12-year-old boys, second in the Northern Territory was Liam Tregillis; and fifth was Tim Baxter. Competing in the 13- and 14-year-old girls was Mikaela Bridge, who came fifth in the Northern Territory. The 13-year-old boys saw Bill Gibsone and Aubrey Hawthorne participate. In the Men’s Cruisers, 30-plus, Brendan Parish came third in the Territory, and Paul Tregillis came seventh. In the Open Women’s section Tayla Simmonds was third in the Territory, Jade Dulvarie came fifth, and Shaylee Harrison came seventh. In the Open Men’s, Jace Betts, who is a Year 11 high school student, came second in the Territory.
A special mention needs to be made of Gemma Sloane, who was number one in the Open Women’s section, and Zoe Sloane, who was number one in the 13- and 14-year-old girls section. While both of those girls, sisters of course, are from Nhulunbuy, they were not riding for Nhulunbuy BMX Club.
Gove Peninsula Tennis Club held their open competition on the weekend of 3 and 4 October 2009, attracting a total of 83 competitors, including 14 from Darwin, two from Alice Springs, and two from Melbourne. The list of participants is so long, I seek leave to have the results tabled in parliament.
Leave granted.
[Editor’s note: Please refer to Attachment A.]
Ms WALKER: Thank you. There is one other thing I wanted to mention. There is generally a citizenship ceremony, held once a month in Nhulunbuy on a Friday, by the Nhulunbuy Corporation, and the one I most recently attended was to see the wonderful Mariel Abanes and her little four-year-old boy, John, sworn in as Australian citizens. They are from Philippines, and have lived in Gove for a couple of years. She works for the Arafura Times, and is a fantastic person. I wish Mariel and John all the very best as citizens of our great country.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to say a few things this evening. I have a few thanks to give to people regarding a caravan park in the rural area. Two weeks ago it was looking likely it would be closed, which would have meant roughly 26 people would have been thrown out of the caravan park. Thankfully, after quite a number of discussions between the owner and some of the departments, there has been an agreement to keep the park open. I thank Frank Morandini for the work he has done in enabling those people to stay on at the caravan park.
There were a number of issues. Tonight, we had a meeting in the Holtze area. A number of the residents attended, as well as Frank Morandini and his manager, Dave Fuller. Frank was able to tell those people that, with some upgrades to the park, and also with a request for a number of park residents to pay their rent, which was outstanding in a few cases - not everyone, but there were a few people who had got into arrears - it looks like we have a good result. I also thank Alf Leonardi, who helped, because this was a big issue two weeks ago, and I was really concerned these people would be thrown out.
I do not have fond memories, but I remember well the problems we had with the Sundowner Caravan Park. It always irks me when I drive past WOW, where at the back there is a vacant block of land, which used to be the Sundowner Caravan Park, and 55 people lost their homes for a shopping centre which has not been built. I believe that is a disgrace and those people had to struggle to find a new place to live.
I thank all those people involved. It is a good story. It has been worked through with consultation between everyone. There are some matters which have to be fixed at the park, there is no doubt about that, and having attended the meeting tonight, I believe the owner, Frank Morandini, is willing to fix those problems, which is a great relief for those people. I sometimes call the park the half star park, because it is not the greatest park in the world, but it is a cheap place for people to stay. It has toilets and showers, and shady trees. It does not have the bitumen roads and the fancy ensuites you might get in other caravan parks, but that is all many people can afford, and they are happy there. You talk to the residents, and I sometimes find with people in caravan parks, the first time you think, oh, who lives here, but when you get to know them, you see a great cross-section of humanity, and they are good people.
They do not stand on their airs, because when I drove in tonight, there is a sign up that says ‘8 km’ - you have to work out how you get 8 km/h on your speedometer – and Cecilia, who is now the on-site collector of rent, flies around on her pushbike, and as I got out of the car, I got a mouthful. I probably deserved a mouthful, but that is the sort of people out there. A spade is a spade, and I was driving too fast. I asked her what speed I was doing, and she said: ’30’. I said: ‘How do you know?’ She said: ‘I know these things’. But they are good people out there, and I am grateful those people have made the effort to keep that park going.
