2010-10-19
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise that on 3 September 2010 the resignation of the former member for Araluen, Ms Jodeen Carney, was submitted to me by letter pursuant to section 18 of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act. I table a copy of the letter.
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of family and friends of the new member for Araluen, including her husband and family - Mr Craig Lambley, Master Harry Lambley, Ms Alice Lambley - and friends of Mrs Lambley.
Also in the gallery is Mr Neville Perkins OAM, former member for Macdonnell accompanied by Mr Clive Scollay, General Manager of Maruku Arts.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise the presence in the gallery of Year 9 students from Taminmin College accompanied by Ms Kate Minahan and Mr Jean-Marc Balette. Taminmin College won the Excellence in Vocational Education and Training Award in the Smart Schools Award for 2010.
On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you all a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise I have approved ABC TV and Channel 9 to film with sound, and the NT News to take photographs, during the swearing-in of the new member for Araluen.
The CLERK: Honourable members, I lay on the Table the Return to Writ issued by His Honour the Administrator, Mr Tom Pauling AO QC, for the electoral Division of Araluen on 9 October 2010 certifying the election of Robyn Jane Lambley.
Robyn Jane Lambley made and subscribed the oaths of allegiance and office required by law.
Madam SPEAKER: On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you hearty congratulations and best wishes as the new member for Araluen.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I now ask for the cameras to be removed.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from His Honour the Administrator Message No 21 notifying assent to bills passed in the August 2010 sitting of the Assembly, which I table.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I advise members that the following are the new shadow responsibilities in the Leader of the Opposition’s team, effective as of today:
Mr CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to petition Nos 36, 38, 39 and 41 have been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the responses will be placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to petitioners.
Response
Response
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it is with sadness that I advise members of the recent deaths of three people known to this Assembly. Last Thursday, the husband of the former member for Katherine, Mrs Fay Miller, Mr Mike Miller, died after a short illness.
In August, the wife of former member Milton Ballantyne, a member in the First Assembly, Mrs Wilma Ballantyne, died.
On Sunday evening, the part-time electorate officer of the member for Nelson, Mrs Dawn Hunt, died.
On behalf of all honourable members, I extend most sincere condolences to the families and friends of Mr Miller, Mrs Ballantyne and Mrs Hunt. May they rest in peace.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I understand there has been an agreement to allow the new member for Araluen to make her first speech directly while her family are present. I call the member for Araluen.
MAIDEN SPEECH
Member for Araluen
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen)(by leave): Madam Speaker, before I commence my speech, I acknowledge and pay my respects to the Aboriginal custodians of the land, the Larrakia.
The people of Araluen have spoken, and it is with enormous pride that I stand before the Northern Territory parliament as the new member for Araluen. Humbly, I confess I am not a polished politician as many of my esteemed new colleagues. I am an average person who has had the great fortune to benefit from the unbelievable opportunities the Northern Territory has had to offer.
Like many of us, I arrived in Alice Springs with little more than a suitcase, a yearning sense of adventure, and a bucket full of enthusiasm. Almost 17 years later, I am proud to say the Northern Territory is my home, where I met my husband, where my two children were born, where we have established our family business, and where I have lived the greater part of my life. It is an intensely proud and humble Territorian who speaks to you today with her hand on her heart.
The Northern Territory has been good to my family and me, and for this reason I am before you today. I believe we all have a responsibility to try to put back into our community what we get out of it, to reciprocate, to give, and to enable. We have a responsibility to serve our community, and particularly those less fortunate than ourselves. This principle is intrinsic to why I have decided to embark on a path in politics.
My vision for the Northern Territory is to enable all Territorians, to provide others with the opportunities I have been afforded, and to serve people as they have served me.
As a social worker of 25 years, I am acutely aware of the problems which beguile our Northern Territory communities. I can only speak of Central Australia when I talk of the difficulties and challenges which impact the lives of everyday people going about their business.
For the first six years that I lived in Alice Springs I held the position of Senior Social Worker at the Alice Springs Hospital. This role involved managing the hospital’s Social Work department and the Aboriginal Liaison and Interpreting Service. This was a frontline service which I likened to a battle zone, with trauma, neglect and violence being the dominant precipitators of people presenting to the hospital emergency department. Prior to this, I specialised in psychiatry, or mental health, so I was used to pain and suffering on a slightly different score.
Although I became somewhat desensitised to the general business of the Alice Springs Hospital, to this day I remain alarmed by the very poor health status of Aboriginal people, the appalling incidence of violence and abuse resulting in life-threatening and often fatal injuries, and the common neglect and abuse of the elderly and children, being at opposite ends of the life spectrum but similar in their positions of powerlessness when it comes to access to food, comfort and safety.
When I took that position in 1994, I had just come back from travelling extensively for several years throughout Africa and Asia. I never imagined such poverty and deprivation occurred in our blessed Australia, the lucky country.
What I saw in those early years of working at the Alice Springs Hospital shocked me, but most of all, saddened me. Working at the Alice Springs Hospital also gave me my first opportunity to learn about some of the health problems of Aboriginal people in Central Australia. During that period the hospital had two paediatric, or children’s, wards. The infectious paediatric ward had a bed occupancy rate of almost 100% Aboriginal children. These children were suffering all manner of infectious diseases with diarrhoea and vomiting being the most common broadly used diagnosis.
For a variety of reasons most of these children were identified as suffering from a condition called failure to thrive. Chronic diarrhoea, vomiting and a depleted immune system are some of the causes of failure to thrive. However, the most disturbing and, arguably, the most commonly recognised cause of failure to thrive is deprivation of food, or simply put, starvation. Failure to thrive, or lack of sufficient calories, stops growth - growth of the human brain and the organs. A small brain, or microcephalia, can cause brain damage, mental retardation and disturbances in motor functioning.
Failure to thrive is just one example of the numerous health problems commonly suffered by Aboriginal children in Central Australia. Health professionals have consternated for decades as to how to address this socially contrived medical condition which has potentially life-long effects.
Ironically, no one hears about failure to thrive. It is for all intents and purposes a well kept secret. This shroud of secrecy has troubled me for many years. As a member of parliament I do not want these types of serious issues and problems to be kept secret. I want to be brave and open about issues which impact on significant sections of our population. I want people to understand the depth and seriousness of suffering in our community. But to solve a problem requires that you first identify the problem.
The understanding I gained from my six years at the Alice Springs Hospital was that problems do not simply go away; if anything, they often become worse. The challenge for us all is to look honestly at the problems and tackle them in the best interest of the whole community. It is difficult not to judge when the lives of our most vulnerable are at stake, however, hiding the problem of the truth, no matter how disturbing, can be construed as condoning the problem.
When I first came to the hospital there were no statistics kept on presentations to the hospital involving injuries sustained through domestic violence. Now there are. Identifying the problem is the first step in solving the problem.
Not all problems require an intervention by government. Not all problems require public resources and public servants to fix them. The community can be enabled and empowered to respond to needs. Governments do not have to be instrumental in providing everything and finding the solution for everything. Neighbourhood Watch is an example of community action. A free-market democracy means, theoretically, government does not need to be big or intrusive in most areas.
Communities can be changed and repaired. People can open their hearts to embrace difference. Alice Springs people are very open to change and difference. They are a generous and tolerant people. Over recent years we have seen many different ethnic groups come to our town, including many African and Indian migrants. The people of Alice Springs have welcomed them, and appreciate the unique contribution they make to the social fabric and skills base of the town. Alice Springs is not a racist town. For the most part we live together side by side, harmoniously, respectfully and peacefully.
Problem drinkers throughout the Northern Territory - those who drink habitually, offend regularly, present at health services regularly with alcohol-related illnesses and afflictions - need to be assisted in their recovery and allowed to take responsibility for the impact their behaviour has on themselves and others. Pretending the whole of the Alice Springs community has a drinking problem is absolving habitual drinkers of their responsibility, and serves as a poor attempt to conceal the real problem.
When governments are fearful of acting honestly, fearful of clearly articulating the problems, the problems will never be addressed. All health professionals know the first step in treating anyone is to diagnose the specific nature of the problem; it is only then the appropriate treatment can be applied.
The Northern Territory needs to put aside the race card. The threat of being called racist limits our ability to respond. We are fearful of naming a problem, or identifying a problem, which may be too sensitive, or appear to be mainly an Aboriginal problem. We are accused of talking the town down if we cut too close to the core. The threat of being labelled racist mutes and disables us.
Good governance requires courage to name, not blame. Good governance knows not everyone is going to like or agree with you. Being a good politician is about taking risks and making hard decisions for the greater good, perhaps at the expense of marginalising a few of your constituents.
If I aim to be at all successful in my position as member for Araluen, then I aim to be true to the people I represent, to the person I am, and to what is right, fair and just. I undertake to be courageous, honest and not let fear impair my ability to respond when it comes to helping all Territorians, regardless of race.
As for repairing our community, this is our greatest challenge in Alice Springs. People are falling victim to vandalism, assaults, thefts and intimidation. A mentality of ‘there is nothing we can do’ has developed in Alice Springs. Resignation, defeat and hopelessness are the feedback I received from the people of Araluen as I stood on their doorsteps. The great outback attitude of staring down defeat and soldiering on seems to be flagging.
As we celebrate the 150th year of John McDouall Stuart’s expedition to Central Australia, what would he have made of this apparent surrendering and capitulation of the people of Alice Springs at the hands of a small minority? This is simply not acceptable. I cannot and will not accept a community resigned to a perception of lawlessness and fear. Other communities have rebounded from this point; other communities have restored law and order. There is unequivocally no reason why the streets of Alice Springs cannot be cleaned up to that of former days. Strong, creative leadership is required to lead our community out of this hijacking by people who have lost respect for others as well as themselves.
I want to see a genuine effort made to address law and order in Alice Springs. I want an all-of-community approach stretching throughout Central Australia, including the identification of the complexities around the urbanisation of Aboriginal people from their communities into Alice Springs.
Sometimes the most effective strategies are not necessarily the most expensive. The use of general purpose police dogs, or security dogs, is a relatively inexpensive resource found to be highly effective interstate in response to complaints of intruders on premises, break and entering offences, sexual attacks, brawls, prowlers, lost persons, and many armed or violent situations. Dogs have been used in Ceduna for the past three years and crime has reportedly reduced by over 60%. This is an example of options we need to try in Alice Springs as a matter of urgency.
The converse side to my lifelong interest in social justice is my business acumen. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all successful, to varying degrees, as business owners. I was raised valuing the importance of financial independence, and the freedom and strength of being self-employed. I was also raised understanding the worry, endless headaches and demands of business.
Business is key to the future of the Northern Territory. Private enterprise is by far our biggest employer. In the electorate of Araluen, 70% of residents are employed and supported by private enterprise. We need to do everything we can to promote and create all manner of business in the Territory. A robust, open economy is far preferable to one which is propped up by government and managed by public servants who have no experience of business, who have never had the experience of risking everything they have to make a quid. We need to listen to the business sector and work with them.
As a business owner in Alice Springs, I am deeply troubled by the housing crisis which is directly affecting the ability of local businesses to reach their full potential. Without available and affordable accommodation, the battle to attract workers to Alice Springs is near impossible. High rentals make any chance of workers getting ahead financially an uphill climb. Promises of affordable land releases in Alice Springs are currently flowing without the benefit of well-considered, long-term planning. Workers’ accommodation is at a critical shortage with the recent announcement of the intended closure, in 2011, of a caravan park housing over 100 permanent residents. For a town which has had a shrinking population over the past 10 years, this escalating pressure on the housing market is serious and unsustainable. We are now faced with quick fixes to a problem which has been staring us in the face for years.
Economic prosperity and the tourism industry are inexplicably linked in Alice Springs; tourism being our No 1 industry and main source of income. We must sustain the flights and airlines we currently have coming in and out of Alice Springs to stimulate new markets. It is a delicate balance and a highly competitive industry which requires constant attention. Charter flights in and out of Alice are essential to the growth of our town.
I come to office with high hopes for the future of the Northern Territory, and especially the wonderful town of Alice Springs. The Northern Territory is still admired and revered for its untapped resources and bountiful opportunities. Although we can identify the social, economic and housing problems which beset our communities, it is the lifestyle, the freedom, and the charm which keeps most of us ensconced in our piece of paradise in the Territory. The Territory is truly a marvellous place.
I pay my respects to my two predecessors, Mr Eric Poole, who served as the member for Araluen from the inception of the electorate in 1983 to 2001, and Ms Jodeen Carney, who served as the member for Araluen from 2001 to September 2010. I know both Mr Poole and Ms Carney personally and can reassure them I will hold this office in high esteem and work tirelessly for the people of Araluen, continuing their legacy.
My greatest supporters are my two children, Harry Lambley and Alice Lambley, and my amazing husband, Craig Lambley, who have joined me here today to celebrate this special occasion. This will be a time of significant adjustment for my family and me.
I take this opportunity to thank the many people who gave freely of their time and support through my campaign, the hard-working members of the Alice Springs branch of the Country Liberals, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Terry Mills, and the numerous Country Liberals’ members of parliament, in particular the member for Greatorex, Mr Matt Conlan, and the member for Braitling, Mr Adam Giles.
I also acknowledge my parents, Max and Pam Priestly, who could not be with me today. They have lived in Grafton, New South Wales, where I was born and bred, throughout their 50 years of marriage.
Madam Speaker, it is my goal to assist others to try to reach their full potential in life and, in doing so, I commit myself to serving the good people of Araluen and the Northern Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I place on the record my thanks to members opposite and yourself for your indulgence this morning.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Congratulations to the member for Araluen. We will pause while members congratulate the honourable member.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I table Growing them strong, together, the report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Madam Speaker, this report is the most intensive, thorough and rigorous report and inquiry into the child protection system there has ever been in the Northern Territory. It was delivered to the government yesterday. There was a presentation to the government by the Board of Inquiry, Professor Muriel Bamblett AO, Dr Howard Bath, and Dr Rob Roseby. I personally thank, and also on behalf of the government, those three people for a very important body of work. They have shown an enormous commitment to putting this report together. They have worked very hard, diligently, and very passionately. As Chief Minister, I had no problem in extending the time they needed to produce this report. There was some comment criticising the government for allowing extensions of time, but I thought it was very important, having established this Board of Inquiry, that we gave the board the time to do the work we asked them to do. So, to Muriel, Howard and Rob, thank you for this report which was provided yesterday.
I also acknowledge, and I do not have a list of names here, but there was a significant group of very passionate people who collaborated to put together the terms of reference for this inquiry, and to reach a consensus on who should sit on the Board of Inquiry. I thank the former minister, my colleague, Malarndirri McCarthy, as the minister at the time who did work across the parliament with Jodeen Carney. I acknowledge Jodeen’s passion in this area, with the member for Nelson, Gerry Wood, who was also very passionate. There were all types of non-government organisations and bodies which also contributed to the terms of reference. It really was a collaborative effort to ensure we had the terms of reference right to do the job we wanted the inquiry to do, and to find people with the capability and capacity to undertake the inquiry, with the respect amongst the profession to gain the confidence of the people within the child protection system to come forward and provide testimony to the inquiry.
The inquiry was called in November last year to look at the systems, structures and resources within the Children and Families division of the Department of Health. This is the largest inquiry this Territory government has ever called or been involved in. There were close to 200 submissions, 80 public hearings, and visits to 15 communities. It was substantive, it was substantial, and it reached out to all parts of the Northern Territory. I thank each and every person and organisation which made submissions to the inquiry. I thank everyone who attended public hearings, and the people in those 15 remote communities who provided testimony to the inquiry. This report has come to government based, to a large part, on the advocacy of the people who made submissions, attended public hearings, and presented at meetings in those communities.
There is nothing more important for any society to do than to protect and care for its children. The responsibility, first and foremost, lays with the parents of those children, then with the broader community surrounding those children, the broader society in which communities exist, and with the government of the day. There is nothing more important than empowering parents to care for their children. That is the place for us to start.
We sought recommendations on ways to strengthen our system to protect the most vulnerable in our community, and to give families the capabilities for supporting their children. This report has very explicitly made clear the deficiencies in the system and has provided a way forward for the government to pursue. I can say, at this early stage, that the inquiry’s recommendations are accepted in principle. There are, however, 147 very detailed recommendations which need to be worked through in detail, which will certainly happen. They will be closely evaluated by a special cross-agency reform steering committee which will oversee the implementation of the 147 recommendations. It will be a challenging and far-reaching process and it will be costly, but the government is determined that real changes will be made for the wellbeing of Territory children and their families.
The first term of reference is:
My colleague, the minister, will address this issue in some detail, but very clearly the most alarming indicator in the report was that at the end of June there were over 870 children who had been reported to be at risk who were awaiting a formal investigation by NT Families and Children. The inquiry has requested that the Minister for Child Protection and the department take immediate action on this serious issue.
My colleague, the minister, sought immediate advice yesterday in regards to the status of that backlog. He will have details in his response on the status of investigations of the situations of those 870 children. I am advised initial investigations have been made into the cases of most of those children. The government is taking immediate action to address this issue. I will outline this action later.
Alongside the organisational issues and problems with workload, the report found a number of innovative programs and initiatives, excellent examples of collaborative policy and practice, cutting edge services which are comparable to those of any jurisdiction, many dedicated, enthusiastic and idealistic workers, and an openness to change.
This morning I met with a significant number of staff in the department, NT Families and Children. There was also an audio link-up with staff in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine. I conveyed to those staff that they are valued by me, as the Chief Minister, and the government. They do an extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances with extraordinary caseloads. Many of those staff go above and beyond the call of duty in the work and care they provide for children. This report in no way reflects adversely on people who work in that agency. It recognises the workload issues are enormous and that there are significant issues in retention of staff and the on-going support of staff in the agency. We are determined to fix those problems and we value the workforce we have.
The terms of reference in the report recognise cooperation and collaboration between government and non-government organisations is, at best, poor and in many cases non-existent. This is a something we are determined to address - to build the non-government sector in the Northern Territory; it has to be done. Picking up on the member for Araluen’s maiden speech in this House, government cannot be seen to be the be-all and end-all of every problem in the Northern Territory, and we need to strengthen our non-government sector.
There are 147 recommendations in the report, which have been prioritised. The main one regarding policy framework, which needs to be addressed, is a revision and reorientation of policies, programs and services. In reaffirming the centrality of principles, it captures the importance of a principle-based and ethical foundation to the work of caring for and protecting children, and confirms the importance of the Aboriginal child placement principle.
We have had debate around that issue, and no doubt we will have debate around it again. The principles of child protection need to be revised and reorientated, and we will do that.
The second term of reference is:
The Board of Inquiry was expansive in its support for the government’s A Working Future policy. It understood it laid the foundations for improving service delivery, and confirmed the government is on the right track with our A Working Future policy.
The issue of child protection and how to improve the environment in which children grow up is more than the responsibility of Family and Children’s Services. This is a whole-of-community, whole-of-society, family-first-and-foremost responsibility. Across all areas of government we are working hard with the Commonwealth government, the shires and non-government organisations where capacity needs to be built to provide for a better society for children to grow up in.
That can be no further evidenced than in this year’s budget we were the first government in the Territory’s history to have clear, defined and focused funding for our 20 growth towns, to the tune of just over $900m, to build more houses, infrastructure, better schools, better health clinics, additional sporting facilities, provide more police and better police facilities, and to support the servicing of these towns. We will build on that through this report.
The inquiry was advised and understands, in the absence of a strong family support sector, child protection services have been expected to respond to a range of concerns and reports about child wellbeing, family difficulties and entrenched community problems, rather than responding to reports of harm and injuries to children. It is very clear that addressing the issue of the neglect of children in the Northern Territory it is not just an issue for NT Family and Children’s Services; it is a responsibility for everyone.
The main recommendation in this section is the development of a dual pathway intake and assessment process together with a refinement of the primary focus for NTFC, and the creation of community child safety and wellbeing teams for the 20 growth towns. We have committed to doing that, and they will be put in place as quickly as possible. We have many good people in our towns. We have police, schools, health facilities and health workers in all of those towns. For better or worse, we have the Commonwealth resident in those towns through the Government Business Managers and, importantly, on these teams have to be strong people from within these communities to have a whole-of-community, whole-of-government approach. Where non-government organisations such as shires and philanthropic organisations are present in these communities they need to be part of these teams which meet on a regular basis to discuss the better support and care for children in these towns.
The next item of the terms of reference is:
There is whole section in this report on the workforce issues. Those issues can be fixed, and must be fixed. I am not apportioning blame here, but the fact that the inquiry found there was no explicit retention policy for staff surprises me, as the Chief Minister. We all know how difficult it is to recruit quality, competent people to the Northern Territory. In an area of the workforce that is so emotional, emotive, and difficult, the support of frontline staff in the community has to be absolutely front and centre in this reform.
The report says:
This is with the child and safety wellbeing teams, working on the ground.
The difficulties and challenges of recruiting people from interstate or overseas and transporting them to a remote town in the Northern Territory are overwhelming. Even though the report notes there was very strong focus on induction for frontline workers, there was not equal support in retention, and that needs to be corrected. The report says:
The minister is right onto this, in talking with him yesterday. Growing our own and providing real opportunities for people in those towns and our communities, to be part of the solution to these issues, has to be an absolute priority. The inquiry has recommended:
Investing in the workforce is absolutely key to moving forward.
The fourth term of reference is:
As the Chief Minister, and on behalf of the government and, I am sure, on behalf of the parliament, I thank all those foster carers in the Northern Territory. I have met a number over the years in my electorate and I am always astounded, humbled, and also slightly humiliated by the fact we have extraordinary people in the Northern Territory who open their homes and families to take in a foster child, a baby, a number of children, into their own family environment. It is an extraordinary thing to do; it shows a generosity of goodwill and spirit I cannot comprehend but am very thankful for. We have to do all we can to support our foster carers. That will be a very significant part of the response because we need to support the ones we have - we need to love them, value them and we need more of them.
The report recognised that there has also been:
I have never been minister for this portfolio, but in the recent by-election in Araluen, I doorknocked at a house which was an out-of-home care house and spoke with a remarkable young woman who had been in Alice for just under 12 months - I believe she said she had come from Adelaide - and she said this was the best job she ever had. I spoke to her and the other young man who was caring for children in that house for around half-an-hour. I walked away from that conversation absolutely uplifted by the generosity of spirit and care of so many people in this sector. To that young lady, I hope you keep the best job you have ever had for a long, long time, because I am sure you do a great job.
The inquiry has recommended that:
We will certainly do that.
The final term of reference is:
This is very much a key recommendation. We do have a great deal of effort and support going into communities across the Northern Territory, but much of this is still not joined up, it is not linked, and it needs to be. Creating child safety and wellbeing teams in those communities will certainly improve that, but we need to develop our non-government sector in the Territory.
The report talks about :
and also goes on to state that:
We absolutely have to build that non-government organisation capability and capacity in the Territory, and we will.
The inquiry recommended that:
One of the things which really does, to use a clich, get on my goat, as Chief Minister and the minister, is this nonsense that we get across agencies around privacy. It is something which I have asked for an urgent response to. When we are talking about the care and protection of children, for agencies to duckshove problems from one place to the other because of privacy issues, not engage the non-government sector because of privacy issues - I would like to see that the detail of the particular legislation which prevents us from better sharing information to better protect and support children. There are recommendations about the legislation which we need to address.
Yesterday, as Cabinet and as government, the first thing we did was allocate an additional $130m over the next five years to back these reforms. We have grown the budget for this area of government from around $7m when we came to government to $135m today, with an additional $130m over the next five years. It is substantive, it is substantial, and gives the structure of government and the non-government sector the capacity to implement these reforms.
We will establish a stand-alone agency which will be responsible for the needs of children and families. There were many discussions about whether we should or should not do this. I believe we achieved an appropriate landing where the minister, and the government, was very clear in sending a signal to the workforce, the non-government sector and the Indigenous health organisations, that we are serious about this. We are going to establish a stand-alone agency with a chief executive, with the statutory powers vested in that chief executive, with a separate budget allocation to the agency to ensure a clear and direct line of sight to the minister for the implementation of this reform agenda. We have also directed that the new agency and Health share the HR resources to ensure every single dollar we put into this new agency goes to supporting the recommendations in this report, not establishing a new bureaucracy.
As a matter of urgency, the government will deploy additional experienced child protection workers from Australia and New Zealand to tackle the current backlog – a blitz which is being undertaken as we speak - and the minister will talk further about that. I thank the other governments which also had systems under stress and which are dedicating some resources our way. We will also fund an additional 42 professional child protection workers on top of the additional 76 announced earlier in this year’s budget. That number of 42 was arrived at to address the issues of the workload for those staff. There are accepted ratios in the caseloads those staff should have, and those 42 additional staff should ensure, if we can recruit and retain all of those people, they will have caseloads which are manageable and acceptable.
We have also committed to an Aboriginal non-government peak body to be established to support the non-government sector to provide improved family support and intervention services. This was well supported by the sector in media releases yesterday, and we have committed to the formation of two Aboriginal childcare agencies for Darwin and Alice Springs as recommended by the inquiry. This is part of our commitment to develop and establish a non-government peak body and separate organisations to support the dual intake process.
The other decision we made yesterday was the development of a dual pathway for referral and assessments so lower risk reports can be made to local non-government service providers. This is about early intervention, which the statutory system is unable to meet. That is the reality of it: the statutory system is unable to meet the demand and provide for early intervention. Developing this dual pathway, a unique model which is being proposed for Australia, is an attempt to recognise that if we can assist kids who present with early signs of risk, dealing with issues on the ground through appropriate Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, is better than having those problems escalate to full-blown requirements for intervention. These immediate reforms are far-reaching. To ensure the government implements what we say we are going to do, we are going to establish an external advisory steering committee to monitor the progress.
Recognising and respecting the views of the committee of inquiry - they need to be carefully built into our responses. The report notes on page 95, and I understand the opposition was briefed yesterday, and Independents were offered a briefing on this report:
That is not said to stifle robust debate about the effectiveness of what the government is doing, but, whatever we do, let us not identify, or potentially identify, individual children or individual families. Let us try to establish across this parliament a capacity to ensure these reforms are implemented and they do start to make a change. The report also correctly underlines the difficulties that grog, ganja and gambling cause for families at risk …
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Chief Minister be granted an extension of time to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and parliamentary colleagues.
We all understand that alcohol abuse underpins so many of the social issues we face in the Northern Territory. Here is another report which says this is a significant contributing factor to the problems associated with the neglect of children. Alcohol policy, reducing the consumption of alcohol in the Northern Territory, improving the effectiveness and capacity of the rehabilitation sector - leadership from government is critical in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed in the Territory and the devastation which surrounds the consumption level, which is three times the national average.
Also, the impacts of alcohol, marijuana and gambling in remote communities are issues which need to be tackled significantly; we need to reduce the harm in those three areas to better support and improve the lives of children across the Territory.
Gambling intervention is an area where we need to have more free-ranging discussions internally and in parliament. Addressing gambling in communities is a very significant issue and is part of the conversation we need to have. The government is providing $1.3m in 2009-10 for gambling intervention, including specifically targeted Indigenous programs. Organisations funded include Amity, Somerville, Anglicare and Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi. Research projects were undertaken by Charles Darwin University and Menzies School of Health Research.
The minister for Gaming will later this week attend the first meeting of the COAG Select Council on Gambling Reform.
To deal with ganja, this government launched the Remote Community Drug Desk in April 2004. I was the minister for Police at the time, and visiting remote communities across the Northern Territory the plea for turning the tide on dope in the bush was very strong. The drug desk provides a coordinated police response to the identification and apprehension of illicit drug traffickers and has had significant success since its inception. Between 30 June last year and July this year the unit’s successes include: 44 arrests, 43 summonses, seizing 10 399 grams of cannabis, 214 kilos of kava, 27 grams of MDMA, and three vehicles involved in the drugs trade.
The drug dogs the government funded are worth their weight in Pedigree Chum; they do a magnificent job, and we need to keep on top of and expand our efforts to reduce drugs into the community.
Alcohol has been debated many times. I have an opportunity to comment on the remarks the new member for Araluen made in the by-election, however, in an attempt to keep politics out of this, I will not go through that at this point. Suffice to say, we have to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed in the Northern Territory and, unless we do that, we are all whistling in the wind and nothing much is going to change.
There is much more to do and, as a broader society, we cannot rest until our children are growing up in a safe environment across the Territory.
I have spoken often about A Working Future and the 20 towns. We have substantial and substantive issues in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin, and Palmerston; in all our communities. This is not just an issue for the bush, and is not just an issue in the Indigenous community. Around 20% of FACS work is with children from non-Indigenous communities. We must continue to work across the Northern Territory to provide a better environment for our children.
In concluding my tabling statement on this issue, most of us here in this House, I believe, are parents; if we are not, we are certainly part of families and we are all surrounded in our daily lives by children. I believe we all, in this parliament, have a very real concern to ensure our children in the Northern Territory live happy, healthy lives, that they are able to reach their capacity as children and citizens, and to grow up with a happy childhood. Tragically, too many of our kids do not have that experience. It is not good enough and we all, as a community, need to redouble our efforts.
The government will implement the recommendations of this inquiry. I have spoken to the board and said if through forensic investigation there are recommendations, on very close reflection, which do not fit for whatever reason, then we will have good reason not to implement them, and we will talk to the board. However, we go into this with a view we are going to implement the recommendations. We made a decision yesterday to commit substantive and substantial additional funding to support the implementation of these recommendations. I have spoken with minister Jenny Macklin on a number of occasions leading up to the release of the report yesterday. I am pleased the Commonwealth government has also committed to additional support in this area, working more closely with the Northern Territory government in these towns through these families and wellbeing teams. So, the Commonwealth is lifting its effort.
First and foremost, I have to appeal to all parents in the Northern Territory. When you make the decision to bring a child into this world, it comes with responsibilities which rest, first and foremost, squarely and fairly on your shoulders, having made that decision to bring a child into this world, to love, care and protect the child. That is the first and foremost responsibility we all have as human beings. Nothing much is going to change here until we work hard to give those parents who are failing their children the skills, capabilities, confidence, and the capacity to better care for their children.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we have to invest at that end of the spectrum in early childhood. That is where the investment has to be. Picking up the pieces at the end of the day is too late. Those people who are failing their children need to take advantage of the support which is provided and, without wishing to lecture people, take some responsibility because, at the end of the day, it is not governments that raise children, it is parents. We have to better support those parents to do so.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Deputy Speaker, I take up where the Chief Minister left off; that is, a call for families to take responsibility. Well, hear, hear!
However, the task, the responsibility, the obligation we have as elected representatives representing the best interests of our community when they make that decision - as we heard in the first speech from the new member for Araluen, as for every member who has given a speech in this parliament - at that first speech they reflect on what this is about. This is about taking responsibility; accepting the weight of responsibility and, then acting with some urgency.
The community is looking all around, hoping someone will do something. It appears in that crowd of people looking here and there, we also have the government looking here and there and finding useful mechanisms such as the description that it is a societal problem, therefore: ‘We wash our hands to some degree of that; what can we do, after all, we are just cogs in the machine?’
I beg to differ. I know what my job is: to bear positive influence on our community to bring about measurable change is our requirement. At least if we give it a go, there will be some controversy, because you cannot change systems or thinking without a contest. It appears there has been a stepping back from a contest. There has been a description of a range of matters which no one will essentially disagree with. That, in itself, is the problem.
What we have had, right to the last line of the Chief Minister’s speech, is an attitude which has pervaded this government, and that is one of denial of responsibility. It started in 2003, and before I go down this path, I do this hearing what the Chief Minister had to say about politics. Let us not point to individuals and play politics with this game. I will not do that, but I understand what my responsibility as a member of the opposition is, as someone who has been elected, who has met those foster families, has met those families which have lost their way. They expect some change, and they expect someone to stand up and fight for them and not make excuses and give broad-ranging speeches which do not touch the core and do not press the button.
It started in 2003, this attitude, and there has been a symptom of this all the way through. When a government identifies a problem as a political problem, they will respond politically. They will deny that it exists in the first instance, and we had the first clear evidence of this. It has pervaded this government, and I would say others, but this government has been there for a decade, the attitude of denial. If you accept that there is a problem, as the member for Araluen identified in her opening speech, you have to understand the problem, and if you understand the problem, then you are required to do something about that problem.
If you fail to accept there is a problem, then you are under no obligation to do anything. In 2003, one of the then long line of ministers with responsibility for the protection of children, the now Speaker, said: ‘I applaud the government for throwing that amount of money at what has been a largely neglected area of responsibility for many, many years’. But tellingly, and I quote from the NT News, December 2003:
I make a point of that because the language of government - rather than accept a responsibility they have on their watch, you will note what they are saying. One, there is a denial of a problem, ‘Well, we fixed it anyway, a lot of money has been thrown at it’, but the problem is described in the long term, like it has gone back way before we came here. They will talk about what happened way before, but, on their watch: ‘No, we do not accept responsibility’. Why? Because there is not actually a problem, it is not a crisis, as the then minister said - one of a long line of ministers - because when the crisis started to peak, they then moved ministers, a game change. Why did they do that? Because they are seeing something is essentially amoral to the response to a child who needs protection as a political problem. We saw that in the behaviour over those 10 years and are now seeing that in the behaviour of this government.
I cannot let that go. I cannot ignore that because urgency is required. If anyone has seen a child in a swimming pool struggling and panicking, what do you do? Form a committee, craft a review? Wonder what kind of processes and systems you have around the swimming pool to see how you could improve? Or do you reach out and help that child? Of course, that is your instinct. It does not seem to be the instinct we have seen through all this time. I acknowledge the sterling effort made on behalf of those who are vulnerable and those who most need our protection by the former member for Araluen, Jodeen Carney. If Jodeen Carney did not hold this government to account, and speak as she spoke with such passion, driven by a sense of urgency, it would not be hard to imagine that we may not even have a report in front of us to discuss today, because such was the stubbornness, resistance and denial of government, even to come to the point of allowing a review.
Now they will rock back in their chairs and say: ‘Oh, yeah’. Well, whatever words they may craft say those words in front of families, in front of foster parents. I hope they are tuning in and I hope they are listening, because their hope is fading. We will hold that space and endeavour to give them cause for hope because what is required here is a response - a response to a problem which is very complex. It is not a political problem, it is a societal problem, yet it is the responsibility of a government to have a system which acknowledges the problem, the complexities of the problem, and crafts a response.
I was very taken by the speech of the new member for Araluen, recognising the nature of the problem, believing improvements can be made, and then embarking with a sense of urgency because it is required. I do not hear that sense of urgency. Perhaps we will hear it from other members. There are a number of people on the other side who have been ministers in this area of very important responsibility. I hope there is that sense of urgency. I do not want to hear emotional stuff. I want to hear something which is going to have a sufficient dynamic to change a system. That is the issue.
It appears we have ministers who are captured by the system. They call it Stockholm syndrome. They have been captured and they speak the language of the system. They are not above the system, or assuming the responsibility of directing that system to do something to act, even to challenge that system in a real way. You may do it behind the scenes, you may puff and pant, but what we have to see is a change, a measurable change of culture. Some of these things can become worse before they get better, but at least you are embarking on a direction and you are commanding. We do not see that.
I find further evidence of the problem which I have described in that we had a briefing provided yesterday and I drove back from Katherine yesterday to arrive at 5 pm. I acknowledge it was a busy day for the board. I understand the government received the same briefing on that same day, which was only yesterday. However, if every member and every minister were to be honest about this, this is an 800 page report. I like to read a substantial novel each year, a good meaty classic, but I do not read many novels which have 800 pages in them. This is of such importance, this is going to take some time to understand, to digest and respond to.
I would hope, and I did not hear it from the Chief Minister, it seems: ‘Oh, we have reached this point, we now have a review, three cheers for us. Here is the review. It has lots of recommendations and we are going to implement all of them’, and at the end says: ‘Oh, some of them we might not be able to, but we will give a good reason why not, and then make sure the families take responsibility and that is about that. Oh and about $130m’. Once again they talk about money and say: ‘Look how much we care, that mob gave this amount of money, we have given a lot more, therefore we care more’.
It does not demonstrate the level of care which is required. You would expect there would be an opening statement; there would be a clear acknowledgement, the urging of all ministers to take the time to read, digest and to continue. We will continue. We are going to hold this government to account and ensure these matters become a central focus of the deliberation and considerations of this parliament until there is change. We do that because we have read those coroner’s reports. We know those people. I certainly know those people. I know the people who are taking the time to read this and are expecting action, a response which shows there has been a change of attitude. Where the cultural change is required, where the demonstration of difference will be seen first, is in the government.
In 2003 we had a denial. That puts paid to the issue. If there was no crisis, as they say, in 2003, there was no crisis before that, or at that time. I put you on notice, members who are going to suggest ‘but when we came to office’ – and they will talk about, with great clarity, that which came before they came to office yet deny crisis whilst they are there. Do not do that because it will not benefit those who are providing care for vulnerable children, or those requiring leadership and authority to be taken over their system to deliver care. It will do nothing. It might give you some confected relief in the short term because it is not your problem. You have taken an oath of office and have a responsibility, and no one will take an excuse from you in this regard.
Also in December 2003, there was a further denial – this is on Friday, 5 December 2003 – regarding sexually transmitted diseases. The move follows reports in August that nearly 200 Territory children under the age of 14 had sexually transmitted diseases last year, and I quote from a spokesperson - a source - I wonder who the source is:
We then have another minister, and perhaps the government thought that might help relieve some pressure, and there are umpteen media releases. We had the same attitudes at play: ‘There is not a problem’. We have 50 media releases about sport and recreation from this minister, 12 on family and community services, and very little attention to the protection of children at risk. We had more media releases issued about the Crusty Demons than about child protection. There is not a crisis, do not mention it, there is not a crisis, and denial and batting away. Good on Jodeen for keeping on keeping on, bowling those balls.
Then we had the astonishing statement by minister Lawrie 2006. It says audaciously:
That sounds like the right thing to say. On what basis was the assertion made that all reports of child abuse are investigated immediately? It sounds like the right thing to say, and it is what this minister would say. Well, they are not all investigated.
We talk about, in 2008, an election commitment which ticks a few boxes - mandatory reporting. There is going to be mandatory reporting. What would be inferred from that is if you make a report then something is going to happen. It does not. Even though minister Lawrie says they are all investigated immediately, that is not the case. That is a lie. It is not the truth and you are saying that in the presence of such an important issue to do with the most vulnerable in our community. You say something which is not true at all. They are not all investigated immediately.
It was with some distress that during the briefing yesterday we learnt there is no system to receive notifications. Notifications are weighted and then proceed to investigation. It appears in this data, which I assumed the minister had, and if the minister did not have this it would mean the department is concealing this very telling information, that each month nearly 800 are not investigated. The call has been made mainly by a professional, however, nearly 800 every month are not investigated.
That got me thinking because I have these issues coming to me as local member in my own community. I know what goes on, particularly in the schools. The teachers struggling in the classroom have particular insights into what is going on at home. They are then moved to make a call because they are concerned. They make a call to the agency. It is a big call to do that, but it demonstrates there is care and there needs to be a response to a dangerous situation. They find it is not easy to lodge that and, then, it is not investigated. I know how hard it is to teach in some of these classes when someone in the system says: ‘We are swamped, mate, we do not know whether we can do it’, and that which initially was assessed as a grave concern which warranted a report is now relegated into a lower order because other more serious matters are going to be investigated. What occurs in that transaction is there is a new ‘normal’ which is a lower standard.
We enter into dangerous territory then. I have seen that happen in schools, where the social problems you see manifest in a classroom, the insights you get into what is going on at home then become accepted as normal. Then you start to look for the more traumatic. The problem with ‘normal’ is it gets worse, and we then end up on a slippery slide. We end up in trouble.
That is why I expected there to be greater urgency today from the Chief Minister. That is why I expected the language around the tabling of this report to be: ‘Okay, we are moving away from denial; we accept responsibility. This is what we are going to do. The first thing is to ensure all members have been given the opportunity to have a serious, meaningful engagement with this’. It was a briefing. For me, it was great and I really applaud those professionals who were involved in this. I was impressed with Dr Bath and Muriel; I did not meet Rob. They have done an outstanding job and the ball is now in our court.
The opposition will do its bit. We are not just going to oppose, we will support. We have already said there has to be one cultural change; that being, if the mandatory report is there, then there has to be a mandatory response and that gap needs to be closed. It looks to be nearly 800 per month. Something has to occur. We have said there needs to be a focus given to child protection. I am pleased to hear the Chief Minister indicated agreement with that position. We will have support on that.
However, the most important thing has to be not systemic change in the first instance, but cultural change, attitudinal change - a response and a language which indicates there has been a change of heart, moving away from denial and seeing this as a political problem and pushing it out to governments before your time, or broader, deeper, more complex social problems or federal matters. Bring it back home. We will support you if you go down that path because there is some meaty stuff in here.
I call on those former ministers, the current minister on the other side, to endeavour to shift into that space, and we will be with you. I am very pleased to have on board Mrs Lambley, the new member for Araluen. It is quite appropriate, in a very special way, that the words in that first speech seem to fit so well into the responses and attitude we need to bring to bear to matters such as this.
I will finish with one of the most telling and disturbing aspects of all of this, aside from looking into a kid’s eyes and you see the lights have gone out and there is just bewilderment, fear, and perhaps a wildness because chaos, disorder, and trouble is their life. When a good family steps up and says: ‘We will provide care’ – this I found the most distressing part of it - those who have put their hands up as members of our community and said: ‘I will provide care, I will provide shelter in my home, and I will do the best I can’, it is a big call, because some of these families are humble families that thought: well, our kids have grown up and I think we could do something.
I believe every member whose door is open to their constituents would have cases of foster parents, those who have put their hands up, being pursued with an extraordinary and almost malicious urgency, to discourage and hound them. You would think, in a system in crisis such as this, which is about the protection of children, that you would then respect and accommodate, and value those who have put their hands up.
The foster families need a better deal than they have had, and the only way to change that is if there is an acceptance from government that there has to be a change of attitude, a change of direction. There has to be courage shown to implement these recommendations. If we, in the first instance, can at least show some respect, support and encouragement for foster families that would be a big and important step.
I will do what I can to ensure these matters stay with us and stay in our parliament for discussion because we want to see improvement; we want to see change occur. Towards the end of the briefing, Howard Bath effectively said, not that he said these words: the work now has been done, the response has been made, and the ball is now in our court. That ball needs to be played so there will be benefit.
I left the briefing with some words, also spoken by Dr Bath, that we have a systemic problem, we have a societal challenge, quite unique. We are certainly losing the war, but there needs to be an understanding of the problem so we can set a new course of direction. The most telling words which echoed in my ears, and I still have them now, he said: ‘If we do not, we have an impending humanitarian disaster’. For those who have looked into the faces of kids and families, in remote communities in particular, and in some of our urban communities, that is telling, because the failure to act could well be that. Sadly, it seems to be hidden. I will resist that new level of normal, because the problem with that kind of normal is that it just gets worse. It is time to stand up to the plate.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we will give government support in a demonstration of courage to implement these recommendations where appropriate, and drive them through with vigour, and accept the responsibility. We will be there with you, because we do it in the best interests of the protection of the vulnerable, which is our core duty.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Chief Minister. I was very encouraged to hear the Leader of the Opposition saying his party will give support to the initiatives we take. I find it heartening, and I will ensure that my stand today is not political; it is not a blame game. It is something which affects the most vulnerable members of our society, our children.
As the Minister for Child Protection, from the beginning I was not afraid to say our system is in crisis. Our system needs help, our system needs direction and, in order to resolve a problem, you have to acknowledge first that there is a problem, and I have done that before.
We have a growth in notification, investigation, and out-of-home care rates across the Territory. That growth has outstripped the significant funding and additional staff we have placed in the system. The figures are staggering. The notifications have risen by 400% since 2001. The investigations have risen from 784 to 3683 since 2000-01. Children with care and protection orders have risen from 286 to 696 since 2001. This is a society in crisis. This is not only a government problem. This is a problem for the whole community, for the whole society.
I will read some of the comments made by the members of the inquiry. The first one is by Dr Roseby:
Howard Bath says:
The Northern Territory government has shone the light on the very uncomfortable issue of child protection in the past nine years. I take note of the Leader of the Opposition’s comments, but the reality is both sides of parliament have to acknowledge the system did not fail in the past nine years, or the past four years, or the past three months. It has been failing for 30 years, partly because of problems from Canberra, partly because of problems here in the Territory, but mainly because of problems with our society.
We made a statement and the member for Araluen, the shadow minister, attacked me. I said the CLP budget allocation for child protection was $7m. I could not find anything else in their 2000-01 budget books; $7m was all I could find. We have said we are spending $135m and I was challenged that we are only spending $34m. When we look at the budget documents I have in front of me, we are spending $31m on child protection services, we spent $42m on out-of-home care services, for family and parent support services we have spent $12m, and on youth services $14m. All of these are elements of child protection and they add up to $101m, much more than $7m. It is obvious at the time the CLP did not see child protection as something which happened outside of Darwin and Alice Springs. It did not have the capacity, or it could not see it was a significant problem in the communities.
This report is extremely serious. Some people have said to me that this report must be disheartening for me. I said: ‘No, it is not, it is a starting point’. Now we have a report in our hands we are looking to the future. We are looking at how we are going to fix things. Okay, things went wrong in the past. We cannot, and should not, dwell on the past. Let us look at the issues highlighted in this report and suggest the solutions we are going to have for the future. We can sit around and cry over what happened, what went wrong and how many kids were not looked after properly five years ago, six years ago. Let us take heart and look to the future and see how many fewer kids are going to be affected and how many fewer kids are going to be an issue for the child protection department.
Money has not fixed the problem. Throwing money will not fix the problem, but you need money if you are going to do something. You need money to do things. We are not reaching all children as the demand to investigate Category 1 and 2 clients will always outstrip those classified as neglect cases. The board recommends we establish a referral pathway which enables the NGO sector to play a greater role in the support of families before they reach crisis point.
If you have a financial problem today, you can pick up the phone, you can speak to a non-government organisation to seek assistance and you receive assistance. If your family is in crisis there is nowhere to ring. We have to move from the very end of the equation to the very beginning of the equation. It will be easier, cheaper and better to fix the problem while it is starting to emerge, rather than trying to fix it at the end when it has blown out of proportion. In the past few months I have spoken to non-government organisations and Indigenous organisations because I want to be actively engaged in child protection. Child protection and child abuse is a problem of the whole society, and the resolution of this problem will be the responsibility of the whole society.
I am determined to restructure the system, and we started this yesterday. We have decided to split the department from the Department of Health and Families to the sole Department of Families. The department will have its own CEO, its own budget allocation, and its own focused mandate - which will be the children. We have allocated $130m extra for the next five years. We will employ 42 child protection workers in addition to the 76 we announced in this year’s budget to bring the workload back to manageable levels; not 80 cases per worker, more like 15 to 17 cases per worker.
We will fund a peak body to look into the establishment of an Aboriginal child protection system – in the same way the medical system controlled and run by Indigenous communities runs parallel to our mainstream medical system. The government is very keen to engage the community and non-government organisations in this, and this is why the government has announced it will establish two service agencies and a peak body to assist in policy development and advocacy for Indigenous childcare services.
We will be working in partnership with SNAICC to have the peak body up and running as soon as possible. I am very pleased AMSANT has agreed to auspice the peak body until it is established. AMSANT has the credibility and reach in regional and remote areas to be able to lend its infrastructure to support the organisation. I can only hope to establish a childcare and wellbeing agency along similar lines to the successful Indigenous medical services.
