2007-05-01
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table Message No 17 recommending to the Legislative Assembly a bill for an act authorising the issuing and the expending of the public monies of the Territory in respect to the year ending 30 June 2008.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move - That the Routine of Business of the Assembly be rearranged or suspended, if a question or debate is before the Chair, so as to permit the Treasurer to deliver the Budget 2007/2008 at 11am this day.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move - That the Routine of Business of the Assembly, General Business - Notices and Orders of the Day, be rearranged or suspended, if a question or debate is before the Chair, so as to permit a response to the Budget 2007/2008 by the Leader of the Opposition at 11am on Wednesday, 2 May 2007.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 60 petitioners, not conforming with standing orders, praying that there be an investigation into the running of the Batchelor Area School. Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, last weekend, I attended the 44th National Conference of the Australian Labor Party. Members would be aware that the national conference is the party’s primary policy-setting mechanism. This year’s conference was an historic one, marking some major advances in policy direction under the fresh leadership of Kevin Rudd.
Possibly, the most significant policy development at this year’s conference was industrial relations. While many commentators anticipated opposition from some delegates, the result was actually comprehensive support for the new policy known as Forward with Fairness. There is a good reason for this support. Forward with Fairness is a great example of the fresh thinking on display at this year’s conference from the federal leadership team. We all know that a huge number of people think Mr Howard’s so-called WorkChoices legislation is extremely harsh and unfair. It is an attack on ordinary working families, stripping away basic work conditions such as holidays, penalties for overtime, weekend work, protection from unfair dismissal - and the list goes on.
Many Australians who are already working longer hours than ever struggle to squeeze any decent family time into the working day. Now they cannot even attend their kids’ sports on weekends since they are forced to work or face dismissal if they refuse. Imagine an Australia where people no longer have the option to volunteer as coach for their kids’ junior football or netball team. Thanks to WorkChoices that is the Australia we are living in now.
All the published research tells how deeply this is resented by people in all walks of life. Those who have turned up to work to find their position restructured, only to be offered reemployment under one of Mr Howard’s unfair AWAs know all about it. Those who have not yet had the experience have heard about others who have. How long before the Howard government tries to push these so-called agreements onto nurses in our hospital system or police officers?
Labor’s new policy will restore fairness to Australian industrial relations. It guarantees 10 national standards in workplaces: hours of work, parental leave, flexible work for parents, annual leave, carers’ and compassionate leave, community service leave, public holidays, workplace information, fair termination and redundancy pay, and long service leave. These are principles of fairness at work which Labor will restore to working Australians and their families on winning office.
There will also be a new one-stop shop Fair Work Australia which will set minimum wages and conditions, and resolve disputes, replacing the old Industrial Relations Commission and other bodies. These fundamental protections for Australian workers will ensure they have decency and a fair go built into their working lives.
The policy, very importantly, has not forgotten employers, and the importance of the private sector economy as the generator of employment and wealth for all. While guaranteeing workers the right to proper, meaningful representation by a union if they so choose - a right effectively stripped away from them by Mr Howard - it also contains new and unprecedented constraints on strike action. Its emphasis is all on flexibility for workers and employers. There is a commitment to work with all states and territories to achieve sensible, uniform standards right across the nation – an approach that has been beyond the federal government.
It is fresh thinking indeed, Madam Speaker. I have no doubt it will be welcomed by a huge number of Australians who are now living with the constant anxiety about the security of their jobs and basic work conditions under Mr Howard’s unfair system. This government will stick up for Territory workers very specifically. They are not fairly dealt with under WorkChoices, and this alternative from Labor at a national level strongly supported by the Territory will be a fair go – a fair go for both employers and employees in the Territory.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, what an extraordinary way to open the sittings. Reading out, as the Chief Minister did, a note from Kevin; reading out probably a flyer that was handed around on the weekend as Kevin-ism takes Australia by storm. My dad knows Kevin and he is very interested in Kevin-ism. Clearly, he shares that interest with the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister - even the recording system objects to the note from Kevin, Madam Speaker. So the Chief Minister …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I just ask you pause and put the clock on stop. Could we determine whether Hansard is still working?
We can continue, Leader of the Opposition. I am sorry about that.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Speaker, as I said before the noisy interruption from the sound system, the Chief Minister comes to parliament today with a note from Kevin and dutifully reads it. How embarrassing! How utterly embarrassing! I would have thought that the Chief Minister had other issues. For instance, it has been a week since government ministers left Alice Springs and not a word on any update for Alice Springs. It is well known, reportedly at least, that the Chief Minister was apparently rocked by the demonstrations in Alice Springs. Well, you would not know it from her reading Kevin’s note this morning.
Interestingly enough, we had an expectation that the Chief Minister might, for a change, demonstrate her commitment to sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities and explain why it is that it takes four weeks to print a report; why it is that it is not possible to disseminate the report electronically; and why it is that she sanctions the continued delay of this issue. Her commitment to it is clearly questionable.
What the Chief Minister had to say was nothing more and nothing less than an ad for the Australian Labor Party. She needs to do better. I know you are fond of Kevin but, Chief Minister, if that is the best you have, give Hendo the job.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Chief Minister, I would like to hear what you have to say about the Premier of Western Australia’s comments on AWAs in relation to the mining industry, especially in that state. I support AWAs to a certain extent, and I gather you people do, too, because some of the people that you employ are on contracts. That is an AWA.
The ones I worry about are the young people who are trying to get a job and those who are, you might say, disadvantaged in some way and who need protection. That does not mean you throw the whole AWA system out and say it is no good. You can have it, but we need to make sure there are safeguards to protect those people who are vulnerable in that process.
I have spoken before of my other concern: all workers need protection from unfair dismissal. I do not care whether you are one person or 1000 people. Labor has not come right down that path. It has said: ‘I will make a minimum of 15’. What happens to 14 people? Do they not have the same rights as people who are 15 and above? It is a great shame that Labor, which has been knocking the Liberal government for not covering the 100 people or fewer who are not protected under unfair dismissal, have now picked another number. What is the difference? I do not know. No one should be unfairly dismissed. I know that there are issues with small business in regard to that. Surely, we need to protect those people who are most vulnerable. That is what has been missed here. We can have flexible working conditions and ways of covering working on the weekends or having to work on public holidays included in an AWA contract, but the real key is that we are able to protect those who are most vulnerable. We have missed that point in this debate.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, at least we know where the member for Nelson comes from. The member for Nelson comes from both sides of the fence …
Mr Stirling: Always.
Ms MARTIN: Always - one foot here; one foot there. Not a criticism of the current WorkChoices. It is all very well to attack an alternative, but what about what is in place? At least he has the gumption to have some views about the rights of employees. Some of the fundamental things that we are here in the parliament for are to ensure that those people who have a job are treated fairly.
Not one word did we hear from the Opposition Leader about fairness for Territory workers. Not one word in her two minute rave, but she talked about everything else. If we are not here to deal with those who are working, those who employ in the Territory, and ensure it is a fair system and that we are looking after young families, then we are not doing our job.
In the appalling falling over to John Howard that we hear from the CLP, they are not doing their job.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Women’s Policy): Madam Speaker, the Northern Territory Working Women’s Centre provides free and confidential advice to women about work-related matters, particularly targeting services to women in disadvantaged bargaining positions, in insecure or low paid work, and in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. The Department of Employment, Education and Training provided funding to the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre after the federal government advised that their funding would no longer allow advocacy or casework for vulnerable women experiencing problems at work.
The Northern Territory government funding allows the centre to continue to provide advocacy and casework, and also to deliver community education about women’s rights in the workplace to women in regional and remote areas. As part of the funding agreement, the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre provides the Northern Territory government with regular reports on funded activities. Throughout the reporting period, the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre has collected detailed data on the types of workplace issues raised by women contacting the centre. This data paints a very useful picture of workplace issues for women in the Northern Territory.
On average, dismissals and redundancies are the most common reason for women to seek assistance. Last financial year, over one-third of inquiries were related to dismissal and redundancies. From 2005-06, 357 of the 945 clients had made inquiries regarding that. However, the statistics are beginning to show some changes since the introduction of the federal government’s WorkChoices legislation in March 2006. All those changes are not good. There has been a steady increase in assistance provided in relation to sexual harassment. In the period January to March, 4% of client contact related to sexual harassment. In the period April to June, that percentage had increased to 12% and, in the period July to September, it had peaked to 16%.
The data also depicts a steady increase in assistance provided in relation to workplace bullying. That figure has increased from 5% in January to June, to 17% in July to December. The centre is confident that this increase is at least partly due to increased pressures on workers since the introduction of WorkChoices. Anecdotally, the Working Women’s Centre say that pregnancy discrimination is also increasing, and the centre advises that, since the introduction of WorkChoices, fewer clients are seeking information from the usual industrial relations services.
In addition, of those who contact the centre, many will not take the decision to lodge a formal complaint. Why is this? Women feel that they have been left with literally no rights. They believe that under WorkChoices legislation the employer has the right to do whatever he or she likes. For example, in observation from participants in the Working Women’s Centre Information Session, a young woman stated that since the laws have changed nothing could be done to stop her boss sexually harassing her. Another woman stated that she could be terminated from her employment because she is pregnant and the laws now enable her employer to do so.
This was also demonstrated when I hosted the What Women Want Round Table at Parliament House on 6 March 2007. The event was attended by women from the government and non-government sector, with a summary of speakers outlining their concerns with WorkChoices. The round table was designed for participants to discuss WorkChoices experiences of women to date, determine the implications of the first Australia Fair Pay Commission decision on women, and reflect on the essential refinements and modifications to protect vulnerable workers. The Darwin round table was one of a series of national information and consultation series.
WorkChoices is supposed to have been about fair, productive and harmonious workplaces. However, the effect of WorkChoices has seen a power shift - a major power shift - from employee to employer. We know that the federal government’s WorkChoices legislation is bad law and bad for Australians - men, women, young people and families. Now, sadly, it appears the evidence is starting to come in that Territory women and all Territory workers are suffering the effects of this dreadful legislation. This is more than enough reason to back Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard’s Fair Work Australia at this year’s federal election.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): I believe there is going to be an election this year, Madam Speaker. Whereas the Chief Minister read the note from Kevin, the Minister for Women’s Policy read the note from Julia. I wrote that down. It was encouraging that, at the end, the minister indicated that, yes, it was on instructions from her friend, Julia.
How interesting it is for the government to come in and do ads for the Australian Labor Party on the first sitting day of the budget. No wonder the government wants to change a few subjects. No wonder they do not want to talk about the minister for Mines and his outrageously bad and shameful performance when it comes to Xstrata. No wonder the Chief Minister does not want to make a statement about the conduct of her members. In particular, given that this statement came from the Minister for Women’s Policy, I note with great interest that the minister talked a lot about what the federal government was or was not doing, but completely omitted any reference to this Territory Labor government’s complete failure when it comes to women’s policies. I will be revisiting some of those shortly.
I note, again with interest, that the Minister for Women’s Policy was talking about sexual harassment, an issue that most people in this Chamber take very seriously. I was heartened to hear the Leader of Government Business. Every time the Minister for Women’s Policy talked about sexual harassment, the Leader of Government Business kept saying: ‘Shame, shame’. Well, it is a shame, minister and Leader of Government Business, that you were less than forthcoming in relation to the outrageous conduct of one of your members; namely, the member for Sanderson not so long ago. You can say ‘shame’ all you like in relation to sexual harassment ...
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 62 …
Ms Carney: Have we stopped the clock, Madam Speaker?
Mr HENDERSON: Standing Order 62 talks about offensive, unbecoming words. It says that no member shall attribute directly or by innuendo to another member unbecoming conduct or motives. I ask that she withdraw those comments in relation to the member for Sanderson unless she wishes to do so by way of substantive motion.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to withdraw, unless you are wishing to do so by substantive motion.
Ms CARNEY: Oh, it is budget day, Madam Speaker, they all know the truth. I am happy to withdraw it, but I note the crocodile tears from the Leader of Government Business. You are even more of a hypocrite than your friend – well, not your friend - the Chief Minister. In any event …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Again, Standing Order 62. I object to the term ‘hypocrite’ and I ask the member to withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: I ask you to withdraw that comment, Leader of the Opposition.
Ms CARNEY: The minister is touchy. I am happy to withdraw it, Madam Speaker.
In relation to this government’s values on women’s policy, I remind you again: what is happening to Breast Screening NT; what happened to the Women’s Information Centre; what are doing about family planning; why did you axe the BWCC? Your statement was appalling …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, your time as expired.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Speaker, it is not the introduction of WorkChoices that has disadvantaged women returning to the workforce, and we must all realise that. Someone came into my office the other day and said: ‘I have the best job; it goes from 9 am to 2.30 pm, five days a week, which means my kids are still at school and I can accommodate their hours’. Often, it is too hard for women to find jobs. Employers are not flexible enough in hours, and the cost of after-school care plus the cost of childcare during school holidays often negates any profit a single mum or married mum may get by trying to find a job. If the Working Women’s Centre wants to promote anything, they should be promoting with employers the ability to have flexible hours to accommodate these young mums who want to return to the workforce but are disadvantaged because of the hours required of them.
Also, there are two sides to every argument. I do know of employers who have had the greatest of difficulty in getting rid of employees who are not functioning properly. Under the previous regime, they have been taken to court. They have gone through what they consider the right protocols when they have had someone who was not suitable or efficient, or lacked the skills. I guess it comes back to making sure, in the first place, that you employ a person who has the skills for what you want them to do. However, on the other hand, I can also appreciate what the member for Nelson continually says: there are a lot of young people who cannot speak up for themselves. We see it quite often in our apprenticeship area where apprentices are often being harassed or threatened because the demands on them are quite great.
If the minister wants to concentrate on the Women’s Centre, please tell them to try to get a better deal so that women can return to the workforce when they want to.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Women’s Policy): Madam Speaker, I thank both members for their response. In relation to the opposition speaker’s appalling response, I would rather be friends with Julia than with Peter, and certainly get advice from Julia. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who stands up and continually purports to represent women and holds her hand on her heart and says: ‘I am the only speaker for women and what you do is completely wrong, and I am the only one with those facts …
Ms Carney interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Madam Speaker, I challenge the Opposition Leader, who has not approached the Working Women’s Centre, to talk to women about these issues. It is not only women in our urban centres. There are women who are suffering in our regional and our remote areas, who are being more and more disadvantaged in the workplace. In a lot of homes, women are the main breadwinners. For the Leader of the Opposition to stand here and to criticise – well, I challenge her to go out there and talk to women …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, your time has expired.
Dr BURNS (Health): Madam Speaker, since being elected in 2001, this government has increased health spending by 64% as of last year’s budget with further increases to be contained in this year’s budget, to be handed down soon. This has allowed us to expand our health workforce by over 100 extra full-time equivalent doctors and 270 full-time equivalent nurses, compared to six years ago.
The greater funding and better staffing of our health services benefit all Territorians. Nowhere are these improvements more necessary than in the Territory’s Aboriginal community, where all the health indicators - life expectancy, infant mortality, and disease rates - are significantly worse than for the Territory as a whole.
This is a government that is working in partnership with the Aboriginal community and the Commonwealth government to improve the health status of Aboriginal Territorians. I am very pleased to report that this partnership is now showing signs of success. For example, the latest figures show a three-year improvement in life expectancy for Territory Aboriginal women from 65 years in the late 1990s to 67.9 years in the period 2001-03. Over the same period, the indigenous infant mortality rate fell by 36%. We have seen a significant improvement in the survival rate for clients on renal dialysis, particularly in Central Australia; such that the Territory is now nearing the national average survival rate for those patients.
These are early signs and small steps. But it is important to recognise and celebrate success even as we acknowledge there is a lot more to be done.
The Aboriginal community has made a key contribution to these achievements, especially through the community controlled health services. The Commonwealth government, through its funding for primary health care, has also played a critically important role. For our part, this government has increased general health spending hugely since 2001, and this benefits all Territorians.
However, we can also point to specific initiatives addressing the health of Aboriginal people; for example, the child health initiative, the establishment of kidney dialysis in regional and remote areas, and the free rotovirus vaccination program for all infants. I believe it is the partnership between ourselves, the Aboriginal community and the Commonwealth government which has driven these positive changes.
I am, therefore, pleased to advise that, on 3 April 2007, I joined with the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory, or AMSANT, and the Australian government in the signing at Alice Springs of the new Northern Territory Framework Agreement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. This framework agreement recommits the three partners to continuing to work together to improve Aboriginal health. The previous agreement led to an expansion of the primary health care services provided across the Territory, the development of a set of a common service performance indicators for primary health, and better targeting of funds to areas of greatest need. The new agreement is a pledge to Aboriginal Territorians that governments and AMSANT are going to continue and improve their joint efforts.
This agreement is a clear reminder that, while some progress has been made there is still a lot more to do. Specifically, the current agreement permits us to making our services more appropriate for Aboriginal people, and more integrated with each other; improving the quality of services by building greater levels of cultural security; ensuring better public accountability through the national and Territory-based reporting and performance frameworks; and attracting and retaining more doctors, nurses and Aboriginal health workers to the exciting and rewarding work in rural and remote areas.
I am confident that we have a model that keeps all the partners focused and has great potential to deliver further improvements. The Northern Territory government is strongly committed to this agreement and we look forward to the promise that it offers. I emphasise once again there is still a lot more to do. As well as improving the level and quality of our health services, we need to address broader social issues of poverty, alcohol, violence, education and unemployment.
However, in the health sphere, we will continue our partnership with the Aboriginal community and the Commonwealth government because it is this powerful partnership that drives the improvements we are all seeking in the health of Aboriginal Territorians.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, we all agree that primary health care is the most important arm of health provision in the Northern Territory. Without primary health care, we continue to load our system up with patients coming into hospitals and other service deliverers, consuming many of the services.
The minister said that this time, the budget is going to be better again. Funny, that! In the last four or five years, the health budget has continued to explode right out of all proportion. While I applaud that the money is being spent in health, obviously, there is a problem with the way the government is managing how the money is spent because very few services are being delivered for the money that is being provided.
In 2002-03, the budget was $526m. The expenses that year were $545m, a blowout of $19m - and it just goes on and on. Last year, 2005-06, the budget was $686m and expenses were $738m - a $52m budget blowout. This happens every year. Something is wrong with a department that cannot maintain its budget and needs the government to prop it up.
I understand now that the department actually owes some $80m in debt to interstate health services through cross-border charges. An $80m debt! It is more than 10% of the department’s budget. Something is wrong, and this government needs to address that.
In respect of the longevity of Aboriginal people, the decrease in child mortality rates and all that, that is terrific. That is from long-term planning from the CLP years and the continuing program of this government. Without long-term planning, it just does not happen overnight. In five years, you could not deliver that. It is a long-term plan that governments of all persuasions scaffold one on top of the other to produce this benefit. I applaud the government for continuing to do so ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, your time has expired.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement on the equality of health services. However, I wonder when people in the Palmerston and rural area will benefit from some of that equality, especially when I hear the amounts of money the government is putting to extra beds, etcetera. People in the rural and Palmerston area have been calling for years for a 24-hour medical service.
If the government cannot come up with the money to have a doctor on 24-hours standby, why cannot we at least have an appropriately qualified nurse on standby during the evening, perhaps attached to the St John Ambulance Service?
There are many people who live in Palmerston and the rural area who would find it a great comfort to know that they only have to travel to Palmerston for some things a qualified nurse can handle - for instance, if there was someone who hurt themselves and required stitches, or some forms of medicine could be given out - instead of having to travel to Royal Darwin Hospital. There are many people in Palmerston and the rural area who are single parents and in the case of shift workers and people working on oil rigs. They are home by themselves. They have to travel to RDH in the middle of the night if there is something wrong with one of their children.
If we had an appropriately qualified nurse operating on a 24-hour basis, or at least in the evening, attached to the St John Ambulance Service, they would either be able to get attention there and go home feeling that they have been attended to or, if they need to go to RDH in an emergency, there is an ambulance service there to take them.
The government has to seriously consider something and, hopefully, it is in this budget, to give people in the rural area some equality in the provision of health services. There are a lot of people in Palmerston - 25 000 to 27 000. There are a lot of people in the rural area - about 20 000. They all have to travel to RDH in the middle of the night if they want some attention for their children or themselves. Surely, the government can put in some sort of service for those people.
Dr BURNS (Health): Madam Speaker, turning first to the member for Nelson, I believe what the member for Nelson is alluding to is, essentially, after-hours GP services in the community. This is, essentially, a Commonwealth responsibility ...
Mr Wood: No, I said nurse, an appropriately qualified nurse.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: That is an issue that I have discussed with Tony Abbott. We have the lowest number of GPs per capita in Australia and that needs to be rectified. I am working with Tony Abbott on that issue ...
Dr Lim: And the lowest number of hospital beds too, per thousand people.
Mr Wood: What happened to the word ‘nurse’?
Dr BURNS: The member for Greatorex talked about explosions in expenditure, Madam Speaker. Yes, there has been growth in our health budgets year-on-year, because there has been increased demand, particularly through our hospital system. The member for Greatorex talked about blowouts in budgets. There have been no budget blowouts in health. The member for Greatorex does not understand that, as the financial year progresses, Cabinet makes decisions to add expenditure into the department’s budget. That is what happens. The Health department has come in on budget and I commend them for that. The member for Greatorex needs to learn about the process.
Mr VATSKALIS (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, I want to speak about the Northern Territory Sports Awards that were held on Friday, 16 March in Darwin. The Northern Territory Sports Awards are always an exciting evening, and there is a long and proud history since their inception in 1973 for the sporting association. It was my first awards night and it was, indeed, a great evening, where many of the outstanding feats of our athletes and sports administrators were rewarded. Over 250 guests attended the awards that received 57 nominations from across Territory sports in seven different categories.
This year’s sports awards advisory panel did a great job, and was made up of Mr Gordon Clarke, Mr Rollo Manning, Mr Terry Bell, Ms Michelle Turk, and Mr John Pollock. The panel reviewed all the applications and submitted a list of recommendations to the sports award committee. The awards committee comprises His Honour the Administrator, representatives of current award sponsors and Executive Director of Sport and Recreation.
I was very pleased that this year’s Master of Ceremonies was Mr Max Walker. Most of us would be familiar with Max as an author, elite national sportsman, television presenter and public speaker. He was an entertaining and popular host for the awards.
Our very own Mr Neil Fuller OAM was the guest speaker for the evening. Mr Fuller is currently our coordinator for the Oceanic Paralympic Championships which form part of this year’s Arafura Games. He is also an amputee who has represented Australia in the Paralympic track and field and holds a number of national and world records. Neil has previously been described to me as the Carl Lewis of the Paralympic Games. Neil’s speech was captivating and his story in overcoming adversity to be the best in the world is remarkable.
In the awards, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and NTIS elite scholarship holder, Crystal Attenborough was named Sportsperson of the Year. Crystal won bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in the 4 x 100 m relay, and this year achieved a personal best time of 11.43 seconds in the 100 m. Crystal has been a proud representative of sport and the NT for years, and she has the distinction of being a torchbearer for the 2000 Olympics, as well as lighting the cauldron at the 1999 Arafura Games. It is worth mentioning today that there are only 11 days to go until the 2007 Arafura Games.
Alice Springs cyclist, Matt King, was named Junior Sportsperson of the Year. Matt is already an international cyclist and we know he will go on to bigger things in years to come. He was a worthy winner. It was a proud moment for the Alice Springs community, as Matt’s coach, John Pyper, also won the Eric Johnston Coach of the Year award.
Local Territorian, Maisie Austin, was inducted in the Hall of Champions during the evening. This award acknowledges the sporting success of past sportsmen and women, and Maisie is a wonderful addition to the ranks.
There were tied winners in the Volunteer of the Year category, with the recipients being Elizabeth Williams and Willem Van Dijk for their outstanding work in their respective sports of baseball and hockey.
Madam Speaker, I record my thanks to all the people who helped make the night a great success, and place on record my congratulations to all the award nominees and recipients for their dedication and achievements in their chosen sports.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, the overall time for ministerial reports has expired.
Reports noted pursuant to standing orders.
Continued from 21 February 2007.
Mr HENDERSON (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I support my colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, in what was an excellent statement to this House informing the House of the importance of the construction industry in building a better Territory.
We all know, as local members of parliament, even amongst our own personal friends, how important the construction industry is to the economy of the Northern Territory. As a young Territory, where we have population dispersed over vast distances, the challenges to governments, past and current, is to continue to invest in our infrastructure across the Northern Territory to encourage the private sector to also invest in building businesses and providing jobs for people. Also, on the social side of the equation, it is important to invest in infrastructure in our education system, hospital system, and other areas of government. It is a very significant industry.
I speak in this debate as the minister for Employment and Training in regard to the big steps that this government has taken to encourage and assist more apprentices and trainees into the construction industry, and also to assist employers across the Northern Territory to take on apprentices in these areas where we do have very significant skills shortages. While I talk of skills shortages, DEET recently released the report, NT Occupation Shortage List 2007. I encourage members and the community to go to the DEET website. The report was released in March 2007. It is pretty sobering reading, because it very clearly demonstrates that, in virtually every occupation and trade that you can think of, we have significant shortages across the Northern Territory. The report identified that, at any one time, there are about 2000 jobs going begging in the Northern Territory. That is 2000 businesses, and the Northern Territory government, that are finding it really hard to recruit people to the Northern Territory.
In supporting an ever-expanding economy in the Northern Territory, and ever-expanding opportunity for the private sector to invest and to get a return in the Northern Territory, the biggest hurdle that most businesses face is actually getting access to a skilled and stable workforce. That is why, in the budget today, I am very pleased - without preempting my colleague, the Treasurer - there are very significant commitments by government to continue to support the building of skills in our community.
However, it is not just about supporting the recruitment of apprentices and trainees and funding institutions like Charles Darwin University and Batchelor College, it is about looking at all of the policy levers that are available to government to try to address this skill shortage issue.
One of the levers that the government did pull around 18 months ago was giving our construction workers access to portable long service leave here in the Northern Territory; an initiative that the previous government, for whatever reason, did not take. In all other states across Australia, workers in the construction industry can go from job site to job site, employer to employer, state to state, and accrue long service leave that gets put into a fund and then, at the end of 10 year’s work, they can access long service leave entitlements the same way that, say, a Northern Territory public sector worker who has worked for one department for 10 years, can access their long service leave. That was a very significant commitment by the government.
As of the latest annual report from the board, over 3000 workers in the Northern Territory now have access to long service leave. That is a great thing for those 3000 workers, but it also means that we have the capacity to attract workers to the Northern Territory, not only because of the high-paying jobs that are on offer, but because they can be assured that they can continue to rack up and accrue long service leave.
Prior to the introduction of this bill, many workers would say: ‘What is the point of going to the Northern Territory? If I work up there for two years, it is not contributing to my long service leave entitlements’. We were significantly out of step with the other states, and making that move has certainly removed an obstacle from people thinking of moving to the Northern Territory.
We are investing in our public services, our schools, and our health system, as the Health Minister has just said. The HomeNorth scheme and various concessions that government has made over the last few years in stamp duty, and having home loan affordability the most affordable in the Northern Territory, are other levers that the government has pulled to try to get people to move to and make a financial commitment to the Territory, and be more likely to stay in the Territory. That means construction workers as well.
The main lever that the government has pulled in this area has been jobs growth. Prior to us coming to government in 2001 there had been no policy framework by the previous government to understand what the skills gaps were in the economy, what the future projections of where those skills gaps would be and, then, where you need to target your investment in the training dollar to actually match the training initiatives with the skills gaps that exist and are emerging. We actually put more money into the system and set some targets in regard to what we are doing as a community, because it is not government’s responsibility alone. It is the responsibility of everybody in the community to skill and train, not only our young people, very important that it is, but also recognise in this day and age that people do move from job to job, from career to career. We have to provide access to adults who want to change track in their career - whether they are in their mid-20s, mid-30s, mid-40s - to do something different, and remove the barriers for them to do that.
The creation of Jobs Plan 1 and Jobs Plan 2 was a very significant response to what had been an appalling lack of public policy focus for many years in the Northern Territory which has, in part, contributed to our skills shortage we face today.
Under Jobs Plan, we have encouraged, in the form of financial incentives to eligible employers, Territory businesses to employ additional apprentices and trainees. These have been a huge contribution. Previously, as minister for Business, I would get around to many businesses, which were very thankful of support offered by the Territory government. As minister for Employment and Training now, I continue to visit worksites and talk to employers and apprentices about how the arrangements are going, how the off-site training is going at Charles Darwin University, in particular here in Darwin, and continue to take a very strong personal interest in the government’s commitment to employing more apprentices and trainees across the Northern Territory.
Just last month, people probably saw in the notices in the paper, on a fairly regular basis, DEET take out a big advertisement advertising a round of skills shortage employer incentives. DEET has just released the seventh round of incentives, and these comprise of 100 skills shortage trades employer incentives of $7000 each. That is $7000 directly to an employer to assist them with the costs of taking on a first-year apprentice. I do not know how many tradesmen or tradespeople there are in the House. I know there is me, and my colleague, the member for Drysdale, we are both fitters by trade. I do not know that I was a particularly good tradesman, but I certainly remember my apprenticeship and my time in my trade with a lot of fondness.
In the first year in a trade a lot of broom pushing goes on, and carrying tools around for people. You are not really adding a lot of value to the employer who has to cover your wages and all sorts of other ongoing costs. Therefore, the $7000 to each of those employers has been warmly welcomed. In Jobs Plan 2 we had a good look at it and thought that one of the real issues - and if you talk to any of the mums and dads any of the apprentices out there – was that the wages, as we all know, are not that crash hot for a first-year apprentice. For most of those apprentices, unless they are living at home with mum and dad, it is almost impossible to exist with paying rent and running a car on a first-year wage.
Last year in the budget we introduced a Workwear/Workgear Bonus scheme to help the apprentices and trainees with the costs they incur in that first year. There is $1000 to each of those apprentices. As at 20 April this year, DEET had issued 969 skills shortage apprentices with $1000 each. That is to support the apprentice in purchasing a tool kit, getting a decent pair of overalls and work boots, and assisting those apprentices three months into their trade to kit themselves out.
I was talking to a friend and colleague of mine whose son had just started an apprenticeship yesterday in Darwin with Mitsubishi Motors. He signed his papers yesterday and was very excited about starting his apprenticeship as an automotive mechanic. Two apprentices signed their documents yesterday. They were very excited about it and they have already identified where they are going to spend that $1000. My friend’s son is going to put his money toward a decent tool kit. I say to Bruce Sampson and everyone at Mitsubishi Motors in Darwin: thank you for your contribution. That is two young people in the Northern Territory who, at the end of either three or four years, depending on how they go, will leave their apprenticeship with a trade, build a career for themselves and make an ongoing commitment to the economy.
Our Jobs Plan is working. We currently have over 3300 apprentices and trainees in training and nearly half of these are in traditional trades - 1489 in traditional trade apprenticeships across the Northern Territory. That is over double the number of apprentices in training in 2001 when we came to government when there was no policy framework to address these issues. Much of the debate in this parliament is around numbers. My colleague, the Treasurer, in a few minutes, is going to announce the Territory 2007-08 Budget. There is much talk in my colleague’s speech about big numbers - big dollars being spent. When we talk about 3300 apprentices - of that 3300, 1489 Territorians are in traditional trades - whether they are leaving school and going in to an apprenticeship or they are an adult apprentice, that is 3300 people actually training, building skills for themselves. Those skills will lead them to better work opportunities, a better financial capacity to build for themselves and their families. We should never lose sight that training and the economy is about people. It is very pleasing to see that we have doubled the number of Territorians in training since we came to government.
One of the critical success factors to overcoming skill shortages is partnerships with business and industry. As part of the budget, we are going to be releasing Jobs Plan 3 today. That further strengthens partnerships with business and industry. At the end of the day, the government can employ so many trainees. We have doubled the number of trainees that we have taken on in government, but the reality is that the heavy lifting has to be done by the private sector. We need to be working very closely with the private sector, with registered training organisations, with the big training providers like CDU and Batchelor, to make sure that the outputs of the dollars that we commit in training go to train people for jobs that exist in the workforce today, and are going to exist in the workforce tomorrow.
My commitment, as minister, is to be very focused on building those partnerships with business and industry across the Northern Territory to train people for jobs. That has to be the focus, and that means employers standing up and saying that they are prepared to take on so many trainees and develop those pathways that are very important for their business.
A few weeks ago, I visited Hastings Deering at Berrimah in their new premises. It is the second time I have been there. I had to give a big rap to Hastings Deering. They have doubled the number of apprentices they have put on. They now have 16 apprentices at Berrimah. That is a very significant commitment from one company. I was present at the signing ceremony where four new apprentices started their trade. Hastings Deering is growing their business because the economy is moving ahead and they are returning some of their profits into training young Territorians. Three of those apprentices I met were straight out of school. One was an adult apprentice, and I actually met this guy the first time as a police officer. He was a police officer who, in his mid-30s, has decided that he wants a change in his life and he is doing an adult apprenticeship with Hastings Deering. That is how flexible the system is, and we need to continue to work on that flexibility to provide opportunities for people who want to change careers to actually be able to do that.
Talking of partnerships, I would also like to congratulate one of the peak employer bodies in the Northern Territory for the construction industry. the Territory Construction Association, which has entered into a unique partnership arrangement with the Northern Land Council, something that would have been inconceivable a few years ago. However, today, it is a sign of a maturing Territory where all Territorians are a part of the economy in the Northern Territory and should have access to opportunities. It is a formal partnership, a memorandum of understanding between the Territory Construction Association and the NLC on encouraging indigenous Territorians into skills and training in the construction industry. The partnership aims to provide pre-employment training for 90 indigenous trainees with a minimum guarantee of 60 jobs. That is a guarantee of 60 jobs for those young people; it they complete their traineeship, there is a job at the end of it. It certainly is very significant.
The Northern Territory government’s $1.1bn waterfront project was identified by the partners as an opportunity to undertake training for local indigenous people with realistic job outcomes, and several trainees have succeeded through this venture. Again, I congratulate the CCA and the NLC on this particular initiative. These are young indigenous people in the Northern Territory given an opportunity for an apprenticeship and a job as a result of the waterfront project.
What do we see from the opposition, Madam Speaker? Inane adverts on the television, inane political advertising …
Mr Stirling: Scaring the kids.
Mr HENDERSON: Yes, some scaring the kids, for one - a portrait of the Opposition Leader saying ‘And what has this government done for you?’ with the waterfront in the background. I do not know why she hates Darwin so much. I do not know why the Leader of the Opposition really has taken a mindset that everything that happens in Darwin is bad.
We have young indigenous people getting access to training and will get a job as a result of that particular project. There are many benefits to that project but, for the young indigenous people who are going to get a trade as a result of that project and then move on into the broader workforce, I believe it is one of the significant success factors.
As well as the government having specific policy initiatives, I have talked about various levers that we can pull to encourage apprenticeships and traineeships. We are certainly doing that through the government tender process, and I know my colleague, the minister for DCIS, is working really hard in ensuring, wherever possible, value is attributed in assessing tenders to companies which actually commit to employing apprentices and trainees as part of their bid. We are certainly working very hard to move that policy even further, particularly in remote areas in regard to construction and housing. I am sure this House is going to hear a lot from my colleague, the Minister for Housing, about initiatives in that area, as well as through a requirement for companies who are bidding on a tender for over $5m through local industry participation plans to actually commit to indigenous employment and training.
In the 20 seconds that I have left, Madam Speaker, I commend Sitzler Bros and Michael Sitzler for building the soccer stadium in Darwin. As part of that contract, they employ two indigenous trainees - two indigenous trainees as a result of a requirement for this government to demonstrate that training effort.
Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, on her statement and our continued support for the construction industry.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise you that I have given permission for various media to broadcast live, or rebroadcast with sound and vision, the presentation of the budget and the Treasurer’s speech and the Leader of the Opposition’s reply; Top FM and Centre FM radio to broadcast live the presentation of the budget and the Treasurer’s speech and the Leader of the Opposition’s reply; and the Northern Territory News to take photographs.
I advise all honourable members that the Assembly will resume after lunch today at 2.30 pm.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the partner of the Treasurer, Ms Jenny Djerrkura. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Under Treasurer, Ms Jennifer Prince, and Treasury officers. On behalf all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
I also extend a warm welcome to all those people who have come to listen to the budget as part of our public education program. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be read a second time, and I table the 2007-08 Appropriation Bill and related budget papers.
Budget 2007-08 creates jobs, grows the economy, now and over the longer term, and secures and enhances the lifestyle of every Territorian. It is a confident budget developed for a confident community with a bright future. Budget 2007-08 sets out the plan for this year and provides the foundation for the Territory for the next 10 years. It is a budget that is sweeping in its impact.
Budget 2007-08 will put more Territorians into their own homes, and it will skill and train more people, preparing them for the thousands of jobs being generated in our economy. It heralds the most extensive infrastructure program ever.
Budget 2007-08 addresses the health needs of Territorians through a record budget of $838m, 73% higher than in 2001. It is focused on improving core services, particularly in hospitals, and delivers better services for Territorians with a disability.
It continues the Martin government’s record investment in education with $658m, an increase of 38% from 2001, as well as an extensive ongoing capital investment program. There is a strong focus on middle schooling, improving educational outcomes, and lifting the literacy and numeracy skills of students in the bush.
Through its support for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Budget 2007-08 maintains the Martin government’s determination to tackle crime and the causes of crime. The Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget will be $226m, an increase of 65% since 2001.
It achieves these priorities, once again, within sound and sustainable fiscal parameters. Perhaps more than any other budget, this budget focuses not only on next financial year, but it plans for the future, putting in place infrastructure and service improvements over a number of years. It lays the foundations for creating jobs and opportunities, growing the economy, and securing and improving the Territory lifestyle for many years to come.
Budget 2007-08 delivers the most comprehensive package of support for home ownership ever provided by a Territory government. It contains stamp duty reductions, a renewed and refocused HomeNorth, and new land for housing. From today, the stamp duty concession for first homebuyers will be lifted from $225 000 to $350 000, a 55% increase. The maximum rebate will now be $15 312, an increase of $7296 - 85% of first homebuyers in the Territory will pay no stamp duty.
The government has also revamped the HomeNorth scheme. HomeNorth has supported almost 1000 new borrowers since 2004. The low 2% deposit scheme and generous $10 000 interest-free loan remains in place, but the scheme has been made better for families with dependents. Income caps for singles will be set at $50 000 per anum. For families with two adults and no dependents, the income level remains at $60 000. For families with dependents, the income cap rises by $10 000 to $70 000. The Territory’s equity share also rises to $70 000, providing greater assistance for all borrowers. The property value cap will be set at 85% of the median price house in each region, ensuring HomeNorth maintains pace with the property market but, importantly, limits any flow-on to house prices.
Public housing tenants who want to buy their house will face no property value cap if they have lived in it for five years or more. These changes ensure that HomeNorth remains the most generous and effective scheme of its type in Australia.
To further support the expansion of the housing market, the government will provide $7m in 2007-08 to bring forward the development of Bellamack, capable of providing around 600 housing sites. It is expected that expressions of interest for the development will occur later this year and will include a requirement for special consideration to be given to first homebuyers. The combined effect of greater stamp duty concessions, the revamped HomeNorth scheme, and the release of land packages aimed at first homebuyers will see significant impetus given to the Martin government’s commitment to get Territorians into their own homes.
Creating jobs and lifting skill levels are at the heart of any Labor government; this government is no exception. We were the first Territory government to introduce the Jobs Plan. Today in Budget 2007-08, the Martin government unveils its third Jobs Plan. This $21.3m four-year plan will focus on building skills for Territorians. It provides incentives to employ trainees and apprentices. It provides funds to make school leavers more job ready, and it continues the successful Build Skills program allowing industry to advance the training of existing employees. Jobs Plan 3 casts a Territory-wide net and seeks to lift skill levels across all regions. It will also focus attention on those people in our community who have greater difficulty entering the workforce.
Budget 2007-08 continues the Martin government’s commitment to tax reform. I am very proud to advise Territorians that this government has now reduced taxation by $156m. This government has ensured that the Territory has the lowest tax in Australia for businesses with up to 100 staff. In addition to the announced tax relief for first homebuyers, stamp duty on hiring will be abolished from 1 July 2007, saving Territory businesses $5.3m per year. The government has also participated with other state governments in a payroll tax harmonisation project which will mean a significant reduction in red tape for employers. These changes will commence in 2008-09. Budget 2007-08 reinforces the Martin government as the most tax reforming government in the Territory’s history.
We came to office in 2001 on the theme Building a Better Territory. Since that time, we have implemented an extensive capital works and infrastructure program. Budget 2007-08 is no exception. This year, $645m cash will be spent on infrastructure in the Territory. We will bring the amount of cash spent on infrastructure since 2001 to $3.3bn. Importantly, Budget 2007-08 gives priority to infrastructure that supports long-term growth in key areas.
Roads receive a major injection of funds this financial year. The roads infrastructure program will be a record $180m and includes $57m for repairs and maintenance as well as extensive new works. An additional $35m will be injected over four years into repairs and maintenance for Territory roads. These funds boost Territory businesses, particularly the pastoral industry. They also support the daily life of Territorians living in the bush on pastoral stations and in remote communities.
The Martin government recognises that strong economic growth requires a solid infrastructure foundation. One of the most important investments the government can make is in essential services infrastructure. That is why we have announced a five-year $814m program of infrastructure investment repairs and maintenance in the power, water and sewerage system. This investment is a necessary ingredient in the expansion of the Territory economy over the immediate and long-term future.
Budget 2007-08’s infrastructure program contributes to the social development of the Territory as an important element in securing the Territory lifestyle. This year, $113m will be spent on housing infrastructure, the largest ever contribution. This is part of a five-year housing program that will see the Martin government deliver real gains in housing in remote communities.
In addition to investing in the economy, good economic management demands effective fiscal policy. In 2001, the Martin government inherited a budget that was out of control, and we learned firsthand the vital need for fiscal responsibility. You cannot grow an economy without a sustainable fiscal position. That is why we have delivered four surplus budgets in the last five years. I can assure Territorians that the Martin government will continue with its strong focus on fiscal responsibility in this budget and into the future.
Today, I can announce that, for the first time ever, the government will contribute funds towards meeting future liabilities built up by our predecessors over many years. $60m will be set aside today for the liabilities that have to be met in future budgets. It is a sound and responsible thing for a government to do, but it has only been possible because of our prudent approach to finances.
Members will be aware that to achieve an increase in service delivery, and to assist the government to growing and broadening the economy, we have grown the public service. The government is grateful for the hard work and dedication of all of our public servants. This financial year, the government has slowed the growth in public service numbers and will focus on achieving reductions in positions in back office areas. Service delivery staff - our teachers, nurses, doctors and police officers - will continue to grow as services expand. As part of this process, for three years the government will apply an additional efficiency dividend of 1% to all agencies except those primarily focused on service delivery, where the additional dividend will be 0.25%. The government will also proceed with our continuing review of the way we do business, in particular looking at more efficient ways of providing corporate services. We will also review executive numbers, office accommodation and the government vehicle policy.
In Budget 2007-08, the government will provide around $57m in community service obligations, including pensioner concessions to subsidise the cost of providing power and water across the Territory, keeping downward pressure on power, water and sewerage prices. However, as I have reported last year, there is a significant and growing difference between the cost of producing power and water and the tariffs charged. From this year, a CPI increase will be built into the provision of those services from 1 July 2007 and each year for the next five years - an increase far lower than those in other jurisdictions.
Before further detailing budget initiatives, I wish to advise members of the broader economic outlook. The Territory economy grew by 6% in 2004-05, and 7.5% in 2005-06, the highest economic growth rates in Australia. It is estimated to grow by a further 7.2% in 2006-07. The major contributor to the growth this year is strong export activity, particularly from the peak production of LNG, energy products from the Bayu-Undan fields, and increased mineral production. In 2006-07, total investment expenditure is estimated to be $3.9bn lower than the historic peak of $4.1bn in 2005-06, but well above the 10-year average of $3.2bn.
Consumption expenditure in the Territory is estimated to increase by 3.3% in 2006-07 on the back of solid increases in household consumption. Retail turnover in the Territory is estimated to grow by 7.5% in 2006-07, good news for the retail sector. Growth in the Darwin CPI is estimated to moderate to 3% in 2007.
The Territory’s population is estimated to grow by 1.6% in 2006, higher then the national growth rate of 1.3%. The Territory’s labour force is expanding strongly in 2006-07, with resident employment increasing by 4.4%. Private sector residential building approvals have increased by 13.2% over the past year.
Turning to 2007-08, economic growth is forecast at 3.7% with business investment returning to more expected levels, exports to stabilise and mega-projects completing.
Engineering construction activity will reduce in 2007-08 with the completion of major engineering projects midway through this year. However, new projects are coming online in 2007-08, including oil field developments in the Timor sea, the ongoing development of the Blacktip gas field in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, and expansion of the GEMCO manganese processing facility at Groote Eylandt. That will sustain engineering activity above historic levels.
Territory resident employment and population are forecast to maintain solid growth of 2.3% and 1.4% respectively in 2007-08. This is in line with ongoing work at the Darwin waterfront development, as well as other significant projects. Growth in total consumption expenditure is forecast to moderate in 2007-08, and the Darwin CPI is forecast to reduce further in 2008 to 2.5%. The outlook for 2007-08 is strong, with the Territory returning to sustainable longer-term growth levels.
Turning to the fiscal outlook, in 2006-07 our focus has been on establishing a firm base for the Territory’s next stage of growth. Total operating receipts in 2006-07 for the general government sector are expected to be $3.2bn. During 2006-07, grants from the Australian government have increased by $61m, $8m in GST revenue in line with higher population and growth in the GST pool, and $53m in specific purpose payments.
Receipts from taxes and mining royalties have increased by $47m during the year, reflecting the continuous and continuing improvement in the Territory economy and the commodities boom. Total operating and nett capital payments are $3.1bn in 2006-07. Variations through the year result from the usual timing differences between financial years. Some capital payments for the waterfront have transferred to 2007-08 as a result of the heavy rain earlier this year. However, completion remains on track for 2008.
Approved new initiatives through the year total $25m, with $6m brought forward for undergrounding of power lines, $5m for Borroloola sewerage works, and $4m for the upgrade of Banyan House.
Expenditure associated with specific purpose payments from the Australian government has also increased as agreements have been finalised.
In line with its broader responsibilities, particularly for indigenous housing, Territory Housing has been transferred from the non-financial public sector to the general government sector during 2006-07. There is minimal overall effect on the budget, but differences in timing of capital projects in 2006-07 and 2007-08 have small offsetting effects in each year.
The fiscal restraint during 2006-07 has enabled the commencement of contributions of $60m this year towards the Territory’s unfunded superannuation liability, which will reduce the burden on future budgets. Taking this $60m payment into account in 2006-07, the budget outcome is estimated to be a deficit of $11m.
In 2007-08, receipts are projected to increase by 4% to $3.32bn, and payments by 8% to $3.36bn. The outcome is expected to be a deficit of $40m, in line with fiscal targets announced three years ago. The increase in payments and the resulting deficit reflects the significant investment in the waterfront in 2007-08. A balanced budget is still expected for 2008-09, moving into surplus from 2009-10.
The ratio of nett debt and nett debt plus employee liabilities for revenue is better than last year’s projections at 42% and 110% respectively by 2010-11. All fiscal strategy targets are unchanged from 2006-07 and are expected to be achieved.
Madam Speaker, turning to the detail of the budget’s initiatives, since 2001, the Martin government set into place well-known priorities. These are: supporting and growing business; building a healthier Territory; improving educational outcomes; providing a safer community for all Territorians; and enhancing our great lifestyle. Budget 2007-08 supports these fundamental priorities.
Supporting and growing business – the Martin government believes that growing business is good business for the Territory. In Budget 2007-08, we are putting into place initiatives that grow business opportunities now and into the future. We are continuing our strategy of high levels of infrastructure investment, innovative programs supporting the skilling of Territorians, sensible tax reforms, and significant investment in key economic drivers.
I have outlined the government’s infrastructure program, our innovative skills program contained within Jobs Plan 3 and the tax initiatives in the budget. These are investments in the future of the Territory.
Roads are our lifeblood. The roads capital works program includes: a $10m start on the Tiger Brennan Drive project with the duplication of Berrimah Road to ease the traffic flow through this area; a further $18m towards the upgrade of the Victoria Highway; $10.5m for the continued sealing of the Red Centre Way; $2m for the Plenty Highway, part of the Outback Way; $12.3m to improve access to Wadeye and the surrounding outstations; upgrading the Tanami Highway with $2m per year over the next five years; $8.7m for the Roads to Recovery program; $1.2m for the Buntine and Arnhem Highways; $1.4m for the Maryvale Road; and a further $800 000 for the Sandover Highway.
In addition to being important assets to business, bush roads are also a lifeline for Territorians living in remote communities. That is why Budget 2007-08 will support additional repairs and maintenance to roads such as the Kalkaringi/Lajamanu turn-off road; the Santa Teresa/Alice Springs connector road; the Umbakumba/Alyangula connector road, roads around Woodykupuldiya, the Ramingining barge road, the Eva Valley/Central Arnhem Road and many other bush roads.
The breadth and reach of the $814m investment over the next five years in the Territory’s power, water and sewerage infrastructure is staggering. We will ensure that the Territory will not experience the sort of failures seen in other states in these essential services. Included in this five-year program is: new generation and the relocation of existing units to Brewer Estate at a cost of $24m; the closure of the Larrakeyah outfall and upgrades at the Ludmilla Treatment Plant at a cost of $40m over four years; the new Weddell power station at a cost of $83.5m; upgrading Katherine Wastewater Treatment Plant at $10m; raising the Darwin River Dam level by 1.3 m at a cost of $8.5m; and upgrading and replacing power supply and sets in communities such as Borroloola, Elliott, Kings Canyon and Tennant Creek.
In addition to these investments in economic drivers, the budget provides for strong support to the mining industry. The government will fund a $12m four-year program called Bringing Forward Discovery. This program provides critical information necessary to encourage greater mineral and energy exploration in the Territory.
The Darwin waterfront and convention centre remains a centrepiece development for the Territory’s capital city. This important project will create a signature for Darwin, as well as providing ongoing work for the construction industry for the next 10 years through future stages of residential and commercial development. The Territory will contribute $68m in 2007-08 to the community infrastructure and convention centre being constructed through the public/private partnership arrangement.
Budget 2007-08 continues the high level of support provided by the Martin government to the tourism industry, with a budget this year of $38.3m.
Budget 2007-08 delivers $1.15m to peak industry associations. Other industry support includes: $650 000 for business management and capability programs; $830 000 for indigenous economic development initiatives; $500 000 for regional economic development support; and $1.7m for Territory Business Centres.
I now turn to the government‘s support for Building a Healthier Territory. The Martin government has backed this commitment by increasing the health budget by 73% since 2001. Today, there are more health services available than ever before, more doctors and more nurses in our hospitals, and more programs aimed at improving the health of Territorians. This budget provides strong support for Territory hospitals. For example, the Royal Darwin Hospital will receive $207.3m, an increase of 85% since 2001; and the Alice Springs Hospital will be funded $104.7m, up 94% since 2001. The increased funding for hospital beds in 2007-08 will see the government achieve an increase of 12 hospital beds in Royal Darwin Hospital, taking the total to 18 additional beds; and 12 additional beds at the Alice Springs Hospital ahead of our election commitment. $16.2m is approved for works at Alice Springs Hospital, including $6m for a new Emergency Department. A new health clinic costing $3.1m will be built at Wadeye community.
I am also proud to advise members that Budget 2007-08 spotlights increased government support for people with a disability. Over the next four years, an additional $17.8m will be provided to increase services to disabled Territorians and their carers. This will see expanded assessment, therapy and treatment services, respite care, residential services, as well as increased spending for taxi subsidies.
Budget 2007-08 continues the Martin government’s support for families. In addition to creating jobs and getting people into their first homes, the budget also funds $10.8m for pensioner concessions to reduce the cost of living to our seniors; $3.7m to subsidise the cost of childcare - recognition by the Martin government of the importance of these services to our young Territory population; and $18.7m for supporting individuals and families in crisis.
Renal disease destroys the life of far too many Territorians. Budget 2007-08 heralds an additional $24.4m over the next four years to support additional services in this critical area. This will fund the growth in dialysis services and additional specialist staff. Additional dialysis equipment will be installed in Alice Springs in 2007-08 and in Tennant Creek, Katherine and other communities from 2008-09.
The Martin government has been determined to lift educational outcomes for Territorians. We have provided support for students and for teachers. Budget 2007-08 continues that effort with a record $658m budget. In addition to the $21.3m Jobs Plan, Budget 2007-08 will fund $1.9m for the successful Back-to-School payment of $50 per enrolled student to support parents and help reduce the cost of education to families. A further $11.8m is provided this year under the $42m four-year initiative Building Better Schools, aimed at improving the quality and delivery of education inside our secondary schools. Funding this year for the national accelerated literacy program is $2.7m jointly with the Australian government, and will see the program expanded to 70 schools by the end of 2007 and 100 schools by the end of 2008. The government will fund an additional $3.3m in 2007-08, rising to $4.4m in 2008-09, for upgraded bus services for students. A further $460 000 is provided for additional bus services for special needs students in Darwin, Humpty Doo and Alice Springs.
To support training and provide assistance with higher education and research, Charles Darwin University will receive $45m in total payments with $9.5m provided to the Batchelor Institute. In addition to ongoing work associated with the middle years program, new building programs will also be funded with $1m upgrades for each of Millner and Wanguri Primary Schools; $1m also provided to begin the $6.2m upgrade of Ross Park Primary School; and $5m provided for the upgrade of the Borroloola Community Education Centre.
Since 2001, the Martin government has focused on building a safer community and fighting crime and its underlying causes. Budget 2007-08 will keep that fight strong. The Police, Fire and Emergency Services’ budget is at a record $226m, an increase of 65% since 2001. $31m will be provided this year to continue the initiatives recommended through the O’Sullivan review. The Northern Territory Police Force will have 1140 uniformed police by June 2008. That is the highest proportion of police per capita anywhere in Australia, and the government will have fulfilled its commitment to employ 200 additional police.
This year, government will be funding $4.8m to build a new police station at Casuarina for the northern suburbs of Darwin. This station will be an important base in our effort in tackling crime in the suburbs. $736 000 has been provided for this financial year, rising to $1.3m in 2007-08, to establish highway patrols and remote area patrols; $4m will be provided over three years to implement the nationwide Persons of Interest project. As part of our war on drugs, the government introduced legislation for the forfeiture of property purchased with the profit of crime. In 2007-08, additional ongoing funding of $1.3m will be provided to support the legislation.
Budget 2007-08 will provide $2.4m for the newly refocused and consolidated crime prevention community safety strategy, with $110 000 for Neighbourhood Watch to continue its crime prevention role. The government continues its efforts to crack down on antisocial behaviour. Budget 2007-08 funds juvenile diversion program grant funding of $1.76m for Community Youth Development Units and case management by non-government organisations; $633 000 for the Community Patrol Service in Darwin; $22.7m for treatment places for people with problems with alcohol and other drugs; and $4m has been provided to upgrade Banyan House.
The Martin government will again provide councils with $250 000 to light parks and laneways. The Chief Minister has also announced $150 000 to assist the Alice Springs Town Council with installation of closed circuit television cameras.
Budget 2007-08 provides $35.8m to keep Territory children safe from abuse. These funds will help investigate abuse and support abused children. Since coming to office, the Martin government has significantly increased the funding for the protection of children.
The Territory’s lifestyle is unique, the best in Australia. Being a Territorian means having a lifestyle the envy of our friends and families elsewhere. The Martin government continues to secure and improve this important lifestyle through Budget 2007-08. As my colleague, the member for Casuarina, says much better than I do: fishing is the lure of the Territory. $2.8m will be allocated to build a new boat ramp at East Arm, with $500 000 to fund other fishing infrastructure including new boat ramps across the Territory. The government will fund the Amateur Fisherman’s Association with $170 000 to continue to provide services. Fishing research is an important part of protecting Territory fishing into the future. Budget 2007-08 provides $1.84m for research. $350 000 is provided for the government’s ongoing program of reducing commercial coastal licences.