I also want to take up something the member for Fong Lim said. I know he can be quite a colourful character, and he is known from time to time to be a slight exaggerator, but his comments on the Rankin River were so out of sync with reality, I will make a comment. I travelled out to the Barkly Highway and the Rankin River this year to see the damage, because there have been reports the damage had been caused by lack of maintenance by the government. So I thought I had better get out and have a look myself, because I was sure it was going to come up in parliament. This was not a maintenance issue; this was an enormous flood. This was the Rankin River breaking its banks and hitting a part of the road which simply could not hold back the amount of water. The river reached nearly to the roofs of Sudan Station, and I am told by a worker they were evacuated by helicopter. You are looking at a massive amount of water which the road simply could not hold.
The land on the downstream side was absolutely scarred; it ripped the surface of the land off. It took 20 culverts out approximately 500 m downstream, and they are big culverts, they are the ones you can walk through; I have the photographs.
I do not mind colour, or a good old debate, but I say that was not right. If you want to have your facts right, go out and check these things; that is the best thing to do.
At times I have said things which are not been accurate; I have gone on hearsay or on what I thought was the case. But, in this case, I made the effort to go out and have a look at this road, and it was more than a one-in-100 year flood - it was a natural disaster. That is the type of rainfall which occurred at the time. That is why I raised the question today. I am concerned if this work is not done quickly enough - although the minister tells me it will be eight weeks - I would not want to see it happen again. It held up our transport links, and the Barkly Highway is so important, it needs to be an all-weather link. Since they did the bridge on the Georgina at Camooweal, it is pretty well always accessible.
Also, I will say something about the Council of Territory Cooperation. It is up and running and has had its first two meetings, and it is great. I have no doubt this is going to be a very tough process. I am not here to brag about it, and I am not here to say it is going to change the world. However, we are going to put in as much effort as possible to make it work. I believe with everyone working together, trying to get good outcomes and, of course, there will be disagreement between us all, that is fair enough. But if we can try to get some good outcomes, especially try to improve government policy, then I believe we are on the right path.
We need to do it with good will, and with a feeling we are there to do a job for the Territory, and I hope it will be a success. There are some doubters, and I understand that. To some extent, I have my own doubts, but sometimes you have to put those doubts away, look at things positively, and do your best to make them work. I sincerely hope it works, and I will be doing my best to make sure it does.
Last, I thank my research officer, who has been thrown into this, you might say ‘change of life’ which I have had, a very rapid change in life. My life is much busier than it used to be, and I thought it was busy then. But Michelle, my research officer, has worked so hard to give me a hand through this period; she is helping out with the Council of Territory Corporation, getting charts ready, helping with possible meetings, and putting names down for people we might ask to come to those meetings. I put on the record, thank you, Michelle, for that work. She has worked tirelessly during these last eight days, especially. She is a fantastic lady, and I thank her very much for the work she has put into it.
You get a good feeling inside sometimes, when the person you hope will stick with you comes up and says: ‘I renewed my contract’; that is nice. She told me this week she has renewed the contract to keep working with me and I thank her for that. She shows much faith in me and I respect her and think she is a great lady. I thank her very much for all the work she has done.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I report to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly on my recent role and representation at both the 29th Small Branches Conference and the 55th General Assembly of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to table my formal report.
Leave granted.
Mr BOHLIN: Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker. These two conferences were held one after each other in the country of Tanzania, in the city of Arusha. Tanzania is located in the south eastern side of Africa. It has a long history in both the slave trade and spice trade. Today, the island of Zanzibar relies heavily on tourism surrounding its former dark days of slave trading, and flavoured days of spice trading.
It is fair to say a major part of its industry is tourism and, in particular, wildlife safaris, with many national parks and hundreds of tourist vehicles. Two of the most significant places of interest are Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa, and the Serengeti National Park.
The city of Arusha is situated centrally in the north of Tanzania; it is elevated and experiences cooler temperatures than those of the savannah floor. Tanzania is not a rich place, with no government welfare system, but a system where you work, and you work hard, or you may die. With such a strong incentive, you see very few people not working or not being productive within the family group; there are gardens everywhere and shops of all kinds. But, even with such levels of poverty, you see little sickness, and much in the way of people continually cleaning and then cleaning again.
The two conferences, the 29th Small Branches Conference and the 55th General Assembly of the CPA, were held between 28 September and 6 October 2009. In my opinion, if you have the privilege and honour to attend such a parliamentary development opportunity, you should not only embrace the opportunity, but you should put in 100% and give all you have, becoming involved at every possible point; you achieve nothing sitting on the fence.