The other key issue raised by the inquiry is the need not only to boost our workforce, but also to invest in our workforce. In the past few months I have travelled everywhere from Palmerston to Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek, and met every branch of my department. There were places where I felt really optimistic and could see solutions, and places where I felt pessimistic because I saw the plight of these people – overworked, far from anywhere, unable to travel because of distance and other factors, and demoralised. I understand how this can happen; it is a very difficult profession. For example, you get someone from a university in Melbourne and bring them to the Territory. It is a totally different world from down south and it does not take long for them to become demoralised and want to leave the system.
There is only one solution: to grow our own workforce. We have done that successfully with nurses, and will do that successfully with doctors. We have to give opportunities to our own workforce; we have to support them; and we have to support them with people. I find it very difficult to accept that a child protection worker will go to an investigation and then come back to the office and spend seven days writing a report, filing, and doing the things people in administrative support can do. The child protection workers should be in the field, not filing reports. They have to file reports, I understand that is a statutory requirement, but there is a great deal of work which can be done by other properly trained people.
I would like to see something like the Aboriginal health workers; I would like to see Indigenous child protection workers. Currently, my department is in negotiation with Queensland to adopt one of their programs to provide career pathways through an apprenticeship system so people who are not child protection workers can work in that system, work in the department and become fully qualified Aboriginal child protection workers, or protection workers if they come from other professions. There are a number of people who work with children: doctors, nurses, and other child protection workers who can very easily be employed in my department through an apprenticeship system and be fully qualified in a few months time.
We have a significant backlog; I understand that. When I was informed about the backlog, I immediately asked the department to investigate and brief me. I referred the matter to the department, and a full investigation of Category 1 and 2 cases occurred – that is children in danger, and children at risk. I am advised there are no Category 1 children in danger cases where an investigation has not commenced.
In order to address the backlog in the other categories we have gone to extreme lengths. I am pleased to advise we have contacted other jurisdictions and have 10 workers coming from New Zealand and interstate to work with us; nine police officers have been allocated to the intake, and people from the policy area are now working on intake to address the significant backlog. We will do it.
It has to be done and it has to be done within the times that we have prescribed. At times we have put in place unrealistic expectations and time lines which could not be met, and we have to review it ...
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, could I interrupt you for one moment please, to acknowledge the school group. I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 from Malak Primary accompanied by their teacher, Mrs Lorraine Kingham. This class was the winner of third prize in the Parliament House Open Day Art Competition
On behalf of honourable members, I extend a very warm welcome to our visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, reducing caseloads and improving the working conditions of our Northern Territory Family and Children’s Services’ staff is a major barrier we need to overcome. I mentioned before we will be employing people from interstate and overseas. We have gone to extreme lengths to employ people. Of the 76 people we promised before, we have already employed 56. We went as far as Ireland and England to employ people, for the simple reason you cannot find child protection workers in Australia. We will be going to Canada and New Zealand. We will employ these people and bring them to the Territory.
We will also ensure these people will have the necessary training to understand the peculiar situation in the Northern Territory. The Territory is a different world. People who come from down south are surprised about the Territory. If you come straight from a town, the Territory is another planet; it is not another jurisdiction. The conditions on some of the communities, and even in urban Darwin, are totally different.
The Board of Inquiry identified the social dysfunction of some communities - not all communities. I was heartened to hear Dr Bath say there were some shining examples out there. Some communities managed to overcome the burden of alcohol and petrol sniffing; the kids are happy, the kids are fed, and the people have jobs. However, there are others with significant problems. I have three Indigenous colleagues who have come from different areas, from Arafura, Alice Springs, and Arnhem, and they have firsthand experience of these communities, the good ones and the bad ones.
I made a call this morning and said we need leadership in these communities. We need leadership like the leadership provided by the members for Arnhem, Arafura and Stuart. These people should be examples to other people out there. What we need is the local leaders, the local heroes, the ones who come from the communities. These people cannot be everywhere. I understand the complication of the position because I come from a certain group. If I did something wrong, the Greeks did wrong. If I did something well, the Greeks did well. I have 4000 constituents, but in reality I have 8000 constituents as every person of Greek descent comes to my office for assistance because I understand them, I relate to them, and I am one of them. I bet the same happens with my colleagues from Indigenous communities. Their constituency is much bigger than anyone else’s for the same reason: they happen to be Indigenous people and they understand Indigenous problems, conditions, and dynamics.
The Leader of the Opposition today said we did not identify that there were any problems; we did not do anything. The reality is we have done a great deal from the very beginning when we came to government, when we faced a deficit of $120m we did not know about, when we put in measures to raise money to wipe out the deficit. One of the first things the member for Nightcliff, Jane Aagaard did, as a minister at the time, was come to Cabinet to request an additional amount of money - and she received it.
We have done a significant amount of work and have contributed significantly to child protection services. Carrying out child reform packages, we provided $53m over five years between 2003 and 2008. The Closing the Gap response to the Little Children are Sacred report by the Northern Territory government was a whole-of-government response to the tune of $286m, with $62m of this package dedicated to Family and Children’s Services. We have put in an extra $130m over the next five years.
That report was the starting point for me. As the Minister for Child Protection, I have said that the system is in crisis and needs to be fixed. We have been moving steadily to fix this system. Yesterday, we laid the first foundations to build a new system. My task is to work out how to deconstruct the department and reconstruct it again. This is what we are going to do. We have to think outside the square. We have to stop thinking about the situation in Britain in the 1960s because, unfortunately, our child protection system works on that model.
Our system has to work in the Territory, recognising the needs of the Territory, the size of the Territory, and the peculiar needs of people in the Territory; the different needs of people living in an urban environment and the different needs of people living in remote communities.
We have to have a presence in Darwin and Alice Springs, certainly, but where is our presence in Yirrkala, or Yuendumu, or Ngukurr? We have to have a presence there. It may not be a child protection worker; it may be a nurse who is properly educated and supported to identify the kids at risk. The former member for Araluen, many times in discussions, said to me: ‘It is not the children at risk and in danger; the majority of the cases are children neglected’. This is the problem. This problem is exacerbated by the lack of living and parenting skills of a number of generations in the communities.
When I see grandmothers and grandfathers taking control of the kids, feeding them and sending them to school, I despair, for the simple reason that these people will not be there forever. These people are going to die, and then we will have a generation of people who do not have living or parenting skills. This is where we have to step in if we are going to make a difference. Start from the very beginning, not when the kid is in danger or at risk and we have to take them away. It is not how to split up families; it is how to keep families together. How can we be there, by the families, with the families, to help them to stay together?
Yes, there may be times when we have to take the kids away. But, even then, we should look at how to reunite the families, how to make that family come from the low point where they are to a high point where they can look after their children and provide a nurturing and safe environment. It is a challenge, it is a hard job; it is a hard task.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have been given this portfolio, and my intention is to work as hard as I can to make sure that in the next few months and the next few years, this will happen.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to hear the minister intends to work very hard on these issues. Working hard is probably an understatement for the amount of work he will have to do.
My concern today is about timing and adequate resourcing. As the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out, this has been a crisis situation for many years. There is a huge backlog of cases which need to be attended to. Howard Bath and his colleagues talk about:
He talks about:
There is a need to act is now and timing is of the essence. We have basically wasted 10 years and are now faced with a situation which is impairing the lives of too many Northern Territory children. When the government talks about $132m over five years, how exactly will that be used? From where I am sitting, it seems that $132m will be required within the first 12 months just to catch up for the years of neglect.
I think the minister feels he has done a great deal. He said: ‘We have done a lot over the years’, but clearly you have not done enough. Actions speak louder than words. We would like to be reassured that there are reasonable time frames. You talked about unrealistic time frames. The time for talking about unrealistic time frames is over. We need clarity and an indication of what is going to happen and exactly when it is going to happen.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I look forward to the opportunity to hear more about the exact nature of the way in which the government intends to implement all the recommendations of this report, as they have undertaken to do. I am sure the people who work in the child protection industry will be looking forward to hearing about the many new staff coming from overseas to relieve the system of its anguish and of being so overburdened.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, one of the yardsticks I have available to me, having been around this place for a while, is the capacity to look back over time and look at announcements and compare them with outcomes.
I am somewhat disappointed to be on my feet so early because, like the Leader of the Opposition, I have not had an opportunity to read, in detail at least, beyond the report summary of which we all have a copy. I have certainly read that. I would like an opportunity to more carefully examine some of the issues raised in the report summary and in the document itself. I have printed it. I have two lever arch files full of this report and somehow, in the last 20 hours or so, in amongst all of the other duties I have, I was supposed to have read it and make myself conversant with its contents, as well as have the time to reflect upon what is being suggested in this document.
Whilst I appreciate the urgency with which government is trying to advance this issue, I hope this government will not be seeking to end this debate today but will leave it on the Notice Paper for a complete discussion when other members have the advantage and, dare I say it, the pleasure of being able to familiarise themselves with the contents of these two lever arch files.
I have some members at an disadvantage because in the past I had the opportunity to read the Little Children are Sacred report. The Little Children are Sacred report is an interesting exercise and it was the process which started so many of the processes which led us to this point today. We have had an intervention in the Northern Territory which was thrust upon us by Canberra because Canberra no longer had faith that the Northern Territory government had the capacity to deliver the services that were required. I hear the continuing admissions by the minister for family and community services, or the Health minister, that this system is in crisis. This system was in crisis in 2007 when the Little Children are Sacred report was produced. The crisis continues.
One of the problems the government has is that it has changed these ministers so often there is almost a schizophrenic response by the department. What people forget is that a department is, in essence, an extension of the minister and the Cabinet’s will. The brain of any government and any executive is the Cabinet room. Each minister forms part of that brain and it is that brain which drives, supposedly, the rest of the organs of the body. When you pursue as many changes from lobe to lobe to lobe the responsibilities of running the organs of the body, small wonder that the organs are incapable of functioning effectively. I go so far as to suggest that with changing the lobe’s functions so regularly, the whole organism is brain-damaged. If you want to see the results of the incapacity for the brain to effectively direct the organs on how to run, read the Deborah Melville coronial inquiry. You do not have to read far beyond that to discover the crushing failure of governments up to this point to deal with this issue.
There are two ways to respond to something like the Little Children are Sacred report or the Growing them strong, together report. There is a way in which you get involved. You say: ‘I am going to pursue this. I am going to drive this. I am going to be passionate about this’. Several people on both sides of the House have cited the former member for Araluen for her passion and drive in this area. This investigation would not have occurred had it not been for her aggressive pursuit of these issues.
It is worth drawing our attention to the government’s response to the inquiry. This brings me to the second issue, the second approach and the second way you can deal with these issues. We have to be seen to be doing something. I find it curious that yesterday we heard an announcement of a new amount of money, $130m, to help deal with this issue. Spent on what, is my question. The minister, by his own admission, has no understanding as to what he is going to spend the money on. He is still at the point of having to deconstruct and reconstruct his department. How do you know how much money you have to spend if you have not reached the point where you are reconstructing that department into the organism which is going to produce the outcomes recommended by Dr Bath, et al? It is the response of a politician we see here. It is a political response rather than a genuine response. That is my great fear as to what is being played out in this place.
The political response is to say: ‘We are doing something. Look, this is the amount of cash we are going to throw at it’. That is fine, it is a political response. What are you going to do with that cash? Where is the breakdown of the expenditure? How are you going to pull that department apart? How will the kid at Yirrkala be more protected under this reconstructed department and how do those dollars get there? There are no answers to any of these questions because the minister has not yet done the business of deconstructing and reconstructing. We had the announcement on how much we are going to spend. What if it costs twice that much? What services are you going to cut in relation to the response? What if it costs half that much? How much money are you going to waste? Are we now obliged to spend $131m where $50m may do? There will be no answers to these questions in the debate today because, by the minister’s own admission, he does not know. He has not pulled the department apart, and he has not put it back together.
The political response is something we see played out again and again by this government. There is a frantic desire to do the right thing amongst public servants - I do not doubt that. I genuinely believe every member of this House deeply wants to do something about child protection in this community. I genuinely accept that from every member in this House. But we have to come to the point where we admit and acknowledge it needs to be done in such a fashion that we take the political pain on the way. There is no desire on this government to take any political pain in this matter. That is the problem. It is a case of: let us make it work the best way we can. Let us make whatever announcements we have to make to demonstrate what a great job we are doing …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I bring to your attention the fact that it is slightly after midday. You will have the opportunity after Question Time to resume your comments.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Charles Darwin University East Timorese Military ESL students accompanied by Ms Lorraine Sushames. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I listened with interest during Question Time to the obfuscations, dodges and political posturing which has concerned me through this process on other occasions. The government’s capacity to understate problems was probably never more clearly expressed than when I heard the Leader of Government Business, a few minutes ago, say SIHIP had a few problems. It is like saying Germany was somewhat of a nuisance several times last century.
This is the sort of thing I have come to expect from this government. I was saying before the luncheon break that there is a feeling of being overwhelmed by what is occurring in the departments. As a consequence of that, when this inquiry was launched reluctantly by the government, we got ourselves into a tizz and the government thought, politically: ‘How shall we position ourselves in dealing with this inquiry? We are going to put our hands on our heart and admit there are problems’. Consequently, they made a submission to this inquiry. That submission was fulsome, confessional in certain ways, and had some surprising lines in it, not least of which was:
One has to wonder how panicked a government was to put that line in a report. Yes, we do accept a significant transition point in a person’s life is birth - two more helpful things for the Bath inquiry and this House.
The Little Children are Sacred report handed to government on 30 April 2007 says, in many instances, the same thing this inquiry says. The government says it is ‘gunna do this and it is gunna do that’, but it said it was gunna do it in 2007. They have a namesake amongst their membership because it is gunna do this and gunna do that.
I heard the minister say today, as though it was some fantastic new discovery, they were going to work with NGOs. I point out to the minister recommendation 46(b) of the Little Children are Sacred report from 30 April 2007 – two-and-a-half years ago, that:
When you then turn to their subsequent submission to the inquiry into the child protection system in the Northern Territory, Appendix 2 of that inquiry deals with the recommendations of the Little Children are Sacred report. This is a document which is produced some three years later. The first thing you note is many of the recommendations made by the Little Children are Sacred report do not find their way into what government is doing now. The reason they do not find their way is that government has decided some of those recommendations from the Little Children are Sacred report are not worth implementing, or they are not going to be implemented. All that is reported on in Appendix 2 of the government’s submission to the current inquiry is what they are bothering to deal with now: ‘We have dropped a whole bunch of recommendations from the Little Children are Sacred report, and these are the ones we are focusing on’.
The reason I quoted recommendation 46 is because at least it got past the cut. The cut is those which are being followed up on by government. Recommendation 46 is being dealt with by government. But it is interesting:
The Northern Territory government’s response to recommendation 46 is to refer to several other recommendations. But, when it comes to the part of dealing with this particular issue, it says:
They have a policy. Wow, that is reassuring. I wonder how many people have taken succour in a policy on a rainy night when their husband is flogging them or they are being sexually abused? I suspect it does not occur. In the defence of government, however, they do go on to say they have - this is in relation to recommendation 75:
Three-and-a-half years later, the government has been able to find 20 safe places on the basis of what they were asked to do and what was recommended in the Little Children are Sacred report.
The history of this is quite simple. In the Little Children Are Sacred report, we saw a political response to a very serious child protection issue. As a consequence, they sent off to their departments a requirement to try to pare out whatever recommendations they thought they could do. Those recommendations have survived the cuts and then gone through the committee process of advancing all of these recommendations. However, the problem is the word ‘ongoing’ appears next to so many of those recommendations that one has to ask the question: what has been achieved? Certainly, something has been achieved. I do not believe the government is callous in its approach, merely careless.
Some things have been achieved, and those things can be found in Appendix 2 of their submission to the inquiry into the child protection system in the Northern Territory, but not what they said they were going to do. It is more about the capacity to answer the hard question than it is about actually doing what you say you are going to do.
I heard with some dismay during Question Time today that the Chief Minister was surprised about some of the staff retention issues he was confronted with, and that the departments had problems with it. I was surprised to hear during Question Time today that the Chief Minister was unaware of other issues. I was surprised to hear in his response today in relation to his tabling statement that he was frustrated by his own departments’ lack of sharing of information. They have been in government for 10 years. Have they so fundamentally and completely lost control of the public servants who are supposed to be an organ of their will that they are unable to inspire, move or frighten them, or whatever they have to do to get those public servants and that public service to respond effectively?
If the Chief Minister does not believe information is being shared effectively, then he should be responding to it as the brain, the source, the will, driving this thing on. Whilst the spin factory which is the fifth floor focuses more fundamentally on message than on substance, they will always find themselves in a situation where they will be coming into this House and doing what they do time and time again, which is apologising, acknowledging there is a problem, and promising to fix it. Their track record of keeping the promise to fix these things is appalling, abysmal, dreadful, and I wish I had a thesaurus to go through another 20 synonyms for the woeful results they have achieved in this area.
Even the response we have seen here today – let us get this thing into the parliament, let us get it out of the parliament as quickly as we possibly can - demonstrates they are not serious about a cogent, coherent and informed debate on these issues.
I have barely been able to turn my attention to what is in this report because I have not had time to read it in the last 24 hours, let alone digest it carefully. It is a reprehensible indictment upon this government that they should endeavour to come into this place and try to say: ‘We will take the heat for a couple of days in the media, and then we will get on with other stuff and start worrying about other things’. Not good enough, not the way this House should be dealt with, not the way the people of the Northern Territory should be dealt with.
Madam Speaker, this matter should be adjourned and brought back into this place when all members have had a proper opportunity to digest the 800 or so pages this report comprises so they can discuss it in a sensible and logical fashion. Sadly, this government has yet again gone for the ‘how do we manage the issue’ option rather than trying to fix the problem identified.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, that from an opposition who put out a revised opposition policy on child protection prior to a report being handed down - a somewhat disingenuous contribution from the member for Port Darwin who has been sacked as the shadow Treasurer and did not get the gig as the shadow spokesperson on Child Protection- a great attempt at spin being laid on this.
If the government had not brought this matter before the parliament as its first order of business following the ceremonial swearing in of a new member of parliament, we would have been, quite reasonably, lambasted by the opposition for not paying enough attention. So we do bring this matter before the parliament as our first matter of business and we are attacked by the member for Port Darwin for bringing it before the House when people have not had enough time to read the report.
As a government we are recognising the critical importance of the work done by Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby by bringing forward the Growing them strong, together report. Given that it was presented to government yesterday, given that government has provided an initial response to the report, we felt we ought to, to be fair to the community of the Northern Territory, recognise where we stood on the recommendations the authors were bringing before our community and our government.
We have brought this into the first day of sittings of parliament to debate and we are getting complaints from the member for Port Darwin that there is a debate on the first day of the parliamentary sitting. It is somewhat disingenuous and spurious, but we know they have form. They spin and obfuscate, they put intent where intent does not rest. We know the Leader of the Opposition does not have the confidence of all of the members opposite. We know there was a leadership challenge during the recess of parliament from the last sittings to these sittings; we know he does not have the confidence of his team, and little wonder given he applies spin and mischief in trying to represent what members say on the record.
He called me a liar in debate; I let that go because this debate is serious enough to let that allegation go. But I will respond directly to that allegation from the member for Blain. He called me a liar because he is quoting from an estimates debate of 23 June 2006, between me and Dr Richard Lim, about the categorisation investigation processes of child protection intake. The quote the member for Blain is referring to is about the issue of notification and I will read it from the Hansard transcript:
Then I went on to say I was happy to refer him again to the CEO to take him through that process. The CEO, Mr Griew, went on to say:
That is what I was talking about in 2006; that is what the member for Blain likes to misquote and take out of context. We were talking about the notifications, investigations and assessment system which the intake team undertakes.
One of the initiatives I believe improved and enhanced the intake of the time was the introduction of the Child Abuse Task Force, we refer to them as CAT Force, where we co-located our frontline child protection intake team with police officers. That was about recognising we had to start to break down the disconnection between key investigative agencies, being police and child protection, to try to enhance the initial intake assessments.
The member for Blain keeps asking about the backlog numbers. The Chief Minister quite clearly said of the 870-odd backlog, no Category 1 cases have been ignored; all the Category 1 cases, which is the high category, have had an assessment. The cases have been opened and there has been an assessment of the urgency of each case. That goes to the heart of what I was talking about and trying to explain to Dr Lim in 2006.
Child protection workers, by the nature of an intake system, triage the notifications into different categories. The backlog we have is the further steps of investigation which are beyond that triaging. That is why the government has resourced the department to employ additional child protection workers to work through the backlog in the system. There is a backlog because there have been significant increases in notifications. It is not unusual to see a dramatic increase in notifications in any jurisdiction post a child protection debate, the Territory is no different. Little Children are Sacred was a significant child protection debate. Our system has gone through several waves of increases in notifications as a result of legitimate and robust child protection debates which have occurred in the Territory.
Growing them strong, together points out that a child protection system which relies on a statutory intake system will continue to be overwhelmed. Neglect cases – those which are not Category 1 cases but which need to be responded to - need to be captured through the dual pathway system which the experts, Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby, have suggested the Northern Territory introduces. We have accepted their decision to introduce a dual pathway system and we are putting resources into establishing it. It will succeed only in our ability to partner with and support the non-government sector and recognise the expertise which currently exists in communities and the non-government sector to help to build that capacity and strengthen a dual pathway system. That will not happen with the flick of a switch. That is a massive body of work which must be built and enhanced and will take some time.
There is urgency to what we are doing. There is urgency in that we have responded swiftly and quickly to the recommendations to ensure adequate resources are provided. We have responded to ensure we capture the recommendations by deciding there will be an independent, overseeing steering committee to ensure the recommendations are introduced. The member for Blain was quite cynical about whether the recommendations will be introduced. We are saying there will be an independent steering committee to oversee their implementation.
The Chief Minister called for the independent inquiry which came off the back of successive bodies of work which had looked at the child protection system in the Territory. Little Children are Sacred was a significant review. Appointing Howard Bath as the Children’s Commissioner was also a significant step forward. The high-risk audit he undertook at the government’s request was a significant body of work. He then created another body of work which looked at the application of the intake tools and the quality assurance systems within the child protection agency.
These have been the building blocks of improvement in the system. The Growing them strong, together report is about a fundamental shift in the pathway; the creation of that dual pathway. All the work the government has been doing to date has been to increase the resources of the existing agency, increase the resources of the statutory agency, to change the legislative environment through the Care and Protection of Children Act, and implement the improved quality assurance systems and tools.
That took us to a point where the notifications were continuing to increase in number and overwhelm the child protection system. That is not unusual; that is often the case when child protection systems go through such scrutiny anywhere, whether it is in New South Wales or Western Australia. That is why, having heard the brief yesterday from Muriel, Howard and Rob, they have suggested a dual pathway system to get ahead and get into the prevention space of working at community level with those important child safety and wellbeing teams, using resources which exist in the 20 growth towns, such as the police and teachers, as well as training and growing our own and embedding a child protection skilled worker within those teams so there can be a statutory response and referral if required.
The minister for Health and Families talked about looking at the model of training used in Queensland as a way to improve the ability to grow our own in the Territory. The work in front of us in partnering with the non-government sector is exciting. We have done quite a bit to support and work with the non-government sector, however, Growing them strong, together provides us with a very clear road map of how to enhance the strength of the non-government sector and ensure it has the all-important role to play within the dual pathway system which is being proposed.
There are 147 recommendations and our government supports those recommendations. We have identified a funding envelope of $130m over five years, recognising we need to put resources into supporting the introduction of the recommendations provided by the Growing them strong, together report.
The report recognised that a range of factors contribute to children being neglected: overcrowded housing conditions; school attendance; and those key contributors of grog, ganja and gambling. The government is active in tackling those key issues. We have the nation’s most ambitious housing program rolling out through SIHIP. The minister for Education is very focused on tackling school attendance; we have alcohol reforms, the remote drug desk, and we also have moved into gambling amelioration through a funding program. We are funding Amity, Somerville, Anglicare and Waltja Tjutangki Palpayi to tackle gambling by providing gambling counselling hotlines, financial counselling, and undertaking important research. There are also research projects being undertaken by Charles Darwin University and Menzies School of Health Research.
Some of the specific Indigenous-focused programs are: Wise Use of Money workshops which have been run in nine remote communities to support families to gain money management skills, educate about problem gambling and demystify gambling; the Indigenous gambling intervention service network; Word of Mouth is an Indigenous language CD and DVD which uses storytelling to reduce problem gambling and advise about credit cards and borrowing money; Amity has an Indigenous gambling program which targets young people, women and children; and about $1.3m has been provided from the Community Benefit Fund to promote information about problem gambling. The Community Benefit Fund provides funding to different organisations. $400 000 has been provided for some major projects including a youth affairs radio program, a vehicle work program through Congress, a youth arts project at Malak, and a youth culture project and supporting infrastructure. There is also a series of small grants.
Most significantly in the gambling space is a COAG reform on gambling. I will be attending a Gaming ministers’ Ministerial Council this week. Gambling is at the heart of some of significant national reforms. We need more targeted and direct ways to tackle the over-reliance on gambling, particularly amongst Indigenous Territorians. That is presented as a key issue in Growing them strong, together.
You cannot look at what we are doing without tackling the issue of alcohol. The comprehensive alcohol reforms which were announced by this government in September focus on turning problem drinkers off tap. We recognise it is chronic alcohol dependency which causes harm across our community, puts children into neglect categories and creates risks across our communities. We are taking a direct health intervention approach. The reforms will ensure we continue to work with the Commonwealth government to increase treatment and rehabilitation services. We are implementing mandatory treatment requirements through the reforms. We recognise there are severe costs of the harm alcohol is causing across our community, and we are tackling them head-on through these reforms.
We recognise that to improve the bedrock and foundations, which Growing them strong, together recommends, we have to take a whole-of-government approach in housing, the A Working Future investment the government is undertaking, police and education services, particularly across those remote communities. We recognise that the 20 key growth towns would be important service hubs for all of this work, which is why it is great to see the recommendation about the child safety and wellbeing teams being embedded into the 20 growth towns. That will be resourced by this government, and we have committed to doing that.
We cannot do this alone, and the report marks that this is a whole-of-community issue, not just a ‘Northern-Territory-government-you-must-work-on-your-own’ issue. The actions in the report are critical to address the prevention end of the work. We will continue to fund the statutory end of the work. That is why there is a commitment for another 42 child protection workers. The development of the dual pathway for the referral and assessment of lower-risk reports being made to local, non-government service providers is a critical recommendation by Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby. Funding for Aboriginal, non-government peak bodies to work in this improved family support and intervention service is a significant recommendation which the government is embracing.
Forming two Aboriginal childcare agencies for Darwin and Alice Springs is important. Those of us with experience in this sector know how difficult it can be to get a robust, Aboriginal service sector in this area. We take great hope from Muriel Bamblett’s experience in Victoria. I recognise the support that SNAICC, the national Indigenous peak body, will provide in creating these Aboriginal peak bodies. I sincerely thank Muriel and the team at SNAICC for agreeing to provide that support.
The government has committed to establishing a stand-alone agency, recognising the need for firewalls for budget protections for a child protection agency. Reporting directly to the minister will give it an enhanced and elevated status across government. Working as a matter of urgency, we are now deploying extra experienced child protection workers from elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand to tackle the backlog. That blitz is under way as we speak. We have nine additional police working to help us tackle the blitz as well. We have added 42 additional child protection workers …
Dr BURNS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: … to the system on top of the 76 which were funded for and announced in the 2010-11 budget.
Some people opposite will claim that we have not been doing anything over the years. That is patently a nonsense. We have already delivered additional frontline child protection worker positions; created a central intake team; created the Child Abuse Task Force, jointly staffed by the intake team and police; expanded the sexual assault referral services and the Mobile Outreach Service for remote communities to provide community education, counselling and support. We have established the Office of the Children’s Commissioner; the Child Death Review and Prevention Committee; the Targeted Family Support Service in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine; Safe Places in 15 remote communities, the Therapeutic Services Teams, and community education programs such as Safe Kids, Strong Futures.
We have created remote Aboriginal community worker positions in 13 communities; introduced the structured decision-making, intake, screening and priority tools; implemented the shared case management framework and practice guidelines; developed the secure care initiative and funded it in budgets; established an internal quality review process; established two additional emergency care options in Darwin; created the Families and Children’s division within the Department of Health and Families; streamlined processes for intake events; introduced new phone systems to improve call management; implemented supervision frameworks; established a child protection worker position at Royal Darwin Hospital; introduced community of harm training; increased administrative support to frontline workers; and an enhanced client information system is under way.
This is an environment where the opposition would say: ‘What have you done for nine years?’ That is a list of what we have been doing. How do you manage to do all of that? You do it by putting the resources in place and by taking the child protection budget from $7.8m under the CLP to $100m-plus under Labor; and we have announced another $130m over five years.
When the report authors told the government it will need to double its effort over the next five years to get into the preventative space to provide for the dual pathways, the government signed up to do that. As a government we did not hesitate to sign up to our responsibility to resource a system to ensure the intake systems are resourced and we can support the dual pathway of a non-government sector. This will allow us to do preventative work with the families which are struggling in situations where they are doing it tough and need support to prevent neglect which ultimately prevents abuse.
I am delighted to see the support and increases for the foster carers within the announcement the government has made - the third time the Labor government has enhanced payments to foster carers. Foster carers are doing an amazing job. I have had the opportunity to work with the Australian Foster Care Association, Judy Hansen and her team. Over the years I have seen the dedicated, hard work they do. I know the efforts individual foster carers are making in caring for children; some have multiple children in their care. Many of them have babies coming in and out of their care. I know how heart-wrenching and difficult the work they do is. I work alongside and very closely with foster carers. It has been a rewarding experience to see firsthand the work foster carers are undertaking.
I was listening to the ABC radio this morning and Julia Christensen was attacking a line of questioning about mandatory reporting of child neglect or abuse. That mandatory reporting system came into being in 1983. There is a very clear reason why this government kept mandatory reporting in place. We believe it is important to protect our children. The priority of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children is front and centre of the efforts we have been making in government. We make no apology for continuing the mandatory reporting notification system. Through successive reports this government has sought external advice from experts about the additional measures we could take to improve our ability to respond to those reports.
What we have seen is a system which has increased notifications and increased significantly the numbers of children who are now in the out-of-home care system which is where we have the critical and important foster carers in place.
Growing them strong, together is innovative in its approach with dual pathways. I sincerely thank Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby. I thank the Secretariat of their team; the authors of the report were very grateful for the support the Board of Inquiry received from the Secretariat. They received many expert submissions and had a very robust and expert reference group which met formally with the board on three occasions over five days.
This report of the Board of Inquiry into the child protection system is comprehensive. It is bold in that it lays out an innovative dual pathway process so we can hopefully ensure we are dealing with and capturing those children in areas of neglect or potential neglect, getting ahead in that early intervention and prevention system, whilst we are also dealing with the statutory system of the higher and more critical cases - the Category 1 cases. We will be growing the system at both ends and supporting the middle in a new way focused on safety and wellbeing, clarity of teamwork through agencies being packed together within teams at the grassroots level at communities as well as the regional and high level, and ensuring there is a partnership with the people at the frontline, people who live in our communities, people who have great capacity.
I acknowledge the silent heroes who have been working in our communities for years caring for children. Those of my colleagues who represent the remote electorates know who those people are; they could name those people. I have met many people in my travels throughout the Territory who are doing a magnificent job in caring for our children, whether it is part of their paid employment with the department or non-government organisations such as CAALAS and BushMob, or whether it is because they are strong and capable members of their community who are not employed to do it but do it because they love the children in their community and those bonds of kinship are strong.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I sincerely thank Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby for the report. I am proud to be part of a government which would embark on an inquiry of such significance, then accept the report and the recommendations, and put $130m of resources, effort and intent behind it. I thank the Chief Minister for the statement today.
Mr HAMPTON (Central Australia): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the Board of Inquiry report into child protection services. I do so by acknowledging several people.
I acknowledge the people who undertook the inquiry - a great deal of work has gone into it and I am sure they and their families are relieved it is over. They put in a huge effort, particularly Muriel Bamblett, Howard Bath and Rob Roseby. I know Rob from his days in Alice Springs as a paediatrician at the Alice Springs Hospital. I thank them for their hard work over the past 12 months of the inquiry. The reference groups of Dr Leah Bromfield, Mr Charlie King, Ms Pat Miller, Mr Julian Pocock, Professor Dorothy Scott, Professor Sven Silburn, Dr Anne Smith and Ms Lesley Taylor, all the other experts, and all the people who made submissions to the inquiry, I thank them on behalf of our government, as Minister for Central Australia, as a member of parliament, and as the member for Stuart.
I welcome the initiatives already announced to improve the protection and wellbeing of young Territorians. As Minister for Central Australia, I have carriage of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan which is something I touched on today in Question Time. This youth action plan is a good example of how committed this government is to implementing measures to strengthen and support children at risk and their families. It aims to assist families and young people before they reach crisis points. The youth action plan is a comprehensive strategy which offers support to young people and their families. It ensures government agencies and non-government organisations are working together to deliver and target services to those most in need. Significant progress has been made under the youth action plan, and we are putting in place more measures which will strengthen support services to families and young people.
Since the youth action plan was announced last year, we have seen the Centralian Middle School operating with increased enrolments, the Police Beat in the Todd Mall operating, the No School No Service program up and running to tackle truancy with great support from the local businesses in Alice Springs, additional funding to the Gap Youth Centre, and the establishment of extra safe accommodation beds for young people with others coming online soon. Initial planning work is ongoing into the provision of a boarding facility to provide young people attending school with a safe place to live.
The Northern Territory government is committed to the youth hub which will go ahead at the old ANZAC Hill High School campus and will be fully operational by next year. $1.1m has been committed in Budget 2010-11 to operate the youth hub and provide an alternative education program for youth with extreme behaviour. Funding of more than $1m has been committed to capital works for the youth hub and associated works.
Non-government organisations are fully engaged in the process of deciding what the hub will look like and what services will be located there. Expressions of interest are being received from non-government organisations interested in working from the hub. The youth hub is already partially operational and services are working together to provide the highly successful inter-agency operations. The youth hub is not just about co-location. It is about providing a model where services, government and non-government, work together to avoid duplication and ensure we are targeting and reaching the young people at risk.
The formation of the Youth Coordination Committee has been convened to ensure the youth action plan is delivered in a coordinated way. A number of working groups have been established to implement the components of the plan. A new position of Youth Services Coordinator has been established and I welcome aboard Penny Drysdale who starts today as the Youth Services Coordinator in Alice Springs. Ms Drysdale will ensure all government and non-government organisations’ services are working together to ensure the objectives of the youth action plan are met. Penny will continue the great work begun by Superintendent Michael White with the youth action plan in February 2009. Michael will continue to play a key role from the NT Police in implementing various measures of the youth action plan.
As part of the youth action plan’s aim to ensure youth at risk are targeted by services, a Youth Street Outreach Work program commenced in Alice Springs on 12 August this year and is conducted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The Youth Street Outreach Work service monitors and engages with young people on the streets to ensure they are safe and supported, and assists them to return home or to a place of safety. The Youth Street Outreach Work team works with non-government organisations and government agencies to ensure identified young people receive any needed support in areas such as medical, education, housing, transport and family support. The Youth Street Outreach Work program works closely with police, Congress, Tangentyere Council, BushMob, the Family Support Centre, security and other appropriate agencies. Services such as the Youth Street Outreach Work will ensure young people at potential risk receive the support they need. The Youth Street Outreach Work has received support from the NT Police which reports it provides them with a direct contact point for issues with youth at night, which has resulted in a more coordinated approach to managing youth after hours.
While the Youth Street Outreach Work is operating three nights a week, NT Police, other agencies and non-government organisations continue to run collaborative operations targeting young people. There was an inter-agency youth engagement operation conducted on Friday, 1 October and Saturday, 2 October this year in Alice Springs. The proactive operation aimed to prevent youths offending and becoming victims of crime. The multi-agency response included staff from NT Police, the Northern Territory Family and Children’s Services, liquor inspectors, Tangentyere Council, Congress, the Alice Springs Town Council Rangers, and security services. A total of 28 staff were involved and 197 youths were spoken to, assisted, or supported over the two nights. Two people were arrested, 151 young people encouraged or assisted to return home or to a safe place off the streets, and two people were taken into protective custody.
The operation contributed to the aim of the youth action plan to have government and non-government organisations’ youth service providers working together to improve issues involving young people in Alice Springs.
As Minister for Central Australia, a role I am passionate about, I have also had oversight of the Alice Springs Transformation Plan. This is the $150m Australian and Northern Territory government partnership which is improving the living conditions on town camps and in the wider community of Alice Springs.
An important strategy under the Alice Springs Transformation Plan is that of dealing with social issues. Under the Alice Springs Transformation Plan strategies significant commitments have been made to supporting children and families. $3m has been allocated to Anglicare for Communities for Children projects in Alice Springs, and $1.5m has gone to a targeted family support program. There has also been $980 000 for family group conferencing, and I acknowledge that, in recommendation 31 of the Bath inquiry, there is specific mention that an Aboriginal family group conferencing model and other culturally appropriate decision-making models be developed and progressively implemented to cover all key service regions of the Northern Territory.
It is great to see the youth action plan and the Alice Springs Transformation Plan already delivering some of the programs identified in this report.
There is $1.3m to a Family Violence Outreach Service, and $1.4m to a Ready and Willing for School program to ensure young children are supported in entering preschool and moving into primary school. Significant funding of $5.4m has gone to establishing a Safe and Sober program through Congress, working with individuals and families affected by alcohol. It was great to have the federal minister, Jenny Macklin, recently visit the Safe and Sober program and discuss the way forward with many of the workers at Congress.
I do not deny that, like many other towns around the country, Alice Springs has an issue with youth on the streets at night. However, unlike the CLP and their new shadow minister, we are not implementing the knee-jerk, simplistic approach of a youth curfew. The new member for Araluen has constantly called for a youth curfew for every young person in Alice Springs, an approach which is not supported by the police or FACS, and has not been mentioned in the recommendations of this inquiry.
What we are doing is putting in place services which support young people and families through programs like the youth action plan and the Alice Springs Transformation Plan. This report outlines that there are some positives, and it states that there are some communities which appear to be much stronger with few investigations by child protection authorities.
The report highlights that these communities have active sporting teams and regular fixtures, fewer alcohol problems, and fewer serious health problems. That is why this government invests heavily in funding community sport and recreation officers in the 20 growth towns. This government provides funding of over $740 000 to employ 20 community sport and recreation officers to coordinate sport and active recreation programs in the growth towns with enormous social, health and wellbeing benefits for all community members.
Responding to this important report requires a whole-of-jurisdiction approach. It requires all levels of government, all members of our communities and organisations, in both the private and public sectors, to work together to make sure we rise to the challenge this report sets us.
Information Communication Technology, another of my portfolios, is also an important tool which will assist us to work collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes for children and families. Through the work of this government, we are connecting people who need to communicate with each other so these recommendations can be effectively implemented. Through the policy settings under this government we will have the appropriate and effective communication applications through which government can communicate and collaborate with stakeholders in meeting these recommendations.
The National Broadband Network is a critical piece of the ICT jigsaw in the Territory for this task - not so much for its speed, but for its universal reach. The communities where our children live will finally be connected to a nationwide network which will allow the cooperative, coordinated information sharing the Bath report requires. This is an example which those who oppose the NBN should carefully reflect on. It is one example of what we will be able to do with a National Broadband Network.
Being the local member of a large bush electorate, and given some of the figures and Indigenous rates identified in the Bath report, it is a very important report for me as a local member and as an Indigenous Territorian.
I would like to reflect on many of the leaders and role models, individually and through different organisations in my electorate including CAALAS, the BushMob in Alice Springs, Mt Theo at Yuendumu, the Strong Bala program through Wurli Wurlinjang in Katherine, and particularly the men’s health unit at Congress. They have been great supporters, advocates and leaders of the men’s role in our community. I acknowledge the support of the member for Braitling, and our Mayor, Damien Ryan, who have participated in many marches recently in Alice Springs.
On page 197 of the Bath Inquiry, Chapter 6, Enhancing the Service System to Support Families in the Northern Territory, there is a section about supporting men in their parenting roles. This is a very important point. We need to think about how we support men, particularly Indigenous men, in their parenting roles. It is also a focus of the Men’s Health Unit at Congress. I quote from page 197 of the report:
Madam Deputy Speaker, as an Indigenous man, as a father, talking to the men in my electorate and my community, I feel the marginalisation they have felt has been highlighted in this report. As a local member, as a member of this parliament, I will continue to ensure the voices and roles of men are heard in this parliament.
Dr BURNS (Education and Training): Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend the committee for their report, a very difficult and quite harrowing report for them to produce - three expert people who have had access to many other people experienced in this field from where they were able to draw valuable advice and direction. They have also interacted with the public and many organisations. There have been 150 submissions to this inquiry and many people have given evidence before this inquiry. It has been a thorough inquiry; its delivery date was delayed on a number of occasions, but looking at the length and breadth of this report it is a comprehensive report. It is a road map for government and for our community to address this very important issue because there is nothing more important than the care, protection and wellbeing of our children.
Much has been said today about funding and a range of things, but one thing which caught my eye and my mind is the fact that notifications have increased by more than 400% since 2000-01. That is an incredible increase in notifications for any system to handle. I am quoting from what the minister said earlier:
That is an exponential increase:
The system has grown. Various ministers, and the Chief Minister, have talked about the increases in funding from just under $8m in 2000-01 to over $100m in the most recent budget, and the proposal by government to invest a further $130m over five years. As a number of speakers have said today, money alone will not fix this problem.
I heard Howard Bath talking about the ‘tsunami’ of child protection cases which have arisen; an apt description. As I thought more about what a tsunami is I thought about the situation which has given rise to this enormous flood of child protection issues in the Northern Territory. A tsunami occurs when there is an earthquake at fairly deep levels within the ocean caused by movement of tectonic plates, one over the other. Huge forces of nature bringing to bear upon another causing a shock wave which moves through the ocean at an incredibly fast speed - from memory, hundreds of kilometres an hour - until it reaches the shallow shores, and then floods and causes incredible inundation and devastation. As a tsunami is caused by events deep within the earth, this tsunami is caused by events deep within Aboriginal society, within our Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
I am not going to talk about the tensions and forces which exist between traditional Aboriginal culture - a hunter-gatherer economy - and our own culture, economy, set of laws and mores. These are deep things, and at the heart of it are things we need to understand better to know what is happening, because as the overlays of western government, economy and the welfare system, came into play, there was this tectonic shift, the beginning of what we are seeing today.
I was interested in what the committee said about a number of issues they faced. They spoke at length to our Caucus and Cabinet about the death rate amongst Indigenous people. The mortality rate - particularly in what we would call middle-aged people, but for Aboriginal people these people are considered old - through chronic disease from tobacco smoking, diet, inadequate nutrition, maternal nutrition, childhood malnutrition, malnutrition in utero, a range of factors.
In family groups we have a pattern of missing spaces. People who would give direction, advice to younger ones and younger parents and would take over, to some degree, the discipline of children and who are so crucial to any community or society are gone. There is a gap there. There is a bubble within the age pyramid of the very young - of 15-year-olds and older - having children and family responsibilities. There is something profound happening there. There are people who have known nothing but welfarism - being at the end of a welfare cheque with no direction in life, no motivation, surrounded by degradation and dysfunction.
We all have to realise this did not happen overnight. Parents did not get up one morning and say: ‘Well, I am not going to look after my kids anymore. I would rather play cards, smoke ganja or do whatever’. This thing has its genesis in history. I am not about the blame game in history, but we all have to understand this thing has a genesis; it has not happened overnight.
What are we going to do about it? To be fair, I believe this government’s successive ministers of Child Protection have all endeavoured to do the right thing and to resource that area. However, the job has been so overwhelming and crushing for many of those child protection workers that many of them have given up exhausted emotionally, physically, and professionally. The system has not supported those workers as well as it could have. The system has been dysfunctional. We also have to remember we should not be in the game of blaming individuals, whether they are child protection workers or a minister for that area. This has its genesis in history.
There are many factors, and one of the factors the committee mentioned which I listened carefully to was the factor of trauma and grief. I have already mentioned the funerals which have occurred, many of them for traumatic suicides. Many people have died in middle age because of chronic disease. Most of us in this place have been to Aboriginal funerals on communities. They are traumatic events; people are screaming and shrieking, people are in grief, people are cutting themselves, people are inflicting harm on themselves and have to be restrained, and there are children there. Children are exposed to this day in and day out. There is a procession of funerals on these communities. This is a chaotic, traumatic situation; we all have to realise that.
As a community we have to take this report, which is a comprehensive road map - and I am not being critical of the Little Children are Sacred report - which gives us a road map for service provision we should be adhering to, to try to address this situation. This is a very important report. At the heart of it, it is about us as a Northern Territory community taking responsibility. However, no one can do it by themselves - not one government, minister, child protection worker or parent. We all have to be in this together and support one another. At the end of the day it is about people having something worthwhile in their lives, having direction, having a purpose in life. Economic development and employment is square and centre to that. That is why this government is so focused on trying to bring economic development and further developments to our growth towns within the Northern Territory. This is our plan; this is a plan we have embarked upon for some time.
All of this is easier said than done. This is a big undertaking, but we have to do it because I see what I see. I read in the newspaper this morning about a few incidents which occurred around Coconut Grove and Nightcliff with a group of youths threatening people and engaging in all sorts of undesirable behaviour. We need to be careful, in the Northern Territory, we do not end up with a group of haves and have nots because what we will have will be a very undesirable situation. That is why it is incumbent on all of us to address this situation.
We can see the makings and precursors of some of what I am talking about here. That is why this report, and government and community response to it, is so vitally important. It is not going to be an easy undertaking. It is not just about putting more child protection workers out there, although that is crucial to relieve the burden on the system. We have to have a look at a holistic approach to community development, employment, economic development, and trying to set the situation right.
I turn to some agency matters in relation to my response to this report. I have already spoken about the funding which has come with government’s response. As the Chief Minister said, our services and our response must be based on the understanding that child protection is everyone’s responsibility, whole-of-government and whole-of-community.
The Territory government has programs in place in the education and early childhood system to protect children. The Department of Education and Training works with children, students, parents, teachers, and the community to help children at risk. Our schools and early childhood facilities deal with vulnerable children every day, and we have measures in place to ensure the protection of these children.
More initiatives are in operation since the emergency response measures were introduced. There are many elements of the emergency response which I wholeheartedly support. What I have seen, particularly over the last few years, is a disengagement of Indigenous people; I think they feel disempowered. Many people felt disempowered through the emergency response and this is something else we have to overcome. We have to re-engage with Aboriginal communities, with Aboriginal leaders in our communities, with the elders there. We need to re-engage, because I know many of them are feeling disheartened and disengaged, and it is crucial for government, for the whole community, to engage. I have been in the Territory for about 30 years, and I have never seen it as it is now with people so disengaged. I am incredibly concerned, worried and anxious about it.
We have the foundations in place to help vulnerable children within our education and early childhood systems and we are working with the community and government agencies to do more. As the report said, we need to ensure our agencies are not operating in silos whether they are Commonwealth or Northern Territory government agencies. As a government, as a Cabinet, we are focused on carrying out the recommendations of this report to have agencies working together at a local level. That is the way it has to happen. People have to cooperate, work together and share information.