Territorians love sport. We love to play it and we love to watch it. The Martin government has backed both. Budget 2007-08 provides $20.7m for sport and recreation with $3.5m for sports grants to support clubs, administrators and volunteers. Since coming to office, this government has brought more first-class sport to the Territory than ever before. In Budget 2007-08, the Territory will see the government continue this program of major events. Territory netball gets a new home with a $4.8m facility to be built at Marrara Sporting Complex.
The Chief Minister has outlined a major project designed to provide a long-term vision for the look and development of Darwin. Budget 2007-08 begins work on Creating Darwin’s Future. This includes upgraded urban landscaping, and establishing Flagstaff Park at Myilly Point, including cliff access and a boardwalk to Mindil Beach. Scoping work will also begin on the proposed Darwin Experience Museum and the link between the Darwin waterfront and Darwin’s heritage precinct.
Major urban enhancement projects across the Territory will receive $2m and this will see upgrades to the Karama shops and Wulagi shops, improved bike paths in Nhulunbuy and at Girraween, beautification works at Adelaide River and for the flood-ravaged community of Gunbalanya. At Tennant Creek and Katherine, main street projects will continue, while Nightcliff foreshore will be enhanced. These small projects make a big difference in the look and lifestyle of our suburbs, communities and neighbourhoods.
Budget 2007-08 supports a diverse and multicultural Territory with $741 000 for the Multicultural Affairs Sponsorship Grants and $350 000 for the Multicultural Facilities Development program.
Territorians are proudly creative. Budget 2007-08 supports that creativity by $5.5m in arts sponsorship, $12.3m for the Museum and Art Gallery at Bullocky Point, and $4.3m for the Araluen Arts and Cultural Precinct.
An important part of our unique lifestyle is based around our environment. Budget 2007-08 funds $34.86m for 93 parks Territory-wide, 157 rangers and 66 support staff. $248 000 is provided for the establishment of the Territory’s Environment Protection Agency. In Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, up to $50 will be paid for subsidising the purchase of water saving devices, $520 000 will be provided to protect Darwin Harbour, with $100 000 provided for Cool Communities in Darwin and Alice Springs. $460 000 will be available for environment grants to community-based groups.
To secure the lifestyle of Territorians in the bush, the government is undertaking major local government reform. This reform is focused on providing improved services to Territorians. Budget 2007-08 will provide $9.9m over two years to assist the establishment of shires across the Territory. Through these measures and others announced in greater detail by individual ministers, the Martin government will be securing and improving the lifestyle of Territorians now and into the future.
The Territory is a great place. There is no question that it has an exciting future. We must do what we can today to grow, develop and strengthen the Territory. We must plan for the future. We must ensure we support all Territorians so that they can be part of that exciting future. This budget achieves those goals. It lays the foundations for jobs, for growth and for our lifestyle. It creates the opportunities that the Territory and Territorians need, and it does so responsibly with a focus on strong economic management.
Madam Speaker, Budget 2007-08 is the budget our children would want us to deliver. It is the budget I am proud to commend to you today and, Madam Speaker, if that is not the best budget that I have delivered as Treasurer, I will go he.
Debate adjourned.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Northern Territory Electoral Commission report of the June 2005 Legislative Assembly General Election.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report and seek leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, in accordance with section 39(7)(a) of the Government Owned Corporations Act, as shareholding minister for the corporation, I table the Power and Water Corporation’s 2007-08 Statement of Corporate Intent.
As members are aware, the Power and Water Corporation became the Territory’s first government owned corporation, or GOC, on 1 July 2002, making this the corporation’s sixth SCI. The SCI is the annual performance agreement between the GOC and the shareholding minister on behalf of Territorians as owners of the corporation.
Again, consistent with previous years, the information of a commercially sensitive nature has been removed from the SCI. The SCI is being tabled today on the basis that it would be unreasonable to disadvantage the corporation by disclosing commercially sensitive information that no private sector business would be expected to release, even though the corporation currently has no direct competitor for most of its business activities.
The SCI forecasts nett profits after tax of $22m in 2007-08, compared with the loss of $58m projected for 2006-07. The projected loss for 2006-07 is attributed to a write-down in water and sewerage asset values in accordance with application of international accounting standards. Accounting standards require asset values to be determined based on the recoverable amount test which considers, amongst other things, the revenue expected to be generated from continued use of the assets. Even with tariff increases, water and sewerage revenues were too low to sustain the carrying value of these assets requiring the asset write-downs.
The 2007-08 SCI contains plans for $592m of capital investment between 2007-08 and 2011-12 and the corporation projects repairs and maintenance activity of some $220m over the same period. The total infrastructure program totalling $814m has been developed based on a rigorous assessment of capital and maintenance needs, and ensures that the Power and Water Corporation infrastructure meets independent reliability standards. It represents the largest investment in essential services in Territory history, and is almost twice the level of the previous five years.
Over the next five years, Power and Water will invest over $197m in new power generation capacity including: $126.6m for the new Weddell power station in Darwin; $7m for new generation in Katherine; $23.4m for the new Brewer Estate power station in Alice Springs; $1.5m in upgrade work at Tennant Creek; and $3m for new generation in Yulara. Over this period, a further $179m will be spent on upgrading power networks; $73m on water supply augmentation and delivery systems; $85m on sewerage system including almost $40m to complete the Darwin sewer strategy; and the closure of the Larrakeyah outfall.
The 2007-08 SCI includes annual CPI increases for electricity, water and sewerage tariffs for the next five years commencing 1 July 2007. The tariff increases are necessary to, (1) take pressure of the corporation’s operating performance which has seen significant decline given increasing costs, particular fuel costs; and (2) provide the corporation confidence to undertake the necessary capital program.
As members are aware, the government has a uniform tariff policy for most customers including small business and households. This means that these Territorians pay the same for electricity, water and sewerage irrespective of how much it costs to provide these services in different locations and conditions. Notwithstanding increased tariffs, there remains a gap between the price Territorians pay for electricity, water and sewerage and what it costs the corporation to deliver the service. This gap is, and continues to be, funded by government providing community service obligation, or CSO, funding and also government accepting a lower rate of return for its investment in the corporation. Government provides CSO funding of around $57m to subsidise power, water and sewerage and the corporation’s projected $22m profit for 2007-08 also includes government financial and in-kind capital contributions of some $78m.
Madam Speaker, as the 2007-08 SCI will be considered by the GOC Scrutiny Committee, I will not go into any more details here.
MOTION
Refer Paper to Government Owned Corporations Scrutiny Committee –
Statement of Corporate Intent for 2007-08 for the Power and Water Corporation
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that, pursuant to paragraph 1 of the order of the Assembly which appointed the Government Owned Corporations Scrutiny Committee, the statement be referred to that committee for examination and report.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Statement – Constructing
a Better Territory
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I support the minister for Planning and Infrastructure in her important statement in which she proudly outlined how the Martin Labor government is strongly supporting the lifestyle growth and sustainable economic development of the Northern Territory through a strong and vibrant construction industry.
As a professional engineer who has lived in the Territory for almost 30 years, I remember how insipid and lacklustre the latter year was under the last of the CLP governments. The current opposition has still not learnt anything. They still continue to carp and whine as we all heard this morning when the Treasurer gave his really vibrant and promotional speech in support of the Budget 2007-08. They continue to talk down the Territory. They still remain out of touch.
In 2001, the Martin Labor government was given the reins. The Territory has not looked back. Let us be quite frank about that; this government has turned our economic misfortune under the CLP mismanagement into a sustainable, economic future under a Labor government with foresight and a clear vision for a prosperous and vibrant Territory. In doing so, the Martin Labor government has created for Territorians a lifestyle which is the envy of the rest of Australia - and that is a fact. I love the Territory. I am a proud Territorian and it is a great place to raise a family. Labor has delivered and Labor will continue to deliver.
There is no better way to gauge the health of an economy than through its workforce. The Martin Labor government has been at the helm of this economic renaissance …
Members interjecting.
Mr WARREN: Yes, renaissance, which has seen the creation of 6000 new jobs in the last year alone. It is an economic renaissance which has seen more than 2000 of these new jobs taken up as apprenticeships and traineeships. These young people are our future and, by investing in the education and training of our young Territorians, this government is investing heavily in their future and, equally as importantly, in our future.
I am truly and unashamedly proud to be part of such a visionary government. Labor is clearly the natural party of government for the Northern Territory. A strong economy benefits Territory families. Our economy is not only strong, but it is sustainable. I will get to that later, member for Blain.
This government, through its promotion and direct investment in our economic development, is ensuring the sustainable lifestyle for economically healthy Territory families. This has all come about because of the combination of major project promotion and responsible fiscal management by the Martin Labor government. Not only that, but we have an economic environment in which Territory businesses are prospering. By a combination of cash investments in our infrastructure and continued cuts to business taxes by the Martin Labor government, which is continuing into Budget 2007-08, business activity is at an all time record. Our economy is strong, robust and growing ...
Mr Mills: Have you heard of China?
Mr WARREN: Our gross state product is now at a very healthy 7.5% - I will pick up that interjection. It is how you attach to that development in other parts of the world, and that is what this government is doing. Unlike the CLP government, we are able to tap into those profit opportunities when they arise.
Our gross state production is now at a healthy 7.5% driven mainly by investment, which, I am proud to say, has been attracted by the Martin Labor government’s responsible management of our economy. Others can see the benefits of investing in our vibrant economy, but not our opposition. Why? They still live in the doldrums of the past and continue to talk down the Territory at every opportunity, like this morning. In next breath, they claim to be proud Territorians. Sadly, they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the fact that they themselves - you and your families - are reaping the benefits of what this Martin Labor government has delivered for you and all other Territorians.
While investment so far has been the principal driver behind our very healthy GSP growth, the seeds of investment have begun to germinate. Our strong and robust economy is increasingly being driven by production outputs and it is forecast to grow at a healthy 6.2% in 2007-08. In other words, our future GSP growth will be on the back of long-term sustainable production growth. We are entering an exciting phase of the Territory’s development, but the desperate CLP continues to seek out the crumbs that drop off the back of the baker’s van rather than jumping aboard and feasting on the bountiful loaves of bread inside the van. They focus on the minor chinks in the delivery of the smaller ticket items because they do not have capacity to focus on the big picture of how a capable government runs a sustainable Territory economy for the true benefit of our great Territory lifestyle. They do not understand that because they have a leader who focuses on the small picture and, mistakenly, thinks she is on to a winner; a leader, for the time being, who does not understand the basics of what is truly important to Territorians; a leader who does not understand that in the end, Territorians want their government to deliver for them economic prosperity and the benefit that brings. They may grumble about travelling down the highway at 130 km/h, but they will not exchange their loaves of bread for the breadcrumbs. They will not change their vote for breadcrumbs. The opposition is a shambles; in disarray, out of touch with Territorians and nowhere near ready to govern.
I am proud that I stand here in 2007 espousing the Martin Labor government for its transformation of the Territory economy. I am proud to be part of this government. We are entering exciting times, which will benefit all Territorians, but this government is not content to rest on its laurels, unlike the CLP. Well, they did not have any laurels to rest on, I do not think.
This government continues to invest in our infrastructure. Since coming to power, the Martin Labor government has invested some $2.7bn in cash into the Territory infrastructure. I noted this morning, it is now $3.3bn that we are investing. Most importantly, there has been a planned focus in this investment to ensure that it is strategically spread across the broadest possible range of industries, and that is important – and I will get to what the CLP view was before. It is important that we try to spread that strategically placed investment across the industry. Equally important, considering the remoteness of parts of the Territory, this investment has been geographically spread across the whole Territory. In other words, we have not just focused on north of the Berrimah Line. I live south of the Berrimah Line and I can tell you, this government does not focus on the Berrimah Line, unlike the CLP.
By targeting strategic projects across the broad spectrum of industry and across our regions, our infrastructure spending provides the impetus for our burgeoning private sector. Our government’s investment in infrastructure and the construction of the Territory seeds and leverages larger scale private sector investment into the building of our Territory. That is what you raised before, and that is why I said it was how you do it when you talk about economies overseas and the opportunities for businesses here.
Of course, what does this mean? This means a strong and vibrant economy, jobs for Territorians and their families and jobs for our prosperous Territory lifestyle. By adopting this approach to investing in a range of projects which have the greatest potential to help develop the Territory - both large and small and across the whole Territory - the Martin Labor government has adopted a fiscally responsible approach to positioning our burgeoning economy for sustainable growth ...
Dr Lim interjecting.
Mr WARREN: It is. You want to talk the Territory down, to continue to carp and whinge, but you cannot come to face the fact that you, along with all other Territory families, are benefiting from our burgeoning economy. It is a sustainable growth. By the way, it is called spreading your investment; it is basic and sound economics.
Madam Speaker, contrast this to the previous CLP government’s crass approach of trying to pick winners ...
Dr Lim: Crass approach? Whoa!
Mr WARREN: It is. They gambled with the Territory’s economy and lost and we ended up with the infamous economic black hole. The CLP approach was to put all eggs in the one basket. That is a fiscally irresponsible way to run a government. They failed Basic Economics 101 dismally, and I do not believe they have the capacity to do any better now, because they are still locked into a stubborn mindset.
I note the minister has announced an infrastructure spend …
Mr Mills: Lighten up.
Mr WARREN: It is too important; we are talking about our economy and our future. This House is here not to lighten up but to deal with real fact and real substance ...
Mr Mills: Just think about it.
Mr WARREN: I am not going to lighten up. They failed Basic Economics 101.
I note that the minister just announced an infrastructure spend of some $645m in cash as part of Budget 2007-08, far exceeding what we have spent before. We have always exceeded the previous year’s. This is almost twice what we were able to spend when we came to government in 2001 and in 2002 …
Mr Burke: Remember that black hole.
Mr WARREN: Exactly, because of the infamous CLP black hole legacy.
Dr Lim: Black hole, your black hole. What is the deficit like?
Mr Mills interjecting.’
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Blain!
Mr WARREN: Member for Blain, now that we have turned the economy around, infrastructure spending has continued to climb, and we are proud of that …
Dr Lim: We are out of deficit? Oh, good.
Mr WARREN: You should take note of this, member for Blain. This year, we have seen the Martin Labor government’s investment in the Territory’s infrastructure reach $3.3bn since 2001. That is what I acknowledge the Treasurer and the Chief Minister for, and that is the important element. We are up to $3.3bn.
Mr Mills: Does that include repairs and maintenance?
Mr WARREN: This is the building and construction of our Territory, which continues.
Mr Mills: Does it include repairs and maintenance?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WARREN: The Martin Labor government has transformed the Territory, member for Blain.
Mr Mills: No, you have not.
Mr WARREN: We are now leading the nation in economic prosperity ...
Mr Burke: They do not like that.
Mr WARREN: No, they do not like it. But they are benefiting. That is the whole point; they are benefiting from this. They do not like to admit it, but they are benefiting. Their families are doing very well out of our economy ...
Mr Mills: You have not transformed the Territory. You are having a lend of yourself.
Mr WARREN: Madam Speaker, as I near the end of my speech, this government is committed to delivering for all Territorians well into the future. Our vibrant construction industry - it has gone real quiet for the moment, they do not like hearing this, or maybe I should speak a bit longer ...
A member: Please do, please do.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Member for Goyder, please continue.
Mr WARREN: Sorry, Madam Speaker. This government is committed to delivering for all Territorians well into the future. Our vibrant construction industry is the robust heart-pumping sustenance to our strong and healthy economy. It provides the nourishment for a great Territory lifestyle. I thank the minister for a most important statement and I eagerly look forward to further updates.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the provocative member obviously seeks a response from the Country Liberal Party. I shall spend a few minutes endeavouring to demonstrate what the County Liberal Party has done in the many years it was in government. Its legacy lives on right to today. The fact that we are sitting in this Chamber is one of the legacies.
In the 25 to 28 years that the CLP was in government, it created many opportunities and developed infrastructure that all Territorians today enjoy. I remember when I first arrived in the Territory in 1981, the third year of self-government, the road between Alice Springs and Darwin was a single strip of bitumen with undulations just about every 50 km to 100 km, blind turns, and corners that made driving between Alice Springs and Darwin quite hazardous. The road between Alice Springs and Kulgera was also a very narrow strip of bitumen. After Kulgera, you actually ended up on gravel almost all the way to Port Augusta.
In the first 10 years of self-government, when our funding was under a memorandum of understanding, or agreement, between the Commonwealth government and Northern Territory government, they provided us with financial support to create and develop the infrastructure that would be required for the Territory. That MOU was torn up by the then Treasurer, Paul Keating, saying that, after the first 10 years of self-government, the Northern Territory would no longer be funded with any extra assistance and we would have to fend for ourselves.
It was not until the commencement of the GST that the same volume of money from the Commonwealth was again being received by the Northern Territory. From 1988 to 2001, for 13 years, we were starved of resources that were desperately needed to maintain the services that were required in the Northern Territory.
I am sure you have seen this little diagram that was published several years ago by the Country Liberal Party. It shows the railway line between Alice Springs and Darwin. On that was a list of initiatives that were carried out by the Country Liberal Party government. Let me start from the top of the list and work down. There was the establishment of national parks - Litchfield, Keep River, Charles Darwin and Gregory. The Windows on the Wetlands was established by the Country Liberal Party and was hailed as one of the greatest things that could have happened to the Top End to allow visitors to enjoy the escarpments and the landscapes out there in the wetlands. We created the new city of Palmerston which is now considered to be one of the fastest growing cities in Australia – definitely the fastest growing in the Territory. Many people are now moving there. In spite of the lack of land, there are still efforts to move people out there.
Obviously, the new suburbs of Bellamack and Rosebery and all those areas will continue to attract people who seek homes in the suburbs as affordable as possible. We had the development of Kings Canyon Visitor Centre and the Katherine Gorge Visitor Centre. Yulara was built during those first 10 years of self-government when we had sufficient financial resources to embark on these sorts of projects. Today, Yulara is considered to be one of the best four- and five-star resorts around the country and is one of the icons that we promote in the Territory for tourism.
It is the foresight of governments such as that under Paul Everingham that got those things happening. I remember that at the same time Yulara was being built, the casinos, both in Darwin and Alice Springs, were also under construction. Those were courageous decisions made by government that had vision, and at a time when there was sufficient funds coming to the Territory to enable it to happen.
The Northern Territory government under the Country Liberal Party promoted the gold battery and Tourist Information Centre at Tennant Creek and continued to fund it to ensure that there was evidence of heritage and reminders for people that Tennant Creek is, indeed, a mining town, and one of the reasons why Tennant Creek was so successful back in the 1980s and early 1990s. I know that the battery at Tennant Creek is now struggling; its funding is never quite certain. They continue to ask questions of the government as to what is going to happen with the funding for the battery. It appears that the Minister for Central Australia continues to be uncertain because of other priorities that he may also have.
With the creation of the Northern Territory museums, the one in Darwin is one of the highlights of many visits by tourists to Darwin. Similarly, the Strehlow Centre in Alice Springs was created under the Country Liberal Party government . Again, fantastic legacies that ensured that the history, whether it be white or indigenous history, is retained, preserved and promoted in the Territory. Those are things that were done by a government at a time when it had the resources.
The gas pipeline between Alice Springs and Darwin was a visionary project by the then Chief Minister, Ian Tuxworth. Without the gas pipeline there would be no gas to fire up Darwin power generation, nor any of the power stations along the Stuart Highway. Just think of that. After the CLP government negotiated with ConocoPhillips to ensure that Bayu-Undan gas came into the Territory, into the Darwin area, this government, under the current Chief Minister, failed to negotiate for any supply of gas into the Territory. That must be the greatest disgrace that this government has to face: gas pouring into the Territory; every skerrick of it exported to Japan. Not one bit - not even enough to fill a little Bic gas lighter - comes into the Territory. Thank God for the gas from Alice Springs that is coming all the way up to Darwin, otherwise we would have nothing. That was visionary. That was something that was done by a Country Liberal Party government which was prepared to put money where it felt would do the Territory the best good.
The Territory Wildlife Park and Alice Springs Desert Park are initiatives of the Country Liberal Party government, and tourism now continues to promote those two parks as icons for people to visit when they arrive in the Territory. I know that the Alice Springs Desert Park is a firm destination for all those who come up on The Ghan. If you look at the advertisements to promote Ghan passengers into both Darwin and Alice Springs, the Territory Wildlife Park is another firm destination people go to. None of these are recognised by the current government as very major initiatives by a former government.
Let me talk about State Square. In the late 1980s, when we had to go through the recession we had to have, there was huge downturn in the construction industry in the Northern Territory, especially up here in Darwin. The former Country Liberal Party government embarked on a proposal that built us a brand new Supreme Court and Parliament House. Today, we all share the benefits of this building. I was privileged to be one of the first members to be in this Chamber in 1994 when we moved from the temporary building across State Square. Where is the recognition by this government that these are the things that were done to ensure not only that we have something that will last us 100 years or more, but it kept the construction industry alive and well for those years during the construction until the recession that we had to have disappeared?
Stokes Hill Wharf is another example of what the Country Liberal Party did. Today, tourists go down there, especially in the Dry, to enjoy the environment, the ambience of the place, the outdoor life of which we are so very proud in Darwin.
After the MOU with the Commonwealth government lapsed, the Country Liberal Party government continued to invest and to make commitments for the future of the Territory. The Alice Springs Convention Centre was embarked upon. It was finished just as there was a change of government in 2001 and the current Chief Minister had the privilege of having her name emblazoned on a plaque when she opened the convention centre. However, it was something that was embarked upon several years before the change of government. Today in Alice Springs, it is one of our very significant developments that provides for not only tourists, but a focus for people in Alice Springs. The fact that parliament sat in the convention centre 14 days ago in Alice Springs is an indication of the major benefit that the convention centre has brought to Alice Springs and to the Territory. The fact that we can share parliament across both ends of the Territory has to be a major achievement.
When I first arrived in this Chamber in 1994, I negotiated with then Chief Minister, Marshall Perron, and subsequent Chief Ministers to see whether we could take parliament to Alice Springs, but we had no facility other than the Araluen Arts Centre. The Araluen Arts Centre’s auditorium, while it has a seating capacity for 500 people, does not have a stage area or the floor area that would accommodate a sittings of parliament, so we did not do it.
Eventually, we managed, through a lot of persuasion, we got Question Time and eventually parliament broadcast on the Internet down the track. Those were the things that were anticipated and pushed by members of government back then. Today it is happening and this government has seen fit to continue those things. I applaud the government for doing that.
The Marrara Sporting Complex is a complex that this government currently lauds. They say it is fantastic and they are spending money to continue development of the complex. So they should. That complex was designed by the Country Liberal Party, with land abounding so that there is room for continued expansion into the future.
You may recall that Chief Minister Steve Hatton submitted a bid for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Darwin, hoping that it would provide a bit of an impetus to develop further facilities in Darwin. Today, this government claims all the credit for having the Marrara Stadium, the football ovals, the soccer ovals and the indoor netball stadium and all that. Well and good that you are prepared to put money into it. If you did not, then you would have been derelict in your duty as a government.
Then there is the Northern Territory University and Centralian College. Again, things that we did, back 20, 25 years ago because we believed in the future of the Territory. I recall the Northern Territory University, or the Charles Darwin University, very well. Back in 1984, I sat around a long table with some seven other people to consider how we could bring about a university. At the time, the Northern Territory government, under Paul Everingham, applied to the Hawke government to have a fully Commonwealth-funded university in Darwin for the Northern Territory. However, we were denied that. In fact, Susan Ryan, the then minister for Education, was prepared to give us 10 positions in the Darwin College of Advanced Education. She was prepared to fund only those 10 positions for higher education; that was all. You can understand that the then Chief Minister told Susan Ryan where to go, and it was from then on that we went on to develop the University College of the Northern Territory, auspiced by the University of Queensland.
Three years later, we combined UCNT with the Darwin College of Advanced Education to form the Northern Territory University. In fact, in those days, by which time the MOU between the Commonwealth and the Territory had been torn up by Paul Keating, we continued to forge on. NTU was formed. The law degree provided by the Northern Territory between 1986 to the early 1990s was one of the most coveted law degrees in Australia. I recall the law degree provided by the UCNT being rated as the second best in the country. That is what we know about governments with vision; it provided opportunities for Territorians to ensure that facilities are built in a way that will last into the future.
Today, the CDU, an amalgamation of the Northern Territory University with Centralian College, continues to provide as many services as it can for Territorians. One of the things the CDU needs to really consider seriously is that it cannot be all things to all people. A small university within a small jurisdiction, I believe the CDU should be looking at what it can do and what it does best, and concentrate on that. Those that it cannot do well - better that it becomes a facilitator for distance education for another institution. Support the students in the Northern Territory doing those studies. By doing that, the CDU can excel in the things it does best and still be a very supportive university for students who are doing courses they have to do through external studies. I believe that will be a better compromise.
The V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley is something the Chief Minister now lauds and praises. She has a Chief Minister’s tent where she lords over the hoi polloi of Darwin. It is something that Marshall Perron, being a rev head that he admits to be, got going. It is a good thing. The CLP started that. The ALP government is now continuing on. Well and good for that.
I found it difficult to accept, and I resent the fact that backbenchers get up and rave on about how bad the CLP government was. We did fantastic things for the Territory, and the thing in mind was that it was for the future of the Territory, and we kept them going.
We did the East Arm Port out of our own limited resources. We did not get any money from the federal government; the MOU had been torn up. However, we went through and developed the port - the port that now is a focus for, not only the railway line, but also for this government to promote its connection with South-East Asia. It is a very important facility for us and we should not deny that the former government had the foresight to develop that.
Finally, the railway line – again, another project that was initiated by the CLP government. The CLP government has nothing to be ashamed of …
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, I move that the member be given so much time that he may finish his statement to the House, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Dr LIM: I thank the member for Sanderson for doing that.
The member for Port Darwin has Cullen Bay in her electorate. That was another initiative by the CLP government at a time when money was short. We did it because we believed that Darwin needed it. Today, Cullen Bay is a tourist attraction and one of the elite areas of Darwin where properties worth more $1m now abound. You cannot deny the fact that the Country Liberal Party had the foresight, determination and the desire to see things built on the ground for all Territorians. We hope that all this will go on well into the future.
When young members, still wet behind the ears, sprout what is nothing more than just straight platitudes and condescending comments, people like me, who have been 13 years - for goodness sake! We have seen a lot more than you guys will ever hope to see. Always remember that, whatever we do, in whichever government, a day will come when the Country Liberal Party will win government again, and we will scaffold on the things that this government currently does. We will; that is the way governments work. You scaffold your successes on the successes of predecessors in former governments because, if you do not, then nothing will work. You cannot just appear out of a vacuum and deliver up all these things; it just does not happen.
Yes, there is a political divide, the political difference between two parties. That is fine. However, when people start denying lots of good things, then you find that not only do you demean your own comments, people do not believe you and you just make a fool of yourself.
I say that the CLP has done well for the Territory, by any measure. This list, this pictorial representation, clearly depicts that the CLP has done very well for the Territory. I hope that this government will stay focused on the Territory and do things for the Territory also. I know the Chief Minister is very keen to see the waterfront finished. There is a political difference in that. I believe that the waterfront, perhaps, is unnecessary; that that money could be better spent elsewhere. However, you are the government and, if the government so chooses, well, go ahead and do that and then bear the consequences of it.
I would not decry that you did not do anything at all in your five or six years in this government so far in the Territory. Yes, you have done that, but that is about all you have done. I hope in the remaining two years of this term that you have, that you will do something else, otherwise there will be such missed opportunities.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on constructing the Territory. I also acknowledge the member for Greatorex’s contribution. Today, I do acknowledge the work of the governments that have gone before, because things did not suddenly appear from 2001. The member for Greatorex is quite right; governments do scaffold on top of existing infrastructure. He is quite right in pointing out the good work that was done on the Marrara sporting precinct in getting that established, and the port at East Arm. He also spoke about the Convention Centre in Alice Springs and the casino and the Crowne Hotel. These were all significant public-funded initiatives by the previous governments. I acknowledge them, and the roads that the previous government initiated.
There is a whole range of infrastructure such as the schools – everything - was there. It just did not suddenly appear or exist before 2001. I am sure in what the member for Greatorex thought some members over this side were saying, there has been a bit of a misunderstanding. There is a bit of passion, of course, in talking about the projects since 2001, but any right thinking person would have to acknowledge the work that has gone before. I, for one - and I am sure that I speak on behalf of all government members, and all members in the House and all citizens of the Territory - acknowledge the great infrastructure works that have gone ahead. They did set the foundation for the Territory as we know it today, and to get the lifestyle that we so much enjoy such as the boat ramps around the place, at Buffalo Creek, on the foreshore at Mindil, out bush in different areas, and at Borroloola. Yes, this all happened prior to 2001.
It is what led up to 2001, those four years before, I suggest, when the money started getting tight coming out of the Commonwealth, when in the years leading up to self-government, until about the mid-1990s when the tap was turned off, we were - to use the terms of the shadow Treasurer - awash with federal funding. There was the ability to be able to just get into these big projects. Canberra understood and the CLP, the government of the day, to their credit got into it. However, when the tap was turned off is when we really saw the effects of short-thinking, quick projects without any thought of recurrent funding and the maintenance costs.
This House here, that we are in today, is a classic of huge recurrent expenditure funds needed in repairs and maintenance. When we look at all the assets of the pre-2001 era, there is recurrent funding needed. Look at the Marrara Stadium - great effort, put it out there, wonderful job. However, when we actually wanted to use it for what it was hoped to be designed for, we had to pump in something like $5m to get it up to scratch. What I found with that intervening period between, say, the early 1990s up to 2001, is a lot of the assets where run down. What we saw was like a Hollywood movie set; that is how I always thought about it. We had these wonderful facades of everything that meant we could use something but, when we got behind the front door, we found that they where propped up, and they could not be used for what they were really intended. Yes, they looked good as you drove past, but if you got involved in, you saw it.
We will just talk about Marrara for a moment. We saw it in the basketball stadium, and with the football. We still have issues at Darwin Rugby Union. Have a look at those projects and how they are, and compare that to the new football stadium that is being built - the consultation that went, the work that has gone into getting the pitch right, and the work into the style. Look at the style, the architectural merit of that stadium. I put out a newsletter to my electorate and said ‘football with panache’. It is not just block work; it is not just thrown up there. Have a look. There has been thought gone into it, there has been community consultation. We are starting to see public buildings with style, with panache, which will be great assets. What is more, depth has gone into the planning and the construction, and they will last. They will be great community assets. I point that out as a difference.
When we talk about the assets running down, look at our schools. I can only talk about the schools in the northern suburbs. I visited some schools out in the bush, which is a different kettle of fish again. However, when you have a look at our schools, they are all 30 years old, give or take a little while, and there is very little money put into repairs and maintenance. A great deal of our effort has actually gone into fixing up these schools.
Today, it was announced that Anula school will receive $400 000, which will be used to fix the staffroom and bring the shower blocks up to steam. Darwin High, arguably the premier high school in the Territory – and I say arguably because I do not want to get into a contest with my colleagues from the Centre because they have great schools, too. We are not talking about the curriculum base; all our students get the best possible education that this and previous governments could afford at the time. However, if we have a look at the spend at Darwin, it is huge; it was $8m or $13m. I do not have the figure in front of me, but it is a big spend.
What we are doing in the future as far as our schools go? Look at the programs for middle schools. We are getting a new middle school at Darwin, and there is work at Palmerston. A lot of our construction has gone out in the bush where there was hardly any spend at all on schooling infrastructure. There were a couple of schools here and there. Once again, I acknowledge that there were some. I know a new school was opened at Maningrida in the 1990s at one of the outstations when I was out there because Kentucky Fried Chicken, if I recollect accurately, was flown in from Darwin as part of the celebration. It was a pretty good opening of the school.
Likewise, when you look at our construction spend, look at health clinics. The state of our clinics out in communities was not flash prior to 2001. I say this with some authority. My wife was a bush nurse and I went out to a community with her. I know a lot of her colleagues. Even in my previous life working for Social Security when I travelled around the Territory, we used to go to the clinics and talk to the nurses, but we would have a look at the building. I can tell you, there was not much money spent out in the bush on infrastructure.
This government, since 2001, has really put a hard effort in. We have seen new clinics and new schools opening in quite a range of communities. That is where it is going. The member for Greatorex said do not deny the CLP the past; they worked hard and got things done. Their vision was bricks and mortar in a convention centre or a hotel. Great for tourism; looks good in town. Our construction dollar is being spent on the future of the Territory by making the life and the life chances of all Territorians a lot better. Therefore, we are getting better bang for our buck because our citizens in the future will be able to contribute more to the economy and to the very fabric of our society. That is what the Martin Labor government’s construction dollar is doing.
Have a look at the airstrips for communities since we have been in government. Airstrips, particularly in the Wet, are the lifeline of a lot of communities. In emergencies, they are the lifeline for individuals. We have done more than the previous government, putting in airstrips and upgrading others so that these strips could be used at night or in emergency situations and not flood. There are some differences that we have been able to make with the construction dollar.
Look at hospitals. Yes, there has been money spent on hospitals by the previous government, no two ways about it. However, have a look at the remedial work that had to be done at Alice Springs Hospital. At the sittings in Alice Springs, they were all saying: ‘You lot signed off on it’. I went to that hospital and inspected it. The work that had gone on, which was hidden behind panels, was pretty shocking to say the least; I looked at the walls. Who was the person who opened it? It was the previous CLP Chief Minister, Mr Burke. Once again, we return to the point of a Hollywood-like set. We had the faade of doing things but, when you got behind the front door, things just were not up to scratch. We have had to spend a lot of money, a lot of time and energy, and there has been patient and community discomfort in getting Alice Springs Hospital up to scratch.
Look at the great work that we are doing at Royal Darwin Hospital. Yes, some of the projects were kicked off and were mooted by the previous government. We have had to come in and fix it up, and we are still going strong out at that hospital with the hospice care, the birthing suites, the new Emergency Department …
A member: Improving the lifts.
Mr KIELY: Yes, improving the lifts. This has been a large part of our construction spend, which is not a royal edifice; it is not a convention centre in Alice Springs that everyone can go ‘oh, ah’ at. It is not a casino, it is not a Hilton hotel or anything like that. It is not something that stands right up and looks at you, but it is an investment in the future. Our construction dollar is looking to make the lifestyle for the community a better place.
Our dollar is being very well targeted, indeed, and well thought out, because we understand that the cake is only a certain size, and we cannot go to Canberra, as the previous governments were able to do in the old days, and just spend willy-nilly and not worry about signing it off. We understand that the budget is not an infinite resource, it is a very finite resource. If we want a bigger slice to go into health, then we have to look at - it might be Parks and Wildlife or Police. If we want another hospital, then where are we going to find the money for it? What part of the budget are we then going to go into? I am not a Cabinet minister but, by gee, it is not hard to imagine what goes on in that Cabinet room come budget time and the blues our ministers have, fighting hard to get their cut of the dollar so that their particular portfolio - their constituency, in that case, because we are not broke. We are not talking about the constituencies of Karama, Johnston or Millner, we are talking about the health constituents. We are talking about the pastoralists, the truck drivers, all these constituents that the ministers stand up and argue for.
I am pretty happy with the way the Infrastructure minister has been in there arguing hard - the member for Karama, before her the member for Johnston, before him, the member for Casuarina. They have all worked hard to get that Infrastructure portfolio moving along. Why? Because having good infrastructure in the Territory is more than an investment in bricks and mortar; it is an investment in our future. If we get the infrastructure right, the roads right, the hospitals right, the schools right, then we get a return to the community.
Madam Speaker, I have not even gone anywhere near the actual bricks and mortar of what is being built on the waterfront. I will leave that to the minister or the member for Port Darwin, who is a fairly active sort of person in that area.
I also point out that what we have been able to do since 2001, is to make it a fertile field for private enterprise to get in there and develop too. In the previous government’s days, it had government money with very little input from the private enterprise sector. That is not the case today. Have a look around. To use an iconic term from one of the conservatives, who is probably held in great awe, I should imagine, by the member for Blain - Sir Joh Bjelke Peterson - ‘private enterprise cranes on the skyline’. It is private enterprise now which is tipping right into the community and we are seeing great infrastructure developments through them. No longer is it just pump-primed by the government.
When we came to government in 2001, we had a clear objective set that we were going to get this economy going, and were going to make it a self-sustaining economy fuelled by injections of private enterprise money. Then, the funding from taxpayers could be used on those areas that are traditional, the bread and butter and the responsibility of government: health, education, safety and security. These are the areas where government belongs. Government does not necessary belong in building casinos or hotels.
There is a role when you have to look to make sure you get the longevity in the industries, hence, we see what is going on at the waterfront. That project is a classic example of how governments should be involved. It should not be an example of: ‘We will build it, we will take it on and walk away’. Oh, no. We have this project going over about a decade, I think. We are in public/private enterprise partnerships. We are tipping in roughly $100m, private enterprise are tipping in $900m. We have a bit of creep over time, I guess, with CPI on the returns. However, the returns are that it is training up our workforce, giving people the security and the understanding that they can go out and get mortgages. It is, therefore, fuelling our economy in the suburbs.
The people of Sanderson are pretty well heavily involved in the economy. I live in the dormitory suburb. I am never going to see any great edifices built in the suburbs, except for Marrara, of course. However, it is what is happening around Darwin and the Territory, where the people from my electorate are benefiting.
I commend the current Infrastructure minister, and those who went before her, for the great work they are doing in focusing us on the future. I acknowledge the work of the previous CLP governments. I have been critical in some areas of it but, overall …
Mr Mills: Tell the bloke behind you.
Mr KIELY: Member for Blain, earlier on - perhaps you missed it – I acknowledged the member for Greatorex’s comments.
Mr Mills: I am not having a go …
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KIELY: I do not have any problems there - none at all.
I wrap up my contribution by, once again, thanking all those hard-working ministers. Of course, you have to thank the Chief Minister and the Treasurer because they are also involved in that engine room of construction and helping our Territory go forward. Our construction plan, Building the Territory, goes way beyond the life of this government. It will be scaffolding for future governments of whatever persuasion. It will certainly be good scaffolding for all of us.
Ms LAWRIE (Infrastructure and Transport): Madam Speaker, I thank all the members who contributed to this important debate on constructing a better Territory. Particular thanks to the members for Goyder and Sanderson for their contributions today.
The Martin government is fulfilling its 2001 election commitment to build a better Territory. We have another record infrastructure budget coming in 2007-08. Since 2001, this government has injected $3.3bn in cash into the Territory’s infrastructure, rebuilding our construction sector, a key driver in our economy. Budget 2007-08, we have heard today, will deliver $645m in cash to build a better Territory.
I note that the member for Katherine said that the difference between the CLP and ALP in government is that this ALP government has never known a bad time. It may be difficult for the member for Katherine to remember, but many of us do remember that, at the end of the 1990s, the Territory economy was in a major recession, and both the deficit and the debt were spiralling. In 2001, when we came to government, the Territory’s economy was on its knees ...
Mr Mills interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: I note that the member for Blain laughs, but I have to say for the families who were losing their jobs, those subcontractors who were having to leave town for the first time and look for work interstate, that was no laughing matter. Our construction sector was absolutely on its knees; the level of construction was falling. This government was faced with the twin issues of both a contracting economy and no budget flexibility to counteract it. The budget deficit was described by the then Under Treasurer as ‘unsustainable’. Due to the failure of the CLP to manage the budget and the government’s infrastructure program, it led to a contraction of the economy, job losses and increasing numbers of people had no choice but to move interstate looking for work. Private investment in construction was falling.
The government also had to contend with the effects of the World Trade Centre tragedy, the failure of Ansett, the scare caused by SARS effectively sending our tourism industry into a serious decline, and the HIH collapse. The member for Katherine said this government has never known bad times - well, I challenge anyone to find a harder time than that period in 2001. For any government new to office, this situation, combined with the general economic conditions prevailing, presented a daunting and difficult series of tasks. To drag the Territory economy out of the doldrums, the Martin government adopted policies which, to this day, form the basis of our economic strategy.
The principles underlying our actions are: providing a high level of cash to capital works and infrastructure; focusing our funding on economic drivers that will produce future growth; making both sensible and strategic reductions to taxation on business in the community; and maintaining a very strong fiscal discipline.
The Martin government has really recharged the infrastructure spend. We inherited a budget in the red and infrastructure budget continually underfunded. In the last years of the CLP, they ran up two $100m-plus deficits in two years and failed to provide adequate cash to the infrastructure budget. In fact, in their final budget, they did not have enough cash to pay for the revote from their previous year. That means that none of the new projects could get off the ground at all for at least 18 months to two years, and they had run out of minor new works cash well before the end of a financial year.
Proudly, we can now say our infrastructure budget is both solid and funded - funded at record cash levels. This year’s budget will deliver $645m in cash to create thousands of jobs right across the Territory. The infrastructure budget also puts in place the strategic plans that will see the Territory’s economic progress guaranteed into the future. Our economic picture is bright and, according to Access Economics our economy is turbocharged. The Housing Industry Association, in their regular economic reviews, is positive to glowing about the economy and its future. Looking around the Territory we can see the evidence of this solid investment in infrastructure, both from government and, importantly, the private sector.
The Construction Snapshot for this quarter reports the government projects under construction around the Territory total some $389m. These include the East Arm Port ship loader; the Royal Darwin Hospital birthing centre; both the Darwin middle school and Casuarina middle school projects; the Darwin Soccer Stadium; the Marrara Fire Station; the Darwin City Waterfront; Stuart Lodge redevelopment; Desert Knowledge precinct; the Maryvale Road; the Larapinta development; the Alice Springs Hospital fire protection; upgrading of the Katherine Gorge cross-overs; the Victoria Highway upgrade; the new health centre at Kalkarindji; the redevelopment of Blain Street housing complex; Central Arnhem road upgrade; and Nhulunbuy middle schools project.
Private sector projects in Darwin amount to $803.9m worth of investments ranging from apartment construction to commercial property developments, hotel redevelopment, and extensions. In Alice Springs, $33.2m in private investment is building a town with shopping centre extension, new residential allotments, Quest serviced apartments, the Imparja studios and the expansion of the Yeperenye Shopping Centre.
Roads funding is a large part of our construction budget. This year, we have the highest roads budget ever in the Territory. At $180m, it is $100m more than the CLP’s 2001 roads budget. Budget 2007-08 will deliver $57m for repairs and maintenance, an increase of $7.5m this year alone. This is a massive program and forms part of a very significant plan for both repairing and upgrading our roads.
In Central Australia, $1.74m will go to the upgrade of the Outback Way including work to the Plenty Highway. Importantly, $2m goes for the Tanami Road for upgrading and sealing priority sections, and further funding to upgrade the Sandover, Maryvale and Santa Teresa Roads. In Darwin, we will commence the Tiger Brennan Drive extension project with $10m to provide the dual lane turning roads from Wishart Road across Berrimah Road and into Tiger Brennan Drive, part of a $32m commitment from the Territory government. We will spend $2.5m to improve road access to the Darwin High middle school. In the Katherine region, $50m will be spent upgrading the Victoria Highway and building six high-level bridges under the AusLink Program. Importantly, $800 000 will be spent upgrading the Buntine Highway. Our roads program supports business in the bush, mining, tourism and cattle and it supports Territorians living in the bush either in our remote communities or on their pastoral properties.
The Martin government will continue to work with industry. We will continue to focus our capital investment in a very strategic way to build a wider and sustainable economic base into the future. We are creating jobs, growing the economy and providing better facilities to support the lifestyle of Territorians today and into the future are a strong foundation for the Territory.
I thank members who have contributed to the Building a Better Territory debate. Infrastructure is critically important to the future of our economy. As I said, it provides jobs and it certainly provides access to services regarding roads and it improves industry such as the ship loader at the port which is going to see vast mineral loads across that port. This, of course, is going to ensure the lifeblood of the railway line across the Territory.
Mr Deputy Speaker, infrastructure is critical. I thank all the members for participating in this debate, and I commend the statement to the House.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Continued from 18 April 2007.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the minister for Education’s statement in which he updated the House about the priority activity areas for the Department of Employment, Education and Training.
There were two very important announcements in the minister’s statement and I commend the minister for declaring that:
I also concur with the minister’s declaration that:
These declarations underpin our education and training policies. As someone who has three degrees and has benefited enormously in life because of the educational opportunities I was given by the Gough Whitlam of federal Labor government, I feel well qualified to speak on the value of education. We on this side of the House are very proud to be part of the Martin Labor government, which has carried on the proud Labor tradition of placing education and training on the highest of pedestals.
This government has clearly committed itself to educating and training Territorians to maximise their true potential and to meet the employment demands of our burgeoning economy. Most importantly, the Martin Labor government is delivering on its commitment to all Territorians, from the Tiwi Islands in the north to beyond Alice Springs in the south. The Martin Labor government has been at the forefront of the creation of 6000 new jobs for Territorians during the past year. Most importantly, more than 2000 of these are new apprenticeships and traineeships.
Historically, a basic cornerstone of the Labor movement is the right of all Australians to be educated. Education is a right, not a privilege. It has always been and will always be one of the major divides that separates us on this side of the House from those on the other. That right applies equally for indigenous Territorians living in our bush communities. That is why we now have young indigenous Territorians graduating from Year 12 in their own communities.
This government has the courage to embark upon the most significant structural reforms in education ever seen in the Territory’s history. By embarking upon the comprehensive middle years approach to learning, we will be focusing on the educational needs of our secondary students. As the minister reported in his statement, we have invested heavily in our schools infrastructure throughout the Territory. This will ensure that our secondary facilities are capable of properly delivering the middle years reforms which are so vital for the best possible educational outcomes for our young Territorians.
I am extremely pleased that some $11.3m is being spent on infrastructure at Palmerston High School. A further $4.5m is being spent at Taminmin High School in my electorate of Goyder to equally service the middle years programs. I am also pleased that the Martin Labor government recently announced an injection of $500 000 to upgrade Taminmin High School gymnasium, which will include bringing this building up to community cyclone shelter standard.
In conjunction with the middle years strategy is the continued roll-out of the Building Better Schools program, designed to achieve stronger educational results. Not only is there a range of new professional development initiatives, but also a raft of other initiatives, such as new systems designed to keep track of students’ performances, and initiatives designed to work constructively at improving behavioural issues. All this is great news for our young Territorians.
Late last year, I had the pleasure of joining the Education minister at Palmerston High School when he launched the $5.7m program that has ensured that 5000 new computers were delivered to all schools right across the Territory. This is a fabulous initiative, and I was very proud to be there when the minister launched this at Palmerston High School. Now, every student in the Territory is able to source a computer and educational software, and I thank the minister for it. Also, every teacher in the Territory now has a laptop computer. In this day and age, it is vital that every student has access to computer technology to enhance their education. I am particularly proud to be part of the Martin Labor government which has again delivered.
One of the most important things an MLA can do is to help deliver for his or her electorate, especially when it comes to things that are desperately needed for their community. When I was elected in 2005, I quickly became aware of the inadequately serviced Special Education Annexe at Humpty Doo Primary School and how it had been overlooked by a succession of previous CLP governments and CLP local members ...
Ms Lawrie: Shame.
Mr WARREN: It certainly is. The CLP were far too busy blaming others for all the problems in the Territory to be bothered with trying to deliver for their constituents. Some things do not change.
As a result of my lobbying our Labor government, which is prepared to listen, we are now well into completing the construction of a modern, well-equipped and resourced $800 000 special education facility comparable with Nemarluk in Darwin. It will be the centrepiece for proper educational services for disabled and special needs children spread right across the whole of the greater Darwin rural area. No longer will the rural special needs students and their dedicated teachers have to put up with learning in a cramped old donga that the previous CLP government thought was okay for our disabled and special needs kids. It is an exciting project for which I am extremely grateful to the Martin Labor government. That is why I entered politics, and I am proud I did. I am proud that I am part of a government that, when push comes to shove, acts with compassion and decency on social issues.
I was very pleased to note in this budget that there are extra buses being put on for the Special Education Unit there, to properly service it, so that these students, their parents and the teachers and people who are supporting them can get around. That is very important and I commend the Treasurer, the Education minister and the Infrastructure minister for getting together and delivering on that.
However, this is only one of a number of education-related projects which I have lobbied strongly for and which have been delivered by the Martin Labor government in my electorate of Goyder. For example, Humpty Doo Primary School is also host to a world first. Recently, the EnviroNorth website was launched at the school. This great collaborative effort between the department of Education and the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Savannas Management has seen the development of an accessible and extremely informative educational website about our tropical savannahs. The EnviroNorth website involves teachers and students from Humpty Doo Primary School and has already been accepted as a leading website on tropical savannah information for schools.
Humpty Doo school also had a chicken coop project, the middle schools project which the previous Education minister launched. That was a really great thing for the community there. What was particularly important was it involved different school classes in the project selection, as part of the middle school. People often think of middle schools as just being the concept of the structure. However, middle school is about incorporating more integrated learning processes. This class was involved in project selection and design, as well as local community members who participated in assisting the students in that construction. That is another great project that is happening there.
Mr Deputy Speaker, you will, no doubt, be familiar, of course, with the Berry Springs school shade structure. That was $100 000 which this government committed to that, which is a fantastic project. I know you fought very hard for that project, along with me. We delivered really tangible assets for the areas such as Berry Springs and Humpty Doo since we have been in office. I commend you as well for that effort that you put in because I know it is very important.
In Alice Springs during the last sittings, I had the fortune to meet students from Alice Springs High School who are part of the Clontarf Football Academy. The Education minister spoke with great passion in Alice Springs about the scheme during those sittings. My colleague, the member for Millner, had invited them to attend the important sittings in Alice Springs, and I thank him for that. Furthermore, the member for Stuart told me how proud he was of what the program was delivering. Students are encouraged to engage fully in their educational opportunities through a structured football program that includes training, competition games against fellow Clontarf Academy, ANZAC Hill, and Yirara College students, and frequent trips outside Alice Springs.
Both the members for Stuart and Millner are university qualified indigenous members who are both very talented. They were, in their younger days, very talented sportsmen and, today, their educational qualifications have allowed them to showcase their scholastic talents in this House, in this parliament. They are true role models for these young indigenous Territorians who are enrolled in the programs like the Clontarf Football Academy. I am reliably informed there is a 90% retention rate in our NT school-based education for these Clontarf students. That is 10% better then in Western Australia, and good on Alice Springs for that.
The Martin Labor government also recognises the importance of engaging students in study at an early age. The Chief Minister’s Literacy Awards were launched in 2006. These awards honour those students who have shown considerable success and improvement in literacy across the Territory. And so they should be recognising them. Recently, I was fortunate to be able to present these awards to 62 students from six primary schools in my rural electorate of Goyder. This was a great honour for not only the students, but also for me.
There is no better way for this government to ensure all Territorians participate in this burgeoning, sustainable, responsible growth than to devote attention to training and education for Territorians. The Martin Labor government is absolutely committed to ensuring Territorians have the skills appropriate for the needs engendered by a substantial economic development and growth.
The minister for Education discussed how this Cabinet has put its energy and resources into training programs such as Jobs Plan 1 and Jobs Plan 2. These programs have placed career advisors back into the high schools, and extended and expanded our VET in Schools program to include school-based apprenticeships. That is important and essential, and is great news. Now, with Jobs Plan 3, we are well ahead of our schedule to target 10 000 apprentices and trainees to 2008. With Jobs Plan 3, we will have a home-grown workforce trained on the basis of matching workforce skills with local industry needs. That is critical. This is sustainable skills training at its best. What I particularly like is that Job Plan 3 will target jobs in the bush.
I am also pleased to report that because of Jobs Plan 1, 2 and 3 initiatives, Taminmin High School in my rural electorate, is now the largest provider of VET programs in the Northern Territory.
Palmerston and the rural area surrounding Darwin are acknowledged as the fastest growing areas of the Territory. New estate developments are rapidly being developed and released, particularly in the Humpty Doo and Herbert areas of my electorate of Goyder.
Of course, a government’s responsibility is also to ensure that our students can go to school. The Martin Labor government has provided an extensive and ever-increasing school bus service for rural students in my electorate and other students throughout the whole rural area which allows parents to know that children are getting to school safely. In fact, in the past couple of weeks, our government has announced they have extended school bus run 415 to include the new Hutchinson Road in Herbert and also, at my lobbying, the extension of run 453 in the mornings to pick up students from Southport.
While on the subject of school buses, I am pleased to report that the Transport minister recently outlined that this government spent $1.75m on procuring an additional 10 buses to cater for the changed school bus needs as a result of the middle school requirements.
I am reliably told that the current rural school bus service has made a very smooth transition to the changed conditions, and this is due to good departmental planning and school community engagement. School community engagement is critical. I am especially proud that this government is on top of school bus needs, and pleased to report that extra buses have been put on to service the Humpty Doo school bus interchange service as a result of higher than expected enrolments at our local schools.
To complement the efficient transporting of our students to their various schools over the past 12 to 18 months, the Martin Labor government has spent well over $500 000 on construction of the Humpty Doo school bus interchange and, most recently, the Cox Peninsula school bus interchange, both in my electorate of Goyder.
We are also about to commence the installation of a series of concrete school bus shelters throughout the Litchfield Shire to protect our schoolchildren from our harsh weather conditions. In fact, the pads have already been laid and I am getting good feedback on that from my constituents. One concrete shelter has already been constructed at Berry Springs and this will shortly be shifted to a more permanent and safer location off the Cox Peninsula Road.
It should not be forgotten that this government also heavily subsidises the Mandorah Ferry Service operator to provide a free school day ferry service for students of the Cox Peninsula to attend schools in Darwin.
Mr Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, it is great to be a Labor MLA in the Territory and be able to put up in parliament …
Members interjecting.
Mr WARREN: It is! It is! I am grateful. I was born into this side of politics and there is not a day that goes by when I am not proud to be up here talking about things that I fought for my electorate. I do not talk down the Territory ...
Mr Mills: Nor do I.
Mr WARREN: You could have confused me. It is all I hear ...
Mrs Miller: We are pretty realistic though.
Mr WARREN: I am sorry but I just do not accept that.
Anyway, it is great to be a Labor MLA in the Territory because that is what we stand for. We stand for social issues; education is our top priority. I am grateful to be able to be in parliament and talk in an upbeat manner about how this government is at the helm, in charge of a strong, sustainable, growing Territory economy across all departments, not just education.
The minister’s statement is very good evidence of this. I commend the minister for this important update.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I take this opportunity to speak to the minister’s education statement because none of us would be in this House today if we had not taken advantage of having good education. The member for Goyder said that education is a right not a privilege. I have to say in my day it was a privilege. My sister left school at 14 and went to work in the knitting mills. My brother left school at 14 and went to work in a shop. I was able, through scholarships, to stay and complete my matriculation. I believe that I have been privileged because of that. Certainly, I would not be where I am today if I had not had that opportunity.
Interestingly, when I finished matriculation I was 16 and I was not quite sure what I was going to do. I had finished all the schooling and, suddenly, I had this piece of paper. What do you do with it? The federal government had advertisements saying that they would pay you while they trained you to be a teacher. So, I applied for another scholarship and was fortunate enough to get it. Being 16, I was too young to go to teachers college, so I was placed in a school as a student teacher. That is where I learned to teach because I was at the beck and call of the infant mistresses of the time. You may recall if you wanted to stay on in education and take promotion positions, you could not get married. Once you were a married woman, you had no opportunities to go for a promotion whatsoever. Therefore, all these infant mistresses were very competitive, authoritative-type people who scared the hell out of me. However, being thrown into a class was the way I learnt about children and how to deal with them, and the way I understood that all children are different. Not all of us are the same; we all have different abilities, we all learn at different paces, we all learn in different ways.
When I went on to teachers college, they taught me how to teach, which is different from what happens in universities today. They taught me to teach kids reading, spelling, and how to write. The student teacher years gave me an enormous feel for teaching and whether I wanted to go on with it. We have within our government system a system of traineeships. I say to the minister: have you considered offering traineeships in schools for people who may be considering doing teacher training? It is a great way for them to get a feel about teaching and it is a way you can mould that into your traineeship criteria.