With that in mind, the first conference was the 29th Small Branches Conference over two intense days. On the first day, with around 200 international delegates present, the day started with an official opening ceremony. Following the ceremony, we got down to serious business. The first plenary session was: Policy Response to the Global Financial Crisis in Small Economies. In this plenary, the main point raised was the overall agreement that any stimulus funding spent, it must be very targeted and not cash handouts. It should not be a project that will need continual funding. There were also concerns in relation to external influences, particularly when some countries have no internal resources.
The second plenary session was: Machinery of Government in Small States - Issues and Challenges. This plenary discussion led into the physical and operational processes of parliaments. It was a very interesting plenary, covering different types of parliamentary settings and various problems they face, including our own parliament and its fine balance of power.
The following morning brought on another solid day of debate. The third plenary session was: Utilising Committees in Small Parliaments. I was one of the three discussion leaders during this plenary. My presentation was delivered as a question on the Council of Territory Cooperation. The plenary went on to mainly revolve around committees. There was much discussion as to how these operate and how they do not. It was highlighted that PACs should be chaired by the opposition, with strong discontent for government to chair them. The point was raised that accountability was key. Another part of this plenary was a presentation from the World Bank, but this received little interest.
The fourth plenary session was: The Vulnerability of Small States - What Technical and Practical Advice Can the Commonwealth Offer? I was one of two discussion leaders. The second discussion leader spoke as an economic advisor of the Commonwealth Secretariat; it drew little interest, but had some interesting points.
I spoke on the dramatic rise in illegal immigration, and this raised a massive response. I will forward some information to the federal minister and shadow ministers for the relevant portfolios. It is of particular interest, considering the continued crisis which is unfolding since I returned from Tanzania. I also raised an additional issue in relation to illegal fishing in our waters, and the appearance it is now going unchecked, due to the increase in illegal immigration. This drew to an end the Small Branches Conference phase.
The next day saw the opening ceremony for the 55th General Assembly. This was held at the AICC, the Arusha International Conference Centre, which is also the location of the United Nations Rwanda War Crimes Commission. I will add to that. That aspect made it an extremely powerful place; it was quite a moving aspect, to know that such important business was conducted around us while we were there.
The opening ceremony of the 55th General Assembly was a massive coordination feat, and although not all was smooth, Tanzania should be commended for the conference and the amazing level of friendliness and helpfulness of the staff, all in traditional dress. The conference opening brought together 900 international delegates - an amazing sight.
After the opening, a large lunch was served, before delegates broke away into regional meetings. The Australian region included Norfolk Island and was chaired by Senator Alan Ferguson. Although this meeting was short, it was clear, in particular about the need to continually push open and accountable democracy. Later that day, delegates returned to the AICC, for further presentations.
The following day was a field trip to various national parks; I went to Manyara Lake National Park. Manyara was a two hour drive from Arusha and an experience in itself. The change in savannah alone was impressive, but to observe the society was sobering. Australia is truly a lucky country but, again, I must express, it was great to see everyone working and to see the skill levels of tradespersons, yet rudimentary tooling and then questions about workplace safety. Unlike at home, there is no free lunch, and the driving time was taken up discussing differences between countries, and in this case of Nigeria. I note the Nigerian official I spoke at length with, and with great passion, had many like-minded opinions on gatekeepers, accountability, and governance that builds gold silos and fails to deliver fundamental, basic human needs. To say the least, it was an interesting discussion.
Sunday began with workshops, and, I must say, there were so many workshops on at one time, it limited your ability to attend, and directly input to, more than three or four over the entire day, which for me was disappointing. The following is a list of workshops held: Workshop A: Coalition Governments - Parliamentary Democracy in Dilemma?; Workshop B: Policy Responses to the Global Financial Crisis; Workshop C: The Role of Commonwealth Parliaments in Combating Terrorism; Workshop D: The Role of Parliament in Shaping the Information Society; Workshop E: The Role of Parliamentarians in the Elimination of Violence Against Women with Particular Reference to Domestic Violence; Workshop F: Climate Change - Are Policy Solutions Working?; Workshop G: Developing Mechanisms to Remedy Root Causes of Political, Economic and Social Conflict; Workshop H: The Commonwealth and Youth – How to Engage Future Generations in Representative Democracy; Commonwealth Women’s Policy (CWP) Session: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Women; and the Final Plenary.
