2006-06-13
STATEMENT BY CLERK
Absence of Speaker
Absence of Speaker
The CLERK: Honourable members, it is advised that the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Hon Jane Aagaard MLA, will be absent from this period of sittings of the Assembly. In accordance with the provisions of section 25 of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act and Standing Order 9, the Deputy Speaker, Mr Len Kiely MLA, will perform the duties of Speaker during her absence.
Mr Acting Speaker Kiely took the Chair at 10 am.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Member for Nightcliff
Member for Nightcliff
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Speaker, I move that leave of absence be granted for the current period of sittings of the Assembly to the member for Nightcliff due to illness.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Honourable members, I take this opportunity on behalf of all members and staff of the Legislative Assembly to wish the Speaker a speedy recovery in this time of her illness that is all too prevalent in our society.
I also acknowledge the return to the Assembly today of another member who had a car accident, which also is far too prevalent event in our society. Welcome back to the member for Katherine. It is good to see you on deck. We look forward to your contributions over this session.
Motion agreed to.
MESSAGES FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Message Nos 10 and 11
Message Nos 10 and 11
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received from His Honour the Administrator message No 10, notifying assent to bills passed in the March 2006 sittings of the Assembly and Message No 11 notifying assent to bills passed in the May sittings of the Assembly.
OPPOSITION OFFICE HOLDERS
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader)(by leave): Mr Acting Speaker, I advise members of changes in the shadow ministerial responsibility of the opposition members which reflect the welcome return of the member for Katherine following her car accident in March 2006. The new arrangements, which were put into effect on 2 June, are as follows:
- Jodeen Terese Carney – Leader of the Opposition; Justice and Attorney-General; Police, Fire and Emergency Services; Business and Economic Development; Mines and Energy; Women’s Policy, Planning and Lands; Defence Support and AustralAsia Railway.
- Terrance Kennedy Mills, member for Blain - Deputy Opposition Leader; Treasury; Employment, Education and Training; Racing, Gaming and Licensing; Asian Relations and Trade; Public Employment; Sport and Recreation; Arts and Museums; Young Territorians; Primary Industry and Fisheries; and Indigenous Affairs.
- Dr Richard Soon Huat Lim, member for Greatorex – Opposition Whip; Health, Family and Community Services; Essential Services; Corporate and Information Services; Multicultural Affairs; Communications; Central Australia; Local Government; Housing; and Parks and Wildlife.
- Mrs Christina Fay Miller, the member for Katherine, has a light workload until her recovery is complete. Until then she will hold the following portfolios - Tourism; Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage; Regional Development; Transport and Infrastructure; and Senior Territorians.
PETITION
Establishment of Retirement Village for Self-funded Retirees
Establishment of Retirement Village for Self-funded Retirees
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Speaker, I present a petition from 171 petitioners praying that a retirement village for self-funded retirees be established in the inner Darwin area. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it confirms with the requirements of standing orders. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
To the honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory, we the undersigned respectfully showeth that while accommodation facilities exist in the Darwin area for pensioner retirees, no such facilities are available for self-funded retirees. At present, many Darwin residents leave Darwin on retirement mainly because there is no suitable accommodation to meet their changed circumstances. They realise that, as they progressively age, they will not be able to satisfactorily manage life in a conventional residence and, secondly, a village means more companionship and more security, as normally that is part of the enjoyment we hope for. There is a great need for this to proceed quickly; otherwise all the people who made Darwin what it is will never know the pleasure that is so plentiful in other cities of Australia for the older generation. Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray that the NT government moves now to establish a retirement village for self-funded retirees in the inner Darwin area by setting aside a suitable site and proceeding to have a developer design and construct this facility. And you petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
RESPONSES TO PETITIONS
The CLERK: Mr Acting Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to Petition Nos 9, 11, 12, 17 and 19 have been received and circulated to honourable members.
- Petition No 9
Palmerston Skate Park – Provision of Shade Structure
Date Presented: 1 December 2005
Presented by: Mr Mills
Referred to: Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Date response due: 13 June 2006
Date response received: 31 May 2006
Date response presented: 13 June 2006
Response:
The Palmerston Skate Park is located on Lot 8404, University Avenue, Town of Palmerston which is a freehold title to the Palmerston City Council.
It is understood that the Department of Local Government, Housing and Sport granted $35 000 under the Annual Facilities Development Program to the Palmerston City council on 31 August 2005 for a shade structure.
Petition No 11
Late Bus at Mindil Beach Markets
- Date Presented: 14 February 2006
Presented by: Dr Burns
Referred to: Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Date response due: 13 June 2006
Date response received: 1 June 2006
Date response presented: 13 June 2006
Response:
- The urban bus system servicing the Mindil Beach Thursday Night Markets (Mindil) was reviewed and improved in April 2005.
- Three buses currently service Mindil throughout the evening on Thursdays. The last bus to Darwin Interchange leaves Mindil at 9.20 pm, the last bus to Casuarina Interchange leaves at 9.25 pm, as does the last bus to the Palmerston Interchange. The entire bus system then finishes at approximately 10 pm.
Further expansion of the bus service to Mindil markets would necessitate a major expansion of the feeder services from the interchange so that passengers are not left stranded at the interchange.
The number of passengers that are likely to utilise these additional services does not justify the additional cost of providing them.
- Replacement of Damaged Windmill at Dundee Beach
Date Presented: 14 February 2006
Presented by: Mr Knight
Referred to: Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
Date response due: 13 June 2006
Date response received: 11 May 2006
Date response presented: 13 June 2006
Response:
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure is currently in discussion with the landowners, with a view to purchase land for a community hub to service the Dundee Beach region. It is intended to establish a replacement community bore within the proposed community hub.
Once the land has been secured, it is intended to liaise with the Dundee Progress Association regarding the equipping of the bore.
Petition No 17
- Middle Schools Approach – Alice Springs Model
Date Presented: 4 May 2006
Presented by: Ms Carney
Referred to: Minister for Employment, Education and Training
Date response due: 10 October 2006
Date response received: 1 June 2006
Date response presented: 13 June 2006
- The Making the Most of the Middle Years two-staged community consultation process concluded on 24 March 2006. Diverse views were expressed during the consultation process, all of which will be taken into consideration during the decision-making processes about this matter.
The Northern Territory government is committed to improving educational outcomes for all secondary-aged students. Our focus on the middle years will assist to deliver on this commitment.
Should any structural changes occur, I am confident that careful planning by officers from the Department of Employment, Education and Training will ensure a smooth transition to any new arrangements. The wellbeing of students is of the utmost importance in this process
- Keeping Public Service Jobs in Alice Springs
Date Presented: 4 May 2006
Presented by: Dr Lim
Referred to: Minister for Public Employment
Date response due: 11 October 2006
Date response received: 6 June 2006
Date response presented: 13 June 2006
- A proposal has been submitted to government which envisages the transfer of salary processing functions from Alice Springs to Darwin in order to take advantage of a larger pool of experienced personnel which could not be established and maintained in Alice Springs.
The impact of the proposal is the transfer of 18 jobs from Alice Springs to Darwin and a loss of a further 10 positions in Alice Springs. A payroll liaison function to assist Alice Springs-based staff with payroll and related matters would remain in Alice Springs and various strategies would be introduced to maintain and improve current service levels.
This matter will be further considered together with the outcome of the service-wide Corporate Services Review, which is expected to report in July 2006.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Distance Learning Service
Distance Learning Service
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Speaker, this morning I report to the Assembly about a further education reform undertaken by the Martin government. Focus of this government’s reforms has been to lift the outcomes that students achieve. We are working on this in an urban context and through remote education as well.