I know there are some schools that are taking student teachers for longer periods than the norm of four to six weeks. Sometimes, they are placing them for up to six months. That is an extremely good idea. However, if 17-year-olds have finished their education and are not sure what to do, why not offer a traineeship in a school? It would give people the chance to know whether they want to go on to become a teacher, but it will also pay them while they are doing it. Many young people today do not go straight into university because they work for a year to become independent to get the Youth Allowance. It is as simple as that. Why not give them opportunity to do that in a way that will mould their future? I hope the minister might consider putting traineeships into schools, because I certainly benefited from my time as a student teacher.
When I finished my teacher training, I went into the Victorian system and my first class was what was called a beginners class with 55 students. It was a lovely time. In the beginners class in Victoria, you only had to prepare them for learning so there was a lot of fun on the pre-writing and pre-learning skills. When I came to the Territory, it was the South Australian system where five-year-olds went into Year 1 with a very strict curriculum. That was quite disastrous for many of our Northern Territory students. It is why, later in life, I became involved in the Transition movement to introduce that period of time before students went into Year 1. The whole theory of Transition was great, but it became very difficult to manage in schools.
I certainly support the new regime - the early entry, I think you call it - of taking students into school if they turn five up to the end of April. As long as the emphasis on that 12 months they have in Transition class is about pre-learning and there is no pressure for them to learn, you will find they will develop more quickly anyway. I support the program as it is at the moment, even though it has caused a bit of a flurry in preschools because many of the younger children have moved on to school, and the numbers in preschools may have dropped a little. Over a couple of years, that will balance out and they will catch up, because three-year-olds used to go to preschool in the Territory when my children went to preschool in the 1960s. It will occur. Student traineeships and good support for the early entry system is good.
The point about teaching under the South Australian system is that you had a very strict curriculum. It dictated what the children should learn by the end of Year 1, Year 2. It was skills-based, not this outcomes-based that we see so much about at the moment. Even when I became principal of Sadadeen, my staff sat down and wrote a skills-based curriculum on what they believed students should learn. At the moment, we all know the curriculum is very crowded. Schools are overwhelmed with trying to get through everything that is expected of them. I believe we should support the push that is being endorsed by state and territory ministers for common literacy and common numeracy standards. I believe we should say to schools: ‘These are the skills your students need at this level. What subjects you do in the other time, you can decide in your community’. It is usually music, because everyone loves music. It is usually physical education, because everyone loves sporting abilities. Art, social studies, science, if you want to include religion, if you want to do other types of cultural activities, fine. But let us ensure that the basics of literacy and numeracy are, in fact, our priority. Let us say to schools: ‘Yes, get rid of all the stuff that should be done by parents and other people, and concentrate on the job we pay you to do’.
At the same time, I find that many parents say to me they really do not know if their kid has finished Year 2 or Year 3. They have certainly gone up to the next class, but the reporting is so nebulous. I do not know if you have seen a Year 1 report these days. I keep thinking, ‘Goodness gracious me, but can this kid read or spell?’ I believe we have to get back to realistic reporting to parents. We keep pushing kids up and up. We say they are in Year 7, but are they working at Year 7 level? Possibly not. I am not trying to put kids down, but parents need to know if their child is not achieving at a level that would be expected of that class level. When we are looking at the crowded curriculum, let us also look at the way we report to parents, and let us keep it realistic. Do not confuse parents. I have had parents come in to me and say: ‘Look at this report. What does it mean?’ I have looked it and thought it has gone through a whole series of outcomes that this kid has actually achieved, but it does not, at the end of the day, really tell the parent at what stage the student is.
I was very pleased to hear the minister did not support the performance pay measure that had been put forward by the Commonwealth. As a principal, I cannot imagine how I would ever operate that sort of system. In the Territory, we have had a master teacher concept, which I believe is now called teacher of excellence. When I was in schools with the master teacher concept, you were judged by your peers. If your peers thought you were a particularly good teacher, you would be assessed, then you would be designated a master teacher. The beauty of these people who had skills in certain areas was that you could utilise them; not just in the schools but in other ways.
When I was in the regional office as the Principal Education Officer in charge of curriculum, I had a number of master teachers who said: ‘We are happy to come in for one year, perhaps two years, but we want to make sure we can get back to our schools’. While they were in the office, they actually did projects that they then took out many times to remote schools, or they did in-service with teachers, or they produced materials. It was a great way of drawing on their skills – still giving them the recognition they should have, but also the system benefited from their performance.
Minister, I am glad you did not go down the road of performance pay. The way a teacher achieves depends very much on the ability of the children and their backgrounds. Some of our teachers do a marvellous job, but only achieve that much because of the student they are dealing with, whereas other teachers can say: ‘Wow, look at what I have achieved in this’, because they have particularly gifted kids. Let us reinforce the master teacher concept, or the teachers of excellence. That is a good way to pat teachers on the back.
The other thing I want to talk about is school holidays. It has been raised with me a number of times - and I think I wrote to the previous minister about it – that the Territory went to a semester system and we have six weeks leave at Christmas, one week for first term, four weeks in the middle of the year, one week in September and then back to the Christmas break. Some of the private schools are changing. They are saying that four-week break in the middle of the year is too long. They would prefer to have the two, two, two plus six that has been around for many years because, too often, that particular one week is enough to refresh the kids, but not enough to refresh the teachers as well.
I suggest to the minister that he also looks at school holidays. I know some schools are suggesting that, perhaps, they should change the holidays to suit them. I have heard, particularly in remote schools that sometimes it would be better to close the school at certain times to take in the need for ceremonies, or whatever they are doing, and have it open at other times. Perhaps we need to think about how we are structuring the school year. I should pull out those letters I sent to the previous minister and send them to you.
Incentive to stay at school - I did not want to call it truancy, because we have heard enough about it. I noticed in all sorts of papers from the government the emphasis on getting kids to stay at school. The carrot-and-stick approach does not always seem to be working. I do not think you can do the Halls Creek trial-type exercise. I do not think you can say: ‘You are going to lose some of your Centrelink benefits if you do not send your kids to school’. I do not think you achieve anything by doing that. However, I do think we need to be looking at ways to provide incentive for parents to actually get their kids to school and assistance, rather than the negative ‘Okay, this is the act; you must send you kids to school’, which seems government does not want to implement and goes nowhere.
For the incentive to attend and stay at school, there are wonderful programs. You have all mentioned ‘No Pool No School’. There is also the wonderful program at Ali Curung where they had the chart up on the wall. Kids who attended every day were marked off and, at the end of the term or the end of semester, they went on a camp or a holiday down south. If you had not attended so many times, you did not go on that camp. There are many schools which put that in. There was always a program: ‘Okay, if you do not come to school you are not allowed into the recreation hall after school’, where they had access to games and afternoon tea, and all the things that kids love. That is an incentive to get children to stay at school.
I am still not sure how you do it, but we have too many children walking our streets. I call them children. I have said it before, it worries me that they are, in fact, going to harm themselves or someone else, and end up on the wrong side of the law when, in fact, they should be in our schools. Minister, try to be creative and see if we can improve our attendance rates at school.
Back to School funding was $50 that, at the beginning of each year, is payable to parents for children who started at school, and it went through from primary to secondary. I was wondering whether the minister could tell us how much was paid out this year in the Back to School funding. I notice in the budget it is $1.9m. Does it include remote schools? For instance, it is meant to be for uniforms, books, pencils – what have you. Many of the remote schools I have been to, the uniforms and everything are already given. Perhaps you could give us some sort of indication of the take-up of that $50 in remote schools which, I say again, is another demand on the teachers in these schools in administration. It may be fine in bigger schools because they have administrative officers. However, in some of the remote schools, we ask the teachers to be bus drivers, kitchen hands, medical superintendents by giving medicines, social workers - you name it.
The teacher’s role is such that they do not just concentrate on teaching and learning; it is huge - too wide. I am interested in how that $1.9m is dealt out. Does it depend on the attendance? If the kid turns up in the first week and gets the $50 and the uniform and everything, and we do not see him again for three months, was it a waste of time? It would be interesting to see what sort of statistics the minister can provide on the take-up of that. Is it becoming a fairly elitist money to those schools where there is high attendance only. I am interested to know that.
In the budget I saw there is $1.2m for indigenous partnerships. Could that $1.9m that you have allocated for Back to School funding perhaps be redirected in better ways to improve the conditions and the resources of schools? Could that $1.9m actually help to keep Warrego School open? That was a school that tried hard with their students during boom times and got extraordinary attendance and extraordinary outcomes. They brought them to Alice Springs for the swimming carnival. They did amazing things. I know their numbers have dropped, but is it not better that five kids be educated? At least those five have been catered for. If we close that school, they just drop out of sight again. Will they actually go to Tennant Creek? Perhaps the minister could update us on Warrego. It would be interesting to know just what is going on there.
The teachers do have a hard role. We talk about wanting to focus more on literacy and numeracy. I know there is a lot of support in schools now with all sorts of assistance but, when we took that inclusion policy of putting disabled students back into mainstream school, that put an enormous burden on to classroom teachers. Even though the assistance was there, it still placed an extra burden on teachers. Somehow or other, when we are talking about incentives and rewards, we should start ensuring those schools that are doing well are acknowledged and rewarded. They are the ones we want to encourage to keep doing the good things they are doing. They are the schools that can be role models for others around the place. Why disadvantage them, in a way, by saying: ‘They are doing well so we will not worry about them’? Why not at least say: ‘You are going a great job, perhaps we should give you some extra piece of equipment or take the kids on excursion’, or something like that.
We tend to dwell on the negatives a lot. We do not always raise the positives. Years ago, the good old Centralian Advocate used to always have a snippet in the paper about schools. There was a schools column and there was always a good thing – you are nodding. Do you remember it? There was always a good story about schools. Unfortunately, that has dropped off. I know we have Classmate, but that is still often not schools-based – it is more curriculum-based. We should do anything to raise the profile of our schools so that they are attractive places to come. I went to the Little Children’s Learning Centre in Bath Street in Alice Springs - I have often mentioned it. These teachers get up at 7.30 am, jump on the bus, go around to a number of town camps and bring the kids back. They are at the stage where they have to say: ‘No, we cannot take anymore’. They rely on Commonwealth funding to do this. It has become such a happy place, with kids doing things they would not normally do at home, that parents want them to keep going.
Years ago, we used to take a preschool caravan into Charles Creek camp. I know the Toy Library takes a group with Tangentyere Council into some of the town camps. It is all those little programs that are so important and make such a big difference and, somehow, they are often ignored ...
Dr LIM: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the member be granted an extension of time to complete her speech, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mrs BRAHAM: Thank you, member for Greatorex and Mr Deputy Speaker. I have lost my train of thought! What I am saying is that there are so many small programs where so many things are doing well, they are the sort of things we should encourage – a bit like the Warrego situation - and perhaps not be so ready to say: ‘You do not fit this criteria so we are going to close you down’. It might mean adding just one more teacher to help. Member for Stuart, do you have the Alcoota and Harts Range?
Mr Hampton: No; that is Alison.
Mrs BRAHAM: Member for Macdonnell. They are fantastic places; those teachers out there are so dedicated, and they have raised the enrolment of students. Do we ever pat them on the back? Do we ever give them something they would like? Have you ever asked them what they would like?
I know when I went to the children’s learning centre, I said: ‘What do you need?’. They said they needed some puzzles, Tonka toys for the sandpit, and books. They knew what they needed, but they did not have access to ready funds for it. If you went to Alcoota and asked what they would really like, they might say a dozen footballs. Harts Range might need a new DVD player. Reward the good, and let us not always act as though education is all doom and gloom.
Braitling had its 30th birthday ...
Mr Henderson: I wondered whether you would mention that, Loraine.
Mrs BRAHAM: I thought I should, being the principal there from 1987. I think you got it wrong in your media release.
Mr Henderson: Did I? I am sorry.
Mrs BRAHAM: It was a great school. We always used to say it was the best school in town. I guess that was a way of praising the kids so they would sit up straighter and be proud. There was a lovely Assembly yesterday. Myrtle Noske came to it. She had painted panels years ago with the help of students. They were taken down because they were getting a bit old and faded, but she has resurrected them and done a lot of work so they look bright and vibrant. It is really a history of Alice Springs many years ago from Myrtle’s perspective.
Josie Petrick reminded us yesterday that Braitling Primary School is actually on the old racecourse. It is where the old racecourse was many years ago. I had forgotten that. She reminded us that Dixon Road was the first road in Alice Springs. Everything else was a street.
Sue Crowe is the current principal. There were three past principals: Mary Blaiklock; Ken Davies, who took over from me; and me. It was great to exchange ideas and see how the school had been altered over the years. When I was there, there were about 540 students and it was bulging. We had kids in every nook and cranny, which is why there was a push shortly after for new classrooms. The classrooms that were built have made an amazing difference to that school.
It is an example of a school where things can go well when you have a good staff. The ABC asked me for some snippets about Braitling and, I must admit that I said when I took over, every Christmas the teachers always gave the principal a special Christmas gift. I think in the first year, I was given a toy bulldozer. It was not hard to guess why; I think they were giving me a bit of a hint about how I went about doing things. Another year, they gave me a piece of elastic as they said I tended to stretch things – I hope in good ways. Another year, they gave me a pile of hats because they knew which hat I was wearing on a given day, which was also the time when I entered local government. They were fun times. That is what I remember about Braitling: teachers and kids could laugh.
I had a compliment paid to me by two of the male teachers, Howard Davies and Stuart Richardson, who said they did not know why but, when I was principal, kids learnt. Thinking about that, I think it was because I was very direct in what I expected and I had parameters for students. They knew the boundaries in which they worked. Teachers knew where they stood and they knew that they would be commended, encouraged and acknowledged for the things they did.
Braitling’s 30th birthday was a great time yesterday. Bernie Kilgariff was there; he opened the school 30 years ago. Myrtle Noske who painted the mural was there. Barb and Wally Braitling, relatives of Doreen Braitling after whom the school was named, were there. She was from England and was a pioneer in the Centre. It was good to see so many people who had an attachment to the history of Braitling.
I did not have time to look at all the material they produced. I say to all schools: start collecting now. Keep the history of the school because, quite often, it is lost. I have to admit I only had one or two photos of Braitling at home. Somehow along the way, I just never collected anything else. It is wonderful to see the collection they have at Braitling. I will go back and go through it because I believe it is well worthwhile doing.
Minister, after all those ramblings, I want to say education is so important. You and I would not be here if we had not had the opportunity to have education. You and I would not be able to stand up, speak, read and communicate, and have the courage or the confidence to do all those things if we had not had a good education. Every child should, somehow or other, be educated. I know that is our task and challenge for the Territory. We must be careful that we do not just say glowing things without making sure it is all happening at the roots.
Do not forget our teachers in remote schools. They have always been the people who have had the hardest job - out of sight, but they should not be out of mind. They are the ones we should ensure people go and visit and communicate with them, because it is tough out there on your own. It is even tougher when you feel as though no one really cares. No one is there to share with you the good times that happen, and there are good times in every school. It is important that we keep that in mind.
Otherwise, minister, I do not have any criticism of your statement. All I can say - and I say this most sincerely - when I do raise problems with you, which I tend to do now and again, would you just trust your heart and your gut reaction? Do not always take this information that is given to you and believe that that is it. You have young kids. You put your own child in that situation. If it is right for them, okay, that is good. However, if you are uncomfortable with having your own child in that situation - what has happened to them, the way they are being taught, and how they are being spoken to and all those things - then you know it is wrong. Quite often, we need to use our feelings to ensure that we arrive at the right decision. Otherwise, minister, good luck with it. It is a hard portfolio; however, I am sure you will get a lot of satisfaction out of it.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s education statement. I would like to share with the House that, when the Education minister was newly into the job, he opened a beautiful school in my electorate. The school was at Manyallaluk, south-east of Katherine; a school that many of the students there had been waiting for, for some time. They had been classed in a very small room on the grounds at Eva Valley. The room was next to an art room. The class size had at least 15 to 20 kids and it was very crowded in that small room. In fact, the Education minister had the opportunity to revisit where the previous school had been prior to the opening of the new one, and was quite surprised at how good the teacher must have been to cope in such a small area.
It also showed that the population growth in the south-east Katherine region and, particularly at Eva Valley, required a very good, new school building to be built. It gives me great pleasure to stand in this parliament and talk about education, because that is an area that the Martin Labor government is very focused on. We have heard consistently throughout the years that the focus is, in particular, especially on secondary education, because we know that secondary education will lead on to, hopefully, tertiary education for those students who would like to do that. However, as our previous speaker, the member for Braitling said, it is about every child having the opportunity to access education and, indeed, have opportunities in life.
I guess it is here that I can recall some of my times as a student in the Northern Territory, and my own background with my dad as a schoolteacher, who was quite insistent on how education, not only in a western concept of the word but in a cultural one, was just as important for a person’s sense of wellbeing and identity. It is this that I bring, as the member for Arnhem, into the parliament; that we need to find the balance of trying to encourage not only the best education that can be found in the Northern Territory, but an opportunity for individuals to be proud of who they are, wherever they live.
Just recently, Community Cabinet was held in East Arnhem, and the Ramingining and Milingimbi school staff were able to speak directly with a number of ministers about their issues. I have highlighted here on a number of occasions the successful Year 12 graduates at both the communities last year. In fact, we had two at Milingimbi and two and Ramingining. The two at Milingimbi who graduated were the very first in the school to graduate Year 12. They have been an inspiration for students who are now lining up to go to school. In particular, I highlight Marcey Garrawurra and Sifora Durrurrnga at Ramingining. They were the two young women who graduated from Year 12 last year. Both are keen on further studies. In fact, Marcie is at Charles Darwin University, and returned to the community on the day of the Community Cabinet visit. She was delighted to meet with the ministers and talk about her experiences and some of the issues she faced going to school. Marcie is one of those young graduates who is an inspiration to her community. It is these examples which we need; role models in communities to be able to turn around and say to their younger brother, sister, or cousins: ‘Keep going to school’.
We know a lot of the concerns are largely centred around housing and health. I want to put on the record, in particular at Ramingining, the combined effort between the Territory Health Centre and the Ramingining School. In fact, that unified position they have - which the Martin Labor government encourages in all of our communities - at Ramingining would be the most promising in that particular relationship. In the space of 12 to 18 months, they have established the Early Learning Childhood Centre from nought to five years of age. We had the preschoolers there, but we did not have the babies and the young mums coming to the school.
The principal at Ramingining is Coralyn Armstrong, who has been in the Northern Territory for a considerable time. Coralyn has encouraged the participation of young mums at the school - and not just young mums but all mums with babies - to come to the nought to five program, and to encourage the children in their early learning stages of development to go on to preschool and feel comfortable in the environment. It is culturally appropriate in the sense the women feel strong and good together, and they can talk about some of their own issues as mothers. It is a fantastic program. The clinic at Ramingining, through the head nurse, Rhonda Goldsby-Smith and her work with Coralyn shows the positive impact such a strong collaboration can have on the wider community. When you go to Ramingining school, you see it as the hub of the community. It is these types of programs that are coming out, as a result of policies through the Martin Labor government, in health and education.
In Milingimbi, it is a similar story. They have yet to work as strongly on the health and education collaboration; however, what is going on is very promising. This is because the families are forever going to and fro and the students also go to and fro, so there is a strong communication flow of what is happening in the area.
In the budget delivered today, there is $49.7m for school services in the East Arnhem Region. I want to put on the record and highlight Wugularr and the $3.5m school which is being built in the region. It was this time last year that I stood in the House to say that there were a lot of students and teachers in Wugularr who would be inundated by the floods in the area. The Waterhouse River was of major concern, where teacher’s houses were being flooded. The school was flooded a number of times. The decision was made by the current Treasurer, Syd Stirling, who was also the Education minister then, supported by the current Education minister, that Wugularr definitely needed to have a new school on high ground for the participation of all the students.
The teachers at Wugularr, under the principal, Michael, are floundering a little in the sense that they are waiting for this new school. Some of the issues, largely based on the Commonwealth area with funding regarding food for the schools and what we used to know as the ASSPA program, have made a tremendous negative impact on the community. The ASSPA program for those who are unaware is a program that was run to encourage Aboriginal students support and parental awareness in the schools. I have noticed a huge reduction in some of the schools in my electorate of teacher and parent participation in the school as a partnership. Teachers are there all the time. Under the ASSPA program, we also had the parents very much a part of the school life. That we do not have a strong a parental involvement in the schools as we did previously is something that disturbs me a little. I know that our Education minister is absolutely aware of that, simply because of the new advisory council that is being set up by the minister who is searching for people across the Northern Territory to be able to give advice as to some of the best ways and options forward.
These are the things that are going on in Arnhem. I am incredibly privileged to speak about the schools that are in my area. I have mentioned in the lead-up to my speech about Manyallaluk. Minyerri High School - Hodgson Downs is the other name for it - was the first senior school that we had built in the Arnhem area and it has had a tremendous impact. The challenge for us is, perhaps now that we are putting the resources into getting out children through to the secondary levels of schools, is to continue that learning into jobs, into training, into a future where their lives are fulfilled like any individual across the Northern Territory and, indeed, Australia.
These are some of the things that I see as challenging for us, and for me as the local member. We must continually look forward to offering opportunities for our young people. We know for a fact from the Australian Bureau of Statistics recent statistics after the Census that the largest growing population in this country is in the remote regions of the Northern Territory. That the growth of our communities is happening at such an incredible pace is clearly evident as I travel around in Minyerri, Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Angurugu, Umbakumba and Ramingining and Milingimbi. We must always be acutely aware of how to deal with that.
I also highlight one of the significant challenges in addition to making sure that our students go on to actually having training and jobs beyond education; that is, the resourcing of our communities. By that I mean the Aboriginal workers in our schools who are forever expressing - and I know our government is acutely aware of this issue - the need for housing and for access to privileges, if you like, that non-indigenous people and staff who come into the community have. We are certainly working strongly on that. I just wanted to add that because it is an issue that we must always be vigilant about. There is an incredible need for housing right across the Northern Territory but, if we can focus particularly on our local staff who need to feel valued - and they do have a house that is not shared with 15 to 20 other people – and that they actually have the same rights and privileges as non-indigenous staff who come into the community. That will have a serious impact on the environment of schools, retention rates, the encouragement of further local employment in schools and other work activities. These are issues I know the minister is aware I will always be raising.
On that note, it is good to see that, because we have local indigenous staff in the schools, they make the difference for the students and for those teachers who come from various parts of the Territory and Australia and, sometimes, find it very difficult to work in places where English is a second or third or fourth language. It can be quite alienating for them.
They are some of the points that I wish to highlight. Again, I commend the minister on his plans with education and, in particular, indigenous education. I know there is much debate and discussion about linking welfare payments to education. These are areas about which I certainly have reservations. We can look at other options for encouraging retention of our children at school. I know that will be an ongoing challenge for our government and for all members of the Assembly who are very concerned about the future of our children and the future society that we are developing for our potential leaders. I commend the Minister’s statement to the House.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Deputy Speaker, I share the sentiments of the member for Braitling who said that without education, we would not be here. For some of us, English is a third or fourth language and we had to go through the difficulties of learning the language like anyone else if that language is not our mother tongue.
From a personal perspective, I started learning English when I was sent to kindergarten, I think around the age of five. I cannot recall clearly, but I know I was very young and my mother and I both learnt English together; she the teacher and I the pupil. Before her exposure to English, when I went to school, her education was essentially six years of primary school in the Chinese language. That was the sum total of her education. As we went on, the pupil soon surpassed the teacher and I left my mother behind in command of the English language as I learnt through school. It reflects that the younger you are, the more capable you are of picking up a second, third or fourth language.
Growing up in a country where many languages are spoken at any one time, I grew up speaking my mother tongue and then we spoke other dialects of Chinese, which are essentially different languages apart from having the same script, and also Bahasa in Malaysia, which is Bahasa Melayu. Most languages become second nature as I grew up speaking with family and friends and playing down the street. When we went to school, the teaching medium was only in English. While there was some initial early translation of words to ensure that those who did not speak English could understand what the lesson was about, within a very short time, it was only a monolingual education that we were received.
Today, I stand in what was, once upon a time, a foreign country to me. Having lived here for many decades now, English is now my principal language although I speak the other language that I learnt as a child, which I continued to learn during my youth at school and outside of school.
Whilst I do not purport to hold myself out as an example of what the Territory is like, we do have a unique mix of population, comprised of something in the order of 25% of indigenous Australians and another 20% of a wide mix of ethnic backgrounds, with a very marginal majority of Anglo-Celtic background. In this cultural and ethnic mix, we need to deliver an education system that will provide a bridge to the opportunities that are abundant in the Northern Territory. However, saying that, to deliver an education system, we must ensure that the people who need to be educated – that is every child and many adults as well – must be made to attend school so that that education can be provided to them. It is no good putting the best Rolls Royce version of education you can possibly fund in the Territory when the people are not availing themselves of that education.
I believe that education is fundamental to achieving a goal. To be educated goes beyond schools and it must include family and community responsibility. The Territory’s future hinges purely on a population that is equipped with the training to recognise and exploit all available means of bettering themselves through employment and contributing to the growth of their families and also the Territory. It not only applies to white fella Territorians, but to every indigenous Territorian as well. It is only through education and capacity building that they can attain the necessary skills to harness the social and economic benefits of the land that they hold. That is where the debate continues as to whether that should be bilingual education or education based only on one language.
However, while that debate continues, I believe that there should be more focus on ESL, and resources must be put into place to ensure that, with the very many students whose mother tongue is not English, ESL is promoted strongly to ensure that they can learn English because, at the end of the day, English is the language of this society. It is the language that provides opportunities and, if you do not grasp that, then the loser is the person who does not speak the language.
In planning good education, the minister has spoken of some obvious ideas and I am not going to pick on whether his ideas are good or bad. Anything that will progress education has to be seen as good. Politically speaking, we will have different ideas as to how to achieve those end points. However, you are the government and you have the right to do what you wish. It is also necessary, though, to recognise that past policies, regardless of the efforts of politicians, have only just begun to make some impact on the comprehensive education of Territory youth. I say that without wanting to be controversial. During this debate on this statement, several ministers have raised the point that, under the CLP, indigenous education had gone backwards. I understand the context behind why those things are said. I suppose, in the future, some of you will pull out the newspapers say, for instance, the Centralian Advocate of Friday, 30 March, where an article written by Jonathon Dart, with the headline is ‘Reading, writing Centre “disgrace”’, says:
It then quotes Nadine Williams, President of the NT Education Union’s comments:
So, we go about teaching English as a second language. However, more importantly, I point back to what was said; that is, in schools considerably remote - that is, in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy – only 69.3% of Year 7 students can read. Regarding Year 7 students, this government has been in power for the last six years and they inherited those students in Year 1. Six years later, only 69.3% of those Year 7 students can read; that is, some 30% who cannot.
In an editorial on 2 April 2007 in the NT News the headline was ‘Literacy gives children hope’
It goes on to say later:
Further in the editorial, it says:
I would first of all see that, from the time children are enrolled in school, there must be compulsory school attendance. Yes, you can have the carrot to entice parents to take their kids to school or make sure they attend, but the stick has to be a wielded as well. Two-and-a-half or three years ago, I suggested - before the last general election, in fact - that there should be a way of linking school attendance with family payments. While it will require the cooperation of two levels of government, I am certain that, wherever the school may be, it would be able to provide school attendance data to Centrelink, which would use that information. If there is a will between governments to make this work, it will work; it can work.
Centrelink can then ensure that the families who do not send their children to school will forfeit the family support payment. However, the money should not be taken away from the community. The money should stay within the community so that that community is not deprived of that. The money, in my opinion, should go to the school where the principal, through an acquittal process, can use that money collected from families who have not sent their kids to school to introduce school attendance programs. Through an acquittal process, we can ensure that the money is spent in the appropriate way and, then, those kids will then go to school. If they are at school every day, as most students expect to be, they will learn their numeracy and literacy, and all that goes with it will improve. I believe that is the most important thing. There should be no exception to the rule – every child must go to school.
If you look at my parents and how they valued education, they pushed us to school without a second thought of anything else. No matter what happened, schooling was the ultimate thing. I suppose by being educated we were able to work our way out of whatever social situation we might have been in.
I want to put some other suggestions to the minister for him to consider in his plan to provide good schooling and education. I believe a school nutrition program should be introduced. We know many kids go to school without breakfast, and may even go without lunch. It is no wonder they do not do well in school, nor do they wish to stay at school, if there is no way of securing any food. A school nutrition program will not be that difficult to implement. It could be very cheaply done if there was a central purchasing facility through the department of Education and then, that food provided to school councils at their request. The school council would be able to purchase the food from the central supplier within DEET. The government could provide some form of financial assistance to school councils to enable them to conduct this program. If the school council deems it necessary, it might want to charge the family a stipend to ensure that the program continues.
Charging a stipend would be useful because that, at least, transfers some of the financial responsibility back to the family. The family should feed their children. If they do not, then they should pay somebody to feed the children for them. I put that on the agenda for the government to consider so that kids at least get breakfast, if not lunch also. It could be started quite easily. You can start at any time and it should be for at least the first three years at school. I believe that is what should happen. If you do that on a regular basis, before long you would find that families will start to understand the responsibility of feeding their children before school and, with good strong supportive programs by the school council, parents would take on the responsibility.
Late last year, the government also introduced school uniforms to school. There was, generally, good acceptance of the school uniform policy across all public sector schools. I know that private schools have school uniforms and have had them for many years. Obviously, they had found that there were potential benefits such as less cost for parents, less peer pressure because they are all wearing the same sort of clothes, less distraction – that is the obvious thing. I have seen many Years 11 and 12 students going to school in less than desirable clothes that may cause a lot of distraction for the hormonally-charged young people. There is safety in easily identifying who the schoolchildren are, and someone who is not in school uniform in the school grounds could be easily and quickly identified. The schools have always maintained their students in uniform portray a better image of the school. That is something that cannot be denied. It also absolves the school staff from having to play the role of clothes police, and determine whether a particular student is dressed appropriately or not for the school. That takes away the conflict that could arise otherwise.
While saying that school uniform is mandatory, there are some issues that I did not hear the minister address when he was talking about the policy several months ago. When you make school uniforms compulsory, the question I have is: how does that work with the policy of compulsory school attendance? If a child or parent refuses to comply with the school uniform policy, is the child going to be deprived or prevented from going to school? You have a policy that says school attendance is compulsory and you have another policy that children must wear a school uniform. Those two absolutes cannot go together because, if the child says ‘I am not going to wear the school uniform’ or the parents say they are not going to buy a school uniform, what do you do with the child? Does the child still go to school? Does the child still go to school not wearing a uniform? What will happen to the child?
There must be a way of providing and opt-out path where parents choose to have their children not wear school uniform, and the exception will be considered on application and by interview with the parents. The responsibility can be put on the school principal to do that. Otherwise, you will impose a restriction that may be counter-productive. You cannot tell this child to wear a school uniform because, if the child does not, then the child does not attend school, while, at the same time, you have a policy of compulsory school attendance.
Other suggestions I have put to government over the years that they may want to consider - it does not matter if it is a CLP initiative or otherwise because education for children is paramount and anything that I, in opposition, can contribute to the betterment of education is something I am prepared to do. The Gifted and Talented Children program is not particularly well enunciated by this government, or even by previous governments. It is important to understand what Jan Brunt of the Flinders University in South Australia said:
Therefore, when we talk about gifted and talented children, it could be a child that is gifted and talented across the board or just in very specific areas. However, those extremely talented, gifted children and, at the other end of the spectrum, those who may have disabilities ...
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, you have one minute.
Mr WOOD: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the member for Greatorex be granted an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Dr LIM: It is important to realise that most schools cannot cater for the majority of children who are gifted and talented and, at the same time, try to cater for the rest of the children at school. There should be a separate program for the raising and nurturing of gifted and talented children. There is a unique set of challenges; for many gifted children, school alone will not be enough. They will probably need additional guidance and learning opportunities.
How do you create an environment that will do that, where children can discover and develop unique abilities? I believe the Territory government should do this for the long term. The first thing is creative, intellectual and social growth through programs and publications geared for the gifted and their caregivers, their parents. What I would like to see happen is that all schools, all teachers, having a duty to identify who these talented and gifted children are in their classrooms. They should be identified through a talent search of one form or another and, then, these children should be provided with a scholarship of sorts, to go on school camps, auspiced by, say, the Charles Darwin University, with the campuses scattered across the Northern Territory.
If in Katherine - and you have a Charles Darwin University campus - have the campus auspice a school camp for a week or a fortnight during the long mid-year and end-of-year breaks, where these talented and gifted children can actually go to the school camp where their talents could be enhanced. There could be many courses to residential programs on the campuses, funded through grants, to offer the programs to students from all income levels and backgrounds to participate. I believe that in a fast paced setting, students will collaborate with their gifted peers and immerse themselves in advanced level subjects not offered in schools in a supportive environment. That would be a particularly useful thing to do.
Finally, I am leaving primary schools and middle schools, because my colleague, the member for Blain, has spoken about middle schools and middle schooling at length for some time now. The minister’s speech has mostly been about the infrastructure surrounding middle schooling rather than the development of a good curriculum that will achieve better educational outcomes than just bricks and mortar.
There is one point I need to make, though, about middle schooling that was raised just recently. It is about the lack of sufficient space on buses that bring the students from Palmerston into Darwin High School and Casuarina Secondary College. We recently heard that parents are concerned that their children are left stranded by the side of the road because the buses that run the routes are too full to pick up their children as well. When you have five or 10 students standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come along, there is safety in numbers and among peers. However, if the bus were to pick up eight of the 10, what about the other two? Or, worse still, that the bus picks up nine and there is one left stranded. What is going to happen to that child?
The child could be as young as 14, 15, stranded on the side of the road, waiting for the next bus to come along, whenever the bus turns up. That person is on his or her own, and that child is exposed at a vulnerable time of their lives. I believe that is most unfortunate. If the child does not wish to stay at the bus stop, that child has to walk – there is no other way – unless they have a mobile telephone to ring mum or dad. However, if mum and dad were both at work and are not able to get to pick up the child, where does the child go? The child has to walk home; it could be a long way away. Dad or Mum could have dropped them off by car on their way to work, so the child might be too far away from home to walk there. Could they find a friend’s home? What if they cannot find a friend’s home? It is not acceptable that schoolchildren should be left stranded by the side of the road.
The government has had enough time to work out the numbers of students who are going to be transferred each morning from Palmerston into Darwin. You know what the numbers are. You know how many seats there are in the bus or coach. It is simple arithmetic. You have to make sure there are enough seats. If there are not, then you have to put another bus on at the same time so that every child is picked up to go to school every day. If not, then the government has failed in its duty of care. The day may come where a child is hurt, one way or another. How is the government going to then explain the circumstance to the family?
There is very limited time left, Mr Deputy Speaker. There are issues of higher education that we need to talk about also, regarding teacher training. I will leave that more academic component to the teachers amongst us in this Chamber who understand the profession a lot better than I. I do not purport to know much about teacher training; it is not my field. All I know is that a teacher, particularly in primary school and senior secondary, is considered to be one of the most influential people in a student’s life. What they do or not can reflect on how the child accepts or rejects education. I believe that it is more so in bush schools than urban schools where, just by dint of numbers, the impact of a teacher in urban schools would be diluted because there are more teachers around the place. Whereas, in the bush school where there are limited numbers of teachers, it poses a problem if the teacher is not well trained and given good cross-cultural understanding of matters that will impact on the way they conduct their profession in the bush. Cross-cultural training provided by DEET is, I understand, not bad. However, when I compare that with what happens with cross-cultural training that nurses receive in Central Australia, there is a lot of room for improvement.
I would like to see the government take on this issue and ensures that our teachers get not only initial induction or cross-cultural training before they are sent out to the bush, but they are provided with continuing or intermittent cross-cultural training during the breaks in semesters. That could be an effective way of using their time. As we all know, it is considered stand-down time, it is not holiday. During stand-down times, this sort of in-service can be provided. It will make our teachers more aware of the cross-cultural issues that they will definitely face once they go out bush. It is better to do that early in the piece, and also midway through their exposure in the bush so that they get to understand what it is all about.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I note that the member for Greatorex said he was not going to speak on some of the technical sides of the ministerial statement because he was not a teacher. However, it would be unwise to say that we do not all have a role as teachers, especially if we are a parent or guardian of children. Formal education must go hand-in-hand with parental education, because a lot of things that are not taught at home are, of course, taught at school and vice versa. I believe there is a role that all of us must play as teachers of our youth.
I would like to make a few comments tonight. I concur with the member for Goyder on many of the statements he made tonight regarding education in the rural area. One area that is missing from the minister’s statement is the role of non-government schools, independent schools. Some people call them private schools. I do not call them private schools. Private schools to me are Scots College, Melbourne Grammar and those types of schools. I do not think you would class too many of the independent schools in the Northern Territory in that bracket.
The independent schools play a very important role in education in the Northern Territory. They provide a mix which, again, is very important in education of our young children. It gives parents a choice. I know there is a lot of discussion about having national curriculum, etcetera. I know that is important, but there are also other things that we educate our children about. In many cases, that is religious matters, moral issues, and ways of looking at things. They sometimes vary from school to school, from philosophy of one school to another.
If you look in my electorate, and near to my electorate because there are schools that are right on the boundary of Goyder and Nelson, I have Marrara Christian College which is a secondary college middle school and primary school. It was one of the first schools in the Northern Territory to have middle school; it has had it quite a long time. Litchfield Christian School is a small school but has great ambitions. It is presently looking at whether it is feasible to start a middle school. St Francis of Assisi is the Catholic school at Humpty Doo. It is another small school that plays an important role in the rural area. Closer to where I live is the Good Shepherd Lutheran School which is based in Palmerston as a primary school and is now taking enrolments for middle school and secondary school. They are hoping to have built a middle school complex in the Howard Springs area by 2008. The planning approvals and the surveys have just about all been completed, so I am expecting in a fairly short time to start to see some works in that area so that this school will be up and running next year. Just in my area there is quite a large influence from the independent schools.
If you see children going to school in the morning, you will see many children wearing the Kormilda College, the O’Loughlin College, and St John’s College uniforms, all heading in different directions, naturally. On top of that, there are students who go to other schools that you do not hear very much about like the Steiner School, and the Essington School. They also pick up different philosophies in teaching and methodology in teaching our children - not only the three Rs, but also other important factors in life that everyone needs to learn about to get through life successfully.
The independent schools have played a role in the Northern Territory for many years. I believe most Aboriginal people were educated in the early days by missionaries simply because they were the only ones who were willing to go out and take education to those areas. You might say they had an ulterior motive which was to convert those people to whatever religion they professed. However, they still did play a very important role in educating people. You only have to talk to some of the older people in Arnhem Land and you hear how well spoken they are. You would say they were not educated under today’s methodologies; they were actually educated more under the mission methodologies. I can say, with my own family - and I have said here before - that my wife is far more educated than many of the young people today ...
Mrs Miller: They learnt to read and write properly.
Mr WOOD: I will probably get on to that issue of numeracy and literacy later. The independent schools continue to play an important role throughout the Northern Territory. The Woolaning School near Batchelor has been promoting new methods of increasing the number of Aboriginal students attending school, and have been fairly successful by trying to involve families. It is not just sending kids off to boarding school as might have been done in the old days; it is making sure that families are part of that system. It is the same with Marrara Christian School, which has special houses that are more like family homes rather than a boarding college.
They are an area to which government should give more recognition. It is disappointing that, for a long time, there have been plans to build a Catholic secondary school in Palmerston. I raised this with the previous minister for Education, and still nothing has happened. From the point of view of capital works for non-government schools, there has not been a great deal of movement, except for this new school of the Good Shepherd Lutheran College.
Moving away from the independent school issue, I want to talk about government schools in my area. One school that has changed and is setting the standards is Taminmin High School. Under the new principal, Tony Considine, we have seen a total change in attitude to the way we look at the school. To some extent, people used to think of Taminmin as having a farm and being a bit feral, and that was about it. They had been moving along under the previous principal, Kim Rowe who had done a lot of work trying to raise the standard of Taminmin. He did a very good job; he was certainly an excellent principal. However, the new principal has lifted the bar even higher.
Before the government talked about compulsory uniforms, Tony already had discussed this with the school council and parents and introduced compulsory uniforms for all students - not just the middle school, but for the senior school as well. The senior school has a maroon uniform with two stripes down the side and word ‘senior’ written on it and middle school has one stripe down the side. The idea is that middle school students will know that is something to obtain: when they add the extra stipe, they are in the senior school.
Tony is also passionate about lifting the standard of the school and it having academic excellence. In fact, at the moment he is talking about having a leadership academy; that is, getting the best students out of the school and, as they move up into the senior school, the leaders also work with young leaders so that you have an academy. It is not just that there are leaders in the senior school; those leaders are working with young leaders in the middle school.
The VET program is increasing out of sight, and we now have the Australian Technical College being built there. There is an enormous amount of work being done at the school because, naturally, there had to be extra buildings for middle school as well. There is a great feeling about the school, which seems to have a vision that it has not had before. This is not knocking previous principals. Tony seems to be saying that this school can achieve; that the kids at this school are not just rural kids who might get to a certain level, they can go a long way. They can provide them with the courses the students need to be successful.
They have the farm as well, which is great and gives it a great balance. However, it is not just an agricultural school. It will be a school of high academic achievement and this is one of the major changes to the school. It is already sending out the message that it is heading in the direction of high academic achievement. It is full and continuing to grow, and the numbers have gone up in leaps and bounds over the last two years.
I congratulate Tony and all the staff because, without the staff coming along with him this would not have happened. I also congratulate the very supportive school council. Of course, there have been some ups and downs with the kids. Telling them they have to wear uniforms and dress appropriately might not have been their cup of tea, but they are changing. For instance, before you could go to an assembly and kids would have all their hats on. No more hats on. He is teaching them about having some manners and respect, and they are used to it. They even have a war cry now, which I have heard once or twice. I still have not been able to understand the words, but it is certainly a war cry. Again, you might say that is a bit old fashioned or something, but no, what he is trying to do is get kids to believe that Taminmin is a good school, and lift the feeling about the school. I believe that is really encouraging.
As well as that, we have the feeder schools. We have many rural primary schools. We have Howard Springs Primary School, which has a new principal, Jenny Nash. To some extent, she got thrown to the wolves, as you might say, because the previous principal had resigned right at the beginning of the year when Jenny took up the job of being the principal of that school. Howard Springs will be one of those schools that will be interesting to see how it goes in the future. It is a relatively small primary school. With the Years 6 and 7 going soon to the middle school, some of these schools will drop quite severely in numbers.
One of the issues around the Howard Springs area is the price of land. I say that because it is very difficult for young families to buy now in the Howard Springs area. If you can get a house for under $450 000, well, it is probably not much of a house. The problem I see is whether we are going to get an older population who stay there, or they swap it with older people who can afford to buy after they sell a house somewhere else. However, I doubt whether we are actually going to get a lot of young families move into that area simply because of that cost. We will get some, for sure. I have said to the government before, there is Crown land in the rural area, especially in the Howard Springs area. They should open that up for first homeowners, because we could find that if we have an ageing population in some of these areas, as has happened in other places, schools close down because there are simply not enough children going there. That is an area that we have to look at.
Bees Creek Primary School is coming up to its 10th anniversary. I know they are looking forward to that. I have seen some photographs of all the years gone by. It is a great school. It is just about to open its autistic centre, which the government provided funds for. I believe it is completed now. It has a great little garden. It has a little chook in there made of polystyrene called Gerry, so it must be a great garden. It is a terrific school; I have always had a great feeling about it.
Girraween Primary School - again, another great school. Maree Bredhauer is the principal there. Like all the other schools, it has a really energetic school council to make them run. Sometimes, we forget those school councils. The government today announced $100 000 for the bicycle path to Girraween Primary School which is on top of some funds that we received previously. I especially thank a lady called Jenny Hangan, who took up the issue of the bicycle path a couple of years ago. I asked the government for some money, and the government gave us that money for the bicycle path. The council said it was enough, then said it was not enough. Then we got some more money from the government, then the council said it was not enough and they wanted it in another place.
I tell you, to get this bicycle path built, they needed someone like Jenny Hangan, because she has been able to focus on it - which is probably more than I was able to do at times - and find some people who she knew in the engineering and construction fields. They have been able to put together a package to get this bicycle path finished. I believe she was advised that it possibly would need some more money because it would make the project more complete. I was pleased to hear that the minister announced $100 000 towards that bicycle path. That is great. It will make it much safer for kids going to Girraween Primary School who, at the moment, have to drive on the edge of the road over a creek where there are no railings or protections. This bicycle path will take those young children away from the road so they can get to school safely.
Humpty Doo Primary School is another great school. It is probably the biggest primary school in the rural area. It is a great school to visit. When you go to school council, you really feel at home all the time. It has a good feel about it. It has some great programs like the Tribes program.
In talking about all these schools, we sometimes forget the teachers who teach at these schools. A few years ago, I was one of those people would say: ‘Teachers get short hours; they are never working too hard’. Well, those times have changed. The teachers I see work really hard, under a lot of pressure sometimes, having to take on heaps and heaps of other things besides doing the three Rs. Many of them have families themselves to look after, but they are so committed to the jobs that they have at hand. It is great to see those types of people in your community.
One of the other areas that we forget about regarding our schools is that they are part of our community. Years ago, you might have had the local hall where you had a dance or something, but we have the schools doing that. There will be a annual dance at the Girraween Primary School in the basketball court; the Blue Light Disco at Howard Springs; and a community fair is coming up at the Litchfield Christian School. They all help the community. It is not just about the school being a learning centre for the kids; it is about bringing the community together. A lot of times, with the modern things we have today - TVs, computers and such - we tend to stay in our own little patch. The schools, by providing these community evenings, or quiz nights of whatever, play an important role in the community. I thank all those people who do get involved in setting up those community events raising money. All the schools raise money. If you had been on a school council, you know there will be a fundraising community trying to work its butt off to try to raise money.
Towards the end of my time, I would like to say a few things about the other forms of education. The Clontarf Academy was mentioned today, and I believe the principle behind it is a good idea. I wonder whether we could use the same principle and apply it to primary school kids. I know, at the moment, we apply this to kids who could end up going with AFL. Fair enough. However, I wonder whether we could use the notion to get the young kids to school - whether it is Auskick or something else – by using that as a feeder.
I keep looking through the annual reports for the Department of Employment, Education and Training and, unfortunately, these have changed again. They seem to have less and less statistics each time I look at them. However, if you read the statistics for primary education in the Northern Territory for indigenous students, regardless of whether they are slightly increasing or going down a little, they are still very poor. I feel it when you see the figure - and this is one of the higher figures. This is the actual for 2005-06 indigenous students achieving the national reading benchmark: Year 7, which is now the beginning of middle school, is at 36%. If only 36% of indigenous students are reading at Year 7, what hope do they have of getting a good secondary education? I know it is difficult. I have no doubt it is difficult. The minister talked about the number of kids turning up at the school. I say, funny, when my wife and her family went to school, they had, I reckon, about 100% literacy in Year 7. They did not have the opportunity to go further simply because there was not any opportunity ...
Mrs MILLER: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member for Nelson to finish his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, member for Katherine. I will probably speak on this at another time when I have analysed the figures of the budget on indigenous education. However, I suppose people will say: ‘It is all right for you to make statements about indigenous education; but do you know how difficult it is?’ It is not necessarily the case, because I have worked in those communities and I have seen what could be done with Aboriginal students in relation to numeracy and literacy. It seems to have gone backwards, and that is so unfortunate. The government is bragging how it is getting students through secondary education but, if we are only just getting a few simply because that is all that is available, then I would start to worry what the future is for these young people.
If we are going to change things around, if we are going to fix the issues about health – and there was a big article in the Sydney Morning Herald today about health in our indigenous communities – part of our health is also about the ability of people to rise above some of the difficulties they have to get jobs, to earn money, to try to improve their lot in life. If you do not have that basic education, it is going to be very hard.
I hope that the government could look at incentives, maybe like Clontarf, for younger kids. Whether that could lead to programs similar to that - they might not be as well funded in the sense that Clontarf is, because I think it has been able to attract money partly because Gerard Neesham was involved. He had the charisma and the drive, and he had the recognition as an AFL footballer to bring all that together. Hew also had good people in the Aboriginal community to go with what he was doing. I certainly think we have to sit down and work through this whole thing about children not turning up to school and improving these literacy figures.
I will not go on any more. I thank the minister for his statement. I reiterate that, naturally, the larger percentage of education in the Northern Territory is government education, but we should also recognise the importance of independent schools in the education of children in the Northern Territory.
The other area that I will mention in the few minutes that I have is that when you look through here there is not much talk about Charles Darwin University and Batchelor College. It does not get a lot of discussion in this forum here. Both those institutes of education is one area that seems to slip through the net of being questioned or analysed. We are unable to question their roles through the Estimates Committee. It seems to be in this grey area somewhere between the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory. There should be the ability to question someone about what the roles of these learning institutes are.
People come to me with complaints about certain courses at the university, and I have heard people say some things about Batchelor College. However, they do not seem to be owned by anyone. They seem to be out there by themselves, yet they are funded with public money. It seems to me that we should be able to questioned what their roles are, what they are doing, how are they funded, and whether that funding is appropriate, as we do for other departments when we have Estimates Committee. If we want to know why they are closing the school at Tennant Creek, we can ask the minister at Estimates Committee. We can get the details from him and argue the toss whether it is good or bad, but we cannot do that with Batchelor College or the Charles Darwin University. That is an area that the government should look at.
It reminds me of Bunnings. You might ask why. Well, Bunnings near the airport is built there because the Commonwealth does not have to come under planning controls. If it was built on the other side of Bagot Road, it would have to come under the normal Darwin planning controls. It is the same with these two learning institutes. They seem to be off to one side so we are unable to question them. I ask the minister, if possible, whether he could look at why, with these schools which employ local people, train teachers to go out into the Northern Territory, and provide programs for people wanting to learn, we are not allowed to look at what they do through the Estimates Committee?
Mr Deputy Speaker, with that, I end my contribution on the minister’s statement.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I contribute to the debate on the minister’s statement on education. It definitely goes without saying that every one of us who represents our constituents throughout the Territory would know that a good, sound education is the basis for people to have a good lifestyle, and to be able to develop and contribute to society. The basic skills of learning to read and write, numeracy and literacy, are extremely important and every person needs to have those skills.
My time working in the education department was for some 12 years or 13 years before I came to the Northern Territory. I worked in a very low socioeconomic area where there were a lot of disadvantaged families. That highlighted to me the importance of getting a good education so that those children would go on to become fulfilled young people and adults and be able to achieve much better than they had as children. For most of the parents in the school that I worked at, at Elizabeth Field Primary School in South Australia, it was also their aim to ensure that their children had a better chance in life than they had.
Once I came to the Territory, I did not have a lot to do with schools except for my daughter. Only one of our children was living at home at that stage, and Amanda went to Katherine High School for two years and then completed her Years 11 and 12 at a boarding school in Adelaide. It was not anything to do with the way Katherine High School operated at all; we just felt it would develop her social skills a lot better. As the youngest of six and a little on the spoilt side, we decided it would develop her social skills if she learnt to become a little independent, so she went away to school.
I derive pleasure from visiting the schools with which I have been associated since I have been the member for Katherine. I appreciate the amount of work that is put in by the principals and staff towards those children into encouraging them in developing their skills. One of the things I would have been far too afraid to do as a student in primary school - I know this probably sounds quite incredible – is stand up in front of people and perform, or speak in public. I attended a very small school where there was a maximum of 30 students from Years 1 to 7 and, maybe, someone in Year 8 doing correspondence. That skill was never taught to us. The poor teachers in schools where they had Years 1 to 7 with no other support had their work cut out and they did a darn good job.
As time goes on, demands change and are still very heavy for teachers and staff in schools. I have found that, visiting the schools in my electorate - St Joseph’s School is the only independent school; Katherine High School; Katherine South Primary School; Clive Fenton Primary School; McFarlane Primary School and Casuarina Street Primary School – there has been a wonderful rapport between the staff and students. The fact that those schools have school uniforms they encourage them to wear, not so much as a complete school uniform, but either their house colour T-shirts or a school T-shirt so that there is some uniformity and no one stands out as being any different from the rest.
Financially, those parents who cannot afford to dress their children in what you would call ‘fashion scene’ clothes, which are not appropriate for school, do not have to feel uncomfortable at all because the children are all quite happy wearing their T-shirts. All of the schools I visit have their little war cry, as the member for Nelson described it. Most of them have their own school song that they sing at the start of assembly and, just so they all learn the words, they usually put them up on a big white board with an overhead projector. I am very pleased to see the community spirit that has been developed in all the schools in Katherine.
One of the things that we do have is a truancy problem. I guess that relates to most of the schools across the Territory. I ask the minister if, in his reply, he would tell us what additional resources are being put into ensuring that kids who are truant are going to school. It is a problem, because those children need to learn their numeracy and literacy to give them some directions and incentives in their life. It also discourages them from becoming involved in extracurricular activities that are usually not very advantageous. I ask the minister to comment on that.
One of the things the member for Nelson referred to was leadership programs. In Katherine, because we are a regional area, we have quite a few communities around us. I have to say that we are very fortunate that we have some great leadership programs operating in those schools. While they are not in my electorate, those people use Katherine as a service centre. The person who usually liaises with these schools - and I have spoken many times of this before in this House - is Fred Murphy. Fred is now working for Sunshine Health in Katherine. Fred runs some wonderful leadership programs. The leadership program is tied to school attendance and the work that these young ones commit themselves to in the community, and the rewards, I believe, are fantastic. I am not allowed to leak what some of the rewards are, but very shortly I am sure Fred will. I promised him that I would not when he divulged it to me. This is just the biggest boost for some of these young people around Katherine.
These young men are aged from about 12 to 17, because Fred has been picking these young fellows to go into an Under 17s football team. I spoke before of them going to the Tiwi Islands. As I said at that time, some of those young men had never seen the ocean, let alone been in an aircraft, and some of them had never, ever been away from their communities before. I congratulate Fred and the team of helpers that he has in running these leadership programs - and continuing to do it. Sometimes, you will have somebody come into your area who has a wonderful idea and full of energy, and they start these programs and then they either leave, they transfer to somewhere else, or they run out of energy. I cannot say that about Fred. Fred still has plenty of energy and incentive to see these young people achieving. I definitely think that, with the help and commitment of people like Fred Murphy, that these leadership programs are very important in ensuring that our young people within the Territory get that opportunity for their education. Even though the leadership is tied to their attendance at school, it works, so it is really good.
We recently had a little problem in Darwin - and, obviously, we might still have a problem - with not enough seats on buses for schoolchildren. I do not believe resolving that needs to wait until next year. I know the minister has said it will be addressed next year, but that is too late. It is only April and it needs to be addressed this year. We cannot possibly have these young people being left on the side of the road because there is a lack of seats on a bus. It is extremely important for these young people to be delivered to their homes safely and on time.
In Katherine, we have a little residential estate called Stuart Estate, which is only about 4 km north of Katherine. The old railway comes very close to the Stuart Estate. The actual sides of that railway line are in very good repair. A lot of those young people are riding bikes in from Stuart Estate on the highway and that is extremely dangerous. I know more of those young people would like to ride their bikes to school and, in the spirit of encouraging these young children and students to be fit and to not become obese, I believe it would be really good if we could encourage them to ride their bikes.
I will be asking the minister – and, of course, it is not the minister for Education but the appropriate minister - if we could look at a way of clearing off any extra debris that is on that old railway line right now, which would not take a huge amount of money. It would not take a substantial amount of money at all. The people who live out there do not want it sealed, they do not want concrete paths, they just want it levelled out and cleared of any debris that is on there now. That would be a wonderful way to encourage the young families with young children who live at Stuart Estate to be able to get some exercise, but in a safe way, and ride to school.
One of the things that I forgot to mention about the schools is the fantastic work they do in raising money. With the number of schools that are in Katherine, the staff, the parents and some of the old students deserve a great pat on the back for the amount of work that is put towards fundraising for their schools. Whenever I pick up one of their newsletters, there is always something they are doing and, usually, with a lot of incentive; something different that takes a lot of time and commitment to organise but their whole heart goes into it. I congratulate them for the amount of work that they do within the community to raise money.