I will not finish the last page, but I was getting close, with 10 or so lines left.
This was as much an experience as a worldly lesson in political democracy and the need to continue to push for open and accountable governments. I also thank the Tanzanian government, CPA Secretary staff, and all persons involved in pulling together this massive conference.
Mr McCARTHY (Barkly): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the Barkly Muster Rodeo ‘went off’ once again as part of the total Wild West experience this month in Tennant Creek. Nominations came from all over the country, from both professional cowboys and Territory rough riders, pitting their skills and wit against the wildest bucking stock the muster has seen so far. The bulls featured in two divisions, with a huge score card that left most cowboys bruised and battered, with the feature bull on the night, Speckled Eggs, dominating the proceedings.
The buck jumpers entertained the large crowd with a traditional display of exciting horsemanship, ably supported by a superb pick up team from the Kalarla Rodeo Company, demonstrating skill and precision, in both getting cowboys off their bucking mounts, in addition to guiding the bucking horses safely into the back yards.
The crowd was absorbed into the rodeo experience gently on Saturday night, with a small, but entertaining barrel racing program, before an elegant grand parade and soulful singing of the National Anthem. However, it soon became a no holds barred encounter, with cowboys and rough stock going to battle like modern day gladiators, as the crowd roared their appreciation for both man and beast.
Rodeo has a long history in the Barkly, and judging by the support shown from the crowd, is here to stay as a celebration of our pastoral roots in the Territory.
The Longtails rocked out a great night, in what was a new element to the Barkly Muster Rodeo after party, with the final siren sounding at 2.00 am. ‘Cowboy Up’ was heard loud and clear from behind the chutes at the Barkly Muster Rodeo, but as the dust settled, the call echoed to the sound of, ‘when’s the next rodeo, Russell?’
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I put on the Parliamentary Record the colloquial language in my statement related to the well-known anti-drink-driving slogan. While the colloquial word was written in the statement to highlight a powerful advertising campaign, I did not utter the word in the parliament, in the interests of discretion, and not wanting to exhibit language that could be considered unparliamentary.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I mention a matter that seems to have slipped between the cracks. It is not a shot across the bow at anyone, and I am raising this issue for no other reason than to speak fondly of a fine institution in Katherine. What has occurred, or seems to have occurred, and has slipped past without so much as a whisper, is the fact that, on 1 October 2009, the Katherine Hospital turned 75. Yes, the stately old lady, that is the Katherine Hospital, turned 75 years old this year, and I wish her a very happy birthday.
I pay tribute to the dedicated and hard-working staff, past and present, at the hospital in Katherine. They continue to provide an excellent quality of health care to the people of Katherine and the regions, and I applaud their efforts to keep that old girl afloat.
Like many hospitals, which have been around for a while, Katherine Hospital carries with it much interesting history. I managed to pick up a document, titled: A Brief History of Katherine Hospital 1934-1994, which was compiled by Jo Ascot on behalf of the Katherine Hospital Management Board.
I thought it might be interesting to read a few excerpts out of this document, because I think, as time has gone by, since the 1930s and through the war years, there are some interesting things which have happened at the Katherine Hospital. This is an ideal opportunity to let people know there is some fascinating history in Katherine, and the Katherine region, and they should avail themselves of the information which is available through, amongst other places, the museum at Katherine.
Mr Bohlin: It is a brilliant museum.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: It is a brilliant museum, thank you, member for Drysdale. It has an enormous amount of fascinating stuff, going back many decades, on the history of Katherine. It is well and truly worth a visit when you are down that way. I will read a couple of excerpts from this document:
- Katherine Hospital was sited on a riverbank some distance upstream from the railway bridge and, in true Northern Territory fashion, the townspeople made this the cause of a complaint. The reasons for the hospital’s siting in this position were at the time cogent and numerous.
Is it not interesting how time has moved on? There is no evidence left, apart from Knott’s Crossing, which was the old crossing, referred to here, across the river.
(3) The town of Katherine was subject to flooding - the hospital site was considered to be rather high up.
(5) The hospital was adjacent to the airstrip used by Dr Fenton and its proximity eliminated many problems of access for patients and others.