Recently, I announced the establishment of the Territory’s new and first-ever Distance Learning Service. This service will provide a world-class service to one of the world’s most remote education delivery jurisdictions. Six major changes will occur. The new Northern Territory Distance Learning Service will:
1. bring three schools - the Alice Springs School of the Air, the Katherine School of the Air, and the Northern Territory Open Education Centre - under one framework while retaining each of the schools as individual operations;
2. place into remote communities 10 new regional learning agents who will work to provide schools and students with increased support;
3. trial a ‘virtual school’ at an urban or regional high school or secondary college to allow specialist teachers to deliver lessons right across the Territory, not just in their own school;
4. trial the extension of education services to the end of Year 9 by the Katherine School of the Air which will allow remote parents to keep their children home for a longer time;
5. provide 60 new computers and replace existing interactive distance learning computers to all home-based learners; and
6. create a new Distance Learning Materials and ICT Innovation Unit to develop and refine teaching and learning materials tailored for the Territory and relevant to indigenous students.
We believe that no matter where a student lives they have the right to the best education we can provide. Distance education helps overcome the problems of delivering education through a remote jurisdiction. We have arrived at this decision after extensive consultation and community input.
In 2003, the Ramsey report identified problems with NTOEC and recommended closure. In 2004, the O’Sullivan consultations showed patchy support for NTOEC but recommended keeping it and improving the service. In 2005, Gary Barnes, Deputy Chief Executive from Queensland, undertook a review and conducted extensive consultation. His recommendations have formed the basis of the changes. We have accepted all except two of his recommendations and modified a further four. It will now mean that the Territory will have a world-class distance education system.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Acting Speaker, we acknowledge the changes that have occurred under the watch of this minister, the raft of consultation exercises that have occurred, and the decisions that have been made. However, all of these decisions have been premised upon the assertion that there will be an improvement in academic standards and, whilst that assertion has been made, the CLP’s concern is that there has not been due attention to the means to either measure or substantiate that. It is that particular line that will be maintained by the CLP.
This whole exercise - and an expensive one at that - has been, sadly, more of a public relations exercise than about real and genuine reform in education. There has been much money spent. Much of that has been on consultation - that is what they call it - but that consultation has been, technically, a means to sell an agenda that has already been established to some degree - philosophically driven, I suggest.
It is for those concerns that the CLP opposition will maintain a true position; that being, the reform of education will result in improvement of academic standards. Therefore, that assertion must be able to be measured and verified, and we will look for means to comprehensively measure improvement. In remote improvement, it must deal directly with the issue of mutual obligation that parents send their children to school so that we can begin the process.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Speaker, I have some questions for the minister. During the debate over NTOEC, there was a fairly large petition presented to say that NTOEC should be kept because people were concerned about not only students losing the opportunity to go to that college, but also staff losing their jobs. The minister agreed that we should keep this form of education going but, perhaps, in another form. My concern is: do these changes strip away a lot of what NTOEC did? What is the position with people who were employed? Has that changed? In other words, are we doing a change that we said we would not do, you might say, by some other means. I am interested to know what the present status of NTOEC is going to be after these changes come into effect.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Speaker, I thank members for their support. In terms of how we measure the future, it is all about attendance, retention in the path to Year 12, and outcomes of those students. Those outcomes are equally valid if they translate into an apprenticeship or traineeship into the workforce, and equally effective if they go off and do medicine at Melbourne University. Those are the sorts of things that we always watch, but the measures that we will use as a success around middle schools into the future.
In relation to NTOEC, some jobs come out of NTOEC and directly into the bush as those regional learning agents - people on the ground to bring those students in where the gap is in those early and mid-teen years where students tend to drop out of schooling - to decide and work with the school, the students and the education community, as to the best form of delivery - whether it is NTOEC, the School of the Air, or a mix of in-place teaching and delivery from NTOEC or School of the Air.
With the one distance learning agent in those three schools, we have that flexibility. Those jobs directly go into the bush. NTOEC is still well resourced to carry its job into the future.
Hospital Accreditation
Dr TOYNE (Health): Mr Acting Speaker, as part of our Building Healthier Communities Framework we undertook to ensure that we have better hospitals and health services in the Northern Territory. Last year, I was proud to announce that all five of our public hospitals were accredited against national standards. This is something that no previous government had achieved in the Territory. This government is very proud that, over the last few years, we have steadily increased the number of service areas that are applying standards and achieving and maintaining accreditation.
To further highlight our commitment to high standards of accountability and quality, I am pleased to advise that all five Territory hospitals remain accredited with the Australian Council of Health Care standards. Most recently, Katherine District Hospital successfully achieved a further four years accreditation.
As of 2005, all Northern Territory government pathology laboratories achieved NATA RCPA medical testing accreditation. This is the first time that all five laboratories have been accredited. The medical testing accreditation is in line with relevant standards, and stipulates the need for a significant quality system and importance of ongoing proficiency testing.
The Martin government has consistently increased health funding, well above the normal indexation levels. In particular, we recognise further growth in hospital funding to address the increased demand on our hospitals and ensure they are able to offer high quality care. The budget for Health and Community Services in 2006-07 is $788.6m, representing a 64% increase in annual funding since 2001-02. We have ensured that all five Territory hospitals are funded to enable them to accommodate the increased demand, while being resourced to be able provide high standards of hospital care.
In 2006-07, the Royal Darwin Hospital budget increased to $196m representing a 75% increase; and Alice Springs Hospital increased to $97m, a 79% increase in base funding since 2001. In addition, $3.5m, or 7.6%, has been provided to Gove, Katherine and Tennant Creek Hospitals to enable them to maintain high-quality services and standards.
We promised to build effective, innovative and sustainable health and community services as well as establishing high standards of accountability and quality. To support this commitment, the department engages a range of standards and accrediting agencies to assist services to establish and maintain continuous improvement programs. All accreditation programs used by the department utilise industry recognised standards, both national and international.
Gaining accreditation relies on our hospitals and health services to demonstrate performance against standards. It is also an important indicator for government and the general community that our services have developed quality and service improvement culture and are prepared to have external peer review. While programs such as the Evaluation and Quality Improvement Program provided by ACHS deliver a broad framework for accreditation, we should also recognise the clinical areas at the Royal Darwin and Alice Springs hospitals, including obstetrics and gynaecology, Emergency Departments, Intensive Care Units, anaesthetics, paediatrics, and medicine and surgery are assessed by the respected colleges and accredited for training. These accreditations show a commitment to quality, as well as demonstrating quality in service improvement.
Following the accreditation service or review, accrediting agencies provide the service with a detailed performance report. This report includes recommendations and a range of actions to assist the service standards. As part of our ongoing processes, services are required to develop and implement action plans based on these recommendations, and to provide regular progress reports to relevant accrediting agencies. For example, the Alice Springs Hospital was surveyed for accreditation during May this year. The survey highlighted three priority recommendations for action: systems to monitor mandatory fire training; systems to monitor the regular testing of biomedical equipment; and progress to address bed block and patient flow. That work is now proceeding.
I take this opportunity to recognise the tireless efforts of all my department staff in meeting the standards required to ensure safe quality health service. These results say that we can assure Territorians that our hospitals are safe places for treatment and are under constant review and scrutiny, by not just us, but from the national accreditation agencies.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Speaker, in my previous life, I was a medical quality assurance officer for the Alice Springs Hospital and introduced our first accreditation back in the 1980s, linking in with ACHS. I understand what work it takes for our staff in all our hospitals to aspire and achieve accreditation. I congratulate all hospitals in the Territory for achieving that status.