One of the serious concerns I want to address today is that there are parents in Katherine who have expressed concerns to me over the last couple of years regarding the fact that their students and their own children have been disadvantaged because there is a lack of a speech therapist in Katherine. Some of these students were having speech therapy quite regularly until two years ago. Now, they have not been able to continue with their therapy. I know that, during the last two years, COGSO Katherine and parents and school councils have been very concerned. They are concerned about the detrimental effect that it is having on their students. They have expressed to me how it is impeding the students’ ability to communicate effectively and, in some cases, are affected quite seriously. Of course, that has an adverse impact on their educational outcomes.
The minister has high on his list of priorities the middle schooling and positive educational outcomes, and I have no doubt of his sincerity. Therefore, I am asking the minister to respond to this serious situation and appoint a full-time speech therapist for Katherine. We have RAAF families who were transferred to Katherine and their children’s therapy came to a complete standstill upon arriving in Katherine; this is in addition to the children who live there who require this service. Katherine children with speech therapy needs are paying the price for no assistance, and this situation needs to be resolved. It is clearly evident when you go into a classroom and see how the children are unable to communicate adequately. It is something that needs to be addressed; it is certainly impeding their education.
I believe the minister for Education received correspondence from the school councils and parents from Katherine, beginning in 2006. I also believe the minister met a delegation of parents, I believe, early in April. Therefore, minister, in your reply would you be able to tell me when you can make a decision that will have a distinctive and significant advantageous effect for those children who need that developmental assistance in Katherine?
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, in closing, I also want to talk about 12 students who, last year, were in the high dependency unit in Katherine High School. I have a close relationship with these 12 students. They have developed through the wonderful support of their teacher, Dennis Arnold, and his fabulous staff. There is a fantastic vegetable and flower garden at Katherine High School which I sponsor. I take great delight in being able to purchase goods from there when I go to the school.
This year, things have changed dramatically with the middle schools arrangement with Katherine High School so that Dennis Arnold and his very supportive helpers now have over 40 students in the high dependency unit. This is putting a great deal on pressure on Dennis and the staff to achieve the same outcomes as they did when there were fewer children with a lot of support. I am interested to hear what the minister has to say about that in reply.
In closing, I congratulate the wonderful work that the teachers and staff do throughout the Territory, and also all the parents who give of their time to work within schools and on school council. There are many people who do a lot of hard work. You are right, member for Nelson, education is a jolly hard portfolio, but it is also one of the most extremely important which is so terribly important for our future leaders and young people in the Northern Territory.
Mr HENDERSON (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Deputy Speaker I genuinely thank all members who have contributed in a positive way to this statement. Over a number of sittings where we have had this statement before us, everybody who has spoken has made a significant contribution and raised very pertinent points. There are a number of ideas and issues which I will take back and work on as a result of contributions to the debate. I thank all members.
I will try to run through some of the issues which were raised. However, given the number of speakers who have spoken on this statement, I am not going to be able to comment on everybody’s contribution. No offence if I do not get to you; I have made specific notes and will be working through issues.
Firstly to the shadow minister, the member for Blain. By and large, it was a positive contribution to the debate. I am pleased the shadow minister is going to engage in a contest of ideas in how to move education forward in the Northern Territory. From his contribution, I do not think we are too far apart in how we are going to move education forward. I believe it is only in the language that both of us are going to use. He talked about a philosophical debate and discussions on matters which concern families, and all of those things. Yes, a philosophical debate is good, but I am really interested in getting improved outcomes in the classroom, and how we move improvements in the classroom forward. He talked about - and there has been a lot of debate about - outcomes-based education, curriculum, and where are heading; whether we should be teaching every Year 3 child across the Northern Territory the same thing on the same day to the same standard, or where this debate is heading.
For the information of honourable members, we are reviewing the NT Curriculum Framework at the moment. Members will probably be aware that our curriculum is tied to the South Australian curriculum. There is a major review going on and I would be surprised if the member for Blain does not know this. Draft documents and curriculum formats have been distributed for a final round of consultation with individual teachers, the teaching union, and COGSO, and we will be making announcements on that as we go forward.
We are also implementing a Teaching and Learning Framework and developing and implementing it across the system. When it all boils down, it is what the teachers teach in the classroom and how they teach, and explicitly giving teachers those tools in what to teach and how to teach that is best standards.
There was a discussion about our curriculum and whether it is serving the needs of the Territory. Again, I go to Bruce Wilson who is, in the education industry, acknowledged as one of the leading lights. He was previously the chair of the Curriculum Corporation, which is Australia’s only national curriculum organisation which is owned by the states. Bruce Wilson cited that our curriculum was best practice. He did recommend a review after five years, and we are having that review. The member for Blain is really not looking at what is explicitly happening here in the Northern Territory, but latching on the coattails of Julie Bishop and other right wing commentators about curriculum and where we are going. In improving outcomes, we are on the same page.
There was some discussion about measuring outcomes. We released MAP testing results recently and had debate about that. We can all pull figures apart and use them a different way. The member said 22 out of 27 benchmarks were not achieved by Territory students. When you break all these numbers down, what it shows is that we have significant deficits in the bush for outcomes and results. However, if you pull out the results that we are achieving in town, if you are looking at Darwin, northern suburbs and Palmerston, I can certainly say that 18 out of our 29 schools in Darwin, Palmerston and the northern suburbs are achieving above the metropolitan benchmark averages.
Our figures are collated and reported against provincials, which is the Alburys and the Werribees and the other regional centres. However, when you drill into what is happening in the northern suburbs, in Darwin and in Palmerston, in our primary schools in Years 3, 5 and 7, 18 out of 29 are exceeding the averages of similar schools in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Those results are all pulled backwards because, the further out of the major metropolitan centres you go, the outcomes become less, and it pulls those averages down.
Whichever way you want to pull the numbers, if we want to drive performance, we have to keep striving in our urban schools. However, it is in our regional and remote schools where the biggest single determinant to achieving outcomes is, undeniably, attendance. If we can drive improvement of attendance and get those kids into the classrooms - that are well equipped, well staffed, by and large, across the Northern Territory following huge investments made by this government since we came to government - five days a week on a regular basis, then we are going to see real improvements in outcomes. I am absolutely confident about that. What all of us have to do, as local members, particularly on the attendance issue, is encourage our communities and families to get kids to school on a regular basis. As I said in my statement, we are engaging in a number of strategies to achieve that.
In concluding on the member for Blain’s contribution, we are pretty much on the same page. We have a review of the curriculum taking place at the moment. I am keen to receive a submission from the member for Blain. If he wishes to make a submission about where he thinks the curriculum should go, I give him a commitment that I will give it due and professional consideration.
Other members have spoken in the debate this evening. I pick up on the member for Goyder who gave recognition of the commitment of $800 000 for the special education unit at Humpty Doo school. Those are the things that you want to do, as the member for Goyder said, when we are elected to parliament and have the very humbling privilege of becoming a minister in a government. You want to do things that are going to make a difference to people’s lives in a very material and specific way. We all know there are huge needs across the Northern Territory.
The member for Katherine talked about the special needs unit at Katherine High School. I have visited Katherine High School. I have met with many of those students and the teachers and they do a fantastic job. My commitment as minister is to continue to work to improve facilities and access to facilities for our kids with special needs across the Northern Territory.
Humpty Doo is a good example. There are new classrooms going in at Nemarluk School in Darwin. Henbury School in my electorate has entered into a very significant partnership agreement with Dripstone High School, where a couple of hundred thousand dollars was spent recently to accommodate those special needs kids in a mainstream middle school setting. It has been very positively received. We are moving ahead in facilities and access to facilities, and we are working on better options in Katherine.
Member for Braitling, I thank you for your contribution. You are, quite obviously, a practitioner of education and I respect your views given your long career as a teacher and as a principal. You made a very positive contribution. The issue of incentives to attract kids to school is very important. In the work we are doing in remote learning partnerships in remote communities, we are explicitly on the ground at the moment in Yirrkala, Borroloola and Maningrida, and sitting down with communities and negotiating a partnership agreement where communities and families commit to sending kids to school. The commitment from government is to look to be flexible. The member for Braitling talked about flexibility in term times; whether we actually meet the needs of the schools in the bush; the opening times of school; the structuring of the school years in the bush - all of those things are on the table.
My commitment is that we will be as flexible as we can be. We really want those kids to go to school. Rewards and incentives, I agree, are much better than punishment. It is a balance, and about setting standards and expectations. However, I am going to temper it with recognition from the member for Daly. I know the community of Wadeye in his electorate is being very strong in their belief that the government needs to get tough. The government needs to use its muscle under the Education Act because, for all sorts of reasons, community leaders are struggling in getting their students to school.
I believe we have to take a case-by-case approach. I certainly agree carrots are much better than sticks but, in some instances where the communities are calling for it, there is demonstrable overwhelming community support for a tougher attitude that, on a community-by-community basis through a partnership agreement, we do start using some of those mechanisms available under the Education Act or through the Commonwealth. However, it certainly will not be a one-size-fits-all, big-stick approach that the member for Greatorex is talking about. I would much rather see positive incentives than punitive punishments. If all of us can start thinking how we can encourage, particularly in our regional and remote communities, our kids to go to school and support that through incentives, however we might structure that, that is a very positive way to go.
I have spoken about this before, but with the programs like the Clontarf and the Polly Farmer Foundation programs in Alice Springs, it is very early days yet. Gee, talk about some incentives there! They are really starting to demonstrate, in the one term the Clontarf foundation program has been running across the three schools in Alice Springs, that attendance rates for some of those indigenous kids has gone from between 35% and 40% to 90%. Those are the types of incentives the member for Braitling talked about and we need to work further on those.
The member for Braitling talked about curriculum and the future of schooling. The Chief Minister has just attended a forum with all the state Premiers that, essentially, made a commitment regarding national curriculum. I am very pleased to see what is, hopefully, going to be a further clarification, if not the demise, of SOCE, which is social education, and hardening it up in history, geography and economics. As a parent, I have to say, I have always struggled with the concept of SOCE, what it means, how you teach it, and what the performance measures and outcomes around it are.
I suppose you never want to be saying to your kids ‘When I was at school this is what I did’, and sound like an old fuddy-duddy. However, the concepts of actual teaching history, geography and economics, and tailoring that to suit the Northern Territory, is a much better way to go forward with a national curriculum. If I was to ask the 25 members of parliament for a definition of SOCE in the curriculum I would get 25 different answers.
We have to look at Julie Bishop and her view of a national curriculum, performance-based pay for teachers, and giving principals the ability to hire and fire. I suppose if you were pitching an education policy at Kath and Kim, that might sound pretty good. However, everybody who tries to get their head around those issues to have a national curriculum that meets the needs of Northern Territory students in Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, Ngukurr, Alyangula, Umbakumba, in relation to Penrith and Surrey Hills, you are going to have a different curriculum, with different things taught in the classroom in history and geography in the Territory, than you have in Surrey Hills.
In Darwin, we should be teaching about the bombing of Darwin in World War II; in Alice Springs, the history of the Overland Telegraph. Some people might argue that those things should be taught to all kids. Certainly, the history of the bombing of Darwin should be. However, it is too easy to talk of a national curriculum and that every child should be studying exactly the same thing. I do not think we are going to get there, but the debate is moving forward in the right direction.
I agree again with the member for Braitling regarding reports. We are working on it and we have seen improvements. We have to simplify reporting to parents. As a parent, when some of the reports came home in the early days of implementing reporting on bands as opposed to specific subject-by-subject reporting, I remember sitting in school council meetings as a local member when these were being discussed thinking: ‘Gee, how are parents going to get their heads around this? I do not understand it’. One of the few things that I have agreed with the Commonwealth government about is moving back to an A to E reporting system. We all know where our kids are sitting on the spectrum of A to E. That is being implemented. One of the things I am taking from this debate is to work with DEET to try to develop a best practice report that makes it very simple for parents to understand where their student sits in performance, and get that out as a template so that all schools use the same format. At the moment, schools are encouraged to, essentially, develop their own formats based on a framework, and that is somewhat confusing. That is a project that I am taking on to get a better standardisation of reporting across the system and best practice so we all know where we sit.
However, to be fair to DEET and to schools and teachers, one of the strengths that has come through reporting at the moment, particularly in the primary school years, is the advent of portfolios coming home with the reports. When you go to parent/teacher meetings, you can actually see the work that your child is doing and discuss where they are at in strengths and weaknesses. The initiative of introducing student portfolios and tying them to reports has been a very significant and welcome move.
I will just finish the member for Braitling’s concerns. Member for Braitling, I am a big softie and I do look at many issues with my heart and with my head. I am still going to agree to disagree with you regarding the students at Bradshaw. However, in spite of all the bravado, I am a big softie and I do look at issues with my heart. I go on gut instincts much of the time, in spite of some of the bravado that might be shown in here.
The member for Arnhem is passionate about education, and made many significant points. The strength of the member for Arnhem’s points was around the importance of partnerships and collaboration. Certainly, that is the key; that is the way we need to move forward. Particularly in remote communities, there is a real sense of partnership and collaboration with the community. I could not agree more with the member for Arnhem that the schools should be at the hub of the community. The schools really should be owned by those communities with a sense of pride, not sat as a piece of infrastructure in isolation to the broader community. I believe the work that we are going to do with the Indigenous Education Advisory Council is to work with communities to get a sense of embracing and owning the school, and a real commitment to send the kids to school day because they are proud of their school, their teachers, and the performance of their kids and what they are achieving.
The member for Arnhem made that point and it is the heart of this. You can go to communities such as Ramingining. When we were there for Community Cabinet, the Chief Minister and I met with young Marcey who had completed Year 12. It was eye opening to meet, with her mum, a confident, well-presented, and articulate young woman who had graduated with her NTCE the previous year, and is so proud that she was at Charles Darwin University studying to be a teacher. The confidence and ability of young Marcey – I did not meet Sifora, I do not think she was there that day – was just outstanding. They were beacons and, as a result of their achievements, there have been significant enrolments in Year 12. There are teachers who have said to me: ‘For the first time, I have been teaching in the bush for years, and I have kids who want to be at school to learn, and parents who support it’.
I want to end on a positive note, Mr Deputy Speaker. That is the vision for the future. When we are speaking about remote and indigenous students, then that real sense of ownership and pride in the school is something we all have to strive hard to achieve. I thank all honourable members for their contribution, and I will bring back many statements on education to the House in the future.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Last Tuesday, it was my great pleasure to host a reception at Parliament House to honour three retiring committee members of the Northern Territory Division of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. Dr Murray Redman, Steve Blake and Heather Dunkel, have all made significant contributions to IPAA, and to our public sector in the Territory. Judging from the turnout last week, they are highly respected members of the organisation.
Murray was Vice-President of IPAA NT for many years and has been associated with the NT Division since its inception in 1982. Heather has been a member of IPAA since 1995, and has served in a number of roles on the committee, including as secretary from 2003 to 2006. Steve was first elected to the committee in 1996 and has also been involved in a number of roles, including as Public Officer and as a member of the organising committee for the national conference in Alice Springs last year.
IPAA’s National President, Andrew Podger, was in Darwin for the event and it was great to have him here to help pay tribute to his colleagues.
IPAA has established a strong national reputation as a leader in public administration, and we have always been a strong supporter of the organisation and worked closely with them over the years. Their goal is to improve public administration through professional development and research activities. Last year’s national conference was testament to the high regard the Territory Division is held in. It was the first time IPAA’s national conference has been held in a regional centre and it proved an outstanding success.
I take this opportunity to recognise and thank past president, John Kirwan, and the organising committee, particularly Ann Jacobs and her Alice Springs members. They did a terrific job and I thank them for their efforts. I also thank NT Division President, John Carroll, and his dedicated team at IPAA for all their hard work. I look forward to continuing our partnership in the future.
On behalf of the public sector community of the NT, many thanks to Murray, Steve, and Heather for their contribution. I wish them all the best for their futures.
I want to recognise tonight a business in my electorate that provides an essential everyday item, and one nearly all of us consume each day. Ken and Shirley Houghton have run Brumby’s Bakery at Parap since 1998, after coming from Papua New Guinea where they lived for over 20 years. Ken is a qualified butcher by trade and I cannot imagine many people laying claim to being both a butcher and a baker.
In the beginning, Brumby’s had three employees. Now there are 14 people working there. As you would expect in Darwin, Ken and Shirley’s staff are a diverse group coming from a variety of cultural backgrounds including Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Sudan, and several have been sponsored more recently from the Philippines and Vietnam. I acknowledge all the Brumby’s staff: Karo Augerea, Godfrey Bojjo, Jay Edwards, Shannon Edwards, Carly Hill, Maria Hualda, Caroline Jelfs, Yenni Rowe, Katy Georgiadis, Lily Dreghorn, Peter Arkell, and Oanh Pham and his wife, Minh Le Thuy
Ken and Shirley are also involved with the Parap Village Traders Association. Ken is president, and the association’s main responsibility is the smooth running for the Parap Markets. They are also members of the Primary Industry Training Advisory Council, and Ken also gives his time to Rotary and the Masonic Lodge. Many thanks to Ken and Shirley for running a terrific business. I take this opportunity to recognise the hard work of small business owners like Ken and Shirley Houghton and their contributions to the community.
I would also like to talk tonight about a very worthy fundraising cause that is now under way in Central Australia. Ride for Dad is the brainchild of Ronnie Donnellan Junior and, as the name suggests, it is in honour of his father who died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease at the age of 60. Creutzfeldt-Jakob, or CJD as it is known, is a rare and fateful degenerative brain disorder that has no effective treatment. It occurs worldwide, but it is extremely rare; only one case per million people is recorded annually.
Along with his partner, Lauren Jones, Ronnie is cycling from Alice Springs to Yulara and back. They left on Monday, 30 April, and their goal is to raise money an awareness of the disease. They wanted to donate the funds to Melbourne University which is undertaking research on CJD. The final stage of the ride coincides with the Bangtail Muster parade on 7 May.
Ronnie Donnellan Senior was born in Alice Springs and lived there his whole life. What started as a routine visit to the doctor to check failing eyesight became an exhaustive diagnosis process. After 12 Australian specialists were consulted, specialists from the United States and the United Kingdom were contacted, which eventually led to the diagnosis of CJD. Within days of the diagnosis, Ronnie lost his sight and his mobility and, just three weeks later, he went into a coma and passed away surrounded by his wife, his children and his grandchildren.
This is a very worthy cause, bringing awareness to a disease that strikes quickly and viciously. I certainly wish Ronnie Junior and Lauren all the best with their fundraising efforts.
While we are in the Centre, sport is just one great part of our Territory lifestyle. Territorians excel at many sports, and Alanna Smith is excelling at hockey and doing Alice Springs proud. Alanna was recently selected as Alice Springs’ only representative to the Territory team in the Under 18 national championships to be held in Launceston this month. This is the second time that Alanna has represented the Territory after competing in the Under 15 national titles last year.
Alanna is a star striker for the Feds women’s hockey team in Alice. To give her more experience and a challenge, her coach, Peter Mabasa, has recently had Alanna playing in the local men’s league. Alanna took the challenge of playing against stronger and faster adult men in her stride and scored three goals in her last two games. With success like this at just 15 years old, Alanna’s future looks bright. I wish Alanna and the whole of the Territory Under 18 hockey team the very best in the championships.
It is no secret that the RSPCA in the Territory does an amazing job looking after our lost and deserted animals. There are RSPCA shelters in Darwin, Gove, Katherine and Alice Springs, with Darwin having membership to the national council. In Darwin, RSPCA CEO, Stefan Wood, and his staff are doing a great job in developing the shelter and improving conditions for the animals and the people who work there. They are a very hard-working team at Berrimah, and it is Shelter Manager, Carol Renfrey, Supervisor, Ryan Jackson, Animal Attendants, Elaine Salvia, Rebecca Viscount, Kay Goon and Barbara Wiley who run the show.
The Darwin RSPCA Board is made up of eight dedicated members who donate many hours of their time to support the shelter. I will mention each of them: President, Jane Walsh; Treasurer, Lorraine Gibbs; and Secretary, Lorna Waide. The board members are: Jayne Porter; Nicole Searby; Martin Grant; Helen Russell; and Jason Peterson.
The RSPCA would find it very hard to function without its many volunteers who range from seven to 70. They walk dogs, cuddle cats, clean kennels and raise much-needed funds, and their second-hand book store at Parap Markets is well known to Top Enders. It is these people, often the unsung heroes, who deserve recognition. On behalf of all animal lovers in the Territory, I extend my heartfelt thanks.
I understand the Darwin shelter is undergoing a review at the moment to streamline its operations. I wish them all the best of luck with that process in the coming months. Keep up the good work!
Finally, Mr Deputy Speaker, in March I had the pleasure of helping launch the third Destination Alice Springs campaign, or AdveNTure campaign, as it is known. The first Destination Alice campaign was launched in 2005 and was based on the findings of the Strengthening the Position of Alice Springs Tourism projects, where the local tourism industry identified the true worth of Alice Springs as a holiday destination. Since that first Share our Story campaign, interstate holiday visitors to the region have increased from around 111 000 in 2004 to an estimated 133 000 in 2006. The total visitor spend is also up from $241m to $333m last year.
The aim of the AdveNTure campaign is to target our spirited travellers and make them even more aware of the adventures that await them here, like exploring the East and West MacDonnell Ranges, hiking the Larapinta Trail, driving along the Red Centre Way, or catching The Ghan. Alice Springs is, of course, the perfect base to explore the region. Together with our industry trade partners, we have invested more than $2.1m into the AdveNTure campaign. Its centrepiece is a 15-second television commercial, showcasing the region’s adventure experiences. It has already appeared more than 780 times nationally.
We are also running print ads, featuring local identity, Dick Kimber, in publications such as The Weekend Australian Magazine, Q-Weekend, Sunday magazine and Vogue Entertaining + Travel and Vogue Living. We have worked with National Geographic to create four 90-second video pieces with four local story tellers: Alec Ross from the Telegraph Station; artist, Tommy Crow; Larapinta Trail Ranger, Chris Day; and photographer, Steve Strike. Tourism NT also secured the support of CATIA and six local operators to advertise in regional Victorian papers as part of the campaign.
I take this opportunity to thank Centre Highlights, Mbantua Gallery, Hertz NT, Crowne Plaza Alice Springs, Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge, and Red Centre Dreaming and Kings Canyon Wilderness Lodge for their support.
We have also sponsored two new programs which have a focus on Central Australia, Going Bush Series 2 and The Outback Caf, and our PR activities are also in full swing. We are working closely with local and national industry partners to make sure our message reaches as many people as possible.
The Flight Centre, Qantas Holidays, Voyages, APT, AAT Kings, Great Southern Railways and Territory Discoveries are all playing a big role. Together with these industry partners, we have also developed a Central Australian training module to ensure that retail agents are ready to turn consumer interest into sales. The feedback has been very encouraging so far. Close to 200 000 people have visited www.travelnt.com specifically searching for Alice Springs information, and around 1200 web visitors have downloaded Alice Springs product and packages from the site. That is a terrific response.
I also make mention of our Red Centre photographic exhibition. The exhibition’s stunning photographs were seen by around 750 000 commuters over two weeks at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station. It made quite an impression. The station’s operations manager, Ashley Reed, has told us that it was very successful and is missed by many people. The exhibition has also been to Sydney at the gallery in Darling Park. Negotiations are currently under way to bring it back to Central Australia for the Desert Festival later this year. It is great exposure for Central Australia and we are confident it will translate into more visitors to the region in the future.
It was great to catch up with old friends and many industry people at that launch. It is always a treat to see Krafty, and it was good to talk to Chris Day, who featured in the campaign, and Roger and Jan Hogben, who run the Precinct Caf in Hermannsburg.
We are confident that the Destination Alice Springs campaign will see more visitors come to the region in the future, and that means increased social and economic opportunities right across Central Australia. My congratulations to everyone involved in what is, so far, a very successful campaign.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Deputy Speaker, not long after I was elected as the member for Katherine, and at my first parliamentary sittings, I delivered an adjournment speech which acknowledged, amongst other things, the achievements of Lyn White of Jalyn Ford Katherine, who had just been selected as the overall winner of the Northern Territory Telstra Small Businesswoman of 2003. This, in itself, was an excellent reward for Lyn, her partner, Jane Brookshaw, and the staff of both Jalyn Ford and Wyn Holden, which Lyn and Jane owned. The award acknowledged the professionalism and high standard that Lyn set in the business of Jalyn Ford.
Lyn did not slow down at all following the excitement of that award, and I am very proud to put on to the Parliamentary Record tonight her most recent achievements.
Several weeks ago, at a prestigious dinner in Adelaide, Jalyn Ford won two very prestigious awards. Ford announced its 14 Australian Dealers of the Year for 2006. Jalyn Ford, competing in Group 13 against some 40-plus dealers spread throughout Australia, took out the award. Dealer of the Year is judged on all aspects of the business. New car targets must be achieved or exceeded, and excellent customer service results are essential. Used cars, parts, and service operations are also judged on all aspects of their operations. Dealership financial management is also considered. To be judged as Group 13’s Dealer of the Year for 2006 requires an all out team effort, with excellent results of performance across the board.
Jonathon Baldock won a Sales Manager and Business Manager Award, and Barry Golding was the top performing Parts Manager in his group. To top off a wonderful night, for the first time in history, a Northern Territory dealer took out one of four national awards, winning National Dealer of the Year for the Rural Areas of Australia. These accomplishments do not come without a lot of dedication and commitment to ongoing best business practice, and that is what Lyn is committed to.
I congratulate Lyn and her partner, Jane Brookshaw, on this fantastic achievement. It really puts a smile on my face to see such success coming out of a small regional town as Katherine, and it just goes to show what can be achieved with determination. I wish all the staff at Jalyn Ford and Wyn Holden continued success, and I especially wish Lyn and Jane a fantastic well-deserved holiday, which they are taking shortly. Go girls!
Mr NATT (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I attended a couple of school ceremonies for Anzac Day. I was lucky enough to be invited to Kormilda College and attended their lunchtime assembly, which representatives of the Defence Force attended. It was well run by the two school captains, and supported by a number of student’s who are in the various forms of cadets in the Defence Force. It was a terrific ceremony.
I understand - and just cannot remember the details off the top of my head - there was a battalion that was stationed at the Kormilda area or within the Kormilda College area through the war. They have handed their colours on to the school to carry on the tradition, and those colours were proudly displayed on the day. The students were given a great ceremony and a wonderful speech by one of the Defence Force people. I thank the school for their invitation.
The other ceremony I attended was actually that morning. I went to the Palmerston High School. Again, it was a terrific assembly. All of the students paid particular attention to a former Vietnam Veteran, Mr Rod Joyce. Rod went through some of his experiences with the Vietnamese people during his stint in Vietnam, and explained his situation very well without going into any of the detail, obviously. The way that he approached it was to talk on the Vietnamese people’s side of things and the treatment whereby they looked after him and the Australian troops looked after them. It was very well done and I congratulate Rod on giving that talk.
Another interesting aspect was they asked a Defence Force mother and daughter to come along to the assembly. The mother outlined her feelings to the assembly, and the daughter who was only about 11 or 12, outlined the feelings of a daughter having a father overseas on deployment. It was a fantastic role that they played within the school. Again, the students paid particular attention. It was important for the school to understand the important role that our troops do play overseas in such times that we have at the moment. It also gave an insight into the feelings of families who have loved ones overseas.
A student of the Palmerston High School, Stacey Carvolth, was lucky enough to be selected to win a Simpson Prize. The Simpson Prize is a competition for either an essay or an audiovisual-based submission to address what values and characteristics demonstrated by the ANZACs at Gallipoli and later, reinforced at the Western Front, continue to influence Australians today. Stacey wrote a wonderful essay and was chosen as a winner and was lucky enough to travel to Gallipoli for Anzac Day this year. I congratulate Stacey on her efforts. I had an opportunity to read her essay when I attended the school library after the ceremony. The school had a display put together by the students and I congratulate them on that. Stacey’s essay was particularly awe-inspiring. It was a terrific presentation and it is a credit to all the students and Stacey for putting all that together.
The next day, Anzac Day, I attended the dawn and mid-morning service at Palmerston. I am very pleased to say that both ceremonies were very well attended which was terrific to see. It was terrific to see many young faces in the crowd with their parents. The way that Anzac Day has evolved over the years and the interest shown by young people to carry on the tradition is terrific. The mid-morning ceremony was exceptionally well attended because many of the primary schools from the area had representatives there. There were particular classes from a couple of the schools that came along. They paid their tributes by laying poppies and wreaths on the cenotaph and it was terrific to see the teachers getting the kids involved in the ceremony.
I was able to pay my respects by laying a wreath, as was the member for Brennan’s wife who represented her husband while he was away in Sydney. It was a really moving morning and mid-morning service. I pay tribute to the representation of the Defence Forces which was at those ceremonies as the catafalque party. They did a wonderful job. In particular, I thank Garry Markwell, the president of the Palmerston RSL and Daryl Salathiel, the secretary, who put the two ceremonies together and did a marvellous job. It was just terrific to see the tradition being carried on.
I attended last Friday night’s Kormilda College’s presentation of the Midsummer Night’s Dreamtime. It was a wonderful night of fun and frivolity provided by the students in the adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play was well presented with an Aussie flavour and extremely well acted by some very talented people. It is not a short play. It continued for about two-and-a-half hours so there were many lines and verses to be learnt. In all sincerity, listening to them work through their paces, I do not think I heard a line dropped throughout the whole night. It was just a marvellous, entertaining night.
Congratulations must go to all of the production staff, the coordinators and the extras. The actors were absolutely fabulous and I name them: Daniel Popple, Gabrielle Morriss, Darcy Walsh, Stephanie Braun, Gemma Dowling, Jade Butterworth, Douglass Lovegrove, Danny Doyle, Sarah Munson, Eli Taylor, Melinda Christopher, Erin Dunne, Anaeas Taylor, Matthias Kasperek, Owen Spencer, Ivey-Lisa Keane, Bernadette Syrimi, Joshua May and Chantelle Dobunaba. The costumes and the backdrops and music and lighting were just fabulously done. It was well supported by the actors. It was just terrific.
As I said before, it was interspersed with an Aussie theme. The other interesting flavour for the night was the indigenous actors who played important roles throughout the play. They danced on a few occasions as the play evolved. The dancing was very good, ably supported by a group of school musicians and a didgeridoo player behind the scenes. It was a great night; very enjoyable. I look forward to next year’s play and congratulate everyone involved.
There is an Indigenous Student Leadership and Mentor program undertaken by the Department of Employment, Education and Training at the Palmerston High School. Two Year 12 students who were invited to become members of the leadership program are Olga-Jean Wilkes and Chantal Ober. The girls attended the Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit for a three-day leadership camp a couple of weeks ago. The camp is designed to improve personal development, leadership skills and teamwork. It is an opportunity for students to gain and share ideas and experiences, and incorporate a range of activities that aim to improve their team building and self-confidence. I congratulate Olga-Jean and Chantal on being selected. I am sure this is a great step for their transition to the working environment, and I look forward to hearing more about those two young ladies in the future.
Palmerston Markets commenced again last Friday. They are celebrating their 21st birthday this year. It was a great night. The stalls were down a little on last year, but I understand that they will come back over the next couple of weeks. I congratulate Julia Battison for coordinating the stalls and running the market, and congratulate her on her 21st year of running it. We will be there every week with our stall. We look forward to meeting the people of Palmerston who chat to us about any concerns they have for the rest of the Dry Season.
I was lucky enough to get to the 2007 Barra Nationals on Saturday in my capacity as minister for Fisheries. The Palmerston Game Fishing Club runs the Barra Nationals. It was a terrific event. I understand 55 boats took part in the week of fishing on the Daly. They all used Banyan Farm as their home base. I travelled down on Saturday morning and was lucky enough to get out on the water mid-morning. We travelled downstream and met a number of the competitors in their boats. We just stopped to say hello, but I managed to dabble a line every now and again as we worked our way down. I did not have much luck, but I had an enjoyable time and met some wonderful people.
Unfortunately, the fishing downstream was not as good as it had been earlier in the week, and many of the boats headed back early to the campsite because the competition had to finish at 3 pm on the dot. Many of the boats headed back early, probably to have a shower and rest for the evening.
The boat I was in travelled upstream, and we sat under a tree and had a bit of lunch where we watched the eventual winners and runners-up sit in their boats over one little hole, where they had been all morning and the two days before. The winners were three gentlemen in their boat, Diesel and Dust, who had a huge aggregate of around 4000-odd points. The runners-up were a local team called The Polar Bears, and they had about 3900 points, which is exceptional. Those boats were way in front. I think the third placegetter had approximately 1700 points, which just shows the difference. On the day, over 100 fish were taken from this particular hole, which was a place called Tommy’s. When they moved out at 3 pm, we moved in and were lucky enough to catch a number of nice fish. Obviously, it was catch and release, but we had a wonderful couple of hours in that spot.
I pay tribute to the Palmerston Game Fishing Club for running the Barra Nationals again this year, with a special mention for Paul Williams and the committee for all their hard work to gather up the sponsors and coordinate efforts throughout the week. It was a wonderful job and it culminated into a wonderful presentation evening. I thank the sponsors for their generous support of the nationals; some of the prizes donated were just phenomenal. There was a lot of money in goods donated, and there were some pleased winners at the end of the night walking away with some wonderful prizes.
I thank Kane Dysart, who was the marshal from the department of Fisheries who marshalled the troops throughout the week and kept an eye on them. He was my skipper for the Saturday we were on the river, and I thank him for his help, and for helping out as the marshal throughout the week. I also pay special mention to Wally and Kerry, who are the proprietors of Banyan Farm. They have a wonderful set-up there and everyone I spoke to had a ball. They loved their surrounds and the way they were treated, and the catering for the championships was spot on. The meal we had on the Saturday night was exceptional, and I pay tribute to Wally and Kerry for their organisation. I understand there is another barra competition this week. I thank Peter Davis, commonly known as the Mad Mullet, for all his efforts. He was the compare for the night. He ran a tight ship, and had fun with the competitors as well. All in all, we had a great day on the water and caught some fish. Again, congratulations to the Palmerston Game Fishing Club for their efforts throughout the week.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I use tonight’s adjournment to speak about a couple of matters in Alice Springs, principally about the continuing issue of management of law and order in our community in Central Australia.
There was an article published on 30 March this year in The Centralian Advocate, just before our sittings in Alice Springs, when the law and order issues, or the lawlessness in Alice Springs was escalating to such a degree that the community felt strongly enough that they had to front up to parliament. This article was about the robbery of one of our Chinese restaurants in Alice Springs, which was broken into twice in three days over a week and, subsequently, another time. The headline was: ‘Sleep over to catch thieves’, with a picture of the owner’s partner, with a caption saying they ‘… slept on a swag at Oriental Gourmet Restaurant this week in a successful bid to catch thieves who were trying to steal alcohol’. I will read from the article as that describes exactly what happened:
Had the owner and her partner not caught the boys, I wonder whether anything further would have been done apart from the police providing a PROMIS number and the owners of the restaurant having to continue to pay for the damage that occurs from those break-ins. Ms Yuen and her partner came to see me and explained what happened to them. They said that, after their previous break-ins they reported the incidents to police and there was little that they did. It was because of that they were forced to sleep in the restaurant to protect the premises.
Now that the demonstration occurred when parliament sat in Alice Springs and the government promised that City Safe will now be carried on indefinitely in Alice Springs, I hope it will be maintained. I am sure that, over the next week to three weeks, City Safe will be maintained while the memory is still very recent in the government’s mind. I hope I do not see a gradual dilution of City Safe so that the foot patrols and police vehicle patrols that are occurring at the moment in the mall gradually disappear. It is interesting though, that while City Safe is being implemented at the moment, I am not certain how vigilant the police are at ensuring there is law and order in our streets, particularly in the mall.
Last week, I chanced to be walking between my office and the Todd Mall. As I was walking past the rear of the Flynn Church, where there are some nice lush lawns, a group of some 10 to 15 women were playing cards for money. They were sitting around in a circle while kids were running around everywhere unsupervised - or maybe supervised by vision only, but nothing more than that - while the card game was in progress. That is illegal. On Anzac Day, many people are allowed to play two-up as part of the tradition of Anzac Day. A permit is provided for such activities. I know there should not be any gambling in public places; it is illegal. Nobody seemed to do anything about it. The police car, a paddy wagon, had driven up through the car park near the area where the women were playing cards. They might not have seen those women, I do not know. Anyway, I rang the police. I used 131 444 and got a response pretty quickly. When I reported the event, I then went on with my business after that, so I did not know what happened - whether that was followed up fairly soon after.
However, on - I think it was - Friday last week, I happened to be walking towards one of the restaurants in the mall and, right outside the front of Adelaide House, which is next door to the Flynn Church, on another area of very nice lush lawn, was a group of about seven or eight women playing cards for money. There were $20 notes floating around everywhere. I thought: ‘Let us see what happens’. I waited for 10 to 15 minutes and the card game continued. I finally rang the police. Again, I used 131 444. My phone call was answered and I was transferred to a police officer where I reported the card game. It was at 12.30 pm, and I took particular note of the time. I then went to the restaurant where I was having a meeting with a businessman, and the card game was in clear direct line of sight from where I was sitting in the restaurant. Nothing happened until 1.20 pm when a paddy wagon drove down the mall from the north, going in a southerly direction
I took particular notice of what the police were going to do when the paddy wagon came through. The paddy wagon drove right past the group that were playing cards. I took particular notice of what the police officers were going to do. Whether they looked at and saw the card game, I do not know because I noticed both the police officers with their eyes looking straight forward. They might not have seen the card game.
It is part of the fact that I had made a phone call. At about 1.30, 10 minutes after the police van drove past, the card game spontaneously broke up. Probably within about 10 minutes, they were sitting down on a different patch of grass, still out the front of Adelaide House and another card game ensued, this time with a smaller group of women but still some six or seven of them sitting there playing cards. Interestingly though, in the interval between the first card game and the second card game, after much of the rubbish was left on the lawns after the first group took off, a couple of Alice Springs Town Council wardens came along and started collecting all the rubbish that was left on the lawn. There was a group of women playing cards with children running around everywhere, who had left containers and wrappings all left around where the group had been playing cards. The town council had to clean that up. You would have thought that, once the gambling group broke up they would have picked the rubbish up but they did not. Ten minutes after they broke up, another group started gambling and the same thing happened again. Five, 10 minutes later an unmarked car with a couple of plain clothes police officers in the car drove in a northerly direction up the mall, and did nothing - they just kept on moving.
That is what happened. If City Safe is about that then, obviously, City Safe is not being effective enough. We should not be putting up with any such behaviour. We are saying that we are going to have an advertising campaign throughout Central Australia: if you come to Alice Springs, respect our town. Behave in a law abiding manner. You want us to respect you if you come to town as visitors then you as visitors need to respect us. It is that simple. I say to the government that if City Safe is going to ensure that this is happening, then let us have zero tolerance on this.
Outside the Flynn Church is also a place where many other community events take place and one of them is the Story Wall. The Story Wall is a concept that was started by the Deacon of the Uniting Church with contribution in-kind and in effort from the Alice Springs Town Council and representatives from Welcome TV. The intention is to use the wall of the Uniting Church to screen locally made movies of cultural context where people can be encouraged to gather around the church, to increase activity along the mall. The intention, I believe, is also to have cultural exchange between locals, the movie producers who are trying to produce shows of cultural relevance, to invite tourists who are mingling in the mall to stop and watch the show and try to learn a little about the culture of Central Australia and, hopefully, gain some positive cultural experience out of their visit to town. The intention is fantastic. That is a very good thing for Alice Springs to have and I appreciate the intentions of the Uniting Church and the Story Wall partners to get this going.
The groups that gather around the Story Wall have been problematic in that, at times, the groups have been quite noisy. There has been fighting and screaming, and the behaviour has been regarded as antisocial. The clients who might be in a restaurant or accommodation establishments adjacent to the Story Wall, it would find it quite distressful. Thus, there has been some conflict between other premises and the partners of Story Wall. The business premises would prefer that Story Wall does not take place whilst, on the other hand, Story Wall would like to keep going because they believe it is worthwhile.
Obviously, there is recognition by Story Wall that there are problems, and the complaints by the business premises have been quite frequent. I finally wrote an e-mail to the town council, to the minister for Police and Story Wall to get them to meet urgently to discuss the issues and how best to deal with the antisocial behaviour so that what is, obviously, a good idea does not fall into a heap but, at the same time, making sure that people living and working around the Story Wall area have their interests protected so that their clients and the tourists who use the premises are not being negatively impinged upon. I am glad to hear that the meeting has occurred and things are going well ...
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, your time has expired.
Mr HAMPTON (Stuart): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I attended the launch of the Northern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area Agreement on 30 April at the Lajamanu community in my electorate.
The project was launched by Senator Nigel Scullion, the Minister for Community Services. As I said, I attended, along with Warren Snowdon, the member for Lingiari, and many traditional owners, Wulaign Rangers and Central Land Council members and staff who witnessed the declaration and signing of the indigenous protected area agreement.
The Indigenous Protected Area program and National Reserve System program are part of the Australian government’s National Heritage Trust. The goals of the programs are to establish partnerships between government and indigenous land managers to support the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative national system of protected areas. It also aims at promoting indigenous involvement in protected area management by supporting the establishment of cooperatively managed protected areas. It also promotes and integrates indigenous ecological and cultural knowledge into contemporary protected area management practices in accordance with internationally endorsed protected area guidelines.
It was a significant event for me because, since 1999 or 2000 through my work with Normandy Mines at The Granites gold mine and with the Central Land Council in the mining employment area, I had been talking to many of the people at Lajamanu and Yuendumu near where the mines are located about this type of work. This area covers 40 000 km2. It has been and always will be Aboriginal land, so it is a matter of commonsense that we have Warlpiri and Gurindji people working on this land in a contemporary manner, which is what the Indigenous Protected Area project provides.
As I said, the community and the Central Land Council began talks in 1999, which is seven or eight years ago. It has been a long time coming and now that it has finally come to fruition, there will be lots of local opportunities for employment, training and cultural maintenance through land-based enterprises at Lajamanu.
There are several mining leases, including Groundrush, Tanami and Coyote Mines, which fall within the area. Through my experiences with working with Normandy and the Central Land Council, it has always been very hard for traditional indigenous people who are living on some of these remote communities to get full-time permanent jobs in the mining industry. I know through my experiences working at the Granites gold mine for a year, the mining industry is a very hard industry to work in. You have 12-hour shifts, and a two weeks on/one week off roster. For a lot of people, mostly indigenous people, it is a very hard working environment, where you are living on a remote mining camp and working those very long hours and two-week rosters.
This Indigenous Protected Area project gives indigenous people another opportunity, another way of becoming involved in the mining industry. It is a way, I suppose, that is more appropriate for them because they are working in their own country, in areas such as feral animal control, weed control and rehabilitation of mine sites. It is certainly a very positive project. It is a way of investing in the bush whilst stimulating employment and building on the skills of local people which, obviously, is a valuable investment, not only for the Lajamanu community but also for the Northern Territory community at large.
Over the years, during my time involved with the Lajamanu community, there are many people there. Lajamanu is a great, very strong community. It has a lot of leadership. One of the main organisers and speakers at the event I attended on Monday was an elder of the Lajamanu, the Warlpiri people, Mr Billy Bunter. He is just one example of one of these old man who have been around a long time, been involved in the pastoral industry and the mining industry and is now a very strong traditional owner, leader - cultural leader as well - who is encouraging young people to become involved in projects such as this. I pay my respects to that old man, Mr Billy Bunter, for his efforts.
There are certainly many other elders there who are doing a lot of work in encouraging young Warlpiri people to become involved with things such as this project, employment, training and education opportunities. Australia now has 23 indigenous protected areas, covering some 18.6 million hectares. As I said, this agreement in Lajamanu covers some 40 000 km2 and is one of the biggest in the country.
The second event I would like to talk about is the Youth Drama Forum that I attended on 19 April in Alice Springs. The forum was organised and run by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College in Alice Springs at the Traeger Park campus. It was held during the Alice Springs sittings, and it was certainly a great privilege for me to be invited by the school, staff and students to their Youth Drama night. It had an extra significant feeling for me because I actually attended Traeger Park in the 1970s as a student myself when I grew up in Alice Springs in the Gap. It was probably the first time I have been back there since the late 1970s. It was great to be back at my old school and to be invited by the school community.
The play on Youth Drama night was originally written a Mr Suruli Rajan Kandasamy. The name of the drama was Journey. It revolved around the lives of four young characters between 16 and 18 who encountered quite a few personal problems, as young people do at that age. It was set inside a vehicle, where the four young people put up a bold front in the company of each other. It touched on many emotional and dramatic events that young people face today in their lives.
The drama revolved around them driving around after a session in the pub, masked by inner sadness and the need to keep up appearances amongst their peer group and colleagues. I suppose the main aim of the play was to show people and other students who were there watching the drama that we all make mistakes – everyone does – but it is how we deal with them, particularly young people. The message was that life is a journey, it is human to take the wrong turn, but it takes less to make that u-turn. It was a very emotional, very dramatic drama play that the students put on. The actors were four young students from OLSH: Thea de Graaff, Matt Delsar, Aaron Crowe and Emma Forrester, who all played their characters very well. Obviously, a lot of time had gone into practising for their roles and they did a great job. All credit to them and to Rajan, the original play writer. I also congratulate the event coordinators, production crew from the school, and also the many sponsors that assisted with its organisation.
There is one particular person I wish to mention briefly - Mr Phil Walcott. Phil is now in his 30th year as a professional educator. He initially trained as a primary/infant teacher and taught in that capacity in Sydney. In 1983, he was awarded a NSW Department of Education Scholarship to complete his Master of Arts in Psychology at Macquarie University. Phil began his school counselling career in 1985, and remained with the New South Wales Department until 1990. Phil moved to Alice Springs in 1993 and, from 1994 until 2000, he worked professionally with the NT Health and Education department. Since 2001, Phil has been at St Philip’s College as a counsellor and consultant psychologist, four days a week. He works concurrently in private practice and the Alice Springs Hospital on occasion.
Phil has enjoyed extensive experience with infants, primary, and secondary aged students in both public and private school systems. He has worked with many young people confronting the typical issues of adolescence. These include building positive relationships and self-image, self-esteem, substance use and abuse issues, teenage parenthood, and life skills, for well over two decades. Phil was there that night and was absolutely delighted to be involved in the drama night. It was a great night and I thank the students and staff who invited me there. It was certainly well worth the visit that night.
I also touch on the main aim of the youth drama night at the school, which was to let young people know and give them advice about what services are available to them in Alice Springs, and to connect those young people to those services. Actually, at the end of the night, they had people from those youth organisations and service providers out the front as a panel, and students were given an opportunity to ask various questions that related to the role play, to the drama, but also to their real life situations. It was a great night.
On Wednesday, 25 April, I attended the Anzac Day dawn service in Alice Springs. It was an early start to the day – 6 am. A large crowd assembled at Anzac Hill in Alice Springs, and it was really just standing room. People were standing all over the hill getting the best spot they could to witness the service. I then went back at about 9.30 am to witness the march assembly and service later in the morning. I was privileged to lay a wreath on behalf of the Northern Territory government. There was also a speech by the Master of Ceremonies, Warrant Officer Craig Wiggins, as well as an opening address by Captain Adye Viney. The guest speaker that day was Lieutenant Adrian Silverthorne from the Royal Australian Navy.
For me, it was a special occasion because as I said in my maiden speech last October, five of my uncles had been involved in the armed services dating back to the 1940s, and one of the projects that I have taken on, on behalf of my family, is to research one of my uncles, Reginald Desmond Hampton, who served in both Bougainville, New Guinea between 1942 and 1945, and Korea and Japan between 1950 and 1954. It has been great for me because, over the last couple of weeks, I have actually received four or five of his medals that he did not receive upon returning from overseas duty. The medals recognise his service in Korea, Japan and New Guinea. Unfortunately, on this occasion I did not wear the medals. I am going to get them mounted properly and I look forward to next year’s Anzac service so that I can wear them proudly in recognition of my uncle’s services to this country.
Also, as the member for Braitling has talked about already, I recognise Braitling School and their 30th birthday celebrations that were held on Monday, 30 April. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it as I was at the launch at Lajamanu. I was fortunate enough on Friday, 27 April, to present the Dare to Lead Awards to the school at their assembly, and it was certainly great to do that. They have the Atyeke Unit at the school which focuses on indigenous students living in town camps. The unit is a critical factor in getting and encouraging town camp kids to attend school. They certainly have done a great job to date, and receiving this award is due recognition for the efforts they are putting into town camps.
Finally, I recognise the Youth Parliament that was held in Alice Springs during the Alice Springs sittings. I was fortunate enough to be able to sponsor some students both from ANZAC Hill High School and Centralian College to attend the Youth Parliament. I will read out a thank you letter received from one of the students, Jordon Early:
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Stuart, your time has expired.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, before I start my adjournment speech, I commend all local members who proudly and eloquently expressed their opinions on the great festivities throughout the Territory to celebrate Anzac Day. Over the coming couple nights of adjournment, I am sure we are going to hear a lot more about those and I look forward to reading them in Hansard.
On that point, I attended the Lions Club of Litchfield and Litchfield Shire Anzac Day 2007 parade and service. The program started with a march at 10.10 am from the Taminmin High School to the cenotaph at the Village Green. The service followed at 10.15 am and then there was a reunion at the Village Green. It was a great little program at the service. The Master of Ceremonies was Mr Ray Nendick of the Lions Club of Litchfield and the service was presided over by Father Milton Arias of St Francis of Assisi. That role is rotated between the different denominations each year. The Anzac Day address is also rotated between the shire president, the member for Goyder, and the member for Nelson. This year, I was fortunate enough to be given the Anzac Day address. We followed that with the laying of the wreath ceremony with the Ode, Last Post, silence, Reveille and the National Anthem. Then we broke into some reunion and cheer at the Village Green.
It was a great event, although the speakers at the service were not really working that well, so there were a number of people who came up and said that they could not hear because of the arrangement of the speakers. Some of the guests asked me if I would not mind recording what I said that day in the Parliamentary Record. I will quote verbatim:
On that note, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I conclude my adjournment.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message No 17
Message No 17
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table Message No 17 recommending to the Legislative Assembly a bill for an act authorising the issuing and the expending of the public monies of the Territory in respect to the year ending 30 June 2008.
MOTION
Routine of Business – Budget 2007-08
Routine of Business – Budget 2007-08
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move - That the Routine of Business of the Assembly be rearranged or suspended, if a question or debate is before the Chair, so as to permit the Treasurer to deliver the Budget 2007/2008 at 11am this day.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Routine of Business – General Business Day
Routine of Business – General Business Day
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move - That the Routine of Business of the Assembly, General Business - Notices and Orders of the Day, be rearranged or suspended, if a question or debate is before the Chair, so as to permit a response to the Budget 2007/2008 by the Leader of the Opposition at 11am on Wednesday, 2 May 2007.
Motion agreed to.
PETITIONS
Batchelor Area School
Batchelor Area School
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 60 petitioners, not conforming with standing orders, praying that there be an investigation into the running of the Batchelor Area School. Madam Speaker, I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the Honourable Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, we the undersigned respectively showeth that we wish to have an operation investigation into the running of Batchelor Area School, and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray that the investigation will lead to what we wish to achieve at Batchelor Area School.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
WorkChoices Legislation - Australian Labor Party National Conference
WorkChoices Legislation - Australian Labor Party National Conference
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, last weekend, I attended the 44th National Conference of the Australian Labor Party. Members would be aware that the national conference is the party’s primary policy-setting mechanism. This year’s conference was an historic one, marking some major advances in policy direction under the fresh leadership of Kevin Rudd.
Possibly, the most significant policy development at this year’s conference was industrial relations. While many commentators anticipated opposition from some delegates, the result was actually comprehensive support for the new policy known as Forward with Fairness. There is a good reason for this support. Forward with Fairness is a great example of the fresh thinking on display at this year’s conference from the federal leadership team. We all know that a huge number of people think Mr Howard’s so-called WorkChoices legislation is extremely harsh and unfair. It is an attack on ordinary working families, stripping away basic work conditions such as holidays, penalties for overtime, weekend work, protection from unfair dismissal - and the list goes on.
Many Australians who are already working longer hours than ever struggle to squeeze any decent family time into the working day. Now they cannot even attend their kids’ sports on weekends since they are forced to work or face dismissal if they refuse. Imagine an Australia where people no longer have the option to volunteer as coach for their kids’ junior football or netball team. Thanks to WorkChoices that is the Australia we are living in now.
All the published research tells how deeply this is resented by people in all walks of life. Those who have turned up to work to find their position restructured, only to be offered reemployment under one of Mr Howard’s unfair AWAs know all about it. Those who have not yet had the experience have heard about others who have. How long before the Howard government tries to push these so-called agreements onto nurses in our hospital system or police officers?
Labor’s new policy will restore fairness to Australian industrial relations. It guarantees 10 national standards in workplaces: hours of work, parental leave, flexible work for parents, annual leave, carers’ and compassionate leave, community service leave, public holidays, workplace information, fair termination and redundancy pay, and long service leave. These are principles of fairness at work which Labor will restore to working Australians and their families on winning office.
There will also be a new one-stop shop Fair Work Australia which will set minimum wages and conditions, and resolve disputes, replacing the old Industrial Relations Commission and other bodies. These fundamental protections for Australian workers will ensure they have decency and a fair go built into their working lives.
The policy, very importantly, has not forgotten employers, and the importance of the private sector economy as the generator of employment and wealth for all. While guaranteeing workers the right to proper, meaningful representation by a union if they so choose - a right effectively stripped away from them by Mr Howard - it also contains new and unprecedented constraints on strike action. Its emphasis is all on flexibility for workers and employers. There is a commitment to work with all states and territories to achieve sensible, uniform standards right across the nation – an approach that has been beyond the federal government.
It is fresh thinking indeed, Madam Speaker. I have no doubt it will be welcomed by a huge number of Australians who are now living with the constant anxiety about the security of their jobs and basic work conditions under Mr Howard’s unfair system. This government will stick up for Territory workers very specifically. They are not fairly dealt with under WorkChoices, and this alternative from Labor at a national level strongly supported by the Territory will be a fair go – a fair go for both employers and employees in the Territory.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, what an extraordinary way to open the sittings. Reading out, as the Chief Minister did, a note from Kevin; reading out probably a flyer that was handed around on the weekend as Kevin-ism takes Australia by storm. My dad knows Kevin and he is very interested in Kevin-ism. Clearly, he shares that interest with the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister - even the recording system objects to the note from Kevin, Madam Speaker. So the Chief Minister …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I just ask you pause and put the clock on stop. Could we determine whether Hansard is still working?
We can continue, Leader of the Opposition. I am sorry about that.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Speaker, as I said before the noisy interruption from the sound system, the Chief Minister comes to parliament today with a note from Kevin and dutifully reads it. How embarrassing! How utterly embarrassing! I would have thought that the Chief Minister had other issues. For instance, it has been a week since government ministers left Alice Springs and not a word on any update for Alice Springs. It is well known, reportedly at least, that the Chief Minister was apparently rocked by the demonstrations in Alice Springs. Well, you would not know it from her reading Kevin’s note this morning.
Interestingly enough, we had an expectation that the Chief Minister might, for a change, demonstrate her commitment to sexual abuse in Aboriginal communities and explain why it is that it takes four weeks to print a report; why it is that it is not possible to disseminate the report electronically; and why it is that she sanctions the continued delay of this issue. Her commitment to it is clearly questionable.
What the Chief Minister had to say was nothing more and nothing less than an ad for the Australian Labor Party. She needs to do better. I know you are fond of Kevin but, Chief Minister, if that is the best you have, give Hendo the job.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Chief Minister, I would like to hear what you have to say about the Premier of Western Australia’s comments on AWAs in relation to the mining industry, especially in that state. I support AWAs to a certain extent, and I gather you people do, too, because some of the people that you employ are on contracts. That is an AWA.