For people who have been to Katherine, and driven out along the gorge road, if you look to the right, just before you get to the hospital, you will see the old airstrip where Clyde Fenton used to land his plane, which is adjacent to the museum.
The Katherine hospital went through the war years, and I quote another excerpt from the document:
- With the coming of the war, civilian doctors were scarce. Katherine had to rely on the services of a doctor being flown in once a week from Darwin to conduct a clinic. As the war in the north escalated, evacuees from Darwin and Pine Creek without relatives further south began to dismount from the trains at Katherine, placing a considerable strain on the two sisters who staffed Katherine hospital. News of the situation was reported as far away as Canberra, where an article appeared in the Canberra Times deploring the fact that the lack of the doctor in Katherine forced the nursing sisters to perform emergency surgery, and stressing that the two were working night and day to cope with the evacuees.
I guess that goes to show, in some ways, staffing issues in the medical profession in the Territory are not unique to this decade or, indeed, probably any of the other decades between the 1930s and now.
Very interestingly, the document goes on to talk about the time in the 1940s and 1950s, past the war years. But, if I skip towards the end of the 1960s, two rather iconic names started appearing in the records. One is Jim Scattini and the other is the late Peter Short. Those two doctors dedicated their lives to looking after people on a medical level in Katherine and other places for a very long time. They left the government’s employ and started up their own clinic in Katherine many years ago. Those two doctors have been the stable medical force in Katherine for many years.
I take this opportunity to thank, the late Peter Short and Jim Scattini for the dedication and hard work they put into a place like Katherine. It can be a difficult at times for people to live on a long-term basis, but they made it home. I have seen some of thee medicos in action. In fact, I was at the Katherine Hospital one night when I saw Dr Jim Scattini save a fellow’s life. He was shot in the face with a rifle and Jim saved his life on the table as I watched him, with the help of the nurses. It was quite fascinating.
There are plenty of other things in the document which give an indication of what it was like in those days. There is talk about one particular doctor who prescribed vegemite, which was to be used liberally on all sorts of things like cuts, wounds and ulcers, and apparently …
Mr Bohlin: It has a lot of salt in it.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE: So I hear. It is quite an effective treatment for those things. Probably given the lack of medical supplies they had to endure in tough times. But it is an interesting history, and there has been a great deal going on in the Katherine region; stories of hardships, and funny stories. That is what I believe comes out of many of these historical records, the truly entertaining stories, anecdotes, the people and the funny situations they found themselves in. I urge people to get a hold of this document; I am sure it is available quite easily on the Internet.
In closing, I wish the Katherine Hospital a very happy 75th birthday. I have said it here before, and made it public, I hope the Katherine Hospital does not have to celebrate its 100th birthday in its present location. I would dearly love to see a new, much upgraded, and expanded facility in a new location in Katherine, somewhere not affected by floods. I guess one of the original premises for putting the hospital on that site was it was not so prone to floods, but, since 1998, we discovered that just about every part of Katherine is prone to flooding. It would be great to see some forward thinking and some strategic planning going on, so the new Katherine Hospital can celebrate 100 years of having a hospital in Katherine, but not necessarily on that site.
Again, well done to the staff. I hope they pick up on this - if they have not done so already, and we can do something with the Katherine Hospital to make it a special celebration this month for its 75th birthday.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak on a couple of issues. The first being a fantastic event, the Friends of Fiji Ball, which I was fortunate to be invited to attend, last Friday, 16 October. It was a great event held at the SKYCITY Casino, in the ballroom upstairs, where they crammed nearly 300 people; people from all nationalities, but, predominantly, almost the entire Darwin and Northern Territory Fijian community were present. It was a fantastic event, with lots of cultural dressing and, of course, many people with black ties and beautiful ball gowns, and a combination of some Fijian traditional dress and ball gowns, made the night a spectacular event.
The event was conducted as a fundraiser to help sponsor the Church Conference of Fijian Congregations around Australia, which is scheduled to happen in Darwin between 7 and 10 January. There was some scepticism by some around Australia, because it has never been held outside of Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, but despite their reservations and the traditional misconception of what Darwin and the Northern Territory have to offer, was overcome, and these people are now coming to spend some time in our fabulous city in the green season.
The Darwin community showed an enormous amount of support by purchasing tickets and attending the function, and then supporting a magnificent raffle with some fantastic prizes of traditional Fijian clothing and scarves.