It takes a lot of hard work; however, I hope the minister also understands that this is a snapshot in a very short space of time. What is important, once you have accreditation, is that you remain constantly vigilant to ensure that standards do not degrade. That is what is important; not that you have passed accreditation using a period of assessment and, then, after that, you can say it is all over and you relax and let things start to deteriorate. You must make sure that we maintain our standards, whether it is in pathology, laboratory, X-rays, or whichever part of the department that you assess as well.
Interestingly, the minister was proud to say that he has put so much money into health care. Yet, there has been a litany of patient complaints about not getting elective surgery. Strange is it not? You have so much more money pumped into health care yet our waiting lists across the Territory continue to grow. So much so, it is almost three times what it was at the change of government. Also, this minister has failed cancer sufferers in the Territory. The federal government has delivered the $13m that he needed to get the oncology service going, and he continues to obfuscate and give confusing information so that he can defer and procrastinate on this decision to deliver the oncology service. It is time to get on. Cancer patients do not have time to wait for you.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Mr Acting Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for the first 70 seconds of his contribution. I thought they were constructive points to make. I will certainly answer the question regarding oncology later today. I believe that whatever you say about individual patients, the broad picture of our hospitals throughout the Territory is that they are infinitely safer, better set up, and with better internal controls than we inherited five years ago. We have delivered for Territorians in that very important area of acute care and we will continue to do that.
Community Harmony Strategy Comparisons
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Mr Acting Speaker, today I inform the House on my fact-finding trip to Cairns in early May 2006. I was accompanied by Superintendent James O’Brien from the Northern Territory Police Force and Ms Tammy White, my department’s Community Harmony Strategy Director.
The purpose of my visit was to assess firsthand how the Queensland Homelands Partnership program agreement in Cairns compares with the Northern Territory’s Community Harmony Strategy and to find out if there are lessons to be learned from the Queensland experience. This Homelands Partnership commenced in July 2004, and is a concept designed around a multi-agency program inclusive of government agencies, community organisations and businesses in response to homelessness in Cairns. These homeless people, like our own itinerants, are predominantly indigenous who, for a variety of reasons including medical or release from custody, find that they are unable or unwilling to return to their home community.
While in Cairns, I attended part of a workshop on the Homelands Partnership Agreement to compare what is being done in northern Queensland with our achievements here in the Territory. A reciprocal presentation was given on how the Community Harmony Strategy works here in the Territory to the workshop participants, part of the information-sharing exercise.
When comparing the Homelands Partnership in Cairns, Queensland, to the Community Harmony Strategy in the Northern Territory, many features of each strategy stand out, but none more so than the proportion of indigenous people as a percentage of the total population. The Territory has the highest proportion of indigenous residents at a little more than 30% of the total population, compared to all other states. I believe that this markedly identifiable demographic feature requires unique and innovative responses to indigenous homelessness and we, as a government, have recognised this fact.
The leadership role provided by the Queensland Police Service is a noticeable feature of the Homelands program, together with coordination of services provided by indigenous street-based outreach workers who link up with police liaison officers.
In the Territory, the Northern Territory Police have taken on an increased role in the Community Harmony Strategy program, in coordinating patrols in Darwin and by increasing the number of Aboriginal Community Police Officers on the street.
Another feature of the Cairns model that we can learn from is that there was also greater involvement by the Australian government Centrelink officers who have direct access to the client groups. In the Territory, we have commenced working more closely with Centrelink in respect to Centrepay arrangements. However, we are at the discussion stage on how we can further extend this working relationship.
The focus of Queensland Homeland Partnership is on law and order, but with emphasis on recognising the need to link multi-agencies to deliver enhanced quality-of-life services to indigenous homeless people in the far north Queensland region.
It was a very informative trip and well worth the effort. It was pleasing for me to be able to share the Territory successes in assisting homeless and transient indigenous people - whether it be to find their way from destructive lifestyles either by returning to their home or communities, or lead more productive lifestyles in our urban centres.
In closing, I thank Ms Tammy White and Superintendent O’Brien for their valuable contribution on the visit to Cairns.
It was a priority of the Martin government to consider the Cairns model, in particular, the way it integrates and involves all stakeholders - including the councils and the Australian government - to see how these strategies can be implemented to enhance our service delivery to homeless indigenous people here in the Territory. In the Northern Territory, government service delivery agencies, and non-government organisations, have also recognised the importance of linking services. However, we need to do this in a more concerted way. I call upon all of us here to take a bipartisan approach to tackling this serious issue.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Speaker, I commend the minister on his commitment to ensure that there is community harmony in the Northern Territory. Over the last two months, the Northern Territory has been put in the national spotlight over the antisocial issues that we have all personally experienced living in the Northern Territory.
I find it confusing, though, that the minister spoke about Community Harmony and the programs that he has witnessed interstate and elsewhere that could be used in the Northern Territory. Yet, in his own budget book we are currently debating, the number of Community Harmony programs have been reduced from eight to seven. I see the Chief Minister looking quite puzzled, and also the minister looking inquisitively at me. On page 257 of your budget book, minister, the number of Community Harmony services delivered will go down from eight to seven. The number that is reduced is as a result of the Larrakia Host program ceasing this year. Surely, if Community Harmony programs are good - and I believe that the Larrakia Host program is particularly effective - that should be one that he would want to see continued. Yet, you have let that slip this coming year.
Minister, if you learnt that community harmony programs interstate are effective and useful, then I offer you the suggestion that you might want to pick up the Larrakia Host program and ensure we have indigenous people helping out our normal law and order officers to ensure that we have community harmony in our streets.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Speaker, I am not quite sure exactly what the minister got out of this visit. I would like to hear more details. If you are talking about assisting people to make sure their homelands are better places to live, and that they can return there safely knowing that there is a lifestyle there that will help them, then that is good.
However, I remind you that the Return to Country program that you fund quite well in Darwin through your Community Harmony Strategy is still not funded adequately in Alice Springs. The funding for this has, apparently, come through the Department of Health and Community Services and Other Drugs Programs as well. It is administered by Tangentyere under the Wardens Scheme and it is not being effective.
If we are trying to make homelands better places for people by getting some of the things that they are doing in Queensland working in our country, then that would be good. However, you need to really address things at a grassroots level and make sure that we are still not just doing the talk. I am dismayed at some of the comments that come back to me about the town camps task force. Again, it is generalisations. I believe that we must make sure we are talking about specific actions, not just generalisations, and telling people that these are the things that we will be doing. Could you respond to me and tell me exactly where the Return to Country program is in the budget at the moment.
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Mr Acting Speaker, firstly, in respect to the comments made by the member for Greatorex, very clearly, there has been a real focus on how we, as a government, have made a sincere attempt to tackle this particular issue. It is important to understand, and for you to know, that there has actually been no reduction whatsoever in the Community Harmony programs. What we have had is a refocusing of the dollars in relation to the ACPO program which has now gone across to the police. My understanding is that there was an extra almost $900 000 altogether in respect to that, and the LIPPS program remains as it is.
Regarding Alice Springs, I acknowledge that there are issues to be addressed there. I am pleased to say that the town camp task force report has now been completed. This will be considered by government in the near future. It addresses the issue in respect to initiatives on how people might be more adequately supported in relation to returning to their homelands. It is not an easy issue, but the most important thing to understand here is that we do ask for a bipartisan response.
The Commonwealth also has a role to play in this particular regard ...
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Your time has expired, minister.
Mr McADAM: It is not something that the Northern Territory government alone can resolve, and I ask everyone to work in a very positive, bipartisan approach.