About 40 targeted schools have introduced a new curriculum and training for staff to support victims and to help them detect early warnings of children suffering from abuse. That is about telling children what is acceptable and what is not in their interactions with adults - for children to be empowered, to be able to report and be able to engage in their own protection. The member for Barkly has spoken to me about this on a number of occasions and this is something we are focused on. It is already being trialled in about 40 schools, member for Barkly, and we will roll it out as quickly as we can over the remaining schools within the Northern Territory.
All staff in government schools undertake training about child protection and mandatory reporting of child abuse, which is very important. In a fortnight or so, I will be meeting with all principals in the Northern Territory. There will be a meeting in Darwin and a meeting in Central Australia. I will be thanking them for the wonderful work they do to protect children, ensure their welfare, and teach them. For all of us, I will exhort them to do more; we all have to do more. I know they will do more because they are dedicated professionals, and it is all hands on deck.
During Question Time, I mentioned Families as First Teachers, which is a program to equip parents to further support their children in their intellectual and social development to be ready for school. This is a crucial program. I mentioned mobile preschools. We are also building a remote early childhood workforce and there are pilot programs to be completed in 2011 at Maningrida, Gunbalanya and Ngukurr. Work is under way with the Australian government to develop a national quality system for early childhood services to ensure safe environments for teachers and support for children’s and families’ wellbeing and development. These are very important programs.
The department is implementing the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum which has targeted 40 schools and undertakes child protection risk audits within all schools. The issue of attendance has been raised in this report. I will release our attendance strategy within the next fortnight. It is near completion and fits in with, and is an important element of, government’s response to this report.
I mentioned during Question Time how crucial housing is and how we are equipping our tenancy support officers and frontline officers within housing over a range of issues, not least of all child protection. There will be more contact between housing officers. They will be a point of contact in our remote communities and our urban areas. It is very important they be equipped to support families. This is what it is all about: supporting families to do the right thing and give their kids the best start they can in life.
It is a very serious situation we are facing and I commend the report. What caught my attention when we had the presentation from the committee was that need to be more active at the front end of child protection. We need to be proactive in that wider, holistic approach to community development, personal development, giving people a purpose in life and supporting families in employment …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77 for the minister if he requires it.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for his courtesy.
Madam Deputy Speaker, this report is telling us that social and economic development is at the heart of us addressing and redressing the situation. It is not just about what happens within the department of family and community services. It is what is happening across the whole of government, but it is wider than that. It is about social and economic development, engaging with Indigenous communities, trying to understand the genesis of this problem and, most importantly, moving as a Northern Territory community to try to solve it.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 18 August 2010.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, we shall not be opposing this bill. I hope that officers have spoken to officers at this stage because I will be flagging an amendment to assist the better operation of the bill. I apologise to the Attorney-General for the late notice but it was something I only became aware of last night and was picked up by someone who has much more patience in reading these things. I am grateful to Frankie for pointing it out to me.
This is what the former member for Araluen would have called an ‘oops bill’. Once again we find ourselves with a government which came into office astride its cavalry horse to change the world and, in its fanaticism to change the world, it set fire to many long-standing principles, realising only afterwards when it tried to remould the ashes into something else that it was not quite as good as the hut it burnt down in the first instance.
The minister in her second reading speech referred to R v Ebatarinja, a very interesting case which deals with the issue before this House. Mr Rowland Ebatarinja was the nominated party in that case. I will quote Chief Justice Brian Martin, and I wish him well in his future and hope Chief Justice Riley brings to the job the same wisdom Brian Martin had. I am sure he will, and I look forward to a consistent approach from our bench. Chief Justice Brian Martin said:
What would cause the Chief Justice to make these observations? The old process of keeping people who were unfit to stand trial at the Administrator’s pleasure meant that where the facts indicated a person had done everything necessary to constitute an offence but unfortunately, due to their mental capacity, they could not be brought to trial for that, they could be held in custody at the Administrator’s pleasure.
The government in 2002-03 determined this was an arcane, ancient, dreadful policy which should be immediately replaced with a new, enlightened policy. The problem was the government did not write the legislation correctly, which is why we find ourselves in this House. This House has to look at the legislative instruments, and there is a curious series of comments which could only be taken if you think about them properly as a direct criticism of this House, but by inference, of the government of the Northern Territory for failing to make its intentions clear.
It is a curious thing to compare the second reading speech with the comments made by Justice Brian Martin in the Ebatarinja matter. I want members to remember these comments from the Attorney-General when bringing this bill to the House back on 18 August. The first quote is:
We are talking about what was intended in 2002 by the government of the day. Brian Martin, on the other hand, makes these observations:
Justice Martin is quite right; he will not, and has declined to, read into a legislative instrument an express capacity to restrain a person unless the legislature makes it clear that is the intent. Why? Because, as a principled society we are passionate defenders of liberty in the first instance. I can understand why Justice Brian Martin was not prepared to accept the assertion not only made by the Crown in Ebatarinja, but also the assertion which was repeated in this place by the Attorney-General that parliament ‘intended’ something to occur.
Justice Martin will not look beyond the legislative instrument if there is no doubt as to what the legislative instrument says, and in his mind there was no doubt. He went on to say the following:
The problem Justice Martin had was that the intention the Attorney-General asserts was there all the time was not written into the legislation. That is a failing of the legislative instrument the Attorney-General of the day brought into this House. We cannot expect the courts to accept the argument, ‘It is not in the document but it is what we wanted to say, it is what we intended to say’. We must be very clear about what we pass in this House. I have already given notice of a disallowance motion because of sloppily drafted and carelessly checked legislative instruments by the Attorney-General. It is a consistent problem for this House.
It then raises the spectre of a problem which may occur in the proposed amendments. We now have an amendment before this House to fix the act which was going to fix the system. I am flagging that there might be a problem with this amendment to fix the act to fix the system. That is demonstrative of an occasionally cavalier approach by this government and the checks and balances which are in place.
The Leader of the Opposition’s office is a small unit with a few employees; it does not have the resources of the Department of Justice. I have an electorate officer and no other staff. Yet, between the Leader of the Opposition’s office and me, we are able to repeatedly find shortcomings in legislative instruments brought before this House. If we do not find them, the courts will. That is why we are here today: the courts found problems. It is worth noting more than a few because, in the second reading speech, if you add the court’s problem there are nine other components to the original legislation brought into this House which are being adjusted.
I turn my attention to the area of drafting concern which I have at the moment. It deals with clause 8 of the bill which is before the House, section 43ZA. I draw members’ attention to:
the following to be included, which is section 43ZA(2A). The proposed paragraph is:
What was picked up by the Leader of the Opposition’s office was a small temporal problem that this throws up because when that original section as it currently stands is read down, it deals with the accused person. However, what is sought by the insertion of subsection 2A is to allow an accused person to continue to be restrained. The problem is that, after the determination has been made that this person is not fit to stand trial, are they still the accused person? They may well not be. If that is the case, the reference to taking an accused person into custody, or to restrain the accused person, when the person is not actually accused, that is, not charged with an indictable offence, will this power extend beyond the time where the order has been created?
I point out to the Attorney-General that this issue has been dealt with. I point out clause 43ZO, where it says:
If the term of ‘supervised person’, under what is intended by this legislation, is to be captured by 43ZO, why is it not captured by the operation of 43ZA(2A)? When this was pointed out to me I urged that staffer to contact the parliamentary drafter, and the parliamentary drafter has indicated there may be an issue with this wording. I do not know if there is not. The point is I do not want the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory to be asked to determine the issue at some future time when we have an opportunity to deal with it here today. If it is possible to deal with what may or may not be an issue, then we should do it for the sake of completeness.
As a consequence, I will be seeking that this goes into the committee stages so we can deal with this issue. Sadly, what has come back from the legislative drafter, I presume as a consequence of pointing out this issue, that we would insert the words, ‘accused person’ or ‘supervised person’. The problem is that the way the legislative instrument reads it would probably be better to approach this matter with a new clause, clause 43ZGA. That is the advice which has been received. I am hoping the Attorney-General can indicate to me that this has been circulated to her office?
Ms Lawrie: Less than an hour ago.
Mr ELFERINK: I have acknowledged this was something which was discovered late and I made that clear, but it is better to discover something late and try to fix it than allow it to pass into law.
Ms Lawrie: You are assuming there is something which needs to be fixed.
Mr ELFERINK: Yes, I am.
Ms Lawrie: An assumption?
Mr ELFERINK: That is right. And I will pick up on the interjection. Yes, I am assuming there is something which needs to be fixed. It is the repeated arrogance of this government saying: ‘We do not need to fix anything’, which has led to these issues occurring in the first place. If you had done your job right in the first place we would not be here. If you had done your job right with the waterfront legislation, we would not be back here tomorrow with a disallowance motion. Do your job and this stuff will not happen.
The Attorney-General has come into this House with 10 issues to be dealt with by this set of amendments. This is an ‘oops’ bill. Surely she should be putting her hand on her heart and saying: ‘Yes, we should fix this’, and, ‘We are not going to be arrogant and make the same decisions again’. But no, true to form, the resonating arrogance we have become so used to from this government is going to be revisited yet one more time. I hope the Supreme Court does find in favour of your opinion because it would be an extraordinarily embarrassing situation if the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory were to find otherwise.
I want to make some observations in relation to the nature of custody before we proceed. What exactly is meant by ‘custody’ is also touched upon by Chief Justice Brian Martin. It is interesting that what might be considered a custodial order with certain conditions of liberty may offer more liberty than a non-custodial order with conditions of restraint. That is not a central issue for our consideration today but it is one I remain mindful of, as the shadow Attorney-General, as the general principle of liberty operating for people who have not been convicted of criminal offences.
Madam Speaker, the nature of the issue of people who are not fit to stand trial because of mental impairment is a vexed and difficult issue and one which will throw up these sorts of challenges from time to time. As I have indicated to the government at the outset, we will be throwing our support behind this bill. I hope they consider what has been sent to them. If it is an issue I will happily see this matter adjourned so we can come back in the next few days and talk about it in the hope we can make a better law. I hope pride and arrogance will not get in the way of good legislating.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I speak to the proposed amendment to Part IIA of the Criminal Code (Mental Impairment and Unfitness for Trial) Amendment Act. The purpose of this bill is to amend Part IIA of the Criminal Code Amendment (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to for Trial) Act. As you are aware Part IIA of the Criminal Code provides for the management of persons who are believed to be unfit to stand trial due to an inability to understand the core processes or whose mental competence when they committed the crime is in doubt.
Part IIA empowers the Supreme Court to order a person who is found to be unfit to stand trial, or who is deemed to be mentally incompetent, to be subject to supervision. The court may make a custodial or a non-custodial supervision order which provides for the treatment and management of a supervised person.
The amendments to Part IIA have been proposed by the Department of Justice and are supported by the Department of Health and Families as part of a suite of tools to cater for clients with complex needs. The courts have demonstrated unwillingness to incarcerate those clients being managed pursuant to the Criminal Code Amendment (Mental Impairment and Unfitness for Trial) Act within a correctional facility. The Supreme Court has made a practice of ordering the Department of Health and Families to provide care for these clients within the community, resulting in a number of unsustainable, expensive responses.
Currently, the management of high-risk young people and adults constitutes a significant risk to government. Typically, these clients engage in high risk-taking, aggressive or disturbed behaviours which are likely to result in imminent risk of extreme harm to themselves and/or others. Their behaviour, and outcomes of such behaviours, often attracts negative media and community reaction. As a result, crisis situations have resulted in ad hoc responses being developed. Typically, these responses are implemented with other supportive legislative frameworks and utilise infrastructure resources not appropriate or allocated for this purpose.
Arrangements have been, and will continue to be, high cost, fragile, often contentious and it is difficult for the Department of Health and Families to safely manage potential risk to the client, other clients, staff and the community in the immediate and longer term. In 2009, government announced the package to provide secure care for adults and children with very complex needs. Secure care facilities will be built in Darwin and Alice Springs and will be operational in 2011. In addition, the government has announced that the Doug Owsten Correctional Centre will be in operation in 2014. As part of this development a secure mental health behaviour management facility will be built. This facility will be more effective and will appropriately accommodate prisoners with mental health and complex needs. It will be managed by the Department of Health and Families.
The legislative amendments to the Criminal Code Amendment (Mental Impairment and Unfitness for Trial) Act will empower the Supreme Court to authorise, in its discretion, the use of restrictive practices to enforce a custodial supervision order in a place other than a prison to prevent a supervised person from harming himself or herself or another person.
Madam Speaker, the amendment to Part IIA will provide the opportunity to create an individualised and therapeutic response in a community setting for a person found unfit to plead under this legislation and will provide the Supreme Court with a further tool to use in response to clients with complex needs. This amendment is important in providing adequate support for this client group in the community as it provides clarity for staff about restrictive practices with legislative cover to implement strategies at the direction of the court.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support. I do not have any committee stage amendments before me and therefore it is impossible to consider any committee stage amendments. There have not been any committee stage amendments distributed to members of parliament. I make that point to give the member for Port Darwin an opportunity while I am making remarks, to get onto the Table Office and distribute any proposed committee stage amendment. I have not received any committee stage amendments in the Chamber as would normally be the case.
Mr Elferink: However, you received them in your office an hour ago, okay?
Ms LAWRIE: An e-mail was sent to my office at 3.44 pm today from the office of the Leader of the Opposition with some proposed committee stage amendments. The e-mail mentioned that the committee stage amendments were in draft format and may attract some minor drafting changes as a result of the proofreading process by Parliamentary Counsel. Listening intently to the member for Port Darwin, it appears the draft committee stage amendments had been changed because he said it looked like a new clause needed to be inserted rather than some suggested words.
That is why I am requesting the actual proposed committee stage amendments rather than the draft as suggested in the e-mail. Nevertheless, I sought advice from lawyers from the Department of Justice about the then draft committee stage amendments they have used. I do not know whether the committee stage amendments distributed in the Chamber would be different to the draft ones; however, the initial advice is they do not seem to be necessary. The court already has power to vary a supervision order. The bill makes it clear that making interim orders does not revoke the supervision orders. I am interested to know if that is the nature of the committee stage amendments being led by the member for Port Darwin. The initial legal advice is they do not appear necessary.
The lawyers, quite appropriately, are saying we should not consider this matter on the run and any committee stage amendments led by the opposition should be properly considered. Often what occurs is, not necessarily with intention, they affect another area of the legislation and have unintended consequences. With that, regardless of the pace of distribution of the committee stage amendments through the Chamber today - and we are running out of time - I am in the position to advise the government will not be taking on any committee stage amendments led by the opposition today.
What I would do in good intent, because I do not share the hubris of the member for Port Darwin, is genuinely look at any committee stage amendments and if there was a view they may be entertained or warranted in the future, they could come in the form of a JLA - I present JLAs all the time as an Attorney-General - that is a big ‘if’ and a maybe, depending on what the committee stage amendments say and if they are deemed necessary at all. My initial advice from lawyers is, on the ones they have seen, not necessarily the ones which will be distributed, they may not be necessary.
We go back to the intent of why we are here, which is the bill itself. The bill is straightforward, and whilst the member for Port Darwin would like to refer it as an ‘oops’ bill, it is not that. It is a bill to very clearly define government’s intent in some very good reforms the previous Attorney-General, Peter Toyne, brought to parliament. It goes to the issue of custodial or non-custodial supervision orders for people who are unfit to plea. The primary purpose of this bill is to empower the Supreme Court to authorise, in its discretion, the use of restrictive practices to enforce a custodial or non-custodial supervision order, or to prevent a person from harming himself or herself or another person, where a person is supervised under Part IIA of the Criminal Code.
We did respond to the ruling by the former Chief Justice, Hon Brian Martin, in R v Ebatarinja which was the use of restraint by any person other than a prison or police officer was not authorised under Part IIA of the Criminal Code. This resulted in a practical inability to enforce - and I emphasise enforce - custodial supervision orders outside a prison. When passing Part IIA of the Criminal Code in 2002, parliament intended, where practicable, that supervised persons under custodial supervision should be held in custody somewhere other than prison, and that prison was to be a last resort. The bill gives full effect to that policy in terms of Part IIA.
Like any legislation, you have an intention, you put it in place, and it is tested in a practical environment. In the practical environment of this series of custodial arrangements with this particular client, it became evident that enforcing the supervision was the key to controlling the behaviour of that client. Many of the supervision orders which exist do not require the enforcement at all; that is, the practice of the manner in which Health is able to deal with clients in custodial supervision environments.
This is a good reform introduced by the former Attorney-General, Peter Toyne. It has stood the test of time and has come up against a particularly problematic client who was the odd one out in supervision arrangements. The level of enforcement needed to be of a higher degree to ensure his safety and the safety of the community, hence the amendments to the bill before the parliament today. We have set about ensuring fairness in the way these enforcements will occur; they will be, in a practical sense, conducted in accordance with the supervision directions made by the CEO.
We have just had the amendments distributed by Mr Elferink in the late stages of my closing remarks. I will duly pass them to the lawyers in the Department of Justice. However, I reiterate we will not be making a decision on the run here today to pass this legislation. If there is anything to the concerns of Mr Elferink or any of his colleagues, we will pick them up in our JLA if we need to – that is a series of ‘ifs’.
As I was saying, the supervision directions are made by the CEO of the Department of Health and Families which provides for independent oversight in the conditions and use of reasonable force. That is important; it will require the CEO of the Department of Health and Families to gazette supervision directions so they have the legal force of a statutory instrument.
Importantly, we have indemnity provisions indemnifying persons other than police or prison officers authorised to use reasonable force from criminal or civil liability, provided the use of force was in good faith and the exercise of a power or function under Part IIA of the Criminal Code.
I will not go on because I know the members opposite are not interested in hearing about the bill. The opposition is more intent on the committee stage amendments. I am happy to say we provided a briefing to members opposite and to the Independent member for Nelson. The opposition clearly recognised the importance of having the appropriate enforcement provisions in place, and having the appropriate authorised persons in place. They have indicated support of this bill, so I thank them for that support. I thank the Independent member for Nelson for his support, which he has indicated to me.
Madam Speaker, I know we will go into committee stage, but I again put on the record for all members, amendments dropped on the Table at the last minute will not be adopted. That is prudent. I will give the legal officers, the lawyers in the Department of Justice, the time they need to fully consider because the initial advice is they may not be necessary. The advice has also been that, often, amendments have unintended consequences on other aspects of the legislation, and that would need to be fully considered. I have also indicated that if they all prove up, squared away, all okay in the future, they will reappear in the JLA.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Clauses 1 to 12, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
New clause 12A:
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Chair, I agree with the Attorney-General that it would be remiss of her to take these things without having read them and place them into the bill, so I am not going to move these amendments. It would be against everything I have ever argued for in this House. As I acknowledged during my second reading speech, this was something we stumbled across last night.
I want the Attorney-General to understand that this is a genuine attempt to deal with what may be an issue. I am not saying it is going to be an issue. In the interests of passing good law, rather than passing into law the bill as it currently stands, we can ask the department to look at the issue, and come back and have this debate next week. This is not so urgent that it cannot last for a few more days, and if it is an issue, then so much the better. If it is not an issue I will accept that advice, we ignore it and pass this legislation next week, or on Thursday if we need to.
The reason I suggest we take that approach rather than pass this into law now is that if you bring it back as a JLA, what happens to the exposure of those people who exert force in relation to a custodial or non-custodial order in the meantime? They can do it because the rest of the bill says they are acting in good faith, so that protects them, but will it protect government?
In the interests of good legislation, I am not going to pass this motion. It would be unreasonable of me to say, read all of this, digest it, make a determination and pass it into law now, when it may not be an issue. I seek the Attorney-General’s opinion on that approach.
Ms LAWRIE: As I indicated before going into committee, it is our intent to pass the legislation today. We will consider the proposed committee stage amendments. We are aware we have a client in a custodial arrangement where we will seek to have authorised persons being able to be use force when required. This may or may not stack up. We always have the ability as a government to introduce any further amendments at any stage, the timing of which we could do, noting we have a two week sittings. We will be proceeding with our legislation and passage of the bill today. As I said, the initial advice is this may not be necessary.
Mr ELFERINK: May not be, and I accept what you are going to say. I appreciate you have a sense of urgency about this. I am not trying to be cute or funny. I hope, in that case, that I am wrong and these amendments will not be required. If I am, then you will know, at least, that you have our support.
A couple of other issues which I raised during the briefing and am seeking answers to, I note there is a potential here for repeated acts of restraint in relation to non-custodial orders in particular. Can you advise whether there is going to be some sort of …
Ms LAWRIE: What is the question again?
Mr ELFERINK: I actually stopped and waited for you. I notice there is a potential in this where a client, whilst on a non-custodial order, could still be the subject of various activities of restraint. That being the case, how many acts of restraint do you anticipate being applied before you apply for a custodial order? The reason I ask that question is, if you are consistently restraining a person on a non-custodial order they are actually in custody. I am wondering if there is some attention being turned to that issue and, if so, what are the parameters which would cause the DPP or the Health department, whoever runs this, to ask for a proper custodial order?
Ms LAWRIE: That is not a matter for speculation in this debate. That is a matter which will be dealt with by the supervision directions and I am advised they will be developed in terms of best practice.
Mr ELFERINK: Okay, not enormously helpful. However, I understand what you are saying. Can I then have a commitment from you that your department pass information to me as to what those guidelines will look like so I can be reassured as a legislator …
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, supervision directions are gazetted.
Mr ELFERINK: They will be gazetted, will they? All right. Thank you.
The other question is, what type of training will be received by the individuals who are proposed to be given these extraordinary powers? I say that in a sense that they are not ordinary powers. Can we be reassured the training they receive will apply to all people who exercise these powers?
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, I am advised, and this is why I have officers of the department of Health here who are at the coalface of developing the supervision directions, that the training will be identified in line with the best practice which occurs in other jurisdictions in Australia.
Mr ELFERINK: Once again, that will be under the supervision of the directions. Will that be wired by way of regulation or mere gazettal? Who has carriage, you or the Health minister?
Ms LAWRIE: The CEO of the department of Health, and it will be gazetted.
Mr ELFERINK: So it is just by way of gazettal. When they are gazetted will the document be there for public inspection, or will it be a gazettal notice that the document has been brought into existence?
Ms LAWRIE: It is normally a gazettal notice and then information is made available upon request.
Mr ELFERINK: Do I have a guarantee from you that the orders or directions in relation to the exercise of these powers will be a document which I will be able to read?
Ms LAWRIE: Yes.
Mr ELFERINK: Thank you. That was not too hard.
Madam CHAIR: Member for Port Darwin, can I clarify that you are withdrawing the amendments?
Mr ELFERINK: Yes.
Madam CHAIR: As tabled?
Mr ELFERINK: Thank you, Madam Chair. I have secured a guarantee that the department will look at this issue and we will, if required to make amendments, reintroduce these amendments at a later date. I am satisfied with that approach. I state on the record that whilst I would prefer we hold this over for several days so this can be done possibly on Thursday, that is a judgment call for the Attorney-General. If the Attorney-General feels secure in passing legislation which may be flawed it will reflect on her judgment and no one else.
Madam CHAIR: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Given the withdrawal of the amendments as tabled, is it the wish of the committee that the remainder of the bill be taken as a whole?
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Bill to be reported without amendment.
Bill reported; report adopted.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table reports on interstate study travel for the members for Goyder and Katherine pursuant to paragraph 3.15 of the RTD.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Auditor-General’s October 2010 report to the Legislative Assembly.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Paper – Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I table the Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the Remuneration Tribunal for their determination. Overall the government is happy with the determination bar one area.
Last year, we introduced legislation to align Legislative Assembly members’ pay to Northern Territory public sector salaries. Unfortunately, an oversight has occurred where the additional salary of office holders was not included in this change. It only applied to base salary of members. The RTD has linked office holder additional salary to CPI. This was not the intent of the government when it made the change last year.
The government wanted member salaries, both base and additional, to be tied to public service sector salaries. Therefore, I have written to the RTD Chair, Mr John Flynn, asking that this be taken into consideration in future determinations. I have also instructed my department to take the appropriate action, either legislatively or otherwise, to ensure this oversight does not occur again.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received the following letter from the member for Port Darwin:
It is signed by the member for Port Darwin.
Is the proposed discussion supported? It is supported.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Port Darwin, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence, and I thank the member for Johnston and my colleagues for their support.
I raise this important issue. The issue is that we have a situation where the government of the Northern Territory and the federal government have made certain undertakings through their policies and public statements about developments under the National Rental Affordability Scheme, otherwise known as NRAS - which is how I will refer to it for the rest of the day - and the proposed development at 3 Manton Street.
This is not the first time this issue has been raised in this House. The first time this issue was raised in this House was on 11 August 2010, when the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory received a question from the member for Goyder about this development. The Chief Minister said the following:
He went on to say:
There are two companies which are involved in this process, and it is important that honourable members understand what is occurring here. The first company is the proponent, Ethan Affordable Housing. Ethan Affordable Housing is an organisation which works out of Victoria, and I place on the record my thanks to Ashley Fenn of Ethan Affordable Housing, a most approachable fellow. I do not raise major concerns about what Ethan Affordable Housing is attempting to do generally.
The NRAS scheme has provided funding, through state and federal governments, to all jurisdictions to build 50 000 dwellings which are supposed to meet the criteria of the NRAS. Of those 50 000 dwellings, Ethan Affordable Housing has carriage of 12 000 – a substantial slice of the federal government’s program. Ethan Affordable Housing has a business model by which they approach various developers in various areas, people who are able to fulfil the requirements of Ethan Affordable Housing. As a consequence, they say to these developers: ‘You build the thing, we will lease it back’.
That is precisely what is proposed for the structure to be built at 3 Manton Street. However, whilst the structure at 3 Manton Street is sufficient to satisfy the bare minimum requirements of the NRAS as dwellings - and one has to read the NRAS very carefully to see how that sufficiency is achieved - more importantly, the structure which is proposed to be built at Manton Street is not sufficient to satisfy as dwellings.
So, the other organisation in this matter, Rapid Form Systems, has attempted to place before the Development Consent Authority an application to construct something which would not satisfy the determination of the town plan unless it was supported accommodation. So, you have two competing intents operating here.
The first component I pay attention to is the clear differentiation between what was presented to FaHSCIA, which runs the NRAS, and what has been presented to the Development Consent Authority. I am curious as to how it is possible for the NRAS, and these are the NRAS guidelines I have in front of me, which says these things must be dwellings, reconciles with the comments in the development application, which say these things are not dwellings.
The reason, I suspect, the application before the Development Consent Authority says these things are not dwellings is to satisfy the capacity of the Development Consent Authority to determine that this is supported accommodation. Consequently, the argument is put together by Rapid Form Systems that these are supported accommodation dwellings.
I remind honourable members of the statements of the minister and the Chief Minister that these are for working people. What we are being told is that all of the suggestions made by Ethan Affordable Housing, consistent with their approach with the NRAS, are that this is meant to be for working people. But if they are to be dwellings to satisfy dwellings under the Northern Territory town plan, they have to look physically different to what is proposed.
I have spent a great deal of time trying to avoid involving myself in discussions on architecture in the development of the Port Darwin CBD; that is a matter for the Development Consent Authority. Consequently, when the Development Consent Authority is normally asked to deal with buildings which draw public criticism, I say leave it to the DCA; it is their business to make that determination. Whilst I might be critical of dwellings which have an average size of 21.5 m2, that is the choice of the people who purchase them. Whilst - and this is one area I would get involved in, because it flows onto the street - I would normally be critical of 88 dwellings being supported by 24 car parks, it is an issue I would raise with the DCA, but ultimately would say it is the DCA’s opinion which applies.
The reason I am taking the extraordinary step of introducing this into this House is because I believe the expectation of Ethan Affordable Housing and the government that this is going to be a workers’ village is not being met. I draw honourable members’ attention to some of the elements of this proposal. Amongst the development application comments, there are quotes such as:
That is on page 5 of the application. ‘Supporting Accommodation’ means:
And further:
That is on page 9 of the application.
That is on page 6 of the application:
Moreover, the residents will be clients who will have assigned case workers. That is on page 7 of the application.
On page 9 of the application, it goes on to say that people anticipated in the Supporting Accommodation, who amongst other things include people who are moving from institutions - I have covered that one - and they go on to justify their claim for supported accommodation by quoting the minister from a media release, if my memory serves me, by saying non-government organisations are to provide a range of social housing options. The only reason the company would place that quote and reference to the minister in this application before the DCA is because it sees its role as being supposed to provide social housing options.
On page 26 of the application, the company again quotes the minister and clearly anticipates providing people with the skills to live in urban housing prior to entering the rental agreements as being part of its role to get the matter through the DCA. It then goes on to quote the Territory Housing website using …
Dr Burns: What page is that?
Mr ELFERINK: That was page 26 of their application. Also on page 26, it quotes the Housing the Territory website:
The company is repeatedly quoting a role of government which it is using to support its application before the Development Consent Authority to demonstrate this is supported accommodation. However, that is not what government has said. It is not what the Chief Minister said to this House. I can imagine him standing up and saying: ‘I support it absolutely’, if he thought he was talking about workers’ accommodation.
What is absent from the application before the Development Consent Authority is the understanding, belief or suggestion this is for workers’ accommodation. I know that is the intent of Ethan Affordable Housing, but it looks like a sleight of hand is being perpetrated here in that Rapid Form Systems is attempting to tell the NRAS this is one thing and then going before the Development Consent Authority and saying it is something else.
Without criticising the government, this MPI gives the government an opportunity to respond to what could become a very big problem for government in the future. If this is passed as supported accommodation then that is what it will become and it will have a list of clients who will need higher levels of support. These are people who will require case workers. These are people who will be coming out of institutions such as prisons.
I am anxious that the government responds to this and accepts that the application before the Development Consent Authority does not reflect the promise the government made about what this development is going to be. Because if this Development Consent Authority application is passed as it currently is it will be so far from what government has promised it would be, as to be a completely different thing. Should the DCA rubber stamp a proposal of this nature there is nothing stopping the structure being used in the fashion for which it is authorised.
If, for argument’s sake - and it is probably an extreme example - I lodge an application for a petrol station but promise to build a hotel and I am approved, then nothing stops me from building a petrol station. Similarly, if I lodge an application for supported accommodation and promise to build a workers’ village there is nothing stopping me using the building as supported accommodation. I suggest that the Health minister, the Chief Minister and the minister for Housing would accept that people with ‘personal issues’ would not be the sort of people you want to stack 10 storeys high in rooms of 21.5 m. It would not be good policy. I am certain there is no shortage of historical evidence to demonstrate that treating people with ‘personal issues’, people coming out of institutions and people who need case workers, would be well suited to being stacked into an 88-room building, 10 storeys high, where the average size of each unit is substantially smaller than our parliamentary lobby.
Consequently, I urge the government to respond to this in a positive fashion. Perhaps it wants to discuss the matter with Ethan Affordable Housing and have the design adjusted so if it is going to be dwellings as required by the town plan it becomes dwellings as outlined by the town plan.
I urge the government to acknowledge there is a serious difference between what it has said and what is before the Development Consent Authority. I do not want to be down on people who need supported accommodation; there are people who need supported accommodation. However, what is proposed, if used as supported accommodation, will have calamitous outcomes for the community.
I have given notice to Rapid Form Systems of my concerns, and I repeat them in this House so members will know the questions I have asked. I asked Rapid Form Systems: if NRAS is not a social program but a program designed to address the rental affordability crisis, why is Rapid Form Systems presenting the case for a social accommodation program? How does it reconcile the comments in the application suggesting it is providing social housing by quoting Dr Burns and the government’s policy? Will it provide a copy of all briefings provided to the Northern Territory government outlining exactly what it is proposing and if not, why not? What are the ‘personal issues’ referred to in the application which will be covered by the service to be provided? Do they include people with physiological disorders, or people with a history of drug and alcohol addiction? If these services are extended to this type of client, what support does it envisage for them beyond mere accommodation? Is recent unemployment the only criteria for short-term assistance when it refers to it in its application to provide services to the recently unemployed, or is there an examination proposed for the reason for that recent loss of work? Was the person charged with a particular type of criminal offence? What is the classification of disability it will use for disabled people who receive assistance? What is the function of a case worker, as described in the application? Is the role of the case worker broader than assessing the need for accommodation? If so, how much broader? What institutions will it accept clients from? Can it provide a list? What form of rehabilitation accommodation will it be providing?
I note from my conversation with Mr Fenn the intention for the management of the accommodation was two daytime staff and one night caretaker. What qualifications for the treatment of people with personal issues and who require rehabilitation will these people have, or are they merely managers of the property? If the staff are merely property managers, what is the process of dealing with people who are evicted from the premises? In assisting people who ‘need new skills to live in an urban environment’, what training does it seek to provide? Has any consideration been given to the management of cultural issues arising out of family disputes when these people come from remote Territory Indigenous communities? If so, what consideration has been given and what are the outcomes of those considerations?
Madam Speaker, I have provided Rapid Form Systems that list of questions, and my own objection to the DCA to this proposal going ahead. At this point, Rapid Form Systems have not replied to those questions verbally or in writing. Whilst those questions are unanswered for me, is one issue; whilst they are unanswered for the government, that is another issue. I would hate to see the government supporting something which would cause increased disruption to the CBD in Darwin.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for bringing this matter forward. This is a matter for him and his electorate and, as local member, he has taken an active interest.
I believe the problem is the member for Port Darwin is using two separate parts of the application document which was submitted to the DCA and joining them when they are separate entities in the argument – separate but linked – being put before the DCA. I will give you my understanding of it, member for Port Darwin.
Under 4.3 the proponents put forward to the DCA:
Then they quote the act, and it is in bold and italics:
Then the proponents go on to say:
It makes it plain that, under the definition within the Northern Territory Planning Scheme, it is taking a select part of that as justification for applying for a particular defined land use. Then, if we go back to section 4.2 it is very clear about who is expected to use this accommodation:
The way I see it, it is supporting someone who is young, has come to the Northern Territory for a job, may not have a rental history to be able to enter the private rental market and needs to establish their bona fides. This is short-term accommodation to allow them to do so.
The second one is:
interim accommodation for a worker relocating to the city and needing affordable and supported accommodation for a period until they find suitable, affordable, long-term accommodation.
That is very plain, and is in line with what the Chief Minister said in the quote which has been attributed to him.
The one the member for Port Darwin has talked about is:
interim accommodation for persons with personal issues …
The member for Port Darwin has seized upon the issue of personal issues and said: ‘What does this mean?’ Does this mean people with a psychiatric illness? Does this mean people who are drug addicts? Are these people with a range of what he believes to be undesirable traits which should preclude them from living in such accommodation? I am not sure whether the member for Port Darwin asked Ethan Affordable Housing, as I have, what may constitute personal issues. One example which was given to me …
Mr Elferink: I have. I sent a letter to them; you did not listen.
Dr BURNS: Well, member for Port Darwin, a personal issue may be that someone has had a marriage break-up and needs to move out of their home and needs accommodation for a short term until they can find accommodation elsewhere. That is an example which has been presented to me of someone with a personal issue. It is a very understandable human situation which, unfortunately, so many people have. There are many marriage bust-ups in our community. People split the sheets, they take off or, for whatever reason, one of them cannot live in the same house and has to find interim accommodation, usually at fairly short notice, until they get back on their feet.
Then:
assisted living for a less mobile/disabled person who requires assistance in accessing services and managing house duties …
I do not think anyone in this House is in the business of discriminating against people who have these issues. They are disabled people, they may need some assistance with their housework, they may need other types of assistance. As Housing minister, I am not going to stand in their way and say: ‘You should not be living in this circumstance’.
interim accommodation for a recently unemployed person needing short-term assistance until they re-gain employment.
All of those are very laudable criteria by which people should be able to access this type of accommodation. It was very plain and clear in its application about who it wanted.
Under 4.2, and I am quoting:
I do not have any problem with that in terms of the parameters set out under the NRAS funding. There is a need for a range of accommodation options across sectors. Short-term and transitional is one of them and longer-term is very important. The 1200 properties which will be provided in Darwin and Palmerston under NRAS, under the Prime Minister’s pledge during the election campaign, minister Plibersek’s pledge, will be delivered. From my discussions with Ethan Affordable Housing, I believe it will be providing a range of accommodation options. That is very important.
In terms of case workers, it says:
There is nothing wrong with that. Why should there not be referrals? If someone has a job offer in Darwin, why should they not try to access services to try to find them accommodation, particularly in the short term if they have to start that job quickly. So they know they can come to Darwin and get accommodation on a short-term basis until they find longer-term accommodation.
There is no doubt in my mind that it is very clear in the application. What the member for Port Darwin has done is taken direct quotes from the Planning Act, used that, jumbled that all together, shoved that in and said: ‘Well, these are the sort of people who will be staying in this accommodation’.
In my mind the proponents have been very clear about who they will be serving and the type of tenants they will be having. That is not to say there will not be difficulties with some tenants and some tenants’ behaviour which will have to be addressed. I am assured by Ethan Affordable Housing there will be adequate management systems in place to deal with any problems which arise.
We have the member for Port Darwin’s media release. It has a cute title, Manton Damned. That is a clever use of words and I appreciate that. The member for Port Darwin raises all the issues he has on the floor of parliament today within his media release.
Ethan Affordable Housing’s media release says:
Mr Fenn goes on to say:
I can see that Mr Fenn is worried this development has become a political slanging match. Why he is concerned is understandable. We were in a federal election campaign, we had the Deputy Prime Minister become the Prime Minister and make a pledge about 1200 dwellings under the NRAS, which gives subsidised rent to 1200 households. It is not surprising that, politically, some people would seek to muddy the waters to make it a negative proposal instead of a positive one.
I will leave the matter of this development to the Development Consent Authority. It is a separate and autonomous body and has representatives from the community. It has people from the Darwin City Council who do not sit as representatives from the Darwin City Council but they are experienced aldermen. The Development Consent Authority will make a determination. It will take into account the objections which have been put before it by the member for Port Darwin and others, and what is proposed within this fairly lengthy document by Ethan Affordable Housing.
I have met with Mr Fenn of Ethan Affordable Housing on a number of occasions. It appears to me that in this economic climate developers are seeking out Ethan Affordable Housing as an affordable rental housing company because they can invest in developments. Currently, some developers are having problems because they are not able to achieve the levels of pre-sales which are required. According to Mr Fenn, and I believe it because I have spoken with other affordable rental housing companies, Ethan Affordable Housing is in a position to undertake developments. It has the wherewithal, the backing and the guarantees. Many developers are beating a path to the door of these affordable rental housing companies and there is much to do.
There are many developments which have to take place. I have mentioned the 1200 housing units. I welcome the federal government’s stimulus package where we are doing a range of things. There are currently around 180 dwellings under construction. Most of them will be completed by the end of this calendar year and all will be completed by the end of this financial year. There is a great deal going on. As a government, we are investing $50m in approximately 150 new public housing dwellings. There is a range of things happening with Northern Territory government funding and funding from the Commonwealth.
It is a time of great need. When I was flying to Alice Springs last week I flew over Johnston. What a fantastic development that is and in the distance you can see Bellamack. That is an extensive development. I know members from Alice Springs fly regularly and I am sure they have seen it as they fly over Palmerston. I drove along some of the civil works about three or four weeks ago. There are kilometres of civil works within that Johnston sub-division. They even have the bus shelters there and they are building the headworks. It will be a massive development.
From memory, there are about 3000 dwellings within what I call Palmerston East and then we have the proposed development of Weddell. I commend the minister for Planning for the forum he held on planning Weddell. I am receiving very positive feedback about that.
The new member for Araluen raised the issue of worker accommodation. I would like to see affordable rental housing companies like Ethan Affordable Housing move into areas such as Alice Springs. I have had preliminary discussions with Ethan about it. Both sides of politics need to be making partnerships with Ethan. We do not need to be trying to put a negative blanket over what it is doing. It is new in town and is saying: ‘What the hell is going on here?’ You can see that reflected in the media release by Mr Fenn.
Madam Speaker, I am not going to speak for Mr Fenn; he can well speak for himself. I have laid out the government’s position on this development and I commend the work of Ethan Affordable Housing. I welcome the announcements made by the Prime Minister during the election campaign and I look forward to the delivery of 1200 dwellings which are much needed in the Darwin housing market.
Discussion concluded.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Conlan interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to start tonight with a promise I made to the former member for Brennan, Mr James Burke, at the Solomon by-election where I was telling James about my situation in …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member for Greatorex is talking over the member for Brennan.
Mr Conlan: I am terribly sorry; I was talking to the member for Araluen.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Greatorex. It is a little noisy and difficult to hear the member for Brennan.
Mr CHANDLER: I was telling the former member for Brennan the issues I had with vehicles in Central Australia in July when it was very wet, very cold and without the proper vehicle left me in a very precarious situation bogged on the Ernest Giles Road and how I wished at the time – it was about four degrees - I had my former vehicle which was a four-wheel drive. I had openly criticised the former member for Brennan for having such a vehicle and I now take back that criticism because I think it was an excellent choice by the former member, and on that day I would have loved to have had a four-wheel drive.
I apologise wholeheartedly for the comments I made in relation to his vehicle. It was a very good vehicle, a four-wheel drive, particularly when driving some of the roads in Central Australia.
I did jump a little early; however, the last thing I would like to say on this day of a terrible report tabled in relation to child protection is to thank the Child Protection minister, Mr Kon Vatskalis.
I was at wits’ end recently with a situation in my office which demanded something be done immediately. In most cases, the protocol is we write to ministers and wait for a response. In some cases we get the answer we were hoping for and the situation is resolved; other times we get letters which do not provide any answers to the problem - much like Question Time every day in this House when specific questions are asked and answers are not provided by government. In this case, the problem was serious and immediate and I knew drafting a letter was not going to cut the mustard; it was not going to deliver the immediate result we needed.
At that time I broke with protocol and e-mailed the minister directly; and I can tell the House within 35 minutes the minister had got back to me to tell me he was onto it, and the very next day I received a well planned e-mail from his advisor expressing concern and mapping out a plan they had put in place for this case.
On a day when we are talking serious issues in relation to childcare - and I know there is much to do from both sides of this House - this side of the House is genuinely concerned with what has happened with child protection over the last decade, and that concern will genuinely provide any support which needs to occur for proper processes that lead to better outcomes for our children whether they are in urban areas, rural or remote.
So on the day when are talking about something that is very serious and we know, and I have identified many concerns, I wanted to indicate there was one issue dealt with in the last few weeks which I would like to thank the minister for because it was dealt with quickly, although perhaps a little out of order.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will talk about some of the outstanding achievements by the students of Taminmin College, as it is now called. They had a special general meeting to change the name from Taminmin High School to Taminmin College, which is a great reflection upon the advancement of that institution.
Recently, the Australian Mathematics Competition for middle schools was held. It was introduced in Australia many years ago and is now conducted across not only Australian states and territories but also through the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The aims of the competition are to highlight the importance of mathematics in our curriculum subjects, to give students an opportunity to discover talent in mathematics and, of course, to provide resources to the classroom and general discussion in this field and discipline.
Madam Deputy Speaker, as you would know from your background, there are different categories for high distinction, distinction, credit, proficiency in mathematic skills and problem solving, participation, and prudence awards.
It is my pleasure to mention the names of students who achieved, and I will start with the top students.
In Year 7: Jessica Waters received a high distinction, which means she is in the top 2% for the year and region, and is an extraordinary achievement; Jordan Abbott received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; Jack Byrnes received a distinction which means he is in the top 15% of the year and region; and Natasha Bond received a distinction, which means she is in the top 15% for the year and region.
In Year 8: Andrew MacKay received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; Mark Stoddard received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; and Jack Hopkinson received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region.
In Year 9: Thomas Raymond received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; Bradley Blyth Moffatt received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; and Phillip McDevitt received a credit, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region.
The Prudence Award winner went to Jack Hopkinson in Year 8.
I congratulate all those students on their achievements and, perhaps more importantly, for embracing mathematics and for participating in this type of competition and enjoying it, and doing well. So, congratulations to them all.
This year, in mid-August, Taminmin College had an inaugural science expo. Many of the science teachers at the college, and parents and other interested people, wanted to promote science studies to a greater extent. They came up with a concept, which I believe is terrific, and held the inaugural Taminmin Science Expo on 20 August, which was a successful event. I went, as did other members of this parliament; many teachers participated and helped students and, of course, many visitors. They are already planning what they can do next year for the science expo.
The school gymnasium was just chock-a-block with students and their quirky and interesting experiments, some more bizarre than others, including a young student who does horse massage - I call it horse whispering - to how you get eggs to float in vinegar. It was a tremendous day, and I know the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
I acknowledge and thank Ros Hardcastle, the science teacher I had the most to do with in regard to this expo, for the planning which went into it. I assisted by talking to many of the exploration companies which have offices in Darwin to see if they could support the science expo, which they did quite easily and readily because they, of all companies, appreciate the need to have students come out of the curriculum system with science backgrounds.
I acknowledge Platinum sponsor, Neville Bergin, from Minemakers Ltd; Platinum sponsor, Jennifer Parks, from Cameco Australia; Gold sponsor, Geoff Eupene, with Crossland Uranium; Gold sponsor, Rob Bills, with Emmerson Resources; I, as member for Goyder was a Gold sponsor; Mary Walshe, a Silver sponsor from the Litchfield Council; CMAX Cinemas was a Silver sponsor; the Chief Minister was a Silver sponsor; Robert Knight, the member for Daly, was a Silver sponsor; Gerry Wood, member for Nelson, was a Silver sponsor; CSIRO was a Silver sponsor; John Shanahan, of the Science Teachers Association was a Silver sponsor, Michael Scott of Crocosaurus was a Silver Sponsor; Julie Smith of Hairdressing Straight A Head at Berry Springs was also a Silver Sponsor. It was from these sponsorships that enabled many awards and prizes to be given to all the students.
I congratulate not only the students who participated with great enthusiasm, but all the science teachers. I thank Ros Hardcastle, and I will be helping her next year to get more businesses involved, not only as sponsors, but to see what the students are doing.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend the college and their science faculty, and wish them another successful science expo next year.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to put some condolences on the public record because, as the member for Johnston said earlier about the inquiry, there are many deaths on Aboriginal communities and I want to put on public record deaths of people at Kintore.
I send my condolences to Andrew Spencer, an Aboriginal Police Officer at Kintore, who recently lost his son. And to Kulitja, who lost her daughter through liver cancer. My condolences to Tarna Andrews, Acting Principal at Areyonga School, and Pastor Trevor Raggett for the loss of their beautiful mum a couple of weeks ago. The death of Roy Larry at Haasts Bluff, just last weekend; I send my sincere condolences to that family there. Also to Pastor Murphy Roberts at Papunya, who lost his wife recently, who was a great artist, Katungka Napanunga.
I thank the government on behalf of everyone at Hermannsburg, and the Williams family, for the state funeral held for the late Gus Williams, who was a wonderful man. Anyone who knew that man knew he was a loving and gentle human being who had lots to give to people. He tried very hard to have economic development and show people the way without welfare. He always lived recognising what had happened to people like him in the past with the missionaries, how they all had the trade of being builders; they built the first houses at Hermannsburg, and worked in a tannery and made belts and buckles. So, I want to put that acknowledgment on the public record.
If you heard the song sung by his granddaughter, Cassandra Williams, at the funeral called Lay Down Beside Me, and the line that really stuck to me was: ‘I didn’t know music til I heard your name’. As kids growing up on remote Aboriginal communities, we had Slim Dusty, Buddy Williams and Gus Williams.