The ball was an enjoyable event and portrayed the rich diversity of people, cultures and lifestyles which make up this fantastic city of Darwin and the Northern Territory. The event commenced with some fantastic entertainment by, none other, than a female Barbershop quartet. I had not seen a barbershop quartet with all females, but the style of singing was excellent and unaccompanied, and they managed to entertain the people with some fantastic songs. The four ladies in this group, two of whom work in this building and are in the Hansard office working at this very moment, and, I assume, listening to this speech about what a fantastic job they did, are Kini Tuiono and Drua Lotu. I sincerely pass on my thanks, to you ladies listening, for your fantastic hospitality. They were absolutely fantastic hostesses, and, in addition to that - I did not realise they were part of the quartet - they came on to entertain, as part of a quartet called Entity, with Kini and Drua, along with Jane and Jann. They did a fabulous job, and they go around doing community events and provide entertainment for one and all.
That was followed by some traditional dancing. The reason why I love living in this place is the richness of the cultures, and the joining of the cultures, and when you get traditional Fijian young ladies dancing with people from other ethnic groups, white, black and brindle, it is just a kaleidoscope of colours, people, costumes, flowers, and to see everybody getting in and choosing to do dancing from one culture and another, it is fantastic to see, which again makes it a great event and why we live in the Northern Territory.
The other thing that occurred there was some traditional songs. They get everyone up, no one is bashful, everyone gets up, they had the entire dance floor stage area at the front of the Fijian community to sing their National Anthem. That was great, because it just left a couple of us sitting down at the tables at the back of the room. There we were, I suppose, the people who were not directly related to the Fijians, and we were the minority sitting there, being entertained by this fantastic group of people who, first, stayed in tune, and second, knew all the words.
It was just fabulous, they got up there as a community and they really bonded together. It took me back to what happened in the great hall this morning, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, where we had somewhere between 600 and 700 young Territorians singing. I commented to someone that, at one stage, I had to stop singing, because the emotions get you, and there is a peak where the song and the energy that comes out of those people gets you, and sometimes you miss a word. Fortunately, that particular emotional feeling does not hit everyone at the same time, otherwise it would go quiet.
I experienced it at that show. I saw these people, obviously proud of where they have come from, singing traditional songs, as any culture is very pleased and proud to sing their cultural songs and to perform their cultural dances. It was fabulous. To finish off, the entire Fijian community of Darwin, who were up there in front of us, sang a farewell song, and I believe there were a few tears in the room, it is such an emotional song and these people did it so well.
I congratulate the Fijian community for putting on such an enormously successful event. I believe they raised a considerable amount of money to help them with their conference in January. I thank our hostesses, Kini and Drua, who made us feel very welcome. Thank you very much, ladies.
I now speak about some great achievements at Anula Primary School. Anula Primary School is very proactive in relation to doing a whole range of things. I am sure there are plenty of other schools that are just as proactive, but, of course, Anula is one of my schools and I am very proud of the people who are there, as I am of the other schools in my electorate. I will mention a couple of things which have occurred. Just recently, the art teacher at Anula School, Alison Dowell, was awarded a grant to represent the Northern Territory at an Arts in Asia conference in Melbourne next week. I have seen some of Alison’s work, and the results of her teaching these young people. In fact, I purchased a piece of art recently, and decided it was so good, I would try to sponsor some sort of an art award, at the end of the year, for students who participate in her art classes.
Anula Primary School ran an expo recently, where they put on displays of all sorts of things which are going on, one of which is a huge art display. I walked into the art display and I saw work that might have consisted of 10 to 15 people contributing to one piece of art. These young people go through the art area, where there are big canvasses in the art area, to which they all contribute. So what I will have hanging in my office, when I pick it up, is this fantastic piece of art contributed to by about 15 of the young students at Anula Primary School. She has really motivated these young people, and I can understand why she has been awarded a grant to attend that conference. Congratulations to Alison, and I hope that she continues that fantastic work in motivating young people to express themselves through the arts.
At the Assembly last week, we picked out some prizes for people who had 100% attendance in Term 3. There were 102 students out of 409 who had 100% attendance in Term 3. Those people are: Georgina Kefaloukos; Ansumana Mansaray; Juoao Baptista; Meiying He; Nemo Shang; Dylan Newall; Banjamin Han; Evita Tomakin; and Aezel Ayson. These people were drawn out the hat and were the fortunate winners of some prizes, so they could be rewarded for having 100% attendance.