Telecommunications Services
Dr BURNS (Communications): Mr Acting Speaker, I report on a recent initiative sponsored by the Northern Territory Branch of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) and the Northern Territory government.
Last October, I put a motion to this Assembly for adequate funding for telecommunications services in the Northern Territory. $265m could provide the necessary infrastructure to improve telecommunications services to the majority of Territorians directly, positively impacting on our remote communities. To date, the Australian government has provided limited assurances that remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory will benefit at all from the sale of Telstra. The sale of Telstra represents the last opportunity to provide what is required.
Our government is working to find a way to ensure that sufficient funds come to the Territory for telecommunications services. I have made special representations to the federal Communications minister, Senator Helen Coonan, seeking her support. Indeed, I met with her on 22 March this year.
Furthermore, on 24 and 25 May this year, minister Toyne and I joined a trip to four remote communities in Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt. The trip was organised and sponsored by the Northern Territory Branch of the AIIA. The delegation included leading members of the Northern Territory information, communications and technology (ICT) industry, and officials from DEET and DCIS. The objective of the group’s visit was for local ICT industry members to develop a better understanding of the issues facing remote Aboriginal communities. It is important that these industry leaders see firsthand how the new technologies of ICT can play a role in developing stronger service delivery to these communities, especially in the areas of health and education.
Over the two days, the group spent time with the councils, schools, health clinic staff and other organisations at Maningrida, Ramingining, Angurugu and Numbulwar. The communities were welcoming, and open and frank discussions were held with these local representatives and their organisations. Representatives of the ICT industry were also interested in plans for local industry development and how their organisations might help such industry development in the future.
In addition to developing economic opportunities in the community, there is a desire to build capacity in ecotourism and the need for general small businesses to develop small businesses such as hairdressing and bakeries.
It is apparent that the use of Internet banking has spread throughout the communities as a means of overcoming the tyranny of distance. In all communities, computers were available for communal use, and we saw firsthand the use of technology for adult education at Ramingining. In all communities, the difficulties association with remote locations were discussed. I was pleased to have a representative from Telstra, Mr Stewart Lines, available to answer questions about those particular telecommunications issues.
As well as telecommunications, a common theme was problems of computer maintenance in remote locations. Mr Denis Mackenzie from Connected Solutions Group (CSG) explained that from 1 July this year remote communities will receive monthly or bimonthly visits to maintain the communities’ ICT needs, and this was very well received. This service to remote communities will be provided under the new government-wide desktop computer contract headed by Fujitsu. CSG, a local consortium member of the Fujitsu team, has recently purchased three aircraft to ensure this new level of service is sustained over the four-year life of the contract. While in Angurugu on Groote Eylandt, Mr Mackenzie was keen to explore ways to develop an ICT apprenticeship scheme for local young Aboriginal people. Mr Mackenzie, along with representatives from DCIS, will be returning to Groote Eylandt to meet with council members to implement this initiative.
Mr Acting Speaker, this was a very worthwhile trip. I applaud the efforts of DCIS and its business partners in the AIIA. In particular, I thank Andrew Hodges, the AIIA president, for his leadership of the delegation, and CSG for their support.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Speaker, the AIIA in the Northern Territory is a very active organisation and promotes ICT very aggressively on behalf of the members in the Territory. Recently, the national board of the AIIA came to Darwin and had their very first Northern Territory meeting to expose themselves to the environment, where they see huge potential. They expressed some concerns in relation to how ICT is going in the Northern Territory - not that I want to verbal them, but some issues regarding monopolies need to be addressed by this government.
Five years ago, the former government outsourced ICT, including desktops and communications contracts, to break them up so that many small and medium businesses can benefit and also allow industry to grow. We have done a full circle in these last five years. All that pain we had gone through was for nought. It might satisfy the public service that it is all under one contract, or one or two large contracts, which makes it easier to manage. Obviously, it is either they do not have enough expertise within the department or it is just easier.
When the minister travels with the president of the local AIIA, Mr Andrew Hodges, or with local head of Telstra, Stewart Lines, the minister should let us know who they are. It is good that Fujitsu has, through its contract, provided three aircraft to service the bush areas as, in the past, servicing the bush has always been a vexed issue. Those three aircraft will improve servicing out there to ensure that the bush continues to stay connected.
Reports noted.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2006-07
(Serial 50)
(Serial 50)
Continued from 4 May 2006.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to contribute to the Appropriation Bill debate for the government‘s Budget 2006-07. As the Treasurer outlined, this budget confirms the Martin Labor government as the most tax reforming government in the Territory’s history. Building on achievements of this government’s first term, the budget also backs business through strategic investment, industry support and high spending in infrastructure, creating more jobs for Territorians and ensuring that the right skills are in place for those jobs. It delivers better education outcomes, a healthier Territory and a safer community.
For the families of Macdonnell, Budget 2006-07 continues the provision of $3.6m to subsidise childcare, making services more affordable for families, and improving the amenity of community-based childcare centres with $500 000 for playground equipment.
Improving student results is also an important priority of this government with $25.45m to be spent in Central Australia to assist non-government schools in the region. A further $18.77m will be spent on secondary education in Alice Springs, $20.62m for Alice Springs primary schools, and $15.91m will be spent on early childhood, primary and secondary education in remote schools. The provision of schooling in remote communities is an area I would like to see growth in future budgets. Supporting the improvement of educational outcomes in Central Australia is $1.66m for Indigenous Education Strategic Initiatives Program, with $1.97m for Australian government targeted programs that include literacy, numeracy and special learning needs, and $0.63m for Aboriginal education workers in schools.
Despite the improvements this government has made in funding remote area schools, there is still considerable room for improvement. In comparison with other state jurisdictions, funding for remote schools in the Northern Territory lags behind all the indicators, and there needs to be more investment in remote schools.
For our seniors, the Pensioner Concession Scheme will continue to keep down the cost of essential items and services like glasses, car registration, and power and water. In addition, Budget 2006-07 extends these concessions to Commonwealth carer cardholders for the first time, an important initiative to ease the burden of carers.
Further improvement for seniors and disability pensioners in the Macdonnell region is the $450 000 that has been allocated to support people who have ageing and disability issues to return home to remote communities after hospital stays. I welcome this because I have had many heartbreaking conversations with aged and disabled indigenous people begging me to take them to their communities.
This budget provides a high level of investment and spending in health services and infrastructure for Central Australians: $1.6m has been provided to continue the upgrade of Ward 4 at the Alice Springs Hospital, and $1m has been provided to upgrade the Flynn Drive renal facility. As the numbers of renal patients in Central Australia continues to multiply, the upgrade of the facilities at Flynn Drive is critical, as is the $6.7m that will be spent on renal dialysis services to support clients in their homes, and to access community-based treatments.
I also welcome the commitment to the health of people on remote communities with $500 000 for the much needed clinic upgrades at Atitjere and Bonya. The challenge for the government now is to ensure that these clinics are staffed appropriately and operate outreach and screening programs to effectively address the high levels of chronic disease amongst indigenous people.
This year’s budget also provides an increase of $1.6m in mental health programs, with $500 000 for a new Central Australian mental health crisis assessment service, and $500 000 for community-based residential care services for 24-hour support for people with mental illnesses.
Budget 2006-07 also delivers a record Police, Fire and Emergency Services budget, making the Territory a safer place for all citizens. Not only will there be more police on the beat, but police in the services will be extended in the Macdonnell region, with ongoing work on Mutitjulu police post and the police houses at that community.
There are still a number of communities in the Macdonnell region that have requested the establishment of police posts or the appointment of an ACPO. I urge the Police minister in the forthcoming year to prioritise the request from Kaltukatjara and Titjikala.