The late Gus Williams and his wife, Rhonda, would always have sing-alongs in Palm Valley, and everyone would turn up to hear Mr and Mrs Williams sing. Their late daughter, Ingrid, was also a singer with her mum and dad; and his grandchildren and his children, like Warren H Williams, have grown up being musicians and having the most beautiful voices. If you heard both Denise Williams and Cassandra Williams sing at the funeral, it was absolutely moving to see the grandchildren of the late Gus Williams perform so fantastically at his funeral to farewell him.
Trevor Adamson turned up to the state funeral all the way from South Australia. One of the things Trevor Adamson said was: ‘I always used to watch that man’s fingers on the guitar. He taught me about music’ – and the things that Gus did. Tamworth was a very long way from Hermannsburg, but he took that trip every year to Tamworth, chipped away at it until he was fully recognised, with his son, Warren H Williams, for the contribution they made to the music industry. That is some of the encouragement we need to put back into the Indigenous communities to make sure people go back into that music industry. It is a fantastic industry, it is a calm industry, and it is an industry that can take you a long way.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I wish to touch on several issues, but before I do, I ask the member for Macdonnell to pass on to Tjapaltjarri Spencer my condolences, as well. I have known Tjapaltjarri for many years and to hear that he has lost his boy is a shock. I know that both he and Eileen will feel that deeply.
I add my condolences, and I presume there will be a condolence motion for Injulka Williams from government. I would hope, seeing they put on a state funeral, they will condescend to a condolence motion; but if they have not, then I pass on my condolences to Baydon and the family, as well, for the loss of Injulka.
I was a very young policeman the first time I met him out at Hermannsburg, and he was a great guide for me when I held the seat of Macdonnell. There were times he and I had terse and cross words, but that was the nature of that representation and I always respected his judgment and his wisdom. If our cross words ever caused him any rancour, he never showed any evidence of it, and I assume there was no rancour based on the fact that he also took me to places and showed me things that many people do not have the privilege of seeing.
I lay on the record my thanks to him and the contribution he made in my personal development, both as a police officer as well as a local member of parliament. I once made the mistake of calling him ‘Old Man’. I meant it out of respect, but he glowered at me with one of his withering stares and he said: ‘I am not an old man, but you can call me Chilpyi’. People who get the language will understand the curious distinction which is not quite a distinction, but I did from that day on call him Chilpyi and sadly, of course, it proved that he was a Chilpyi in every sense of the word - he got old - and the hole he leaves behind I hope there is someone there to fill it, lest that community fall back into a void so many other communities have fallen into. I certainly hope that someone steps up to the mark and fills that void. But time will tell.
Madam Speaker, I also rise today to say congratulations - it is a little belated - to Heather Malone from Penny’s Fancy Dress, who is this year’s Telstra Business Woman of the Year
I say this essentially to embarrass her because Heather and I go back an awfully long way. In fact, I was her debutante partner when she went to the debutante ball back in 19-something-or-other, and I am not going to say when that was. I am delighted to see that she has gone from strength to strength. I visited her shop, Penny’s Fancy Dress Hire, and she has made it an absolute goer. I have always had a great soft spot in my heart for Heather; I think she is totally hot, and I am glad she has done so well with her life.
I say this as much to embarrass her, as I know she will be, but I will certainly be posting this Hansard to her. I am just so proud of her; and I think we all should be proud of the Telstra Business Woman of the Year, because I certainly am. Her successes and her enthusiasm for life is an absolute joy to me, and it is a pleasure to know her.
I also wish to raise another small issue which has been raised with me; but it is one of those things that is like a pebble in your shoe, you do not really know how irritating it is until you have to put up with it.
I have had a visitation from a member of the public who has to carry around the new bus timetables everywhere he goes because he relies very heavily on the bus services of the Northern Territory and finds it extremely difficult to stick the new bus timetables, all of them, in his back pocket or in his bag, or wherever. He has to rely on a series of pamphlets or on the government document, which is an A4 sheet of paper. He reliably informs me there was a time when all the bus routes and their times could be fitted on a couple of sheets of paper, and you could find a bus anywhere you liked and find the bus route on that. Apparently, that single sheet of paper is not being reproduced, although there may be a booklet which might be purchased at some point in the future.
I ask the Transport minister to ask his department if they can reproduce the old single sheet of paper for no other reason than - and for the purposes of Hansard I am now holding up a bundle of paper about two inches thick - in your back pocket it is an unwieldy thing to carry around when you rely on so many different bus routes. I promised him I would raise it with the Transport minister, and whilst it may not be so important to those of us who own cars, it is vitally important to have a convenient and usable form of bus timetable when you are travelling on our buses.
So, I keep my promise to this gentleman; I have raised the matter with the Transport minister. I am glad to see he is in parliament listening to this, and I expect the Transport minister will be able to advise the House in the not so distant future that a more user friendly timetable is available.
I am also going to keep a promise I made last week. We live in a wonderful and marvellous technological age. Not many members are aware my father, before immigrating to Australia, was married prior to marrying my mother and he had three children by his first wife.
It is funny, on Facebook I ran into not only my half brother, with whom I lost contact 40 years ago, but also his daughter, who would be my half niece, I suppose. His daughter and I were talking back and forward on Facebook and during the course of that conversation I promised I would mention her in parliament because she thought it would be cool.
As a consequence, I seek the indulgence of the House, and I would like to pass on my regards to Kirsten Elferink and say: do not let the grey of the mundane and the ordinary leach the colours from your pallet. Challenge yourself, enrich your life with effort and life will be a wonderful place. It is great to meet you again, Kirsten, and I hope you get a thrill from being mentioned in the parliament of the Northern Territory.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak about an outstanding small business woman, Hollie Goodall, who lives in my electorate. Hollie is the brains behind HG Fitness, Darwin’s first mobile outdoor personal training business.
After moving to Darwin from Queensland in 2004, Hollie set up the business from scratch. She did everything in those early days: training clients, designing fitness programs, and marketing and sales. Now Hollie employs 12 trainers to run the fitness programs that have become so popular, including boot camp, fitness classes for women on our defence bases, aqua aerobics and a swim school for infants.
Perhaps the most popular of these fitness programs are the classes targeted specifically at new mums, following Hollie’s venture in to motherhood. The ‘mums and bubs boot camp’ allow new mums to improve their fitness in a friendly environment. The participants can attend to their babies when they need to without the added expense of childcare. In addition, the Pilates and Prams program uses babies as a resistance weight, instead of conventional weights, to improve core strength and flexibility. It is a hugely popular program and it is run weekly at the Jingili Water Gardens.
I am told Hollie also trains some local celebrities, in particular the member for Fannie Bay whom, I am assured, loves his beach running and his hill sprints.
Hollie’s popular business has been recognised twice this year for its outstanding success. First, HG Fitness won the AMP Innovation Award at the Telstra Business Awards for the Northern Territory. This award recognises innovation in the business world - something Hollie has definitely mastered.
Just recently, Hollie was again recognised when HG Fitness was nominated in three categories at the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. The nominations for HG Fitness were: Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award, Nokia Innovation Award, and the marie claire Young Business Women’s Award. While Hollie did not take home a category win this time, it is a huge achievement to be nominated in these categories with other great businesswomen from long-time Territory businesses, including the overall winner, Heather Malone of Penny’s Fancy Dress.
Hollie has done a fantastic job building her business from scratch to a hugely popular business that attracts hundreds of Top Enders to her classes and programs each week. I congratulate Hollie on her remarkable achievements and look forward to watching her continued innovation and success.
I also wish to speak about Janine Sutter, one of the many great teachers from the Moil Primary School in my electorate. Janine was recently awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Order of Merit is something we, in Australia, are not familiar with, but it is a very prestigious award. It is the highest honour Germany pays to individuals for services to the nation.
Janine received this award from Honorary German Consul, Britta Decker, for her commitment to the education of German exchange students, and to teaching German to Moil Primary School students. To be recognised with such an award by the people of Germany, here in Australia, is a fantastic achievement. Janine has been teaching at Moil Primary School for 16 years and has been a committee member of the Language Teachers Association for more than 20 years.
Students at Moil Primary School are taught the German language and about German culture from Transition through to Year 6. Part of this program includes the option for students to get involved in a German choir - what a great way to get a deeper understanding of the language.
Janine also spends many hours finding homestay placements for German exchange students. Janine is committed to ensuring that learning the German language is exciting and valuable for the students and, by all accounts, she is doing a fantastic job.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I congratulate Janine on receiving such a prestigious award, and for her continued commitment to education at Moil Primary School.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Deputy Speaker, I pay tribute and thank the member for Johnston, the minister for Education, for some exemplary work he put into assisting people in my electorate in the last few weeks. I see the minister nodding his head; he knows what he has been up to.
The Kids Force Early Learning Centre was destined to close on 30 August. There were a number of problems involved in relation to the committee running that organisation; they said they had financial problems and difficulties in running the centre. I contacted the minister and, to my amazement, the minister went above and beyond the call of duty and provided every assistance possible to that childcare centre. Sadly, it was out of the minister’s control, and out of my control, and that childcare centre has since closed down.
However, I would not feel right if I did not stand up now and pay tribute and thank the minister for his wonderful efforts in that regard. I know the parents of the children who were attending that childcare centre were also equally impressed.
Minister, you have some friends in Fong Lim, you might be surprised to know ...
Dr Burns: I might nominate.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Deputy Speaker, it is with great sadness that I speak on the passing of the well-known Territorian, Gympie Lew Fatt.
Gympie was one of 10 children of Monica and Walter Lew Fatt. Walter’s father, Gympie’s grandfather, Lee Kong Fatt, arrived in the Northern Territory from southern China around 1877, and he worked on the construction of the railway line between Darwin and Pine Creek. Gympie’s father, Walter, was a knockabout Territorian who, with Monica, produced a sporting dynasty unlikely to ever be repeated in the Northern Territory.
Gympie and his siblings excelled in sport, particularly in Australian Rules, and Gympie was also a very handy boxer. He was what many of us would refer to as the complete athlete who could play a number of sports. If the opportunity had been there, he could have aspired to the AFL, or the national football competition. Sadly, for Gympie, those opportunities were not there.
Gympie worked as a clerk’s assistant and as a serjeant-at-arms in this parliament, in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. He was well known to members in this place as a non-assuming and efficient operator. He worked to assist all members in this House and was highly regarded by all.
Gympie worked as an administration officer at Aboriginal Hostels. He worked very well with that organisation and was promoted to Regional Manager in Darwin. This was a very satisfying period of around 20 years.
In 2001, sadly, he suffered a health setback when he was the victim of a severe stroke. His courage, with the help of his wife, Shirley, assisted with his recovery and, in 2004, he retired to settle down with Shirley and enjoy their retirement years. Sadly, Gympie passed away on 8 September this year. He is survived by his wife, Shirley, and his children, Alisa, Jenna, Anita and Yvette.
Gympie has been a good friend of mine, as has his whole family, and it was distressing to hear of the passing of Gympie. It has been a privilege to speak about Gympie, and I pass on my condolences to Gympie’s family.
On another note, I am pleased to pay tribute to some of the unsung heroes in my electorate. I speak in particular about the well-known Territorian, Mr Frank Ahmat, or Doodles, as he is better known. Frank’s father, Johnny Ahmat, arrived in Darwin in the 1920s at the age of 12. He was the son of a Malayan pearl diver. This was the commencement of the dynasty known as the Ahmat family. Johnny Ahmat and his wife, Elsie Kruger, had 10 children and, with more family arriving from Thursday Island, the family multiplied to today’s hundreds of representatives and family members. In fact, I would say that this is probably the largest family grouping in the Northern Territory.
To elaborate on the extent of the relationships, the Ahmats are related to the Bonsons, Pettersons, Coopers, Abalas, Dowlings, Cardonas, Preezes and, through Frank’s mother, Elsie, the Kruger, King and Pierce families, just to name a few. What an enormous team of citizens working for our country and our Territory.
Frank’s grandmother was a traditional Aboriginal woman from Wave Hill; Gurindji country, rich heritage, a mosaic of people to take the Territory forward.
Doodles was born in 1946 in Darwin. He grew up and ran barefoot through the spear grass and broken bottles of the near suburbs of Darwin, and he enjoyed the relaxed and carefree environment of Darwin. Frank and his family lived at Parap Camp, and the Ahmats were the first family to be promoted to welfare homes situated in Bremer Street in Ludmilla, what is now part of the Fong Lim electorate.
As a member of the Parap Camp Gang, Doodles roamed this outback settlement with his young mates hardly realising that they had earlier been invaded by the Japanese. Sadly, today there is not much evidence left of the Parap Camp of the 1940s or 1950s. There is a Sidney Williams building in Westralia Street, which was the local shop owned by the Chrisodoulou family.
Now, as then, sport was the major outlet for the young people of Darwin - Aussie Rules, Rugby League and basketball. Doodles played on the old Darwin Oval and later at Gardens Oval, which was used for Rugby League and also for Aussie Rules. Frank was known for his sporting prowess; he represented the Northern Territory in Rugby League, he was an A-grade player for the Darwin Buffaloes, and the Brothers Rugby League Club. He later made a contribution to the sport as President of the Darwin Football Club.
The 1950s and 1960s was not a good era for employment for local people; there was no real opportunity at all. Most of the white collar jobs were given to Caucasian recruits brought in on two-year employment arrangements from the southern states and, more particularly, from the Commonwealth Public Service in Canberra.
However, Frank had a number of jobs since his first job at the age of 15 at the Darwin Aerated Waters. He moved then to work on the reconstruction of the railway line between Mount Isa and Townsville, then to the Australian government in the mechanical workshops and water supply, and later in the Northern Territory Public Service.
In 1979, Frank was selected to join the back-up staff in the first Northern Territory government. He worked in the office of the first Minister for Transport and Works, Roger Steele. Frank was an important link between the electors and the government. I have to reiterate, I know Roger Steele very well and Roger can only ever speak very highly of Doodles and compliment him on the incredible job he did for him when he was in office.
During the early 1980s, Doodles and his wife, Sue, settled in and purchased their home in The Narrows with their children, Robbie, Leah and Louise all growing up in Darwin.
These days Frank is retired but works as a board member on the Council for Aboriginal Alcohol Program Services Incorporated. He spends much of his time helping others in the community, and in recent years he has assisted a number of families in a time of need. Doodles is well-known for his community spirit and I wish him and his wife, Sue, and their family well in the future.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I congratulate the Total Recreation organisation and the team who helped put on the fantastic night ‘Dancing with the Celebrities’ earlier this month.
It was my first time at ‘Dancing with the Celebrities’ and I mixed with many people who go along to various balls and functions around Darwin and, like them, I was commenting how it had a very different vibe about it – there was a really positive buzz - everyone was having a really good time and it was one of the best functions I have been to in my time getting around Darwin at various events. I will be making an attempt to get back there again next year and I am sure some of my colleagues might decide to join in as well.
I was invited to be one of the dancing celebrities; however, my hat goes off to my partner on the night and all the members of Total Recreation as they are the real celebrities.
Total Recreation was established in 1991 and, as an organisation, they ensure people with a disability have the right to the same opportunities as other members of society to participate in sport and recreation activities. Total Recreation members really know how to have a really good time.
‘Dancing with the Celebrities’ Gala Ball is one of the highlight annual events of Total Recreation’s calendar, and this year the ball was held at the Darwin Turf Club, the new pavilion, and it was a huge success with 320 people in attendance. In the lead-up to this great event I spent several hours learning new dance steps and I am very thankful that my partner, Amanda, was such a great dancer and helped me through.
Mr Giles interjecting.
Mr KNIGHT: Yes, member for Braitling, it was a very trying experience for me, and my partner; I am not the best dancer, but I had a really good time and I got a real kick out of it.
I say a huge thank you to Rebecca Forrest for being very patient with me during my dance lessons, and appreciation also goes to Bronwyn Graham from Darwin Dance and Drama Academy who conducted the dance classes. I got caught a little short; I went to the initial dance lesson with everyone and then missed a few, and suddenly realised the big night was coming up and I had to do some private dance lessons in my conference room. We had to push the conference table back, Rebecca came up, and it was a different experience in my conference room.
On the last Thursday, Amanda, my partner, came up and we went through those moves, and I was glad I was not judging that evening; I would have found it very hard to pick a winning couple. All the dancing couples were winners and everyone received a sash, and I received a sash, member for Braitling. We were all champions on the night. I congratulate the winners, Raymond Roach and the lovely Lisa Pellegrino, from Mix 104.9. Lisa, from my observation, is a very experienced dancer and certainly danced up a storm, and Raymond put in a huge effort. The dancers went off and it went on late into the evening. I did find all the training went out the window when everyone got on the floor, and everyone had a delightful time.
I was pleased to invite to my table Ian and Leslie Munro, who operate the Riding with the Disabled Centre in Palmerston. Ian and Leslie were especially pleased to be invited because one of the Total Recreation contestants, Kate O’Connell, works four days a week with them at the centre. Kate has been involved with Ian and Leslie for about 20 years - since she was six years old - so it was great to see that, and they were overjoyed. Leslie was crying, and they had such pride in what Kate was doing.
I hope members in this Chamber can see the value in this. If there are any Fred Astaires or Ginger Rogers out there they should put their hands up because the members of Total Recreation are really special people. The feeling they brought to that evening went across the whole room and brightened everyone’s evening.
I look forward to next year and I am sure the venue, which was probably three quarters full, will be full next year. It is growing from strength to strength and the diversity of people there that night - not only celebrities like Sean Kildare participated, so the business community was getting involved; Des Friedrich, from the Turf Club, was involved; and Vicki O’Halloran from Somerville, so non-government organisations are getting involved. The awareness of the work Total Recreation does is transcending various sectors of the community, and it can only be good for the organisation.
I thank Total Recreation, especially Rebecca, for all the help and energy she brought to the evening.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Several matters, Madam Deputy Speaker. During Question Time I drew attention to a media release which had been issued by minister Lawrie on 7 June 2006 about child protection. That media release states:
By interjection, the member concerned said: ‘That is not true, you are making it up’. Well, Madam Deputy Speaker …
Ms Lawrie: No, you are making up my interjection right now.
Mr MILLS: I am not making that up. It is flowing from the question that arises from that statement which has been demonstrated to be incorrect. They were not investigated immediately. If the member was of the view that, in fact, was the case, you would then conclude the member concerned was deceived by the department. However, if the member concerned knew it was not the case - and we find figures that have come by way of the review show that over 700 are not investigated - then the member deliberately deceived. So, in any event …
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Mr MILLS: Not true? The question is simply this: if you said in a media release, honourable member: ‘When a report of child abuse or neglect is received we investigate immediately’, it is either one of two things: (1) the department said: ‘Yes, we investigate all’, and you trot that out; or (2) you knew what the truth was, and deceived. So, the question is: which of the two?
In any event, an explanation is required by the honourable member to issue such a statement. We need to know what the truth of the matter is. Either the capture by the minister of the department and not testing information that flows through, or knowing - which would be far worse - and portraying something that is not, as though it were.
My second point relates to comments made during Question Time by the Chief Minister in an attempt to deflect from the sorry state of affairs over 10 years of denial and stubborn resistance to calls for a proper and honest look at the systems around the protection of children has created. In an attempt to deflect he made reference to an automated call, a robo-call, made around the community last night making the allegation that it has come from my office, drawing the allegation from the article written by an NT News journalist on page 9 of today’s NT News.
I place on the record, for the Chief Minister’s benefit, and that of honourable members, the fact is this was not known until it was recorded, or until I read it in the paper this morning …
Ms Lawrie: How can we believe you? How could we believe you? You have form.
Mr MILLS: This is the person who has just been accused of being deceitful who now sees others as being …
Ms Lawrie: How can we believe you? You have form.
Mr MILLS: I am telling you, I place this on the record: this was not known until it was read in the paper. What is quoted in here is an unnamed source. No question was asked of my office to verify the allegations that were made in this article. No 3, it alleges the idea of this technology was hatched in my office. If that be the case, then it was Prime Minister Howard I recall making a similar call some years ago - he got the idea from my office. President Barack Obama has used the same technology - has got that idea from my office. None of these questions were asked of my office, yet, they stand here as though they are fact.
The point of this is: it is a question that was raised in the paper, and allegations sit there. No question was asked of my office; no knowledge of this occurring from my office; it did not occur from my office and, consequently, the allegation that it was paid for by taxpayers is patently false.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I urge those who write such articles to ensure the question is asked of the one accused, rather than an unnamed source being the only cover that one has for an article of that nature.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Deputy Speaker, the performance of the member for Blain and where he is heading in debate is disappointing. If we are fair dinkum about child protection and fair dinkum about addressing the neglect of our children, we would take a greater bipartisan approach. He is wallowing around in comments I made, quite appropriately, around the investigations made by the Department of Family and Children’s Services back in 2006.
Step up to the plate, member for Blain, and pay attention to the need in the Territory. We can certainly go toe-to-toe, and I can take you through every example of where the Territory government has resourced into this sector and will continue to resource into this sector.
I can refer you to where that quote came from, which was out of the estimates process where we were talking about the resourcing …
Mr Mills: On your media release.
Ms LAWRIE: … where we were talking …
Mr Mills: It is your press release.
Ms LAWRIE: He is such an excitable person. He is shouting from the back of the room - quite unparliamentary - but we have seen a repeat of unparliamentary behaviour from the Leader of the Opposition today. He has not shown the leadership that we would have expected on this subject. It is not surprising that he does not have the support of his team; it is not surprising there are various members opposite who would be delighted if he was no longer the Leader of the Opposition, and we would expect more movement at that station. We have heard there were more numbers than actually came to fruition in the member for Fong Lim’s challenge.
I wish to congratulate some of the unsung heroes in our community whom I referred to in debate earlier today. We have many very capable, very strong leaders amongst our Indigenous community in the Northern Territory, and they celebrate on an annual basis NAIDOC events in the Territory.
I had the opportunity of witnessing some Top End NAIDOC events in early July where there was a very hard-working and committed team on the committee for the NAIDOC events. I record my sincere thanks to Karlie James, Leeanne Millen, Cindelle Cray, Patsy Raymond and Kerry Wetherall. I know these women worked tirelessly to pull together the Top End events for NAIDOC to celebrate the National Aboriginal and Islander events that occur each year.
I know NAIDOC events occur across the Territory, and I had the opportunity to be a participant in a couple of NAIDOC events in the Top End. The launch of the NAIDOC events at Bagot Community was a great morning and a great flag raising ceremony which occurred on Monday, 5 July. They had a soft launch with the senior’s reunion on Saturday, 3 July, which I heard was very popular, at the St Mary’s Club. Congratulations to Patsy Raymond and Maisie Austin who put in a big effort there.
The family day at Crocodylus Park on the Sunday was absolute enjoyment. I saw many photos from that family day event, and it looked fantastic. I know Kerry Wetherall worked tirelessly to ensure that event was a success; and I want to put my thanks on record to Grahame and Giovanna Webb at Crocodylus Park for supporting that NAIDOC event for the children and families.
There was also a family movie night at the Darwin Waterfront. People were there with their own chairs, sitting back and enjoying that fantastic movie, Bran Nue Dae, which shows the excellent talent of Jessica Mauboy.
They had youth events, including the youth at Don Dale; they had youth movie screenings at Casuarina cinema, and a youth art competition. They then celebrated the elderly people who are resident at Juninga Aged Care. There was an Ambrose Golf Day, the Larrakia Minbani Women Rangers had a host of events, including at the Northern Territory Library and it was great to run into them out the front of Parliament House.
They had a longrassers dinner, Bricks without Straw, hosted by the Salvation Army; the Milgarri Festival at Knuckeys Lagoon community, congratulations to Lee Kenny for putting the effort in there; there was a concert at the prison; and the NAIDOC march from Bennett Park to Raintree Park was a very popular event. Well done to Karlie James for organising that.
The NAIDOC evening: the ball went well at SKYCITY where a series of awards were presented, and I thank SKYCITY for their efforts with that, it was a fantastic event.
I am sincerely in awe of the effort that teams of volunteers went to in coordinating such a fantastic series of celebrations for the Aboriginal and Islander community in the Top End. They are all people I know who did it out of the sheer love and energy and respect in celebrating their culture. Kerry, whom I know very well, organised most of it from my Karama electorate office and I was happy, of course, that the community facilities at the back of my electorate office were used by the volunteer NAIDOC committee.
So, in between being a foster carer and taking care of kids, committee members got together and created a fantastic NAIDOC event. The theme was Unsung Heroes, which was an appropriate theme when you think about the debate we are having about caring for the children of our communities. We know about 80% of the children in out-of-home care come from Indigenous families. We know that, amongst the sad stories, there are also stories of hope and of inspiration and these young women are certainly examples of hope and leadership in our Indigenous communities. A sincere thank you to them for organising a very successful NAIDOC week.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to quickly highlight a concern in relation to the impending closing of the Alice Springs Bowling Club on Gap Road, Alice Springs, which also backs onto Leichhardt Terrace. The bowling club is destined to close on 30 October this year, in just a couple of days’ time.
There has been a proposal for some time to build another synthetic bowling green at the Alice Springs Golf Club, and the golf club has sought funding from the Northern Territory government to do that. There was a plan for a $3.5m bowling green with an underground car park which has now been revised to less than $2m to do that.
The opportunity that presents itself is the current site of the Alice Springs Bowling Club, which is Northern Territory government land, approximately three acres estimated to be worth around $4m on other people’s estimates, and I think the opportunity is to really encourage the Northern Territory government to support this proposal by the Alice Springs Golf Club to fund the building of a synthetic bowling green available all year round, all weather, and make it available for the next Masters Games in 2012 for competition and social bowls.
The land that will become free presents an opportunity for the private sector to tender for and utilise that land for the provision of housing and also, potentially, for retail and commercial premises with residential property there.
The benefit for the town would be enormous in the provision of more housing, and I think that any additional money the government would receive from the sale of that block, after supporting the golf club with the new bowling green, should be put towards sports infrastructure grants funding of a small basis potentially moving the lights from the current Alice Springs Bowling Club at no cost; having volunteers come in and do it, up to the go-cart track, of which I have recently become a patron, in the electorate of Braitling, near the Telegraph Station.
Some of the other money which would become available through the sale of that block of land, which would make it cost neutral for the Northern Territory government, could be utilised to improve track safety at the Alice Springs dragway by extending the concrete barriers down the drag strip from an eighth of a mile to quarter of a mile to enable the top fuellers to run down there on a full-time basis which would enable us to get on the national circuit of drag racing and bring, potentially, many thousands of tourists to Alice Springs on an annual basis.
The money could also be used to put lighting in at the go-karts, or contribute to putting lights into the speedway, extending the run-off strip for the drags so that people could properly slow down at that speed and make it safer for everyone, and even looking at installing lights in the drag strip.
There are many opportunities in town, and sporting infrastructure in Alice Springs will support the growth of the tourism industry in our town.
There is a petition going around Alice Springs calling on the government to support better safety through infrastructure at the dragway; and I believe the closing down of Alice Springs Bowling Club could look at supporting the Alice Springs Golf Club, the go-kart track, possibly the Speedway, and the Drag Racing Club and would be cost neutral, and even return a benefit to government. I encourage the government to look at that.
It is disappointing that we have ended parliament early once again - it is 6.38 pm. The Bath report has been tabled today, and I would like to have had that debated so we could have got into the nitty gritty of the report. I am not surprised this government wants to hide in relation to Family and Children’s Services because their record is pretty dismal.
I have looked at some of my old workings and analysis of previous Commonwealth Grants Commission reports from the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial year returns. What we see in the report is a rough estimation of what the Commonwealth Grants Commission believes, based on assessment, should be spent on certain things, including health or family and children services, homelessness, services to Indigenous communities, roads spending, corrective services - a number of topics.
We see in the financial year 2003-04 what really needed to be spent was $116m by the Northern Territory government on Family and Children’s Services. However, what was actually spent was $38m. I know it is not a numbers game; however, we have to get the money right to get the services up-to-date. In 2003-04, after this government was elected saying nothing was done properly by previous governments, they underspent by an estimated $78m.
In 2004-05, it was assessed they needed to spend $135m; they actually spent $42m - an underspend of $92m. That is an extra $14m on top of the previous underspend; so now it is $92m underspent. In 2005-06, they should have spent $160m; they spent $43m - a slight increase on the year before. That was an underspend for that financial year of $116m. In 2006-07, they should have spent $180.6m, but what did they spend? $45m - that is an underspend of $134m.
In 2007-08, they should have spent $216m, keeping in mind this is after the Little Children are Sacred report - the ‘Black Tampa’ as the member for Arafura referred to it in Sydney all that time ago. In 2007-08, there was a $144m underspend. It is no wonder this government wanted to close the debate on the Bath report about Family and Children’s Services, because in those five years between 2003-04 to 2007-08 the Northern Territory Labor government underspent by an estimated $612m on Family and Children’s Services. That is why we had the Little Children are Sacred report; that is why we had the Bath report, and we find ourselves in some sort of Groundhog Day where we are supposed to be debating these issues all over again.
The Northern Territory Labor government is not intent on assisting Family and Children’s Services - neither the workers nor the children involved. A $612m underspend by the Labor government in the last five years on Family and Children’s Services is the reason we have the Bath report and the reason we are in this parliament today trying to debate it – but Labor has closed down debate. Who is going to protect those children tonight, who is going to protect those children into the future? We need to debate these matters to improve the services. This is a $612m underspend by the Labor government.
I look forward to the debate coming on again because the $612m underspend by this government over a five year period on Family and Children’s Services further signifies the government has lost touch, lost control of what they are supposed to be doing and shows little respect or care for the children of the Northern Territory.
Moving to another very other important issue - childcare. This is the sleeper in the Northern Territory which has such a negative impact on our economy. There are no childcare places in the Northern Territory for people to get proper full-time care to enable them to move into the workplace. Mothers who want to come into the workforce cannot find childcare places.
I will just run through some simple information and statistics. The Lil’Antz Child Care Centre in Alice Springs which has full-time, part-time, after-school care has a waiting list of well over one year and is not taking any more people on their waiting list. The Alice Springs Child Care Centre, which has full-time and part-time childcare, has a waiting list of 113 families. The Braitling Neighbourhood Centre, which has full-time and part-time care, has closed their waiting list until June 2011, and they have 80 on their waiting list. The Gap Community Child Care Centre has 19 families on theirs, with multiple children. The Tennant Creek Child Care Centre has a waitlist of one year for children under three, and six months or less if they are over three years of age. The YMCA is fully booked and they have closed their waitlist. Congress Childcare - over three years.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is a problem that is not discussed in the Northern Territory. Childcare is stopping people in Central Australia, Katherine and the Top End from getting into the workforce. Even if we could open more places in childcare we could not find the workers because there are limited places for training, and we could not house any of the workers because there is nowhere to house people in the Northern Territory, and they could not pay the rent based on the salary they get in childcare. It is a sleeping issue, and I will be raising it again in this Chamber.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Madam Deputy Speaker, first of all I have to correct the record for the member for Braitling. The reason we did not debate to conclusion the Growing them strong, together report from the Board of Inquiry was at the request of the Leader of the Opposition who asked that the debate be adjourned to allow members on your side of the House to get across the report. I do not know what is happening with communication on your side of the Chamber. The government was prepared and everyone was ready to debate this report in full, and it was at request from the Leader of the Opposition we agreed to adjourn the debate. So I suggest you take the issue up with the Leader of the Opposition.
I also point out that the opposition had an MPI tonight, a matter of public importance, where only one person opposite contributed to a debate of importance to that side of the House. So, yes, we are closing early this evening, but I say the reason for that is because the opposition is not ready or able to debate items of business on the Notice Paper.
The member for Braitling also continues to make allegations that have been condemned, shown to be false, wrong at every step of the way regarding government spending with regard to the Grants Commission - he is like a broken record.
We had a Senate inquiry into these allegations which found no evidence of government underspending. We have had our own Auditor-General make two reports to this House and he has found no evidence of underspending by the government. We have had this issue trawled through this Chamber on many occasions. I point out to the member for Braitling that COAG has initiated its own independent scrutiny of all governments spending across Australia on Indigenous issues by the Productivity Commission. That report will come out soon, and I am very confident it will also show the Territory government, in fact, spends more of its allocated budgets on Indigenous services in the Northern Territory. He can keep trotting out that broken record, but I would have to say the member for Braitling is just making himself look foolish.
I would like to talk about the schools in my electorate this evening. A couple of weeks ago, I had the great pleasure to attend the Catholic schools public speaking competition at St Paul’s in Nightcliff, and I was invited to participate in the debate. All the Catholic primary schools in Darwin attended, and it was a fantastic day. I commend Paula Sellers, the Deputy Principal of St Paul’s, who organised the event; and the Principal at St Paul’s, Kelly Smith, who did a magnificent job.
I commend the Year 5 category winners: Connor Bramley from St Paul’s, and the other was Ashleigh Wright from Sacred Heart. This was the first year there was a tie, but both were very deserving and both made fantastic speeches.
The Year 6 category winner was Madeleine McDonald of St Paul’s, and the judges came from O’Loughlin Catholic College: Gemma, Dani and Jack, who performed their duties as judges fairly and professionally.
Congratulations to the Catholic schools; it was a fabulous event, and great to see young people speaking in public with confidence.
I congratulate the Wanguri Primary School Tournament of Minds Language Literature Team. The Language Literature Team received first prize at the primary school competition last month at Charles Darwin University. Their Language Literature Program was called ‘Dilemma in Diversia’. They wrote a play about a bat, a dog, a giraffe, a zoo keeper, a dance teacher, and a ring master, and the characters danced, did acrobatics, sung and acted. The students also made the costumes and the props. They will now be representing the Northern Territory in the Australasian Pacific Finals to be held in Darwin on 23 October.
This was a huge win for the Wanguri Primary School Tournament of the Minds Language Literature Team to receive first prize; and they were really proud about that. The team from Wanguri School included Liam Singleton, Matthew Monaghan, Jane Humphreys, Millie Hunt, Anna Bergs and Flora Radecki. To all those children, congratulations and good luck in the Australasian Pacific Finals later this month.
At St Andrew Lutheran Primary School in my electorate, the construction of the new library and computer room is now completed under the BER program - which members opposite campaigned so hard against in the last federal election – and it is quite a spectacular addition to the school buildings; shelving and new desks have arrived, and students are now enjoying the new facility. The dedication of the new building is on 29 October, and I hope to be there to celebrate some fantastic new infrastructure in a very small school in my electorate. It is a wonderful initiative by the Commonwealth government investing in our schools.
Two students from St Andrew’s received High Distinctions in the International Competition and Assessments for Schools through the University of New South Wales, and those students are Zoe Chesworth and Joel Park. Congratulations to them.
Dripstone Middle School put on a talent quest for Dripstone Day which is a fantastic day every year at Dripstone Middle School. It has been going for many years now, and funds are raised for various charities. The school community gets right behind the day and it is always fantastic.
I congratulate Greg Cilento, the physical education teacher at Dripstone Middle School. Greg has been there for many years and he is so passionate about the school, and the kids absolutely love him; when they leave school they always have great memories of Greg. He must have raised tens of thousands of dollars through that school over the years for various charities.
The school was working very hard to raise $20 000 or $25 000 for a new wheelchair for one of the children at Dripstone Middle School; and it was good to see both sides of the House contribute to that. I acknowledge that the CLP kicked in $2000, the ALP kicked in $2000 and that went a long way with Greg and the school to raise the $20 000 or $25 000 required for the new wheelchair for a wonderful student.
The winners of the talent quest, and it was great to participate in the judging of that event, are as follows:
The Group Dance was won by the Fresh Beats, a group of Year 8 boys- Jake Kunde, Lucas Lobo, Haylen Duncan and Mitchell Green.
The Individual Musical Talent was won by Shiane Hawke in Year 7.
The Group Musical Talent, Year 9 and Year 8 - Tim Fishlock, Sam Weaver, Jeremy Kimm and Rui Sihombing.
Mixed Talent, performing comedy was won by Matthew Francis in Year 9.
The talent quest was fantastic and Dripstone Day was a great day, as always.
Madam Deputy Speaker, there is certainly a lot happening in the schools around my electorate.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I wish to make mention, with great pride, an event I went to in Katherine, and the Katherine people must be well commended for their efforts. Whenever there is a need in Katherine, the Katherine community get together. Unfortunately, this need was in support of one of our soldiers, Scott Palmer, who died on active duty in Afghanistan recently.
Scott was a member of the Katherine Rugby Club, and the teams got together and decided to hold a Rugby Union tribute match. They organised it, got everything together, and held it at the Katherine Sport and Recreational Club. We heard about it on the proverbial grapevine and made our way there to support the member for Katherine. All the Katherine community turned up and they came from all over the Territory; there were so many people I knew from different places at that fantastic event.
Jo Jennings organised most of the event, and she did a fantastic job. They even had a special guest, Private Damien Tomlinson. Damien spoke of his personal ordeal and he credits Scott Palmer with saving his life in Afghanistan in an earlier situation. Damien was hit and he claims Scott was the man who put his life on the line to come and get him and dig him out of the spot that he was in. I must admit, being former Defence personnel and thinking back on my time, that is definitely part of what the Australian soldiers do - they will always get down and they will get their Diggers out.
Ray and Pam Palmer, Scott’s parents, are fantastic people and said they were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community. They were open to everyone to come and talk to them at the event, and it was quite touching to see so many people openly talking with these lovely people.
There was a minute’s silence, as one would expect, held in tribute of Scott and Tim Aplin and Ben Chuck who died in the same engagement along with Scott in June 2010.
An auction was held and prizes were gathered from all over the community and from all over Darwin. The event, in total, raised $40 000 for the Commando Welfare Trust, and there is still more money to come. There is the sale of a Beijing Olympics running suit on eBay which was donated by ABC sports compere, Charlie King. That is an amazing figure of $40 000 raised to support the Commando Welfare Trust. The Commando Welfare Trust was set up to look after the families and men suffering from injuries as a result of their active service. It is in addition to other Defence benefits that are there, and the Commandos spoke highly of their unity in this. They feel it was something they needed to do, to give back to their soldiers and the soldiers’ families.
The home ground team, the Katherine Brahmans, were presented with a special commemorative jersey before the friendly match of Rugby between the Golden Oldies and the Old Mates which ended, quite quaintly, in a draw. I am not sure how that worked but I am sure there was a lot of camaraderie between the teams that played. Although it was under the Golden Oldies rules, there were still some pretty heated clashes and they pushed hard. But to end in a draw, I think, was very fitting.
The Katherine Brahmans and the University Pirates also played a match which, coincidentally, ended in a draw as well. So, I am very proud of the Katherine family. I am very sorry for the Palmer family who lost their son, Scott, and to the other Commandos who lost their lives - Tim Aplin and Ben Chuck - in a skirmish in June this year. It is a shame to see our soldiers, unfortunately, die, but they are out there doing a fantastic job, and we would be lost without them.
I move on briefly to another topic; that is, the 2010 Oceania Sevens Championship which I was lucky enough to attend. It was held over two days, and I was invited by the Northern Territory Rugby President, Vince Kelly. I thank Vince and his team, Helen Thompson and many others, for their assistance. It was a well-organised event, I must say. The competing teams were world champions Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Niue, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu and Australia. Australia’s coach was Michael O’Connor; and Palmerston flanker, Jock Monroe, was called in from reserves due to the injury of university fullback, Sean Warshop.
Day one competition saw Australia undefeated after scoring a 21 to12 victory over Tonga, and a 19 to 7 win over the Cook Islands. The day two results were fantastic again for Australia and saw Australia the 2010 Oceania Sevens Rugby Champions after crushing Samoa 34 to 12 in the final at the Austar Rugby Park. If people have not seen Rugby Sevens before, it is one of the fastest paced games you will ever see - they are short, intense, and really keep the attention of spectators who have the time to go and watch. A great set of games and a fantastic event; and yes, we must admit the government has chipped in and helped them out, and we appreciate that help.
This is a fantastic event. It is great for Darwin and certainly puts Darwin on the map. Many of the players involved with the Oceania Rugby Sevens went on to play at the Commonwealth Games afterwards; and some of the players were rested. It was interesting to see those players put in their effort and then ship overseas to be part of the Commonwealth Games; that is the level of competition of this event. It is a fantastic event, definitely fast paced, action packed, and I really enjoyed it.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Resignation of Former Member for Araluen
Resignation of Former Member for Araluen
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise that on 3 September 2010 the resignation of the former member for Araluen, Ms Jodeen Carney, was submitted to me by letter pursuant to section 18 of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act. I table a copy of the letter.
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the Speaker’s Gallery of family and friends of the new member for Araluen, including her husband and family - Mr Craig Lambley, Master Harry Lambley, Ms Alice Lambley - and friends of Mrs Lambley.
Also in the gallery is Mr Neville Perkins OAM, former member for Macdonnell accompanied by Mr Clive Scollay, General Manager of Maruku Arts.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise the presence in the gallery of Year 9 students from Taminmin College accompanied by Ms Kate Minahan and Mr Jean-Marc Balette. Taminmin College won the Excellence in Vocational Education and Training Award in the Smart Schools Award for 2010.
On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you all a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Media Arrangements – Swearing-in of Member for Araluen
Media Arrangements – Swearing-in of Member for Araluen
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise I have approved ABC TV and Channel 9 to film with sound, and the NT News to take photographs, during the swearing-in of the new member for Araluen.
RETURN TO WRIT
Division of Araluen
Division of Araluen
The CLERK: Honourable members, I lay on the Table the Return to Writ issued by His Honour the Administrator, Mr Tom Pauling AO QC, for the electoral Division of Araluen on 9 October 2010 certifying the election of Robyn Jane Lambley.
Robyn Jane Lambley made and subscribed the oaths of allegiance and office required by law.
Madam SPEAKER: On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you hearty congratulations and best wishes as the new member for Araluen.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I now ask for the cameras to be removed.
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message No 21
Message No 21
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from His Honour the Administrator Message No 21 notifying assent to bills passed in the August 2010 sitting of the Assembly, which I table.
OPPOSITION PORTFOLIO RESPONSIBILITIES
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I advise members that the following are the new shadow responsibilities in the Leader of the Opposition’s team, effective as of today:
- Mr Terrance Mills, Leader of the Opposition - Police, Fire and Emergency Services; Public and Affordable Housing; Asian Relations; and Business and Employment;
- Ms Kezia Purick, Deputy Leader of the Opposition - Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources; Major Projects and Economic Development; Trade; Lands and Planning; Statehood; and Women’s Policy;
- Mr John Elferink - Justice and Attorney-General; Correctional Services; Essential Services; and Parliamentary Whip;
- Mr Willem Westra van Holthe - Treasurer; Regional Development; Local Government; and Tourism;
- Mr Matt Conlan - Health; Public Employment; and Central Australia;
- Mr Ross Bohlin - Construction; Arts and Museums; Sport and Recreation; and Defence Liaison;
- Mr Peter Chandler - Education and Training; Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage; Climate Change; and Parks and Wildlife;
Mr Peter Styles - Transport; Young Territorians; Seniors; Multicultural Affairs; Racing, Gaming and Licensing; and Alcohol Policy;
- Mr Adam Giles - Indigenous Development; and Information, Communications and Technology Policy; and
- Mrs Robyn Lambley - Child Protection; and Children and Families.
RESPONSES TO PETITIONS
Nos 36, 38, 39 and 41
Nos 36, 38, 39 and 41
Mr CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to petition Nos 36, 38, 39 and 41 have been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the responses will be placed on the Legislative Assembly website. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to petitioners.
- Petition No 36
Taminmin College student facilities
Date presented: 9 June 2010
Presented by: Ms Purick
Referred to: Minister for Education and Training
Date response due: 26 October 2010
Date response received: 3 September 2010
Response
- The Northern Territory government has in recent years provided over $5m to expand and upgrade infrastructure at Taminmin College as part of the middle years of schooling implementation, with a further $2m invested by the Australian government in vocational education and training facilities.
I am advised that the Principal and school council did not identify expenditure on the college library as a priority during consultation on the above infrastructure investment.
While there is no committed investment in new library facilities at Taminmin College in the Northern Territory government’s forward works program, the significant growth in student enrolments has been considered by the Department of Education and Training (DET) in its infrastructure planning process.
I have asked DET to again review the library facility at Taminmin College in consultation with the Principal, relevant senior staff and the school council. Should the review identify a need for unscheduled investment in the library facility, the funding required would be a matter for departmental and government deliberations as per budget processes.
Please be assured I remain committed to the delivery of high quality education for the students at Taminmin College.
Petition No 38
Mining Act (revised to reflect the Miner’s Rights System of the WA Mining Act)
Date presented: 10 August 2010
Presented by: Mr Tollner
Referred to: Minister for Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources
Date response due: 23 November 2010
Date response received: 7 October 2010
- Land access and fossicking provisions in the recently passed Mineral Titles Act differ from the current Mining Act and will provide for similar access to land (including Crown land) to that of the Miners Right provisions in the Western Australian act and are intended to further enhance interest by fossickers and tourists alike to visit the Northern Territory.
However, in cases where the land is occupied but not subject to an exploration licence, the fossicker will be required to seek permission to enter.
- The finer details to such access will be contained in the Mineral Titles Regulations which are yet to be drafted.
- Petition No 39
Revision of NT Mining Act
Date presented: 10 August 2010
Presented by: Mr Tollner
Referred to: Minister for Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources
Date response due: 23 November 2010
Date response received: 7 October 2010
Response
Land access and fossicking provisions in the recently passed Mineral Titles Act differ from the current Mining Act and will provide for similar access to that of the 20A permit system in Western Australia and are intended to further enhance interest by fossickers and tourists alike to visit the Northern Territory.
However, in cases where the land is subject to an exploration licence and the fossicker is looking for gold, permission of the exploration licence holder will be required.
The finer details for such access will be contained in the Mineral Titles Regulations which are yet to be drafted.
- Petition No 41
Heavy vehicle diversion in Katherine CBD
Date presented: 18 August 2010
Presented by: Mr Westra van Holthe
Referred to: Minister for Transport
Date response due: 1 December 2010
Date response received: 8 September 2010
Response
Thank you for your letter of 18 August 2010 relating to Petition No 41. I support the petition and, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I provide the following:
Planning for the heavy vehicle corridor adjacent to Railway Terrace in Katherine has ceased and alternative options are now being considered.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Deaths of Mr Mike Miller, Mrs Wilma Ballantyne and Mrs Dawn Hunt
Deaths of Mr Mike Miller, Mrs Wilma Ballantyne and Mrs Dawn Hunt
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it is with sadness that I advise members of the recent deaths of three people known to this Assembly. Last Thursday, the husband of the former member for Katherine, Mrs Fay Miller, Mr Mike Miller, died after a short illness.
In August, the wife of former member Milton Ballantyne, a member in the First Assembly, Mrs Wilma Ballantyne, died.
On Sunday evening, the part-time electorate officer of the member for Nelson, Mrs Dawn Hunt, died.
On behalf of all honourable members, I extend most sincere condolences to the families and friends of Mr Miller, Mrs Ballantyne and Mrs Hunt. May they rest in peace.
Members: Hear, hear!
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Maiden Speech – Member for Araluen
Maiden Speech – Member for Araluen
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I understand there has been an agreement to allow the new member for Araluen to make her first speech directly while her family are present. I call the member for Araluen.
MAIDEN SPEECH
Member for Araluen
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen)(by leave): Madam Speaker, before I commence my speech, I acknowledge and pay my respects to the Aboriginal custodians of the land, the Larrakia.