The ones I worry about are the young people who are trying to get a job and those who are, you might say, disadvantaged in some way and who need protection. That does not mean you throw the whole AWA system out and say it is no good. You can have it, but we need to make sure there are safeguards to protect those people who are vulnerable in that process.
I have spoken before of my other concern: all workers need protection from unfair dismissal. I do not care whether you are one person or 1000 people. Labor has not come right down that path. It has said: ‘I will make a minimum of 15’. What happens to 14 people? Do they not have the same rights as people who are 15 and above? It is a great shame that Labor, which has been knocking the Liberal government for not covering the 100 people or fewer who are not protected under unfair dismissal, have now picked another number. What is the difference? I do not know. No one should be unfairly dismissed. I know that there are issues with small business in regard to that. Surely, we need to protect those people who are most vulnerable. That is what has been missed here. We can have flexible working conditions and ways of covering working on the weekends or having to work on public holidays included in an AWA contract, but the real key is that we are able to protect those who are most vulnerable. We have missed that point in this debate.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, at least we know where the member for Nelson comes from. The member for Nelson comes from both sides of the fence …
Mr Stirling: Always.
Ms MARTIN: Always - one foot here; one foot there. Not a criticism of the current WorkChoices. It is all very well to attack an alternative, but what about what is in place? At least he has the gumption to have some views about the rights of employees. Some of the fundamental things that we are here in the parliament for are to ensure that those people who have a job are treated fairly.
Not one word did we hear from the Opposition Leader about fairness for Territory workers. Not one word in her two minute rave, but she talked about everything else. If we are not here to deal with those who are working, those who employ in the Territory, and ensure it is a fair system and that we are looking after young families, then we are not doing our job.
In the appalling falling over to John Howard that we hear from the CLP, they are not doing their job.
Northern Territory Working Women’s Centre
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Women’s Policy): Madam Speaker, the Northern Territory Working Women’s Centre provides free and confidential advice to women about work-related matters, particularly targeting services to women in disadvantaged bargaining positions, in insecure or low paid work, and in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. The Department of Employment, Education and Training provided funding to the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre after the federal government advised that their funding would no longer allow advocacy or casework for vulnerable women experiencing problems at work.
The Northern Territory government funding allows the centre to continue to provide advocacy and casework, and also to deliver community education about women’s rights in the workplace to women in regional and remote areas. As part of the funding agreement, the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre provides the Northern Territory government with regular reports on funded activities. Throughout the reporting period, the Northern Territory Women’s Working Centre has collected detailed data on the types of workplace issues raised by women contacting the centre. This data paints a very useful picture of workplace issues for women in the Northern Territory.
On average, dismissals and redundancies are the most common reason for women to seek assistance. Last financial year, over one-third of inquiries were related to dismissal and redundancies. From 2005-06, 357 of the 945 clients had made inquiries regarding that. However, the statistics are beginning to show some changes since the introduction of the federal government’s WorkChoices legislation in March 2006. All those changes are not good. There has been a steady increase in assistance provided in relation to sexual harassment. In the period January to March, 4% of client contact related to sexual harassment. In the period April to June, that percentage had increased to 12% and, in the period July to September, it had peaked to 16%.
The data also depicts a steady increase in assistance provided in relation to workplace bullying. That figure has increased from 5% in January to June, to 17% in July to December. The centre is confident that this increase is at least partly due to increased pressures on workers since the introduction of WorkChoices. Anecdotally, the Working Women’s Centre say that pregnancy discrimination is also increasing, and the centre advises that, since the introduction of WorkChoices, fewer clients are seeking information from the usual industrial relations services.
In addition, of those who contact the centre, many will not take the decision to lodge a formal complaint. Why is this? Women feel that they have been left with literally no rights. They believe that under WorkChoices legislation the employer has the right to do whatever he or she likes. For example, in observation from participants in the Working Women’s Centre Information Session, a young woman stated that since the laws have changed nothing could be done to stop her boss sexually harassing her. Another woman stated that she could be terminated from her employment because she is pregnant and the laws now enable her employer to do so.
This was also demonstrated when I hosted the What Women Want Round Table at Parliament House on 6 March 2007. The event was attended by women from the government and non-government sector, with a summary of speakers outlining their concerns with WorkChoices. The round table was designed for participants to discuss WorkChoices experiences of women to date, determine the implications of the first Australia Fair Pay Commission decision on women, and reflect on the essential refinements and modifications to protect vulnerable workers. The Darwin round table was one of a series of national information and consultation series.
WorkChoices is supposed to have been about fair, productive and harmonious workplaces. However, the effect of WorkChoices has seen a power shift - a major power shift - from employee to employer. We know that the federal government’s WorkChoices legislation is bad law and bad for Australians - men, women, young people and families. Now, sadly, it appears the evidence is starting to come in that Territory women and all Territory workers are suffering the effects of this dreadful legislation. This is more than enough reason to back Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard’s Fair Work Australia at this year’s federal election.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): I believe there is going to be an election this year, Madam Speaker. Whereas the Chief Minister read the note from Kevin, the Minister for Women’s Policy read the note from Julia. I wrote that down. It was encouraging that, at the end, the minister indicated that, yes, it was on instructions from her friend, Julia.
How interesting it is for the government to come in and do ads for the Australian Labor Party on the first sitting day of the budget. No wonder the government wants to change a few subjects. No wonder they do not want to talk about the minister for Mines and his outrageously bad and shameful performance when it comes to Xstrata. No wonder the Chief Minister does not want to make a statement about the conduct of her members. In particular, given that this statement came from the Minister for Women’s Policy, I note with great interest that the minister talked a lot about what the federal government was or was not doing, but completely omitted any reference to this Territory Labor government’s complete failure when it comes to women’s policies. I will be revisiting some of those shortly.
I note, again with interest, that the Minister for Women’s Policy was talking about sexual harassment, an issue that most people in this Chamber take very seriously. I was heartened to hear the Leader of Government Business. Every time the Minister for Women’s Policy talked about sexual harassment, the Leader of Government Business kept saying: ‘Shame, shame’. Well, it is a shame, minister and Leader of Government Business, that you were less than forthcoming in relation to the outrageous conduct of one of your members; namely, the member for Sanderson not so long ago. You can say ‘shame’ all you like in relation to sexual harassment ...
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Standing Order 62 …
Ms Carney: Have we stopped the clock, Madam Speaker?
Mr HENDERSON: Standing Order 62 talks about offensive, unbecoming words. It says that no member shall attribute directly or by innuendo to another member unbecoming conduct or motives. I ask that she withdraw those comments in relation to the member for Sanderson unless she wishes to do so by way of substantive motion.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to withdraw, unless you are wishing to do so by substantive motion.
Ms CARNEY: Oh, it is budget day, Madam Speaker, they all know the truth. I am happy to withdraw it, but I note the crocodile tears from the Leader of Government Business. You are even more of a hypocrite than your friend – well, not your friend - the Chief Minister. In any event …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Again, Standing Order 62. I object to the term ‘hypocrite’ and I ask the member to withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: I ask you to withdraw that comment, Leader of the Opposition.
Ms CARNEY: The minister is touchy. I am happy to withdraw it, Madam Speaker.
In relation to this government’s values on women’s policy, I remind you again: what is happening to Breast Screening NT; what happened to the Women’s Information Centre; what are doing about family planning; why did you axe the BWCC? Your statement was appalling …
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, your time as expired.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Speaker, it is not the introduction of WorkChoices that has disadvantaged women returning to the workforce, and we must all realise that. Someone came into my office the other day and said: ‘I have the best job; it goes from 9 am to 2.30 pm, five days a week, which means my kids are still at school and I can accommodate their hours’. Often, it is too hard for women to find jobs. Employers are not flexible enough in hours, and the cost of after-school care plus the cost of childcare during school holidays often negates any profit a single mum or married mum may get by trying to find a job. If the Working Women’s Centre wants to promote anything, they should be promoting with employers the ability to have flexible hours to accommodate these young mums who want to return to the workforce but are disadvantaged because of the hours required of them.
Also, there are two sides to every argument. I do know of employers who have had the greatest of difficulty in getting rid of employees who are not functioning properly. Under the previous regime, they have been taken to court. They have gone through what they consider the right protocols when they have had someone who was not suitable or efficient, or lacked the skills. I guess it comes back to making sure, in the first place, that you employ a person who has the skills for what you want them to do. However, on the other hand, I can also appreciate what the member for Nelson continually says: there are a lot of young people who cannot speak up for themselves. We see it quite often in our apprenticeship area where apprentices are often being harassed or threatened because the demands on them are quite great.
If the minister wants to concentrate on the Women’s Centre, please tell them to try to get a better deal so that women can return to the workforce when they want to.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Women’s Policy): Madam Speaker, I thank both members for their response. In relation to the opposition speaker’s appalling response, I would rather be friends with Julia than with Peter, and certainly get advice from Julia. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who stands up and continually purports to represent women and holds her hand on her heart and says: ‘I am the only speaker for women and what you do is completely wrong, and I am the only one with those facts …
Ms Carney interjecting.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Madam Speaker, I challenge the Opposition Leader, who has not approached the Working Women’s Centre, to talk to women about these issues. It is not only women in our urban centres. There are women who are suffering in our regional and our remote areas, who are being more and more disadvantaged in the workplace. In a lot of homes, women are the main breadwinners. For the Leader of the Opposition to stand here and to criticise – well, I challenge her to go out there and talk to women …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Minister, your time has expired.
Aboriginal Health – Improved Outcomes
Dr BURNS (Health): Madam Speaker, since being elected in 2001, this government has increased health spending by 64% as of last year’s budget with further increases to be contained in this year’s budget, to be handed down soon. This has allowed us to expand our health workforce by over 100 extra full-time equivalent doctors and 270 full-time equivalent nurses, compared to six years ago.
The greater funding and better staffing of our health services benefit all Territorians. Nowhere are these improvements more necessary than in the Territory’s Aboriginal community, where all the health indicators - life expectancy, infant mortality, and disease rates - are significantly worse than for the Territory as a whole.
This is a government that is working in partnership with the Aboriginal community and the Commonwealth government to improve the health status of Aboriginal Territorians. I am very pleased to report that this partnership is now showing signs of success. For example, the latest figures show a three-year improvement in life expectancy for Territory Aboriginal women from 65 years in the late 1990s to 67.9 years in the period 2001-03. Over the same period, the indigenous infant mortality rate fell by 36%. We have seen a significant improvement in the survival rate for clients on renal dialysis, particularly in Central Australia; such that the Territory is now nearing the national average survival rate for those patients.
These are early signs and small steps. But it is important to recognise and celebrate success even as we acknowledge there is a lot more to be done.
The Aboriginal community has made a key contribution to these achievements, especially through the community controlled health services. The Commonwealth government, through its funding for primary health care, has also played a critically important role. For our part, this government has increased general health spending hugely since 2001, and this benefits all Territorians.
However, we can also point to specific initiatives addressing the health of Aboriginal people; for example, the child health initiative, the establishment of kidney dialysis in regional and remote areas, and the free rotovirus vaccination program for all infants. I believe it is the partnership between ourselves, the Aboriginal community and the Commonwealth government which has driven these positive changes.
I am, therefore, pleased to advise that, on 3 April 2007, I joined with the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory, or AMSANT, and the Australian government in the signing at Alice Springs of the new Northern Territory Framework Agreement on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. This framework agreement recommits the three partners to continuing to work together to improve Aboriginal health. The previous agreement led to an expansion of the primary health care services provided across the Territory, the development of a set of a common service performance indicators for primary health, and better targeting of funds to areas of greatest need. The new agreement is a pledge to Aboriginal Territorians that governments and AMSANT are going to continue and improve their joint efforts.
This agreement is a clear reminder that, while some progress has been made there is still a lot more to do. Specifically, the current agreement permits us to making our services more appropriate for Aboriginal people, and more integrated with each other; improving the quality of services by building greater levels of cultural security; ensuring better public accountability through the national and Territory-based reporting and performance frameworks; and attracting and retaining more doctors, nurses and Aboriginal health workers to the exciting and rewarding work in rural and remote areas.
I am confident that we have a model that keeps all the partners focused and has great potential to deliver further improvements. The Northern Territory government is strongly committed to this agreement and we look forward to the promise that it offers. I emphasise once again there is still a lot more to do. As well as improving the level and quality of our health services, we need to address broader social issues of poverty, alcohol, violence, education and unemployment.
However, in the health sphere, we will continue our partnership with the Aboriginal community and the Commonwealth government because it is this powerful partnership that drives the improvements we are all seeking in the health of Aboriginal Territorians.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, we all agree that primary health care is the most important arm of health provision in the Northern Territory. Without primary health care, we continue to load our system up with patients coming into hospitals and other service deliverers, consuming many of the services.
The minister said that this time, the budget is going to be better again. Funny, that! In the last four or five years, the health budget has continued to explode right out of all proportion. While I applaud that the money is being spent in health, obviously, there is a problem with the way the government is managing how the money is spent because very few services are being delivered for the money that is being provided.
In 2002-03, the budget was $526m. The expenses that year were $545m, a blowout of $19m - and it just goes on and on. Last year, 2005-06, the budget was $686m and expenses were $738m - a $52m budget blowout. This happens every year. Something is wrong with a department that cannot maintain its budget and needs the government to prop it up.
I understand now that the department actually owes some $80m in debt to interstate health services through cross-border charges. An $80m debt! It is more than 10% of the department’s budget. Something is wrong, and this government needs to address that.
In respect of the longevity of Aboriginal people, the decrease in child mortality rates and all that, that is terrific. That is from long-term planning from the CLP years and the continuing program of this government. Without long-term planning, it just does not happen overnight. In five years, you could not deliver that. It is a long-term plan that governments of all persuasions scaffold one on top of the other to produce this benefit. I applaud the government for continuing to do so ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, your time has expired.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement on the equality of health services. However, I wonder when people in the Palmerston and rural area will benefit from some of that equality, especially when I hear the amounts of money the government is putting to extra beds, etcetera. People in the rural and Palmerston area have been calling for years for a 24-hour medical service.
If the government cannot come up with the money to have a doctor on 24-hours standby, why cannot we at least have an appropriately qualified nurse on standby during the evening, perhaps attached to the St John Ambulance Service?
There are many people who live in Palmerston and the rural area who would find it a great comfort to know that they only have to travel to Palmerston for some things a qualified nurse can handle - for instance, if there was someone who hurt themselves and required stitches, or some forms of medicine could be given out - instead of having to travel to Royal Darwin Hospital. There are many people in Palmerston and the rural area who are single parents and in the case of shift workers and people working on oil rigs. They are home by themselves. They have to travel to RDH in the middle of the night if there is something wrong with one of their children.
If we had an appropriately qualified nurse operating on a 24-hour basis, or at least in the evening, attached to the St John Ambulance Service, they would either be able to get attention there and go home feeling that they have been attended to or, if they need to go to RDH in an emergency, there is an ambulance service there to take them.
The government has to seriously consider something and, hopefully, it is in this budget, to give people in the rural area some equality in the provision of health services. There are a lot of people in Palmerston - 25 000 to 27 000. There are a lot of people in the rural area - about 20 000. They all have to travel to RDH in the middle of the night if they want some attention for their children or themselves. Surely, the government can put in some sort of service for those people.
Dr BURNS (Health): Madam Speaker, turning first to the member for Nelson, I believe what the member for Nelson is alluding to is, essentially, after-hours GP services in the community. This is, essentially, a Commonwealth responsibility ...
Mr Wood: No, I said nurse, an appropriately qualified nurse.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: That is an issue that I have discussed with Tony Abbott. We have the lowest number of GPs per capita in Australia and that needs to be rectified. I am working with Tony Abbott on that issue ...
Dr Lim: And the lowest number of hospital beds too, per thousand people.
Mr Wood: What happened to the word ‘nurse’?
Dr BURNS: The member for Greatorex talked about explosions in expenditure, Madam Speaker. Yes, there has been growth in our health budgets year-on-year, because there has been increased demand, particularly through our hospital system. The member for Greatorex talked about blowouts in budgets. There have been no budget blowouts in health. The member for Greatorex does not understand that, as the financial year progresses, Cabinet makes decisions to add expenditure into the department’s budget. That is what happens. The Health department has come in on budget and I commend them for that. The member for Greatorex needs to learn about the process.
Northern Territory Sports Awards
Mr VATSKALIS (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, I want to speak about the Northern Territory Sports Awards that were held on Friday, 16 March in Darwin. The Northern Territory Sports Awards are always an exciting evening, and there is a long and proud history since their inception in 1973 for the sporting association. It was my first awards night and it was, indeed, a great evening, where many of the outstanding feats of our athletes and sports administrators were rewarded. Over 250 guests attended the awards that received 57 nominations from across Territory sports in seven different categories.
This year’s sports awards advisory panel did a great job, and was made up of Mr Gordon Clarke, Mr Rollo Manning, Mr Terry Bell, Ms Michelle Turk, and Mr John Pollock. The panel reviewed all the applications and submitted a list of recommendations to the sports award committee. The awards committee comprises His Honour the Administrator, representatives of current award sponsors and Executive Director of Sport and Recreation.
I was very pleased that this year’s Master of Ceremonies was Mr Max Walker. Most of us would be familiar with Max as an author, elite national sportsman, television presenter and public speaker. He was an entertaining and popular host for the awards.
Our very own Mr Neil Fuller OAM was the guest speaker for the evening. Mr Fuller is currently our coordinator for the Oceanic Paralympic Championships which form part of this year’s Arafura Games. He is also an amputee who has represented Australia in the Paralympic track and field and holds a number of national and world records. Neil has previously been described to me as the Carl Lewis of the Paralympic Games. Neil’s speech was captivating and his story in overcoming adversity to be the best in the world is remarkable.
In the awards, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and NTIS elite scholarship holder, Crystal Attenborough was named Sportsperson of the Year. Crystal won bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in the 4 x 100 m relay, and this year achieved a personal best time of 11.43 seconds in the 100 m. Crystal has been a proud representative of sport and the NT for years, and she has the distinction of being a torchbearer for the 2000 Olympics, as well as lighting the cauldron at the 1999 Arafura Games. It is worth mentioning today that there are only 11 days to go until the 2007 Arafura Games.
Alice Springs cyclist, Matt King, was named Junior Sportsperson of the Year. Matt is already an international cyclist and we know he will go on to bigger things in years to come. He was a worthy winner. It was a proud moment for the Alice Springs community, as Matt’s coach, John Pyper, also won the Eric Johnston Coach of the Year award.
Local Territorian, Maisie Austin, was inducted in the Hall of Champions during the evening. This award acknowledges the sporting success of past sportsmen and women, and Maisie is a wonderful addition to the ranks.
There were tied winners in the Volunteer of the Year category, with the recipients being Elizabeth Williams and Willem Van Dijk for their outstanding work in their respective sports of baseball and hockey.
Madam Speaker, I record my thanks to all the people who helped make the night a great success, and place on record my congratulations to all the award nominees and recipients for their dedication and achievements in their chosen sports.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, the overall time for ministerial reports has expired.
Reports noted pursuant to standing orders.
MOTION
Note Statement - Constructing
a Better Territory
Note Statement - Constructing
a Better Territory
Continued from 21 February 2007.
Mr HENDERSON (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I support my colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, in what was an excellent statement to this House informing the House of the importance of the construction industry in building a better Territory.
We all know, as local members of parliament, even amongst our own personal friends, how important the construction industry is to the economy of the Northern Territory. As a young Territory, where we have population dispersed over vast distances, the challenges to governments, past and current, is to continue to invest in our infrastructure across the Northern Territory to encourage the private sector to also invest in building businesses and providing jobs for people. Also, on the social side of the equation, it is important to invest in infrastructure in our education system, hospital system, and other areas of government. It is a very significant industry.
I speak in this debate as the minister for Employment and Training in regard to the big steps that this government has taken to encourage and assist more apprentices and trainees into the construction industry, and also to assist employers across the Northern Territory to take on apprentices in these areas where we do have very significant skills shortages. While I talk of skills shortages, DEET recently released the report, NT Occupation Shortage List 2007. I encourage members and the community to go to the DEET website. The report was released in March 2007. It is pretty sobering reading, because it very clearly demonstrates that, in virtually every occupation and trade that you can think of, we have significant shortages across the Northern Territory. The report identified that, at any one time, there are about 2000 jobs going begging in the Northern Territory. That is 2000 businesses, and the Northern Territory government, that are finding it really hard to recruit people to the Northern Territory.
In supporting an ever-expanding economy in the Northern Territory, and ever-expanding opportunity for the private sector to invest and to get a return in the Northern Territory, the biggest hurdle that most businesses face is actually getting access to a skilled and stable workforce. That is why, in the budget today, I am very pleased - without preempting my colleague, the Treasurer - there are very significant commitments by government to continue to support the building of skills in our community.
However, it is not just about supporting the recruitment of apprentices and trainees and funding institutions like Charles Darwin University and Batchelor College, it is about looking at all of the policy levers that are available to government to try to address this skill shortage issue.
One of the levers that the government did pull around 18 months ago was giving our construction workers access to portable long service leave here in the Northern Territory; an initiative that the previous government, for whatever reason, did not take. In all other states across Australia, workers in the construction industry can go from job site to job site, employer to employer, state to state, and accrue long service leave that gets put into a fund and then, at the end of 10 year’s work, they can access long service leave entitlements the same way that, say, a Northern Territory public sector worker who has worked for one department for 10 years, can access their long service leave. That was a very significant commitment by the government.
As of the latest annual report from the board, over 3000 workers in the Northern Territory now have access to long service leave. That is a great thing for those 3000 workers, but it also means that we have the capacity to attract workers to the Northern Territory, not only because of the high-paying jobs that are on offer, but because they can be assured that they can continue to rack up and accrue long service leave.
Prior to the introduction of this bill, many workers would say: ‘What is the point of going to the Northern Territory? If I work up there for two years, it is not contributing to my long service leave entitlements’. We were significantly out of step with the other states, and making that move has certainly removed an obstacle from people thinking of moving to the Northern Territory.
We are investing in our public services, our schools, and our health system, as the Health Minister has just said. The HomeNorth scheme and various concessions that government has made over the last few years in stamp duty, and having home loan affordability the most affordable in the Northern Territory, are other levers that the government has pulled to try to get people to move to and make a financial commitment to the Territory, and be more likely to stay in the Territory. That means construction workers as well.
The main lever that the government has pulled in this area has been jobs growth. Prior to us coming to government in 2001 there had been no policy framework by the previous government to understand what the skills gaps were in the economy, what the future projections of where those skills gaps would be and, then, where you need to target your investment in the training dollar to actually match the training initiatives with the skills gaps that exist and are emerging. We actually put more money into the system and set some targets in regard to what we are doing as a community, because it is not government’s responsibility alone. It is the responsibility of everybody in the community to skill and train, not only our young people, very important that it is, but also recognise in this day and age that people do move from job to job, from career to career. We have to provide access to adults who want to change track in their career - whether they are in their mid-20s, mid-30s, mid-40s - to do something different, and remove the barriers for them to do that.
The creation of Jobs Plan 1 and Jobs Plan 2 was a very significant response to what had been an appalling lack of public policy focus for many years in the Northern Territory which has, in part, contributed to our skills shortage we face today.
Under Jobs Plan, we have encouraged, in the form of financial incentives to eligible employers, Territory businesses to employ additional apprentices and trainees. These have been a huge contribution. Previously, as minister for Business, I would get around to many businesses, which were very thankful of support offered by the Territory government. As minister for Employment and Training now, I continue to visit worksites and talk to employers and apprentices about how the arrangements are going, how the off-site training is going at Charles Darwin University, in particular here in Darwin, and continue to take a very strong personal interest in the government’s commitment to employing more apprentices and trainees across the Northern Territory.
Just last month, people probably saw in the notices in the paper, on a fairly regular basis, DEET take out a big advertisement advertising a round of skills shortage employer incentives. DEET has just released the seventh round of incentives, and these comprise of 100 skills shortage trades employer incentives of $7000 each. That is $7000 directly to an employer to assist them with the costs of taking on a first-year apprentice. I do not know how many tradesmen or tradespeople there are in the House. I know there is me, and my colleague, the member for Drysdale, we are both fitters by trade. I do not know that I was a particularly good tradesman, but I certainly remember my apprenticeship and my time in my trade with a lot of fondness.
In the first year in a trade a lot of broom pushing goes on, and carrying tools around for people. You are not really adding a lot of value to the employer who has to cover your wages and all sorts of other ongoing costs. Therefore, the $7000 to each of those employers has been warmly welcomed. In Jobs Plan 2 we had a good look at it and thought that one of the real issues - and if you talk to any of the mums and dads any of the apprentices out there – was that the wages, as we all know, are not that crash hot for a first-year apprentice. For most of those apprentices, unless they are living at home with mum and dad, it is almost impossible to exist with paying rent and running a car on a first-year wage.
Last year in the budget we introduced a Workwear/Workgear Bonus scheme to help the apprentices and trainees with the costs they incur in that first year. There is $1000 to each of those apprentices. As at 20 April this year, DEET had issued 969 skills shortage apprentices with $1000 each. That is to support the apprentice in purchasing a tool kit, getting a decent pair of overalls and work boots, and assisting those apprentices three months into their trade to kit themselves out.
I was talking to a friend and colleague of mine whose son had just started an apprenticeship yesterday in Darwin with Mitsubishi Motors. He signed his papers yesterday and was very excited about starting his apprenticeship as an automotive mechanic. Two apprentices signed their documents yesterday. They were very excited about it and they have already identified where they are going to spend that $1000. My friend’s son is going to put his money toward a decent tool kit. I say to Bruce Sampson and everyone at Mitsubishi Motors in Darwin: thank you for your contribution. That is two young people in the Northern Territory who, at the end of either three or four years, depending on how they go, will leave their apprenticeship with a trade, build a career for themselves and make an ongoing commitment to the economy.
Our Jobs Plan is working. We currently have over 3300 apprentices and trainees in training and nearly half of these are in traditional trades - 1489 in traditional trade apprenticeships across the Northern Territory. That is over double the number of apprentices in training in 2001 when we came to government when there was no policy framework to address these issues. Much of the debate in this parliament is around numbers. My colleague, the Treasurer, in a few minutes, is going to announce the Territory 2007-08 Budget. There is much talk in my colleague’s speech about big numbers - big dollars being spent. When we talk about 3300 apprentices - of that 3300, 1489 Territorians are in traditional trades - whether they are leaving school and going in to an apprenticeship or they are an adult apprentice, that is 3300 people actually training, building skills for themselves. Those skills will lead them to better work opportunities, a better financial capacity to build for themselves and their families. We should never lose sight that training and the economy is about people. It is very pleasing to see that we have doubled the number of Territorians in training since we came to government.
One of the critical success factors to overcoming skill shortages is partnerships with business and industry. As part of the budget, we are going to be releasing Jobs Plan 3 today. That further strengthens partnerships with business and industry. At the end of the day, the government can employ so many trainees. We have doubled the number of trainees that we have taken on in government, but the reality is that the heavy lifting has to be done by the private sector. We need to be working very closely with the private sector, with registered training organisations, with the big training providers like CDU and Batchelor, to make sure that the outputs of the dollars that we commit in training go to train people for jobs that exist in the workforce today, and are going to exist in the workforce tomorrow.
My commitment, as minister, is to be very focused on building those partnerships with business and industry across the Northern Territory to train people for jobs. That has to be the focus, and that means employers standing up and saying that they are prepared to take on so many trainees and develop those pathways that are very important for their business.
A few weeks ago, I visited Hastings Deering at Berrimah in their new premises. It is the second time I have been there. I had to give a big rap to Hastings Deering. They have doubled the number of apprentices they have put on. They now have 16 apprentices at Berrimah. That is a very significant commitment from one company. I was present at the signing ceremony where four new apprentices started their trade. Hastings Deering is growing their business because the economy is moving ahead and they are returning some of their profits into training young Territorians. Three of those apprentices I met were straight out of school. One was an adult apprentice, and I actually met this guy the first time as a police officer. He was a police officer who, in his mid-30s, has decided that he wants a change in his life and he is doing an adult apprenticeship with Hastings Deering. That is how flexible the system is, and we need to continue to work on that flexibility to provide opportunities for people who want to change careers to actually be able to do that.
Talking of partnerships, I would also like to congratulate one of the peak employer bodies in the Northern Territory for the construction industry. the Territory Construction Association, which has entered into a unique partnership arrangement with the Northern Land Council, something that would have been inconceivable a few years ago. However, today, it is a sign of a maturing Territory where all Territorians are a part of the economy in the Northern Territory and should have access to opportunities. It is a formal partnership, a memorandum of understanding between the Territory Construction Association and the NLC on encouraging indigenous Territorians into skills and training in the construction industry. The partnership aims to provide pre-employment training for 90 indigenous trainees with a minimum guarantee of 60 jobs. That is a guarantee of 60 jobs for those young people; it they complete their traineeship, there is a job at the end of it. It certainly is very significant.
The Northern Territory government’s $1.1bn waterfront project was identified by the partners as an opportunity to undertake training for local indigenous people with realistic job outcomes, and several trainees have succeeded through this venture. Again, I congratulate the CCA and the NLC on this particular initiative. These are young indigenous people in the Northern Territory given an opportunity for an apprenticeship and a job as a result of the waterfront project.
What do we see from the opposition, Madam Speaker? Inane adverts on the television, inane political advertising …
Mr Stirling: Scaring the kids.
Mr HENDERSON: Yes, some scaring the kids, for one - a portrait of the Opposition Leader saying ‘And what has this government done for you?’ with the waterfront in the background. I do not know why she hates Darwin so much. I do not know why the Leader of the Opposition really has taken a mindset that everything that happens in Darwin is bad.
We have young indigenous people getting access to training and will get a job as a result of that particular project. There are many benefits to that project but, for the young indigenous people who are going to get a trade as a result of that project and then move on into the broader workforce, I believe it is one of the significant success factors.
As well as the government having specific policy initiatives, I have talked about various levers that we can pull to encourage apprenticeships and traineeships. We are certainly doing that through the government tender process, and I know my colleague, the minister for DCIS, is working really hard in ensuring, wherever possible, value is attributed in assessing tenders to companies which actually commit to employing apprentices and trainees as part of their bid. We are certainly working very hard to move that policy even further, particularly in remote areas in regard to construction and housing. I am sure this House is going to hear a lot from my colleague, the Minister for Housing, about initiatives in that area, as well as through a requirement for companies who are bidding on a tender for over $5m through local industry participation plans to actually commit to indigenous employment and training.
In the 20 seconds that I have left, Madam Speaker, I commend Sitzler Bros and Michael Sitzler for building the soccer stadium in Darwin. As part of that contract, they employ two indigenous trainees - two indigenous trainees as a result of a requirement for this government to demonstrate that training effort.
Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, on her statement and our continued support for the construction industry.
Debate suspended.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Broadcast of Proceedings of the Assembly
Broadcast of Proceedings of the Assembly
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise you that I have given permission for various media to broadcast live, or rebroadcast with sound and vision, the presentation of the budget and the Treasurer’s speech and the Leader of the Opposition’s reply; Top FM and Centre FM radio to broadcast live the presentation of the budget and the Treasurer’s speech and the Leader of the Opposition’s reply; and the Northern Territory News to take photographs.
I advise all honourable members that the Assembly will resume after lunch today at 2.30 pm.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the partner of the Treasurer, Ms Jenny Djerrkura. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
I also draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Under Treasurer, Ms Jennifer Prince, and Treasury officers. On behalf all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
I also extend a warm welcome to all those people who have come to listen to the budget as part of our public education program. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
APPROPRIATION BILL 2007-08
(Serial 94)
(Serial 94)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be read a second time, and I table the 2007-08 Appropriation Bill and related budget papers.
Budget 2007-08 creates jobs, grows the economy, now and over the longer term, and secures and enhances the lifestyle of every Territorian. It is a confident budget developed for a confident community with a bright future. Budget 2007-08 sets out the plan for this year and provides the foundation for the Territory for the next 10 years. It is a budget that is sweeping in its impact.
Budget 2007-08 will put more Territorians into their own homes, and it will skill and train more people, preparing them for the thousands of jobs being generated in our economy. It heralds the most extensive infrastructure program ever.
Budget 2007-08 addresses the health needs of Territorians through a record budget of $838m, 73% higher than in 2001. It is focused on improving core services, particularly in hospitals, and delivers better services for Territorians with a disability.
It continues the Martin government’s record investment in education with $658m, an increase of 38% from 2001, as well as an extensive ongoing capital investment program. There is a strong focus on middle schooling, improving educational outcomes, and lifting the literacy and numeracy skills of students in the bush.
Through its support for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, Budget 2007-08 maintains the Martin government’s determination to tackle crime and the causes of crime. The Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget will be $226m, an increase of 65% since 2001.
It achieves these priorities, once again, within sound and sustainable fiscal parameters. Perhaps more than any other budget, this budget focuses not only on next financial year, but it plans for the future, putting in place infrastructure and service improvements over a number of years. It lays the foundations for creating jobs and opportunities, growing the economy, and securing and improving the Territory lifestyle for many years to come.
Budget 2007-08 delivers the most comprehensive package of support for home ownership ever provided by a Territory government. It contains stamp duty reductions, a renewed and refocused HomeNorth, and new land for housing. From today, the stamp duty concession for first homebuyers will be lifted from $225 000 to $350 000, a 55% increase. The maximum rebate will now be $15 312, an increase of $7296 - 85% of first homebuyers in the Territory will pay no stamp duty.
The government has also revamped the HomeNorth scheme. HomeNorth has supported almost 1000 new borrowers since 2004. The low 2% deposit scheme and generous $10 000 interest-free loan remains in place, but the scheme has been made better for families with dependents. Income caps for singles will be set at $50 000 per anum. For families with two adults and no dependents, the income level remains at $60 000. For families with dependents, the income cap rises by $10 000 to $70 000. The Territory’s equity share also rises to $70 000, providing greater assistance for all borrowers. The property value cap will be set at 85% of the median price house in each region, ensuring HomeNorth maintains pace with the property market but, importantly, limits any flow-on to house prices.
Public housing tenants who want to buy their house will face no property value cap if they have lived in it for five years or more. These changes ensure that HomeNorth remains the most generous and effective scheme of its type in Australia.
To further support the expansion of the housing market, the government will provide $7m in 2007-08 to bring forward the development of Bellamack, capable of providing around 600 housing sites. It is expected that expressions of interest for the development will occur later this year and will include a requirement for special consideration to be given to first homebuyers. The combined effect of greater stamp duty concessions, the revamped HomeNorth scheme, and the release of land packages aimed at first homebuyers will see significant impetus given to the Martin government’s commitment to get Territorians into their own homes.
Creating jobs and lifting skill levels are at the heart of any Labor government; this government is no exception. We were the first Territory government to introduce the Jobs Plan. Today in Budget 2007-08, the Martin government unveils its third Jobs Plan. This $21.3m four-year plan will focus on building skills for Territorians. It provides incentives to employ trainees and apprentices. It provides funds to make school leavers more job ready, and it continues the successful Build Skills program allowing industry to advance the training of existing employees. Jobs Plan 3 casts a Territory-wide net and seeks to lift skill levels across all regions. It will also focus attention on those people in our community who have greater difficulty entering the workforce.
Budget 2007-08 continues the Martin government’s commitment to tax reform. I am very proud to advise Territorians that this government has now reduced taxation by $156m. This government has ensured that the Territory has the lowest tax in Australia for businesses with up to 100 staff. In addition to the announced tax relief for first homebuyers, stamp duty on hiring will be abolished from 1 July 2007, saving Territory businesses $5.3m per year. The government has also participated with other state governments in a payroll tax harmonisation project which will mean a significant reduction in red tape for employers. These changes will commence in 2008-09. Budget 2007-08 reinforces the Martin government as the most tax reforming government in the Territory’s history.
We came to office in 2001 on the theme Building a Better Territory. Since that time, we have implemented an extensive capital works and infrastructure program. Budget 2007-08 is no exception. This year, $645m cash will be spent on infrastructure in the Territory. We will bring the amount of cash spent on infrastructure since 2001 to $3.3bn. Importantly, Budget 2007-08 gives priority to infrastructure that supports long-term growth in key areas.
Roads receive a major injection of funds this financial year. The roads infrastructure program will be a record $180m and includes $57m for repairs and maintenance as well as extensive new works. An additional $35m will be injected over four years into repairs and maintenance for Territory roads. These funds boost Territory businesses, particularly the pastoral industry. They also support the daily life of Territorians living in the bush on pastoral stations and in remote communities.
The Martin government recognises that strong economic growth requires a solid infrastructure foundation. One of the most important investments the government can make is in essential services infrastructure. That is why we have announced a five-year $814m program of infrastructure investment repairs and maintenance in the power, water and sewerage system. This investment is a necessary ingredient in the expansion of the Territory economy over the immediate and long-term future.
Budget 2007-08’s infrastructure program contributes to the social development of the Territory as an important element in securing the Territory lifestyle. This year, $113m will be spent on housing infrastructure, the largest ever contribution. This is part of a five-year housing program that will see the Martin government deliver real gains in housing in remote communities.
In addition to investing in the economy, good economic management demands effective fiscal policy. In 2001, the Martin government inherited a budget that was out of control, and we learned firsthand the vital need for fiscal responsibility. You cannot grow an economy without a sustainable fiscal position. That is why we have delivered four surplus budgets in the last five years. I can assure Territorians that the Martin government will continue with its strong focus on fiscal responsibility in this budget and into the future.
Today, I can announce that, for the first time ever, the government will contribute funds towards meeting future liabilities built up by our predecessors over many years. $60m will be set aside today for the liabilities that have to be met in future budgets. It is a sound and responsible thing for a government to do, but it has only been possible because of our prudent approach to finances.
Members will be aware that to achieve an increase in service delivery, and to assist the government to growing and broadening the economy, we have grown the public service. The government is grateful for the hard work and dedication of all of our public servants. This financial year, the government has slowed the growth in public service numbers and will focus on achieving reductions in positions in back office areas. Service delivery staff - our teachers, nurses, doctors and police officers - will continue to grow as services expand. As part of this process, for three years the government will apply an additional efficiency dividend of 1% to all agencies except those primarily focused on service delivery, where the additional dividend will be 0.25%. The government will also proceed with our continuing review of the way we do business, in particular looking at more efficient ways of providing corporate services. We will also review executive numbers, office accommodation and the government vehicle policy.
In Budget 2007-08, the government will provide around $57m in community service obligations, including pensioner concessions to subsidise the cost of providing power and water across the Territory, keeping downward pressure on power, water and sewerage prices. However, as I have reported last year, there is a significant and growing difference between the cost of producing power and water and the tariffs charged. From this year, a CPI increase will be built into the provision of those services from 1 July 2007 and each year for the next five years - an increase far lower than those in other jurisdictions.
Before further detailing budget initiatives, I wish to advise members of the broader economic outlook. The Territory economy grew by 6% in 2004-05, and 7.5% in 2005-06, the highest economic growth rates in Australia. It is estimated to grow by a further 7.2% in 2006-07. The major contributor to the growth this year is strong export activity, particularly from the peak production of LNG, energy products from the Bayu-Undan fields, and increased mineral production. In 2006-07, total investment expenditure is estimated to be $3.9bn lower than the historic peak of $4.1bn in 2005-06, but well above the 10-year average of $3.2bn.
Consumption expenditure in the Territory is estimated to increase by 3.3% in 2006-07 on the back of solid increases in household consumption. Retail turnover in the Territory is estimated to grow by 7.5% in 2006-07, good news for the retail sector. Growth in the Darwin CPI is estimated to moderate to 3% in 2007.
The Territory’s population is estimated to grow by 1.6% in 2006, higher then the national growth rate of 1.3%. The Territory’s labour force is expanding strongly in 2006-07, with resident employment increasing by 4.4%. Private sector residential building approvals have increased by 13.2% over the past year.
Turning to 2007-08, economic growth is forecast at 3.7% with business investment returning to more expected levels, exports to stabilise and mega-projects completing.
Engineering construction activity will reduce in 2007-08 with the completion of major engineering projects midway through this year. However, new projects are coming online in 2007-08, including oil field developments in the Timor sea, the ongoing development of the Blacktip gas field in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, and expansion of the GEMCO manganese processing facility at Groote Eylandt. That will sustain engineering activity above historic levels.
Territory resident employment and population are forecast to maintain solid growth of 2.3% and 1.4% respectively in 2007-08. This is in line with ongoing work at the Darwin waterfront development, as well as other significant projects. Growth in total consumption expenditure is forecast to moderate in 2007-08, and the Darwin CPI is forecast to reduce further in 2008 to 2.5%. The outlook for 2007-08 is strong, with the Territory returning to sustainable longer-term growth levels.
Turning to the fiscal outlook, in 2006-07 our focus has been on establishing a firm base for the Territory’s next stage of growth. Total operating receipts in 2006-07 for the general government sector are expected to be $3.2bn. During 2006-07, grants from the Australian government have increased by $61m, $8m in GST revenue in line with higher population and growth in the GST pool, and $53m in specific purpose payments.
Receipts from taxes and mining royalties have increased by $47m during the year, reflecting the continuous and continuing improvement in the Territory economy and the commodities boom. Total operating and nett capital payments are $3.1bn in 2006-07. Variations through the year result from the usual timing differences between financial years. Some capital payments for the waterfront have transferred to 2007-08 as a result of the heavy rain earlier this year. However, completion remains on track for 2008.
Approved new initiatives through the year total $25m, with $6m brought forward for undergrounding of power lines, $5m for Borroloola sewerage works, and $4m for the upgrade of Banyan House.
Expenditure associated with specific purpose payments from the Australian government has also increased as agreements have been finalised.
In line with its broader responsibilities, particularly for indigenous housing, Territory Housing has been transferred from the non-financial public sector to the general government sector during 2006-07. There is minimal overall effect on the budget, but differences in timing of capital projects in 2006-07 and 2007-08 have small offsetting effects in each year.
The fiscal restraint during 2006-07 has enabled the commencement of contributions of $60m this year towards the Territory’s unfunded superannuation liability, which will reduce the burden on future budgets. Taking this $60m payment into account in 2006-07, the budget outcome is estimated to be a deficit of $11m.
In 2007-08, receipts are projected to increase by 4% to $3.32bn, and payments by 8% to $3.36bn. The outcome is expected to be a deficit of $40m, in line with fiscal targets announced three years ago. The increase in payments and the resulting deficit reflects the significant investment in the waterfront in 2007-08. A balanced budget is still expected for 2008-09, moving into surplus from 2009-10.
The ratio of nett debt and nett debt plus employee liabilities for revenue is better than last year’s projections at 42% and 110% respectively by 2010-11. All fiscal strategy targets are unchanged from 2006-07 and are expected to be achieved.
Madam Speaker, turning to the detail of the budget’s initiatives, since 2001, the Martin government set into place well-known priorities. These are: supporting and growing business; building a healthier Territory; improving educational outcomes; providing a safer community for all Territorians; and enhancing our great lifestyle. Budget 2007-08 supports these fundamental priorities.
Supporting and growing business – the Martin government believes that growing business is good business for the Territory. In Budget 2007-08, we are putting into place initiatives that grow business opportunities now and into the future. We are continuing our strategy of high levels of infrastructure investment, innovative programs supporting the skilling of Territorians, sensible tax reforms, and significant investment in key economic drivers.
I have outlined the government’s infrastructure program, our innovative skills program contained within Jobs Plan 3 and the tax initiatives in the budget. These are investments in the future of the Territory.
Roads are our lifeblood. The roads capital works program includes: a $10m start on the Tiger Brennan Drive project with the duplication of Berrimah Road to ease the traffic flow through this area; a further $18m towards the upgrade of the Victoria Highway; $10.5m for the continued sealing of the Red Centre Way; $2m for the Plenty Highway, part of the Outback Way; $12.3m to improve access to Wadeye and the surrounding outstations; upgrading the Tanami Highway with $2m per year over the next five years; $8.7m for the Roads to Recovery program; $1.2m for the Buntine and Arnhem Highways; $1.4m for the Maryvale Road; and a further $800 000 for the Sandover Highway.
In addition to being important assets to business, bush roads are also a lifeline for Territorians living in remote communities. That is why Budget 2007-08 will support additional repairs and maintenance to roads such as the Kalkaringi/Lajamanu turn-off road; the Santa Teresa/Alice Springs connector road; the Umbakumba/Alyangula connector road, roads around Woodykupuldiya, the Ramingining barge road, the Eva Valley/Central Arnhem Road and many other bush roads.
The breadth and reach of the $814m investment over the next five years in the Territory’s power, water and sewerage infrastructure is staggering. We will ensure that the Territory will not experience the sort of failures seen in other states in these essential services. Included in this five-year program is: new generation and the relocation of existing units to Brewer Estate at a cost of $24m; the closure of the Larrakeyah outfall and upgrades at the Ludmilla Treatment Plant at a cost of $40m over four years; the new Weddell power station at a cost of $83.5m; upgrading Katherine Wastewater Treatment Plant at $10m; raising the Darwin River Dam level by 1.3 m at a cost of $8.5m; and upgrading and replacing power supply and sets in communities such as Borroloola, Elliott, Kings Canyon and Tennant Creek.
In addition to these investments in economic drivers, the budget provides for strong support to the mining industry. The government will fund a $12m four-year program called Bringing Forward Discovery. This program provides critical information necessary to encourage greater mineral and energy exploration in the Territory.
The Darwin waterfront and convention centre remains a centrepiece development for the Territory’s capital city. This important project will create a signature for Darwin, as well as providing ongoing work for the construction industry for the next 10 years through future stages of residential and commercial development. The Territory will contribute $68m in 2007-08 to the community infrastructure and convention centre being constructed through the public/private partnership arrangement.
Budget 2007-08 continues the high level of support provided by the Martin government to the tourism industry, with a budget this year of $38.3m.
Budget 2007-08 delivers $1.15m to peak industry associations. Other industry support includes: $650 000 for business management and capability programs; $830 000 for indigenous economic development initiatives; $500 000 for regional economic development support; and $1.7m for Territory Business Centres.
I now turn to the government‘s support for Building a Healthier Territory. The Martin government has backed this commitment by increasing the health budget by 73% since 2001. Today, there are more health services available than ever before, more doctors and more nurses in our hospitals, and more programs aimed at improving the health of Territorians. This budget provides strong support for Territory hospitals. For example, the Royal Darwin Hospital will receive $207.3m, an increase of 85% since 2001; and the Alice Springs Hospital will be funded $104.7m, up 94% since 2001. The increased funding for hospital beds in 2007-08 will see the government achieve an increase of 12 hospital beds in Royal Darwin Hospital, taking the total to 18 additional beds; and 12 additional beds at the Alice Springs Hospital ahead of our election commitment. $16.2m is approved for works at Alice Springs Hospital, including $6m for a new Emergency Department. A new health clinic costing $3.1m will be built at Wadeye community.
I am also proud to advise members that Budget 2007-08 spotlights increased government support for people with a disability. Over the next four years, an additional $17.8m will be provided to increase services to disabled Territorians and their carers. This will see expanded assessment, therapy and treatment services, respite care, residential services, as well as increased spending for taxi subsidies.
Budget 2007-08 continues the Martin government’s support for families. In addition to creating jobs and getting people into their first homes, the budget also funds $10.8m for pensioner concessions to reduce the cost of living to our seniors; $3.7m to subsidise the cost of childcare - recognition by the Martin government of the importance of these services to our young Territory population; and $18.7m for supporting individuals and families in crisis.
Renal disease destroys the life of far too many Territorians. Budget 2007-08 heralds an additional $24.4m over the next four years to support additional services in this critical area. This will fund the growth in dialysis services and additional specialist staff. Additional dialysis equipment will be installed in Alice Springs in 2007-08 and in Tennant Creek, Katherine and other communities from 2008-09.
The Martin government has been determined to lift educational outcomes for Territorians. We have provided support for students and for teachers. Budget 2007-08 continues that effort with a record $658m budget. In addition to the $21.3m Jobs Plan, Budget 2007-08 will fund $1.9m for the successful Back-to-School payment of $50 per enrolled student to support parents and help reduce the cost of education to families. A further $11.8m is provided this year under the $42m four-year initiative Building Better Schools, aimed at improving the quality and delivery of education inside our secondary schools. Funding this year for the national accelerated literacy program is $2.7m jointly with the Australian government, and will see the program expanded to 70 schools by the end of 2007 and 100 schools by the end of 2008. The government will fund an additional $3.3m in 2007-08, rising to $4.4m in 2008-09, for upgraded bus services for students. A further $460 000 is provided for additional bus services for special needs students in Darwin, Humpty Doo and Alice Springs.
To support training and provide assistance with higher education and research, Charles Darwin University will receive $45m in total payments with $9.5m provided to the Batchelor Institute. In addition to ongoing work associated with the middle years program, new building programs will also be funded with $1m upgrades for each of Millner and Wanguri Primary Schools; $1m also provided to begin the $6.2m upgrade of Ross Park Primary School; and $5m provided for the upgrade of the Borroloola Community Education Centre.
Since 2001, the Martin government has focused on building a safer community and fighting crime and its underlying causes. Budget 2007-08 will keep that fight strong. The Police, Fire and Emergency Services’ budget is at a record $226m, an increase of 65% since 2001. $31m will be provided this year to continue the initiatives recommended through the O’Sullivan review. The Northern Territory Police Force will have 1140 uniformed police by June 2008. That is the highest proportion of police per capita anywhere in Australia, and the government will have fulfilled its commitment to employ 200 additional police.
This year, government will be funding $4.8m to build a new police station at Casuarina for the northern suburbs of Darwin. This station will be an important base in our effort in tackling crime in the suburbs. $736 000 has been provided for this financial year, rising to $1.3m in 2007-08, to establish highway patrols and remote area patrols; $4m will be provided over three years to implement the nationwide Persons of Interest project. As part of our war on drugs, the government introduced legislation for the forfeiture of property purchased with the profit of crime. In 2007-08, additional ongoing funding of $1.3m will be provided to support the legislation.
Budget 2007-08 will provide $2.4m for the newly refocused and consolidated crime prevention community safety strategy, with $110 000 for Neighbourhood Watch to continue its crime prevention role. The government continues its efforts to crack down on antisocial behaviour. Budget 2007-08 funds juvenile diversion program grant funding of $1.76m for Community Youth Development Units and case management by non-government organisations; $633 000 for the Community Patrol Service in Darwin; $22.7m for treatment places for people with problems with alcohol and other drugs; and $4m has been provided to upgrade Banyan House.
The Martin government will again provide councils with $250 000 to light parks and laneways. The Chief Minister has also announced $150 000 to assist the Alice Springs Town Council with installation of closed circuit television cameras.
Budget 2007-08 provides $35.8m to keep Territory children safe from abuse. These funds will help investigate abuse and support abused children. Since coming to office, the Martin government has significantly increased the funding for the protection of children.
The Territory’s lifestyle is unique, the best in Australia. Being a Territorian means having a lifestyle the envy of our friends and families elsewhere. The Martin government continues to secure and improve this important lifestyle through Budget 2007-08. As my colleague, the member for Casuarina, says much better than I do: fishing is the lure of the Territory. $2.8m will be allocated to build a new boat ramp at East Arm, with $500 000 to fund other fishing infrastructure including new boat ramps across the Territory. The government will fund the Amateur Fisherman’s Association with $170 000 to continue to provide services. Fishing research is an important part of protecting Territory fishing into the future. Budget 2007-08 provides $1.84m for research. $350 000 is provided for the government’s ongoing program of reducing commercial coastal licences.
Territorians love sport. We love to play it and we love to watch it. The Martin government has backed both. Budget 2007-08 provides $20.7m for sport and recreation with $3.5m for sports grants to support clubs, administrators and volunteers. Since coming to office, this government has brought more first-class sport to the Territory than ever before. In Budget 2007-08, the Territory will see the government continue this program of major events. Territory netball gets a new home with a $4.8m facility to be built at Marrara Sporting Complex.
The Chief Minister has outlined a major project designed to provide a long-term vision for the look and development of Darwin. Budget 2007-08 begins work on Creating Darwin’s Future. This includes upgraded urban landscaping, and establishing Flagstaff Park at Myilly Point, including cliff access and a boardwalk to Mindil Beach. Scoping work will also begin on the proposed Darwin Experience Museum and the link between the Darwin waterfront and Darwin’s heritage precinct.
Major urban enhancement projects across the Territory will receive $2m and this will see upgrades to the Karama shops and Wulagi shops, improved bike paths in Nhulunbuy and at Girraween, beautification works at Adelaide River and for the flood-ravaged community of Gunbalanya. At Tennant Creek and Katherine, main street projects will continue, while Nightcliff foreshore will be enhanced. These small projects make a big difference in the look and lifestyle of our suburbs, communities and neighbourhoods.
Budget 2007-08 supports a diverse and multicultural Territory with $741 000 for the Multicultural Affairs Sponsorship Grants and $350 000 for the Multicultural Facilities Development program.
Territorians are proudly creative. Budget 2007-08 supports that creativity by $5.5m in arts sponsorship, $12.3m for the Museum and Art Gallery at Bullocky Point, and $4.3m for the Araluen Arts and Cultural Precinct.
An important part of our unique lifestyle is based around our environment. Budget 2007-08 funds $34.86m for 93 parks Territory-wide, 157 rangers and 66 support staff. $248 000 is provided for the establishment of the Territory’s Environment Protection Agency. In Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, up to $50 will be paid for subsidising the purchase of water saving devices, $520 000 will be provided to protect Darwin Harbour, with $100 000 provided for Cool Communities in Darwin and Alice Springs. $460 000 will be available for environment grants to community-based groups.
To secure the lifestyle of Territorians in the bush, the government is undertaking major local government reform. This reform is focused on providing improved services to Territorians. Budget 2007-08 will provide $9.9m over two years to assist the establishment of shires across the Territory. Through these measures and others announced in greater detail by individual ministers, the Martin government will be securing and improving the lifestyle of Territorians now and into the future.
The Territory is a great place. There is no question that it has an exciting future. We must do what we can today to grow, develop and strengthen the Territory. We must plan for the future. We must ensure we support all Territorians so that they can be part of that exciting future. This budget achieves those goals. It lays the foundations for jobs, for growth and for our lifestyle. It creates the opportunities that the Territory and Territorians need, and it does so responsibly with a focus on strong economic management.
Madam Speaker, Budget 2007-08 is the budget our children would want us to deliver. It is the budget I am proud to commend to you today and, Madam Speaker, if that is not the best budget that I have delivered as Treasurer, I will go he.
Debate adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Northern Territory Electoral Commission – 2005 Legislative Assembly
General Election Report
Northern Territory Electoral Commission – 2005 Legislative Assembly
General Election Report
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the Northern Territory Electoral Commission report of the June 2005 Legislative Assembly General Election.
MOTION
Print Paper – Northern Territory Electoral Commission – 2005 Legislative Assembly General Election Report
Print Paper – Northern Territory Electoral Commission – 2005 Legislative Assembly General Election Report
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Paper - Northern Territory Electoral Commission – 2005 Legislative Assembly General Election Report
Note Paper - Northern Territory Electoral Commission – 2005 Legislative Assembly General Election Report
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report and seek leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
TABLED PAPER
Statement of Corporate Intent for2007-08 for the Power and Water Corporation
Statement of Corporate Intent for2007-08 for the Power and Water Corporation
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, in accordance with section 39(7)(a) of the Government Owned Corporations Act, as shareholding minister for the corporation, I table the Power and Water Corporation’s 2007-08 Statement of Corporate Intent.
As members are aware, the Power and Water Corporation became the Territory’s first government owned corporation, or GOC, on 1 July 2002, making this the corporation’s sixth SCI. The SCI is the annual performance agreement between the GOC and the shareholding minister on behalf of Territorians as owners of the corporation.
Again, consistent with previous years, the information of a commercially sensitive nature has been removed from the SCI. The SCI is being tabled today on the basis that it would be unreasonable to disadvantage the corporation by disclosing commercially sensitive information that no private sector business would be expected to release, even though the corporation currently has no direct competitor for most of its business activities.