I am pleased that $440 000 will also be spent providing Aboriginal Community Police Officers with police-owned vehicles to carry out their duties. Previously, outposts were reliant on funding from community councils for their vehicles, and this has severely hindered their ability to police their communities effectively. I commend the minister for rectifying this problem.
The budget also supports the juvenile diversionary program, the whole-of-government response to alcohol abuse, including the implementation of local area alcohol management plans, and new treatment places for people who are subject to an order from the newly-established alcohol court. Through these measures, this government is addressing a problem that has confounded Territory policymakers for many years.
Further improving the lives of Macdonnell families is the emphasis this government has placed on jobs and training. This year, the government is spending $84m supporting training and employment programs. The funding for Charles Darwin University, Batchelor Institute and other VET services providers will ensure that there are people with the skills ready to take up the work opportunities that are growing in the Northern Territory as a result of government support for business through the lowering of taxes and the increased spending on infrastructure.
In addition the school-to-work transition program, the employer and employee initiatives, the Building Skills NT that assist workers upgrade their skills, the scholarships and awards for vocational training, and the 2550 trainees and apprentices who will commence this year, is building the skilled workforce for the future of the Northern Territory. Most importantly, these initiatives also extend the provision of training to people on remote communities. I look forward to seeing the $4.4m that has been allocated to support remote training increase each year as people from remote communities access training that leads to real jobs.
The jobs front in Central Australia also looks bright with increased spending on infrastructure. The $13.9m for the Mereenie Loop Stages 1 and 2 will increase activity for businesses and communities in the Macdonnell region. This project will provide work and business opportunities for nearby communities during the construction phase, as well as the development of tourism opportunities in the longer term.
Businesses in Central Australia will also receive a boost from the investment in Stage 1 of the development of the Desert Knowledge Precinct. This includes $8.6m for the Desert Peoples Centre administration, wellbeing, human services, and education buildings, with $2.77m for Stage 2 headworks, $2.5m to continue the business and innovation centre, and $290 000 for the Desert Peoples Centre design and site preparation. In addition, $0.17m has been allocated to the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre to research indigenous livelihoods, and $380 000 for Desert Knowledge to build business networks between desert regions and operators across Australia.
Supporting the pastoral industry is $0.51m for the development of a tool kit to assist pastoralists in the arid zone to manage pastoral production in a highly variable climate, as well as $0.42m to manage the Arid Zone Research Station farm in Alice Springs for the delivery of primary industry services, and bases to develop industry best practice.
The $2m for improvements to the Plenty Highway and the $1.3m for the Maryvale Road Stage 1 will also support the pastoral businesses in these areas. Funding improvements to the Plenty Highway is timely, as I have noticed that the sides of the bitumen road are gradually deteriorating. This funding will not only repair the existing road, but further extend the bitumen section of the highway towards the Queensland border. Improvement of the Plenty Highway and Maryvale Road will also support the economic development aspirations of Aboriginal communities in these areas. At Titjikala community next to Maryvale Homestead, the Gunya Titjikala tourism enterprise is going from strength to strength, whilst over the Plenty Highway the Atitjere community is delivering an arts business, and small-scale tourism enterprises to attract the passing traffic on the Plenty Highway.
Increasing the capacity of these and other communities to enter the tourism business will be advanced through the funding for the Australian Indigenous Tourism Conference. $50 000 in tourism infrastructure funding will also provide for signage and access to Hermannsburg and surrounds, and $0.8m has been allocated for the West MacDonnell National Park to upgrade visitor facilities at the western entrance. Further supporting the development of tourism in the Hermannsburg region is the $90 000 per year over three years for the off-park indigenous rangers in the Hermannsburg community. These funds will enable the employment of a program coordinator and operational costs for a ranger group to be involved in the joint management of the park. The Central Australian tourism industry will also be supported by the $0.64m grant to the Central Australian Tourism Industry Association for marketing and visitor information services.
Budget 2006-07 delivers on the fundamentals for the Territory. It backs business, creates jobs and training opportunities and delivers on health, education and law and order. It achieves this within a framework of fiscal responsibility.
Certainly, more needs to be done, particularly in remote communities, and I am confident that, across the term of this government more, indeed, will be done.
In debate on this budget, we have heard the opposition sticking to the tired, old conservative paradigm of no new bureaucracy and the horror of the deficit. I say to them the failure to mobilise resources and direct them into public infrastructure will constrain economic opportunities and impact upon the Northern Territory’s competitiveness and sustainability. We have benefited from the long-term investment made in the past. We cannot do this indefinitely without new investment. I commend Budget 2006-07 to this House.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Mr Acting Speaker, I support the Treasurer’s Budget 2006-07 handed down at the last sittings. I congratulate him on his sixth budget. This budget builds on previous budgets as being a low-taxing, strategic infrastructure investment. It enables existing businesses to grow and attracts new businesses and further investment into the Territory.
I would like to highlight a number of aspects of the budget which are particularly relevant to my electorate. In the rural area, there has been significant investment in infrastructure. There has been $800 000 allocated to the strengthening and widening of arterial rural roads, which is very much needed because of the growth of the rural area and the demand of traffic in that area. $120 000 has been allocated to the upgrading of the school bus interchange at the Cox Peninsula and Stuart Highway intersection. This intersection is very busy, used for schools as far south as Batchelor, and the upgrading of that will provide a safe and secure environment for the students of that feeder area.
$120 000 has also been allocated to the car park lighting at the Territory Wildlife Park. This is the centre of that rural area at Berry Springs and it will enhance that tourist facility for the whole Territory and grow the rural business development there.
$18.65m has been allocated to secondary education for students at various schools, which includes Taminmin High School. This high school is the only high school in the outer Darwin feeder area, and it is growing and specialising in vocational education and training. It is a unique school valued by the students of that area.
The bushfire brigades have been allocated $350 000. There are 21 volunteer bushfire brigades throughout the Northern Territory. They are all volunteers and do an invaluable job and raise their own money. Our government has doubled that money in previous budgets and I hope we continue to do so in the future because they provide an invaluable role.
$230 000 has been provided to support students with disabilities - quite a lot from my area. This money will go well on the way to help students access education in an appropriate manner.
There has been $91 000 for bushfire mitigation in the Arafura, Vernon and Arnhem bushfire control regions. On the back of the volunteer bushfire brigades, this is certainly valuable money.
One of the big problems in the rural area has been weed control. $580 000 has been allocated for the cabomba aquatic weed eradication program, which affects primarily the Darwin River at the moment. There have been several attempts to eradicate it. This money will be welcomed by the people of the rural area. One of the biggest and most invasive weeds is mimosa pigra. $400 000 has been allocated to attack this weed through Aboriginal lands, the Murganella area and the Mary River area as well. Having had personal experience with mimosa, it needs to be kept under control or it will take over the whole Territory.
There has been $310 000 allocated to the control of native vegetation through clearing in the Top End rural area. This is, obviously, a very sensitive subject. It is something that we have been very prudent to undertake. The continuation of that policy is something that is a very effective step for the rural area as it expands.
The regional areas of the Territory, and particularly my electorate, want to grow and this budget builds on previous budgets in enabling that. $370 000 has been allocated to the Territory Business Centres across the Territory. This is particularly needed at the Katherine and Darwin business centres, providing valuable support through the regional areas of the Northern Territory, particularly at the moment in the Pine Creek area, as it makes the most of a mining boom there.
One of the highlights of the year for people living in the regional areas is the show circuit. This government has allocated $320 000 to the show circuit. For people living out bush, this is one of the times they get together to enjoy those events.