The people of Araluen have spoken, and it is with enormous pride that I stand before the Northern Territory parliament as the new member for Araluen. Humbly, I confess I am not a polished politician as many of my esteemed new colleagues. I am an average person who has had the great fortune to benefit from the unbelievable opportunities the Northern Territory has had to offer.
Like many of us, I arrived in Alice Springs with little more than a suitcase, a yearning sense of adventure, and a bucket full of enthusiasm. Almost 17 years later, I am proud to say the Northern Territory is my home, where I met my husband, where my two children were born, where we have established our family business, and where I have lived the greater part of my life. It is an intensely proud and humble Territorian who speaks to you today with her hand on her heart.
The Northern Territory has been good to my family and me, and for this reason I am before you today. I believe we all have a responsibility to try to put back into our community what we get out of it, to reciprocate, to give, and to enable. We have a responsibility to serve our community, and particularly those less fortunate than ourselves. This principle is intrinsic to why I have decided to embark on a path in politics.
My vision for the Northern Territory is to enable all Territorians, to provide others with the opportunities I have been afforded, and to serve people as they have served me.
As a social worker of 25 years, I am acutely aware of the problems which beguile our Northern Territory communities. I can only speak of Central Australia when I talk of the difficulties and challenges which impact the lives of everyday people going about their business.
For the first six years that I lived in Alice Springs I held the position of Senior Social Worker at the Alice Springs Hospital. This role involved managing the hospital’s Social Work department and the Aboriginal Liaison and Interpreting Service. This was a frontline service which I likened to a battle zone, with trauma, neglect and violence being the dominant precipitators of people presenting to the hospital emergency department. Prior to this, I specialised in psychiatry, or mental health, so I was used to pain and suffering on a slightly different score.
Although I became somewhat desensitised to the general business of the Alice Springs Hospital, to this day I remain alarmed by the very poor health status of Aboriginal people, the appalling incidence of violence and abuse resulting in life-threatening and often fatal injuries, and the common neglect and abuse of the elderly and children, being at opposite ends of the life spectrum but similar in their positions of powerlessness when it comes to access to food, comfort and safety.
When I took that position in 1994, I had just come back from travelling extensively for several years throughout Africa and Asia. I never imagined such poverty and deprivation occurred in our blessed Australia, the lucky country.
What I saw in those early years of working at the Alice Springs Hospital shocked me, but most of all, saddened me. Working at the Alice Springs Hospital also gave me my first opportunity to learn about some of the health problems of Aboriginal people in Central Australia. During that period the hospital had two paediatric, or children’s, wards. The infectious paediatric ward had a bed occupancy rate of almost 100% Aboriginal children. These children were suffering all manner of infectious diseases with diarrhoea and vomiting being the most common broadly used diagnosis.
For a variety of reasons most of these children were identified as suffering from a condition called failure to thrive. Chronic diarrhoea, vomiting and a depleted immune system are some of the causes of failure to thrive. However, the most disturbing and, arguably, the most commonly recognised cause of failure to thrive is deprivation of food, or simply put, starvation. Failure to thrive, or lack of sufficient calories, stops growth - growth of the human brain and the organs. A small brain, or microcephalia, can cause brain damage, mental retardation and disturbances in motor functioning.
Failure to thrive is just one example of the numerous health problems commonly suffered by Aboriginal children in Central Australia. Health professionals have consternated for decades as to how to address this socially contrived medical condition which has potentially life-long effects.
Ironically, no one hears about failure to thrive. It is for all intents and purposes a well kept secret. This shroud of secrecy has troubled me for many years. As a member of parliament I do not want these types of serious issues and problems to be kept secret. I want to be brave and open about issues which impact on significant sections of our population. I want people to understand the depth and seriousness of suffering in our community. But to solve a problem requires that you first identify the problem.
The understanding I gained from my six years at the Alice Springs Hospital was that problems do not simply go away; if anything, they often become worse. The challenge for us all is to look honestly at the problems and tackle them in the best interest of the whole community. It is difficult not to judge when the lives of our most vulnerable are at stake, however, hiding the problem of the truth, no matter how disturbing, can be construed as condoning the problem.
When I first came to the hospital there were no statistics kept on presentations to the hospital involving injuries sustained through domestic violence. Now there are. Identifying the problem is the first step in solving the problem.
Not all problems require an intervention by government. Not all problems require public resources and public servants to fix them. The community can be enabled and empowered to respond to needs. Governments do not have to be instrumental in providing everything and finding the solution for everything. Neighbourhood Watch is an example of community action. A free-market democracy means, theoretically, government does not need to be big or intrusive in most areas.
Communities can be changed and repaired. People can open their hearts to embrace difference. Alice Springs people are very open to change and difference. They are a generous and tolerant people. Over recent years we have seen many different ethnic groups come to our town, including many African and Indian migrants. The people of Alice Springs have welcomed them, and appreciate the unique contribution they make to the social fabric and skills base of the town. Alice Springs is not a racist town. For the most part we live together side by side, harmoniously, respectfully and peacefully.
Problem drinkers throughout the Northern Territory - those who drink habitually, offend regularly, present at health services regularly with alcohol-related illnesses and afflictions - need to be assisted in their recovery and allowed to take responsibility for the impact their behaviour has on themselves and others. Pretending the whole of the Alice Springs community has a drinking problem is absolving habitual drinkers of their responsibility, and serves as a poor attempt to conceal the real problem.
When governments are fearful of acting honestly, fearful of clearly articulating the problems, the problems will never be addressed. All health professionals know the first step in treating anyone is to diagnose the specific nature of the problem; it is only then the appropriate treatment can be applied.
The Northern Territory needs to put aside the race card. The threat of being called racist limits our ability to respond. We are fearful of naming a problem, or identifying a problem, which may be too sensitive, or appear to be mainly an Aboriginal problem. We are accused of talking the town down if we cut too close to the core. The threat of being labelled racist mutes and disables us.
Good governance requires courage to name, not blame. Good governance knows not everyone is going to like or agree with you. Being a good politician is about taking risks and making hard decisions for the greater good, perhaps at the expense of marginalising a few of your constituents.
If I aim to be at all successful in my position as member for Araluen, then I aim to be true to the people I represent, to the person I am, and to what is right, fair and just. I undertake to be courageous, honest and not let fear impair my ability to respond when it comes to helping all Territorians, regardless of race.
As for repairing our community, this is our greatest challenge in Alice Springs. People are falling victim to vandalism, assaults, thefts and intimidation. A mentality of ‘there is nothing we can do’ has developed in Alice Springs. Resignation, defeat and hopelessness are the feedback I received from the people of Araluen as I stood on their doorsteps. The great outback attitude of staring down defeat and soldiering on seems to be flagging.
As we celebrate the 150th year of John McDouall Stuart’s expedition to Central Australia, what would he have made of this apparent surrendering and capitulation of the people of Alice Springs at the hands of a small minority? This is simply not acceptable. I cannot and will not accept a community resigned to a perception of lawlessness and fear. Other communities have rebounded from this point; other communities have restored law and order. There is unequivocally no reason why the streets of Alice Springs cannot be cleaned up to that of former days. Strong, creative leadership is required to lead our community out of this hijacking by people who have lost respect for others as well as themselves.
I want to see a genuine effort made to address law and order in Alice Springs. I want an all-of-community approach stretching throughout Central Australia, including the identification of the complexities around the urbanisation of Aboriginal people from their communities into Alice Springs.
Sometimes the most effective strategies are not necessarily the most expensive. The use of general purpose police dogs, or security dogs, is a relatively inexpensive resource found to be highly effective interstate in response to complaints of intruders on premises, break and entering offences, sexual attacks, brawls, prowlers, lost persons, and many armed or violent situations. Dogs have been used in Ceduna for the past three years and crime has reportedly reduced by over 60%. This is an example of options we need to try in Alice Springs as a matter of urgency.
The converse side to my lifelong interest in social justice is my business acumen. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents were all successful, to varying degrees, as business owners. I was raised valuing the importance of financial independence, and the freedom and strength of being self-employed. I was also raised understanding the worry, endless headaches and demands of business.
Business is key to the future of the Northern Territory. Private enterprise is by far our biggest employer. In the electorate of Araluen, 70% of residents are employed and supported by private enterprise. We need to do everything we can to promote and create all manner of business in the Territory. A robust, open economy is far preferable to one which is propped up by government and managed by public servants who have no experience of business, who have never had the experience of risking everything they have to make a quid. We need to listen to the business sector and work with them.
As a business owner in Alice Springs, I am deeply troubled by the housing crisis which is directly affecting the ability of local businesses to reach their full potential. Without available and affordable accommodation, the battle to attract workers to Alice Springs is near impossible. High rentals make any chance of workers getting ahead financially an uphill climb. Promises of affordable land releases in Alice Springs are currently flowing without the benefit of well-considered, long-term planning. Workers’ accommodation is at a critical shortage with the recent announcement of the intended closure, in 2011, of a caravan park housing over 100 permanent residents. For a town which has had a shrinking population over the past 10 years, this escalating pressure on the housing market is serious and unsustainable. We are now faced with quick fixes to a problem which has been staring us in the face for years.
Economic prosperity and the tourism industry are inexplicably linked in Alice Springs; tourism being our No 1 industry and main source of income. We must sustain the flights and airlines we currently have coming in and out of Alice Springs to stimulate new markets. It is a delicate balance and a highly competitive industry which requires constant attention. Charter flights in and out of Alice are essential to the growth of our town.
I come to office with high hopes for the future of the Northern Territory, and especially the wonderful town of Alice Springs. The Northern Territory is still admired and revered for its untapped resources and bountiful opportunities. Although we can identify the social, economic and housing problems which beset our communities, it is the lifestyle, the freedom, and the charm which keeps most of us ensconced in our piece of paradise in the Territory. The Territory is truly a marvellous place.
I pay my respects to my two predecessors, Mr Eric Poole, who served as the member for Araluen from the inception of the electorate in 1983 to 2001, and Ms Jodeen Carney, who served as the member for Araluen from 2001 to September 2010. I know both Mr Poole and Ms Carney personally and can reassure them I will hold this office in high esteem and work tirelessly for the people of Araluen, continuing their legacy.
My greatest supporters are my two children, Harry Lambley and Alice Lambley, and my amazing husband, Craig Lambley, who have joined me here today to celebrate this special occasion. This will be a time of significant adjustment for my family and me.
I take this opportunity to thank the many people who gave freely of their time and support through my campaign, the hard-working members of the Alice Springs branch of the Country Liberals, the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Terry Mills, and the numerous Country Liberals’ members of parliament, in particular the member for Greatorex, Mr Matt Conlan, and the member for Braitling, Mr Adam Giles.
I also acknowledge my parents, Max and Pam Priestly, who could not be with me today. They have lived in Grafton, New South Wales, where I was born and bred, throughout their 50 years of marriage.
Madam Speaker, it is my goal to assist others to try to reach their full potential in life and, in doing so, I commit myself to serving the good people of Araluen and the Northern Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I place on the record my thanks to members opposite and yourself for your indulgence this morning.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Congratulations to the member for Araluen. We will pause while members congratulate the honourable member.
TABLED PAPER
Growing Them Strong, Together - Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System
Growing Them Strong, Together - Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I table Growing them strong, together, the report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System in the Northern Territory.
MOTION
Note Paper - Growing Them Strong, Together Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System
Note Paper - Growing Them Strong, Together Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Madam Speaker, this report is the most intensive, thorough and rigorous report and inquiry into the child protection system there has ever been in the Northern Territory. It was delivered to the government yesterday. There was a presentation to the government by the Board of Inquiry, Professor Muriel Bamblett AO, Dr Howard Bath, and Dr Rob Roseby. I personally thank, and also on behalf of the government, those three people for a very important body of work. They have shown an enormous commitment to putting this report together. They have worked very hard, diligently, and very passionately. As Chief Minister, I had no problem in extending the time they needed to produce this report. There was some comment criticising the government for allowing extensions of time, but I thought it was very important, having established this Board of Inquiry, that we gave the board the time to do the work we asked them to do. So, to Muriel, Howard and Rob, thank you for this report which was provided yesterday.
I also acknowledge, and I do not have a list of names here, but there was a significant group of very passionate people who collaborated to put together the terms of reference for this inquiry, and to reach a consensus on who should sit on the Board of Inquiry. I thank the former minister, my colleague, Malarndirri McCarthy, as the minister at the time who did work across the parliament with Jodeen Carney. I acknowledge Jodeen’s passion in this area, with the member for Nelson, Gerry Wood, who was also very passionate. There were all types of non-government organisations and bodies which also contributed to the terms of reference. It really was a collaborative effort to ensure we had the terms of reference right to do the job we wanted the inquiry to do, and to find people with the capability and capacity to undertake the inquiry, with the respect amongst the profession to gain the confidence of the people within the child protection system to come forward and provide testimony to the inquiry.
The inquiry was called in November last year to look at the systems, structures and resources within the Children and Families division of the Department of Health. This is the largest inquiry this Territory government has ever called or been involved in. There were close to 200 submissions, 80 public hearings, and visits to 15 communities. It was substantive, it was substantial, and it reached out to all parts of the Northern Territory. I thank each and every person and organisation which made submissions to the inquiry. I thank everyone who attended public hearings, and the people in those 15 remote communities who provided testimony to the inquiry. This report has come to government based, to a large part, on the advocacy of the people who made submissions, attended public hearings, and presented at meetings in those communities.
There is nothing more important for any society to do than to protect and care for its children. The responsibility, first and foremost, lays with the parents of those children, then with the broader community surrounding those children, the broader society in which communities exist, and with the government of the day. There is nothing more important than empowering parents to care for their children. That is the place for us to start.
We sought recommendations on ways to strengthen our system to protect the most vulnerable in our community, and to give families the capabilities for supporting their children. This report has very explicitly made clear the deficiencies in the system and has provided a way forward for the government to pursue. I can say, at this early stage, that the inquiry’s recommendations are accepted in principle. There are, however, 147 very detailed recommendations which need to be worked through in detail, which will certainly happen. They will be closely evaluated by a special cross-agency reform steering committee which will oversee the implementation of the 147 recommendations. It will be a challenging and far-reaching process and it will be costly, but the government is determined that real changes will be made for the wellbeing of Territory children and their families.
The first term of reference is:
- To look at the functioning of the current child protection system including the roles and responsibilities of Northern Territory Families and Children (NTFC) and other service providers involved in child protection.
My colleague, the minister, will address this issue in some detail, but very clearly the most alarming indicator in the report was that at the end of June there were over 870 children who had been reported to be at risk who were awaiting a formal investigation by NT Families and Children. The inquiry has requested that the Minister for Child Protection and the department take immediate action on this serious issue.
My colleague, the minister, sought immediate advice yesterday in regards to the status of that backlog. He will have details in his response on the status of investigations of the situations of those 870 children. I am advised initial investigations have been made into the cases of most of those children. The government is taking immediate action to address this issue. I will outline this action later.
Alongside the organisational issues and problems with workload, the report found a number of innovative programs and initiatives, excellent examples of collaborative policy and practice, cutting edge services which are comparable to those of any jurisdiction, many dedicated, enthusiastic and idealistic workers, and an openness to change.
This morning I met with a significant number of staff in the department, NT Families and Children. There was also an audio link-up with staff in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine. I conveyed to those staff that they are valued by me, as the Chief Minister, and the government. They do an extraordinary job under very difficult circumstances with extraordinary caseloads. Many of those staff go above and beyond the call of duty in the work and care they provide for children. This report in no way reflects adversely on people who work in that agency. It recognises the workload issues are enormous and that there are significant issues in retention of staff and the on-going support of staff in the agency. We are determined to fix those problems and we value the workforce we have.
The terms of reference in the report recognise cooperation and collaboration between government and non-government organisations is, at best, poor and in many cases non-existent. This is a something we are determined to address - to build the non-government sector in the Northern Territory; it has to be done. Picking up on the member for Araluen’s maiden speech in this House, government cannot be seen to be the be-all and end-all of every problem in the Northern Territory, and we need to strengthen our non-government sector.
There are 147 recommendations in the report, which have been prioritised. The main one regarding policy framework, which needs to be addressed, is a revision and reorientation of policies, programs and services. In reaffirming the centrality of principles, it captures the importance of a principle-based and ethical foundation to the work of caring for and protecting children, and confirms the importance of the Aboriginal child placement principle.
We have had debate around that issue, and no doubt we will have debate around it again. The principles of child protection need to be revised and reorientated, and we will do that.
The second term of reference is:
- Specific approaches to address the needs of Territory children in the child protection system, including the delivery of child protection services in regional and remote areas as part of the development of the A Working Future initiative.
The Board of Inquiry was expansive in its support for the government’s A Working Future policy. It understood it laid the foundations for improving service delivery, and confirmed the government is on the right track with our A Working Future policy.
The issue of child protection and how to improve the environment in which children grow up is more than the responsibility of Family and Children’s Services. This is a whole-of-community, whole-of-society, family-first-and-foremost responsibility. Across all areas of government we are working hard with the Commonwealth government, the shires and non-government organisations where capacity needs to be built to provide for a better society for children to grow up in.
That can be no further evidenced than in this year’s budget we were the first government in the Territory’s history to have clear, defined and focused funding for our 20 growth towns, to the tune of just over $900m, to build more houses, infrastructure, better schools, better health clinics, additional sporting facilities, provide more police and better police facilities, and to support the servicing of these towns. We will build on that through this report.
The inquiry was advised and understands, in the absence of a strong family support sector, child protection services have been expected to respond to a range of concerns and reports about child wellbeing, family difficulties and entrenched community problems, rather than responding to reports of harm and injuries to children. It is very clear that addressing the issue of the neglect of children in the Northern Territory it is not just an issue for NT Family and Children’s Services; it is a responsibility for everyone.
The main recommendation in this section is the development of a dual pathway intake and assessment process together with a refinement of the primary focus for NTFC, and the creation of community child safety and wellbeing teams for the 20 growth towns. We have committed to doing that, and they will be put in place as quickly as possible. We have many good people in our towns. We have police, schools, health facilities and health workers in all of those towns. For better or worse, we have the Commonwealth resident in those towns through the Government Business Managers and, importantly, on these teams have to be strong people from within these communities to have a whole-of-community, whole-of-government approach. Where non-government organisations such as shires and philanthropic organisations are present in these communities they need to be part of these teams which meet on a regular basis to discuss the better support and care for children in these towns.
The next item of the terms of reference is:
- Support systems and operational procedures for all workers engaged in child protection, in particular staff retention and training.
There is whole section in this report on the workforce issues. Those issues can be fixed, and must be fixed. I am not apportioning blame here, but the fact that the inquiry found there was no explicit retention policy for staff surprises me, as the Chief Minister. We all know how difficult it is to recruit quality, competent people to the Northern Territory. In an area of the workforce that is so emotional, emotive, and difficult, the support of frontline staff in the community has to be absolutely front and centre in this reform.
The report says:
- Many of the submissions talked to the urgent need to value this important workforce and to recruit an occupational and professional staff cohort that is culturally literate and equipped and able to work in complex, often isolated communities, in ways that engage with the capacity of these communities, as well as helping them to develop increased capacity.
This is with the child and safety wellbeing teams, working on the ground.
The difficulties and challenges of recruiting people from interstate or overseas and transporting them to a remote town in the Northern Territory are overwhelming. Even though the report notes there was very strong focus on induction for frontline workers, there was not equal support in retention, and that needs to be corrected. The report says:
- … there needs to be a renewed and energetic focus on growing our own workforce that represents the cultural mix of the Territory.
The minister is right onto this, in talking with him yesterday. Growing our own and providing real opportunities for people in those towns and our communities, to be part of the solution to these issues, has to be an absolute priority. The inquiry has recommended:
- … reinvigorating its workforce strategy, the NTFC is urged to develop stronger partnerships with local tertiary education institutions, to invest more in cadetships …
Investing in the workforce is absolutely key to moving forward.
The fourth term of reference is:
- Quality, sustainability, and strategic directions of out-of-home care programs including support systems for foster parents, carers, and families.
As the Chief Minister, and on behalf of the government and, I am sure, on behalf of the parliament, I thank all those foster carers in the Northern Territory. I have met a number over the years in my electorate and I am always astounded, humbled, and also slightly humiliated by the fact we have extraordinary people in the Northern Territory who open their homes and families to take in a foster child, a baby, a number of children, into their own family environment. It is an extraordinary thing to do; it shows a generosity of goodwill and spirit I cannot comprehend but am very thankful for. We have to do all we can to support our foster carers. That will be a very significant part of the response because we need to support the ones we have - we need to love them, value them and we need more of them.
The report recognised that there has also been:
- … a strong and costly recent growth in residential care in response to an increase in demand with the existing home-based system unable to meet the need.
I have never been minister for this portfolio, but in the recent by-election in Araluen, I doorknocked at a house which was an out-of-home care house and spoke with a remarkable young woman who had been in Alice for just under 12 months - I believe she said she had come from Adelaide - and she said this was the best job she ever had. I spoke to her and the other young man who was caring for children in that house for around half-an-hour. I walked away from that conversation absolutely uplifted by the generosity of spirit and care of so many people in this sector. To that young lady, I hope you keep the best job you have ever had for a long, long time, because I am sure you do a great job.
The inquiry has recommended that:
- … there is an evident and urgent need to listen to, engage with, and support foster carers.
We will certainly do that.
The final term of reference is:
- The interaction between government departments and agencies involved in child protection, care and safety and non-government organisations and other groups involved in the protection, care and safety of children.
This is very much a key recommendation. We do have a great deal of effort and support going into communities across the Northern Territory, but much of this is still not joined up, it is not linked, and it needs to be. Creating child safety and wellbeing teams in those communities will certainly improve that, but we need to develop our non-government sector in the Territory.
The report talks about :
- … the severe shortage of NGOs in the Northern Territory …
and also goes on to state that:
- Poignantly, many submissions and hearings observed that, with a resourced capacity for early intervention, non-government services could reduce the need for forensic child protection services.
We absolutely have to build that non-government organisation capability and capacity in the Territory, and we will.
The inquiry recommended that:
- To achieve what is required will necessitate: a robust commitment to collaborative policy development and planning and sharing information about children and families among service providers involved in the care, wellbeing and support of children and families …
One of the things which really does, to use a clich, get on my goat, as Chief Minister and the minister, is this nonsense that we get across agencies around privacy. It is something which I have asked for an urgent response to. When we are talking about the care and protection of children, for agencies to duckshove problems from one place to the other because of privacy issues, not engage the non-government sector because of privacy issues - I would like to see that the detail of the particular legislation which prevents us from better sharing information to better protect and support children. There are recommendations about the legislation which we need to address.
Yesterday, as Cabinet and as government, the first thing we did was allocate an additional $130m over the next five years to back these reforms. We have grown the budget for this area of government from around $7m when we came to government to $135m today, with an additional $130m over the next five years. It is substantive, it is substantial, and gives the structure of government and the non-government sector the capacity to implement these reforms.
We will establish a stand-alone agency which will be responsible for the needs of children and families. There were many discussions about whether we should or should not do this. I believe we achieved an appropriate landing where the minister, and the government, was very clear in sending a signal to the workforce, the non-government sector and the Indigenous health organisations, that we are serious about this. We are going to establish a stand-alone agency with a chief executive, with the statutory powers vested in that chief executive, with a separate budget allocation to the agency to ensure a clear and direct line of sight to the minister for the implementation of this reform agenda. We have also directed that the new agency and Health share the HR resources to ensure every single dollar we put into this new agency goes to supporting the recommendations in this report, not establishing a new bureaucracy.
As a matter of urgency, the government will deploy additional experienced child protection workers from Australia and New Zealand to tackle the current backlog – a blitz which is being undertaken as we speak - and the minister will talk further about that. I thank the other governments which also had systems under stress and which are dedicating some resources our way. We will also fund an additional 42 professional child protection workers on top of the additional 76 announced earlier in this year’s budget. That number of 42 was arrived at to address the issues of the workload for those staff. There are accepted ratios in the caseloads those staff should have, and those 42 additional staff should ensure, if we can recruit and retain all of those people, they will have caseloads which are manageable and acceptable.
We have also committed to an Aboriginal non-government peak body to be established to support the non-government sector to provide improved family support and intervention services. This was well supported by the sector in media releases yesterday, and we have committed to the formation of two Aboriginal childcare agencies for Darwin and Alice Springs as recommended by the inquiry. This is part of our commitment to develop and establish a non-government peak body and separate organisations to support the dual intake process.
The other decision we made yesterday was the development of a dual pathway for referral and assessments so lower risk reports can be made to local non-government service providers. This is about early intervention, which the statutory system is unable to meet. That is the reality of it: the statutory system is unable to meet the demand and provide for early intervention. Developing this dual pathway, a unique model which is being proposed for Australia, is an attempt to recognise that if we can assist kids who present with early signs of risk, dealing with issues on the ground through appropriate Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, is better than having those problems escalate to full-blown requirements for intervention. These immediate reforms are far-reaching. To ensure the government implements what we say we are going to do, we are going to establish an external advisory steering committee to monitor the progress.
Recognising and respecting the views of the committee of inquiry - they need to be carefully built into our responses. The report notes on page 95, and I understand the opposition was briefed yesterday, and Independents were offered a briefing on this report:
- Efforts in this area need to be sustained with a bipartisan commitment to long-term change. The use of child abuse and neglect for media ratings or political point scoring is damaging to children and their families and to those who work to promote child wellbeing.
That is not said to stifle robust debate about the effectiveness of what the government is doing, but, whatever we do, let us not identify, or potentially identify, individual children or individual families. Let us try to establish across this parliament a capacity to ensure these reforms are implemented and they do start to make a change. The report also correctly underlines the difficulties that grog, ganja and gambling cause for families at risk …
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Chief Minister be granted an extension of time to complete his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and parliamentary colleagues.
We all understand that alcohol abuse underpins so many of the social issues we face in the Northern Territory. Here is another report which says this is a significant contributing factor to the problems associated with the neglect of children. Alcohol policy, reducing the consumption of alcohol in the Northern Territory, improving the effectiveness and capacity of the rehabilitation sector - leadership from government is critical in reducing the amount of alcohol consumed in the Territory and the devastation which surrounds the consumption level, which is three times the national average.
Also, the impacts of alcohol, marijuana and gambling in remote communities are issues which need to be tackled significantly; we need to reduce the harm in those three areas to better support and improve the lives of children across the Territory.
Gambling intervention is an area where we need to have more free-ranging discussions internally and in parliament. Addressing gambling in communities is a very significant issue and is part of the conversation we need to have. The government is providing $1.3m in 2009-10 for gambling intervention, including specifically targeted Indigenous programs. Organisations funded include Amity, Somerville, Anglicare and Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi. Research projects were undertaken by Charles Darwin University and Menzies School of Health Research.
The minister for Gaming will later this week attend the first meeting of the COAG Select Council on Gambling Reform.
To deal with ganja, this government launched the Remote Community Drug Desk in April 2004. I was the minister for Police at the time, and visiting remote communities across the Northern Territory the plea for turning the tide on dope in the bush was very strong. The drug desk provides a coordinated police response to the identification and apprehension of illicit drug traffickers and has had significant success since its inception. Between 30 June last year and July this year the unit’s successes include: 44 arrests, 43 summonses, seizing 10 399 grams of cannabis, 214 kilos of kava, 27 grams of MDMA, and three vehicles involved in the drugs trade.
The drug dogs the government funded are worth their weight in Pedigree Chum; they do a magnificent job, and we need to keep on top of and expand our efforts to reduce drugs into the community.
Alcohol has been debated many times. I have an opportunity to comment on the remarks the new member for Araluen made in the by-election, however, in an attempt to keep politics out of this, I will not go through that at this point. Suffice to say, we have to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed in the Northern Territory and, unless we do that, we are all whistling in the wind and nothing much is going to change.
There is much more to do and, as a broader society, we cannot rest until our children are growing up in a safe environment across the Territory.
I have spoken often about A Working Future and the 20 towns. We have substantial and substantive issues in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, Darwin, and Palmerston; in all our communities. This is not just an issue for the bush, and is not just an issue in the Indigenous community. Around 20% of FACS work is with children from non-Indigenous communities. We must continue to work across the Northern Territory to provide a better environment for our children.
In concluding my tabling statement on this issue, most of us here in this House, I believe, are parents; if we are not, we are certainly part of families and we are all surrounded in our daily lives by children. I believe we all, in this parliament, have a very real concern to ensure our children in the Northern Territory live happy, healthy lives, that they are able to reach their capacity as children and citizens, and to grow up with a happy childhood. Tragically, too many of our kids do not have that experience. It is not good enough and we all, as a community, need to redouble our efforts.
The government will implement the recommendations of this inquiry. I have spoken to the board and said if through forensic investigation there are recommendations, on very close reflection, which do not fit for whatever reason, then we will have good reason not to implement them, and we will talk to the board. However, we go into this with a view we are going to implement the recommendations. We made a decision yesterday to commit substantive and substantial additional funding to support the implementation of these recommendations. I have spoken with minister Jenny Macklin on a number of occasions leading up to the release of the report yesterday. I am pleased the Commonwealth government has also committed to additional support in this area, working more closely with the Northern Territory government in these towns through these families and wellbeing teams. So, the Commonwealth is lifting its effort.
First and foremost, I have to appeal to all parents in the Northern Territory. When you make the decision to bring a child into this world, it comes with responsibilities which rest, first and foremost, squarely and fairly on your shoulders, having made that decision to bring a child into this world, to love, care and protect the child. That is the first and foremost responsibility we all have as human beings. Nothing much is going to change here until we work hard to give those parents who are failing their children the skills, capabilities, confidence, and the capacity to better care for their children.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we have to invest at that end of the spectrum in early childhood. That is where the investment has to be. Picking up the pieces at the end of the day is too late. Those people who are failing their children need to take advantage of the support which is provided and, without wishing to lecture people, take some responsibility because, at the end of the day, it is not governments that raise children, it is parents. We have to better support those parents to do so.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Deputy Speaker, I take up where the Chief Minister left off; that is, a call for families to take responsibility. Well, hear, hear!
However, the task, the responsibility, the obligation we have as elected representatives representing the best interests of our community when they make that decision - as we heard in the first speech from the new member for Araluen, as for every member who has given a speech in this parliament - at that first speech they reflect on what this is about. This is about taking responsibility; accepting the weight of responsibility and, then acting with some urgency.
The community is looking all around, hoping someone will do something. It appears in that crowd of people looking here and there, we also have the government looking here and there and finding useful mechanisms such as the description that it is a societal problem, therefore: ‘We wash our hands to some degree of that; what can we do, after all, we are just cogs in the machine?’
I beg to differ. I know what my job is: to bear positive influence on our community to bring about measurable change is our requirement. At least if we give it a go, there will be some controversy, because you cannot change systems or thinking without a contest. It appears there has been a stepping back from a contest. There has been a description of a range of matters which no one will essentially disagree with. That, in itself, is the problem.
What we have had, right to the last line of the Chief Minister’s speech, is an attitude which has pervaded this government, and that is one of denial of responsibility. It started in 2003, and before I go down this path, I do this hearing what the Chief Minister had to say about politics. Let us not point to individuals and play politics with this game. I will not do that, but I understand what my responsibility as a member of the opposition is, as someone who has been elected, who has met those foster families, has met those families which have lost their way. They expect some change, and they expect someone to stand up and fight for them and not make excuses and give broad-ranging speeches which do not touch the core and do not press the button.
It started in 2003, this attitude, and there has been a symptom of this all the way through. When a government identifies a problem as a political problem, they will respond politically. They will deny that it exists in the first instance, and we had the first clear evidence of this. It has pervaded this government, and I would say others, but this government has been there for a decade, the attitude of denial. If you accept that there is a problem, as the member for Araluen identified in her opening speech, you have to understand the problem, and if you understand the problem, then you are required to do something about that problem.
If you fail to accept there is a problem, then you are under no obligation to do anything. In 2003, one of the then long line of ministers with responsibility for the protection of children, the now Speaker, said: ‘I applaud the government for throwing that amount of money at what has been a largely neglected area of responsibility for many, many years’. But tellingly, and I quote from the NT News, December 2003:
- Mrs Aagaard denied the system was in crisis, saying it was only under a lot of pressure.
I make a point of that because the language of government - rather than accept a responsibility they have on their watch, you will note what they are saying. One, there is a denial of a problem, ‘Well, we fixed it anyway, a lot of money has been thrown at it’, but the problem is described in the long term, like it has gone back way before we came here. They will talk about what happened way before, but, on their watch: ‘No, we do not accept responsibility’. Why? Because there is not actually a problem, it is not a crisis, as the then minister said - one of a long line of ministers - because when the crisis started to peak, they then moved ministers, a game change. Why did they do that? Because they are seeing something is essentially amoral to the response to a child who needs protection as a political problem. We saw that in the behaviour over those 10 years and are now seeing that in the behaviour of this government.
I cannot let that go. I cannot ignore that because urgency is required. If anyone has seen a child in a swimming pool struggling and panicking, what do you do? Form a committee, craft a review? Wonder what kind of processes and systems you have around the swimming pool to see how you could improve? Or do you reach out and help that child? Of course, that is your instinct. It does not seem to be the instinct we have seen through all this time. I acknowledge the sterling effort made on behalf of those who are vulnerable and those who most need our protection by the former member for Araluen, Jodeen Carney. If Jodeen Carney did not hold this government to account, and speak as she spoke with such passion, driven by a sense of urgency, it would not be hard to imagine that we may not even have a report in front of us to discuss today, because such was the stubbornness, resistance and denial of government, even to come to the point of allowing a review.
Now they will rock back in their chairs and say: ‘Oh, yeah’. Well, whatever words they may craft say those words in front of families, in front of foster parents. I hope they are tuning in and I hope they are listening, because their hope is fading. We will hold that space and endeavour to give them cause for hope because what is required here is a response - a response to a problem which is very complex. It is not a political problem, it is a societal problem, yet it is the responsibility of a government to have a system which acknowledges the problem, the complexities of the problem, and crafts a response.
I was very taken by the speech of the new member for Araluen, recognising the nature of the problem, believing improvements can be made, and then embarking with a sense of urgency because it is required. I do not hear that sense of urgency. Perhaps we will hear it from other members. There are a number of people on the other side who have been ministers in this area of very important responsibility. I hope there is that sense of urgency. I do not want to hear emotional stuff. I want to hear something which is going to have a sufficient dynamic to change a system. That is the issue.
It appears we have ministers who are captured by the system. They call it Stockholm syndrome. They have been captured and they speak the language of the system. They are not above the system, or assuming the responsibility of directing that system to do something to act, even to challenge that system in a real way. You may do it behind the scenes, you may puff and pant, but what we have to see is a change, a measurable change of culture. Some of these things can become worse before they get better, but at least you are embarking on a direction and you are commanding. We do not see that.
I find further evidence of the problem which I have described in that we had a briefing provided yesterday and I drove back from Katherine yesterday to arrive at 5 pm. I acknowledge it was a busy day for the board. I understand the government received the same briefing on that same day, which was only yesterday. However, if every member and every minister were to be honest about this, this is an 800 page report. I like to read a substantial novel each year, a good meaty classic, but I do not read many novels which have 800 pages in them. This is of such importance, this is going to take some time to understand, to digest and respond to.
I would hope, and I did not hear it from the Chief Minister, it seems: ‘Oh, we have reached this point, we now have a review, three cheers for us. Here is the review. It has lots of recommendations and we are going to implement all of them’, and at the end says: ‘Oh, some of them we might not be able to, but we will give a good reason why not, and then make sure the families take responsibility and that is about that. Oh and about $130m’. Once again they talk about money and say: ‘Look how much we care, that mob gave this amount of money, we have given a lot more, therefore we care more’.
It does not demonstrate the level of care which is required. You would expect there would be an opening statement; there would be a clear acknowledgement, the urging of all ministers to take the time to read, digest and to continue. We will continue. We are going to hold this government to account and ensure these matters become a central focus of the deliberation and considerations of this parliament until there is change. We do that because we have read those coroner’s reports. We know those people. I certainly know those people. I know the people who are taking the time to read this and are expecting action, a response which shows there has been a change of attitude. Where the cultural change is required, where the demonstration of difference will be seen first, is in the government.
In 2003 we had a denial. That puts paid to the issue. If there was no crisis, as they say, in 2003, there was no crisis before that, or at that time. I put you on notice, members who are going to suggest ‘but when we came to office’ – and they will talk about, with great clarity, that which came before they came to office yet deny crisis whilst they are there. Do not do that because it will not benefit those who are providing care for vulnerable children, or those requiring leadership and authority to be taken over their system to deliver care. It will do nothing. It might give you some confected relief in the short term because it is not your problem. You have taken an oath of office and have a responsibility, and no one will take an excuse from you in this regard.
Also in December 2003, there was a further denial – this is on Friday, 5 December 2003 – regarding sexually transmitted diseases. The move follows reports in August that nearly 200 Territory children under the age of 14 had sexually transmitted diseases last year, and I quote from a spokesperson - a source - I wonder who the source is:
- There is no crisis in the Territory’s child protection system, but we do not want one to develop, a source said.
We then have another minister, and perhaps the government thought that might help relieve some pressure, and there are umpteen media releases. We had the same attitudes at play: ‘There is not a problem’. We have 50 media releases about sport and recreation from this minister, 12 on family and community services, and very little attention to the protection of children at risk. We had more media releases issued about the Crusty Demons than about child protection. There is not a crisis, do not mention it, there is not a crisis, and denial and batting away. Good on Jodeen for keeping on keeping on, bowling those balls.
Then we had the astonishing statement by minister Lawrie 2006. It says audaciously:
- When a report of child abuse or neglect is received we investigate immediately.
That sounds like the right thing to say. On what basis was the assertion made that all reports of child abuse are investigated immediately? It sounds like the right thing to say, and it is what this minister would say. Well, they are not all investigated.
We talk about, in 2008, an election commitment which ticks a few boxes - mandatory reporting. There is going to be mandatory reporting. What would be inferred from that is if you make a report then something is going to happen. It does not. Even though minister Lawrie says they are all investigated immediately, that is not the case. That is a lie. It is not the truth and you are saying that in the presence of such an important issue to do with the most vulnerable in our community. You say something which is not true at all. They are not all investigated immediately.
It was with some distress that during the briefing yesterday we learnt there is no system to receive notifications. Notifications are weighted and then proceed to investigation. It appears in this data, which I assumed the minister had, and if the minister did not have this it would mean the department is concealing this very telling information, that each month nearly 800 are not investigated. The call has been made mainly by a professional, however, nearly 800 every month are not investigated.
That got me thinking because I have these issues coming to me as local member in my own community. I know what goes on, particularly in the schools. The teachers struggling in the classroom have particular insights into what is going on at home. They are then moved to make a call because they are concerned. They make a call to the agency. It is a big call to do that, but it demonstrates there is care and there needs to be a response to a dangerous situation. They find it is not easy to lodge that and, then, it is not investigated. I know how hard it is to teach in some of these classes when someone in the system says: ‘We are swamped, mate, we do not know whether we can do it’, and that which initially was assessed as a grave concern which warranted a report is now relegated into a lower order because other more serious matters are going to be investigated. What occurs in that transaction is there is a new ‘normal’ which is a lower standard.
We enter into dangerous territory then. I have seen that happen in schools, where the social problems you see manifest in a classroom, the insights you get into what is going on at home then become accepted as normal. Then you start to look for the more traumatic. The problem with ‘normal’ is it gets worse, and we then end up on a slippery slide. We end up in trouble.
That is why I expected there to be greater urgency today from the Chief Minister. That is why I expected the language around the tabling of this report to be: ‘Okay, we are moving away from denial; we accept responsibility. This is what we are going to do. The first thing is to ensure all members have been given the opportunity to have a serious, meaningful engagement with this’. It was a briefing. For me, it was great and I really applaud those professionals who were involved in this. I was impressed with Dr Bath and Muriel; I did not meet Rob. They have done an outstanding job and the ball is now in our court.
The opposition will do its bit. We are not just going to oppose, we will support. We have already said there has to be one cultural change; that being, if the mandatory report is there, then there has to be a mandatory response and that gap needs to be closed. It looks to be nearly 800 per month. Something has to occur. We have said there needs to be a focus given to child protection. I am pleased to hear the Chief Minister indicated agreement with that position. We will have support on that.
However, the most important thing has to be not systemic change in the first instance, but cultural change, attitudinal change - a response and a language which indicates there has been a change of heart, moving away from denial and seeing this as a political problem and pushing it out to governments before your time, or broader, deeper, more complex social problems or federal matters. Bring it back home. We will support you if you go down that path because there is some meaty stuff in here.
I call on those former ministers, the current minister on the other side, to endeavour to shift into that space, and we will be with you. I am very pleased to have on board Mrs Lambley, the new member for Araluen. It is quite appropriate, in a very special way, that the words in that first speech seem to fit so well into the responses and attitude we need to bring to bear to matters such as this.
I will finish with one of the most telling and disturbing aspects of all of this, aside from looking into a kid’s eyes and you see the lights have gone out and there is just bewilderment, fear, and perhaps a wildness because chaos, disorder, and trouble is their life. When a good family steps up and says: ‘We will provide care’ – this I found the most distressing part of it - those who have put their hands up as members of our community and said: ‘I will provide care, I will provide shelter in my home, and I will do the best I can’, it is a big call, because some of these families are humble families that thought: well, our kids have grown up and I think we could do something.
I believe every member whose door is open to their constituents would have cases of foster parents, those who have put their hands up, being pursued with an extraordinary and almost malicious urgency, to discourage and hound them. You would think, in a system in crisis such as this, which is about the protection of children, that you would then respect and accommodate, and value those who have put their hands up.
The foster families need a better deal than they have had, and the only way to change that is if there is an acceptance from government that there has to be a change of attitude, a change of direction. There has to be courage shown to implement these recommendations. If we, in the first instance, can at least show some respect, support and encouragement for foster families that would be a big and important step.
I will do what I can to ensure these matters stay with us and stay in our parliament for discussion because we want to see improvement; we want to see change occur. Towards the end of the briefing, Howard Bath effectively said, not that he said these words: the work now has been done, the response has been made, and the ball is now in our court. That ball needs to be played so there will be benefit.
I left the briefing with some words, also spoken by Dr Bath, that we have a systemic problem, we have a societal challenge, quite unique. We are certainly losing the war, but there needs to be an understanding of the problem so we can set a new course of direction. The most telling words which echoed in my ears, and I still have them now, he said: ‘If we do not, we have an impending humanitarian disaster’. For those who have looked into the faces of kids and families, in remote communities in particular, and in some of our urban communities, that is telling, because the failure to act could well be that. Sadly, it seems to be hidden. I will resist that new level of normal, because the problem with that kind of normal is that it just gets worse. It is time to stand up to the plate.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we will give government support in a demonstration of courage to implement these recommendations where appropriate, and drive them through with vigour, and accept the responsibility. We will be there with you, because we do it in the best interests of the protection of the vulnerable, which is our core duty.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Chief Minister. I was very encouraged to hear the Leader of the Opposition saying his party will give support to the initiatives we take. I find it heartening, and I will ensure that my stand today is not political; it is not a blame game. It is something which affects the most vulnerable members of our society, our children.
As the Minister for Child Protection, from the beginning I was not afraid to say our system is in crisis. Our system needs help, our system needs direction and, in order to resolve a problem, you have to acknowledge first that there is a problem, and I have done that before.
We have a growth in notification, investigation, and out-of-home care rates across the Territory. That growth has outstripped the significant funding and additional staff we have placed in the system. The figures are staggering. The notifications have risen by 400% since 2001. The investigations have risen from 784 to 3683 since 2000-01. Children with care and protection orders have risen from 286 to 696 since 2001. This is a society in crisis. This is not only a government problem. This is a problem for the whole community, for the whole society.
I will read some of the comments made by the members of the inquiry. The first one is by Dr Roseby:
- Child protection has not failed because of problems with individuals. It has failed because it is the wrong system. It is completely overwhelmed, in part because it is expected to do far more than child protection; it is expected to deal with so many individual family and community problems that no one else is addressing.
Howard Bath says:
- Fixing the system means acknowledging that everyone has a responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of children and ensuring a comprehensive range of services is in place to ensure our children are able to grow into healthy adulthood.
- We saw a raft of issues that set the context for childhood abuse and neglect such as chronic housing shortages and overcrowding, chronic unemployment, health and education issues.
The Northern Territory government has shone the light on the very uncomfortable issue of child protection in the past nine years. I take note of the Leader of the Opposition’s comments, but the reality is both sides of parliament have to acknowledge the system did not fail in the past nine years, or the past four years, or the past three months. It has been failing for 30 years, partly because of problems from Canberra, partly because of problems here in the Territory, but mainly because of problems with our society.
We made a statement and the member for Araluen, the shadow minister, attacked me. I said the CLP budget allocation for child protection was $7m. I could not find anything else in their 2000-01 budget books; $7m was all I could find. We have said we are spending $135m and I was challenged that we are only spending $34m. When we look at the budget documents I have in front of me, we are spending $31m on child protection services, we spent $42m on out-of-home care services, for family and parent support services we have spent $12m, and on youth services $14m. All of these are elements of child protection and they add up to $101m, much more than $7m. It is obvious at the time the CLP did not see child protection as something which happened outside of Darwin and Alice Springs. It did not have the capacity, or it could not see it was a significant problem in the communities.
This report is extremely serious. Some people have said to me that this report must be disheartening for me. I said: ‘No, it is not, it is a starting point’. Now we have a report in our hands we are looking to the future. We are looking at how we are going to fix things. Okay, things went wrong in the past. We cannot, and should not, dwell on the past. Let us look at the issues highlighted in this report and suggest the solutions we are going to have for the future. We can sit around and cry over what happened, what went wrong and how many kids were not looked after properly five years ago, six years ago. Let us take heart and look to the future and see how many fewer kids are going to be affected and how many fewer kids are going to be an issue for the child protection department.
Money has not fixed the problem. Throwing money will not fix the problem, but you need money if you are going to do something. You need money to do things. We are not reaching all children as the demand to investigate Category 1 and 2 clients will always outstrip those classified as neglect cases. The board recommends we establish a referral pathway which enables the NGO sector to play a greater role in the support of families before they reach crisis point.
If you have a financial problem today, you can pick up the phone, you can speak to a non-government organisation to seek assistance and you receive assistance. If your family is in crisis there is nowhere to ring. We have to move from the very end of the equation to the very beginning of the equation. It will be easier, cheaper and better to fix the problem while it is starting to emerge, rather than trying to fix it at the end when it has blown out of proportion. In the past few months I have spoken to non-government organisations and Indigenous organisations because I want to be actively engaged in child protection. Child protection and child abuse is a problem of the whole society, and the resolution of this problem will be the responsibility of the whole society.
I am determined to restructure the system, and we started this yesterday. We have decided to split the department from the Department of Health and Families to the sole Department of Families. The department will have its own CEO, its own budget allocation, and its own focused mandate - which will be the children. We have allocated $130m extra for the next five years. We will employ 42 child protection workers in addition to the 76 we announced in this year’s budget to bring the workload back to manageable levels; not 80 cases per worker, more like 15 to 17 cases per worker.
We will fund a peak body to look into the establishment of an Aboriginal child protection system – in the same way the medical system controlled and run by Indigenous communities runs parallel to our mainstream medical system. The government is very keen to engage the community and non-government organisations in this, and this is why the government has announced it will establish two service agencies and a peak body to assist in policy development and advocacy for Indigenous childcare services.