The SCI forecasts nett profits after tax of $22m in 2007-08, compared with the loss of $58m projected for 2006-07. The projected loss for 2006-07 is attributed to a write-down in water and sewerage asset values in accordance with application of international accounting standards. Accounting standards require asset values to be determined based on the recoverable amount test which considers, amongst other things, the revenue expected to be generated from continued use of the assets. Even with tariff increases, water and sewerage revenues were too low to sustain the carrying value of these assets requiring the asset write-downs.
The 2007-08 SCI contains plans for $592m of capital investment between 2007-08 and 2011-12 and the corporation projects repairs and maintenance activity of some $220m over the same period. The total infrastructure program totalling $814m has been developed based on a rigorous assessment of capital and maintenance needs, and ensures that the Power and Water Corporation infrastructure meets independent reliability standards. It represents the largest investment in essential services in Territory history, and is almost twice the level of the previous five years.
Over the next five years, Power and Water will invest over $197m in new power generation capacity including: $126.6m for the new Weddell power station in Darwin; $7m for new generation in Katherine; $23.4m for the new Brewer Estate power station in Alice Springs; $1.5m in upgrade work at Tennant Creek; and $3m for new generation in Yulara. Over this period, a further $179m will be spent on upgrading power networks; $73m on water supply augmentation and delivery systems; $85m on sewerage system including almost $40m to complete the Darwin sewer strategy; and the closure of the Larrakeyah outfall.
The 2007-08 SCI includes annual CPI increases for electricity, water and sewerage tariffs for the next five years commencing 1 July 2007. The tariff increases are necessary to, (1) take pressure of the corporation’s operating performance which has seen significant decline given increasing costs, particular fuel costs; and (2) provide the corporation confidence to undertake the necessary capital program.
As members are aware, the government has a uniform tariff policy for most customers including small business and households. This means that these Territorians pay the same for electricity, water and sewerage irrespective of how much it costs to provide these services in different locations and conditions. Notwithstanding increased tariffs, there remains a gap between the price Territorians pay for electricity, water and sewerage and what it costs the corporation to deliver the service. This gap is, and continues to be, funded by government providing community service obligation, or CSO, funding and also government accepting a lower rate of return for its investment in the corporation. Government provides CSO funding of around $57m to subsidise power, water and sewerage and the corporation’s projected $22m profit for 2007-08 also includes government financial and in-kind capital contributions of some $78m.
Madam Speaker, as the 2007-08 SCI will be considered by the GOC Scrutiny Committee, I will not go into any more details here.
MOTION
Refer Paper to Government Owned Corporations Scrutiny Committee –
Statement of Corporate Intent for 2007-08 for the Power and Water Corporation
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that, pursuant to paragraph 1 of the order of the Assembly which appointed the Government Owned Corporations Scrutiny Committee, the statement be referred to that committee for examination and report.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Statement – Constructing
a Better Territory
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I support the minister for Planning and Infrastructure in her important statement in which she proudly outlined how the Martin Labor government is strongly supporting the lifestyle growth and sustainable economic development of the Northern Territory through a strong and vibrant construction industry.
As a professional engineer who has lived in the Territory for almost 30 years, I remember how insipid and lacklustre the latter year was under the last of the CLP governments. The current opposition has still not learnt anything. They still continue to carp and whine as we all heard this morning when the Treasurer gave his really vibrant and promotional speech in support of the Budget 2007-08. They continue to talk down the Territory. They still remain out of touch.
In 2001, the Martin Labor government was given the reins. The Territory has not looked back. Let us be quite frank about that; this government has turned our economic misfortune under the CLP mismanagement into a sustainable, economic future under a Labor government with foresight and a clear vision for a prosperous and vibrant Territory. In doing so, the Martin Labor government has created for Territorians a lifestyle which is the envy of the rest of Australia - and that is a fact. I love the Territory. I am a proud Territorian and it is a great place to raise a family. Labor has delivered and Labor will continue to deliver.
There is no better way to gauge the health of an economy than through its workforce. The Martin Labor government has been at the helm of this economic renaissance …
Members interjecting.
Mr WARREN: Yes, renaissance, which has seen the creation of 6000 new jobs in the last year alone. It is an economic renaissance which has seen more than 2000 of these new jobs taken up as apprenticeships and traineeships. These young people are our future and, by investing in the education and training of our young Territorians, this government is investing heavily in their future and, equally as importantly, in our future.
I am truly and unashamedly proud to be part of such a visionary government. Labor is clearly the natural party of government for the Northern Territory. A strong economy benefits Territory families. Our economy is not only strong, but it is sustainable. I will get to that later, member for Blain.
This government, through its promotion and direct investment in our economic development, is ensuring the sustainable lifestyle for economically healthy Territory families. This has all come about because of the combination of major project promotion and responsible fiscal management by the Martin Labor government. Not only that, but we have an economic environment in which Territory businesses are prospering. By a combination of cash investments in our infrastructure and continued cuts to business taxes by the Martin Labor government, which is continuing into Budget 2007-08, business activity is at an all time record. Our economy is strong, robust and growing ...
Mr Mills: Have you heard of China?
Mr WARREN: Our gross state product is now at a very healthy 7.5% - I will pick up that interjection. It is how you attach to that development in other parts of the world, and that is what this government is doing. Unlike the CLP government, we are able to tap into those profit opportunities when they arise.
Our gross state production is now at a healthy 7.5% driven mainly by investment, which, I am proud to say, has been attracted by the Martin Labor government’s responsible management of our economy. Others can see the benefits of investing in our vibrant economy, but not our opposition. Why? They still live in the doldrums of the past and continue to talk down the Territory at every opportunity, like this morning. In next breath, they claim to be proud Territorians. Sadly, they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the fact that they themselves - you and your families - are reaping the benefits of what this Martin Labor government has delivered for you and all other Territorians.
While investment so far has been the principal driver behind our very healthy GSP growth, the seeds of investment have begun to germinate. Our strong and robust economy is increasingly being driven by production outputs and it is forecast to grow at a healthy 6.2% in 2007-08. In other words, our future GSP growth will be on the back of long-term sustainable production growth. We are entering an exciting phase of the Territory’s development, but the desperate CLP continues to seek out the crumbs that drop off the back of the baker’s van rather than jumping aboard and feasting on the bountiful loaves of bread inside the van. They focus on the minor chinks in the delivery of the smaller ticket items because they do not have capacity to focus on the big picture of how a capable government runs a sustainable Territory economy for the true benefit of our great Territory lifestyle. They do not understand that because they have a leader who focuses on the small picture and, mistakenly, thinks she is on to a winner; a leader, for the time being, who does not understand the basics of what is truly important to Territorians; a leader who does not understand that in the end, Territorians want their government to deliver for them economic prosperity and the benefit that brings. They may grumble about travelling down the highway at 130 km/h, but they will not exchange their loaves of bread for the breadcrumbs. They will not change their vote for breadcrumbs. The opposition is a shambles; in disarray, out of touch with Territorians and nowhere near ready to govern.
I am proud that I stand here in 2007 espousing the Martin Labor government for its transformation of the Territory economy. I am proud to be part of this government. We are entering exciting times, which will benefit all Territorians, but this government is not content to rest on its laurels, unlike the CLP. Well, they did not have any laurels to rest on, I do not think.
This government continues to invest in our infrastructure. Since coming to power, the Martin Labor government has invested some $2.7bn in cash into the Territory infrastructure. I noted this morning, it is now $3.3bn that we are investing. Most importantly, there has been a planned focus in this investment to ensure that it is strategically spread across the broadest possible range of industries, and that is important – and I will get to what the CLP view was before. It is important that we try to spread that strategically placed investment across the industry. Equally important, considering the remoteness of parts of the Territory, this investment has been geographically spread across the whole Territory. In other words, we have not just focused on north of the Berrimah Line. I live south of the Berrimah Line and I can tell you, this government does not focus on the Berrimah Line, unlike the CLP.
By targeting strategic projects across the broad spectrum of industry and across our regions, our infrastructure spending provides the impetus for our burgeoning private sector. Our government’s investment in infrastructure and the construction of the Territory seeds and leverages larger scale private sector investment into the building of our Territory. That is what you raised before, and that is why I said it was how you do it when you talk about economies overseas and the opportunities for businesses here.
Of course, what does this mean? This means a strong and vibrant economy, jobs for Territorians and their families and jobs for our prosperous Territory lifestyle. By adopting this approach to investing in a range of projects which have the greatest potential to help develop the Territory - both large and small and across the whole Territory - the Martin Labor government has adopted a fiscally responsible approach to positioning our burgeoning economy for sustainable growth ...
Dr Lim interjecting.
Mr WARREN: It is. You want to talk the Territory down, to continue to carp and whinge, but you cannot come to face the fact that you, along with all other Territory families, are benefiting from our burgeoning economy. It is a sustainable growth. By the way, it is called spreading your investment; it is basic and sound economics.
Madam Speaker, contrast this to the previous CLP government’s crass approach of trying to pick winners ...
Dr Lim: Crass approach? Whoa!
Mr WARREN: It is. They gambled with the Territory’s economy and lost and we ended up with the infamous economic black hole. The CLP approach was to put all eggs in the one basket. That is a fiscally irresponsible way to run a government. They failed Basic Economics 101 dismally, and I do not believe they have the capacity to do any better now, because they are still locked into a stubborn mindset.
I note the minister has announced an infrastructure spend …
Mr Mills: Lighten up.
Mr WARREN: It is too important; we are talking about our economy and our future. This House is here not to lighten up but to deal with real fact and real substance ...
Mr Mills: Just think about it.
Mr WARREN: I am not going to lighten up. They failed Basic Economics 101.
I note that the minister just announced an infrastructure spend of some $645m in cash as part of Budget 2007-08, far exceeding what we have spent before. We have always exceeded the previous year’s. This is almost twice what we were able to spend when we came to government in 2001 and in 2002 …
Mr Burke: Remember that black hole.
Mr WARREN: Exactly, because of the infamous CLP black hole legacy.
Dr Lim: Black hole, your black hole. What is the deficit like?
Mr Mills interjecting.’
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Blain!
Mr WARREN: Member for Blain, now that we have turned the economy around, infrastructure spending has continued to climb, and we are proud of that …
Dr Lim: We are out of deficit? Oh, good.
Mr WARREN: You should take note of this, member for Blain. This year, we have seen the Martin Labor government’s investment in the Territory’s infrastructure reach $3.3bn since 2001. That is what I acknowledge the Treasurer and the Chief Minister for, and that is the important element. We are up to $3.3bn.
Mr Mills: Does that include repairs and maintenance?
Mr WARREN: This is the building and construction of our Territory, which continues.
Mr Mills: Does it include repairs and maintenance?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WARREN: The Martin Labor government has transformed the Territory, member for Blain.
Mr Mills: No, you have not.
Mr WARREN: We are now leading the nation in economic prosperity ...
Mr Burke: They do not like that.
Mr WARREN: No, they do not like it. But they are benefiting. That is the whole point; they are benefiting from this. They do not like to admit it, but they are benefiting. Their families are doing very well out of our economy ...
Mr Mills: You have not transformed the Territory. You are having a lend of yourself.
Mr WARREN: Madam Speaker, as I near the end of my speech, this government is committed to delivering for all Territorians well into the future. Our vibrant construction industry - it has gone real quiet for the moment, they do not like hearing this, or maybe I should speak a bit longer ...
A member: Please do, please do.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Member for Goyder, please continue.
Mr WARREN: Sorry, Madam Speaker. This government is committed to delivering for all Territorians well into the future. Our vibrant construction industry is the robust heart-pumping sustenance to our strong and healthy economy. It provides the nourishment for a great Territory lifestyle. I thank the minister for a most important statement and I eagerly look forward to further updates.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the provocative member obviously seeks a response from the Country Liberal Party. I shall spend a few minutes endeavouring to demonstrate what the County Liberal Party has done in the many years it was in government. Its legacy lives on right to today. The fact that we are sitting in this Chamber is one of the legacies.
In the 25 to 28 years that the CLP was in government, it created many opportunities and developed infrastructure that all Territorians today enjoy. I remember when I first arrived in the Territory in 1981, the third year of self-government, the road between Alice Springs and Darwin was a single strip of bitumen with undulations just about every 50 km to 100 km, blind turns, and corners that made driving between Alice Springs and Darwin quite hazardous. The road between Alice Springs and Kulgera was also a very narrow strip of bitumen. After Kulgera, you actually ended up on gravel almost all the way to Port Augusta.
In the first 10 years of self-government, when our funding was under a memorandum of understanding, or agreement, between the Commonwealth government and Northern Territory government, they provided us with financial support to create and develop the infrastructure that would be required for the Territory. That MOU was torn up by the then Treasurer, Paul Keating, saying that, after the first 10 years of self-government, the Northern Territory would no longer be funded with any extra assistance and we would have to fend for ourselves.
It was not until the commencement of the GST that the same volume of money from the Commonwealth was again being received by the Northern Territory. From 1988 to 2001, for 13 years, we were starved of resources that were desperately needed to maintain the services that were required in the Northern Territory.
I am sure you have seen this little diagram that was published several years ago by the Country Liberal Party. It shows the railway line between Alice Springs and Darwin. On that was a list of initiatives that were carried out by the Country Liberal Party government. Let me start from the top of the list and work down. There was the establishment of national parks - Litchfield, Keep River, Charles Darwin and Gregory. The Windows on the Wetlands was established by the Country Liberal Party and was hailed as one of the greatest things that could have happened to the Top End to allow visitors to enjoy the escarpments and the landscapes out there in the wetlands. We created the new city of Palmerston which is now considered to be one of the fastest growing cities in Australia – definitely the fastest growing in the Territory. Many people are now moving there. In spite of the lack of land, there are still efforts to move people out there.
Obviously, the new suburbs of Bellamack and Rosebery and all those areas will continue to attract people who seek homes in the suburbs as affordable as possible. We had the development of Kings Canyon Visitor Centre and the Katherine Gorge Visitor Centre. Yulara was built during those first 10 years of self-government when we had sufficient financial resources to embark on these sorts of projects. Today, Yulara is considered to be one of the best four- and five-star resorts around the country and is one of the icons that we promote in the Territory for tourism.
It is the foresight of governments such as that under Paul Everingham that got those things happening. I remember that at the same time Yulara was being built, the casinos, both in Darwin and Alice Springs, were also under construction. Those were courageous decisions made by government that had vision, and at a time when there was sufficient funds coming to the Territory to enable it to happen.
The Northern Territory government under the Country Liberal Party promoted the gold battery and Tourist Information Centre at Tennant Creek and continued to fund it to ensure that there was evidence of heritage and reminders for people that Tennant Creek is, indeed, a mining town, and one of the reasons why Tennant Creek was so successful back in the 1980s and early 1990s. I know that the battery at Tennant Creek is now struggling; its funding is never quite certain. They continue to ask questions of the government as to what is going to happen with the funding for the battery. It appears that the Minister for Central Australia continues to be uncertain because of other priorities that he may also have.
With the creation of the Northern Territory museums, the one in Darwin is one of the highlights of many visits by tourists to Darwin. Similarly, the Strehlow Centre in Alice Springs was created under the Country Liberal Party government . Again, fantastic legacies that ensured that the history, whether it be white or indigenous history, is retained, preserved and promoted in the Territory. Those are things that were done by a government at a time when it had the resources.
The gas pipeline between Alice Springs and Darwin was a visionary project by the then Chief Minister, Ian Tuxworth. Without the gas pipeline there would be no gas to fire up Darwin power generation, nor any of the power stations along the Stuart Highway. Just think of that. After the CLP government negotiated with ConocoPhillips to ensure that Bayu-Undan gas came into the Territory, into the Darwin area, this government, under the current Chief Minister, failed to negotiate for any supply of gas into the Territory. That must be the greatest disgrace that this government has to face: gas pouring into the Territory; every skerrick of it exported to Japan. Not one bit - not even enough to fill a little Bic gas lighter - comes into the Territory. Thank God for the gas from Alice Springs that is coming all the way up to Darwin, otherwise we would have nothing. That was visionary. That was something that was done by a Country Liberal Party government which was prepared to put money where it felt would do the Territory the best good.
The Territory Wildlife Park and Alice Springs Desert Park are initiatives of the Country Liberal Party government, and tourism now continues to promote those two parks as icons for people to visit when they arrive in the Territory. I know that the Alice Springs Desert Park is a firm destination for all those who come up on The Ghan. If you look at the advertisements to promote Ghan passengers into both Darwin and Alice Springs, the Territory Wildlife Park is another firm destination people go to. None of these are recognised by the current government as very major initiatives by a former government.
Let me talk about State Square. In the late 1980s, when we had to go through the recession we had to have, there was huge downturn in the construction industry in the Northern Territory, especially up here in Darwin. The former Country Liberal Party government embarked on a proposal that built us a brand new Supreme Court and Parliament House. Today, we all share the benefits of this building. I was privileged to be one of the first members to be in this Chamber in 1994 when we moved from the temporary building across State Square. Where is the recognition by this government that these are the things that were done to ensure not only that we have something that will last us 100 years or more, but it kept the construction industry alive and well for those years during the construction until the recession that we had to have disappeared?
Stokes Hill Wharf is another example of what the Country Liberal Party did. Today, tourists go down there, especially in the Dry, to enjoy the environment, the ambience of the place, the outdoor life of which we are so very proud in Darwin.
After the MOU with the Commonwealth government lapsed, the Country Liberal Party government continued to invest and to make commitments for the future of the Territory. The Alice Springs Convention Centre was embarked upon. It was finished just as there was a change of government in 2001 and the current Chief Minister had the privilege of having her name emblazoned on a plaque when she opened the convention centre. However, it was something that was embarked upon several years before the change of government. Today in Alice Springs, it is one of our very significant developments that provides for not only tourists, but a focus for people in Alice Springs. The fact that parliament sat in the convention centre 14 days ago in Alice Springs is an indication of the major benefit that the convention centre has brought to Alice Springs and to the Territory. The fact that we can share parliament across both ends of the Territory has to be a major achievement.
When I first arrived in this Chamber in 1994, I negotiated with then Chief Minister, Marshall Perron, and subsequent Chief Ministers to see whether we could take parliament to Alice Springs, but we had no facility other than the Araluen Arts Centre. The Araluen Arts Centre’s auditorium, while it has a seating capacity for 500 people, does not have a stage area or the floor area that would accommodate a sittings of parliament, so we did not do it.
Eventually, we managed, through a lot of persuasion, we got Question Time and eventually parliament broadcast on the Internet down the track. Those were the things that were anticipated and pushed by members of government back then. Today it is happening and this government has seen fit to continue those things. I applaud the government for doing that.
The Marrara Sporting Complex is a complex that this government currently lauds. They say it is fantastic and they are spending money to continue development of the complex. So they should. That complex was designed by the Country Liberal Party, with land abounding so that there is room for continued expansion into the future.
You may recall that Chief Minister Steve Hatton submitted a bid for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Darwin, hoping that it would provide a bit of an impetus to develop further facilities in Darwin. Today, this government claims all the credit for having the Marrara Stadium, the football ovals, the soccer ovals and the indoor netball stadium and all that. Well and good that you are prepared to put money into it. If you did not, then you would have been derelict in your duty as a government.
Then there is the Northern Territory University and Centralian College. Again, things that we did, back 20, 25 years ago because we believed in the future of the Territory. I recall the Northern Territory University, or the Charles Darwin University, very well. Back in 1984, I sat around a long table with some seven other people to consider how we could bring about a university. At the time, the Northern Territory government, under Paul Everingham, applied to the Hawke government to have a fully Commonwealth-funded university in Darwin for the Northern Territory. However, we were denied that. In fact, Susan Ryan, the then minister for Education, was prepared to give us 10 positions in the Darwin College of Advanced Education. She was prepared to fund only those 10 positions for higher education; that was all. You can understand that the then Chief Minister told Susan Ryan where to go, and it was from then on that we went on to develop the University College of the Northern Territory, auspiced by the University of Queensland.
Three years later, we combined UCNT with the Darwin College of Advanced Education to form the Northern Territory University. In fact, in those days, by which time the MOU between the Commonwealth and the Territory had been torn up by Paul Keating, we continued to forge on. NTU was formed. The law degree provided by the Northern Territory between 1986 to the early 1990s was one of the most coveted law degrees in Australia. I recall the law degree provided by the UCNT being rated as the second best in the country. That is what we know about governments with vision; it provided opportunities for Territorians to ensure that facilities are built in a way that will last into the future.
Today, the CDU, an amalgamation of the Northern Territory University with Centralian College, continues to provide as many services as it can for Territorians. One of the things the CDU needs to really consider seriously is that it cannot be all things to all people. A small university within a small jurisdiction, I believe the CDU should be looking at what it can do and what it does best, and concentrate on that. Those that it cannot do well - better that it becomes a facilitator for distance education for another institution. Support the students in the Northern Territory doing those studies. By doing that, the CDU can excel in the things it does best and still be a very supportive university for students who are doing courses they have to do through external studies. I believe that will be a better compromise.
The V8 Supercars at Hidden Valley is something the Chief Minister now lauds and praises. She has a Chief Minister’s tent where she lords over the hoi polloi of Darwin. It is something that Marshall Perron, being a rev head that he admits to be, got going. It is a good thing. The CLP started that. The ALP government is now continuing on. Well and good for that.
I found it difficult to accept, and I resent the fact that backbenchers get up and rave on about how bad the CLP government was. We did fantastic things for the Territory, and the thing in mind was that it was for the future of the Territory, and we kept them going.
We did the East Arm Port out of our own limited resources. We did not get any money from the federal government; the MOU had been torn up. However, we went through and developed the port - the port that now is a focus for, not only the railway line, but also for this government to promote its connection with South-East Asia. It is a very important facility for us and we should not deny that the former government had the foresight to develop that.
Finally, the railway line – again, another project that was initiated by the CLP government. The CLP government has nothing to be ashamed of …
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, I move that the member be given so much time that he may finish his statement to the House, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Dr LIM: I thank the member for Sanderson for doing that.
The member for Port Darwin has Cullen Bay in her electorate. That was another initiative by the CLP government at a time when money was short. We did it because we believed that Darwin needed it. Today, Cullen Bay is a tourist attraction and one of the elite areas of Darwin where properties worth more $1m now abound. You cannot deny the fact that the Country Liberal Party had the foresight, determination and the desire to see things built on the ground for all Territorians. We hope that all this will go on well into the future.
When young members, still wet behind the ears, sprout what is nothing more than just straight platitudes and condescending comments, people like me, who have been 13 years - for goodness sake! We have seen a lot more than you guys will ever hope to see. Always remember that, whatever we do, in whichever government, a day will come when the Country Liberal Party will win government again, and we will scaffold on the things that this government currently does. We will; that is the way governments work. You scaffold your successes on the successes of predecessors in former governments because, if you do not, then nothing will work. You cannot just appear out of a vacuum and deliver up all these things; it just does not happen.
Yes, there is a political divide, the political difference between two parties. That is fine. However, when people start denying lots of good things, then you find that not only do you demean your own comments, people do not believe you and you just make a fool of yourself.
I say that the CLP has done well for the Territory, by any measure. This list, this pictorial representation, clearly depicts that the CLP has done very well for the Territory. I hope that this government will stay focused on the Territory and do things for the Territory also. I know the Chief Minister is very keen to see the waterfront finished. There is a political difference in that. I believe that the waterfront, perhaps, is unnecessary; that that money could be better spent elsewhere. However, you are the government and, if the government so chooses, well, go ahead and do that and then bear the consequences of it.
I would not decry that you did not do anything at all in your five or six years in this government so far in the Territory. Yes, you have done that, but that is about all you have done. I hope in the remaining two years of this term that you have, that you will do something else, otherwise there will be such missed opportunities.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on constructing the Territory. I also acknowledge the member for Greatorex’s contribution. Today, I do acknowledge the work of the governments that have gone before, because things did not suddenly appear from 2001. The member for Greatorex is quite right; governments do scaffold on top of existing infrastructure. He is quite right in pointing out the good work that was done on the Marrara sporting precinct in getting that established, and the port at East Arm. He also spoke about the Convention Centre in Alice Springs and the casino and the Crowne Hotel. These were all significant public-funded initiatives by the previous governments. I acknowledge them, and the roads that the previous government initiated.
There is a whole range of infrastructure such as the schools – everything - was there. It just did not suddenly appear or exist before 2001. I am sure in what the member for Greatorex thought some members over this side were saying, there has been a bit of a misunderstanding. There is a bit of passion, of course, in talking about the projects since 2001, but any right thinking person would have to acknowledge the work that has gone before. I, for one - and I am sure that I speak on behalf of all government members, and all members in the House and all citizens of the Territory - acknowledge the great infrastructure works that have gone ahead. They did set the foundation for the Territory as we know it today, and to get the lifestyle that we so much enjoy such as the boat ramps around the place, at Buffalo Creek, on the foreshore at Mindil, out bush in different areas, and at Borroloola. Yes, this all happened prior to 2001.
It is what led up to 2001, those four years before, I suggest, when the money started getting tight coming out of the Commonwealth, when in the years leading up to self-government, until about the mid-1990s when the tap was turned off, we were - to use the terms of the shadow Treasurer - awash with federal funding. There was the ability to be able to just get into these big projects. Canberra understood and the CLP, the government of the day, to their credit got into it. However, when the tap was turned off is when we really saw the effects of short-thinking, quick projects without any thought of recurrent funding and the maintenance costs.
This House here, that we are in today, is a classic of huge recurrent expenditure funds needed in repairs and maintenance. When we look at all the assets of the pre-2001 era, there is recurrent funding needed. Look at the Marrara Stadium - great effort, put it out there, wonderful job. However, when we actually wanted to use it for what it was hoped to be designed for, we had to pump in something like $5m to get it up to scratch. What I found with that intervening period between, say, the early 1990s up to 2001, is a lot of the assets where run down. What we saw was like a Hollywood movie set; that is how I always thought about it. We had these wonderful facades of everything that meant we could use something but, when we got behind the front door, we found that they where propped up, and they could not be used for what they were really intended. Yes, they looked good as you drove past, but if you got involved in, you saw it.
We will just talk about Marrara for a moment. We saw it in the basketball stadium, and with the football. We still have issues at Darwin Rugby Union. Have a look at those projects and how they are, and compare that to the new football stadium that is being built - the consultation that went, the work that has gone into getting the pitch right, and the work into the style. Look at the style, the architectural merit of that stadium. I put out a newsletter to my electorate and said ‘football with panache’. It is not just block work; it is not just thrown up there. Have a look. There has been thought gone into it, there has been community consultation. We are starting to see public buildings with style, with panache, which will be great assets. What is more, depth has gone into the planning and the construction, and they will last. They will be great community assets. I point that out as a difference.
When we talk about the assets running down, look at our schools. I can only talk about the schools in the northern suburbs. I visited some schools out in the bush, which is a different kettle of fish again. However, when you have a look at our schools, they are all 30 years old, give or take a little while, and there is very little money put into repairs and maintenance. A great deal of our effort has actually gone into fixing up these schools.
Today, it was announced that Anula school will receive $400 000, which will be used to fix the staffroom and bring the shower blocks up to steam. Darwin High, arguably the premier high school in the Territory – and I say arguably because I do not want to get into a contest with my colleagues from the Centre because they have great schools, too. We are not talking about the curriculum base; all our students get the best possible education that this and previous governments could afford at the time. However, if we have a look at the spend at Darwin, it is huge; it was $8m or $13m. I do not have the figure in front of me, but it is a big spend.
What we are doing in the future as far as our schools go? Look at the programs for middle schools. We are getting a new middle school at Darwin, and there is work at Palmerston. A lot of our construction has gone out in the bush where there was hardly any spend at all on schooling infrastructure. There were a couple of schools here and there. Once again, I acknowledge that there were some. I know a new school was opened at Maningrida in the 1990s at one of the outstations when I was out there because Kentucky Fried Chicken, if I recollect accurately, was flown in from Darwin as part of the celebration. It was a pretty good opening of the school.
Likewise, when you look at our construction spend, look at health clinics. The state of our clinics out in communities was not flash prior to 2001. I say this with some authority. My wife was a bush nurse and I went out to a community with her. I know a lot of her colleagues. Even in my previous life working for Social Security when I travelled around the Territory, we used to go to the clinics and talk to the nurses, but we would have a look at the building. I can tell you, there was not much money spent out in the bush on infrastructure.
This government, since 2001, has really put a hard effort in. We have seen new clinics and new schools opening in quite a range of communities. That is where it is going. The member for Greatorex said do not deny the CLP the past; they worked hard and got things done. Their vision was bricks and mortar in a convention centre or a hotel. Great for tourism; looks good in town. Our construction dollar is being spent on the future of the Territory by making the life and the life chances of all Territorians a lot better. Therefore, we are getting better bang for our buck because our citizens in the future will be able to contribute more to the economy and to the very fabric of our society. That is what the Martin Labor government’s construction dollar is doing.
Have a look at the airstrips for communities since we have been in government. Airstrips, particularly in the Wet, are the lifeline of a lot of communities. In emergencies, they are the lifeline for individuals. We have done more than the previous government, putting in airstrips and upgrading others so that these strips could be used at night or in emergency situations and not flood. There are some differences that we have been able to make with the construction dollar.
Look at hospitals. Yes, there has been money spent on hospitals by the previous government, no two ways about it. However, have a look at the remedial work that had to be done at Alice Springs Hospital. At the sittings in Alice Springs, they were all saying: ‘You lot signed off on it’. I went to that hospital and inspected it. The work that had gone on, which was hidden behind panels, was pretty shocking to say the least; I looked at the walls. Who was the person who opened it? It was the previous CLP Chief Minister, Mr Burke. Once again, we return to the point of a Hollywood-like set. We had the faade of doing things but, when you got behind the front door, things just were not up to scratch. We have had to spend a lot of money, a lot of time and energy, and there has been patient and community discomfort in getting Alice Springs Hospital up to scratch.
Look at the great work that we are doing at Royal Darwin Hospital. Yes, some of the projects were kicked off and were mooted by the previous government. We have had to come in and fix it up, and we are still going strong out at that hospital with the hospice care, the birthing suites, the new Emergency Department …
A member: Improving the lifts.
Mr KIELY: Yes, improving the lifts. This has been a large part of our construction spend, which is not a royal edifice; it is not a convention centre in Alice Springs that everyone can go ‘oh, ah’ at. It is not a casino, it is not a Hilton hotel or anything like that. It is not something that stands right up and looks at you, but it is an investment in the future. Our construction dollar is looking to make the lifestyle for the community a better place.
Our dollar is being very well targeted, indeed, and well thought out, because we understand that the cake is only a certain size, and we cannot go to Canberra, as the previous governments were able to do in the old days, and just spend willy-nilly and not worry about signing it off. We understand that the budget is not an infinite resource, it is a very finite resource. If we want a bigger slice to go into health, then we have to look at - it might be Parks and Wildlife or Police. If we want another hospital, then where are we going to find the money for it? What part of the budget are we then going to go into? I am not a Cabinet minister but, by gee, it is not hard to imagine what goes on in that Cabinet room come budget time and the blues our ministers have, fighting hard to get their cut of the dollar so that their particular portfolio - their constituency, in that case, because we are not broke. We are not talking about the constituencies of Karama, Johnston or Millner, we are talking about the health constituents. We are talking about the pastoralists, the truck drivers, all these constituents that the ministers stand up and argue for.
I am pretty happy with the way the Infrastructure minister has been in there arguing hard - the member for Karama, before her the member for Johnston, before him, the member for Casuarina. They have all worked hard to get that Infrastructure portfolio moving along. Why? Because having good infrastructure in the Territory is more than an investment in bricks and mortar; it is an investment in our future. If we get the infrastructure right, the roads right, the hospitals right, the schools right, then we get a return to the community.
Madam Speaker, I have not even gone anywhere near the actual bricks and mortar of what is being built on the waterfront. I will leave that to the minister or the member for Port Darwin, who is a fairly active sort of person in that area.
I also point out that what we have been able to do since 2001, is to make it a fertile field for private enterprise to get in there and develop too. In the previous government’s days, it had government money with very little input from the private enterprise sector. That is not the case today. Have a look around. To use an iconic term from one of the conservatives, who is probably held in great awe, I should imagine, by the member for Blain - Sir Joh Bjelke Peterson - ‘private enterprise cranes on the skyline’. It is private enterprise now which is tipping right into the community and we are seeing great infrastructure developments through them. No longer is it just pump-primed by the government.
When we came to government in 2001, we had a clear objective set that we were going to get this economy going, and were going to make it a self-sustaining economy fuelled by injections of private enterprise money. Then, the funding from taxpayers could be used on those areas that are traditional, the bread and butter and the responsibility of government: health, education, safety and security. These are the areas where government belongs. Government does not necessary belong in building casinos or hotels.
There is a role when you have to look to make sure you get the longevity in the industries, hence, we see what is going on at the waterfront. That project is a classic example of how governments should be involved. It should not be an example of: ‘We will build it, we will take it on and walk away’. Oh, no. We have this project going over about a decade, I think. We are in public/private enterprise partnerships. We are tipping in roughly $100m, private enterprise are tipping in $900m. We have a bit of creep over time, I guess, with CPI on the returns. However, the returns are that it is training up our workforce, giving people the security and the understanding that they can go out and get mortgages. It is, therefore, fuelling our economy in the suburbs.
The people of Sanderson are pretty well heavily involved in the economy. I live in the dormitory suburb. I am never going to see any great edifices built in the suburbs, except for Marrara, of course. However, it is what is happening around Darwin and the Territory, where the people from my electorate are benefiting.
I commend the current Infrastructure minister, and those who went before her, for the great work they are doing in focusing us on the future. I acknowledge the work of the previous CLP governments. I have been critical in some areas of it but, overall …
Mr Mills: Tell the bloke behind you.
Mr KIELY: Member for Blain, earlier on - perhaps you missed it – I acknowledged the member for Greatorex’s comments.
Mr Mills: I am not having a go …
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KIELY: I do not have any problems there - none at all.
I wrap up my contribution by, once again, thanking all those hard-working ministers. Of course, you have to thank the Chief Minister and the Treasurer because they are also involved in that engine room of construction and helping our Territory go forward. Our construction plan, Building the Territory, goes way beyond the life of this government. It will be scaffolding for future governments of whatever persuasion. It will certainly be good scaffolding for all of us.
Ms LAWRIE (Infrastructure and Transport): Madam Speaker, I thank all the members who contributed to this important debate on constructing a better Territory. Particular thanks to the members for Goyder and Sanderson for their contributions today.
The Martin government is fulfilling its 2001 election commitment to build a better Territory. We have another record infrastructure budget coming in 2007-08. Since 2001, this government has injected $3.3bn in cash into the Territory’s infrastructure, rebuilding our construction sector, a key driver in our economy. Budget 2007-08, we have heard today, will deliver $645m in cash to build a better Territory.
I note that the member for Katherine said that the difference between the CLP and ALP in government is that this ALP government has never known a bad time. It may be difficult for the member for Katherine to remember, but many of us do remember that, at the end of the 1990s, the Territory economy was in a major recession, and both the deficit and the debt were spiralling. In 2001, when we came to government, the Territory’s economy was on its knees ...
Mr Mills interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: I note that the member for Blain laughs, but I have to say for the families who were losing their jobs, those subcontractors who were having to leave town for the first time and look for work interstate, that was no laughing matter. Our construction sector was absolutely on its knees; the level of construction was falling. This government was faced with the twin issues of both a contracting economy and no budget flexibility to counteract it. The budget deficit was described by the then Under Treasurer as ‘unsustainable’. Due to the failure of the CLP to manage the budget and the government’s infrastructure program, it led to a contraction of the economy, job losses and increasing numbers of people had no choice but to move interstate looking for work. Private investment in construction was falling.
The government also had to contend with the effects of the World Trade Centre tragedy, the failure of Ansett, the scare caused by SARS effectively sending our tourism industry into a serious decline, and the HIH collapse. The member for Katherine said this government has never known bad times - well, I challenge anyone to find a harder time than that period in 2001. For any government new to office, this situation, combined with the general economic conditions prevailing, presented a daunting and difficult series of tasks. To drag the Territory economy out of the doldrums, the Martin government adopted policies which, to this day, form the basis of our economic strategy.
The principles underlying our actions are: providing a high level of cash to capital works and infrastructure; focusing our funding on economic drivers that will produce future growth; making both sensible and strategic reductions to taxation on business in the community; and maintaining a very strong fiscal discipline.
The Martin government has really recharged the infrastructure spend. We inherited a budget in the red and infrastructure budget continually underfunded. In the last years of the CLP, they ran up two $100m-plus deficits in two years and failed to provide adequate cash to the infrastructure budget. In fact, in their final budget, they did not have enough cash to pay for the revote from their previous year. That means that none of the new projects could get off the ground at all for at least 18 months to two years, and they had run out of minor new works cash well before the end of a financial year.
Proudly, we can now say our infrastructure budget is both solid and funded - funded at record cash levels. This year’s budget will deliver $645m in cash to create thousands of jobs right across the Territory. The infrastructure budget also puts in place the strategic plans that will see the Territory’s economic progress guaranteed into the future. Our economic picture is bright and, according to Access Economics our economy is turbocharged. The Housing Industry Association, in their regular economic reviews, is positive to glowing about the economy and its future. Looking around the Territory we can see the evidence of this solid investment in infrastructure, both from government and, importantly, the private sector.
The Construction Snapshot for this quarter reports the government projects under construction around the Territory total some $389m. These include the East Arm Port ship loader; the Royal Darwin Hospital birthing centre; both the Darwin middle school and Casuarina middle school projects; the Darwin Soccer Stadium; the Marrara Fire Station; the Darwin City Waterfront; Stuart Lodge redevelopment; Desert Knowledge precinct; the Maryvale Road; the Larapinta development; the Alice Springs Hospital fire protection; upgrading of the Katherine Gorge cross-overs; the Victoria Highway upgrade; the new health centre at Kalkarindji; the redevelopment of Blain Street housing complex; Central Arnhem road upgrade; and Nhulunbuy middle schools project.
Private sector projects in Darwin amount to $803.9m worth of investments ranging from apartment construction to commercial property developments, hotel redevelopment, and extensions. In Alice Springs, $33.2m in private investment is building a town with shopping centre extension, new residential allotments, Quest serviced apartments, the Imparja studios and the expansion of the Yeperenye Shopping Centre.
Roads funding is a large part of our construction budget. This year, we have the highest roads budget ever in the Territory. At $180m, it is $100m more than the CLP’s 2001 roads budget. Budget 2007-08 will deliver $57m for repairs and maintenance, an increase of $7.5m this year alone. This is a massive program and forms part of a very significant plan for both repairing and upgrading our roads.
In Central Australia, $1.74m will go to the upgrade of the Outback Way including work to the Plenty Highway. Importantly, $2m goes for the Tanami Road for upgrading and sealing priority sections, and further funding to upgrade the Sandover, Maryvale and Santa Teresa Roads. In Darwin, we will commence the Tiger Brennan Drive extension project with $10m to provide the dual lane turning roads from Wishart Road across Berrimah Road and into Tiger Brennan Drive, part of a $32m commitment from the Territory government. We will spend $2.5m to improve road access to the Darwin High middle school. In the Katherine region, $50m will be spent upgrading the Victoria Highway and building six high-level bridges under the AusLink Program. Importantly, $800 000 will be spent upgrading the Buntine Highway. Our roads program supports business in the bush, mining, tourism and cattle and it supports Territorians living in the bush either in our remote communities or on their pastoral properties.
The Martin government will continue to work with industry. We will continue to focus our capital investment in a very strategic way to build a wider and sustainable economic base into the future. We are creating jobs, growing the economy and providing better facilities to support the lifestyle of Territorians today and into the future are a strong foundation for the Territory.
I thank members who have contributed to the Building a Better Territory debate. Infrastructure is critically important to the future of our economy. As I said, it provides jobs and it certainly provides access to services regarding roads and it improves industry such as the ship loader at the port which is going to see vast mineral loads across that port. This, of course, is going to ensure the lifeblood of the railway line across the Territory.
Mr Deputy Speaker, infrastructure is critical. I thank all the members for participating in this debate, and I commend the statement to the House.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Statement – Achieving Better
Educational Outcomes
Note Statement – Achieving Better
Educational Outcomes
Continued from 18 April 2007.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the minister for Education’s statement in which he updated the House about the priority activity areas for the Department of Employment, Education and Training.
There were two very important announcements in the minister’s statement and I commend the minister for declaring that:
- Our government has high expectations across the board, but none more so than in the area of education and training. Labor believes in education and is passionate about getting it right.
I also concur with the minister’s declaration that:
- … a quality education system is the foundation for a prosperous Territory and is the key to unlocking opportunities for individuals.
These declarations underpin our education and training policies. As someone who has three degrees and has benefited enormously in life because of the educational opportunities I was given by the Gough Whitlam of federal Labor government, I feel well qualified to speak on the value of education. We on this side of the House are very proud to be part of the Martin Labor government, which has carried on the proud Labor tradition of placing education and training on the highest of pedestals.
This government has clearly committed itself to educating and training Territorians to maximise their true potential and to meet the employment demands of our burgeoning economy. Most importantly, the Martin Labor government is delivering on its commitment to all Territorians, from the Tiwi Islands in the north to beyond Alice Springs in the south. The Martin Labor government has been at the forefront of the creation of 6000 new jobs for Territorians during the past year. Most importantly, more than 2000 of these are new apprenticeships and traineeships.
Historically, a basic cornerstone of the Labor movement is the right of all Australians to be educated. Education is a right, not a privilege. It has always been and will always be one of the major divides that separates us on this side of the House from those on the other. That right applies equally for indigenous Territorians living in our bush communities. That is why we now have young indigenous Territorians graduating from Year 12 in their own communities.
This government has the courage to embark upon the most significant structural reforms in education ever seen in the Territory’s history. By embarking upon the comprehensive middle years approach to learning, we will be focusing on the educational needs of our secondary students. As the minister reported in his statement, we have invested heavily in our schools infrastructure throughout the Territory. This will ensure that our secondary facilities are capable of properly delivering the middle years reforms which are so vital for the best possible educational outcomes for our young Territorians.
I am extremely pleased that some $11.3m is being spent on infrastructure at Palmerston High School. A further $4.5m is being spent at Taminmin High School in my electorate of Goyder to equally service the middle years programs. I am also pleased that the Martin Labor government recently announced an injection of $500 000 to upgrade Taminmin High School gymnasium, which will include bringing this building up to community cyclone shelter standard.
In conjunction with the middle years strategy is the continued roll-out of the Building Better Schools program, designed to achieve stronger educational results. Not only is there a range of new professional development initiatives, but also a raft of other initiatives, such as new systems designed to keep track of students’ performances, and initiatives designed to work constructively at improving behavioural issues. All this is great news for our young Territorians.
Late last year, I had the pleasure of joining the Education minister at Palmerston High School when he launched the $5.7m program that has ensured that 5000 new computers were delivered to all schools right across the Territory. This is a fabulous initiative, and I was very proud to be there when the minister launched this at Palmerston High School. Now, every student in the Territory is able to source a computer and educational software, and I thank the minister for it. Also, every teacher in the Territory now has a laptop computer. In this day and age, it is vital that every student has access to computer technology to enhance their education. I am particularly proud to be part of the Martin Labor government which has again delivered.
One of the most important things an MLA can do is to help deliver for his or her electorate, especially when it comes to things that are desperately needed for their community. When I was elected in 2005, I quickly became aware of the inadequately serviced Special Education Annexe at Humpty Doo Primary School and how it had been overlooked by a succession of previous CLP governments and CLP local members ...
Ms Lawrie: Shame.
Mr WARREN: It certainly is. The CLP were far too busy blaming others for all the problems in the Territory to be bothered with trying to deliver for their constituents. Some things do not change.
As a result of my lobbying our Labor government, which is prepared to listen, we are now well into completing the construction of a modern, well-equipped and resourced $800 000 special education facility comparable with Nemarluk in Darwin. It will be the centrepiece for proper educational services for disabled and special needs children spread right across the whole of the greater Darwin rural area. No longer will the rural special needs students and their dedicated teachers have to put up with learning in a cramped old donga that the previous CLP government thought was okay for our disabled and special needs kids. It is an exciting project for which I am extremely grateful to the Martin Labor government. That is why I entered politics, and I am proud I did. I am proud that I am part of a government that, when push comes to shove, acts with compassion and decency on social issues.
I was very pleased to note in this budget that there are extra buses being put on for the Special Education Unit there, to properly service it, so that these students, their parents and the teachers and people who are supporting them can get around. That is very important and I commend the Treasurer, the Education minister and the Infrastructure minister for getting together and delivering on that.
However, this is only one of a number of education-related projects which I have lobbied strongly for and which have been delivered by the Martin Labor government in my electorate of Goyder. For example, Humpty Doo Primary School is also host to a world first. Recently, the EnviroNorth website was launched at the school. This great collaborative effort between the department of Education and the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Savannas Management has seen the development of an accessible and extremely informative educational website about our tropical savannahs. The EnviroNorth website involves teachers and students from Humpty Doo Primary School and has already been accepted as a leading website on tropical savannah information for schools.
Humpty Doo school also had a chicken coop project, the middle schools project which the previous Education minister launched. That was a really great thing for the community there. What was particularly important was it involved different school classes in the project selection, as part of the middle school. People often think of middle schools as just being the concept of the structure. However, middle school is about incorporating more integrated learning processes. This class was involved in project selection and design, as well as local community members who participated in assisting the students in that construction. That is another great project that is happening there.
Mr Deputy Speaker, you will, no doubt, be familiar, of course, with the Berry Springs school shade structure. That was $100 000 which this government committed to that, which is a fantastic project. I know you fought very hard for that project, along with me. We delivered really tangible assets for the areas such as Berry Springs and Humpty Doo since we have been in office. I commend you as well for that effort that you put in because I know it is very important.
In Alice Springs during the last sittings, I had the fortune to meet students from Alice Springs High School who are part of the Clontarf Football Academy. The Education minister spoke with great passion in Alice Springs about the scheme during those sittings. My colleague, the member for Millner, had invited them to attend the important sittings in Alice Springs, and I thank him for that. Furthermore, the member for Stuart told me how proud he was of what the program was delivering. Students are encouraged to engage fully in their educational opportunities through a structured football program that includes training, competition games against fellow Clontarf Academy, ANZAC Hill, and Yirara College students, and frequent trips outside Alice Springs.
Both the members for Stuart and Millner are university qualified indigenous members who are both very talented. They were, in their younger days, very talented sportsmen and, today, their educational qualifications have allowed them to showcase their scholastic talents in this House, in this parliament. They are true role models for these young indigenous Territorians who are enrolled in the programs like the Clontarf Football Academy. I am reliably informed there is a 90% retention rate in our NT school-based education for these Clontarf students. That is 10% better then in Western Australia, and good on Alice Springs for that.
The Martin Labor government also recognises the importance of engaging students in study at an early age. The Chief Minister’s Literacy Awards were launched in 2006. These awards honour those students who have shown considerable success and improvement in literacy across the Territory. And so they should be recognising them. Recently, I was fortunate to be able to present these awards to 62 students from six primary schools in my rural electorate of Goyder. This was a great honour for not only the students, but also for me.
There is no better way for this government to ensure all Territorians participate in this burgeoning, sustainable, responsible growth than to devote attention to training and education for Territorians. The Martin Labor government is absolutely committed to ensuring Territorians have the skills appropriate for the needs engendered by a substantial economic development and growth.
The minister for Education discussed how this Cabinet has put its energy and resources into training programs such as Jobs Plan 1 and Jobs Plan 2. These programs have placed career advisors back into the high schools, and extended and expanded our VET in Schools program to include school-based apprenticeships. That is important and essential, and is great news. Now, with Jobs Plan 3, we are well ahead of our schedule to target 10 000 apprentices and trainees to 2008. With Jobs Plan 3, we will have a home-grown workforce trained on the basis of matching workforce skills with local industry needs. That is critical. This is sustainable skills training at its best. What I particularly like is that Job Plan 3 will target jobs in the bush.
I am also pleased to report that because of Jobs Plan 1, 2 and 3 initiatives, Taminmin High School in my rural electorate, is now the largest provider of VET programs in the Northern Territory.
Palmerston and the rural area surrounding Darwin are acknowledged as the fastest growing areas of the Territory. New estate developments are rapidly being developed and released, particularly in the Humpty Doo and Herbert areas of my electorate of Goyder.
Of course, a government’s responsibility is also to ensure that our students can go to school. The Martin Labor government has provided an extensive and ever-increasing school bus service for rural students in my electorate and other students throughout the whole rural area which allows parents to know that children are getting to school safely. In fact, in the past couple of weeks, our government has announced they have extended school bus run 415 to include the new Hutchinson Road in Herbert and also, at my lobbying, the extension of run 453 in the mornings to pick up students from Southport.
While on the subject of school buses, I am pleased to report that the Transport minister recently outlined that this government spent $1.75m on procuring an additional 10 buses to cater for the changed school bus needs as a result of the middle school requirements.
I am reliably told that the current rural school bus service has made a very smooth transition to the changed conditions, and this is due to good departmental planning and school community engagement. School community engagement is critical. I am especially proud that this government is on top of school bus needs, and pleased to report that extra buses have been put on to service the Humpty Doo school bus interchange service as a result of higher than expected enrolments at our local schools.
To complement the efficient transporting of our students to their various schools over the past 12 to 18 months, the Martin Labor government has spent well over $500 000 on construction of the Humpty Doo school bus interchange and, most recently, the Cox Peninsula school bus interchange, both in my electorate of Goyder.
We are also about to commence the installation of a series of concrete school bus shelters throughout the Litchfield Shire to protect our schoolchildren from our harsh weather conditions. In fact, the pads have already been laid and I am getting good feedback on that from my constituents. One concrete shelter has already been constructed at Berry Springs and this will shortly be shifted to a more permanent and safer location off the Cox Peninsula Road.
It should not be forgotten that this government also heavily subsidises the Mandorah Ferry Service operator to provide a free school day ferry service for students of the Cox Peninsula to attend schools in Darwin.
Mr Deputy Speaker, in conclusion, it is great to be a Labor MLA in the Territory and be able to put up in parliament …
Members interjecting.
Mr WARREN: It is! It is! I am grateful. I was born into this side of politics and there is not a day that goes by when I am not proud to be up here talking about things that I fought for my electorate. I do not talk down the Territory ...
Mr Mills: Nor do I.
Mr WARREN: You could have confused me. It is all I hear ...
Mrs Miller: We are pretty realistic though.
Mr WARREN: I am sorry but I just do not accept that.
Anyway, it is great to be a Labor MLA in the Territory because that is what we stand for. We stand for social issues; education is our top priority. I am grateful to be able to be in parliament and talk in an upbeat manner about how this government is at the helm, in charge of a strong, sustainable, growing Territory economy across all departments, not just education.
The minister’s statement is very good evidence of this. I commend the minister for this important update.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I take this opportunity to speak to the minister’s education statement because none of us would be in this House today if we had not taken advantage of having good education. The member for Goyder said that education is a right not a privilege. I have to say in my day it was a privilege. My sister left school at 14 and went to work in the knitting mills. My brother left school at 14 and went to work in a shop. I was able, through scholarships, to stay and complete my matriculation. I believe that I have been privileged because of that. Certainly, I would not be where I am today if I had not had that opportunity.
Interestingly, when I finished matriculation I was 16 and I was not quite sure what I was going to do. I had finished all the schooling and, suddenly, I had this piece of paper. What do you do with it? The federal government had advertisements saying that they would pay you while they trained you to be a teacher. So, I applied for another scholarship and was fortunate enough to get it. Being 16, I was too young to go to teachers college, so I was placed in a school as a student teacher. That is where I learned to teach because I was at the beck and call of the infant mistresses of the time. You may recall if you wanted to stay on in education and take promotion positions, you could not get married. Once you were a married woman, you had no opportunities to go for a promotion whatsoever. Therefore, all these infant mistresses were very competitive, authoritative-type people who scared the hell out of me. However, being thrown into a class was the way I learnt about children and how to deal with them, and the way I understood that all children are different. Not all of us are the same; we all have different abilities, we all learn at different paces, we all learn in different ways.
When I went on to teachers college, they taught me how to teach, which is different from what happens in universities today. They taught me to teach kids reading, spelling, and how to write. The student teacher years gave me an enormous feel for teaching and whether I wanted to go on with it. We have within our government system a system of traineeships. I say to the minister: have you considered offering traineeships in schools for people who may be considering doing teacher training? It is a great way for them to get a feel about teaching and it is a way you can mould that into your traineeship criteria.
I know there are some schools that are taking student teachers for longer periods than the norm of four to six weeks. Sometimes, they are placing them for up to six months. That is an extremely good idea. However, if 17-year-olds have finished their education and are not sure what to do, why not offer a traineeship in a school? It would give people the chance to know whether they want to go on to become a teacher, but it will also pay them while they are doing it. Many young people today do not go straight into university because they work for a year to become independent to get the Youth Allowance. It is as simple as that. Why not give them opportunity to do that in a way that will mould their future? I hope the minister might consider putting traineeships into schools, because I certainly benefited from my time as a student teacher.
When I finished my teacher training, I went into the Victorian system and my first class was what was called a beginners class with 55 students. It was a lovely time. In the beginners class in Victoria, you only had to prepare them for learning so there was a lot of fun on the pre-writing and pre-learning skills. When I came to the Territory, it was the South Australian system where five-year-olds went into Year 1 with a very strict curriculum. That was quite disastrous for many of our Northern Territory students. It is why, later in life, I became involved in the Transition movement to introduce that period of time before students went into Year 1. The whole theory of Transition was great, but it became very difficult to manage in schools.
I certainly support the new regime - the early entry, I think you call it - of taking students into school if they turn five up to the end of April. As long as the emphasis on that 12 months they have in Transition class is about pre-learning and there is no pressure for them to learn, you will find they will develop more quickly anyway. I support the program as it is at the moment, even though it has caused a bit of a flurry in preschools because many of the younger children have moved on to school, and the numbers in preschools may have dropped a little. Over a couple of years, that will balance out and they will catch up, because three-year-olds used to go to preschool in the Territory when my children went to preschool in the 1960s. It will occur. Student traineeships and good support for the early entry system is good.
The point about teaching under the South Australian system is that you had a very strict curriculum. It dictated what the children should learn by the end of Year 1, Year 2. It was skills-based, not this outcomes-based that we see so much about at the moment. Even when I became principal of Sadadeen, my staff sat down and wrote a skills-based curriculum on what they believed students should learn. At the moment, we all know the curriculum is very crowded. Schools are overwhelmed with trying to get through everything that is expected of them. I believe we should support the push that is being endorsed by state and territory ministers for common literacy and common numeracy standards. I believe we should say to schools: ‘These are the skills your students need at this level. What subjects you do in the other time, you can decide in your community’. It is usually music, because everyone loves music. It is usually physical education, because everyone loves sporting abilities. Art, social studies, science, if you want to include religion, if you want to do other types of cultural activities, fine. But let us ensure that the basics of literacy and numeracy are, in fact, our priority. Let us say to schools: ‘Yes, get rid of all the stuff that should be done by parents and other people, and concentrate on the job we pay you to do’.
At the same time, I find that many parents say to me they really do not know if their kid has finished Year 2 or Year 3. They have certainly gone up to the next class, but the reporting is so nebulous. I do not know if you have seen a Year 1 report these days. I keep thinking, ‘Goodness gracious me, but can this kid read or spell?’ I believe we have to get back to realistic reporting to parents. We keep pushing kids up and up. We say they are in Year 7, but are they working at Year 7 level? Possibly not. I am not trying to put kids down, but parents need to know if their child is not achieving at a level that would be expected of that class level. When we are looking at the crowded curriculum, let us also look at the way we report to parents, and let us keep it realistic. Do not confuse parents. I have had parents come in to me and say: ‘Look at this report. What does it mean?’ I have looked it and thought it has gone through a whole series of outcomes that this kid has actually achieved, but it does not, at the end of the day, really tell the parent at what stage the student is.
I was very pleased to hear the minister did not support the performance pay measure that had been put forward by the Commonwealth. As a principal, I cannot imagine how I would ever operate that sort of system. In the Territory, we have had a master teacher concept, which I believe is now called teacher of excellence. When I was in schools with the master teacher concept, you were judged by your peers. If your peers thought you were a particularly good teacher, you would be assessed, then you would be designated a master teacher. The beauty of these people who had skills in certain areas was that you could utilise them; not just in the schools but in other ways.