One of the new projects of the Regional Development minister has been the establishment of the Regional Economic Committees across the Northern Territory. There has been an allocation of $70 000 to facilitate these committees, and enable them to develop regional economic development plans, which will drive economic development in those regional areas. One of those aspects is employment. $110 000 has been allocated for the flexible response funding which we hope to use in the Pine Creek area around mining training. This is a great support for allowing especially indigenous people to gain training in a very quick and responsive way so that they can gain employment.
One of the great initiatives of this government has been the NT HealthDirect or the health call centres. For families, mothers and people living in the bush, it is a lifeline. I congratulate this government on establishing and continuing it, and allocating in this budget $300 000 for continuing that particular facility.
One of the great initiatives has been Community Cabinet. Recently, there was one held at Timber Creek. Cabinet does a great job in moving around the Territory to those smaller centres to enable those people in regional and remote area to actually engage with the ministers firsthand and to show them issues or initiatives that they have in those areas. There has been a further allocation to enable those Community Cabinets to operate.
One of the big infrastructure developments in the regional areas has been the roughly $300m - mainly money from the Commonwealth, but some from the Territory - going towards the upgrading of the Victoria Highway and, particularly, the Victoria Highway Bridge. It is one of those spots in the Territory which the people at Timber Creek do not mind too much; it gives them a bit of a break for a while. However, it prevents trade, travel, and tourism around the time of the Wet each year. The rectification of that transport link there will be welcome.
There has been a further allocation to upgrade many mine sites throughout the Territory. One of these is Woodcutters which closed down several years ago. I welcome the injection of $350 000 to look at the environmental impact of the operations at Woodcutters and tidy it up.
Overall, this Wet Season has been particularly harsh on the rural roads. I congratulate the Treasurer and the minister for allocating $11.43m for repairs and maintenance. The people of Fog Bay Road will probably want part of that, if not most of it, for the repair of roads. The roads are a lifeline for people. It is lovely to live out bush, but those creek systems certainly play havoc on our roads.
One of the biggest attractions in the Katherine region is Nitmiluk National Park. There has been a further allocation of $1m to upgrade the first and second gorge crossovers which makes it more attractive for tourists coming to the area. There has been a further allocation of $270 000 for Nitmiluk National Park for the upgrading of the mains power supply and the relocation of the helipad, as well as $39 000 to upgrade power and water services for proposed new ranger housing.
Getting back on the roads, there has been money allocated for the upgrading of the Birdum Creek section of the Larrimah West Creek link road, and this comes under the beef roads upgrade program. The pastoral industry is a huge industry for the regional areas, and this allocation of money to help rectify those roads is welcomed by the pastoralists out in those areas.
One of the other big industries is tourism. The Katherine Regional Tourist Association will, hopefully, service the area around Katherine. At the moment, it is just doing the Katherine area. There has been allocation to support that organisation. They do fabulous work and I hope they continue to expand and strengthen. The $490 000 will go a long way to enable that to happen.
One of the other Katherine-based services which services the bush is the Katherine School of the Air, a fabulous facility. They just started their new IDL video conferencing system there. I have seen that with the minister and it is a fabulous new initiative. Once they get the two-way link going, it will be something many people would like to do themselves - to stay at home and run the education through that. The $2.7m for the Katherine School of the Air is welcomed by not only indigenous communities living in remote areas, but the pastoral industry with their children being educated at home.
The Indigenous Education Strategy is also one of the important planks of remote education, with $3.14m being allocated. This is the foundation for the development of Aboriginal people in the bush who must get a base of education from which they can make choices. That money is welcome. From all parents across the Territory, the back to school payments were a great initiative and welcomed by every parent, and made the starting of school much easier.
One of the key facilities in the regional areas has been the regional public libraries. The public libraries at Pine Creek and Mataranka have again been supported by this government so that they become a community asset for learning for both schoolchildren and the general public. The $360 000 that has been allocated is welcomed by those two communities.
The Gregory and Keep River National Parks are fabulous assets to the Territory. I encourage everybody to take the time to have a look at these beautiful parks. In the control of those parks, there has been $30 000 allocated for fire management. This is a particularly relevant practice of burn-offs and will help access and provide that traditional balance of fire management.
One of the scourges of the Victoria River area has been the devil’s claw. The Devil’s Claw Festival is one of those unique Territory events where volunteers come along and move down the river removing the devil’s claw. The injection of $15 000 for the control and surveying of that, is welcomed.
Mentioned before by one of the previous speakers was the injection of money for vehicles for the Aboriginal Community Police Officers. These officers have traditionally been either on foot or have had vehicles supplied by relevant resource centres or community government councils. It was well recognised by the minister that these are genuine assets to law enforcement in the remote areas. They do a particular job and have a particular community understanding; they know everybody and know what is going on. The ability for these officers to get around is needed, and the injection of $440 000 to provide vehicles for the APCOs out bush is very welcomed.
On education, there has been an allocation of $1.4m for Territory student assistance travel and remote teacher housing. It is very difficult to get back and forth either to college or to local school, particularly for students in the Wet Season. This money is a recognition that it is particularly different out bush and we need to support these kids who are trying to get to school.
There has been an allocation this year of further money to community corrections to monitor and supervise adult and juvenile clients. Part of this money has been allocated to one of my communities, Wadeye. Obviously, it has been much in the news lately, and community corrections does a great job there. This money goes to support them, and I hope it will continue to do that and, possibly, be expanded in the future.
Still on Wadeye, or Thamarrurr Regional Council, there has been a further allocation of a development coordinator with the council to assist with governance and capacity development. This is something that councils other than Thamarrurr or Tiwi want. I welcome this money. I hope that we can continue to support other councils with governance and capacity development. It is something that comes back to reward the Territory society in the future.
Wadeye Regional Public Library and the Peppimenarti library have again been supported. Peppimenarti library is building. I have seen the work that NT Libraries have been doing down there, and this money will go to support them.
All in all for the bush, the rural area and the regional areas of the Territory, this budget recognises the need and supports those communities. It is putting strategic investment in infrastructure there. I believe there will be more to come. I believe we will do a lot more out bush, certainly with indigenous employment and training.
The big areas have been the pastoral and mining industries. It is good to see that, with the pastoral industry, the FarmBis program has again been supported this year. It provides training for primary producers and land managers. $830 000 is a significant amount for this very valuable program.
Obviously, with a large part of the Territory made up of Aboriginal land trusts, there is the potential for an increased stocking of these areas. I congratulate the minister, through the Treasurer, for the allocation of $640 000 in this area to look at increasing the stocking rates and the cattle numbers in the Northern Territory. I believe they could at least double across the Territory through prudent management and, obviously, with the support of traditional owners. We have great pastoral lands and it would be great to see them used and boost the economic prospects of the regional areas.
One of the contentious areas has been the livestock identification system. By and large, it has been welcomed by the pastoral industry. It has been further supported in this year’s budget to the tune of $320 000. This is a safeguard for the Territory. I know it is a bit of work for the pastoralists, but I certainly believe, in an instance of a diseased animal being found either at the Darwin wharf or on arrival overseas, they can trace the animal back to a particular paddock and herd. So rather than destroy a whole herd from a whole area, they can look at a particular group of beasts for further disease. I believe some cattle stations are also using this for breeding methods as well.
There has been an allocation of $470 000 for pastoral programs to assess the carrying capacity of various land types for pastoral use. Having visited the trials at Pigeon Hole, more knowledge about stocking rates is much needed. The lessons that came out of that have been welcomed by those who have actually had the opportunity to have a look. $300 000 has been allocated for primary producers to enhance water resource management on pastoral properties. Obviously, water is a huge subject out bush. It is something that we need to start to value now a lot more than we previously did and to manage it a lot better. That money will go a long way to helping the pastoral industry with lessons and the management of their water.