We will be working in partnership with SNAICC to have the peak body up and running as soon as possible. I am very pleased AMSANT has agreed to auspice the peak body until it is established. AMSANT has the credibility and reach in regional and remote areas to be able to lend its infrastructure to support the organisation. I can only hope to establish a childcare and wellbeing agency along similar lines to the successful Indigenous medical services.
The other key issue raised by the inquiry is the need not only to boost our workforce, but also to invest in our workforce. In the past few months I have travelled everywhere from Palmerston to Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek, and met every branch of my department. There were places where I felt really optimistic and could see solutions, and places where I felt pessimistic because I saw the plight of these people – overworked, far from anywhere, unable to travel because of distance and other factors, and demoralised. I understand how this can happen; it is a very difficult profession. For example, you get someone from a university in Melbourne and bring them to the Territory. It is a totally different world from down south and it does not take long for them to become demoralised and want to leave the system.
There is only one solution: to grow our own workforce. We have done that successfully with nurses, and will do that successfully with doctors. We have to give opportunities to our own workforce; we have to support them; and we have to support them with people. I find it very difficult to accept that a child protection worker will go to an investigation and then come back to the office and spend seven days writing a report, filing, and doing the things people in administrative support can do. The child protection workers should be in the field, not filing reports. They have to file reports, I understand that is a statutory requirement, but there is a great deal of work which can be done by other properly trained people.
I would like to see something like the Aboriginal health workers; I would like to see Indigenous child protection workers. Currently, my department is in negotiation with Queensland to adopt one of their programs to provide career pathways through an apprenticeship system so people who are not child protection workers can work in that system, work in the department and become fully qualified Aboriginal child protection workers, or protection workers if they come from other professions. There are a number of people who work with children: doctors, nurses, and other child protection workers who can very easily be employed in my department through an apprenticeship system and be fully qualified in a few months time.
We have a significant backlog; I understand that. When I was informed about the backlog, I immediately asked the department to investigate and brief me. I referred the matter to the department, and a full investigation of Category 1 and 2 cases occurred – that is children in danger, and children at risk. I am advised there are no Category 1 children in danger cases where an investigation has not commenced.
In order to address the backlog in the other categories we have gone to extreme lengths. I am pleased to advise we have contacted other jurisdictions and have 10 workers coming from New Zealand and interstate to work with us; nine police officers have been allocated to the intake, and people from the policy area are now working on intake to address the significant backlog. We will do it.
It has to be done and it has to be done within the times that we have prescribed. At times we have put in place unrealistic expectations and time lines which could not be met, and we have to review it ...
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, could I interrupt you for one moment please, to acknowledge the school group. I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 from Malak Primary accompanied by their teacher, Mrs Lorraine Kingham. This class was the winner of third prize in the Parliament House Open Day Art Competition
On behalf of honourable members, I extend a very warm welcome to our visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Deputy Speaker, reducing caseloads and improving the working conditions of our Northern Territory Family and Children’s Services’ staff is a major barrier we need to overcome. I mentioned before we will be employing people from interstate and overseas. We have gone to extreme lengths to employ people. Of the 76 people we promised before, we have already employed 56. We went as far as Ireland and England to employ people, for the simple reason you cannot find child protection workers in Australia. We will be going to Canada and New Zealand. We will employ these people and bring them to the Territory.
We will also ensure these people will have the necessary training to understand the peculiar situation in the Northern Territory. The Territory is a different world. People who come from down south are surprised about the Territory. If you come straight from a town, the Territory is another planet; it is not another jurisdiction. The conditions on some of the communities, and even in urban Darwin, are totally different.
The Board of Inquiry identified the social dysfunction of some communities - not all communities. I was heartened to hear Dr Bath say there were some shining examples out there. Some communities managed to overcome the burden of alcohol and petrol sniffing; the kids are happy, the kids are fed, and the people have jobs. However, there are others with significant problems. I have three Indigenous colleagues who have come from different areas, from Arafura, Alice Springs, and Arnhem, and they have firsthand experience of these communities, the good ones and the bad ones.
I made a call this morning and said we need leadership in these communities. We need leadership like the leadership provided by the members for Arnhem, Arafura and Stuart. These people should be examples to other people out there. What we need is the local leaders, the local heroes, the ones who come from the communities. These people cannot be everywhere. I understand the complication of the position because I come from a certain group. If I did something wrong, the Greeks did wrong. If I did something well, the Greeks did well. I have 4000 constituents, but in reality I have 8000 constituents as every person of Greek descent comes to my office for assistance because I understand them, I relate to them, and I am one of them. I bet the same happens with my colleagues from Indigenous communities. Their constituency is much bigger than anyone else’s for the same reason: they happen to be Indigenous people and they understand Indigenous problems, conditions, and dynamics.
The Leader of the Opposition today said we did not identify that there were any problems; we did not do anything. The reality is we have done a great deal from the very beginning when we came to government, when we faced a deficit of $120m we did not know about, when we put in measures to raise money to wipe out the deficit. One of the first things the member for Nightcliff, Jane Aagaard did, as a minister at the time, was come to Cabinet to request an additional amount of money - and she received it.
We have done a significant amount of work and have contributed significantly to child protection services. Carrying out child reform packages, we provided $53m over five years between 2003 and 2008. The Closing the Gap response to the Little Children are Sacred report by the Northern Territory government was a whole-of-government response to the tune of $286m, with $62m of this package dedicated to Family and Children’s Services. We have put in an extra $130m over the next five years.
That report was the starting point for me. As the Minister for Child Protection, I have said that the system is in crisis and needs to be fixed. We have been moving steadily to fix this system. Yesterday, we laid the first foundations to build a new system. My task is to work out how to deconstruct the department and reconstruct it again. This is what we are going to do. We have to think outside the square. We have to stop thinking about the situation in Britain in the 1960s because, unfortunately, our child protection system works on that model.
Our system has to work in the Territory, recognising the needs of the Territory, the size of the Territory, and the peculiar needs of people in the Territory; the different needs of people living in an urban environment and the different needs of people living in remote communities.
We have to have a presence in Darwin and Alice Springs, certainly, but where is our presence in Yirrkala, or Yuendumu, or Ngukurr? We have to have a presence there. It may not be a child protection worker; it may be a nurse who is properly educated and supported to identify the kids at risk. The former member for Araluen, many times in discussions, said to me: ‘It is not the children at risk and in danger; the majority of the cases are children neglected’. This is the problem. This problem is exacerbated by the lack of living and parenting skills of a number of generations in the communities.
When I see grandmothers and grandfathers taking control of the kids, feeding them and sending them to school, I despair, for the simple reason that these people will not be there forever. These people are going to die, and then we will have a generation of people who do not have living or parenting skills. This is where we have to step in if we are going to make a difference. Start from the very beginning, not when the kid is in danger or at risk and we have to take them away. It is not how to split up families; it is how to keep families together. How can we be there, by the families, with the families, to help them to stay together?
Yes, there may be times when we have to take the kids away. But, even then, we should look at how to reunite the families, how to make that family come from the low point where they are to a high point where they can look after their children and provide a nurturing and safe environment. It is a challenge, it is a hard job; it is a hard task.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I have been given this portfolio, and my intention is to work as hard as I can to make sure that in the next few months and the next few years, this will happen.
Mrs LAMBLEY (Araluen): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to hear the minister intends to work very hard on these issues. Working hard is probably an understatement for the amount of work he will have to do.
My concern today is about timing and adequate resourcing. As the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out, this has been a crisis situation for many years. There is a huge backlog of cases which need to be attended to. Howard Bath and his colleagues talk about:
- … the ‘tsunami of need’ that could be addressed only by immediate action to deal with an overburdened system …
He talks about:
- … insufficient resources to deal with both the number of statutory interventions needed and the many issues beyond child protection …
There is a need to act is now and timing is of the essence. We have basically wasted 10 years and are now faced with a situation which is impairing the lives of too many Northern Territory children. When the government talks about $132m over five years, how exactly will that be used? From where I am sitting, it seems that $132m will be required within the first 12 months just to catch up for the years of neglect.
I think the minister feels he has done a great deal. He said: ‘We have done a lot over the years’, but clearly you have not done enough. Actions speak louder than words. We would like to be reassured that there are reasonable time frames. You talked about unrealistic time frames. The time for talking about unrealistic time frames is over. We need clarity and an indication of what is going to happen and exactly when it is going to happen.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I look forward to the opportunity to hear more about the exact nature of the way in which the government intends to implement all the recommendations of this report, as they have undertaken to do. I am sure the people who work in the child protection industry will be looking forward to hearing about the many new staff coming from overseas to relieve the system of its anguish and of being so overburdened.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, one of the yardsticks I have available to me, having been around this place for a while, is the capacity to look back over time and look at announcements and compare them with outcomes.
I am somewhat disappointed to be on my feet so early because, like the Leader of the Opposition, I have not had an opportunity to read, in detail at least, beyond the report summary of which we all have a copy. I have certainly read that. I would like an opportunity to more carefully examine some of the issues raised in the report summary and in the document itself. I have printed it. I have two lever arch files full of this report and somehow, in the last 20 hours or so, in amongst all of the other duties I have, I was supposed to have read it and make myself conversant with its contents, as well as have the time to reflect upon what is being suggested in this document.
Whilst I appreciate the urgency with which government is trying to advance this issue, I hope this government will not be seeking to end this debate today but will leave it on the Notice Paper for a complete discussion when other members have the advantage and, dare I say it, the pleasure of being able to familiarise themselves with the contents of these two lever arch files.
I have some members at an disadvantage because in the past I had the opportunity to read the Little Children are Sacred report. The Little Children are Sacred report is an interesting exercise and it was the process which started so many of the processes which led us to this point today. We have had an intervention in the Northern Territory which was thrust upon us by Canberra because Canberra no longer had faith that the Northern Territory government had the capacity to deliver the services that were required. I hear the continuing admissions by the minister for family and community services, or the Health minister, that this system is in crisis. This system was in crisis in 2007 when the Little Children are Sacred report was produced. The crisis continues.
One of the problems the government has is that it has changed these ministers so often there is almost a schizophrenic response by the department. What people forget is that a department is, in essence, an extension of the minister and the Cabinet’s will. The brain of any government and any executive is the Cabinet room. Each minister forms part of that brain and it is that brain which drives, supposedly, the rest of the organs of the body. When you pursue as many changes from lobe to lobe to lobe the responsibilities of running the organs of the body, small wonder that the organs are incapable of functioning effectively. I go so far as to suggest that with changing the lobe’s functions so regularly, the whole organism is brain-damaged. If you want to see the results of the incapacity for the brain to effectively direct the organs on how to run, read the Deborah Melville coronial inquiry. You do not have to read far beyond that to discover the crushing failure of governments up to this point to deal with this issue.
There are two ways to respond to something like the Little Children are Sacred report or the Growing them strong, together report. There is a way in which you get involved. You say: ‘I am going to pursue this. I am going to drive this. I am going to be passionate about this’. Several people on both sides of the House have cited the former member for Araluen for her passion and drive in this area. This investigation would not have occurred had it not been for her aggressive pursuit of these issues.
It is worth drawing our attention to the government’s response to the inquiry. This brings me to the second issue, the second approach and the second way you can deal with these issues. We have to be seen to be doing something. I find it curious that yesterday we heard an announcement of a new amount of money, $130m, to help deal with this issue. Spent on what, is my question. The minister, by his own admission, has no understanding as to what he is going to spend the money on. He is still at the point of having to deconstruct and reconstruct his department. How do you know how much money you have to spend if you have not reached the point where you are reconstructing that department into the organism which is going to produce the outcomes recommended by Dr Bath, et al? It is the response of a politician we see here. It is a political response rather than a genuine response. That is my great fear as to what is being played out in this place.
The political response is to say: ‘We are doing something. Look, this is the amount of cash we are going to throw at it’. That is fine, it is a political response. What are you going to do with that cash? Where is the breakdown of the expenditure? How are you going to pull that department apart? How will the kid at Yirrkala be more protected under this reconstructed department and how do those dollars get there? There are no answers to any of these questions because the minister has not yet done the business of deconstructing and reconstructing. We had the announcement on how much we are going to spend. What if it costs twice that much? What services are you going to cut in relation to the response? What if it costs half that much? How much money are you going to waste? Are we now obliged to spend $131m where $50m may do? There will be no answers to these questions in the debate today because, by the minister’s own admission, he does not know. He has not pulled the department apart, and he has not put it back together.
The political response is something we see played out again and again by this government. There is a frantic desire to do the right thing amongst public servants - I do not doubt that. I genuinely believe every member of this House deeply wants to do something about child protection in this community. I genuinely accept that from every member in this House. But we have to come to the point where we admit and acknowledge it needs to be done in such a fashion that we take the political pain on the way. There is no desire on this government to take any political pain in this matter. That is the problem. It is a case of: let us make it work the best way we can. Let us make whatever announcements we have to make to demonstrate what a great job we are doing …
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I bring to your attention the fact that it is slightly after midday. You will have the opportunity after Question Time to resume your comments.
Debate suspended.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Charles Darwin University East Timorese Military ESL students accompanied by Ms Lorraine Sushames. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
MOTION
Note Paper - Growing Them Strong, Together - Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System
Note Paper - Growing Them Strong, Together - Report of the Board of Inquiry into the Child Protection System
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I listened with interest during Question Time to the obfuscations, dodges and political posturing which has concerned me through this process on other occasions. The government’s capacity to understate problems was probably never more clearly expressed than when I heard the Leader of Government Business, a few minutes ago, say SIHIP had a few problems. It is like saying Germany was somewhat of a nuisance several times last century.
This is the sort of thing I have come to expect from this government. I was saying before the luncheon break that there is a feeling of being overwhelmed by what is occurring in the departments. As a consequence of that, when this inquiry was launched reluctantly by the government, we got ourselves into a tizz and the government thought, politically: ‘How shall we position ourselves in dealing with this inquiry? We are going to put our hands on our heart and admit there are problems’. Consequently, they made a submission to this inquiry. That submission was fulsome, confessional in certain ways, and had some surprising lines in it, not least of which was:
- Early childhood is recognised as being a crucial stage in every person’s life. Other significant events or transition points in a person’s life include birth …
One has to wonder how panicked a government was to put that line in a report. Yes, we do accept a significant transition point in a person’s life is birth - two more helpful things for the Bath inquiry and this House.
The Little Children are Sacred report handed to government on 30 April 2007 says, in many instances, the same thing this inquiry says. The government says it is ‘gunna do this and it is gunna do that’, but it said it was gunna do it in 2007. They have a namesake amongst their membership because it is gunna do this and gunna do that.
I heard the minister say today, as though it was some fantastic new discovery, they were going to work with NGOs. I point out to the minister recommendation 46(b) of the Little Children are Sacred report from 30 April 2007 – two-and-a-half years ago, that:
… efforts be made to support community-based non-government organisations to provide recovery and support services following child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities across the Territory.
When you then turn to their subsequent submission to the inquiry into the child protection system in the Northern Territory, Appendix 2 of that inquiry deals with the recommendations of the Little Children are Sacred report. This is a document which is produced some three years later. The first thing you note is many of the recommendations made by the Little Children are Sacred report do not find their way into what government is doing now. The reason they do not find their way is that government has decided some of those recommendations from the Little Children are Sacred report are not worth implementing, or they are not going to be implemented. All that is reported on in Appendix 2 of the government’s submission to the current inquiry is what they are bothering to deal with now: ‘We have dropped a whole bunch of recommendations from the Little Children are Sacred report, and these are the ones we are focusing on’.
The reason I quoted recommendation 46 is because at least it got past the cut. The cut is those which are being followed up on by government. Recommendation 46 is being dealt with by government. But it is interesting:
- … efforts be made to support community-based non-government organisations to provide recovery and support services following child sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities across the Territory.
The Northern Territory government’s response to recommendation 46 is to refer to several other recommendations. But, when it comes to the part of dealing with this particular issue, it says:
- Northern Territory government response.
As part of Closing the Gap, the Northern Territory government has a policy of developing and supporting multipurpose facilities on remote communities.
- … the Northern Territory government has a policy of developing and supporting multipurpose facilities on remote communities.
They have a policy. Wow, that is reassuring. I wonder how many people have taken succour in a policy on a rainy night when their husband is flogging them or they are being sexually abused? I suspect it does not occur. In the defence of government, however, they do go on to say they have - this is in relation to recommendation 75:
- Twenty safe places have been established in 15 remote communities.
Three-and-a-half years later, the government has been able to find 20 safe places on the basis of what they were asked to do and what was recommended in the Little Children are Sacred report.
The history of this is quite simple. In the Little Children Are Sacred report, we saw a political response to a very serious child protection issue. As a consequence, they sent off to their departments a requirement to try to pare out whatever recommendations they thought they could do. Those recommendations have survived the cuts and then gone through the committee process of advancing all of these recommendations. However, the problem is the word ‘ongoing’ appears next to so many of those recommendations that one has to ask the question: what has been achieved? Certainly, something has been achieved. I do not believe the government is callous in its approach, merely careless.
Some things have been achieved, and those things can be found in Appendix 2 of their submission to the inquiry into the child protection system in the Northern Territory, but not what they said they were going to do. It is more about the capacity to answer the hard question than it is about actually doing what you say you are going to do.
I heard with some dismay during Question Time today that the Chief Minister was surprised about some of the staff retention issues he was confronted with, and that the departments had problems with it. I was surprised to hear during Question Time today that the Chief Minister was unaware of other issues. I was surprised to hear in his response today in relation to his tabling statement that he was frustrated by his own departments’ lack of sharing of information. They have been in government for 10 years. Have they so fundamentally and completely lost control of the public servants who are supposed to be an organ of their will that they are unable to inspire, move or frighten them, or whatever they have to do to get those public servants and that public service to respond effectively?
If the Chief Minister does not believe information is being shared effectively, then he should be responding to it as the brain, the source, the will, driving this thing on. Whilst the spin factory which is the fifth floor focuses more fundamentally on message than on substance, they will always find themselves in a situation where they will be coming into this House and doing what they do time and time again, which is apologising, acknowledging there is a problem, and promising to fix it. Their track record of keeping the promise to fix these things is appalling, abysmal, dreadful, and I wish I had a thesaurus to go through another 20 synonyms for the woeful results they have achieved in this area.
Even the response we have seen here today – let us get this thing into the parliament, let us get it out of the parliament as quickly as we possibly can - demonstrates they are not serious about a cogent, coherent and informed debate on these issues.
I have barely been able to turn my attention to what is in this report because I have not had time to read it in the last 24 hours, let alone digest it carefully. It is a reprehensible indictment upon this government that they should endeavour to come into this place and try to say: ‘We will take the heat for a couple of days in the media, and then we will get on with other stuff and start worrying about other things’. Not good enough, not the way this House should be dealt with, not the way the people of the Northern Territory should be dealt with.
Madam Speaker, this matter should be adjourned and brought back into this place when all members have had a proper opportunity to digest the 800 or so pages this report comprises so they can discuss it in a sensible and logical fashion. Sadly, this government has yet again gone for the ‘how do we manage the issue’ option rather than trying to fix the problem identified.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, that from an opposition who put out a revised opposition policy on child protection prior to a report being handed down - a somewhat disingenuous contribution from the member for Port Darwin who has been sacked as the shadow Treasurer and did not get the gig as the shadow spokesperson on Child Protection- a great attempt at spin being laid on this.
If the government had not brought this matter before the parliament as its first order of business following the ceremonial swearing in of a new member of parliament, we would have been, quite reasonably, lambasted by the opposition for not paying enough attention. So we do bring this matter before the parliament as our first matter of business and we are attacked by the member for Port Darwin for bringing it before the House when people have not had enough time to read the report.
As a government we are recognising the critical importance of the work done by Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby by bringing forward the Growing them strong, together report. Given that it was presented to government yesterday, given that government has provided an initial response to the report, we felt we ought to, to be fair to the community of the Northern Territory, recognise where we stood on the recommendations the authors were bringing before our community and our government.
We have brought this into the first day of sittings of parliament to debate and we are getting complaints from the member for Port Darwin that there is a debate on the first day of the parliamentary sitting. It is somewhat disingenuous and spurious, but we know they have form. They spin and obfuscate, they put intent where intent does not rest. We know the Leader of the Opposition does not have the confidence of all of the members opposite. We know there was a leadership challenge during the recess of parliament from the last sittings to these sittings; we know he does not have the confidence of his team, and little wonder given he applies spin and mischief in trying to represent what members say on the record.
He called me a liar in debate; I let that go because this debate is serious enough to let that allegation go. But I will respond directly to that allegation from the member for Blain. He called me a liar because he is quoting from an estimates debate of 23 June 2006, between me and Dr Richard Lim, about the categorisation investigation processes of child protection intake. The quote the member for Blain is referring to is about the issue of notification and I will read it from the Hansard transcript:
- Absolutely, I am keen to comment. Member for Greatorex, you have deliberately misinterpreted, time and time again, publicly, this issue of investigations. Again, I will put it on the record. Every notification that occurs to Family and Children’s Services is investigated. It is an issue of terminology. FACS’s Child Protection Services describe all of those notifications as assessments. That is an investigation in any term, it is an assessment in the agency’s term. Senior FACS staff do the intake and the assessments of those notifications. They make professional judgment over whether there is enough evidence to warrant going on to what the agency describes as an investigation, which is about half of the notifications that come through …
Then I went on to say I was happy to refer him again to the CEO to take him through that process. The CEO, Mr Griew, went on to say:
- The process is - as the minister says with slightly different language and slightly different policy guidelines – essentially, the process across Australia in different jurisdictions. We all have intake functions in our Child Protection Services. Notifications are all noted. Some form of desk assessment is required to decide which need to go on to a full-blown investigation, and those investigations are assigned different categories, not unlike a triage system. They are then handed to case workers who go and do the full-blown investigation. It is those full-blown investigations which are the statistics we report. There is no sense in which the agency does not take a notification to an investigation because of a resourcing issue; it is about the assessment of relevant priority.
That is what I was talking about in 2006; that is what the member for Blain likes to misquote and take out of context. We were talking about the notifications, investigations and assessment system which the intake team undertakes.
One of the initiatives I believe improved and enhanced the intake of the time was the introduction of the Child Abuse Task Force, we refer to them as CAT Force, where we co-located our frontline child protection intake team with police officers. That was about recognising we had to start to break down the disconnection between key investigative agencies, being police and child protection, to try to enhance the initial intake assessments.
The member for Blain keeps asking about the backlog numbers. The Chief Minister quite clearly said of the 870-odd backlog, no Category 1 cases have been ignored; all the Category 1 cases, which is the high category, have had an assessment. The cases have been opened and there has been an assessment of the urgency of each case. That goes to the heart of what I was talking about and trying to explain to Dr Lim in 2006.
Child protection workers, by the nature of an intake system, triage the notifications into different categories. The backlog we have is the further steps of investigation which are beyond that triaging. That is why the government has resourced the department to employ additional child protection workers to work through the backlog in the system. There is a backlog because there have been significant increases in notifications. It is not unusual to see a dramatic increase in notifications in any jurisdiction post a child protection debate, the Territory is no different. Little Children are Sacred was a significant child protection debate. Our system has gone through several waves of increases in notifications as a result of legitimate and robust child protection debates which have occurred in the Territory.
Growing them strong, together points out that a child protection system which relies on a statutory intake system will continue to be overwhelmed. Neglect cases – those which are not Category 1 cases but which need to be responded to - need to be captured through the dual pathway system which the experts, Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby, have suggested the Northern Territory introduces. We have accepted their decision to introduce a dual pathway system and we are putting resources into establishing it. It will succeed only in our ability to partner with and support the non-government sector and recognise the expertise which currently exists in communities and the non-government sector to help to build that capacity and strengthen a dual pathway system. That will not happen with the flick of a switch. That is a massive body of work which must be built and enhanced and will take some time.
There is urgency to what we are doing. There is urgency in that we have responded swiftly and quickly to the recommendations to ensure adequate resources are provided. We have responded to ensure we capture the recommendations by deciding there will be an independent, overseeing steering committee to ensure the recommendations are introduced. The member for Blain was quite cynical about whether the recommendations will be introduced. We are saying there will be an independent steering committee to oversee their implementation.
The Chief Minister called for the independent inquiry which came off the back of successive bodies of work which had looked at the child protection system in the Territory. Little Children are Sacred was a significant review. Appointing Howard Bath as the Children’s Commissioner was also a significant step forward. The high-risk audit he undertook at the government’s request was a significant body of work. He then created another body of work which looked at the application of the intake tools and the quality assurance systems within the child protection agency.
These have been the building blocks of improvement in the system. The Growing them strong, together report is about a fundamental shift in the pathway; the creation of that dual pathway. All the work the government has been doing to date has been to increase the resources of the existing agency, increase the resources of the statutory agency, to change the legislative environment through the Care and Protection of Children Act, and implement the improved quality assurance systems and tools.
That took us to a point where the notifications were continuing to increase in number and overwhelm the child protection system. That is not unusual; that is often the case when child protection systems go through such scrutiny anywhere, whether it is in New South Wales or Western Australia. That is why, having heard the brief yesterday from Muriel, Howard and Rob, they have suggested a dual pathway system to get ahead and get into the prevention space of working at community level with those important child safety and wellbeing teams, using resources which exist in the 20 growth towns, such as the police and teachers, as well as training and growing our own and embedding a child protection skilled worker within those teams so there can be a statutory response and referral if required.
The minister for Health and Families talked about looking at the model of training used in Queensland as a way to improve the ability to grow our own in the Territory. The work in front of us in partnering with the non-government sector is exciting. We have done quite a bit to support and work with the non-government sector, however, Growing them strong, together provides us with a very clear road map of how to enhance the strength of the non-government sector and ensure it has the all-important role to play within the dual pathway system which is being proposed.
There are 147 recommendations and our government supports those recommendations. We have identified a funding envelope of $130m over five years, recognising we need to put resources into supporting the introduction of the recommendations provided by the Growing them strong, together report.
The report recognised that a range of factors contribute to children being neglected: overcrowded housing conditions; school attendance; and those key contributors of grog, ganja and gambling. The government is active in tackling those key issues. We have the nation’s most ambitious housing program rolling out through SIHIP. The minister for Education is very focused on tackling school attendance; we have alcohol reforms, the remote drug desk, and we also have moved into gambling amelioration through a funding program. We are funding Amity, Somerville, Anglicare and Waltja Tjutangki Palpayi to tackle gambling by providing gambling counselling hotlines, financial counselling, and undertaking important research. There are also research projects being undertaken by Charles Darwin University and Menzies School of Health Research.
Some of the specific Indigenous-focused programs are: Wise Use of Money workshops which have been run in nine remote communities to support families to gain money management skills, educate about problem gambling and demystify gambling; the Indigenous gambling intervention service network; Word of Mouth is an Indigenous language CD and DVD which uses storytelling to reduce problem gambling and advise about credit cards and borrowing money; Amity has an Indigenous gambling program which targets young people, women and children; and about $1.3m has been provided from the Community Benefit Fund to promote information about problem gambling. The Community Benefit Fund provides funding to different organisations. $400 000 has been provided for some major projects including a youth affairs radio program, a vehicle work program through Congress, a youth arts project at Malak, and a youth culture project and supporting infrastructure. There is also a series of small grants.
Most significantly in the gambling space is a COAG reform on gambling. I will be attending a Gaming ministers’ Ministerial Council this week. Gambling is at the heart of some of significant national reforms. We need more targeted and direct ways to tackle the over-reliance on gambling, particularly amongst Indigenous Territorians. That is presented as a key issue in Growing them strong, together.
You cannot look at what we are doing without tackling the issue of alcohol. The comprehensive alcohol reforms which were announced by this government in September focus on turning problem drinkers off tap. We recognise it is chronic alcohol dependency which causes harm across our community, puts children into neglect categories and creates risks across our communities. We are taking a direct health intervention approach. The reforms will ensure we continue to work with the Commonwealth government to increase treatment and rehabilitation services. We are implementing mandatory treatment requirements through the reforms. We recognise there are severe costs of the harm alcohol is causing across our community, and we are tackling them head-on through these reforms.
We recognise that to improve the bedrock and foundations, which Growing them strong, together recommends, we have to take a whole-of-government approach in housing, the A Working Future investment the government is undertaking, police and education services, particularly across those remote communities. We recognise that the 20 key growth towns would be important service hubs for all of this work, which is why it is great to see the recommendation about the child safety and wellbeing teams being embedded into the 20 growth towns. That will be resourced by this government, and we have committed to doing that.
We cannot do this alone, and the report marks that this is a whole-of-community issue, not just a ‘Northern-Territory-government-you-must-work-on-your-own’ issue. The actions in the report are critical to address the prevention end of the work. We will continue to fund the statutory end of the work. That is why there is a commitment for another 42 child protection workers. The development of the dual pathway for the referral and assessment of lower-risk reports being made to local, non-government service providers is a critical recommendation by Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby. Funding for Aboriginal, non-government peak bodies to work in this improved family support and intervention service is a significant recommendation which the government is embracing.
Forming two Aboriginal childcare agencies for Darwin and Alice Springs is important. Those of us with experience in this sector know how difficult it can be to get a robust, Aboriginal service sector in this area. We take great hope from Muriel Bamblett’s experience in Victoria. I recognise the support that SNAICC, the national Indigenous peak body, will provide in creating these Aboriginal peak bodies. I sincerely thank Muriel and the team at SNAICC for agreeing to provide that support.
The government has committed to establishing a stand-alone agency, recognising the need for firewalls for budget protections for a child protection agency. Reporting directly to the minister will give it an enhanced and elevated status across government. Working as a matter of urgency, we are now deploying extra experienced child protection workers from elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand to tackle the backlog. That blitz is under way as we speak. We have nine additional police working to help us tackle the blitz as well. We have added 42 additional child protection workers …
Dr BURNS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: … to the system on top of the 76 which were funded for and announced in the 2010-11 budget.
Some people opposite will claim that we have not been doing anything over the years. That is patently a nonsense. We have already delivered additional frontline child protection worker positions; created a central intake team; created the Child Abuse Task Force, jointly staffed by the intake team and police; expanded the sexual assault referral services and the Mobile Outreach Service for remote communities to provide community education, counselling and support. We have established the Office of the Children’s Commissioner; the Child Death Review and Prevention Committee; the Targeted Family Support Service in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine; Safe Places in 15 remote communities, the Therapeutic Services Teams, and community education programs such as Safe Kids, Strong Futures.
We have created remote Aboriginal community worker positions in 13 communities; introduced the structured decision-making, intake, screening and priority tools; implemented the shared case management framework and practice guidelines; developed the secure care initiative and funded it in budgets; established an internal quality review process; established two additional emergency care options in Darwin; created the Families and Children’s division within the Department of Health and Families; streamlined processes for intake events; introduced new phone systems to improve call management; implemented supervision frameworks; established a child protection worker position at Royal Darwin Hospital; introduced community of harm training; increased administrative support to frontline workers; and an enhanced client information system is under way.
This is an environment where the opposition would say: ‘What have you done for nine years?’ That is a list of what we have been doing. How do you manage to do all of that? You do it by putting the resources in place and by taking the child protection budget from $7.8m under the CLP to $100m-plus under Labor; and we have announced another $130m over five years.
When the report authors told the government it will need to double its effort over the next five years to get into the preventative space to provide for the dual pathways, the government signed up to do that. As a government we did not hesitate to sign up to our responsibility to resource a system to ensure the intake systems are resourced and we can support the dual pathway of a non-government sector. This will allow us to do preventative work with the families which are struggling in situations where they are doing it tough and need support to prevent neglect which ultimately prevents abuse.
I am delighted to see the support and increases for the foster carers within the announcement the government has made - the third time the Labor government has enhanced payments to foster carers. Foster carers are doing an amazing job. I have had the opportunity to work with the Australian Foster Care Association, Judy Hansen and her team. Over the years I have seen the dedicated, hard work they do. I know the efforts individual foster carers are making in caring for children; some have multiple children in their care. Many of them have babies coming in and out of their care. I know how heart-wrenching and difficult the work they do is. I work alongside and very closely with foster carers. It has been a rewarding experience to see firsthand the work foster carers are undertaking.
I was listening to the ABC radio this morning and Julia Christensen was attacking a line of questioning about mandatory reporting of child neglect or abuse. That mandatory reporting system came into being in 1983. There is a very clear reason why this government kept mandatory reporting in place. We believe it is important to protect our children. The priority of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children is front and centre of the efforts we have been making in government. We make no apology for continuing the mandatory reporting notification system. Through successive reports this government has sought external advice from experts about the additional measures we could take to improve our ability to respond to those reports.
What we have seen is a system which has increased notifications and increased significantly the numbers of children who are now in the out-of-home care system which is where we have the critical and important foster carers in place.
Growing them strong, together is innovative in its approach with dual pathways. I sincerely thank Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby. I thank the Secretariat of their team; the authors of the report were very grateful for the support the Board of Inquiry received from the Secretariat. They received many expert submissions and had a very robust and expert reference group which met formally with the board on three occasions over five days.
This report of the Board of Inquiry into the child protection system is comprehensive. It is bold in that it lays out an innovative dual pathway process so we can hopefully ensure we are dealing with and capturing those children in areas of neglect or potential neglect, getting ahead in that early intervention and prevention system, whilst we are also dealing with the statutory system of the higher and more critical cases - the Category 1 cases. We will be growing the system at both ends and supporting the middle in a new way focused on safety and wellbeing, clarity of teamwork through agencies being packed together within teams at the grassroots level at communities as well as the regional and high level, and ensuring there is a partnership with the people at the frontline, people who live in our communities, people who have great capacity.
I acknowledge the silent heroes who have been working in our communities for years caring for children. Those of my colleagues who represent the remote electorates know who those people are; they could name those people. I have met many people in my travels throughout the Territory who are doing a magnificent job in caring for our children, whether it is part of their paid employment with the department or non-government organisations such as CAALAS and BushMob, or whether it is because they are strong and capable members of their community who are not employed to do it but do it because they love the children in their community and those bonds of kinship are strong.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I sincerely thank Howard Bath, Muriel Bamblett and Rob Roseby for the report. I am proud to be part of a government which would embark on an inquiry of such significance, then accept the report and the recommendations, and put $130m of resources, effort and intent behind it. I thank the Chief Minister for the statement today.
Mr HAMPTON (Central Australia): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the Board of Inquiry report into child protection services. I do so by acknowledging several people.
I acknowledge the people who undertook the inquiry - a great deal of work has gone into it and I am sure they and their families are relieved it is over. They put in a huge effort, particularly Muriel Bamblett, Howard Bath and Rob Roseby. I know Rob from his days in Alice Springs as a paediatrician at the Alice Springs Hospital. I thank them for their hard work over the past 12 months of the inquiry. The reference groups of Dr Leah Bromfield, Mr Charlie King, Ms Pat Miller, Mr Julian Pocock, Professor Dorothy Scott, Professor Sven Silburn, Dr Anne Smith and Ms Lesley Taylor, all the other experts, and all the people who made submissions to the inquiry, I thank them on behalf of our government, as Minister for Central Australia, as a member of parliament, and as the member for Stuart.
I welcome the initiatives already announced to improve the protection and wellbeing of young Territorians. As Minister for Central Australia, I have carriage of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan which is something I touched on today in Question Time. This youth action plan is a good example of how committed this government is to implementing measures to strengthen and support children at risk and their families. It aims to assist families and young people before they reach crisis points. The youth action plan is a comprehensive strategy which offers support to young people and their families. It ensures government agencies and non-government organisations are working together to deliver and target services to those most in need. Significant progress has been made under the youth action plan, and we are putting in place more measures which will strengthen support services to families and young people.
Since the youth action plan was announced last year, we have seen the Centralian Middle School operating with increased enrolments, the Police Beat in the Todd Mall operating, the No School No Service program up and running to tackle truancy with great support from the local businesses in Alice Springs, additional funding to the Gap Youth Centre, and the establishment of extra safe accommodation beds for young people with others coming online soon. Initial planning work is ongoing into the provision of a boarding facility to provide young people attending school with a safe place to live.
The Northern Territory government is committed to the youth hub which will go ahead at the old ANZAC Hill High School campus and will be fully operational by next year. $1.1m has been committed in Budget 2010-11 to operate the youth hub and provide an alternative education program for youth with extreme behaviour. Funding of more than $1m has been committed to capital works for the youth hub and associated works.
Non-government organisations are fully engaged in the process of deciding what the hub will look like and what services will be located there. Expressions of interest are being received from non-government organisations interested in working from the hub. The youth hub is already partially operational and services are working together to provide the highly successful inter-agency operations. The youth hub is not just about co-location. It is about providing a model where services, government and non-government, work together to avoid duplication and ensure we are targeting and reaching the young people at risk.
The formation of the Youth Coordination Committee has been convened to ensure the youth action plan is delivered in a coordinated way. A number of working groups have been established to implement the components of the plan. A new position of Youth Services Coordinator has been established and I welcome aboard Penny Drysdale who starts today as the Youth Services Coordinator in Alice Springs. Ms Drysdale will ensure all government and non-government organisations’ services are working together to ensure the objectives of the youth action plan are met. Penny will continue the great work begun by Superintendent Michael White with the youth action plan in February 2009. Michael will continue to play a key role from the NT Police in implementing various measures of the youth action plan.
As part of the youth action plan’s aim to ensure youth at risk are targeted by services, a Youth Street Outreach Work program commenced in Alice Springs on 12 August this year and is conducted on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. The Youth Street Outreach Work service monitors and engages with young people on the streets to ensure they are safe and supported, and assists them to return home or to a place of safety. The Youth Street Outreach Work team works with non-government organisations and government agencies to ensure identified young people receive any needed support in areas such as medical, education, housing, transport and family support. The Youth Street Outreach Work program works closely with police, Congress, Tangentyere Council, BushMob, the Family Support Centre, security and other appropriate agencies. Services such as the Youth Street Outreach Work will ensure young people at potential risk receive the support they need. The Youth Street Outreach Work has received support from the NT Police which reports it provides them with a direct contact point for issues with youth at night, which has resulted in a more coordinated approach to managing youth after hours.
While the Youth Street Outreach Work is operating three nights a week, NT Police, other agencies and non-government organisations continue to run collaborative operations targeting young people. There was an inter-agency youth engagement operation conducted on Friday, 1 October and Saturday, 2 October this year in Alice Springs. The proactive operation aimed to prevent youths offending and becoming victims of crime. The multi-agency response included staff from NT Police, the Northern Territory Family and Children’s Services, liquor inspectors, Tangentyere Council, Congress, the Alice Springs Town Council Rangers, and security services. A total of 28 staff were involved and 197 youths were spoken to, assisted, or supported over the two nights. Two people were arrested, 151 young people encouraged or assisted to return home or to a safe place off the streets, and two people were taken into protective custody.
The operation contributed to the aim of the youth action plan to have government and non-government organisations’ youth service providers working together to improve issues involving young people in Alice Springs.
As Minister for Central Australia, a role I am passionate about, I have also had oversight of the Alice Springs Transformation Plan. This is the $150m Australian and Northern Territory government partnership which is improving the living conditions on town camps and in the wider community of Alice Springs.
An important strategy under the Alice Springs Transformation Plan is that of dealing with social issues. Under the Alice Springs Transformation Plan strategies significant commitments have been made to supporting children and families. $3m has been allocated to Anglicare for Communities for Children projects in Alice Springs, and $1.5m has gone to a targeted family support program. There has also been $980 000 for family group conferencing, and I acknowledge that, in recommendation 31 of the Bath inquiry, there is specific mention that an Aboriginal family group conferencing model and other culturally appropriate decision-making models be developed and progressively implemented to cover all key service regions of the Northern Territory.
It is great to see the youth action plan and the Alice Springs Transformation Plan already delivering some of the programs identified in this report.
There is $1.3m to a Family Violence Outreach Service, and $1.4m to a Ready and Willing for School program to ensure young children are supported in entering preschool and moving into primary school. Significant funding of $5.4m has gone to establishing a Safe and Sober program through Congress, working with individuals and families affected by alcohol. It was great to have the federal minister, Jenny Macklin, recently visit the Safe and Sober program and discuss the way forward with many of the workers at Congress.
I do not deny that, like many other towns around the country, Alice Springs has an issue with youth on the streets at night. However, unlike the CLP and their new shadow minister, we are not implementing the knee-jerk, simplistic approach of a youth curfew. The new member for Araluen has constantly called for a youth curfew for every young person in Alice Springs, an approach which is not supported by the police or FACS, and has not been mentioned in the recommendations of this inquiry.
What we are doing is putting in place services which support young people and families through programs like the youth action plan and the Alice Springs Transformation Plan. This report outlines that there are some positives, and it states that there are some communities which appear to be much stronger with few investigations by child protection authorities.
The report highlights that these communities have active sporting teams and regular fixtures, fewer alcohol problems, and fewer serious health problems. That is why this government invests heavily in funding community sport and recreation officers in the 20 growth towns. This government provides funding of over $740 000 to employ 20 community sport and recreation officers to coordinate sport and active recreation programs in the growth towns with enormous social, health and wellbeing benefits for all community members.
Responding to this important report requires a whole-of-jurisdiction approach. It requires all levels of government, all members of our communities and organisations, in both the private and public sectors, to work together to make sure we rise to the challenge this report sets us.
Information Communication Technology, another of my portfolios, is also an important tool which will assist us to work collaboratively to achieve the best outcomes for children and families. Through the work of this government, we are connecting people who need to communicate with each other so these recommendations can be effectively implemented. Through the policy settings under this government we will have the appropriate and effective communication applications through which government can communicate and collaborate with stakeholders in meeting these recommendations.
The National Broadband Network is a critical piece of the ICT jigsaw in the Territory for this task - not so much for its speed, but for its universal reach. The communities where our children live will finally be connected to a nationwide network which will allow the cooperative, coordinated information sharing the Bath report requires. This is an example which those who oppose the NBN should carefully reflect on. It is one example of what we will be able to do with a National Broadband Network.
Being the local member of a large bush electorate, and given some of the figures and Indigenous rates identified in the Bath report, it is a very important report for me as a local member and as an Indigenous Territorian.
I would like to reflect on many of the leaders and role models, individually and through different organisations in my electorate including CAALAS, the BushMob in Alice Springs, Mt Theo at Yuendumu, the Strong Bala program through Wurli Wurlinjang in Katherine, and particularly the men’s health unit at Congress. They have been great supporters, advocates and leaders of the men’s role in our community. I acknowledge the support of the member for Braitling, and our Mayor, Damien Ryan, who have participated in many marches recently in Alice Springs.
On page 197 of the Bath Inquiry, Chapter 6, Enhancing the Service System to Support Families in the Northern Territory, there is a section about supporting men in their parenting roles. This is a very important point. We need to think about how we support men, particularly Indigenous men, in their parenting roles. It is also a focus of the Men’s Health Unit at Congress. I quote from page 197 of the report:
- The inquiry has heard of the humiliation and marginalisation of men in communities prescribed under the Northern Territory Emergency Response, who felt they were seen by the outside world as paedophiles and child abusers. The palpable hurt of these men who saw the outside world as believing they were harming their children, when their role has been one of protectors, teachers and nurturers, was evident.
- The inquiry received a number of submissions regarding the importance of supporting men in their care-giving roles with children. Effectively supporting fathers in the lives of their children provides children with role models and helps parents to share responsibility, knowledge and tasks in parenting.
Madam Deputy Speaker, as an Indigenous man, as a father, talking to the men in my electorate and my community, I feel the marginalisation they have felt has been highlighted in this report. As a local member, as a member of this parliament, I will continue to ensure the voices and roles of men are heard in this parliament.
Dr BURNS (Education and Training): Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend the committee for their report, a very difficult and quite harrowing report for them to produce - three expert people who have had access to many other people experienced in this field from where they were able to draw valuable advice and direction. They have also interacted with the public and many organisations. There have been 150 submissions to this inquiry and many people have given evidence before this inquiry. It has been a thorough inquiry; its delivery date was delayed on a number of occasions, but looking at the length and breadth of this report it is a comprehensive report. It is a road map for government and for our community to address this very important issue because there is nothing more important than the care, protection and wellbeing of our children.
Much has been said today about funding and a range of things, but one thing which caught my eye and my mind is the fact that notifications have increased by more than 400% since 2000-01. That is an incredible increase in notifications for any system to handle. I am quoting from what the minister said earlier:
- Investigations have risen from 784 to 3683 since 2000-01.
That is an exponential increase:
- Children with care and protection orders have risen from 286 to 696 since 2001.
The system has grown. Various ministers, and the Chief Minister, have talked about the increases in funding from just under $8m in 2000-01 to over $100m in the most recent budget, and the proposal by government to invest a further $130m over five years. As a number of speakers have said today, money alone will not fix this problem.
I heard Howard Bath talking about the ‘tsunami’ of child protection cases which have arisen; an apt description. As I thought more about what a tsunami is I thought about the situation which has given rise to this enormous flood of child protection issues in the Northern Territory. A tsunami occurs when there is an earthquake at fairly deep levels within the ocean caused by movement of tectonic plates, one over the other. Huge forces of nature bringing to bear upon another causing a shock wave which moves through the ocean at an incredibly fast speed - from memory, hundreds of kilometres an hour - until it reaches the shallow shores, and then floods and causes incredible inundation and devastation. As a tsunami is caused by events deep within the earth, this tsunami is caused by events deep within Aboriginal society, within our Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
I am not going to talk about the tensions and forces which exist between traditional Aboriginal culture - a hunter-gatherer economy - and our own culture, economy, set of laws and mores. These are deep things, and at the heart of it are things we need to understand better to know what is happening, because as the overlays of western government, economy and the welfare system, came into play, there was this tectonic shift, the beginning of what we are seeing today.
I was interested in what the committee said about a number of issues they faced. They spoke at length to our Caucus and Cabinet about the death rate amongst Indigenous people. The mortality rate - particularly in what we would call middle-aged people, but for Aboriginal people these people are considered old - through chronic disease from tobacco smoking, diet, inadequate nutrition, maternal nutrition, childhood malnutrition, malnutrition in utero, a range of factors.
In family groups we have a pattern of missing spaces. People who would give direction, advice to younger ones and younger parents and would take over, to some degree, the discipline of children and who are so crucial to any community or society are gone. There is a gap there. There is a bubble within the age pyramid of the very young - of 15-year-olds and older - having children and family responsibilities. There is something profound happening there. There are people who have known nothing but welfarism - being at the end of a welfare cheque with no direction in life, no motivation, surrounded by degradation and dysfunction.
We all have to realise this did not happen overnight. Parents did not get up one morning and say: ‘Well, I am not going to look after my kids anymore. I would rather play cards, smoke ganja or do whatever’. This thing has its genesis in history. I am not about the blame game in history, but we all have to understand this thing has a genesis; it has not happened overnight.
What are we going to do about it? To be fair, I believe this government’s successive ministers of Child Protection have all endeavoured to do the right thing and to resource that area. However, the job has been so overwhelming and crushing for many of those child protection workers that many of them have given up exhausted emotionally, physically, and professionally. The system has not supported those workers as well as it could have. The system has been dysfunctional. We also have to remember we should not be in the game of blaming individuals, whether they are child protection workers or a minister for that area. This has its genesis in history.
There are many factors, and one of the factors the committee mentioned which I listened carefully to was the factor of trauma and grief. I have already mentioned the funerals which have occurred, many of them for traumatic suicides. Many people have died in middle age because of chronic disease. Most of us in this place have been to Aboriginal funerals on communities. They are traumatic events; people are screaming and shrieking, people are in grief, people are cutting themselves, people are inflicting harm on themselves and have to be restrained, and there are children there. Children are exposed to this day in and day out. There is a procession of funerals on these communities. This is a chaotic, traumatic situation; we all have to realise that.