When I was in the regional office as the Principal Education Officer in charge of curriculum, I had a number of master teachers who said: ‘We are happy to come in for one year, perhaps two years, but we want to make sure we can get back to our schools’. While they were in the office, they actually did projects that they then took out many times to remote schools, or they did in-service with teachers, or they produced materials. It was a great way of drawing on their skills – still giving them the recognition they should have, but also the system benefited from their performance.
Minister, I am glad you did not go down the road of performance pay. The way a teacher achieves depends very much on the ability of the children and their backgrounds. Some of our teachers do a marvellous job, but only achieve that much because of the student they are dealing with, whereas other teachers can say: ‘Wow, look at what I have achieved in this’, because they have particularly gifted kids. Let us reinforce the master teacher concept, or the teachers of excellence. That is a good way to pat teachers on the back.
The other thing I want to talk about is school holidays. It has been raised with me a number of times - and I think I wrote to the previous minister about it – that the Territory went to a semester system and we have six weeks leave at Christmas, one week for first term, four weeks in the middle of the year, one week in September and then back to the Christmas break. Some of the private schools are changing. They are saying that four-week break in the middle of the year is too long. They would prefer to have the two, two, two plus six that has been around for many years because, too often, that particular one week is enough to refresh the kids, but not enough to refresh the teachers as well.
I suggest to the minister that he also looks at school holidays. I know some schools are suggesting that, perhaps, they should change the holidays to suit them. I have heard, particularly in remote schools that sometimes it would be better to close the school at certain times to take in the need for ceremonies, or whatever they are doing, and have it open at other times. Perhaps we need to think about how we are structuring the school year. I should pull out those letters I sent to the previous minister and send them to you.
Incentive to stay at school - I did not want to call it truancy, because we have heard enough about it. I noticed in all sorts of papers from the government the emphasis on getting kids to stay at school. The carrot-and-stick approach does not always seem to be working. I do not think you can do the Halls Creek trial-type exercise. I do not think you can say: ‘You are going to lose some of your Centrelink benefits if you do not send your kids to school’. I do not think you achieve anything by doing that. However, I do think we need to be looking at ways to provide incentive for parents to actually get their kids to school and assistance, rather than the negative ‘Okay, this is the act; you must send you kids to school’, which seems government does not want to implement and goes nowhere.
For the incentive to attend and stay at school, there are wonderful programs. You have all mentioned ‘No Pool No School’. There is also the wonderful program at Ali Curung where they had the chart up on the wall. Kids who attended every day were marked off and, at the end of the term or the end of semester, they went on a camp or a holiday down south. If you had not attended so many times, you did not go on that camp. There are many schools which put that in. There was always a program: ‘Okay, if you do not come to school you are not allowed into the recreation hall after school’, where they had access to games and afternoon tea, and all the things that kids love. That is an incentive to get children to stay at school.
I am still not sure how you do it, but we have too many children walking our streets. I call them children. I have said it before, it worries me that they are, in fact, going to harm themselves or someone else, and end up on the wrong side of the law when, in fact, they should be in our schools. Minister, try to be creative and see if we can improve our attendance rates at school.
Back to School funding was $50 that, at the beginning of each year, is payable to parents for children who started at school, and it went through from primary to secondary. I was wondering whether the minister could tell us how much was paid out this year in the Back to School funding. I notice in the budget it is $1.9m. Does it include remote schools? For instance, it is meant to be for uniforms, books, pencils – what have you. Many of the remote schools I have been to, the uniforms and everything are already given. Perhaps you could give us some sort of indication of the take-up of that $50 in remote schools which, I say again, is another demand on the teachers in these schools in administration. It may be fine in bigger schools because they have administrative officers. However, in some of the remote schools, we ask the teachers to be bus drivers, kitchen hands, medical superintendents by giving medicines, social workers - you name it.
The teacher’s role is such that they do not just concentrate on teaching and learning; it is huge - too wide. I am interested in how that $1.9m is dealt out. Does it depend on the attendance? If the kid turns up in the first week and gets the $50 and the uniform and everything, and we do not see him again for three months, was it a waste of time? It would be interesting to see what sort of statistics the minister can provide on the take-up of that. Is it becoming a fairly elitist money to those schools where there is high attendance only. I am interested to know that.
In the budget I saw there is $1.2m for indigenous partnerships. Could that $1.9m that you have allocated for Back to School funding perhaps be redirected in better ways to improve the conditions and the resources of schools? Could that $1.9m actually help to keep Warrego School open? That was a school that tried hard with their students during boom times and got extraordinary attendance and extraordinary outcomes. They brought them to Alice Springs for the swimming carnival. They did amazing things. I know their numbers have dropped, but is it not better that five kids be educated? At least those five have been catered for. If we close that school, they just drop out of sight again. Will they actually go to Tennant Creek? Perhaps the minister could update us on Warrego. It would be interesting to know just what is going on there.
The teachers do have a hard role. We talk about wanting to focus more on literacy and numeracy. I know there is a lot of support in schools now with all sorts of assistance but, when we took that inclusion policy of putting disabled students back into mainstream school, that put an enormous burden on to classroom teachers. Even though the assistance was there, it still placed an extra burden on teachers. Somehow or other, when we are talking about incentives and rewards, we should start ensuring those schools that are doing well are acknowledged and rewarded. They are the ones we want to encourage to keep doing the good things they are doing. They are the schools that can be role models for others around the place. Why disadvantage them, in a way, by saying: ‘They are doing well so we will not worry about them’? Why not at least say: ‘You are going a great job, perhaps we should give you some extra piece of equipment or take the kids on excursion’, or something like that.
We tend to dwell on the negatives a lot. We do not always raise the positives. Years ago, the good old Centralian Advocate used to always have a snippet in the paper about schools. There was a schools column and there was always a good thing – you are nodding. Do you remember it? There was always a good story about schools. Unfortunately, that has dropped off. I know we have Classmate, but that is still often not schools-based – it is more curriculum-based. We should do anything to raise the profile of our schools so that they are attractive places to come. I went to the Little Children’s Learning Centre in Bath Street in Alice Springs - I have often mentioned it. These teachers get up at 7.30 am, jump on the bus, go around to a number of town camps and bring the kids back. They are at the stage where they have to say: ‘No, we cannot take anymore’. They rely on Commonwealth funding to do this. It has become such a happy place, with kids doing things they would not normally do at home, that parents want them to keep going.
Years ago, we used to take a preschool caravan into Charles Creek camp. I know the Toy Library takes a group with Tangentyere Council into some of the town camps. It is all those little programs that are so important and make such a big difference and, somehow, they are often ignored ...
Dr LIM: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the member be granted an extension of time to complete her speech, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mrs BRAHAM: Thank you, member for Greatorex and Mr Deputy Speaker. I have lost my train of thought! What I am saying is that there are so many small programs where so many things are doing well, they are the sort of things we should encourage – a bit like the Warrego situation - and perhaps not be so ready to say: ‘You do not fit this criteria so we are going to close you down’. It might mean adding just one more teacher to help. Member for Stuart, do you have the Alcoota and Harts Range?
Mr Hampton: No; that is Alison.
Mrs BRAHAM: Member for Macdonnell. They are fantastic places; those teachers out there are so dedicated, and they have raised the enrolment of students. Do we ever pat them on the back? Do we ever give them something they would like? Have you ever asked them what they would like?
I know when I went to the children’s learning centre, I said: ‘What do you need?’. They said they needed some puzzles, Tonka toys for the sandpit, and books. They knew what they needed, but they did not have access to ready funds for it. If you went to Alcoota and asked what they would really like, they might say a dozen footballs. Harts Range might need a new DVD player. Reward the good, and let us not always act as though education is all doom and gloom.
Braitling had its 30th birthday ...
Mr Henderson: I wondered whether you would mention that, Loraine.
Mrs BRAHAM: I thought I should, being the principal there from 1987. I think you got it wrong in your media release.
Mr Henderson: Did I? I am sorry.
Mrs BRAHAM: It was a great school. We always used to say it was the best school in town. I guess that was a way of praising the kids so they would sit up straighter and be proud. There was a lovely Assembly yesterday. Myrtle Noske came to it. She had painted panels years ago with the help of students. They were taken down because they were getting a bit old and faded, but she has resurrected them and done a lot of work so they look bright and vibrant. It is really a history of Alice Springs many years ago from Myrtle’s perspective.
Josie Petrick reminded us yesterday that Braitling Primary School is actually on the old racecourse. It is where the old racecourse was many years ago. I had forgotten that. She reminded us that Dixon Road was the first road in Alice Springs. Everything else was a street.
Sue Crowe is the current principal. There were three past principals: Mary Blaiklock; Ken Davies, who took over from me; and me. It was great to exchange ideas and see how the school had been altered over the years. When I was there, there were about 540 students and it was bulging. We had kids in every nook and cranny, which is why there was a push shortly after for new classrooms. The classrooms that were built have made an amazing difference to that school.
It is an example of a school where things can go well when you have a good staff. The ABC asked me for some snippets about Braitling and, I must admit that I said when I took over, every Christmas the teachers always gave the principal a special Christmas gift. I think in the first year, I was given a toy bulldozer. It was not hard to guess why; I think they were giving me a bit of a hint about how I went about doing things. Another year, they gave me a piece of elastic as they said I tended to stretch things – I hope in good ways. Another year, they gave me a pile of hats because they knew which hat I was wearing on a given day, which was also the time when I entered local government. They were fun times. That is what I remember about Braitling: teachers and kids could laugh.
I had a compliment paid to me by two of the male teachers, Howard Davies and Stuart Richardson, who said they did not know why but, when I was principal, kids learnt. Thinking about that, I think it was because I was very direct in what I expected and I had parameters for students. They knew the boundaries in which they worked. Teachers knew where they stood and they knew that they would be commended, encouraged and acknowledged for the things they did.
Braitling’s 30th birthday was a great time yesterday. Bernie Kilgariff was there; he opened the school 30 years ago. Myrtle Noske who painted the mural was there. Barb and Wally Braitling, relatives of Doreen Braitling after whom the school was named, were there. She was from England and was a pioneer in the Centre. It was good to see so many people who had an attachment to the history of Braitling.
I did not have time to look at all the material they produced. I say to all schools: start collecting now. Keep the history of the school because, quite often, it is lost. I have to admit I only had one or two photos of Braitling at home. Somehow along the way, I just never collected anything else. It is wonderful to see the collection they have at Braitling. I will go back and go through it because I believe it is well worthwhile doing.
Minister, after all those ramblings, I want to say education is so important. You and I would not be here if we had not had the opportunity to have education. You and I would not be able to stand up, speak, read and communicate, and have the courage or the confidence to do all those things if we had not had a good education. Every child should, somehow or other, be educated. I know that is our task and challenge for the Territory. We must be careful that we do not just say glowing things without making sure it is all happening at the roots.
Do not forget our teachers in remote schools. They have always been the people who have had the hardest job - out of sight, but they should not be out of mind. They are the ones we should ensure people go and visit and communicate with them, because it is tough out there on your own. It is even tougher when you feel as though no one really cares. No one is there to share with you the good times that happen, and there are good times in every school. It is important that we keep that in mind.
Otherwise, minister, I do not have any criticism of your statement. All I can say - and I say this most sincerely - when I do raise problems with you, which I tend to do now and again, would you just trust your heart and your gut reaction? Do not always take this information that is given to you and believe that that is it. You have young kids. You put your own child in that situation. If it is right for them, okay, that is good. However, if you are uncomfortable with having your own child in that situation - what has happened to them, the way they are being taught, and how they are being spoken to and all those things - then you know it is wrong. Quite often, we need to use our feelings to ensure that we arrive at the right decision. Otherwise, minister, good luck with it. It is a hard portfolio; however, I am sure you will get a lot of satisfaction out of it.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s education statement. I would like to share with the House that, when the Education minister was newly into the job, he opened a beautiful school in my electorate. The school was at Manyallaluk, south-east of Katherine; a school that many of the students there had been waiting for, for some time. They had been classed in a very small room on the grounds at Eva Valley. The room was next to an art room. The class size had at least 15 to 20 kids and it was very crowded in that small room. In fact, the Education minister had the opportunity to revisit where the previous school had been prior to the opening of the new one, and was quite surprised at how good the teacher must have been to cope in such a small area.
It also showed that the population growth in the south-east Katherine region and, particularly at Eva Valley, required a very good, new school building to be built. It gives me great pleasure to stand in this parliament and talk about education, because that is an area that the Martin Labor government is very focused on. We have heard consistently throughout the years that the focus is, in particular, especially on secondary education, because we know that secondary education will lead on to, hopefully, tertiary education for those students who would like to do that. However, as our previous speaker, the member for Braitling said, it is about every child having the opportunity to access education and, indeed, have opportunities in life.
I guess it is here that I can recall some of my times as a student in the Northern Territory, and my own background with my dad as a schoolteacher, who was quite insistent on how education, not only in a western concept of the word but in a cultural one, was just as important for a person’s sense of wellbeing and identity. It is this that I bring, as the member for Arnhem, into the parliament; that we need to find the balance of trying to encourage not only the best education that can be found in the Northern Territory, but an opportunity for individuals to be proud of who they are, wherever they live.
Just recently, Community Cabinet was held in East Arnhem, and the Ramingining and Milingimbi school staff were able to speak directly with a number of ministers about their issues. I have highlighted here on a number of occasions the successful Year 12 graduates at both the communities last year. In fact, we had two at Milingimbi and two and Ramingining. The two at Milingimbi who graduated were the very first in the school to graduate Year 12. They have been an inspiration for students who are now lining up to go to school. In particular, I highlight Marcey Garrawurra and Sifora Durrurrnga at Ramingining. They were the two young women who graduated from Year 12 last year. Both are keen on further studies. In fact, Marcie is at Charles Darwin University, and returned to the community on the day of the Community Cabinet visit. She was delighted to meet with the ministers and talk about her experiences and some of the issues she faced going to school. Marcie is one of those young graduates who is an inspiration to her community. It is these examples which we need; role models in communities to be able to turn around and say to their younger brother, sister, or cousins: ‘Keep going to school’.
We know a lot of the concerns are largely centred around housing and health. I want to put on the record, in particular at Ramingining, the combined effort between the Territory Health Centre and the Ramingining School. In fact, that unified position they have - which the Martin Labor government encourages in all of our communities - at Ramingining would be the most promising in that particular relationship. In the space of 12 to 18 months, they have established the Early Learning Childhood Centre from nought to five years of age. We had the preschoolers there, but we did not have the babies and the young mums coming to the school.
The principal at Ramingining is Coralyn Armstrong, who has been in the Northern Territory for a considerable time. Coralyn has encouraged the participation of young mums at the school - and not just young mums but all mums with babies - to come to the nought to five program, and to encourage the children in their early learning stages of development to go on to preschool and feel comfortable in the environment. It is culturally appropriate in the sense the women feel strong and good together, and they can talk about some of their own issues as mothers. It is a fantastic program. The clinic at Ramingining, through the head nurse, Rhonda Goldsby-Smith and her work with Coralyn shows the positive impact such a strong collaboration can have on the wider community. When you go to Ramingining school, you see it as the hub of the community. It is these types of programs that are coming out, as a result of policies through the Martin Labor government, in health and education.
In Milingimbi, it is a similar story. They have yet to work as strongly on the health and education collaboration; however, what is going on is very promising. This is because the families are forever going to and fro and the students also go to and fro, so there is a strong communication flow of what is happening in the area.
In the budget delivered today, there is $49.7m for school services in the East Arnhem Region. I want to put on the record and highlight Wugularr and the $3.5m school which is being built in the region. It was this time last year that I stood in the House to say that there were a lot of students and teachers in Wugularr who would be inundated by the floods in the area. The Waterhouse River was of major concern, where teacher’s houses were being flooded. The school was flooded a number of times. The decision was made by the current Treasurer, Syd Stirling, who was also the Education minister then, supported by the current Education minister, that Wugularr definitely needed to have a new school on high ground for the participation of all the students.
The teachers at Wugularr, under the principal, Michael, are floundering a little in the sense that they are waiting for this new school. Some of the issues, largely based on the Commonwealth area with funding regarding food for the schools and what we used to know as the ASSPA program, have made a tremendous negative impact on the community. The ASSPA program for those who are unaware is a program that was run to encourage Aboriginal students support and parental awareness in the schools. I have noticed a huge reduction in some of the schools in my electorate of teacher and parent participation in the school as a partnership. Teachers are there all the time. Under the ASSPA program, we also had the parents very much a part of the school life. That we do not have a strong a parental involvement in the schools as we did previously is something that disturbs me a little. I know that our Education minister is absolutely aware of that, simply because of the new advisory council that is being set up by the minister who is searching for people across the Northern Territory to be able to give advice as to some of the best ways and options forward.
These are the things that are going on in Arnhem. I am incredibly privileged to speak about the schools that are in my area. I have mentioned in the lead-up to my speech about Manyallaluk. Minyerri High School - Hodgson Downs is the other name for it - was the first senior school that we had built in the Arnhem area and it has had a tremendous impact. The challenge for us is, perhaps now that we are putting the resources into getting out children through to the secondary levels of schools, is to continue that learning into jobs, into training, into a future where their lives are fulfilled like any individual across the Northern Territory and, indeed, Australia.
These are some of the things that I see as challenging for us, and for me as the local member. We must continually look forward to offering opportunities for our young people. We know for a fact from the Australian Bureau of Statistics recent statistics after the Census that the largest growing population in this country is in the remote regions of the Northern Territory. That the growth of our communities is happening at such an incredible pace is clearly evident as I travel around in Minyerri, Ngukurr, Numbulwar, Angurugu, Umbakumba and Ramingining and Milingimbi. We must always be acutely aware of how to deal with that.
I also highlight one of the significant challenges in addition to making sure that our students go on to actually having training and jobs beyond education; that is, the resourcing of our communities. By that I mean the Aboriginal workers in our schools who are forever expressing - and I know our government is acutely aware of this issue - the need for housing and for access to privileges, if you like, that non-indigenous people and staff who come into the community have. We are certainly working strongly on that. I just wanted to add that because it is an issue that we must always be vigilant about. There is an incredible need for housing right across the Northern Territory but, if we can focus particularly on our local staff who need to feel valued - and they do have a house that is not shared with 15 to 20 other people – and that they actually have the same rights and privileges as non-indigenous staff who come into the community. That will have a serious impact on the environment of schools, retention rates, the encouragement of further local employment in schools and other work activities. These are issues I know the minister is aware I will always be raising.
On that note, it is good to see that, because we have local indigenous staff in the schools, they make the difference for the students and for those teachers who come from various parts of the Territory and Australia and, sometimes, find it very difficult to work in places where English is a second or third or fourth language. It can be quite alienating for them.
They are some of the points that I wish to highlight. Again, I commend the minister on his plans with education and, in particular, indigenous education. I know there is much debate and discussion about linking welfare payments to education. These are areas about which I certainly have reservations. We can look at other options for encouraging retention of our children at school. I know that will be an ongoing challenge for our government and for all members of the Assembly who are very concerned about the future of our children and the future society that we are developing for our potential leaders. I commend the Minister’s statement to the House.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Deputy Speaker, I share the sentiments of the member for Braitling who said that without education, we would not be here. For some of us, English is a third or fourth language and we had to go through the difficulties of learning the language like anyone else if that language is not our mother tongue.
From a personal perspective, I started learning English when I was sent to kindergarten, I think around the age of five. I cannot recall clearly, but I know I was very young and my mother and I both learnt English together; she the teacher and I the pupil. Before her exposure to English, when I went to school, her education was essentially six years of primary school in the Chinese language. That was the sum total of her education. As we went on, the pupil soon surpassed the teacher and I left my mother behind in command of the English language as I learnt through school. It reflects that the younger you are, the more capable you are of picking up a second, third or fourth language.
Growing up in a country where many languages are spoken at any one time, I grew up speaking my mother tongue and then we spoke other dialects of Chinese, which are essentially different languages apart from having the same script, and also Bahasa in Malaysia, which is Bahasa Melayu. Most languages become second nature as I grew up speaking with family and friends and playing down the street. When we went to school, the teaching medium was only in English. While there was some initial early translation of words to ensure that those who did not speak English could understand what the lesson was about, within a very short time, it was only a monolingual education that we were received.
Today, I stand in what was, once upon a time, a foreign country to me. Having lived here for many decades now, English is now my principal language although I speak the other language that I learnt as a child, which I continued to learn during my youth at school and outside of school.
Whilst I do not purport to hold myself out as an example of what the Territory is like, we do have a unique mix of population, comprised of something in the order of 25% of indigenous Australians and another 20% of a wide mix of ethnic backgrounds, with a very marginal majority of Anglo-Celtic background. In this cultural and ethnic mix, we need to deliver an education system that will provide a bridge to the opportunities that are abundant in the Northern Territory. However, saying that, to deliver an education system, we must ensure that the people who need to be educated – that is every child and many adults as well – must be made to attend school so that that education can be provided to them. It is no good putting the best Rolls Royce version of education you can possibly fund in the Territory when the people are not availing themselves of that education.
I believe that education is fundamental to achieving a goal. To be educated goes beyond schools and it must include family and community responsibility. The Territory’s future hinges purely on a population that is equipped with the training to recognise and exploit all available means of bettering themselves through employment and contributing to the growth of their families and also the Territory. It not only applies to white fella Territorians, but to every indigenous Territorian as well. It is only through education and capacity building that they can attain the necessary skills to harness the social and economic benefits of the land that they hold. That is where the debate continues as to whether that should be bilingual education or education based only on one language.
However, while that debate continues, I believe that there should be more focus on ESL, and resources must be put into place to ensure that, with the very many students whose mother tongue is not English, ESL is promoted strongly to ensure that they can learn English because, at the end of the day, English is the language of this society. It is the language that provides opportunities and, if you do not grasp that, then the loser is the person who does not speak the language.
In planning good education, the minister has spoken of some obvious ideas and I am not going to pick on whether his ideas are good or bad. Anything that will progress education has to be seen as good. Politically speaking, we will have different ideas as to how to achieve those end points. However, you are the government and you have the right to do what you wish. It is also necessary, though, to recognise that past policies, regardless of the efforts of politicians, have only just begun to make some impact on the comprehensive education of Territory youth. I say that without wanting to be controversial. During this debate on this statement, several ministers have raised the point that, under the CLP, indigenous education had gone backwards. I understand the context behind why those things are said. I suppose, in the future, some of you will pull out the newspapers say, for instance, the Centralian Advocate of Friday, 30 March, where an article written by Jonathon Dart, with the headline is ‘Reading, writing Centre “disgrace”’, says:
- Teachers have labelled Central Australia’s reading and writing grades a ‘disgrace’. They have called for more staff and special programs for non-English speaking indigenous students.
Figures released by the Northern Territory department of Education reveal the extent of the problem. In schools considered remote - that is, in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine, and Nhulunbuy – only 69.3% of Year 7 students can read. That is well below Darwin’s 85.7%, and the national average of 89.8%.
Meanwhile, only 55.2% of the Year 7 students in remote schools are able to write, compared to the national average of 92.2%.
It then quotes Nadine Williams, President of the NT Education Union’s comments:
- Ms Williams pointed to a Education Union study last year that found only one in 16 surveyed schools had implemented an English as a Second Language program (ESL) for non-English speakers. This is despite that fact that 39% of NT students do not speak English as their first language at home.
So, we go about teaching English as a second language. However, more importantly, I point back to what was said; that is, in schools considerably remote - that is, in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy – only 69.3% of Year 7 students can read. Regarding Year 7 students, this government has been in power for the last six years and they inherited those students in Year 1. Six years later, only 69.3% of those Year 7 students can read; that is, some 30% who cannot.
In an editorial on 2 April 2007 in the NT News the headline was ‘Literacy gives children hope’
- More than 60% of Aboriginal children from remote communities have failed the national benchmark in reading and writing.
It goes on to say later:
- But, to all intents and purposes, English is a second – and, sometimes, third, fourth or even fifth - language.
Also, attendance at school is very low.
… most remote indigenous children still don’t go to school. One of the reasons for this rampant truancy is the lack of control many parents exercise over their children.
Further in the editorial, it says:
This has meant that today’s generation is less educated than the last, which had the benefit of missionary schooling.
Aboriginal children without literacy and numeracy skills are condemned to lives of underachievement, lives of unemployment, and welfare dependency.
…
Without education, indigenous people are going nowhere.
The Northern Territory government should step up its drive to engage parents in school life.
I would first of all see that, from the time children are enrolled in school, there must be compulsory school attendance. Yes, you can have the carrot to entice parents to take their kids to school or make sure they attend, but the stick has to be a wielded as well. Two-and-a-half or three years ago, I suggested - before the last general election, in fact - that there should be a way of linking school attendance with family payments. While it will require the cooperation of two levels of government, I am certain that, wherever the school may be, it would be able to provide school attendance data to Centrelink, which would use that information. If there is a will between governments to make this work, it will work; it can work.
Centrelink can then ensure that the families who do not send their children to school will forfeit the family support payment. However, the money should not be taken away from the community. The money should stay within the community so that that community is not deprived of that. The money, in my opinion, should go to the school where the principal, through an acquittal process, can use that money collected from families who have not sent their kids to school to introduce school attendance programs. Through an acquittal process, we can ensure that the money is spent in the appropriate way and, then, those kids will then go to school. If they are at school every day, as most students expect to be, they will learn their numeracy and literacy, and all that goes with it will improve. I believe that is the most important thing. There should be no exception to the rule – every child must go to school.
If you look at my parents and how they valued education, they pushed us to school without a second thought of anything else. No matter what happened, schooling was the ultimate thing. I suppose by being educated we were able to work our way out of whatever social situation we might have been in.
I want to put some other suggestions to the minister for him to consider in his plan to provide good schooling and education. I believe a school nutrition program should be introduced. We know many kids go to school without breakfast, and may even go without lunch. It is no wonder they do not do well in school, nor do they wish to stay at school, if there is no way of securing any food. A school nutrition program will not be that difficult to implement. It could be very cheaply done if there was a central purchasing facility through the department of Education and then, that food provided to school councils at their request. The school council would be able to purchase the food from the central supplier within DEET. The government could provide some form of financial assistance to school councils to enable them to conduct this program. If the school council deems it necessary, it might want to charge the family a stipend to ensure that the program continues.
Charging a stipend would be useful because that, at least, transfers some of the financial responsibility back to the family. The family should feed their children. If they do not, then they should pay somebody to feed the children for them. I put that on the agenda for the government to consider so that kids at least get breakfast, if not lunch also. It could be started quite easily. You can start at any time and it should be for at least the first three years at school. I believe that is what should happen. If you do that on a regular basis, before long you would find that families will start to understand the responsibility of feeding their children before school and, with good strong supportive programs by the school council, parents would take on the responsibility.
Late last year, the government also introduced school uniforms to school. There was, generally, good acceptance of the school uniform policy across all public sector schools. I know that private schools have school uniforms and have had them for many years. Obviously, they had found that there were potential benefits such as less cost for parents, less peer pressure because they are all wearing the same sort of clothes, less distraction – that is the obvious thing. I have seen many Years 11 and 12 students going to school in less than desirable clothes that may cause a lot of distraction for the hormonally-charged young people. There is safety in easily identifying who the schoolchildren are, and someone who is not in school uniform in the school grounds could be easily and quickly identified. The schools have always maintained their students in uniform portray a better image of the school. That is something that cannot be denied. It also absolves the school staff from having to play the role of clothes police, and determine whether a particular student is dressed appropriately or not for the school. That takes away the conflict that could arise otherwise.
While saying that school uniform is mandatory, there are some issues that I did not hear the minister address when he was talking about the policy several months ago. When you make school uniforms compulsory, the question I have is: how does that work with the policy of compulsory school attendance? If a child or parent refuses to comply with the school uniform policy, is the child going to be deprived or prevented from going to school? You have a policy that says school attendance is compulsory and you have another policy that children must wear a school uniform. Those two absolutes cannot go together because, if the child says ‘I am not going to wear the school uniform’ or the parents say they are not going to buy a school uniform, what do you do with the child? Does the child still go to school? Does the child still go to school not wearing a uniform? What will happen to the child?
There must be a way of providing and opt-out path where parents choose to have their children not wear school uniform, and the exception will be considered on application and by interview with the parents. The responsibility can be put on the school principal to do that. Otherwise, you will impose a restriction that may be counter-productive. You cannot tell this child to wear a school uniform because, if the child does not, then the child does not attend school, while, at the same time, you have a policy of compulsory school attendance.
Other suggestions I have put to government over the years that they may want to consider - it does not matter if it is a CLP initiative or otherwise because education for children is paramount and anything that I, in opposition, can contribute to the betterment of education is something I am prepared to do. The Gifted and Talented Children program is not particularly well enunciated by this government, or even by previous governments. It is important to understand what Jan Brunt of the Flinders University in South Australia said:
- Giftedness is uneven rates of development in the intellectual, physical, emotional, social and moral areas with advanced cognitive abilities and heightened intensity. The combination of these factors creates emotional intensity and strong sensitivity at a depth not experienced by the non-gifted. The greater the cognitive abilities, the greater these differences.
Therefore, when we talk about gifted and talented children, it could be a child that is gifted and talented across the board or just in very specific areas. However, those extremely talented, gifted children and, at the other end of the spectrum, those who may have disabilities ...
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, you have one minute.
Mr WOOD: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the member for Greatorex be granted an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Dr LIM: It is important to realise that most schools cannot cater for the majority of children who are gifted and talented and, at the same time, try to cater for the rest of the children at school. There should be a separate program for the raising and nurturing of gifted and talented children. There is a unique set of challenges; for many gifted children, school alone will not be enough. They will probably need additional guidance and learning opportunities.
How do you create an environment that will do that, where children can discover and develop unique abilities? I believe the Territory government should do this for the long term. The first thing is creative, intellectual and social growth through programs and publications geared for the gifted and their caregivers, their parents. What I would like to see happen is that all schools, all teachers, having a duty to identify who these talented and gifted children are in their classrooms. They should be identified through a talent search of one form or another and, then, these children should be provided with a scholarship of sorts, to go on school camps, auspiced by, say, the Charles Darwin University, with the campuses scattered across the Northern Territory.
If in Katherine - and you have a Charles Darwin University campus - have the campus auspice a school camp for a week or a fortnight during the long mid-year and end-of-year breaks, where these talented and gifted children can actually go to the school camp where their talents could be enhanced. There could be many courses to residential programs on the campuses, funded through grants, to offer the programs to students from all income levels and backgrounds to participate. I believe that in a fast paced setting, students will collaborate with their gifted peers and immerse themselves in advanced level subjects not offered in schools in a supportive environment. That would be a particularly useful thing to do.
Finally, I am leaving primary schools and middle schools, because my colleague, the member for Blain, has spoken about middle schools and middle schooling at length for some time now. The minister’s speech has mostly been about the infrastructure surrounding middle schooling rather than the development of a good curriculum that will achieve better educational outcomes than just bricks and mortar.
There is one point I need to make, though, about middle schooling that was raised just recently. It is about the lack of sufficient space on buses that bring the students from Palmerston into Darwin High School and Casuarina Secondary College. We recently heard that parents are concerned that their children are left stranded by the side of the road because the buses that run the routes are too full to pick up their children as well. When you have five or 10 students standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus to come along, there is safety in numbers and among peers. However, if the bus were to pick up eight of the 10, what about the other two? Or, worse still, that the bus picks up nine and there is one left stranded. What is going to happen to that child?
The child could be as young as 14, 15, stranded on the side of the road, waiting for the next bus to come along, whenever the bus turns up. That person is on his or her own, and that child is exposed at a vulnerable time of their lives. I believe that is most unfortunate. If the child does not wish to stay at the bus stop, that child has to walk – there is no other way – unless they have a mobile telephone to ring mum or dad. However, if mum and dad were both at work and are not able to get to pick up the child, where does the child go? The child has to walk home; it could be a long way away. Dad or Mum could have dropped them off by car on their way to work, so the child might be too far away from home to walk there. Could they find a friend’s home? What if they cannot find a friend’s home? It is not acceptable that schoolchildren should be left stranded by the side of the road.
The government has had enough time to work out the numbers of students who are going to be transferred each morning from Palmerston into Darwin. You know what the numbers are. You know how many seats there are in the bus or coach. It is simple arithmetic. You have to make sure there are enough seats. If there are not, then you have to put another bus on at the same time so that every child is picked up to go to school every day. If not, then the government has failed in its duty of care. The day may come where a child is hurt, one way or another. How is the government going to then explain the circumstance to the family?
There is very limited time left, Mr Deputy Speaker. There are issues of higher education that we need to talk about also, regarding teacher training. I will leave that more academic component to the teachers amongst us in this Chamber who understand the profession a lot better than I. I do not purport to know much about teacher training; it is not my field. All I know is that a teacher, particularly in primary school and senior secondary, is considered to be one of the most influential people in a student’s life. What they do or not can reflect on how the child accepts or rejects education. I believe that it is more so in bush schools than urban schools where, just by dint of numbers, the impact of a teacher in urban schools would be diluted because there are more teachers around the place. Whereas, in the bush school where there are limited numbers of teachers, it poses a problem if the teacher is not well trained and given good cross-cultural understanding of matters that will impact on the way they conduct their profession in the bush. Cross-cultural training provided by DEET is, I understand, not bad. However, when I compare that with what happens with cross-cultural training that nurses receive in Central Australia, there is a lot of room for improvement.
I would like to see the government take on this issue and ensures that our teachers get not only initial induction or cross-cultural training before they are sent out to the bush, but they are provided with continuing or intermittent cross-cultural training during the breaks in semesters. That could be an effective way of using their time. As we all know, it is considered stand-down time, it is not holiday. During stand-down times, this sort of in-service can be provided. It will make our teachers more aware of the cross-cultural issues that they will definitely face once they go out bush. It is better to do that early in the piece, and also midway through their exposure in the bush so that they get to understand what it is all about.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I note that the member for Greatorex said he was not going to speak on some of the technical sides of the ministerial statement because he was not a teacher. However, it would be unwise to say that we do not all have a role as teachers, especially if we are a parent or guardian of children. Formal education must go hand-in-hand with parental education, because a lot of things that are not taught at home are, of course, taught at school and vice versa. I believe there is a role that all of us must play as teachers of our youth.
I would like to make a few comments tonight. I concur with the member for Goyder on many of the statements he made tonight regarding education in the rural area. One area that is missing from the minister’s statement is the role of non-government schools, independent schools. Some people call them private schools. I do not call them private schools. Private schools to me are Scots College, Melbourne Grammar and those types of schools. I do not think you would class too many of the independent schools in the Northern Territory in that bracket.
The independent schools play a very important role in education in the Northern Territory. They provide a mix which, again, is very important in education of our young children. It gives parents a choice. I know there is a lot of discussion about having national curriculum, etcetera. I know that is important, but there are also other things that we educate our children about. In many cases, that is religious matters, moral issues, and ways of looking at things. They sometimes vary from school to school, from philosophy of one school to another.
If you look in my electorate, and near to my electorate because there are schools that are right on the boundary of Goyder and Nelson, I have Marrara Christian College which is a secondary college middle school and primary school. It was one of the first schools in the Northern Territory to have middle school; it has had it quite a long time. Litchfield Christian School is a small school but has great ambitions. It is presently looking at whether it is feasible to start a middle school. St Francis of Assisi is the Catholic school at Humpty Doo. It is another small school that plays an important role in the rural area. Closer to where I live is the Good Shepherd Lutheran School which is based in Palmerston as a primary school and is now taking enrolments for middle school and secondary school. They are hoping to have built a middle school complex in the Howard Springs area by 2008. The planning approvals and the surveys have just about all been completed, so I am expecting in a fairly short time to start to see some works in that area so that this school will be up and running next year. Just in my area there is quite a large influence from the independent schools.
If you see children going to school in the morning, you will see many children wearing the Kormilda College, the O’Loughlin College, and St John’s College uniforms, all heading in different directions, naturally. On top of that, there are students who go to other schools that you do not hear very much about like the Steiner School, and the Essington School. They also pick up different philosophies in teaching and methodology in teaching our children - not only the three Rs, but also other important factors in life that everyone needs to learn about to get through life successfully.
The independent schools have played a role in the Northern Territory for many years. I believe most Aboriginal people were educated in the early days by missionaries simply because they were the only ones who were willing to go out and take education to those areas. You might say they had an ulterior motive which was to convert those people to whatever religion they professed. However, they still did play a very important role in educating people. You only have to talk to some of the older people in Arnhem Land and you hear how well spoken they are. You would say they were not educated under today’s methodologies; they were actually educated more under the mission methodologies. I can say, with my own family - and I have said here before - that my wife is far more educated than many of the young people today ...
Mrs Miller: They learnt to read and write properly.
Mr WOOD: I will probably get on to that issue of numeracy and literacy later. The independent schools continue to play an important role throughout the Northern Territory. The Woolaning School near Batchelor has been promoting new methods of increasing the number of Aboriginal students attending school, and have been fairly successful by trying to involve families. It is not just sending kids off to boarding school as might have been done in the old days; it is making sure that families are part of that system. It is the same with Marrara Christian School, which has special houses that are more like family homes rather than a boarding college.
They are an area to which government should give more recognition. It is disappointing that, for a long time, there have been plans to build a Catholic secondary school in Palmerston. I raised this with the previous minister for Education, and still nothing has happened. From the point of view of capital works for non-government schools, there has not been a great deal of movement, except for this new school of the Good Shepherd Lutheran College.
Moving away from the independent school issue, I want to talk about government schools in my area. One school that has changed and is setting the standards is Taminmin High School. Under the new principal, Tony Considine, we have seen a total change in attitude to the way we look at the school. To some extent, people used to think of Taminmin as having a farm and being a bit feral, and that was about it. They had been moving along under the previous principal, Kim Rowe who had done a lot of work trying to raise the standard of Taminmin. He did a very good job; he was certainly an excellent principal. However, the new principal has lifted the bar even higher.
Before the government talked about compulsory uniforms, Tony already had discussed this with the school council and parents and introduced compulsory uniforms for all students - not just the middle school, but for the senior school as well. The senior school has a maroon uniform with two stripes down the side and word ‘senior’ written on it and middle school has one stripe down the side. The idea is that middle school students will know that is something to obtain: when they add the extra stipe, they are in the senior school.
Tony is also passionate about lifting the standard of the school and it having academic excellence. In fact, at the moment he is talking about having a leadership academy; that is, getting the best students out of the school and, as they move up into the senior school, the leaders also work with young leaders so that you have an academy. It is not just that there are leaders in the senior school; those leaders are working with young leaders in the middle school.
The VET program is increasing out of sight, and we now have the Australian Technical College being built there. There is an enormous amount of work being done at the school because, naturally, there had to be extra buildings for middle school as well. There is a great feeling about the school, which seems to have a vision that it has not had before. This is not knocking previous principals. Tony seems to be saying that this school can achieve; that the kids at this school are not just rural kids who might get to a certain level, they can go a long way. They can provide them with the courses the students need to be successful.
They have the farm as well, which is great and gives it a great balance. However, it is not just an agricultural school. It will be a school of high academic achievement and this is one of the major changes to the school. It is already sending out the message that it is heading in the direction of high academic achievement. It is full and continuing to grow, and the numbers have gone up in leaps and bounds over the last two years.
I congratulate Tony and all the staff because, without the staff coming along with him this would not have happened. I also congratulate the very supportive school council. Of course, there have been some ups and downs with the kids. Telling them they have to wear uniforms and dress appropriately might not have been their cup of tea, but they are changing. For instance, before you could go to an assembly and kids would have all their hats on. No more hats on. He is teaching them about having some manners and respect, and they are used to it. They even have a war cry now, which I have heard once or twice. I still have not been able to understand the words, but it is certainly a war cry. Again, you might say that is a bit old fashioned or something, but no, what he is trying to do is get kids to believe that Taminmin is a good school, and lift the feeling about the school. I believe that is really encouraging.
As well as that, we have the feeder schools. We have many rural primary schools. We have Howard Springs Primary School, which has a new principal, Jenny Nash. To some extent, she got thrown to the wolves, as you might say, because the previous principal had resigned right at the beginning of the year when Jenny took up the job of being the principal of that school. Howard Springs will be one of those schools that will be interesting to see how it goes in the future. It is a relatively small primary school. With the Years 6 and 7 going soon to the middle school, some of these schools will drop quite severely in numbers.
One of the issues around the Howard Springs area is the price of land. I say that because it is very difficult for young families to buy now in the Howard Springs area. If you can get a house for under $450 000, well, it is probably not much of a house. The problem I see is whether we are going to get an older population who stay there, or they swap it with older people who can afford to buy after they sell a house somewhere else. However, I doubt whether we are actually going to get a lot of young families move into that area simply because of that cost. We will get some, for sure. I have said to the government before, there is Crown land in the rural area, especially in the Howard Springs area. They should open that up for first homeowners, because we could find that if we have an ageing population in some of these areas, as has happened in other places, schools close down because there are simply not enough children going there. That is an area that we have to look at.
Bees Creek Primary School is coming up to its 10th anniversary. I know they are looking forward to that. I have seen some photographs of all the years gone by. It is a great school. It is just about to open its autistic centre, which the government provided funds for. I believe it is completed now. It has a great little garden. It has a little chook in there made of polystyrene called Gerry, so it must be a great garden. It is a terrific school; I have always had a great feeling about it.
Girraween Primary School - again, another great school. Maree Bredhauer is the principal there. Like all the other schools, it has a really energetic school council to make them run. Sometimes, we forget those school councils. The government today announced $100 000 for the bicycle path to Girraween Primary School which is on top of some funds that we received previously. I especially thank a lady called Jenny Hangan, who took up the issue of the bicycle path a couple of years ago. I asked the government for some money, and the government gave us that money for the bicycle path. The council said it was enough, then said it was not enough. Then we got some more money from the government, then the council said it was not enough and they wanted it in another place.
I tell you, to get this bicycle path built, they needed someone like Jenny Hangan, because she has been able to focus on it - which is probably more than I was able to do at times - and find some people who she knew in the engineering and construction fields. They have been able to put together a package to get this bicycle path finished. I believe she was advised that it possibly would need some more money because it would make the project more complete. I was pleased to hear that the minister announced $100 000 towards that bicycle path. That is great. It will make it much safer for kids going to Girraween Primary School who, at the moment, have to drive on the edge of the road over a creek where there are no railings or protections. This bicycle path will take those young children away from the road so they can get to school safely.
Humpty Doo Primary School is another great school. It is probably the biggest primary school in the rural area. It is a great school to visit. When you go to school council, you really feel at home all the time. It has a good feel about it. It has some great programs like the Tribes program.
In talking about all these schools, we sometimes forget the teachers who teach at these schools. A few years ago, I was one of those people would say: ‘Teachers get short hours; they are never working too hard’. Well, those times have changed. The teachers I see work really hard, under a lot of pressure sometimes, having to take on heaps and heaps of other things besides doing the three Rs. Many of them have families themselves to look after, but they are so committed to the jobs that they have at hand. It is great to see those types of people in your community.
One of the other areas that we forget about regarding our schools is that they are part of our community. Years ago, you might have had the local hall where you had a dance or something, but we have the schools doing that. There will be a annual dance at the Girraween Primary School in the basketball court; the Blue Light Disco at Howard Springs; and a community fair is coming up at the Litchfield Christian School. They all help the community. It is not just about the school being a learning centre for the kids; it is about bringing the community together. A lot of times, with the modern things we have today - TVs, computers and such - we tend to stay in our own little patch. The schools, by providing these community evenings, or quiz nights of whatever, play an important role in the community. I thank all those people who do get involved in setting up those community events raising money. All the schools raise money. If you had been on a school council, you know there will be a fundraising community trying to work its butt off to try to raise money.
Towards the end of my time, I would like to say a few things about the other forms of education. The Clontarf Academy was mentioned today, and I believe the principle behind it is a good idea. I wonder whether we could use the same principle and apply it to primary school kids. I know, at the moment, we apply this to kids who could end up going with AFL. Fair enough. However, I wonder whether we could use the notion to get the young kids to school - whether it is Auskick or something else – by using that as a feeder.
I keep looking through the annual reports for the Department of Employment, Education and Training and, unfortunately, these have changed again. They seem to have less and less statistics each time I look at them. However, if you read the statistics for primary education in the Northern Territory for indigenous students, regardless of whether they are slightly increasing or going down a little, they are still very poor. I feel it when you see the figure - and this is one of the higher figures. This is the actual for 2005-06 indigenous students achieving the national reading benchmark: Year 7, which is now the beginning of middle school, is at 36%. If only 36% of indigenous students are reading at Year 7, what hope do they have of getting a good secondary education? I know it is difficult. I have no doubt it is difficult. The minister talked about the number of kids turning up at the school. I say, funny, when my wife and her family went to school, they had, I reckon, about 100% literacy in Year 7. They did not have the opportunity to go further simply because there was not any opportunity ...
Mrs MILLER: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move an extension of time for the member for Nelson to finish his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, member for Katherine. I will probably speak on this at another time when I have analysed the figures of the budget on indigenous education. However, I suppose people will say: ‘It is all right for you to make statements about indigenous education; but do you know how difficult it is?’ It is not necessarily the case, because I have worked in those communities and I have seen what could be done with Aboriginal students in relation to numeracy and literacy. It seems to have gone backwards, and that is so unfortunate. The government is bragging how it is getting students through secondary education but, if we are only just getting a few simply because that is all that is available, then I would start to worry what the future is for these young people.
If we are going to change things around, if we are going to fix the issues about health – and there was a big article in the Sydney Morning Herald today about health in our indigenous communities – part of our health is also about the ability of people to rise above some of the difficulties they have to get jobs, to earn money, to try to improve their lot in life. If you do not have that basic education, it is going to be very hard.
I hope that the government could look at incentives, maybe like Clontarf, for younger kids. Whether that could lead to programs similar to that - they might not be as well funded in the sense that Clontarf is, because I think it has been able to attract money partly because Gerard Neesham was involved. He had the charisma and the drive, and he had the recognition as an AFL footballer to bring all that together. Hew also had good people in the Aboriginal community to go with what he was doing. I certainly think we have to sit down and work through this whole thing about children not turning up to school and improving these literacy figures.
I will not go on any more. I thank the minister for his statement. I reiterate that, naturally, the larger percentage of education in the Northern Territory is government education, but we should also recognise the importance of independent schools in the education of children in the Northern Territory.
The other area that I will mention in the few minutes that I have is that when you look through here there is not much talk about Charles Darwin University and Batchelor College. It does not get a lot of discussion in this forum here. Both those institutes of education is one area that seems to slip through the net of being questioned or analysed. We are unable to question their roles through the Estimates Committee. It seems to be in this grey area somewhere between the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory. There should be the ability to question someone about what the roles of these learning institutes are.
People come to me with complaints about certain courses at the university, and I have heard people say some things about Batchelor College. However, they do not seem to be owned by anyone. They seem to be out there by themselves, yet they are funded with public money. It seems to me that we should be able to questioned what their roles are, what they are doing, how are they funded, and whether that funding is appropriate, as we do for other departments when we have Estimates Committee. If we want to know why they are closing the school at Tennant Creek, we can ask the minister at Estimates Committee. We can get the details from him and argue the toss whether it is good or bad, but we cannot do that with Batchelor College or the Charles Darwin University. That is an area that the government should look at.
It reminds me of Bunnings. You might ask why. Well, Bunnings near the airport is built there because the Commonwealth does not have to come under planning controls. If it was built on the other side of Bagot Road, it would have to come under the normal Darwin planning controls. It is the same with these two learning institutes. They seem to be off to one side so we are unable to question them. I ask the minister, if possible, whether he could look at why, with these schools which employ local people, train teachers to go out into the Northern Territory, and provide programs for people wanting to learn, we are not allowed to look at what they do through the Estimates Committee?
Mr Deputy Speaker, with that, I end my contribution on the minister’s statement.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I contribute to the debate on the minister’s statement on education. It definitely goes without saying that every one of us who represents our constituents throughout the Territory would know that a good, sound education is the basis for people to have a good lifestyle, and to be able to develop and contribute to society. The basic skills of learning to read and write, numeracy and literacy, are extremely important and every person needs to have those skills.
My time working in the education department was for some 12 years or 13 years before I came to the Northern Territory. I worked in a very low socioeconomic area where there were a lot of disadvantaged families. That highlighted to me the importance of getting a good education so that those children would go on to become fulfilled young people and adults and be able to achieve much better than they had as children. For most of the parents in the school that I worked at, at Elizabeth Field Primary School in South Australia, it was also their aim to ensure that their children had a better chance in life than they had.
Once I came to the Territory, I did not have a lot to do with schools except for my daughter. Only one of our children was living at home at that stage, and Amanda went to Katherine High School for two years and then completed her Years 11 and 12 at a boarding school in Adelaide. It was not anything to do with the way Katherine High School operated at all; we just felt it would develop her social skills a lot better. As the youngest of six and a little on the spoilt side, we decided it would develop her social skills if she learnt to become a little independent, so she went away to school.
I derive pleasure from visiting the schools with which I have been associated since I have been the member for Katherine. I appreciate the amount of work that is put in by the principals and staff towards those children into encouraging them in developing their skills. One of the things I would have been far too afraid to do as a student in primary school - I know this probably sounds quite incredible – is stand up in front of people and perform, or speak in public. I attended a very small school where there was a maximum of 30 students from Years 1 to 7 and, maybe, someone in Year 8 doing correspondence. That skill was never taught to us. The poor teachers in schools where they had Years 1 to 7 with no other support had their work cut out and they did a darn good job.
As time goes on, demands change and are still very heavy for teachers and staff in schools. I have found that, visiting the schools in my electorate - St Joseph’s School is the only independent school; Katherine High School; Katherine South Primary School; Clive Fenton Primary School; McFarlane Primary School and Casuarina Street Primary School – there has been a wonderful rapport between the staff and students. The fact that those schools have school uniforms they encourage them to wear, not so much as a complete school uniform, but either their house colour T-shirts or a school T-shirt so that there is some uniformity and no one stands out as being any different from the rest.
Financially, those parents who cannot afford to dress their children in what you would call ‘fashion scene’ clothes, which are not appropriate for school, do not have to feel uncomfortable at all because the children are all quite happy wearing their T-shirts. All of the schools I visit have their little war cry, as the member for Nelson described it. Most of them have their own school song that they sing at the start of assembly and, just so they all learn the words, they usually put them up on a big white board with an overhead projector. I am very pleased to see the community spirit that has been developed in all the schools in Katherine.
One of the things that we do have is a truancy problem. I guess that relates to most of the schools across the Territory. I ask the minister if, in his reply, he would tell us what additional resources are being put into ensuring that kids who are truant are going to school. It is a problem, because those children need to learn their numeracy and literacy to give them some directions and incentives in their life. It also discourages them from becoming involved in extracurricular activities that are usually not very advantageous. I ask the minister to comment on that.
One of the things the member for Nelson referred to was leadership programs. In Katherine, because we are a regional area, we have quite a few communities around us. I have to say that we are very fortunate that we have some great leadership programs operating in those schools. While they are not in my electorate, those people use Katherine as a service centre. The person who usually liaises with these schools - and I have spoken many times of this before in this House - is Fred Murphy. Fred is now working for Sunshine Health in Katherine. Fred runs some wonderful leadership programs. The leadership program is tied to school attendance and the work that these young ones commit themselves to in the community, and the rewards, I believe, are fantastic. I am not allowed to leak what some of the rewards are, but very shortly I am sure Fred will. I promised him that I would not when he divulged it to me. This is just the biggest boost for some of these young people around Katherine.
These young men are aged from about 12 to 17, because Fred has been picking these young fellows to go into an Under 17s football team. I spoke before of them going to the Tiwi Islands. As I said at that time, some of those young men had never seen the ocean, let alone been in an aircraft, and some of them had never, ever been away from their communities before. I congratulate Fred and the team of helpers that he has in running these leadership programs - and continuing to do it. Sometimes, you will have somebody come into your area who has a wonderful idea and full of energy, and they start these programs and then they either leave, they transfer to somewhere else, or they run out of energy. I cannot say that about Fred. Fred still has plenty of energy and incentive to see these young people achieving. I definitely think that, with the help and commitment of people like Fred Murphy, that these leadership programs are very important in ensuring that our young people within the Territory get that opportunity for their education. Even though the leadership is tied to their attendance at school, it works, so it is really good.
We recently had a little problem in Darwin - and, obviously, we might still have a problem - with not enough seats on buses for schoolchildren. I do not believe resolving that needs to wait until next year. I know the minister has said it will be addressed next year, but that is too late. It is only April and it needs to be addressed this year. We cannot possibly have these young people being left on the side of the road because there is a lack of seats on a bus. It is extremely important for these young people to be delivered to their homes safely and on time.
In Katherine, we have a little residential estate called Stuart Estate, which is only about 4 km north of Katherine. The old railway comes very close to the Stuart Estate. The actual sides of that railway line are in very good repair. A lot of those young people are riding bikes in from Stuart Estate on the highway and that is extremely dangerous. I know more of those young people would like to ride their bikes to school and, in the spirit of encouraging these young children and students to be fit and to not become obese, I believe it would be really good if we could encourage them to ride their bikes.
I will be asking the minister – and, of course, it is not the minister for Education but the appropriate minister - if we could look at a way of clearing off any extra debris that is on that old railway line right now, which would not take a huge amount of money. It would not take a substantial amount of money at all. The people who live out there do not want it sealed, they do not want concrete paths, they just want it levelled out and cleared of any debris that is on there now. That would be a wonderful way to encourage the young families with young children who live at Stuart Estate to be able to get some exercise, but in a safe way, and ride to school.
One of the things that I forgot to mention about the schools is the fantastic work they do in raising money. With the number of schools that are in Katherine, the staff, the parents and some of the old students deserve a great pat on the back for the amount of work that is put towards fundraising for their schools. Whenever I pick up one of their newsletters, there is always something they are doing and, usually, with a lot of incentive; something different that takes a lot of time and commitment to organise but their whole heart goes into it. I congratulate them for the amount of work that they do within the community to raise money.
One of the serious concerns I want to address today is that there are parents in Katherine who have expressed concerns to me over the last couple of years regarding the fact that their students and their own children have been disadvantaged because there is a lack of a speech therapist in Katherine. Some of these students were having speech therapy quite regularly until two years ago. Now, they have not been able to continue with their therapy. I know that, during the last two years, COGSO Katherine and parents and school councils have been very concerned. They are concerned about the detrimental effect that it is having on their students. They have expressed to me how it is impeding the students’ ability to communicate effectively and, in some cases, are affected quite seriously. Of course, that has an adverse impact on their educational outcomes.
The minister has high on his list of priorities the middle schooling and positive educational outcomes, and I have no doubt of his sincerity. Therefore, I am asking the minister to respond to this serious situation and appoint a full-time speech therapist for Katherine. We have RAAF families who were transferred to Katherine and their children’s therapy came to a complete standstill upon arriving in Katherine; this is in addition to the children who live there who require this service. Katherine children with speech therapy needs are paying the price for no assistance, and this situation needs to be resolved. It is clearly evident when you go into a classroom and see how the children are unable to communicate adequately. It is something that needs to be addressed; it is certainly impeding their education.
I believe the minister for Education received correspondence from the school councils and parents from Katherine, beginning in 2006. I also believe the minister met a delegation of parents, I believe, early in April. Therefore, minister, in your reply would you be able to tell me when you can make a decision that will have a distinctive and significant advantageous effect for those children who need that developmental assistance in Katherine?
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, in closing, I also want to talk about 12 students who, last year, were in the high dependency unit in Katherine High School. I have a close relationship with these 12 students. They have developed through the wonderful support of their teacher, Dennis Arnold, and his fabulous staff. There is a fantastic vegetable and flower garden at Katherine High School which I sponsor. I take great delight in being able to purchase goods from there when I go to the school.
This year, things have changed dramatically with the middle schools arrangement with Katherine High School so that Dennis Arnold and his very supportive helpers now have over 40 students in the high dependency unit. This is putting a great deal on pressure on Dennis and the staff to achieve the same outcomes as they did when there were fewer children with a lot of support. I am interested to hear what the minister has to say about that in reply.