The mining industry is, obviously, taking off in the Territory, particularly for the Daly electorate. There has been an allocation of $550 000 to promote mining exploration and investment in the Northern Territory. There has been a lot of activity. We are sitting on a lot very precious metals and minerals in the Territory and, if we can promote that a lot better, we will do a hell of a lot better in the future.
This falls on the back of the $2.7m for Building the Territory’s Resource Base where, basically, the government is going out and getting the geoscience data from across the Territory and providing that to potential exploration and mining companies so much of the work is done for them before they get to the Northern Territory. This is welcomed by those exploration and mining companies. They know this government is serious about promoting mining and making it easier for mining activities to happen in the Territory.
Most of that mining happens on land outside of Darwin in regional areas and some of it on indigenous land trusts. Therefore, the allocation of $35 000 for the Indigenous Mining Enterprise Task Force, which has been running for several years now, is again an investment in the future for the economic prospects of Aboriginal people living in those regional and remote areas. We need to enable people to fill that gap between the skill level they currently have to the skill level needed to work in these mines - to make the most of them, rather than the money being drawn straight out of the region into the regional centres.
I congratulate the Treasurer on a fabulous budget. I look forward to future budgets, and huge investment in the Daly electorate. I know, having travelled around in the last few weeks, that those areas have welcomed that investment. I look forward to the 2007-08 budget.
Mr NATT (Drysdale): Mr Acting Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to the Treasurer’s Budget 2006-07. It is obvious that this budget will continue the great work the Martin Labor government has had in place since it came to power in 2001. This budget delivers the government’s priorities of growing and supporting business, improving education outcomes, building healthier communities, providing safer communities, and enhancing our great Territory lifestyle.
This government is growing the Territory and creating jobs through sustainable and sound fiscal parameters, and also through continuing tax cuts for businesses, investing $482m in infrastructure spending, record budgets for health, police and education, and significant investments in the tourism market.
My electorate of Drysdale, as I have commented on previous occasions, is one of the most diverse electorates in the Northern Territory. As many of you know, Drysdale stretches from Bayview on the very edge of Darwin city, winds through the Darwin Harbour coastline through Woolner, Winnellie, Berrimah, Pinelands, East Arm, Durack, Driver, Gray and parts of the Palmerston CBD. This expanse covers both high and low income areas, light industrial and construction areas, the Darwin Correctional Centre, the Don Dale Juvenile Detention Centre, the end of the Darwin/Adelaide railway line, East Arm Port, the Darwin Showground - and the list goes on.
A wide variety of interests are represented in the Drysdale electorate and, as a result, the 2006-07 budget has several areas of significant interest to me as the member for Drysdale. My office is located in Palmerston and, consequently, much of my time is devoted to this area and the constituents within it. Palmerston is a very young, vibrant city developed in the 1980s and, since then, has become one of the fastest growing areas in Australia with an average age of around 28 years. Palmerston’s 25 000 population is primarily made up of young families - around 30% of the total population is under the age of 15.
Defence personnel and their families also make up a significant percentage of the residents of Palmerston, particularly in my electorate suburbs of Durack, Driver and Gray and, of course, Bayview and Woolner. I understand that about 10% of the entire Australian permanent Defence Force personnel are currently based in the Northern Territory. The ADF contributes significantly to the Territory economy. The number of Defence personnel and their families in the Territory has more than doubled since the early 1990s, going from approximately 6200 to an estimated 12 900 in 2006. Major Defence activities currently under way in the Territory include the establishment of the $64m Bradshaw Field Training area in Timber Creek and the $170m new suburb of the Lyons development.
The added bonus to our economy will be the supply and support contracts of the Abrams tanks, Tiger helicopters and the Armidale Class patrol boats. These contracts will provide significant and ongoing benefits to the Territory economy. Defence-related contracts provide significant opportunities for local industries, in particular in the light industrial suburbs of Winnellie, Berrimah and Pinelands. Over the past 10 years, the value and number of Defence contracts with Territory businesses has grown steadily throughout the suburbs. These relationships have provided opportunities for new capacity and capabilities to be developed, broadening and enhancing the local economy even further.
To help accelerate the growing industry, the Martin Labor government established the Defence Support Division (DSD) with the Department of Business, Economic and Regional Development. The objective of DSD is to maximise local industry benefits by identifying opportunities, and encouraging Territory businesses to develop the skills and partnerships to cover the Defence requirements.
In the 2006-07 budget, the Martin Labor government has again slashed payroll tax to assist these and other local business. From 1 July this year, the 2006 threshold will be lifted from $1m to $1.5m, the best in Australia. By undertaking this progressive move, the tax-free threshold will have doubled from $600 000 to the proposed $1.25m since Labor came into power. More than 1300 businesses will benefit from this change, with locally-based Territory businesses that continue to pay payroll tax expected to save, on average, an additional $13 500 in payroll tax per annum.
This will mean that 58 more business will no longer pay payroll tax this year, and it will also mean that a total of 187 businesses will no longer pay payroll tax at all. This will total an average saving of $66 182 to local businesses since the 2004 budget. Since 2001, the Martin Labor government has reduced payroll tax twice, increased the threshold three times, reduced stamp duties, and removed debit tax and electronic debit transaction dues, which is of significant assistance, to say the least, for local businesses to allow them to expand their operations and develop much-needed infrastructure.
In addition to tax cuts, this government is building for the future through strong infrastructure budgets. Budget 2006-07 will see $482m committed to capital works, minor new works, and repairs and maintenance. The construction industry plays a significant role within my electorate, throughout the light industrial areas of Winnellie, Berrimah and Pinelands. These industries also play a huge role in the Territory’s economy, and provide thousands jobs both directly and indirectly for Territorians. This government’s high level of infrastructure spending supports jobs for Territorians, work for local businesses, and a flowthrough to the whole economy. Since 2001, $2.7bn has been allocated in cash for infrastructure projects. It is due to this fact that the Northern Territory labour market continues to strengthen, buoyed also by the onshore economic conditions. Indicators point to strong employment growth.
However, a shortage of skilled labour is a concern to many businesses. To help overcome these concerns, working with industry this government will continue to Territorians’ access to the opportunities generated by this growing economy. Over the next four years, the Martin Labor government will spend approximately $300m on training and support mechanisms to assist Territorians to develop better skills and access local jobs. Out of the total of $300m, $60m is directly committed to vocational educational and training via the VET program in 2006 and 2007. This commitment will include offering financial bonuses of $1000 to apprentices in identified skills shortage areas, and $300 to trainees to assist them to start their training. $500 000 has been allocated to assist existing workers in the automotive, building, construction, mining and hospitality industries, and there is a commitment of $400 000 to pre-vocational programs to assist the unemployed and young Territorians to take up jobs or a traineeship. One-off scholarships to the value of $4000 will be provided to 40 individuals to assist with fees and material costs studying in the VET Certificate III to diploma level courses, and VET funding to the Charles Darwin University has been increased by $1.5m to $37m to improve facilities and the training regimes in traditional trade qualification areas.
The commitment is significant and this government, I am pleased to say, is dedicated to ensuring that a high level of skill and employment is maintained within the industry sector. In addition to the Better Skills program, incentive schemes for employees have also been boosted. Jobs Plan 2 will continue to provide financial incentives to encourage and assist eligible employers to take up additional apprentices and trainees. One hundred and fifty incentives a year, valued at $7000, will be made available in the traditional trades areas to take on apprentices, and 125 incentives at $3000 will also be made available in small business sectors to also take trainees and apprentices. These incentives have encouraged 2600 apprentices and trainees to start in 2005, with a further 900 commencing in the first quarter of this year. This program is on track to deliver 100 000 apprentices and trainee commencements over the next four years.