As a community we have to take this report, which is a comprehensive road map - and I am not being critical of the Little Children are Sacred report - which gives us a road map for service provision we should be adhering to, to try to address this situation. This is a very important report. At the heart of it, it is about us as a Northern Territory community taking responsibility. However, no one can do it by themselves - not one government, minister, child protection worker or parent. We all have to be in this together and support one another. At the end of the day it is about people having something worthwhile in their lives, having direction, having a purpose in life. Economic development and employment is square and centre to that. That is why this government is so focused on trying to bring economic development and further developments to our growth towns within the Northern Territory. This is our plan; this is a plan we have embarked upon for some time.
All of this is easier said than done. This is a big undertaking, but we have to do it because I see what I see. I read in the newspaper this morning about a few incidents which occurred around Coconut Grove and Nightcliff with a group of youths threatening people and engaging in all sorts of undesirable behaviour. We need to be careful, in the Northern Territory, we do not end up with a group of haves and have nots because what we will have will be a very undesirable situation. That is why it is incumbent on all of us to address this situation.
We can see the makings and precursors of some of what I am talking about here. That is why this report, and government and community response to it, is so vitally important. It is not going to be an easy undertaking. It is not just about putting more child protection workers out there, although that is crucial to relieve the burden on the system. We have to have a look at a holistic approach to community development, employment, economic development, and trying to set the situation right.
I turn to some agency matters in relation to my response to this report. I have already spoken about the funding which has come with government’s response. As the Chief Minister said, our services and our response must be based on the understanding that child protection is everyone’s responsibility, whole-of-government and whole-of-community.
The Territory government has programs in place in the education and early childhood system to protect children. The Department of Education and Training works with children, students, parents, teachers, and the community to help children at risk. Our schools and early childhood facilities deal with vulnerable children every day, and we have measures in place to ensure the protection of these children.
More initiatives are in operation since the emergency response measures were introduced. There are many elements of the emergency response which I wholeheartedly support. What I have seen, particularly over the last few years, is a disengagement of Indigenous people; I think they feel disempowered. Many people felt disempowered through the emergency response and this is something else we have to overcome. We have to re-engage with Aboriginal communities, with Aboriginal leaders in our communities, with the elders there. We need to re-engage, because I know many of them are feeling disheartened and disengaged, and it is crucial for government, for the whole community, to engage. I have been in the Territory for about 30 years, and I have never seen it as it is now with people so disengaged. I am incredibly concerned, worried and anxious about it.
We have the foundations in place to help vulnerable children within our education and early childhood systems and we are working with the community and government agencies to do more. As the report said, we need to ensure our agencies are not operating in silos whether they are Commonwealth or Northern Territory government agencies. As a government, as a Cabinet, we are focused on carrying out the recommendations of this report to have agencies working together at a local level. That is the way it has to happen. People have to cooperate, work together and share information.
About 40 targeted schools have introduced a new curriculum and training for staff to support victims and to help them detect early warnings of children suffering from abuse. That is about telling children what is acceptable and what is not in their interactions with adults - for children to be empowered, to be able to report and be able to engage in their own protection. The member for Barkly has spoken to me about this on a number of occasions and this is something we are focused on. It is already being trialled in about 40 schools, member for Barkly, and we will roll it out as quickly as we can over the remaining schools within the Northern Territory.
All staff in government schools undertake training about child protection and mandatory reporting of child abuse, which is very important. In a fortnight or so, I will be meeting with all principals in the Northern Territory. There will be a meeting in Darwin and a meeting in Central Australia. I will be thanking them for the wonderful work they do to protect children, ensure their welfare, and teach them. For all of us, I will exhort them to do more; we all have to do more. I know they will do more because they are dedicated professionals, and it is all hands on deck.
During Question Time, I mentioned Families as First Teachers, which is a program to equip parents to further support their children in their intellectual and social development to be ready for school. This is a crucial program. I mentioned mobile preschools. We are also building a remote early childhood workforce and there are pilot programs to be completed in 2011 at Maningrida, Gunbalanya and Ngukurr. Work is under way with the Australian government to develop a national quality system for early childhood services to ensure safe environments for teachers and support for children’s and families’ wellbeing and development. These are very important programs.
The department is implementing the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum which has targeted 40 schools and undertakes child protection risk audits within all schools. The issue of attendance has been raised in this report. I will release our attendance strategy within the next fortnight. It is near completion and fits in with, and is an important element of, government’s response to this report.
I mentioned during Question Time how crucial housing is and how we are equipping our tenancy support officers and frontline officers within housing over a range of issues, not least of all child protection. There will be more contact between housing officers. They will be a point of contact in our remote communities and our urban areas. It is very important they be equipped to support families. This is what it is all about: supporting families to do the right thing and give their kids the best start they can in life.
It is a very serious situation we are facing and I commend the report. What caught my attention when we had the presentation from the committee was that need to be more active at the front end of child protection. We need to be proactive in that wider, holistic approach to community development, personal development, giving people a purpose in life and supporting families in employment …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77 for the minister if he requires it.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS: Madam Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for his courtesy.
Madam Deputy Speaker, this report is telling us that social and economic development is at the heart of us addressing and redressing the situation. It is not just about what happens within the department of family and community services. It is what is happening across the whole of government, but it is wider than that. It is about social and economic development, engaging with Indigenous communities, trying to understand the genesis of this problem and, most importantly, moving as a Northern Territory community to try to solve it.
Debate adjourned.
CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (MENTAL IMPAIRMENT AND UNFITNESS FOR TRIAL) BILL
(Serial 122)
(Serial 122)
Continued from 18 August 2010.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, we shall not be opposing this bill. I hope that officers have spoken to officers at this stage because I will be flagging an amendment to assist the better operation of the bill. I apologise to the Attorney-General for the late notice but it was something I only became aware of last night and was picked up by someone who has much more patience in reading these things. I am grateful to Frankie for pointing it out to me.
This is what the former member for Araluen would have called an ‘oops bill’. Once again we find ourselves with a government which came into office astride its cavalry horse to change the world and, in its fanaticism to change the world, it set fire to many long-standing principles, realising only afterwards when it tried to remould the ashes into something else that it was not quite as good as the hut it burnt down in the first instance.
The minister in her second reading speech referred to R v Ebatarinja, a very interesting case which deals with the issue before this House. Mr Rowland Ebatarinja was the nominated party in that case. I will quote Chief Justice Brian Martin, and I wish him well in his future and hope Chief Justice Riley brings to the job the same wisdom Brian Martin had. I am sure he will, and I look forward to a consistent approach from our bench. Chief Justice Brian Martin said:
- … I am mindful of the practical problems likely to be created by these rulings. However, the Court must apply the law given to it and, if my rulings create difficulties, it is within the power of the Legislature to alleviate those difficulties. If the Legislature sees fit to provide the powers for which the Department contended, it will be a matter for the Legislature what conditions should be attached to the grant of such powers.
What would cause the Chief Justice to make these observations? The old process of keeping people who were unfit to stand trial at the Administrator’s pleasure meant that where the facts indicated a person had done everything necessary to constitute an offence but unfortunately, due to their mental capacity, they could not be brought to trial for that, they could be held in custody at the Administrator’s pleasure.
The government in 2002-03 determined this was an arcane, ancient, dreadful policy which should be immediately replaced with a new, enlightened policy. The problem was the government did not write the legislation correctly, which is why we find ourselves in this House. This House has to look at the legislative instruments, and there is a curious series of comments which could only be taken if you think about them properly as a direct criticism of this House, but by inference, of the government of the Northern Territory for failing to make its intentions clear.
It is a curious thing to compare the second reading speech with the comments made by Justice Brian Martin in the Ebatarinja matter. I want members to remember these comments from the Attorney-General when bringing this bill to the House back on 18 August. The first quote is:
- When passing Part IIA in 2002, parliament intended that, where practicable …
- The amendments will give full effect to the intended policy.
We are talking about what was intended in 2002 by the government of the day. Brian Martin, on the other hand, makes these observations:
The Legislature is expected to speak plainly when identifying persons who may restrain liberty and to specify the conditions under which the power to restrain may be exercised. The statutory scheme under consideration does not plainly evince an intention that the Court possesses the power to authorise restraint at the hands of the Chief Executive Officer of the Department or persons employed for that purpose at a residential premises separate from both a prison and an approved treatment facility within the meaning of the Mental Health and Related Services Act.
Justice Martin is quite right; he will not, and has declined to, read into a legislative instrument an express capacity to restrain a person unless the legislature makes it clear that is the intent. Why? Because, as a principled society we are passionate defenders of liberty in the first instance. I can understand why Justice Brian Martin was not prepared to accept the assertion not only made by the Crown in Ebatarinja, but also the assertion which was repeated in this place by the Attorney-General that parliament ‘intended’ something to occur.
Justice Martin will not look beyond the legislative instrument if there is no doubt as to what the legislative instrument says, and in his mind there was no doubt. He went on to say the following:
- I am unable to discern any legislative intention that such a power might also be exercised by persons retained by the Department for the purposes of supervising and restraining the liberty of a supervised person.
The problem Justice Martin had was that the intention the Attorney-General asserts was there all the time was not written into the legislation. That is a failing of the legislative instrument the Attorney-General of the day brought into this House. We cannot expect the courts to accept the argument, ‘It is not in the document but it is what we wanted to say, it is what we intended to say’. We must be very clear about what we pass in this House. I have already given notice of a disallowance motion because of sloppily drafted and carelessly checked legislative instruments by the Attorney-General. It is a consistent problem for this House.
It then raises the spectre of a problem which may occur in the proposed amendments. We now have an amendment before this House to fix the act which was going to fix the system. I am flagging that there might be a problem with this amendment to fix the act to fix the system. That is demonstrative of an occasionally cavalier approach by this government and the checks and balances which are in place.
The Leader of the Opposition’s office is a small unit with a few employees; it does not have the resources of the Department of Justice. I have an electorate officer and no other staff. Yet, between the Leader of the Opposition’s office and me, we are able to repeatedly find shortcomings in legislative instruments brought before this House. If we do not find them, the courts will. That is why we are here today: the courts found problems. It is worth noting more than a few because, in the second reading speech, if you add the court’s problem there are nine other components to the original legislation brought into this House which are being adjusted.
I turn my attention to the area of drafting concern which I have at the moment. It deals with clause 8 of the bill which is before the House, section 43ZA. I draw members’ attention to:
- After section 43ZA(2)
the following to be included, which is section 43ZA(2A). The proposed paragraph is:
- without limiting paragraph (a) - to take the accused person into custody, or to restrain the accused person, in order to prevent the accused person harming himself or herself or someone else.
What was picked up by the Leader of the Opposition’s office was a small temporal problem that this throws up because when that original section as it currently stands is read down, it deals with the accused person. However, what is sought by the insertion of subsection 2A is to allow an accused person to continue to be restrained. The problem is that, after the determination has been made that this person is not fit to stand trial, are they still the accused person? They may well not be. If that is the case, the reference to taking an accused person into custody, or to restrain the accused person, when the person is not actually accused, that is, not charged with an indictable offence, will this power extend beyond the time where the order has been created?
I point out to the Attorney-General that this issue has been dealt with. I point out clause 43ZO, where it says:
- If an accused person or supervised person …
If the term of ‘supervised person’, under what is intended by this legislation, is to be captured by 43ZO, why is it not captured by the operation of 43ZA(2A)? When this was pointed out to me I urged that staffer to contact the parliamentary drafter, and the parliamentary drafter has indicated there may be an issue with this wording. I do not know if there is not. The point is I do not want the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory to be asked to determine the issue at some future time when we have an opportunity to deal with it here today. If it is possible to deal with what may or may not be an issue, then we should do it for the sake of completeness.
As a consequence, I will be seeking that this goes into the committee stages so we can deal with this issue. Sadly, what has come back from the legislative drafter, I presume as a consequence of pointing out this issue, that we would insert the words, ‘accused person’ or ‘supervised person’. The problem is that the way the legislative instrument reads it would probably be better to approach this matter with a new clause, clause 43ZGA. That is the advice which has been received. I am hoping the Attorney-General can indicate to me that this has been circulated to her office?
Ms Lawrie: Less than an hour ago.
Mr ELFERINK: I have acknowledged this was something which was discovered late and I made that clear, but it is better to discover something late and try to fix it than allow it to pass into law.
Ms Lawrie: You are assuming there is something which needs to be fixed.
Mr ELFERINK: Yes, I am.
Ms Lawrie: An assumption?
Mr ELFERINK: That is right. And I will pick up on the interjection. Yes, I am assuming there is something which needs to be fixed. It is the repeated arrogance of this government saying: ‘We do not need to fix anything’, which has led to these issues occurring in the first place. If you had done your job right in the first place we would not be here. If you had done your job right with the waterfront legislation, we would not be back here tomorrow with a disallowance motion. Do your job and this stuff will not happen.
The Attorney-General has come into this House with 10 issues to be dealt with by this set of amendments. This is an ‘oops’ bill. Surely she should be putting her hand on her heart and saying: ‘Yes, we should fix this’, and, ‘We are not going to be arrogant and make the same decisions again’. But no, true to form, the resonating arrogance we have become so used to from this government is going to be revisited yet one more time. I hope the Supreme Court does find in favour of your opinion because it would be an extraordinarily embarrassing situation if the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory were to find otherwise.
I want to make some observations in relation to the nature of custody before we proceed. What exactly is meant by ‘custody’ is also touched upon by Chief Justice Brian Martin. It is interesting that what might be considered a custodial order with certain conditions of liberty may offer more liberty than a non-custodial order with conditions of restraint. That is not a central issue for our consideration today but it is one I remain mindful of, as the shadow Attorney-General, as the general principle of liberty operating for people who have not been convicted of criminal offences.
Madam Speaker, the nature of the issue of people who are not fit to stand trial because of mental impairment is a vexed and difficult issue and one which will throw up these sorts of challenges from time to time. As I have indicated to the government at the outset, we will be throwing our support behind this bill. I hope they consider what has been sent to them. If it is an issue I will happily see this matter adjourned so we can come back in the next few days and talk about it in the hope we can make a better law. I hope pride and arrogance will not get in the way of good legislating.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I speak to the proposed amendment to Part IIA of the Criminal Code (Mental Impairment and Unfitness for Trial) Amendment Act. The purpose of this bill is to amend Part IIA of the Criminal Code Amendment (Mental Impairment and Unfitness to for Trial) Act. As you are aware Part IIA of the Criminal Code provides for the management of persons who are believed to be unfit to stand trial due to an inability to understand the core processes or whose mental competence when they committed the crime is in doubt.
Part IIA empowers the Supreme Court to order a person who is found to be unfit to stand trial, or who is deemed to be mentally incompetent, to be subject to supervision. The court may make a custodial or a non-custodial supervision order which provides for the treatment and management of a supervised person.
The amendments to Part IIA have been proposed by the Department of Justice and are supported by the Department of Health and Families as part of a suite of tools to cater for clients with complex needs. The courts have demonstrated unwillingness to incarcerate those clients being managed pursuant to the Criminal Code Amendment (Mental Impairment and Unfitness for Trial) Act within a correctional facility. The Supreme Court has made a practice of ordering the Department of Health and Families to provide care for these clients within the community, resulting in a number of unsustainable, expensive responses.
Currently, the management of high-risk young people and adults constitutes a significant risk to government. Typically, these clients engage in high risk-taking, aggressive or disturbed behaviours which are likely to result in imminent risk of extreme harm to themselves and/or others. Their behaviour, and outcomes of such behaviours, often attracts negative media and community reaction. As a result, crisis situations have resulted in ad hoc responses being developed. Typically, these responses are implemented with other supportive legislative frameworks and utilise infrastructure resources not appropriate or allocated for this purpose.
Arrangements have been, and will continue to be, high cost, fragile, often contentious and it is difficult for the Department of Health and Families to safely manage potential risk to the client, other clients, staff and the community in the immediate and longer term. In 2009, government announced the package to provide secure care for adults and children with very complex needs. Secure care facilities will be built in Darwin and Alice Springs and will be operational in 2011. In addition, the government has announced that the Doug Owsten Correctional Centre will be in operation in 2014. As part of this development a secure mental health behaviour management facility will be built. This facility will be more effective and will appropriately accommodate prisoners with mental health and complex needs. It will be managed by the Department of Health and Families.
The legislative amendments to the Criminal Code Amendment (Mental Impairment and Unfitness for Trial) Act will empower the Supreme Court to authorise, in its discretion, the use of restrictive practices to enforce a custodial supervision order in a place other than a prison to prevent a supervised person from harming himself or herself or another person.
Madam Speaker, the amendment to Part IIA will provide the opportunity to create an individualised and therapeutic response in a community setting for a person found unfit to plead under this legislation and will provide the Supreme Court with a further tool to use in response to clients with complex needs. This amendment is important in providing adequate support for this client group in the community as it provides clarity for staff about restrictive practices with legislative cover to implement strategies at the direction of the court.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support. I do not have any committee stage amendments before me and therefore it is impossible to consider any committee stage amendments. There have not been any committee stage amendments distributed to members of parliament. I make that point to give the member for Port Darwin an opportunity while I am making remarks, to get onto the Table Office and distribute any proposed committee stage amendment. I have not received any committee stage amendments in the Chamber as would normally be the case.
Mr Elferink: However, you received them in your office an hour ago, okay?
Ms LAWRIE: An e-mail was sent to my office at 3.44 pm today from the office of the Leader of the Opposition with some proposed committee stage amendments. The e-mail mentioned that the committee stage amendments were in draft format and may attract some minor drafting changes as a result of the proofreading process by Parliamentary Counsel. Listening intently to the member for Port Darwin, it appears the draft committee stage amendments had been changed because he said it looked like a new clause needed to be inserted rather than some suggested words.
That is why I am requesting the actual proposed committee stage amendments rather than the draft as suggested in the e-mail. Nevertheless, I sought advice from lawyers from the Department of Justice about the then draft committee stage amendments they have used. I do not know whether the committee stage amendments distributed in the Chamber would be different to the draft ones; however, the initial advice is they do not seem to be necessary. The court already has power to vary a supervision order. The bill makes it clear that making interim orders does not revoke the supervision orders. I am interested to know if that is the nature of the committee stage amendments being led by the member for Port Darwin. The initial legal advice is they do not appear necessary.
The lawyers, quite appropriately, are saying we should not consider this matter on the run and any committee stage amendments led by the opposition should be properly considered. Often what occurs is, not necessarily with intention, they affect another area of the legislation and have unintended consequences. With that, regardless of the pace of distribution of the committee stage amendments through the Chamber today - and we are running out of time - I am in the position to advise the government will not be taking on any committee stage amendments led by the opposition today.
What I would do in good intent, because I do not share the hubris of the member for Port Darwin, is genuinely look at any committee stage amendments and if there was a view they may be entertained or warranted in the future, they could come in the form of a JLA - I present JLAs all the time as an Attorney-General - that is a big ‘if’ and a maybe, depending on what the committee stage amendments say and if they are deemed necessary at all. My initial advice from lawyers is, on the ones they have seen, not necessarily the ones which will be distributed, they may not be necessary.
We go back to the intent of why we are here, which is the bill itself. The bill is straightforward, and whilst the member for Port Darwin would like to refer it as an ‘oops’ bill, it is not that. It is a bill to very clearly define government’s intent in some very good reforms the previous Attorney-General, Peter Toyne, brought to parliament. It goes to the issue of custodial or non-custodial supervision orders for people who are unfit to plea. The primary purpose of this bill is to empower the Supreme Court to authorise, in its discretion, the use of restrictive practices to enforce a custodial or non-custodial supervision order, or to prevent a person from harming himself or herself or another person, where a person is supervised under Part IIA of the Criminal Code.
We did respond to the ruling by the former Chief Justice, Hon Brian Martin, in R v Ebatarinja which was the use of restraint by any person other than a prison or police officer was not authorised under Part IIA of the Criminal Code. This resulted in a practical inability to enforce - and I emphasise enforce - custodial supervision orders outside a prison. When passing Part IIA of the Criminal Code in 2002, parliament intended, where practicable, that supervised persons under custodial supervision should be held in custody somewhere other than prison, and that prison was to be a last resort. The bill gives full effect to that policy in terms of Part IIA.
Like any legislation, you have an intention, you put it in place, and it is tested in a practical environment. In the practical environment of this series of custodial arrangements with this particular client, it became evident that enforcing the supervision was the key to controlling the behaviour of that client. Many of the supervision orders which exist do not require the enforcement at all; that is, the practice of the manner in which Health is able to deal with clients in custodial supervision environments.
This is a good reform introduced by the former Attorney-General, Peter Toyne. It has stood the test of time and has come up against a particularly problematic client who was the odd one out in supervision arrangements. The level of enforcement needed to be of a higher degree to ensure his safety and the safety of the community, hence the amendments to the bill before the parliament today. We have set about ensuring fairness in the way these enforcements will occur; they will be, in a practical sense, conducted in accordance with the supervision directions made by the CEO.
We have just had the amendments distributed by Mr Elferink in the late stages of my closing remarks. I will duly pass them to the lawyers in the Department of Justice. However, I reiterate we will not be making a decision on the run here today to pass this legislation. If there is anything to the concerns of Mr Elferink or any of his colleagues, we will pick them up in our JLA if we need to – that is a series of ‘ifs’.
As I was saying, the supervision directions are made by the CEO of the Department of Health and Families which provides for independent oversight in the conditions and use of reasonable force. That is important; it will require the CEO of the Department of Health and Families to gazette supervision directions so they have the legal force of a statutory instrument.
Importantly, we have indemnity provisions indemnifying persons other than police or prison officers authorised to use reasonable force from criminal or civil liability, provided the use of force was in good faith and the exercise of a power or function under Part IIA of the Criminal Code.
I will not go on because I know the members opposite are not interested in hearing about the bill. The opposition is more intent on the committee stage amendments. I am happy to say we provided a briefing to members opposite and to the Independent member for Nelson. The opposition clearly recognised the importance of having the appropriate enforcement provisions in place, and having the appropriate authorised persons in place. They have indicated support of this bill, so I thank them for that support. I thank the Independent member for Nelson for his support, which he has indicated to me.
Madam Speaker, I know we will go into committee stage, but I again put on the record for all members, amendments dropped on the Table at the last minute will not be adopted. That is prudent. I will give the legal officers, the lawyers in the Department of Justice, the time they need to fully consider because the initial advice is they may not be necessary. The advice has also been that, often, amendments have unintended consequences on other aspects of the legislation, and that would need to be fully considered. I have also indicated that if they all prove up, squared away, all okay in the future, they will reappear in the JLA.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Clauses 1 to 12, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
New clause 12A:
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Chair, I agree with the Attorney-General that it would be remiss of her to take these things without having read them and place them into the bill, so I am not going to move these amendments. It would be against everything I have ever argued for in this House. As I acknowledged during my second reading speech, this was something we stumbled across last night.
I want the Attorney-General to understand that this is a genuine attempt to deal with what may be an issue. I am not saying it is going to be an issue. In the interests of passing good law, rather than passing into law the bill as it currently stands, we can ask the department to look at the issue, and come back and have this debate next week. This is not so urgent that it cannot last for a few more days, and if it is an issue, then so much the better. If it is not an issue I will accept that advice, we ignore it and pass this legislation next week, or on Thursday if we need to.
The reason I suggest we take that approach rather than pass this into law now is that if you bring it back as a JLA, what happens to the exposure of those people who exert force in relation to a custodial or non-custodial order in the meantime? They can do it because the rest of the bill says they are acting in good faith, so that protects them, but will it protect government?
In the interests of good legislation, I am not going to pass this motion. It would be unreasonable of me to say, read all of this, digest it, make a determination and pass it into law now, when it may not be an issue. I seek the Attorney-General’s opinion on that approach.
Ms LAWRIE: As I indicated before going into committee, it is our intent to pass the legislation today. We will consider the proposed committee stage amendments. We are aware we have a client in a custodial arrangement where we will seek to have authorised persons being able to be use force when required. This may or may not stack up. We always have the ability as a government to introduce any further amendments at any stage, the timing of which we could do, noting we have a two week sittings. We will be proceeding with our legislation and passage of the bill today. As I said, the initial advice is this may not be necessary.
Mr ELFERINK: May not be, and I accept what you are going to say. I appreciate you have a sense of urgency about this. I am not trying to be cute or funny. I hope, in that case, that I am wrong and these amendments will not be required. If I am, then you will know, at least, that you have our support.
A couple of other issues which I raised during the briefing and am seeking answers to, I note there is a potential here for repeated acts of restraint in relation to non-custodial orders in particular. Can you advise whether there is going to be some sort of …
Ms LAWRIE: What is the question again?
Mr ELFERINK: I actually stopped and waited for you. I notice there is a potential in this where a client, whilst on a non-custodial order, could still be the subject of various activities of restraint. That being the case, how many acts of restraint do you anticipate being applied before you apply for a custodial order? The reason I ask that question is, if you are consistently restraining a person on a non-custodial order they are actually in custody. I am wondering if there is some attention being turned to that issue and, if so, what are the parameters which would cause the DPP or the Health department, whoever runs this, to ask for a proper custodial order?
Ms LAWRIE: That is not a matter for speculation in this debate. That is a matter which will be dealt with by the supervision directions and I am advised they will be developed in terms of best practice.
Mr ELFERINK: Okay, not enormously helpful. However, I understand what you are saying. Can I then have a commitment from you that your department pass information to me as to what those guidelines will look like so I can be reassured as a legislator …
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, supervision directions are gazetted.
Mr ELFERINK: They will be gazetted, will they? All right. Thank you.
The other question is, what type of training will be received by the individuals who are proposed to be given these extraordinary powers? I say that in a sense that they are not ordinary powers. Can we be reassured the training they receive will apply to all people who exercise these powers?
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, I am advised, and this is why I have officers of the department of Health here who are at the coalface of developing the supervision directions, that the training will be identified in line with the best practice which occurs in other jurisdictions in Australia.
Mr ELFERINK: Once again, that will be under the supervision of the directions. Will that be wired by way of regulation or mere gazettal? Who has carriage, you or the Health minister?
Ms LAWRIE: The CEO of the department of Health, and it will be gazetted.
Mr ELFERINK: So it is just by way of gazettal. When they are gazetted will the document be there for public inspection, or will it be a gazettal notice that the document has been brought into existence?
Ms LAWRIE: It is normally a gazettal notice and then information is made available upon request.
Mr ELFERINK: Do I have a guarantee from you that the orders or directions in relation to the exercise of these powers will be a document which I will be able to read?
Ms LAWRIE: Yes.
Mr ELFERINK: Thank you. That was not too hard.
Madam CHAIR: Member for Port Darwin, can I clarify that you are withdrawing the amendments?
Mr ELFERINK: Yes.
Madam CHAIR: As tabled?
Mr ELFERINK: Thank you, Madam Chair. I have secured a guarantee that the department will look at this issue and we will, if required to make amendments, reintroduce these amendments at a later date. I am satisfied with that approach. I state on the record that whilst I would prefer we hold this over for several days so this can be done possibly on Thursday, that is a judgment call for the Attorney-General. If the Attorney-General feels secure in passing legislation which may be flawed it will reflect on her judgment and no one else.
Madam CHAIR: Thank you, member for Port Darwin. Given the withdrawal of the amendments as tabled, is it the wish of the committee that the remainder of the bill be taken as a whole?
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Bill to be reported without amendment.
Bill reported; report adopted.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
TABLED PAPER
Remuneration Tribunal Determination – Report on Interstate Travel – Members for Goyder and Katherine
Remuneration Tribunal Determination – Report on Interstate Travel – Members for Goyder and Katherine
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table reports on interstate study travel for the members for Goyder and Katherine pursuant to paragraph 3.15 of the RTD.
TABLED PAPER
Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Auditor-General’s October 2010 report to the Legislative Assembly.
MOTION
Print Paper – Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Print Paper – Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Paper – Auditor-General’s October 2010 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Remuneration Tribunal - Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010
Remuneration Tribunal - Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I table the Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010.
MOTION
Print Report – Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010
Print Report – Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Paper – Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010
Note Paper – Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Entitlements of Assembly Members and Determination No 1 of 2010
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the Remuneration Tribunal for their determination. Overall the government is happy with the determination bar one area.
Last year, we introduced legislation to align Legislative Assembly members’ pay to Northern Territory public sector salaries. Unfortunately, an oversight has occurred where the additional salary of office holders was not included in this change. It only applied to base salary of members. The RTD has linked office holder additional salary to CPI. This was not the intent of the government when it made the change last year.
The government wanted member salaries, both base and additional, to be tied to public service sector salaries. Therefore, I have written to the RTD Chair, Mr John Flynn, asking that this be taken into consideration in future determinations. I have also instructed my department to take the appropriate action, either legislatively or otherwise, to ensure this oversight does not occur again.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and I seek leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Development of Supported Accommodation at 3 Manton Street
Development of Supported Accommodation at 3 Manton Street
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received the following letter from the member for Port Darwin:
- Madam Speaker
I propose for discussion this day the following definite matter of public importance:
The development of supported accommodation at 3 Manton Street and the inappropriateness of the application when compared to inconsistent public statements by the Chief Minister.
It is signed by the member for Port Darwin.
Is the proposed discussion supported? It is supported.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! Member for Port Darwin, you have the call.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I thank you for your indulgence, and I thank the member for Johnston and my colleagues for their support.
I raise this important issue. The issue is that we have a situation where the government of the Northern Territory and the federal government have made certain undertakings through their policies and public statements about developments under the National Rental Affordability Scheme, otherwise known as NRAS - which is how I will refer to it for the rest of the day - and the proposed development at 3 Manton Street.
This is not the first time this issue has been raised in this House. The first time this issue was raised in this House was on 11 August 2010, when the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory received a question from the member for Goyder about this development. The Chief Minister said the following:
- Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Goyder for the great news. It is great news that a private sector company is going to build 88 units of accommodation in the CBD of Darwin. That is absolutely fantastic news for working people, in the services industry - fantastic.
He went on to say:
- I support it absolutely.
There are two companies which are involved in this process, and it is important that honourable members understand what is occurring here. The first company is the proponent, Ethan Affordable Housing. Ethan Affordable Housing is an organisation which works out of Victoria, and I place on the record my thanks to Ashley Fenn of Ethan Affordable Housing, a most approachable fellow. I do not raise major concerns about what Ethan Affordable Housing is attempting to do generally.
The NRAS scheme has provided funding, through state and federal governments, to all jurisdictions to build 50 000 dwellings which are supposed to meet the criteria of the NRAS. Of those 50 000 dwellings, Ethan Affordable Housing has carriage of 12 000 – a substantial slice of the federal government’s program. Ethan Affordable Housing has a business model by which they approach various developers in various areas, people who are able to fulfil the requirements of Ethan Affordable Housing. As a consequence, they say to these developers: ‘You build the thing, we will lease it back’.
That is precisely what is proposed for the structure to be built at 3 Manton Street. However, whilst the structure at 3 Manton Street is sufficient to satisfy the bare minimum requirements of the NRAS as dwellings - and one has to read the NRAS very carefully to see how that sufficiency is achieved - more importantly, the structure which is proposed to be built at Manton Street is not sufficient to satisfy as dwellings.
So, the other organisation in this matter, Rapid Form Systems, has attempted to place before the Development Consent Authority an application to construct something which would not satisfy the determination of the town plan unless it was supported accommodation. So, you have two competing intents operating here.
The first component I pay attention to is the clear differentiation between what was presented to FaHSCIA, which runs the NRAS, and what has been presented to the Development Consent Authority. I am curious as to how it is possible for the NRAS, and these are the NRAS guidelines I have in front of me, which says these things must be dwellings, reconciles with the comments in the development application, which say these things are not dwellings.
The reason, I suspect, the application before the Development Consent Authority says these things are not dwellings is to satisfy the capacity of the Development Consent Authority to determine that this is supported accommodation. Consequently, the argument is put together by Rapid Form Systems that these are supported accommodation dwellings.
I remind honourable members of the statements of the minister and the Chief Minister that these are for working people. What we are being told is that all of the suggestions made by Ethan Affordable Housing, consistent with their approach with the NRAS, are that this is meant to be for working people. But if they are to be dwellings to satisfy dwellings under the Northern Territory town plan, they have to look physically different to what is proposed.
I have spent a great deal of time trying to avoid involving myself in discussions on architecture in the development of the Port Darwin CBD; that is a matter for the Development Consent Authority. Consequently, when the Development Consent Authority is normally asked to deal with buildings which draw public criticism, I say leave it to the DCA; it is their business to make that determination. Whilst I might be critical of dwellings which have an average size of 21.5 m2, that is the choice of the people who purchase them. Whilst - and this is one area I would get involved in, because it flows onto the street - I would normally be critical of 88 dwellings being supported by 24 car parks, it is an issue I would raise with the DCA, but ultimately would say it is the DCA’s opinion which applies.
The reason I am taking the extraordinary step of introducing this into this House is because I believe the expectation of Ethan Affordable Housing and the government that this is going to be a workers’ village is not being met. I draw honourable members’ attention to some of the elements of this proposal. Amongst the development application comments, there are quotes such as:
- The proposed development will house individuals who require safe, affordable and supported accommodation.
That is on page 5 of the application. ‘Supporting Accommodation’ means:
- … an institution for poor or disadvantaged persons …
And further:
- … premises used by people moving from their homes or an institution and living for a short time in shared, supporting or rehabilitation accommodation …
That is on page 9 of the application.
- The proposed Supporting Accommodation Development is intended to provide interim accommodation for single or couple adults above 16 years …
That is on page 6 of the application:
- … the accommodation would assist a range of individual needs …
Moreover, the residents will be clients who will have assigned case workers. That is on page 7 of the application.
On page 9 of the application, it goes on to say that people anticipated in the Supporting Accommodation, who amongst other things include people who are moving from institutions - I have covered that one - and they go on to justify their claim for supported accommodation by quoting the minister from a media release, if my memory serves me, by saying non-government organisations are to provide a range of social housing options. The only reason the company would place that quote and reference to the minister in this application before the DCA is because it sees its role as being supposed to provide social housing options.
On page 26 of the application, the company again quotes the minister and clearly anticipates providing people with the skills to live in urban housing prior to entering the rental agreements as being part of its role to get the matter through the DCA. It then goes on to quote the Territory Housing website using …
Dr Burns: What page is that?
Mr ELFERINK: That was page 26 of their application. Also on page 26, it quotes the Housing the Territory website:
- Government is supporting people who have little experience living in an urban environment with an opportunity to learn and develop a range of living skills which will be provided in partnership with community sector organisations.
The company is repeatedly quoting a role of government which it is using to support its application before the Development Consent Authority to demonstrate this is supported accommodation. However, that is not what government has said. It is not what the Chief Minister said to this House. I can imagine him standing up and saying: ‘I support it absolutely’, if he thought he was talking about workers’ accommodation.
What is absent from the application before the Development Consent Authority is the understanding, belief or suggestion this is for workers’ accommodation. I know that is the intent of Ethan Affordable Housing, but it looks like a sleight of hand is being perpetrated here in that Rapid Form Systems is attempting to tell the NRAS this is one thing and then going before the Development Consent Authority and saying it is something else.
Without criticising the government, this MPI gives the government an opportunity to respond to what could become a very big problem for government in the future. If this is passed as supported accommodation then that is what it will become and it will have a list of clients who will need higher levels of support. These are people who will require case workers. These are people who will be coming out of institutions such as prisons.
I am anxious that the government responds to this and accepts that the application before the Development Consent Authority does not reflect the promise the government made about what this development is going to be. Because if this Development Consent Authority application is passed as it currently is it will be so far from what government has promised it would be, as to be a completely different thing. Should the DCA rubber stamp a proposal of this nature there is nothing stopping the structure being used in the fashion for which it is authorised.
If, for argument’s sake - and it is probably an extreme example - I lodge an application for a petrol station but promise to build a hotel and I am approved, then nothing stops me from building a petrol station. Similarly, if I lodge an application for supported accommodation and promise to build a workers’ village there is nothing stopping me using the building as supported accommodation. I suggest that the Health minister, the Chief Minister and the minister for Housing would accept that people with ‘personal issues’ would not be the sort of people you want to stack 10 storeys high in rooms of 21.5 m. It would not be good policy. I am certain there is no shortage of historical evidence to demonstrate that treating people with ‘personal issues’, people coming out of institutions and people who need case workers, would be well suited to being stacked into an 88-room building, 10 storeys high, where the average size of each unit is substantially smaller than our parliamentary lobby.
Consequently, I urge the government to respond to this in a positive fashion. Perhaps it wants to discuss the matter with Ethan Affordable Housing and have the design adjusted so if it is going to be dwellings as required by the town plan it becomes dwellings as outlined by the town plan.
I urge the government to acknowledge there is a serious difference between what it has said and what is before the Development Consent Authority. I do not want to be down on people who need supported accommodation; there are people who need supported accommodation. However, what is proposed, if used as supported accommodation, will have calamitous outcomes for the community.
I have given notice to Rapid Form Systems of my concerns, and I repeat them in this House so members will know the questions I have asked. I asked Rapid Form Systems: if NRAS is not a social program but a program designed to address the rental affordability crisis, why is Rapid Form Systems presenting the case for a social accommodation program? How does it reconcile the comments in the application suggesting it is providing social housing by quoting Dr Burns and the government’s policy? Will it provide a copy of all briefings provided to the Northern Territory government outlining exactly what it is proposing and if not, why not? What are the ‘personal issues’ referred to in the application which will be covered by the service to be provided? Do they include people with physiological disorders, or people with a history of drug and alcohol addiction? If these services are extended to this type of client, what support does it envisage for them beyond mere accommodation? Is recent unemployment the only criteria for short-term assistance when it refers to it in its application to provide services to the recently unemployed, or is there an examination proposed for the reason for that recent loss of work? Was the person charged with a particular type of criminal offence? What is the classification of disability it will use for disabled people who receive assistance? What is the function of a case worker, as described in the application? Is the role of the case worker broader than assessing the need for accommodation? If so, how much broader? What institutions will it accept clients from? Can it provide a list? What form of rehabilitation accommodation will it be providing?
I note from my conversation with Mr Fenn the intention for the management of the accommodation was two daytime staff and one night caretaker. What qualifications for the treatment of people with personal issues and who require rehabilitation will these people have, or are they merely managers of the property? If the staff are merely property managers, what is the process of dealing with people who are evicted from the premises? In assisting people who ‘need new skills to live in an urban environment’, what training does it seek to provide? Has any consideration been given to the management of cultural issues arising out of family disputes when these people come from remote Territory Indigenous communities? If so, what consideration has been given and what are the outcomes of those considerations?
Madam Speaker, I have provided Rapid Form Systems that list of questions, and my own objection to the DCA to this proposal going ahead. At this point, Rapid Form Systems have not replied to those questions verbally or in writing. Whilst those questions are unanswered for me, is one issue; whilst they are unanswered for the government, that is another issue. I would hate to see the government supporting something which would cause increased disruption to the CBD in Darwin.
Dr BURNS (Public and Affordable Housing): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Port Darwin for bringing this matter forward. This is a matter for him and his electorate and, as local member, he has taken an active interest.
I believe the problem is the member for Port Darwin is using two separate parts of the application document which was submitted to the DCA and joining them when they are separate entities in the argument – separate but linked – being put before the DCA. I will give you my understanding of it, member for Port Darwin.
Under 4.3 the proponents put forward to the DCA:
- In accordance with the provisions of the Northern Territory Planning Scheme 2007, the proposed use is defined as Supporting Accommodation:
Then they quote the act, and it is in bold and italics:
- “Supporting Accommodation” means:
Then the proponents go on to say:
- As discussed in Section 4.2 above, the proposal satisfies cause (b) of this definition, being interim accommodation intended to house residents for a short time prior to transitioning to longer term housing.
It makes it plain that, under the definition within the Northern Territory Planning Scheme, it is taking a select part of that as justification for applying for a particular defined land use. Then, if we go back to section 4.2 it is very clear about who is expected to use this accommodation:
- It is envisaged that the accommodation will assist a range of individual needs and, by way of example, the supporting accommodation may provide (but is not limited to:
The way I see it, it is supporting someone who is young, has come to the Northern Territory for a job, may not have a rental history to be able to enter the private rental market and needs to establish their bona fides. This is short-term accommodation to allow them to do so.
The second one is:
interim accommodation for a worker relocating to the city and needing affordable and supported accommodation for a period until they find suitable, affordable, long-term accommodation.
That is very plain, and is in line with what the Chief Minister said in the quote which has been attributed to him.
The one the member for Port Darwin has talked about is:
interim accommodation for persons with personal issues …
The member for Port Darwin has seized upon the issue of personal issues and said: ‘What does this mean?’ Does this mean people with a psychiatric illness? Does this mean people who are drug addicts? Are these people with a range of what he believes to be undesirable traits which should preclude them from living in such accommodation? I am not sure whether the member for Port Darwin asked Ethan Affordable Housing, as I have, what may constitute personal issues. One example which was given to me …
Mr Elferink: I have. I sent a letter to them; you did not listen.
Dr BURNS: Well, member for Port Darwin, a personal issue may be that someone has had a marriage break-up and needs to move out of their home and needs accommodation for a short term until they can find accommodation elsewhere. That is an example which has been presented to me of someone with a personal issue. It is a very understandable human situation which, unfortunately, so many people have. There are many marriage bust-ups in our community. People split the sheets, they take off or, for whatever reason, one of them cannot live in the same house and has to find interim accommodation, usually at fairly short notice, until they get back on their feet.
Then:
assisted living for a less mobile/disabled person who requires assistance in accessing services and managing house duties …
I do not think anyone in this House is in the business of discriminating against people who have these issues. They are disabled people, they may need some assistance with their housework, they may need other types of assistance. As Housing minister, I am not going to stand in their way and say: ‘You should not be living in this circumstance’.
interim accommodation for a recently unemployed person needing short-term assistance until they re-gain employment.
All of those are very laudable criteria by which people should be able to access this type of accommodation. It was very plain and clear in its application about who it wanted.
Under 4.2, and I am quoting:
- The proposed development will house individuals who require safe, affordable and supported accommodation. Tenants will be accommodated for a short-term until they are able to transition to appropriate longer term housing.
I do not have any problem with that in terms of the parameters set out under the NRAS funding. There is a need for a range of accommodation options across sectors. Short-term and transitional is one of them and longer-term is very important. The 1200 properties which will be provided in Darwin and Palmerston under NRAS, under the Prime Minister’s pledge during the election campaign, minister Plibersek’s pledge, will be delivered. From my discussions with Ethan Affordable Housing, I believe it will be providing a range of accommodation options. That is very important.
In terms of case workers, it says:
- Ethan Affordable Housing currently receives tenancy referrals from governments, councils and other non-government organisations from around Australia with requests for people who find themselves in need of affordable, supported and safe short-term accommodation.
There is nothing wrong with that. Why should there not be referrals? If someone has a job offer in Darwin, why should they not try to access services to try to find them accommodation, particularly in the short term if they have to start that job quickly. So they know they can come to Darwin and get accommodation on a short-term basis until they find longer-term accommodation.
There is no doubt in my mind that it is very clear in the application. What the member for Port Darwin has done is taken direct quotes from the Planning Act, used that, jumbled that all together, shoved that in and said: ‘Well, these are the sort of people who will be staying in this accommodation’.
In my mind the proponents have been very clear about who they will be serving and the type of tenants they will be having. That is not to say there will not be difficulties with some tenants and some tenants’ behaviour which will have to be addressed. I am assured by Ethan Affordable Housing there will be adequate management systems in place to deal with any problems which arise.
We have the member for Port Darwin’s media release. It has a cute title, Manton Damned. That is a clever use of words and I appreciate that. The member for Port Darwin raises all the issues he has on the floor of parliament today within his media release.
Ethan Affordable Housing’s media release says:
- Our role in the Territory is to support low and middle income workers and the project in Manton Street will achieve this for city workers who want to live close to their work and might not have a car.
Mr Fenn goes on to say:
- Affordable housing cannot be a political slanging match, but needs to genuinely help those who do not have suitable accommodation.
I can see that Mr Fenn is worried this development has become a political slanging match. Why he is concerned is understandable. We were in a federal election campaign, we had the Deputy Prime Minister become the Prime Minister and make a pledge about 1200 dwellings under the NRAS, which gives subsidised rent to 1200 households. It is not surprising that, politically, some people would seek to muddy the waters to make it a negative proposal instead of a positive one.
I will leave the matter of this development to the Development Consent Authority. It is a separate and autonomous body and has representatives from the community. It has people from the Darwin City Council who do not sit as representatives from the Darwin City Council but they are experienced aldermen. The Development Consent Authority will make a determination. It will take into account the objections which have been put before it by the member for Port Darwin and others, and what is proposed within this fairly lengthy document by Ethan Affordable Housing.
I have met with Mr Fenn of Ethan Affordable Housing on a number of occasions. It appears to me that in this economic climate developers are seeking out Ethan Affordable Housing as an affordable rental housing company because they can invest in developments. Currently, some developers are having problems because they are not able to achieve the levels of pre-sales which are required. According to Mr Fenn, and I believe it because I have spoken with other affordable rental housing companies, Ethan Affordable Housing is in a position to undertake developments. It has the wherewithal, the backing and the guarantees. Many developers are beating a path to the door of these affordable rental housing companies and there is much to do.
There are many developments which have to take place. I have mentioned the 1200 housing units. I welcome the federal government’s stimulus package where we are doing a range of things. There are currently around 180 dwellings under construction. Most of them will be completed by the end of this calendar year and all will be completed by the end of this financial year. There is a great deal going on. As a government, we are investing $50m in approximately 150 new public housing dwellings. There is a range of things happening with Northern Territory government funding and funding from the Commonwealth.
It is a time of great need. When I was flying to Alice Springs last week I flew over Johnston. What a fantastic development that is and in the distance you can see Bellamack. That is an extensive development. I know members from Alice Springs fly regularly and I am sure they have seen it as they fly over Palmerston. I drove along some of the civil works about three or four weeks ago. There are kilometres of civil works within that Johnston sub-division. They even have the bus shelters there and they are building the headworks. It will be a massive development.
From memory, there are about 3000 dwellings within what I call Palmerston East and then we have the proposed development of Weddell. I commend the minister for Planning for the forum he held on planning Weddell. I am receiving very positive feedback about that.
The new member for Araluen raised the issue of worker accommodation. I would like to see affordable rental housing companies like Ethan Affordable Housing move into areas such as Alice Springs. I have had preliminary discussions with Ethan about it. Both sides of politics need to be making partnerships with Ethan. We do not need to be trying to put a negative blanket over what it is doing. It is new in town and is saying: ‘What the hell is going on here?’ You can see that reflected in the media release by Mr Fenn.
Madam Speaker, I am not going to speak for Mr Fenn; he can well speak for himself. I have laid out the government’s position on this development and I commend the work of Ethan Affordable Housing. I welcome the announcements made by the Prime Minister during the election campaign and I look forward to the delivery of 1200 dwellings which are much needed in the Darwin housing market.
Discussion concluded.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Conlan interjecting.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to start tonight with a promise I made to the former member for Brennan, Mr James Burke, at the Solomon by-election where I was telling James about my situation in …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! The member for Greatorex is talking over the member for Brennan.
Mr Conlan: I am terribly sorry; I was talking to the member for Araluen.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you, member for Greatorex. It is a little noisy and difficult to hear the member for Brennan.