In closing, I congratulate the wonderful work that the teachers and staff do throughout the Territory, and also all the parents who give of their time to work within schools and on school council. There are many people who do a lot of hard work. You are right, member for Nelson, education is a jolly hard portfolio, but it is also one of the most extremely important which is so terribly important for our future leaders and young people in the Northern Territory.
Mr HENDERSON (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Deputy Speaker I genuinely thank all members who have contributed in a positive way to this statement. Over a number of sittings where we have had this statement before us, everybody who has spoken has made a significant contribution and raised very pertinent points. There are a number of ideas and issues which I will take back and work on as a result of contributions to the debate. I thank all members.
I will try to run through some of the issues which were raised. However, given the number of speakers who have spoken on this statement, I am not going to be able to comment on everybody’s contribution. No offence if I do not get to you; I have made specific notes and will be working through issues.
Firstly to the shadow minister, the member for Blain. By and large, it was a positive contribution to the debate. I am pleased the shadow minister is going to engage in a contest of ideas in how to move education forward in the Northern Territory. From his contribution, I do not think we are too far apart in how we are going to move education forward. I believe it is only in the language that both of us are going to use. He talked about a philosophical debate and discussions on matters which concern families, and all of those things. Yes, a philosophical debate is good, but I am really interested in getting improved outcomes in the classroom, and how we move improvements in the classroom forward. He talked about - and there has been a lot of debate about - outcomes-based education, curriculum, and where are heading; whether we should be teaching every Year 3 child across the Northern Territory the same thing on the same day to the same standard, or where this debate is heading.
For the information of honourable members, we are reviewing the NT Curriculum Framework at the moment. Members will probably be aware that our curriculum is tied to the South Australian curriculum. There is a major review going on and I would be surprised if the member for Blain does not know this. Draft documents and curriculum formats have been distributed for a final round of consultation with individual teachers, the teaching union, and COGSO, and we will be making announcements on that as we go forward.
We are also implementing a Teaching and Learning Framework and developing and implementing it across the system. When it all boils down, it is what the teachers teach in the classroom and how they teach, and explicitly giving teachers those tools in what to teach and how to teach that is best standards.
There was a discussion about our curriculum and whether it is serving the needs of the Territory. Again, I go to Bruce Wilson who is, in the education industry, acknowledged as one of the leading lights. He was previously the chair of the Curriculum Corporation, which is Australia’s only national curriculum organisation which is owned by the states. Bruce Wilson cited that our curriculum was best practice. He did recommend a review after five years, and we are having that review. The member for Blain is really not looking at what is explicitly happening here in the Northern Territory, but latching on the coattails of Julie Bishop and other right wing commentators about curriculum and where we are going. In improving outcomes, we are on the same page.
There was some discussion about measuring outcomes. We released MAP testing results recently and had debate about that. We can all pull figures apart and use them a different way. The member said 22 out of 27 benchmarks were not achieved by Territory students. When you break all these numbers down, what it shows is that we have significant deficits in the bush for outcomes and results. However, if you pull out the results that we are achieving in town, if you are looking at Darwin, northern suburbs and Palmerston, I can certainly say that 18 out of our 29 schools in Darwin, Palmerston and the northern suburbs are achieving above the metropolitan benchmark averages.
Our figures are collated and reported against provincials, which is the Alburys and the Werribees and the other regional centres. However, when you drill into what is happening in the northern suburbs, in Darwin and in Palmerston, in our primary schools in Years 3, 5 and 7, 18 out of 29 are exceeding the averages of similar schools in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Those results are all pulled backwards because, the further out of the major metropolitan centres you go, the outcomes become less, and it pulls those averages down.
Whichever way you want to pull the numbers, if we want to drive performance, we have to keep striving in our urban schools. However, it is in our regional and remote schools where the biggest single determinant to achieving outcomes is, undeniably, attendance. If we can drive improvement of attendance and get those kids into the classrooms - that are well equipped, well staffed, by and large, across the Northern Territory following huge investments made by this government since we came to government - five days a week on a regular basis, then we are going to see real improvements in outcomes. I am absolutely confident about that. What all of us have to do, as local members, particularly on the attendance issue, is encourage our communities and families to get kids to school on a regular basis. As I said in my statement, we are engaging in a number of strategies to achieve that.
In concluding on the member for Blain’s contribution, we are pretty much on the same page. We have a review of the curriculum taking place at the moment. I am keen to receive a submission from the member for Blain. If he wishes to make a submission about where he thinks the curriculum should go, I give him a commitment that I will give it due and professional consideration.
Other members have spoken in the debate this evening. I pick up on the member for Goyder who gave recognition of the commitment of $800 000 for the special education unit at Humpty Doo school. Those are the things that you want to do, as the member for Goyder said, when we are elected to parliament and have the very humbling privilege of becoming a minister in a government. You want to do things that are going to make a difference to people’s lives in a very material and specific way. We all know there are huge needs across the Northern Territory.
The member for Katherine talked about the special needs unit at Katherine High School. I have visited Katherine High School. I have met with many of those students and the teachers and they do a fantastic job. My commitment as minister is to continue to work to improve facilities and access to facilities for our kids with special needs across the Northern Territory.
Humpty Doo is a good example. There are new classrooms going in at Nemarluk School in Darwin. Henbury School in my electorate has entered into a very significant partnership agreement with Dripstone High School, where a couple of hundred thousand dollars was spent recently to accommodate those special needs kids in a mainstream middle school setting. It has been very positively received. We are moving ahead in facilities and access to facilities, and we are working on better options in Katherine.
Member for Braitling, I thank you for your contribution. You are, quite obviously, a practitioner of education and I respect your views given your long career as a teacher and as a principal. You made a very positive contribution. The issue of incentives to attract kids to school is very important. In the work we are doing in remote learning partnerships in remote communities, we are explicitly on the ground at the moment in Yirrkala, Borroloola and Maningrida, and sitting down with communities and negotiating a partnership agreement where communities and families commit to sending kids to school. The commitment from government is to look to be flexible. The member for Braitling talked about flexibility in term times; whether we actually meet the needs of the schools in the bush; the opening times of school; the structuring of the school years in the bush - all of those things are on the table.
My commitment is that we will be as flexible as we can be. We really want those kids to go to school. Rewards and incentives, I agree, are much better than punishment. It is a balance, and about setting standards and expectations. However, I am going to temper it with recognition from the member for Daly. I know the community of Wadeye in his electorate is being very strong in their belief that the government needs to get tough. The government needs to use its muscle under the Education Act because, for all sorts of reasons, community leaders are struggling in getting their students to school.
I believe we have to take a case-by-case approach. I certainly agree carrots are much better than sticks but, in some instances where the communities are calling for it, there is demonstrable overwhelming community support for a tougher attitude that, on a community-by-community basis through a partnership agreement, we do start using some of those mechanisms available under the Education Act or through the Commonwealth. However, it certainly will not be a one-size-fits-all, big-stick approach that the member for Greatorex is talking about. I would much rather see positive incentives than punitive punishments. If all of us can start thinking how we can encourage, particularly in our regional and remote communities, our kids to go to school and support that through incentives, however we might structure that, that is a very positive way to go.
I have spoken about this before, but with the programs like the Clontarf and the Polly Farmer Foundation programs in Alice Springs, it is very early days yet. Gee, talk about some incentives there! They are really starting to demonstrate, in the one term the Clontarf foundation program has been running across the three schools in Alice Springs, that attendance rates for some of those indigenous kids has gone from between 35% and 40% to 90%. Those are the types of incentives the member for Braitling talked about and we need to work further on those.
The member for Braitling talked about curriculum and the future of schooling. The Chief Minister has just attended a forum with all the state Premiers that, essentially, made a commitment regarding national curriculum. I am very pleased to see what is, hopefully, going to be a further clarification, if not the demise, of SOCE, which is social education, and hardening it up in history, geography and economics. As a parent, I have to say, I have always struggled with the concept of SOCE, what it means, how you teach it, and what the performance measures and outcomes around it are.
I suppose you never want to be saying to your kids ‘When I was at school this is what I did’, and sound like an old fuddy-duddy. However, the concepts of actual teaching history, geography and economics, and tailoring that to suit the Northern Territory, is a much better way to go forward with a national curriculum. If I was to ask the 25 members of parliament for a definition of SOCE in the curriculum I would get 25 different answers.
We have to look at Julie Bishop and her view of a national curriculum, performance-based pay for teachers, and giving principals the ability to hire and fire. I suppose if you were pitching an education policy at Kath and Kim, that might sound pretty good. However, everybody who tries to get their head around those issues to have a national curriculum that meets the needs of Northern Territory students in Alice Springs, Katherine, Darwin, Ngukurr, Alyangula, Umbakumba, in relation to Penrith and Surrey Hills, you are going to have a different curriculum, with different things taught in the classroom in history and geography in the Territory, than you have in Surrey Hills.
In Darwin, we should be teaching about the bombing of Darwin in World War II; in Alice Springs, the history of the Overland Telegraph. Some people might argue that those things should be taught to all kids. Certainly, the history of the bombing of Darwin should be. However, it is too easy to talk of a national curriculum and that every child should be studying exactly the same thing. I do not think we are going to get there, but the debate is moving forward in the right direction.
I agree again with the member for Braitling regarding reports. We are working on it and we have seen improvements. We have to simplify reporting to parents. As a parent, when some of the reports came home in the early days of implementing reporting on bands as opposed to specific subject-by-subject reporting, I remember sitting in school council meetings as a local member when these were being discussed thinking: ‘Gee, how are parents going to get their heads around this? I do not understand it’. One of the few things that I have agreed with the Commonwealth government about is moving back to an A to E reporting system. We all know where our kids are sitting on the spectrum of A to E. That is being implemented. One of the things I am taking from this debate is to work with DEET to try to develop a best practice report that makes it very simple for parents to understand where their student sits in performance, and get that out as a template so that all schools use the same format. At the moment, schools are encouraged to, essentially, develop their own formats based on a framework, and that is somewhat confusing. That is a project that I am taking on to get a better standardisation of reporting across the system and best practice so we all know where we sit.
However, to be fair to DEET and to schools and teachers, one of the strengths that has come through reporting at the moment, particularly in the primary school years, is the advent of portfolios coming home with the reports. When you go to parent/teacher meetings, you can actually see the work that your child is doing and discuss where they are at in strengths and weaknesses. The initiative of introducing student portfolios and tying them to reports has been a very significant and welcome move.
I will just finish the member for Braitling’s concerns. Member for Braitling, I am a big softie and I do look at many issues with my heart and with my head. I am still going to agree to disagree with you regarding the students at Bradshaw. However, in spite of all the bravado, I am a big softie and I do look at issues with my heart. I go on gut instincts much of the time, in spite of some of the bravado that might be shown in here.
The member for Arnhem is passionate about education, and made many significant points. The strength of the member for Arnhem’s points was around the importance of partnerships and collaboration. Certainly, that is the key; that is the way we need to move forward. Particularly in remote communities, there is a real sense of partnership and collaboration with the community. I could not agree more with the member for Arnhem that the schools should be at the hub of the community. The schools really should be owned by those communities with a sense of pride, not sat as a piece of infrastructure in isolation to the broader community. I believe the work that we are going to do with the Indigenous Education Advisory Council is to work with communities to get a sense of embracing and owning the school, and a real commitment to send the kids to school day because they are proud of their school, their teachers, and the performance of their kids and what they are achieving.
The member for Arnhem made that point and it is the heart of this. You can go to communities such as Ramingining. When we were there for Community Cabinet, the Chief Minister and I met with young Marcey who had completed Year 12. It was eye opening to meet, with her mum, a confident, well-presented, and articulate young woman who had graduated with her NTCE the previous year, and is so proud that she was at Charles Darwin University studying to be a teacher. The confidence and ability of young Marcey – I did not meet Sifora, I do not think she was there that day – was just outstanding. They were beacons and, as a result of their achievements, there have been significant enrolments in Year 12. There are teachers who have said to me: ‘For the first time, I have been teaching in the bush for years, and I have kids who want to be at school to learn, and parents who support it’.
I want to end on a positive note, Mr Deputy Speaker. That is the vision for the future. When we are speaking about remote and indigenous students, then that real sense of ownership and pride in the school is something we all have to strive hard to achieve. I thank all honourable members for their contribution, and I will bring back many statements on education to the House in the future.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Last Tuesday, it was my great pleasure to host a reception at Parliament House to honour three retiring committee members of the Northern Territory Division of the Institute of Public Administration Australia. Dr Murray Redman, Steve Blake and Heather Dunkel, have all made significant contributions to IPAA, and to our public sector in the Territory. Judging from the turnout last week, they are highly respected members of the organisation.
Murray was Vice-President of IPAA NT for many years and has been associated with the NT Division since its inception in 1982. Heather has been a member of IPAA since 1995, and has served in a number of roles on the committee, including as secretary from 2003 to 2006. Steve was first elected to the committee in 1996 and has also been involved in a number of roles, including as Public Officer and as a member of the organising committee for the national conference in Alice Springs last year.
IPAA’s National President, Andrew Podger, was in Darwin for the event and it was great to have him here to help pay tribute to his colleagues.
IPAA has established a strong national reputation as a leader in public administration, and we have always been a strong supporter of the organisation and worked closely with them over the years. Their goal is to improve public administration through professional development and research activities. Last year’s national conference was testament to the high regard the Territory Division is held in. It was the first time IPAA’s national conference has been held in a regional centre and it proved an outstanding success.
I take this opportunity to recognise and thank past president, John Kirwan, and the organising committee, particularly Ann Jacobs and her Alice Springs members. They did a terrific job and I thank them for their efforts. I also thank NT Division President, John Carroll, and his dedicated team at IPAA for all their hard work. I look forward to continuing our partnership in the future.
On behalf of the public sector community of the NT, many thanks to Murray, Steve, and Heather for their contribution. I wish them all the best for their futures.
I want to recognise tonight a business in my electorate that provides an essential everyday item, and one nearly all of us consume each day. Ken and Shirley Houghton have run Brumby’s Bakery at Parap since 1998, after coming from Papua New Guinea where they lived for over 20 years. Ken is a qualified butcher by trade and I cannot imagine many people laying claim to being both a butcher and a baker.
In the beginning, Brumby’s had three employees. Now there are 14 people working there. As you would expect in Darwin, Ken and Shirley’s staff are a diverse group coming from a variety of cultural backgrounds including Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Sudan, and several have been sponsored more recently from the Philippines and Vietnam. I acknowledge all the Brumby’s staff: Karo Augerea, Godfrey Bojjo, Jay Edwards, Shannon Edwards, Carly Hill, Maria Hualda, Caroline Jelfs, Yenni Rowe, Katy Georgiadis, Lily Dreghorn, Peter Arkell, and Oanh Pham and his wife, Minh Le Thuy
Ken and Shirley are also involved with the Parap Village Traders Association. Ken is president, and the association’s main responsibility is the smooth running for the Parap Markets. They are also members of the Primary Industry Training Advisory Council, and Ken also gives his time to Rotary and the Masonic Lodge. Many thanks to Ken and Shirley for running a terrific business. I take this opportunity to recognise the hard work of small business owners like Ken and Shirley Houghton and their contributions to the community.
I would also like to talk tonight about a very worthy fundraising cause that is now under way in Central Australia. Ride for Dad is the brainchild of Ronnie Donnellan Junior and, as the name suggests, it is in honour of his father who died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease at the age of 60. Creutzfeldt-Jakob, or CJD as it is known, is a rare and fateful degenerative brain disorder that has no effective treatment. It occurs worldwide, but it is extremely rare; only one case per million people is recorded annually.
Along with his partner, Lauren Jones, Ronnie is cycling from Alice Springs to Yulara and back. They left on Monday, 30 April, and their goal is to raise money an awareness of the disease. They wanted to donate the funds to Melbourne University which is undertaking research on CJD. The final stage of the ride coincides with the Bangtail Muster parade on 7 May.
Ronnie Donnellan Senior was born in Alice Springs and lived there his whole life. What started as a routine visit to the doctor to check failing eyesight became an exhaustive diagnosis process. After 12 Australian specialists were consulted, specialists from the United States and the United Kingdom were contacted, which eventually led to the diagnosis of CJD. Within days of the diagnosis, Ronnie lost his sight and his mobility and, just three weeks later, he went into a coma and passed away surrounded by his wife, his children and his grandchildren.
This is a very worthy cause, bringing awareness to a disease that strikes quickly and viciously. I certainly wish Ronnie Junior and Lauren all the best with their fundraising efforts.
While we are in the Centre, sport is just one great part of our Territory lifestyle. Territorians excel at many sports, and Alanna Smith is excelling at hockey and doing Alice Springs proud. Alanna was recently selected as Alice Springs’ only representative to the Territory team in the Under 18 national championships to be held in Launceston this month. This is the second time that Alanna has represented the Territory after competing in the Under 15 national titles last year.
Alanna is a star striker for the Feds women’s hockey team in Alice. To give her more experience and a challenge, her coach, Peter Mabasa, has recently had Alanna playing in the local men’s league. Alanna took the challenge of playing against stronger and faster adult men in her stride and scored three goals in her last two games. With success like this at just 15 years old, Alanna’s future looks bright. I wish Alanna and the whole of the Territory Under 18 hockey team the very best in the championships.
It is no secret that the RSPCA in the Territory does an amazing job looking after our lost and deserted animals. There are RSPCA shelters in Darwin, Gove, Katherine and Alice Springs, with Darwin having membership to the national council. In Darwin, RSPCA CEO, Stefan Wood, and his staff are doing a great job in developing the shelter and improving conditions for the animals and the people who work there. They are a very hard-working team at Berrimah, and it is Shelter Manager, Carol Renfrey, Supervisor, Ryan Jackson, Animal Attendants, Elaine Salvia, Rebecca Viscount, Kay Goon and Barbara Wiley who run the show.
The Darwin RSPCA Board is made up of eight dedicated members who donate many hours of their time to support the shelter. I will mention each of them: President, Jane Walsh; Treasurer, Lorraine Gibbs; and Secretary, Lorna Waide. The board members are: Jayne Porter; Nicole Searby; Martin Grant; Helen Russell; and Jason Peterson.
The RSPCA would find it very hard to function without its many volunteers who range from seven to 70. They walk dogs, cuddle cats, clean kennels and raise much-needed funds, and their second-hand book store at Parap Markets is well known to Top Enders. It is these people, often the unsung heroes, who deserve recognition. On behalf of all animal lovers in the Territory, I extend my heartfelt thanks.
I understand the Darwin shelter is undergoing a review at the moment to streamline its operations. I wish them all the best of luck with that process in the coming months. Keep up the good work!
Finally, Mr Deputy Speaker, in March I had the pleasure of helping launch the third Destination Alice Springs campaign, or AdveNTure campaign, as it is known. The first Destination Alice campaign was launched in 2005 and was based on the findings of the Strengthening the Position of Alice Springs Tourism projects, where the local tourism industry identified the true worth of Alice Springs as a holiday destination. Since that first Share our Story campaign, interstate holiday visitors to the region have increased from around 111 000 in 2004 to an estimated 133 000 in 2006. The total visitor spend is also up from $241m to $333m last year.
The aim of the AdveNTure campaign is to target our spirited travellers and make them even more aware of the adventures that await them here, like exploring the East and West MacDonnell Ranges, hiking the Larapinta Trail, driving along the Red Centre Way, or catching The Ghan. Alice Springs is, of course, the perfect base to explore the region. Together with our industry trade partners, we have invested more than $2.1m into the AdveNTure campaign. Its centrepiece is a 15-second television commercial, showcasing the region’s adventure experiences. It has already appeared more than 780 times nationally.
We are also running print ads, featuring local identity, Dick Kimber, in publications such as The Weekend Australian Magazine, Q-Weekend, Sunday magazine and Vogue Entertaining + Travel and Vogue Living. We have worked with National Geographic to create four 90-second video pieces with four local story tellers: Alec Ross from the Telegraph Station; artist, Tommy Crow; Larapinta Trail Ranger, Chris Day; and photographer, Steve Strike. Tourism NT also secured the support of CATIA and six local operators to advertise in regional Victorian papers as part of the campaign.
I take this opportunity to thank Centre Highlights, Mbantua Gallery, Hertz NT, Crowne Plaza Alice Springs, Heavitree Gap Outback Lodge, and Red Centre Dreaming and Kings Canyon Wilderness Lodge for their support.
We have also sponsored two new programs which have a focus on Central Australia, Going Bush Series 2 and The Outback Caf, and our PR activities are also in full swing. We are working closely with local and national industry partners to make sure our message reaches as many people as possible.
The Flight Centre, Qantas Holidays, Voyages, APT, AAT Kings, Great Southern Railways and Territory Discoveries are all playing a big role. Together with these industry partners, we have also developed a Central Australian training module to ensure that retail agents are ready to turn consumer interest into sales. The feedback has been very encouraging so far. Close to 200 000 people have visited www.travelnt.com specifically searching for Alice Springs information, and around 1200 web visitors have downloaded Alice Springs product and packages from the site. That is a terrific response.
I also make mention of our Red Centre photographic exhibition. The exhibition’s stunning photographs were seen by around 750 000 commuters over two weeks at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station. It made quite an impression. The station’s operations manager, Ashley Reed, has told us that it was very successful and is missed by many people. The exhibition has also been to Sydney at the gallery in Darling Park. Negotiations are currently under way to bring it back to Central Australia for the Desert Festival later this year. It is great exposure for Central Australia and we are confident it will translate into more visitors to the region in the future.
It was great to catch up with old friends and many industry people at that launch. It is always a treat to see Krafty, and it was good to talk to Chris Day, who featured in the campaign, and Roger and Jan Hogben, who run the Precinct Caf in Hermannsburg.
We are confident that the Destination Alice Springs campaign will see more visitors come to the region in the future, and that means increased social and economic opportunities right across Central Australia. My congratulations to everyone involved in what is, so far, a very successful campaign.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Deputy Speaker, not long after I was elected as the member for Katherine, and at my first parliamentary sittings, I delivered an adjournment speech which acknowledged, amongst other things, the achievements of Lyn White of Jalyn Ford Katherine, who had just been selected as the overall winner of the Northern Territory Telstra Small Businesswoman of 2003. This, in itself, was an excellent reward for Lyn, her partner, Jane Brookshaw, and the staff of both Jalyn Ford and Wyn Holden, which Lyn and Jane owned. The award acknowledged the professionalism and high standard that Lyn set in the business of Jalyn Ford.
Lyn did not slow down at all following the excitement of that award, and I am very proud to put on to the Parliamentary Record tonight her most recent achievements.
Several weeks ago, at a prestigious dinner in Adelaide, Jalyn Ford won two very prestigious awards. Ford announced its 14 Australian Dealers of the Year for 2006. Jalyn Ford, competing in Group 13 against some 40-plus dealers spread throughout Australia, took out the award. Dealer of the Year is judged on all aspects of the business. New car targets must be achieved or exceeded, and excellent customer service results are essential. Used cars, parts, and service operations are also judged on all aspects of their operations. Dealership financial management is also considered. To be judged as Group 13’s Dealer of the Year for 2006 requires an all out team effort, with excellent results of performance across the board.
Jonathon Baldock won a Sales Manager and Business Manager Award, and Barry Golding was the top performing Parts Manager in his group. To top off a wonderful night, for the first time in history, a Northern Territory dealer took out one of four national awards, winning National Dealer of the Year for the Rural Areas of Australia. These accomplishments do not come without a lot of dedication and commitment to ongoing best business practice, and that is what Lyn is committed to.
I congratulate Lyn and her partner, Jane Brookshaw, on this fantastic achievement. It really puts a smile on my face to see such success coming out of a small regional town as Katherine, and it just goes to show what can be achieved with determination. I wish all the staff at Jalyn Ford and Wyn Holden continued success, and I especially wish Lyn and Jane a fantastic well-deserved holiday, which they are taking shortly. Go girls!
Mr NATT (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I attended a couple of school ceremonies for Anzac Day. I was lucky enough to be invited to Kormilda College and attended their lunchtime assembly, which representatives of the Defence Force attended. It was well run by the two school captains, and supported by a number of student’s who are in the various forms of cadets in the Defence Force. It was a terrific ceremony.
I understand - and just cannot remember the details off the top of my head - there was a battalion that was stationed at the Kormilda area or within the Kormilda College area through the war. They have handed their colours on to the school to carry on the tradition, and those colours were proudly displayed on the day. The students were given a great ceremony and a wonderful speech by one of the Defence Force people. I thank the school for their invitation.
The other ceremony I attended was actually that morning. I went to the Palmerston High School. Again, it was a terrific assembly. All of the students paid particular attention to a former Vietnam Veteran, Mr Rod Joyce. Rod went through some of his experiences with the Vietnamese people during his stint in Vietnam, and explained his situation very well without going into any of the detail, obviously. The way that he approached it was to talk on the Vietnamese people’s side of things and the treatment whereby they looked after him and the Australian troops looked after them. It was very well done and I congratulate Rod on giving that talk.
Another interesting aspect was they asked a Defence Force mother and daughter to come along to the assembly. The mother outlined her feelings to the assembly, and the daughter who was only about 11 or 12, outlined the feelings of a daughter having a father overseas on deployment. It was a fantastic role that they played within the school. Again, the students paid particular attention. It was important for the school to understand the important role that our troops do play overseas in such times that we have at the moment. It also gave an insight into the feelings of families who have loved ones overseas.
A student of the Palmerston High School, Stacey Carvolth, was lucky enough to be selected to win a Simpson Prize. The Simpson Prize is a competition for either an essay or an audiovisual-based submission to address what values and characteristics demonstrated by the ANZACs at Gallipoli and later, reinforced at the Western Front, continue to influence Australians today. Stacey wrote a wonderful essay and was chosen as a winner and was lucky enough to travel to Gallipoli for Anzac Day this year. I congratulate Stacey on her efforts. I had an opportunity to read her essay when I attended the school library after the ceremony. The school had a display put together by the students and I congratulate them on that. Stacey’s essay was particularly awe-inspiring. It was a terrific presentation and it is a credit to all the students and Stacey for putting all that together.
The next day, Anzac Day, I attended the dawn and mid-morning service at Palmerston. I am very pleased to say that both ceremonies were very well attended which was terrific to see. It was terrific to see many young faces in the crowd with their parents. The way that Anzac Day has evolved over the years and the interest shown by young people to carry on the tradition is terrific. The mid-morning ceremony was exceptionally well attended because many of the primary schools from the area had representatives there. There were particular classes from a couple of the schools that came along. They paid their tributes by laying poppies and wreaths on the cenotaph and it was terrific to see the teachers getting the kids involved in the ceremony.
I was able to pay my respects by laying a wreath, as was the member for Brennan’s wife who represented her husband while he was away in Sydney. It was a really moving morning and mid-morning service. I pay tribute to the representation of the Defence Forces which was at those ceremonies as the catafalque party. They did a wonderful job. In particular, I thank Garry Markwell, the president of the Palmerston RSL and Daryl Salathiel, the secretary, who put the two ceremonies together and did a marvellous job. It was just terrific to see the tradition being carried on.
I attended last Friday night’s Kormilda College’s presentation of the Midsummer Night’s Dreamtime. It was a wonderful night of fun and frivolity provided by the students in the adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The play was well presented with an Aussie flavour and extremely well acted by some very talented people. It is not a short play. It continued for about two-and-a-half hours so there were many lines and verses to be learnt. In all sincerity, listening to them work through their paces, I do not think I heard a line dropped throughout the whole night. It was just a marvellous, entertaining night.
Congratulations must go to all of the production staff, the coordinators and the extras. The actors were absolutely fabulous and I name them: Daniel Popple, Gabrielle Morriss, Darcy Walsh, Stephanie Braun, Gemma Dowling, Jade Butterworth, Douglass Lovegrove, Danny Doyle, Sarah Munson, Eli Taylor, Melinda Christopher, Erin Dunne, Anaeas Taylor, Matthias Kasperek, Owen Spencer, Ivey-Lisa Keane, Bernadette Syrimi, Joshua May and Chantelle Dobunaba. The costumes and the backdrops and music and lighting were just fabulously done. It was well supported by the actors. It was just terrific.
As I said before, it was interspersed with an Aussie theme. The other interesting flavour for the night was the indigenous actors who played important roles throughout the play. They danced on a few occasions as the play evolved. The dancing was very good, ably supported by a group of school musicians and a didgeridoo player behind the scenes. It was a great night; very enjoyable. I look forward to next year’s play and congratulate everyone involved.
There is an Indigenous Student Leadership and Mentor program undertaken by the Department of Employment, Education and Training at the Palmerston High School. Two Year 12 students who were invited to become members of the leadership program are Olga-Jean Wilkes and Chantal Ober. The girls attended the Batchelor Outdoor Education Unit for a three-day leadership camp a couple of weeks ago. The camp is designed to improve personal development, leadership skills and teamwork. It is an opportunity for students to gain and share ideas and experiences, and incorporate a range of activities that aim to improve their team building and self-confidence. I congratulate Olga-Jean and Chantal on being selected. I am sure this is a great step for their transition to the working environment, and I look forward to hearing more about those two young ladies in the future.
Palmerston Markets commenced again last Friday. They are celebrating their 21st birthday this year. It was a great night. The stalls were down a little on last year, but I understand that they will come back over the next couple of weeks. I congratulate Julia Battison for coordinating the stalls and running the market, and congratulate her on her 21st year of running it. We will be there every week with our stall. We look forward to meeting the people of Palmerston who chat to us about any concerns they have for the rest of the Dry Season.
I was lucky enough to get to the 2007 Barra Nationals on Saturday in my capacity as minister for Fisheries. The Palmerston Game Fishing Club runs the Barra Nationals. It was a terrific event. I understand 55 boats took part in the week of fishing on the Daly. They all used Banyan Farm as their home base. I travelled down on Saturday morning and was lucky enough to get out on the water mid-morning. We travelled downstream and met a number of the competitors in their boats. We just stopped to say hello, but I managed to dabble a line every now and again as we worked our way down. I did not have much luck, but I had an enjoyable time and met some wonderful people.
Unfortunately, the fishing downstream was not as good as it had been earlier in the week, and many of the boats headed back early to the campsite because the competition had to finish at 3 pm on the dot. Many of the boats headed back early, probably to have a shower and rest for the evening.
The boat I was in travelled upstream, and we sat under a tree and had a bit of lunch where we watched the eventual winners and runners-up sit in their boats over one little hole, where they had been all morning and the two days before. The winners were three gentlemen in their boat, Diesel and Dust, who had a huge aggregate of around 4000-odd points. The runners-up were a local team called The Polar Bears, and they had about 3900 points, which is exceptional. Those boats were way in front. I think the third placegetter had approximately 1700 points, which just shows the difference. On the day, over 100 fish were taken from this particular hole, which was a place called Tommy’s. When they moved out at 3 pm, we moved in and were lucky enough to catch a number of nice fish. Obviously, it was catch and release, but we had a wonderful couple of hours in that spot.
I pay tribute to the Palmerston Game Fishing Club for running the Barra Nationals again this year, with a special mention for Paul Williams and the committee for all their hard work to gather up the sponsors and coordinate efforts throughout the week. It was a wonderful job and it culminated into a wonderful presentation evening. I thank the sponsors for their generous support of the nationals; some of the prizes donated were just phenomenal. There was a lot of money in goods donated, and there were some pleased winners at the end of the night walking away with some wonderful prizes.
I thank Kane Dysart, who was the marshal from the department of Fisheries who marshalled the troops throughout the week and kept an eye on them. He was my skipper for the Saturday we were on the river, and I thank him for his help, and for helping out as the marshal throughout the week. I also pay special mention to Wally and Kerry, who are the proprietors of Banyan Farm. They have a wonderful set-up there and everyone I spoke to had a ball. They loved their surrounds and the way they were treated, and the catering for the championships was spot on. The meal we had on the Saturday night was exceptional, and I pay tribute to Wally and Kerry for their organisation. I understand there is another barra competition this week. I thank Peter Davis, commonly known as the Mad Mullet, for all his efforts. He was the compare for the night. He ran a tight ship, and had fun with the competitors as well. All in all, we had a great day on the water and caught some fish. Again, congratulations to the Palmerston Game Fishing Club for their efforts throughout the week.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I use tonight’s adjournment to speak about a couple of matters in Alice Springs, principally about the continuing issue of management of law and order in our community in Central Australia.
There was an article published on 30 March this year in The Centralian Advocate, just before our sittings in Alice Springs, when the law and order issues, or the lawlessness in Alice Springs was escalating to such a degree that the community felt strongly enough that they had to front up to parliament. This article was about the robbery of one of our Chinese restaurants in Alice Springs, which was broken into twice in three days over a week and, subsequently, another time. The headline was: ‘Sleep over to catch thieves’, with a picture of the owner’s partner, with a caption saying they ‘… slept on a swag at Oriental Gourmet Restaurant this week in a successful bid to catch thieves who were trying to steal alcohol’. I will read from the article as that describes exactly what happened:
- An Alice Springs business owner and her partner have been sleeping in their restaurant to catch thieves and vandals - and they did.
The owner of the Oriental Gourmet Chinese Restaurant in Hartley Street had windows smashed and alcohol stolen twice in three days last week.
Owner, Jenny Yuen, said she had had enough. She had spent nearly $10 000 putting mesh on the windows and a locked roller door on the liquor fridge, as well as having the windows replaced.
Ms Yuen and her partner, Brian Murray, camped on the restaurant floor and, on the fourth night, they awoke to the sound of the glass smashing.
Mr Murray chased the six youths, aged 14 to 16, but fell over, tearing his shoulder muscle and causing painful gravel rash to his left side.
Mr Murray said: ‘One left his bike and his older brother came back to get it. I just grabbed him and held him by the collar while Jenny called the police. Then his friend came over and tried to punch me to get me to let the kid go, so I grabbed him too and held them until the police came’.
But now the pair fear retaliation. They have asked some of their chefs to sleep over just in case the youths come back.
They called for the youth curfew to be implemented, as well as for parents to take more responsibility for their children.
Police said that a boy, 16, is in police custody following the incident.
Had the owner and her partner not caught the boys, I wonder whether anything further would have been done apart from the police providing a PROMIS number and the owners of the restaurant having to continue to pay for the damage that occurs from those break-ins. Ms Yuen and her partner came to see me and explained what happened to them. They said that, after their previous break-ins they reported the incidents to police and there was little that they did. It was because of that they were forced to sleep in the restaurant to protect the premises.
Now that the demonstration occurred when parliament sat in Alice Springs and the government promised that City Safe will now be carried on indefinitely in Alice Springs, I hope it will be maintained. I am sure that, over the next week to three weeks, City Safe will be maintained while the memory is still very recent in the government’s mind. I hope I do not see a gradual dilution of City Safe so that the foot patrols and police vehicle patrols that are occurring at the moment in the mall gradually disappear. It is interesting though, that while City Safe is being implemented at the moment, I am not certain how vigilant the police are at ensuring there is law and order in our streets, particularly in the mall.
Last week, I chanced to be walking between my office and the Todd Mall. As I was walking past the rear of the Flynn Church, where there are some nice lush lawns, a group of some 10 to 15 women were playing cards for money. They were sitting around in a circle while kids were running around everywhere unsupervised - or maybe supervised by vision only, but nothing more than that - while the card game was in progress. That is illegal. On Anzac Day, many people are allowed to play two-up as part of the tradition of Anzac Day. A permit is provided for such activities. I know there should not be any gambling in public places; it is illegal. Nobody seemed to do anything about it. The police car, a paddy wagon, had driven up through the car park near the area where the women were playing cards. They might not have seen those women, I do not know. Anyway, I rang the police. I used 131 444 and got a response pretty quickly. When I reported the event, I then went on with my business after that, so I did not know what happened - whether that was followed up fairly soon after.
However, on - I think it was - Friday last week, I happened to be walking towards one of the restaurants in the mall and, right outside the front of Adelaide House, which is next door to the Flynn Church, on another area of very nice lush lawn, was a group of about seven or eight women playing cards for money. There were $20 notes floating around everywhere. I thought: ‘Let us see what happens’. I waited for 10 to 15 minutes and the card game continued. I finally rang the police. Again, I used 131 444. My phone call was answered and I was transferred to a police officer where I reported the card game. It was at 12.30 pm, and I took particular note of the time. I then went to the restaurant where I was having a meeting with a businessman, and the card game was in clear direct line of sight from where I was sitting in the restaurant. Nothing happened until 1.20 pm when a paddy wagon drove down the mall from the north, going in a southerly direction
I took particular notice of what the police were going to do when the paddy wagon came through. The paddy wagon drove right past the group that were playing cards. I took particular notice of what the police officers were going to do. Whether they looked at and saw the card game, I do not know because I noticed both the police officers with their eyes looking straight forward. They might not have seen the card game.
It is part of the fact that I had made a phone call. At about 1.30, 10 minutes after the police van drove past, the card game spontaneously broke up. Probably within about 10 minutes, they were sitting down on a different patch of grass, still out the front of Adelaide House and another card game ensued, this time with a smaller group of women but still some six or seven of them sitting there playing cards. Interestingly though, in the interval between the first card game and the second card game, after much of the rubbish was left on the lawns after the first group took off, a couple of Alice Springs Town Council wardens came along and started collecting all the rubbish that was left on the lawn. There was a group of women playing cards with children running around everywhere, who had left containers and wrappings all left around where the group had been playing cards. The town council had to clean that up. You would have thought that, once the gambling group broke up they would have picked the rubbish up but they did not. Ten minutes after they broke up, another group started gambling and the same thing happened again. Five, 10 minutes later an unmarked car with a couple of plain clothes police officers in the car drove in a northerly direction up the mall, and did nothing - they just kept on moving.
That is what happened. If City Safe is about that then, obviously, City Safe is not being effective enough. We should not be putting up with any such behaviour. We are saying that we are going to have an advertising campaign throughout Central Australia: if you come to Alice Springs, respect our town. Behave in a law abiding manner. You want us to respect you if you come to town as visitors then you as visitors need to respect us. It is that simple. I say to the government that if City Safe is going to ensure that this is happening, then let us have zero tolerance on this.
Outside the Flynn Church is also a place where many other community events take place and one of them is the Story Wall. The Story Wall is a concept that was started by the Deacon of the Uniting Church with contribution in-kind and in effort from the Alice Springs Town Council and representatives from Welcome TV. The intention is to use the wall of the Uniting Church to screen locally made movies of cultural context where people can be encouraged to gather around the church, to increase activity along the mall. The intention, I believe, is also to have cultural exchange between locals, the movie producers who are trying to produce shows of cultural relevance, to invite tourists who are mingling in the mall to stop and watch the show and try to learn a little about the culture of Central Australia and, hopefully, gain some positive cultural experience out of their visit to town. The intention is fantastic. That is a very good thing for Alice Springs to have and I appreciate the intentions of the Uniting Church and the Story Wall partners to get this going.
The groups that gather around the Story Wall have been problematic in that, at times, the groups have been quite noisy. There has been fighting and screaming, and the behaviour has been regarded as antisocial. The clients who might be in a restaurant or accommodation establishments adjacent to the Story Wall, it would find it quite distressful. Thus, there has been some conflict between other premises and the partners of Story Wall. The business premises would prefer that Story Wall does not take place whilst, on the other hand, Story Wall would like to keep going because they believe it is worthwhile.
Obviously, there is recognition by Story Wall that there are problems, and the complaints by the business premises have been quite frequent. I finally wrote an e-mail to the town council, to the minister for Police and Story Wall to get them to meet urgently to discuss the issues and how best to deal with the antisocial behaviour so that what is, obviously, a good idea does not fall into a heap but, at the same time, making sure that people living and working around the Story Wall area have their interests protected so that their clients and the tourists who use the premises are not being negatively impinged upon. I am glad to hear that the meeting has occurred and things are going well ...
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex, your time has expired.
Mr HAMPTON (Stuart): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I attended the launch of the Northern Tanami Indigenous Protected Area Agreement on 30 April at the Lajamanu community in my electorate.
The project was launched by Senator Nigel Scullion, the Minister for Community Services. As I said, I attended, along with Warren Snowdon, the member for Lingiari, and many traditional owners, Wulaign Rangers and Central Land Council members and staff who witnessed the declaration and signing of the indigenous protected area agreement.
The Indigenous Protected Area program and National Reserve System program are part of the Australian government’s National Heritage Trust. The goals of the programs are to establish partnerships between government and indigenous land managers to support the development of a comprehensive, adequate and representative national system of protected areas. It also aims at promoting indigenous involvement in protected area management by supporting the establishment of cooperatively managed protected areas. It also promotes and integrates indigenous ecological and cultural knowledge into contemporary protected area management practices in accordance with internationally endorsed protected area guidelines.
It was a significant event for me because, since 1999 or 2000 through my work with Normandy Mines at The Granites gold mine and with the Central Land Council in the mining employment area, I had been talking to many of the people at Lajamanu and Yuendumu near where the mines are located about this type of work. This area covers 40 000 km2. It has been and always will be Aboriginal land, so it is a matter of commonsense that we have Warlpiri and Gurindji people working on this land in a contemporary manner, which is what the Indigenous Protected Area project provides.
As I said, the community and the Central Land Council began talks in 1999, which is seven or eight years ago. It has been a long time coming and now that it has finally come to fruition, there will be lots of local opportunities for employment, training and cultural maintenance through land-based enterprises at Lajamanu.
There are several mining leases, including Groundrush, Tanami and Coyote Mines, which fall within the area. Through my experiences with working with Normandy and the Central Land Council, it has always been very hard for traditional indigenous people who are living on some of these remote communities to get full-time permanent jobs in the mining industry. I know through my experiences working at the Granites gold mine for a year, the mining industry is a very hard industry to work in. You have 12-hour shifts, and a two weeks on/one week off roster. For a lot of people, mostly indigenous people, it is a very hard working environment, where you are living on a remote mining camp and working those very long hours and two-week rosters.
This Indigenous Protected Area project gives indigenous people another opportunity, another way of becoming involved in the mining industry. It is a way, I suppose, that is more appropriate for them because they are working in their own country, in areas such as feral animal control, weed control and rehabilitation of mine sites. It is certainly a very positive project. It is a way of investing in the bush whilst stimulating employment and building on the skills of local people which, obviously, is a valuable investment, not only for the Lajamanu community but also for the Northern Territory community at large.
Over the years, during my time involved with the Lajamanu community, there are many people there. Lajamanu is a great, very strong community. It has a lot of leadership. One of the main organisers and speakers at the event I attended on Monday was an elder of the Lajamanu, the Warlpiri people, Mr Billy Bunter. He is just one example of one of these old man who have been around a long time, been involved in the pastoral industry and the mining industry and is now a very strong traditional owner, leader - cultural leader as well - who is encouraging young people to become involved in projects such as this. I pay my respects to that old man, Mr Billy Bunter, for his efforts.
There are certainly many other elders there who are doing a lot of work in encouraging young Warlpiri people to become involved with things such as this project, employment, training and education opportunities. Australia now has 23 indigenous protected areas, covering some 18.6 million hectares. As I said, this agreement in Lajamanu covers some 40 000 km2 and is one of the biggest in the country.
The second event I would like to talk about is the Youth Drama Forum that I attended on 19 April in Alice Springs. The forum was organised and run by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College in Alice Springs at the Traeger Park campus. It was held during the Alice Springs sittings, and it was certainly a great privilege for me to be invited by the school, staff and students to their Youth Drama night. It had an extra significant feeling for me because I actually attended Traeger Park in the 1970s as a student myself when I grew up in Alice Springs in the Gap. It was probably the first time I have been back there since the late 1970s. It was great to be back at my old school and to be invited by the school community.
The play on Youth Drama night was originally written a Mr Suruli Rajan Kandasamy. The name of the drama was Journey. It revolved around the lives of four young characters between 16 and 18 who encountered quite a few personal problems, as young people do at that age. It was set inside a vehicle, where the four young people put up a bold front in the company of each other. It touched on many emotional and dramatic events that young people face today in their lives.
The drama revolved around them driving around after a session in the pub, masked by inner sadness and the need to keep up appearances amongst their peer group and colleagues. I suppose the main aim of the play was to show people and other students who were there watching the drama that we all make mistakes – everyone does – but it is how we deal with them, particularly young people. The message was that life is a journey, it is human to take the wrong turn, but it takes less to make that u-turn. It was a very emotional, very dramatic drama play that the students put on. The actors were four young students from OLSH: Thea de Graaff, Matt Delsar, Aaron Crowe and Emma Forrester, who all played their characters very well. Obviously, a lot of time had gone into practising for their roles and they did a great job. All credit to them and to Rajan, the original play writer. I also congratulate the event coordinators, production crew from the school, and also the many sponsors that assisted with its organisation.
There is one particular person I wish to mention briefly - Mr Phil Walcott. Phil is now in his 30th year as a professional educator. He initially trained as a primary/infant teacher and taught in that capacity in Sydney. In 1983, he was awarded a NSW Department of Education Scholarship to complete his Master of Arts in Psychology at Macquarie University. Phil began his school counselling career in 1985, and remained with the New South Wales Department until 1990. Phil moved to Alice Springs in 1993 and, from 1994 until 2000, he worked professionally with the NT Health and Education department. Since 2001, Phil has been at St Philip’s College as a counsellor and consultant psychologist, four days a week. He works concurrently in private practice and the Alice Springs Hospital on occasion.
Phil has enjoyed extensive experience with infants, primary, and secondary aged students in both public and private school systems. He has worked with many young people confronting the typical issues of adolescence. These include building positive relationships and self-image, self-esteem, substance use and abuse issues, teenage parenthood, and life skills, for well over two decades. Phil was there that night and was absolutely delighted to be involved in the drama night. It was a great night and I thank the students and staff who invited me there. It was certainly well worth the visit that night.
I also touch on the main aim of the youth drama night at the school, which was to let young people know and give them advice about what services are available to them in Alice Springs, and to connect those young people to those services. Actually, at the end of the night, they had people from those youth organisations and service providers out the front as a panel, and students were given an opportunity to ask various questions that related to the role play, to the drama, but also to their real life situations. It was a great night.
On Wednesday, 25 April, I attended the Anzac Day dawn service in Alice Springs. It was an early start to the day – 6 am. A large crowd assembled at Anzac Hill in Alice Springs, and it was really just standing room. People were standing all over the hill getting the best spot they could to witness the service. I then went back at about 9.30 am to witness the march assembly and service later in the morning. I was privileged to lay a wreath on behalf of the Northern Territory government. There was also a speech by the Master of Ceremonies, Warrant Officer Craig Wiggins, as well as an opening address by Captain Adye Viney. The guest speaker that day was Lieutenant Adrian Silverthorne from the Royal Australian Navy.
For me, it was a special occasion because as I said in my maiden speech last October, five of my uncles had been involved in the armed services dating back to the 1940s, and one of the projects that I have taken on, on behalf of my family, is to research one of my uncles, Reginald Desmond Hampton, who served in both Bougainville, New Guinea between 1942 and 1945, and Korea and Japan between 1950 and 1954. It has been great for me because, over the last couple of weeks, I have actually received four or five of his medals that he did not receive upon returning from overseas duty. The medals recognise his service in Korea, Japan and New Guinea. Unfortunately, on this occasion I did not wear the medals. I am going to get them mounted properly and I look forward to next year’s Anzac service so that I can wear them proudly in recognition of my uncle’s services to this country.
Also, as the member for Braitling has talked about already, I recognise Braitling School and their 30th birthday celebrations that were held on Monday, 30 April. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it as I was at the launch at Lajamanu. I was fortunate enough on Friday, 27 April, to present the Dare to Lead Awards to the school at their assembly, and it was certainly great to do that. They have the Atyeke Unit at the school which focuses on indigenous students living in town camps. The unit is a critical factor in getting and encouraging town camp kids to attend school. They certainly have done a great job to date, and receiving this award is due recognition for the efforts they are putting into town camps.
Finally, I recognise the Youth Parliament that was held in Alice Springs during the Alice Springs sittings. I was fortunate enough to be able to sponsor some students both from ANZAC Hill High School and Centralian College to attend the Youth Parliament. I will read out a thank you letter received from one of the students, Jordon Early:
- Dear Mr Hampton,
My name is Jordon Early and I am writing this letter to express my thanks for your donation of $150 towards for my fee to enter the Youth Parliament Camp held here in Alice Springs.
The Youth Parliament Camp was an excellent experience where I made friends, learnt lots about how the parliamentary process works and the different roles that each person in parliament has. It changed my perspective on life and made me want to make a difference to the problems the Northern Territory has at present.
We had our first two debates at the Charles Darwin University which wasn’t as nerve-racking as I thought. We were the opposition (I was on the St Philip’s team because I was the only student from ANZAC HHS who went) for the Recycling Incentive Act and we helped the Task Force members in their debate for the Dog Licensing Act.
On the morning of the second lot of debates held at the Convention Centre, we had a breakfast at the Crowne Plaza with all the other politicians. I talked to Jodeen Carney and Clare Martin. On our table for breakfast I sat next to Dr Richard Lim who is pretty cool.
We walked to the Convention Centre and I was walking with the minister for Education and two colleagues of mine from the Youth Camp. I was nervous about doing the debate but fortunately not many people came to watch so that was a relief for me!
Also, when they brought out the Mace, I was completely entranced by the shiny and beautiful golden surface and felt like touching it. But Shannon, one of the Task Force members, said that we cannot touch it. This was a shame, but I suppose it wouldn’t make a difference considering I couldn’t take it back to my house.
Then we debated about the Anti-Smoking Act which I was for in reality but my team was against it. After this we debated the Dry Municipality Act (dry ‘Town’ was the original name but it was amended) which we were for.
I really enjoyed going to the Youth Parliament and I really do appreciate your donation. I am definitely going next year! I did take an oath after all!
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Stuart, your time has expired.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, before I start my adjournment speech, I commend all local members who proudly and eloquently expressed their opinions on the great festivities throughout the Territory to celebrate Anzac Day. Over the coming couple nights of adjournment, I am sure we are going to hear a lot more about those and I look forward to reading them in Hansard.
On that point, I attended the Lions Club of Litchfield and Litchfield Shire Anzac Day 2007 parade and service. The program started with a march at 10.10 am from the Taminmin High School to the cenotaph at the Village Green. The service followed at 10.15 am and then there was a reunion at the Village Green. It was a great little program at the service. The Master of Ceremonies was Mr Ray Nendick of the Lions Club of Litchfield and the service was presided over by Father Milton Arias of St Francis of Assisi. That role is rotated between the different denominations each year. The Anzac Day address is also rotated between the shire president, the member for Goyder, and the member for Nelson. This year, I was fortunate enough to be given the Anzac Day address. We followed that with the laying of the wreath ceremony with the Ode, Last Post, silence, Reveille and the National Anthem. Then we broke into some reunion and cheer at the Village Green.
It was a great event, although the speakers at the service were not really working that well, so there were a number of people who came up and said that they could not hear because of the arrangement of the speakers. Some of the guests asked me if I would not mind recording what I said that day in the Parliamentary Record. I will quote verbatim:
- Distinguished guests, veterans, members of the armed services, ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure and pride that I deliver this 2007 Anzac Day address here in such a beautiful rural setting. It is fantastic to see and honour our veterans and active service people here today and to again remember those who are no longer with us.
We gather to pay tribute and remember all those courageous men and women who have served our nation’s armed services in times of conflict and times of peace. Australia is one of only a few countries that has not initiated conflict or war, but has willingly answered the call in defence of our shores and the defence of our allies. This is a proud Australian heritage which I know will continue.
All around Australia today, from the city to the bush, ordinary Australians are gathering to honour the efforts of our earliest ANZACs and all those who have served their country’s armed services ever since. This is certainly part of what it means to be proud Australians.
As a youngster from the rural outskirts of Sydney, I clearly recall the excitement of travelling to the city to watch my first Anzac parade. I guess I was about eight or nine. What I vividly remember most was my dad, a World War II veteran, pointing out two or three very aged gentlemen riding in an open top convertible near the head of the parade. What struck me most was that they were all wearing slouch hats with big feather plumes cascading out the back. Even though they were old, they still looked like proud soldiers. Dad said they were the last of the Boer War veterans and they would soon be all gone. He said that some day, I would see the last of our World War I veterans, too, and possibly even see the last of our World War II veterans take part in the parade.
- Dad was a humble English World War II RAF Lancaster bombardier, who never collected his medals and I can’t recall him ever marching. I don’t think he ever did that out disrespect. He was just not proud of what he’d done. But he would go and watch the Anzac Day parade every year. I think he represented a lot of return servicemen in that respect.
In later years, I recall him hoping that the parade would go on, but without any veterans who had fought in combat. An Anzac parade with service men and women who had only served in peace. While I share his hopes, I doubt that will ever occur.
Dad is today an elderly and frail man in quite poor health, living in Brisbane. But he told me last night he would go to today’s dawn service and then watch the Anzac parade. He hoped it would not be his last. I hope so too.
As dad predicted, I have lived to see the last of our World War I veterans participate, and now our World War II and Korean veterans are also very few in number and I’m so proud to see those that could make it here today. I am also very proud that the Vietnam veterans now receive the recognition so long denied them, and that they are now the honoured backbone of Anzac parades across Australia.
Yesterday, I listened to two teenage students recite ‘letters to home’, by World War I diggers. As I watched and listened, it occurred to me that these students were only just a tad younger than the young men who penned those prophetic, sometimes proud, sometimes anxious letters.
Even though there are no more of our World War I veterans, I am sure they’d be as proud as I was of those students and the dignified and respectful way in which they read the diggers’ letters. But more importantly, they’d be proud that their descendents continue to live in a democracy where freedom of speech is still a hallmark of the Australian way. Where our young Australians, such as those students I listened to yesterday, still take the time to show their respect and admiration for those who fought for Australia on foreign shores almost 100 years ago.
And they’d be equally as proud of those young Australians who are currently serving our country in the defence of our cherished democracy, both here and overseas. To these young contemporary Australians we all owe a debt of gratitude. And let us not forget that Defence personnel and their families here in the Territory make up about 15% of our population.
So last Sunday it was very pleasing and a great relief for all Territorians to see the safe return from Afghanistan of the final group of 1st Reconstruction Task Force soldiers. We’re all so proud of these young diggers and all the other military personnel who have recently served overseas, and those who are currently serving overseas. They all carry the Anzac spirit forward.
One of the most inspiring aspects of contemporary Australia is the way young Australians today have a keen thirst for knowledge of our Anzac tradition and history. Unlike my generation who had fathers and grandfathers who could tell them firsthand of what it meant to be a World War I and World War II Anzac, our current young Australians can only ponder at the birth of the Anzac story, and glean what little they can from historical narratives.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in wanting to see more of our proud Anzac history taught in schools. And therefore I’m encouraged to hear that the teaching of Australian history is being considered as a national imperative. A large part of our important history, of course, revolves around our country’s efforts in time of conflict and in peacekeeping roles. This needs to be taught to our youngsters, not in a glorified manner but in a respectful manner, so that future generations can understand the meaning of Anzac and how it has helped shape our country.
I’d like to applaud the initiatives by both our Territory and federal governments in their efforts to preserve our World War II heritage sites here in the Territory. On this issue, party politics is set aside and all members of our parliament are as one Territory voice. I applaud the work done by the previous Territory government who, along with the federal government, initiated a number of these heritage preservation works, and I commend the current government for continuing this work.
I know there are some who say that not enough is being done, but nominations for heritage listing and preservation works should not be left solely to government. These sites are part of our combined history, we all own that history and we all need to take a stake in ensuring that the preservation of these sites occurs so that future generations can appreciate that war did come to Darwin.
On that note, I commend the member for Nelson and groups like Taminmin High School and other community groups and individuals who have taken an active ownership role in preserving our wartime heritage.
As I conclude, I’d like to congratulate the Lions Club of Litchfield and the Litchfield Shire Council for once again hosting such an important element of our rural calendar.
In closing, I’d like to ask you all at some stage today to take a private moment or two, to stop and quietly reflect on those Australians who are currently serving in conflict zones overseas. Please say a private prayer for their safety. The Anzac spirit does live on.
- Thank you everyone and have a great Anzac Day.
On that note, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I conclude my adjournment.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016