The other thing occurring at Anula at the moment is the Early Years teaching team at Anula has been short-listed for the Teaching in the Territory Excellence Awards for their educational leadership, in relation to introducing the Australian Developmental Curriculum, and their development of the ADC teacher learning network across the Top End.
Fabulous things are happening at Anula, led by some fantastic teachers, Karen Modoo, the Principal; Carin Symonds, the Assistant Principal; and, until very recently …
Madam Acting DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, your time has expired.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Attachment A
Adjournment Speech
Member for Nhulunbuy
Adjournment Speech
Member for Nhulunbuy
| EVENT | POSITION | NAME | CLUB |
| Girls Doubles 16 | 1 2 | Madeleine Murray and Sally Naughton Geordi Avila and Selena O'Sullivan | DTC/GPTC GPTC |
| Boys Doubles 16 | 1 2 | Justyn Levin and Hamish Martin Miles Andrew and Alex Hodgson | maccabi/DTC DTC Sports Darwin |
| Girls Singles 16 | 1 2 | Madeleine Murray Sally Naughton | DTC GPTC |
| Boys Singles 16 | 1 C-12 | Tom Zaleski Justyn Levin Alex Hodgson | ASTA maccabi DTC Sports Darwin |
| Girls Doubles 12 | 1 2 | Sasha Pearson and Angelita Tipungwuti Emily Liley and Amanda Murdoch | GPTC/Gardens GPTC |
| Boys Doubles 12 | 1 2 | Thomas Kestel and Jake Larsen Joseph Mayer and Andrew O'Sullivan | GPTC GPTC |
| Girls Singles 12 | 1 2 | Angelita Tipungwuti Emily Liley | Gardens GPTC |
| Boys Singles 12 | 1 2 | Andrew O'Sullivan Jake Larsen | GPTC GPTC |
| Girls Doubles 10 | 1 2 | Elizabeth Kestel and Eytahnyia Scott-Jones Tanisha Ploegsma and Emily Tankard | GPTC GPTC |
| Boys Doubles 10 | 1 2 | Brendan O'Sullivan and Jye Vanhuisstede William Briggs and Cameron Lukas | GPTC GPTC |
| Girls Singles 10 | 1 2 | Elizabeth Kestel Eytahnyia Scott-Jones | GPTC GPTC |
| Boys Singles 10 | 1 2 | Brendan O'Sullivan Jye Vanhuisstede | GPTC GPTC |
| Boys Doubles 8 | 1 2 | Matthew Liley and Jye Vanhuisstede Anthony Miller and Nicolaas Ploegsma | GPTC GPTC |
| Boys Singles 8 | 1 2 | Nicolaas Ploegsma Zachary Scott-Jones | GPTC GPTC |
| Mixed Social Doubles | 1 2 | Meagan Jones and Brendan Higgins Geordi Avila and Gil Avila | GPTC/Gardens GPTC |
| Mixed Open Doubles | 1 2 | Tarlina Tipungwuti and Nathan eli Hawke Caitlyn Mitchell and Tom Zaleski | Gardens/Tennis NT GPTC/ASTA |
| Women’s Social Doubles | 1 2 | Akiyo Keehne and Tracy Naughton Emily Liley and Georgina Liley | GPTC GPTC |
| Women’s Open Doubles | 1 2 | Treena Monroe and Tarlina Tipungwuti Sally Naughton and Selena O'Sullivan | Gardens GPTC |
| Men’s Social Doubles | 1 2 | Neeraj Pugalia and Stephane Torsiello Dominique Govan and Warren Martin | GPTC GPTC/DTC |
| Men’s Open Doubles | 1 2 | Warren Foote and Mark Pead George Cardoso and Justyn Levin | Gardens/Tennis NT maccabi |
| Women’s Social Singles | 1 2 | Tracy Naughton Catherine Jones | GPTC GPTC |
| Women’s Open Singles | 1 2 | Tarlina Tipungwuti Sally Naughton | Gardens GPTC |
| Men’s Social Singles | 1 2 | Dominique Govan Jake Murdoch | GPTC GPTC |
| Men’s Open Singles | 1 C-12 | Nathan eli Hawke Mark Pead Craig Gallagher | Tennis NT Tennis NT ASTA |
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016