Mr CHANDLER: I was telling the former member for Brennan the issues I had with vehicles in Central Australia in July when it was very wet, very cold and without the proper vehicle left me in a very precarious situation bogged on the Ernest Giles Road and how I wished at the time – it was about four degrees - I had my former vehicle which was a four-wheel drive. I had openly criticised the former member for Brennan for having such a vehicle and I now take back that criticism because I think it was an excellent choice by the former member, and on that day I would have loved to have had a four-wheel drive.
I apologise wholeheartedly for the comments I made in relation to his vehicle. It was a very good vehicle, a four-wheel drive, particularly when driving some of the roads in Central Australia.
I did jump a little early; however, the last thing I would like to say on this day of a terrible report tabled in relation to child protection is to thank the Child Protection minister, Mr Kon Vatskalis.
I was at wits’ end recently with a situation in my office which demanded something be done immediately. In most cases, the protocol is we write to ministers and wait for a response. In some cases we get the answer we were hoping for and the situation is resolved; other times we get letters which do not provide any answers to the problem - much like Question Time every day in this House when specific questions are asked and answers are not provided by government. In this case, the problem was serious and immediate and I knew drafting a letter was not going to cut the mustard; it was not going to deliver the immediate result we needed.
At that time I broke with protocol and e-mailed the minister directly; and I can tell the House within 35 minutes the minister had got back to me to tell me he was onto it, and the very next day I received a well planned e-mail from his advisor expressing concern and mapping out a plan they had put in place for this case.
On a day when we are talking serious issues in relation to childcare - and I know there is much to do from both sides of this House - this side of the House is genuinely concerned with what has happened with child protection over the last decade, and that concern will genuinely provide any support which needs to occur for proper processes that lead to better outcomes for our children whether they are in urban areas, rural or remote.
So on the day when are talking about something that is very serious and we know, and I have identified many concerns, I wanted to indicate there was one issue dealt with in the last few weeks which I would like to thank the minister for because it was dealt with quickly, although perhaps a little out of order.
Ms PURICK (Goyder): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will talk about some of the outstanding achievements by the students of Taminmin College, as it is now called. They had a special general meeting to change the name from Taminmin High School to Taminmin College, which is a great reflection upon the advancement of that institution.
Recently, the Australian Mathematics Competition for middle schools was held. It was introduced in Australia many years ago and is now conducted across not only Australian states and territories but also through the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The aims of the competition are to highlight the importance of mathematics in our curriculum subjects, to give students an opportunity to discover talent in mathematics and, of course, to provide resources to the classroom and general discussion in this field and discipline.
Madam Deputy Speaker, as you would know from your background, there are different categories for high distinction, distinction, credit, proficiency in mathematic skills and problem solving, participation, and prudence awards.
It is my pleasure to mention the names of students who achieved, and I will start with the top students.
In Year 7: Jessica Waters received a high distinction, which means she is in the top 2% for the year and region, and is an extraordinary achievement; Jordan Abbott received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; Jack Byrnes received a distinction which means he is in the top 15% of the year and region; and Natasha Bond received a distinction, which means she is in the top 15% for the year and region.
In Year 8: Andrew MacKay received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; Mark Stoddard received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; and Jack Hopkinson received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region.
In Year 9: Thomas Raymond received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; Bradley Blyth Moffatt received a distinction, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region; and Phillip McDevitt received a credit, which means he is in the top 15% for the year and region.
The Prudence Award winner went to Jack Hopkinson in Year 8.
I congratulate all those students on their achievements and, perhaps more importantly, for embracing mathematics and for participating in this type of competition and enjoying it, and doing well. So, congratulations to them all.
This year, in mid-August, Taminmin College had an inaugural science expo. Many of the science teachers at the college, and parents and other interested people, wanted to promote science studies to a greater extent. They came up with a concept, which I believe is terrific, and held the inaugural Taminmin Science Expo on 20 August, which was a successful event. I went, as did other members of this parliament; many teachers participated and helped students and, of course, many visitors. They are already planning what they can do next year for the science expo.
The school gymnasium was just chock-a-block with students and their quirky and interesting experiments, some more bizarre than others, including a young student who does horse massage - I call it horse whispering - to how you get eggs to float in vinegar. It was a tremendous day, and I know the students thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
I acknowledge and thank Ros Hardcastle, the science teacher I had the most to do with in regard to this expo, for the planning which went into it. I assisted by talking to many of the exploration companies which have offices in Darwin to see if they could support the science expo, which they did quite easily and readily because they, of all companies, appreciate the need to have students come out of the curriculum system with science backgrounds.
I acknowledge Platinum sponsor, Neville Bergin, from Minemakers Ltd; Platinum sponsor, Jennifer Parks, from Cameco Australia; Gold sponsor, Geoff Eupene, with Crossland Uranium; Gold sponsor, Rob Bills, with Emmerson Resources; I, as member for Goyder was a Gold sponsor; Mary Walshe, a Silver sponsor from the Litchfield Council; CMAX Cinemas was a Silver sponsor; the Chief Minister was a Silver sponsor; Robert Knight, the member for Daly, was a Silver sponsor; Gerry Wood, member for Nelson, was a Silver sponsor; CSIRO was a Silver sponsor; John Shanahan, of the Science Teachers Association was a Silver sponsor, Michael Scott of Crocosaurus was a Silver Sponsor; Julie Smith of Hairdressing Straight A Head at Berry Springs was also a Silver Sponsor. It was from these sponsorships that enabled many awards and prizes to be given to all the students.
I congratulate not only the students who participated with great enthusiasm, but all the science teachers. I thank Ros Hardcastle, and I will be helping her next year to get more businesses involved, not only as sponsors, but to see what the students are doing.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend the college and their science faculty, and wish them another successful science expo next year.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to put some condolences on the public record because, as the member for Johnston said earlier about the inquiry, there are many deaths on Aboriginal communities and I want to put on public record deaths of people at Kintore.
I send my condolences to Andrew Spencer, an Aboriginal Police Officer at Kintore, who recently lost his son. And to Kulitja, who lost her daughter through liver cancer. My condolences to Tarna Andrews, Acting Principal at Areyonga School, and Pastor Trevor Raggett for the loss of their beautiful mum a couple of weeks ago. The death of Roy Larry at Haasts Bluff, just last weekend; I send my sincere condolences to that family there. Also to Pastor Murphy Roberts at Papunya, who lost his wife recently, who was a great artist, Katungka Napanunga.
I thank the government on behalf of everyone at Hermannsburg, and the Williams family, for the state funeral held for the late Gus Williams, who was a wonderful man. Anyone who knew that man knew he was a loving and gentle human being who had lots to give to people. He tried very hard to have economic development and show people the way without welfare. He always lived recognising what had happened to people like him in the past with the missionaries, how they all had the trade of being builders; they built the first houses at Hermannsburg, and worked in a tannery and made belts and buckles. So, I want to put that acknowledgment on the public record.
If you heard the song sung by his granddaughter, Cassandra Williams, at the funeral called Lay Down Beside Me, and the line that really stuck to me was: ‘I didn’t know music til I heard your name’. As kids growing up on remote Aboriginal communities, we had Slim Dusty, Buddy Williams and Gus Williams.
The late Gus Williams and his wife, Rhonda, would always have sing-alongs in Palm Valley, and everyone would turn up to hear Mr and Mrs Williams sing. Their late daughter, Ingrid, was also a singer with her mum and dad; and his grandchildren and his children, like Warren H Williams, have grown up being musicians and having the most beautiful voices. If you heard both Denise Williams and Cassandra Williams sing at the funeral, it was absolutely moving to see the grandchildren of the late Gus Williams perform so fantastically at his funeral to farewell him.
Trevor Adamson turned up to the state funeral all the way from South Australia. One of the things Trevor Adamson said was: ‘I always used to watch that man’s fingers on the guitar. He taught me about music’ – and the things that Gus did. Tamworth was a very long way from Hermannsburg, but he took that trip every year to Tamworth, chipped away at it until he was fully recognised, with his son, Warren H Williams, for the contribution they made to the music industry. That is some of the encouragement we need to put back into the Indigenous communities to make sure people go back into that music industry. It is a fantastic industry, it is a calm industry, and it is an industry that can take you a long way.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I wish to touch on several issues, but before I do, I ask the member for Macdonnell to pass on to Tjapaltjarri Spencer my condolences, as well. I have known Tjapaltjarri for many years and to hear that he has lost his boy is a shock. I know that both he and Eileen will feel that deeply.
I add my condolences, and I presume there will be a condolence motion for Injulka Williams from government. I would hope, seeing they put on a state funeral, they will condescend to a condolence motion; but if they have not, then I pass on my condolences to Baydon and the family, as well, for the loss of Injulka.
I was a very young policeman the first time I met him out at Hermannsburg, and he was a great guide for me when I held the seat of Macdonnell. There were times he and I had terse and cross words, but that was the nature of that representation and I always respected his judgment and his wisdom. If our cross words ever caused him any rancour, he never showed any evidence of it, and I assume there was no rancour based on the fact that he also took me to places and showed me things that many people do not have the privilege of seeing.
I lay on the record my thanks to him and the contribution he made in my personal development, both as a police officer as well as a local member of parliament. I once made the mistake of calling him ‘Old Man’. I meant it out of respect, but he glowered at me with one of his withering stares and he said: ‘I am not an old man, but you can call me Chilpyi’. People who get the language will understand the curious distinction which is not quite a distinction, but I did from that day on call him Chilpyi and sadly, of course, it proved that he was a Chilpyi in every sense of the word - he got old - and the hole he leaves behind I hope there is someone there to fill it, lest that community fall back into a void so many other communities have fallen into. I certainly hope that someone steps up to the mark and fills that void. But time will tell.
Madam Speaker, I also rise today to say congratulations - it is a little belated - to Heather Malone from Penny’s Fancy Dress, who is this year’s Telstra Business Woman of the Year
I say this essentially to embarrass her because Heather and I go back an awfully long way. In fact, I was her debutante partner when she went to the debutante ball back in 19-something-or-other, and I am not going to say when that was. I am delighted to see that she has gone from strength to strength. I visited her shop, Penny’s Fancy Dress Hire, and she has made it an absolute goer. I have always had a great soft spot in my heart for Heather; I think she is totally hot, and I am glad she has done so well with her life.
I say this as much to embarrass her, as I know she will be, but I will certainly be posting this Hansard to her. I am just so proud of her; and I think we all should be proud of the Telstra Business Woman of the Year, because I certainly am. Her successes and her enthusiasm for life is an absolute joy to me, and it is a pleasure to know her.
I also wish to raise another small issue which has been raised with me; but it is one of those things that is like a pebble in your shoe, you do not really know how irritating it is until you have to put up with it.
I have had a visitation from a member of the public who has to carry around the new bus timetables everywhere he goes because he relies very heavily on the bus services of the Northern Territory and finds it extremely difficult to stick the new bus timetables, all of them, in his back pocket or in his bag, or wherever. He has to rely on a series of pamphlets or on the government document, which is an A4 sheet of paper. He reliably informs me there was a time when all the bus routes and their times could be fitted on a couple of sheets of paper, and you could find a bus anywhere you liked and find the bus route on that. Apparently, that single sheet of paper is not being reproduced, although there may be a booklet which might be purchased at some point in the future.
I ask the Transport minister to ask his department if they can reproduce the old single sheet of paper for no other reason than - and for the purposes of Hansard I am now holding up a bundle of paper about two inches thick - in your back pocket it is an unwieldy thing to carry around when you rely on so many different bus routes. I promised him I would raise it with the Transport minister, and whilst it may not be so important to those of us who own cars, it is vitally important to have a convenient and usable form of bus timetable when you are travelling on our buses.
So, I keep my promise to this gentleman; I have raised the matter with the Transport minister. I am glad to see he is in parliament listening to this, and I expect the Transport minister will be able to advise the House in the not so distant future that a more user friendly timetable is available.
I am also going to keep a promise I made last week. We live in a wonderful and marvellous technological age. Not many members are aware my father, before immigrating to Australia, was married prior to marrying my mother and he had three children by his first wife.
It is funny, on Facebook I ran into not only my half brother, with whom I lost contact 40 years ago, but also his daughter, who would be my half niece, I suppose. His daughter and I were talking back and forward on Facebook and during the course of that conversation I promised I would mention her in parliament because she thought it would be cool.
As a consequence, I seek the indulgence of the House, and I would like to pass on my regards to Kirsten Elferink and say: do not let the grey of the mundane and the ordinary leach the colours from your pallet. Challenge yourself, enrich your life with effort and life will be a wonderful place. It is great to meet you again, Kirsten, and I hope you get a thrill from being mentioned in the parliament of the Northern Territory.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak about an outstanding small business woman, Hollie Goodall, who lives in my electorate. Hollie is the brains behind HG Fitness, Darwin’s first mobile outdoor personal training business.
After moving to Darwin from Queensland in 2004, Hollie set up the business from scratch. She did everything in those early days: training clients, designing fitness programs, and marketing and sales. Now Hollie employs 12 trainers to run the fitness programs that have become so popular, including boot camp, fitness classes for women on our defence bases, aqua aerobics and a swim school for infants.
Perhaps the most popular of these fitness programs are the classes targeted specifically at new mums, following Hollie’s venture in to motherhood. The ‘mums and bubs boot camp’ allow new mums to improve their fitness in a friendly environment. The participants can attend to their babies when they need to without the added expense of childcare. In addition, the Pilates and Prams program uses babies as a resistance weight, instead of conventional weights, to improve core strength and flexibility. It is a hugely popular program and it is run weekly at the Jingili Water Gardens.
I am told Hollie also trains some local celebrities, in particular the member for Fannie Bay whom, I am assured, loves his beach running and his hill sprints.
Hollie’s popular business has been recognised twice this year for its outstanding success. First, HG Fitness won the AMP Innovation Award at the Telstra Business Awards for the Northern Territory. This award recognises innovation in the business world - something Hollie has definitely mastered.
Just recently, Hollie was again recognised when HG Fitness was nominated in three categories at the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. The nominations for HG Fitness were: Commonwealth Bank Business Owner Award, Nokia Innovation Award, and the marie claire Young Business Women’s Award. While Hollie did not take home a category win this time, it is a huge achievement to be nominated in these categories with other great businesswomen from long-time Territory businesses, including the overall winner, Heather Malone of Penny’s Fancy Dress.
Hollie has done a fantastic job building her business from scratch to a hugely popular business that attracts hundreds of Top Enders to her classes and programs each week. I congratulate Hollie on her remarkable achievements and look forward to watching her continued innovation and success.
I also wish to speak about Janine Sutter, one of the many great teachers from the Moil Primary School in my electorate. Janine was recently awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Order of Merit is something we, in Australia, are not familiar with, but it is a very prestigious award. It is the highest honour Germany pays to individuals for services to the nation.
Janine received this award from Honorary German Consul, Britta Decker, for her commitment to the education of German exchange students, and to teaching German to Moil Primary School students. To be recognised with such an award by the people of Germany, here in Australia, is a fantastic achievement. Janine has been teaching at Moil Primary School for 16 years and has been a committee member of the Language Teachers Association for more than 20 years.
Students at Moil Primary School are taught the German language and about German culture from Transition through to Year 6. Part of this program includes the option for students to get involved in a German choir - what a great way to get a deeper understanding of the language.
Janine also spends many hours finding homestay placements for German exchange students. Janine is committed to ensuring that learning the German language is exciting and valuable for the students and, by all accounts, she is doing a fantastic job.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I congratulate Janine on receiving such a prestigious award, and for her continued commitment to education at Moil Primary School.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Deputy Speaker, I pay tribute and thank the member for Johnston, the minister for Education, for some exemplary work he put into assisting people in my electorate in the last few weeks. I see the minister nodding his head; he knows what he has been up to.
The Kids Force Early Learning Centre was destined to close on 30 August. There were a number of problems involved in relation to the committee running that organisation; they said they had financial problems and difficulties in running the centre. I contacted the minister and, to my amazement, the minister went above and beyond the call of duty and provided every assistance possible to that childcare centre. Sadly, it was out of the minister’s control, and out of my control, and that childcare centre has since closed down.
However, I would not feel right if I did not stand up now and pay tribute and thank the minister for his wonderful efforts in that regard. I know the parents of the children who were attending that childcare centre were also equally impressed.
Minister, you have some friends in Fong Lim, you might be surprised to know ...
Dr Burns: I might nominate.
Mr TOLLNER: Madam Deputy Speaker, it is with great sadness that I speak on the passing of the well-known Territorian, Gympie Lew Fatt.
Gympie was one of 10 children of Monica and Walter Lew Fatt. Walter’s father, Gympie’s grandfather, Lee Kong Fatt, arrived in the Northern Territory from southern China around 1877, and he worked on the construction of the railway line between Darwin and Pine Creek. Gympie’s father, Walter, was a knockabout Territorian who, with Monica, produced a sporting dynasty unlikely to ever be repeated in the Northern Territory.
Gympie and his siblings excelled in sport, particularly in Australian Rules, and Gympie was also a very handy boxer. He was what many of us would refer to as the complete athlete who could play a number of sports. If the opportunity had been there, he could have aspired to the AFL, or the national football competition. Sadly, for Gympie, those opportunities were not there.
Gympie worked as a clerk’s assistant and as a serjeant-at-arms in this parliament, in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. He was well known to members in this place as a non-assuming and efficient operator. He worked to assist all members in this House and was highly regarded by all.
Gympie worked as an administration officer at Aboriginal Hostels. He worked very well with that organisation and was promoted to Regional Manager in Darwin. This was a very satisfying period of around 20 years.
In 2001, sadly, he suffered a health setback when he was the victim of a severe stroke. His courage, with the help of his wife, Shirley, assisted with his recovery and, in 2004, he retired to settle down with Shirley and enjoy their retirement years. Sadly, Gympie passed away on 8 September this year. He is survived by his wife, Shirley, and his children, Alisa, Jenna, Anita and Yvette.
Gympie has been a good friend of mine, as has his whole family, and it was distressing to hear of the passing of Gympie. It has been a privilege to speak about Gympie, and I pass on my condolences to Gympie’s family.
On another note, I am pleased to pay tribute to some of the unsung heroes in my electorate. I speak in particular about the well-known Territorian, Mr Frank Ahmat, or Doodles, as he is better known. Frank’s father, Johnny Ahmat, arrived in Darwin in the 1920s at the age of 12. He was the son of a Malayan pearl diver. This was the commencement of the dynasty known as the Ahmat family. Johnny Ahmat and his wife, Elsie Kruger, had 10 children and, with more family arriving from Thursday Island, the family multiplied to today’s hundreds of representatives and family members. In fact, I would say that this is probably the largest family grouping in the Northern Territory.
To elaborate on the extent of the relationships, the Ahmats are related to the Bonsons, Pettersons, Coopers, Abalas, Dowlings, Cardonas, Preezes and, through Frank’s mother, Elsie, the Kruger, King and Pierce families, just to name a few. What an enormous team of citizens working for our country and our Territory.
Frank’s grandmother was a traditional Aboriginal woman from Wave Hill; Gurindji country, rich heritage, a mosaic of people to take the Territory forward.
Doodles was born in 1946 in Darwin. He grew up and ran barefoot through the spear grass and broken bottles of the near suburbs of Darwin, and he enjoyed the relaxed and carefree environment of Darwin. Frank and his family lived at Parap Camp, and the Ahmats were the first family to be promoted to welfare homes situated in Bremer Street in Ludmilla, what is now part of the Fong Lim electorate.
As a member of the Parap Camp Gang, Doodles roamed this outback settlement with his young mates hardly realising that they had earlier been invaded by the Japanese. Sadly, today there is not much evidence left of the Parap Camp of the 1940s or 1950s. There is a Sidney Williams building in Westralia Street, which was the local shop owned by the Chrisodoulou family.
Now, as then, sport was the major outlet for the young people of Darwin - Aussie Rules, Rugby League and basketball. Doodles played on the old Darwin Oval and later at Gardens Oval, which was used for Rugby League and also for Aussie Rules. Frank was known for his sporting prowess; he represented the Northern Territory in Rugby League, he was an A-grade player for the Darwin Buffaloes, and the Brothers Rugby League Club. He later made a contribution to the sport as President of the Darwin Football Club.
The 1950s and 1960s was not a good era for employment for local people; there was no real opportunity at all. Most of the white collar jobs were given to Caucasian recruits brought in on two-year employment arrangements from the southern states and, more particularly, from the Commonwealth Public Service in Canberra.
However, Frank had a number of jobs since his first job at the age of 15 at the Darwin Aerated Waters. He moved then to work on the reconstruction of the railway line between Mount Isa and Townsville, then to the Australian government in the mechanical workshops and water supply, and later in the Northern Territory Public Service.
In 1979, Frank was selected to join the back-up staff in the first Northern Territory government. He worked in the office of the first Minister for Transport and Works, Roger Steele. Frank was an important link between the electors and the government. I have to reiterate, I know Roger Steele very well and Roger can only ever speak very highly of Doodles and compliment him on the incredible job he did for him when he was in office.
During the early 1980s, Doodles and his wife, Sue, settled in and purchased their home in The Narrows with their children, Robbie, Leah and Louise all growing up in Darwin.
These days Frank is retired but works as a board member on the Council for Aboriginal Alcohol Program Services Incorporated. He spends much of his time helping others in the community, and in recent years he has assisted a number of families in a time of need. Doodles is well-known for his community spirit and I wish him and his wife, Sue, and their family well in the future.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I congratulate the Total Recreation organisation and the team who helped put on the fantastic night ‘Dancing with the Celebrities’ earlier this month.
It was my first time at ‘Dancing with the Celebrities’ and I mixed with many people who go along to various balls and functions around Darwin and, like them, I was commenting how it had a very different vibe about it – there was a really positive buzz - everyone was having a really good time and it was one of the best functions I have been to in my time getting around Darwin at various events. I will be making an attempt to get back there again next year and I am sure some of my colleagues might decide to join in as well.
I was invited to be one of the dancing celebrities; however, my hat goes off to my partner on the night and all the members of Total Recreation as they are the real celebrities.
Total Recreation was established in 1991 and, as an organisation, they ensure people with a disability have the right to the same opportunities as other members of society to participate in sport and recreation activities. Total Recreation members really know how to have a really good time.
‘Dancing with the Celebrities’ Gala Ball is one of the highlight annual events of Total Recreation’s calendar, and this year the ball was held at the Darwin Turf Club, the new pavilion, and it was a huge success with 320 people in attendance. In the lead-up to this great event I spent several hours learning new dance steps and I am very thankful that my partner, Amanda, was such a great dancer and helped me through.
Mr Giles interjecting.
Mr KNIGHT: Yes, member for Braitling, it was a very trying experience for me, and my partner; I am not the best dancer, but I had a really good time and I got a real kick out of it.
I say a huge thank you to Rebecca Forrest for being very patient with me during my dance lessons, and appreciation also goes to Bronwyn Graham from Darwin Dance and Drama Academy who conducted the dance classes. I got caught a little short; I went to the initial dance lesson with everyone and then missed a few, and suddenly realised the big night was coming up and I had to do some private dance lessons in my conference room. We had to push the conference table back, Rebecca came up, and it was a different experience in my conference room.
On the last Thursday, Amanda, my partner, came up and we went through those moves, and I was glad I was not judging that evening; I would have found it very hard to pick a winning couple. All the dancing couples were winners and everyone received a sash, and I received a sash, member for Braitling. We were all champions on the night. I congratulate the winners, Raymond Roach and the lovely Lisa Pellegrino, from Mix 104.9. Lisa, from my observation, is a very experienced dancer and certainly danced up a storm, and Raymond put in a huge effort. The dancers went off and it went on late into the evening. I did find all the training went out the window when everyone got on the floor, and everyone had a delightful time.
I was pleased to invite to my table Ian and Leslie Munro, who operate the Riding with the Disabled Centre in Palmerston. Ian and Leslie were especially pleased to be invited because one of the Total Recreation contestants, Kate O’Connell, works four days a week with them at the centre. Kate has been involved with Ian and Leslie for about 20 years - since she was six years old - so it was great to see that, and they were overjoyed. Leslie was crying, and they had such pride in what Kate was doing.
I hope members in this Chamber can see the value in this. If there are any Fred Astaires or Ginger Rogers out there they should put their hands up because the members of Total Recreation are really special people. The feeling they brought to that evening went across the whole room and brightened everyone’s evening.
I look forward to next year and I am sure the venue, which was probably three quarters full, will be full next year. It is growing from strength to strength and the diversity of people there that night - not only celebrities like Sean Kildare participated, so the business community was getting involved; Des Friedrich, from the Turf Club, was involved; and Vicki O’Halloran from Somerville, so non-government organisations are getting involved. The awareness of the work Total Recreation does is transcending various sectors of the community, and it can only be good for the organisation.
I thank Total Recreation, especially Rebecca, for all the help and energy she brought to the evening.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Several matters, Madam Deputy Speaker. During Question Time I drew attention to a media release which had been issued by minister Lawrie on 7 June 2006 about child protection. That media release states:
- When a report of child abuse or neglect is received we investigate immediately.
By interjection, the member concerned said: ‘That is not true, you are making it up’. Well, Madam Deputy Speaker …
Ms Lawrie: No, you are making up my interjection right now.
Mr MILLS: I am not making that up. It is flowing from the question that arises from that statement which has been demonstrated to be incorrect. They were not investigated immediately. If the member was of the view that, in fact, was the case, you would then conclude the member concerned was deceived by the department. However, if the member concerned knew it was not the case - and we find figures that have come by way of the review show that over 700 are not investigated - then the member deliberately deceived. So, in any event …
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Mr MILLS: Not true? The question is simply this: if you said in a media release, honourable member: ‘When a report of child abuse or neglect is received we investigate immediately’, it is either one of two things: (1) the department said: ‘Yes, we investigate all’, and you trot that out; or (2) you knew what the truth was, and deceived. So, the question is: which of the two?
In any event, an explanation is required by the honourable member to issue such a statement. We need to know what the truth of the matter is. Either the capture by the minister of the department and not testing information that flows through, or knowing - which would be far worse - and portraying something that is not, as though it were.
My second point relates to comments made during Question Time by the Chief Minister in an attempt to deflect from the sorry state of affairs over 10 years of denial and stubborn resistance to calls for a proper and honest look at the systems around the protection of children has created. In an attempt to deflect he made reference to an automated call, a robo-call, made around the community last night making the allegation that it has come from my office, drawing the allegation from the article written by an NT News journalist on page 9 of today’s NT News.
I place on the record, for the Chief Minister’s benefit, and that of honourable members, the fact is this was not known until it was recorded, or until I read it in the paper this morning …
Ms Lawrie: How can we believe you? How could we believe you? You have form.
Mr MILLS: This is the person who has just been accused of being deceitful who now sees others as being …
Ms Lawrie: How can we believe you? You have form.
Mr MILLS: I am telling you, I place this on the record: this was not known until it was read in the paper. What is quoted in here is an unnamed source. No question was asked of my office to verify the allegations that were made in this article. No 3, it alleges the idea of this technology was hatched in my office. If that be the case, then it was Prime Minister Howard I recall making a similar call some years ago - he got the idea from my office. President Barack Obama has used the same technology - has got that idea from my office. None of these questions were asked of my office, yet, they stand here as though they are fact.
The point of this is: it is a question that was raised in the paper, and allegations sit there. No question was asked of my office; no knowledge of this occurring from my office; it did not occur from my office and, consequently, the allegation that it was paid for by taxpayers is patently false.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I urge those who write such articles to ensure the question is asked of the one accused, rather than an unnamed source being the only cover that one has for an article of that nature.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Deputy Speaker, the performance of the member for Blain and where he is heading in debate is disappointing. If we are fair dinkum about child protection and fair dinkum about addressing the neglect of our children, we would take a greater bipartisan approach. He is wallowing around in comments I made, quite appropriately, around the investigations made by the Department of Family and Children’s Services back in 2006.
Step up to the plate, member for Blain, and pay attention to the need in the Territory. We can certainly go toe-to-toe, and I can take you through every example of where the Territory government has resourced into this sector and will continue to resource into this sector.
I can refer you to where that quote came from, which was out of the estimates process where we were talking about the resourcing …
Mr Mills: On your media release.
Ms LAWRIE: … where we were talking …
Mr Mills: It is your press release.
Ms LAWRIE: He is such an excitable person. He is shouting from the back of the room - quite unparliamentary - but we have seen a repeat of unparliamentary behaviour from the Leader of the Opposition today. He has not shown the leadership that we would have expected on this subject. It is not surprising that he does not have the support of his team; it is not surprising there are various members opposite who would be delighted if he was no longer the Leader of the Opposition, and we would expect more movement at that station. We have heard there were more numbers than actually came to fruition in the member for Fong Lim’s challenge.
I wish to congratulate some of the unsung heroes in our community whom I referred to in debate earlier today. We have many very capable, very strong leaders amongst our Indigenous community in the Northern Territory, and they celebrate on an annual basis NAIDOC events in the Territory.
I had the opportunity of witnessing some Top End NAIDOC events in early July where there was a very hard-working and committed team on the committee for the NAIDOC events. I record my sincere thanks to Karlie James, Leeanne Millen, Cindelle Cray, Patsy Raymond and Kerry Wetherall. I know these women worked tirelessly to pull together the Top End events for NAIDOC to celebrate the National Aboriginal and Islander events that occur each year.
I know NAIDOC events occur across the Territory, and I had the opportunity to be a participant in a couple of NAIDOC events in the Top End. The launch of the NAIDOC events at Bagot Community was a great morning and a great flag raising ceremony which occurred on Monday, 5 July. They had a soft launch with the senior’s reunion on Saturday, 3 July, which I heard was very popular, at the St Mary’s Club. Congratulations to Patsy Raymond and Maisie Austin who put in a big effort there.
The family day at Crocodylus Park on the Sunday was absolute enjoyment. I saw many photos from that family day event, and it looked fantastic. I know Kerry Wetherall worked tirelessly to ensure that event was a success; and I want to put my thanks on record to Grahame and Giovanna Webb at Crocodylus Park for supporting that NAIDOC event for the children and families.
There was also a family movie night at the Darwin Waterfront. People were there with their own chairs, sitting back and enjoying that fantastic movie, Bran Nue Dae, which shows the excellent talent of Jessica Mauboy.
They had youth events, including the youth at Don Dale; they had youth movie screenings at Casuarina cinema, and a youth art competition. They then celebrated the elderly people who are resident at Juninga Aged Care. There was an Ambrose Golf Day, the Larrakia Minbani Women Rangers had a host of events, including at the Northern Territory Library and it was great to run into them out the front of Parliament House.
They had a longrassers dinner, Bricks without Straw, hosted by the Salvation Army; the Milgarri Festival at Knuckeys Lagoon community, congratulations to Lee Kenny for putting the effort in there; there was a concert at the prison; and the NAIDOC march from Bennett Park to Raintree Park was a very popular event. Well done to Karlie James for organising that.
The NAIDOC evening: the ball went well at SKYCITY where a series of awards were presented, and I thank SKYCITY for their efforts with that, it was a fantastic event.
I am sincerely in awe of the effort that teams of volunteers went to in coordinating such a fantastic series of celebrations for the Aboriginal and Islander community in the Top End. They are all people I know who did it out of the sheer love and energy and respect in celebrating their culture. Kerry, whom I know very well, organised most of it from my Karama electorate office and I was happy, of course, that the community facilities at the back of my electorate office were used by the volunteer NAIDOC committee.
So, in between being a foster carer and taking care of kids, committee members got together and created a fantastic NAIDOC event. The theme was Unsung Heroes, which was an appropriate theme when you think about the debate we are having about caring for the children of our communities. We know about 80% of the children in out-of-home care come from Indigenous families. We know that, amongst the sad stories, there are also stories of hope and of inspiration and these young women are certainly examples of hope and leadership in our Indigenous communities. A sincere thank you to them for organising a very successful NAIDOC week.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to quickly highlight a concern in relation to the impending closing of the Alice Springs Bowling Club on Gap Road, Alice Springs, which also backs onto Leichhardt Terrace. The bowling club is destined to close on 30 October this year, in just a couple of days’ time.
There has been a proposal for some time to build another synthetic bowling green at the Alice Springs Golf Club, and the golf club has sought funding from the Northern Territory government to do that. There was a plan for a $3.5m bowling green with an underground car park which has now been revised to less than $2m to do that.
The opportunity that presents itself is the current site of the Alice Springs Bowling Club, which is Northern Territory government land, approximately three acres estimated to be worth around $4m on other people’s estimates, and I think the opportunity is to really encourage the Northern Territory government to support this proposal by the Alice Springs Golf Club to fund the building of a synthetic bowling green available all year round, all weather, and make it available for the next Masters Games in 2012 for competition and social bowls.
The land that will become free presents an opportunity for the private sector to tender for and utilise that land for the provision of housing and also, potentially, for retail and commercial premises with residential property there.
The benefit for the town would be enormous in the provision of more housing, and I think that any additional money the government would receive from the sale of that block, after supporting the golf club with the new bowling green, should be put towards sports infrastructure grants funding of a small basis potentially moving the lights from the current Alice Springs Bowling Club at no cost; having volunteers come in and do it, up to the go-cart track, of which I have recently become a patron, in the electorate of Braitling, near the Telegraph Station.
Some of the other money which would become available through the sale of that block of land, which would make it cost neutral for the Northern Territory government, could be utilised to improve track safety at the Alice Springs dragway by extending the concrete barriers down the drag strip from an eighth of a mile to quarter of a mile to enable the top fuellers to run down there on a full-time basis which would enable us to get on the national circuit of drag racing and bring, potentially, many thousands of tourists to Alice Springs on an annual basis.
The money could also be used to put lighting in at the go-karts, or contribute to putting lights into the speedway, extending the run-off strip for the drags so that people could properly slow down at that speed and make it safer for everyone, and even looking at installing lights in the drag strip.
There are many opportunities in town, and sporting infrastructure in Alice Springs will support the growth of the tourism industry in our town.
There is a petition going around Alice Springs calling on the government to support better safety through infrastructure at the dragway; and I believe the closing down of Alice Springs Bowling Club could look at supporting the Alice Springs Golf Club, the go-kart track, possibly the Speedway, and the Drag Racing Club and would be cost neutral, and even return a benefit to government. I encourage the government to look at that.
It is disappointing that we have ended parliament early once again - it is 6.38 pm. The Bath report has been tabled today, and I would like to have had that debated so we could have got into the nitty gritty of the report. I am not surprised this government wants to hide in relation to Family and Children’s Services because their record is pretty dismal.
I have looked at some of my old workings and analysis of previous Commonwealth Grants Commission reports from the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial year returns. What we see in the report is a rough estimation of what the Commonwealth Grants Commission believes, based on assessment, should be spent on certain things, including health or family and children services, homelessness, services to Indigenous communities, roads spending, corrective services - a number of topics.
We see in the financial year 2003-04 what really needed to be spent was $116m by the Northern Territory government on Family and Children’s Services. However, what was actually spent was $38m. I know it is not a numbers game; however, we have to get the money right to get the services up-to-date. In 2003-04, after this government was elected saying nothing was done properly by previous governments, they underspent by an estimated $78m.
In 2004-05, it was assessed they needed to spend $135m; they actually spent $42m - an underspend of $92m. That is an extra $14m on top of the previous underspend; so now it is $92m underspent. In 2005-06, they should have spent $160m; they spent $43m - a slight increase on the year before. That was an underspend for that financial year of $116m. In 2006-07, they should have spent $180.6m, but what did they spend? $45m - that is an underspend of $134m.
In 2007-08, they should have spent $216m, keeping in mind this is after the Little Children are Sacred report - the ‘Black Tampa’ as the member for Arafura referred to it in Sydney all that time ago. In 2007-08, there was a $144m underspend. It is no wonder this government wanted to close the debate on the Bath report about Family and Children’s Services, because in those five years between 2003-04 to 2007-08 the Northern Territory Labor government underspent by an estimated $612m on Family and Children’s Services. That is why we had the Little Children are Sacred report; that is why we had the Bath report, and we find ourselves in some sort of Groundhog Day where we are supposed to be debating these issues all over again.
The Northern Territory Labor government is not intent on assisting Family and Children’s Services - neither the workers nor the children involved. A $612m underspend by the Labor government in the last five years on Family and Children’s Services is the reason we have the Bath report and the reason we are in this parliament today trying to debate it – but Labor has closed down debate. Who is going to protect those children tonight, who is going to protect those children into the future? We need to debate these matters to improve the services. This is a $612m underspend by the Labor government.
I look forward to the debate coming on again because the $612m underspend by this government over a five year period on Family and Children’s Services further signifies the government has lost touch, lost control of what they are supposed to be doing and shows little respect or care for the children of the Northern Territory.
Moving to another very other important issue - childcare. This is the sleeper in the Northern Territory which has such a negative impact on our economy. There are no childcare places in the Northern Territory for people to get proper full-time care to enable them to move into the workplace. Mothers who want to come into the workforce cannot find childcare places.
I will just run through some simple information and statistics. The Lil’Antz Child Care Centre in Alice Springs which has full-time, part-time, after-school care has a waiting list of well over one year and is not taking any more people on their waiting list. The Alice Springs Child Care Centre, which has full-time and part-time childcare, has a waiting list of 113 families. The Braitling Neighbourhood Centre, which has full-time and part-time care, has closed their waiting list until June 2011, and they have 80 on their waiting list. The Gap Community Child Care Centre has 19 families on theirs, with multiple children. The Tennant Creek Child Care Centre has a waitlist of one year for children under three, and six months or less if they are over three years of age. The YMCA is fully booked and they have closed their waitlist. Congress Childcare - over three years.
Madam Deputy Speaker, it is a problem that is not discussed in the Northern Territory. Childcare is stopping people in Central Australia, Katherine and the Top End from getting into the workforce. Even if we could open more places in childcare we could not find the workers because there are limited places for training, and we could not house any of the workers because there is nowhere to house people in the Northern Territory, and they could not pay the rent based on the salary they get in childcare. It is a sleeping issue, and I will be raising it again in this Chamber.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Madam Deputy Speaker, first of all I have to correct the record for the member for Braitling. The reason we did not debate to conclusion the Growing them strong, together report from the Board of Inquiry was at the request of the Leader of the Opposition who asked that the debate be adjourned to allow members on your side of the House to get across the report. I do not know what is happening with communication on your side of the Chamber. The government was prepared and everyone was ready to debate this report in full, and it was at request from the Leader of the Opposition we agreed to adjourn the debate. So I suggest you take the issue up with the Leader of the Opposition.
I also point out that the opposition had an MPI tonight, a matter of public importance, where only one person opposite contributed to a debate of importance to that side of the House. So, yes, we are closing early this evening, but I say the reason for that is because the opposition is not ready or able to debate items of business on the Notice Paper.
The member for Braitling also continues to make allegations that have been condemned, shown to be false, wrong at every step of the way regarding government spending with regard to the Grants Commission - he is like a broken record.
We had a Senate inquiry into these allegations which found no evidence of government underspending. We have had our own Auditor-General make two reports to this House and he has found no evidence of underspending by the government. We have had this issue trawled through this Chamber on many occasions. I point out to the member for Braitling that COAG has initiated its own independent scrutiny of all governments spending across Australia on Indigenous issues by the Productivity Commission. That report will come out soon, and I am very confident it will also show the Territory government, in fact, spends more of its allocated budgets on Indigenous services in the Northern Territory. He can keep trotting out that broken record, but I would have to say the member for Braitling is just making himself look foolish.
I would like to talk about the schools in my electorate this evening. A couple of weeks ago, I had the great pleasure to attend the Catholic schools public speaking competition at St Paul’s in Nightcliff, and I was invited to participate in the debate. All the Catholic primary schools in Darwin attended, and it was a fantastic day. I commend Paula Sellers, the Deputy Principal of St Paul’s, who organised the event; and the Principal at St Paul’s, Kelly Smith, who did a magnificent job.
I commend the Year 5 category winners: Connor Bramley from St Paul’s, and the other was Ashleigh Wright from Sacred Heart. This was the first year there was a tie, but both were very deserving and both made fantastic speeches.
The Year 6 category winner was Madeleine McDonald of St Paul’s, and the judges came from O’Loughlin Catholic College: Gemma, Dani and Jack, who performed their duties as judges fairly and professionally.
Congratulations to the Catholic schools; it was a fabulous event, and great to see young people speaking in public with confidence.
I congratulate the Wanguri Primary School Tournament of Minds Language Literature Team. The Language Literature Team received first prize at the primary school competition last month at Charles Darwin University. Their Language Literature Program was called ‘Dilemma in Diversia’. They wrote a play about a bat, a dog, a giraffe, a zoo keeper, a dance teacher, and a ring master, and the characters danced, did acrobatics, sung and acted. The students also made the costumes and the props. They will now be representing the Northern Territory in the Australasian Pacific Finals to be held in Darwin on 23 October.
This was a huge win for the Wanguri Primary School Tournament of the Minds Language Literature Team to receive first prize; and they were really proud about that. The team from Wanguri School included Liam Singleton, Matthew Monaghan, Jane Humphreys, Millie Hunt, Anna Bergs and Flora Radecki. To all those children, congratulations and good luck in the Australasian Pacific Finals later this month.
At St Andrew Lutheran Primary School in my electorate, the construction of the new library and computer room is now completed under the BER program - which members opposite campaigned so hard against in the last federal election – and it is quite a spectacular addition to the school buildings; shelving and new desks have arrived, and students are now enjoying the new facility. The dedication of the new building is on 29 October, and I hope to be there to celebrate some fantastic new infrastructure in a very small school in my electorate. It is a wonderful initiative by the Commonwealth government investing in our schools.
Two students from St Andrew’s received High Distinctions in the International Competition and Assessments for Schools through the University of New South Wales, and those students are Zoe Chesworth and Joel Park. Congratulations to them.
Dripstone Middle School put on a talent quest for Dripstone Day which is a fantastic day every year at Dripstone Middle School. It has been going for many years now, and funds are raised for various charities. The school community gets right behind the day and it is always fantastic.
I congratulate Greg Cilento, the physical education teacher at Dripstone Middle School. Greg has been there for many years and he is so passionate about the school, and the kids absolutely love him; when they leave school they always have great memories of Greg. He must have raised tens of thousands of dollars through that school over the years for various charities.
The school was working very hard to raise $20 000 or $25 000 for a new wheelchair for one of the children at Dripstone Middle School; and it was good to see both sides of the House contribute to that. I acknowledge that the CLP kicked in $2000, the ALP kicked in $2000 and that went a long way with Greg and the school to raise the $20 000 or $25 000 required for the new wheelchair for a wonderful student.
The winners of the talent quest, and it was great to participate in the judging of that event, are as follows:
The Group Dance was won by the Fresh Beats, a group of Year 8 boys- Jake Kunde, Lucas Lobo, Haylen Duncan and Mitchell Green.
The Individual Musical Talent was won by Shiane Hawke in Year 7.
The Group Musical Talent, Year 9 and Year 8 - Tim Fishlock, Sam Weaver, Jeremy Kimm and Rui Sihombing.
Mixed Talent, performing comedy was won by Matthew Francis in Year 9.
The talent quest was fantastic and Dripstone Day was a great day, as always.
Madam Deputy Speaker, there is certainly a lot happening in the schools around my electorate.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I wish to make mention, with great pride, an event I went to in Katherine, and the Katherine people must be well commended for their efforts. Whenever there is a need in Katherine, the Katherine community get together. Unfortunately, this need was in support of one of our soldiers, Scott Palmer, who died on active duty in Afghanistan recently.
Scott was a member of the Katherine Rugby Club, and the teams got together and decided to hold a Rugby Union tribute match. They organised it, got everything together, and held it at the Katherine Sport and Recreational Club. We heard about it on the proverbial grapevine and made our way there to support the member for Katherine. All the Katherine community turned up and they came from all over the Territory; there were so many people I knew from different places at that fantastic event.
Jo Jennings organised most of the event, and she did a fantastic job. They even had a special guest, Private Damien Tomlinson. Damien spoke of his personal ordeal and he credits Scott Palmer with saving his life in Afghanistan in an earlier situation. Damien was hit and he claims Scott was the man who put his life on the line to come and get him and dig him out of the spot that he was in. I must admit, being former Defence personnel and thinking back on my time, that is definitely part of what the Australian soldiers do - they will always get down and they will get their Diggers out.
Ray and Pam Palmer, Scott’s parents, are fantastic people and said they were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community. They were open to everyone to come and talk to them at the event, and it was quite touching to see so many people openly talking with these lovely people.
There was a minute’s silence, as one would expect, held in tribute of Scott and Tim Aplin and Ben Chuck who died in the same engagement along with Scott in June 2010.
An auction was held and prizes were gathered from all over the community and from all over Darwin. The event, in total, raised $40 000 for the Commando Welfare Trust, and there is still more money to come. There is the sale of a Beijing Olympics running suit on eBay which was donated by ABC sports compere, Charlie King. That is an amazing figure of $40 000 raised to support the Commando Welfare Trust. The Commando Welfare Trust was set up to look after the families and men suffering from injuries as a result of their active service. It is in addition to other Defence benefits that are there, and the Commandos spoke highly of their unity in this. They feel it was something they needed to do, to give back to their soldiers and the soldiers’ families.
The home ground team, the Katherine Brahmans, were presented with a special commemorative jersey before the friendly match of Rugby between the Golden Oldies and the Old Mates which ended, quite quaintly, in a draw. I am not sure how that worked but I am sure there was a lot of camaraderie between the teams that played. Although it was under the Golden Oldies rules, there were still some pretty heated clashes and they pushed hard. But to end in a draw, I think, was very fitting.
The Katherine Brahmans and the University Pirates also played a match which, coincidentally, ended in a draw as well. So, I am very proud of the Katherine family. I am very sorry for the Palmer family who lost their son, Scott, and to the other Commandos who lost their lives - Tim Aplin and Ben Chuck - in a skirmish in June this year. It is a shame to see our soldiers, unfortunately, die, but they are out there doing a fantastic job, and we would be lost without them.
I move on briefly to another topic; that is, the 2010 Oceania Sevens Championship which I was lucky enough to attend. It was held over two days, and I was invited by the Northern Territory Rugby President, Vince Kelly. I thank Vince and his team, Helen Thompson and many others, for their assistance. It was a well-organised event, I must say. The competing teams were world champions Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Niue, Cook Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu and Australia. Australia’s coach was Michael O’Connor; and Palmerston flanker, Jock Monroe, was called in from reserves due to the injury of university fullback, Sean Warshop.
Day one competition saw Australia undefeated after scoring a 21 to12 victory over Tonga, and a 19 to 7 win over the Cook Islands. The day two results were fantastic again for Australia and saw Australia the 2010 Oceania Sevens Rugby Champions after crushing Samoa 34 to 12 in the final at the Austar Rugby Park. If people have not seen Rugby Sevens before, it is one of the fastest paced games you will ever see - they are short, intense, and really keep the attention of spectators who have the time to go and watch. A great set of games and a fantastic event; and yes, we must admit the government has chipped in and helped them out, and we appreciate that help.
This is a fantastic event. It is great for Darwin and certainly puts Darwin on the map. Many of the players involved with the Oceania Rugby Sevens went on to play at the Commonwealth Games afterwards; and some of the players were rested. It was interesting to see those players put in their effort and then ship overseas to be part of the Commonwealth Games; that is the level of competition of this event. It is a fantastic event, definitely fast paced, action packed, and I really enjoyed it.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016