I said earlier that 30% of the population of Palmerston is under the age of 15. That is a very valid statistic for the future of industry in the Territory. Within the next year or two, many of this 30% will be looking for work. This government’s School to Work program has been instigated to encourage many young people to take up a future in the world of industry. The 2006-07 budget provides $4.4m for this strategy. This includes: the VET in Schools program; school-based new apprenticeships; the Work Ready program; as well as the VET initiatives under Building Better Schools. $2.27m for the VET in Schools program has been provided to assist 1100 students decide on a career, to provide advice and prepare for the move to the workforce; $0.95m has been provided to expand VET in the Building Better Schools program; $200 000 to support the Work Ready program; and $1m for driver training and licensing for 16- to 18-year-olds. These are wonderful incentives to assist youth move forward with their lives as they decide on a career.
The area of growth that has also helped our economy is the construction industry. Over the last five years, the construction industry has, on average, accounted for 6.5% of the Territory’s gross state product, and employed 7.3% of the workforce. Major infrastructure programs such as the Bayu-Undan oil and gas development and liquefied natural gas plant at Wickham Point, as well as the Alcan G3 refinery expansion, has kept engineering construction at record levels in recent years.
Property markets have strengthened significantly since 2004 also. The building of new homes, residential conversions, and alterations and additions to residential buildings has grown markedly. The demographics of the Territory and the social and economic factors have had strong influences on this area of growth.
Significant landmarks of my electorate are the Darwin Port and the Darwin end of the Darwin/Adelaide railway link. The Darwin Port Corporation has had a key role for the government’s vision for the future development of the Northern Territory, and to instil Darwin as the transport hub and regional supply and service centre for the Defence, mining, and oil and gas sectors. To ensure the objectives are achieved, the DPC is continuing to establish bulk materials handling infrastructure to enable export of ore from the expanding minerals sector. To back up this infrastructure work, allocation of $1m has been undertaken for the upgrade of the container crane electrical control system to improve its reliability and work life. A further $0.35m has been allocated to establish an interim quarantine waste disposal facility at the East Arm Wharf to replace the existing Fort Hill Wharf facility.
Good transport links are critical to the Territory’s development, given the small size of the local market, relative isolation from the major markets in southern Australia, and the small and widely dispersed Territory population. The completion of the Adelaide to Darwin rail link in late 2003 represents a major milestone in the development of the Territory’s transport infrastructure. Rail is now a dominant mode of transport for the north/south freight route. It also provides opportunities for regional development, particularly in the transport and bulk commodities.
The Darwin waterfront development has created significant opportunities for business in the civil, marine and construction sectors, and also in the supply, services and design areas. The $100m new infrastructure commitment will add to the underpinning of the construction industry. Many of the partners of the consortium are Territory companies which have worked on major Territory infrastructure projects.
One of the largest steel fabrication contracts ever awarded in the Territory was won by local company, M&J Welding, which is situated in my electorate at Pinelands. I had the pleasure of accompanying the minister to the work yard on the day the announcement was made. The business owner, Mike Dunne, was particularly pleased with the announcement because he has been a local businessman based in the Darwin area for over 20 years, and employs several local people in the business. The contract he secured will see his business supply 1100 tonnes of structural steel to the convention and exhibition centre, and will result in securing work for his employees, as well as large subcontractors and work flow-on to other Territory businesses.
Budget 2006-07 also builds on the future of Palmerston residents situated in one of the fastest growing regions in the Northern Territory. Infrastructure operating has supported businesses, as I have mentioned earlier, but further funding has been allocated to other important areas in my electorate.
One of the highlighted agenda items this year has been the middle schools process. I am extremely pleased that $9.3m has been carried over to the new secondary school education facility at the Palmerston High School. This allocation of funding will go a long way in solving several of the middle school issues within the area and I, for one, am looking forward to the report of the middle schools roll-out.
Also as part of the Building Better Schools project, $1.8m has been allocated to support 19 school counsellors, which were placed this year by the government, and also $828 000 for the teaching and learning framework has been allocated in this budget. In conjunction with this spending, a joint initiative with the federal government will see $4.4m spent on the National Accelerated Learning Project, extending over 27 schools, 3300 students, 1500 classes and 220 teachers. The support for teachers has not been lost either, as $8.1m has been set aside for ongoing support for employing 100 teachers above current formula, and a further $1.1m for professional development. Each school-based teacher will continue to be provided with a laptop computer as part of the $1.5m allocation.
As part of the Safer Communities project, the government is continuing to tackle antisocial behaviour in our community, with $1.7m being spent in this budget for the Juvenile Diversion Program; $1m to assist the Office of Alcohol Policy with the response to alcohol abuse, of which $275 000 has been highlighted to develop local area alcohol management plans. It is also pleasing to see Neighbourhood Watch and the regional crime prevention councils receive an allocation in the budget, and the Crime Prevention Grants system will continue.
One of the most significant funding announcements in Budget 2006-07 is the record $788.6m to be allocated to Health and Community Services. This area of government has always been, and will continue to be, a very contentious portfolio, but this Martin government has increased funding by a whopping 64% since it was elected in 2001. This commitment to meeting the increasing costs of service delivery and increasing patient demand across the health system underlines a heartfelt attempt to assist this difficult area. This government has also committed additional funding of $20m to ease the pressure on service demand, with $14m specifically set aside to improve flows and capacity for admitted care elective surgery and Emergency Department attendances in our hospitals. It is interesting to note that $196m has been allocated in this 2006-07 budget for the Royal Darwin Hospital, which equates to an increase of 75% since 2001.
The budget breakdown has covered healthy hand-outs to Acute Services of $465m; $122m to Community Health Services; $57.5m for Family and Children’s Services; aged and Disability will receive $65.7m; Mental Health Services - $32m; $41.3m for Public Health Services; and, $4.8m for health research. These figures paint the picture that this government is committed to building healthier communities and is making extreme efforts to strengthen our health system.
I was particularly delighted to hear that Northern Territory tourism has been a big beneficiary of Budget 2006-07. Tourism employs about 7500 people directly, and many thousands more indirectly. More importantly, the support local businesses have from the tourism market is important. In addition, a commitment of $10m each year will boost our already significant commitment to tourism to ensure this vital economic factor is maintained, along with our unique and stunning natural attractions.
One of the many reasons we live here - and this particular point rates highly with us all in our unique Territory lifestyle – is the Northern Territory is a great place to live and work. Budget 2006-07 helps us all to enjoy that lifestyle even further in the future. We all enjoy our sport, fishing, arts and culture, major events and entertainment. It is pleasing to see that this government has again supported and added to the already long list of activities we enjoy in the Northern Territory.
The 2006-07 budget will see $6m provided for sporting grants: $6.8m to the thoroughbred racing industry in Darwin and its associated clubs; $1.05m to the highly entertaining and popular V8 Supercars; and I am pleased to say that $3.5m has been allocated to the NT Sports Institute. Our very own NTIS has produced some outstanding athletes and enhanced many athletes’ careers with their expertise. I know from my previous working life that the institute plays a significant role in many sports here. I am pleased to see that support has been maintained and built upon to assist our talented athletes. I am particularly looking forward to the international cricket matches and the AFL games this year, not to forget the Arafura Games next year.
Mr Acting Speaker, I congratulate the Treasurer, his staff and the ministers for delivering a very responsible and caring budget. I can only imagine the time spent to put this all together. It is a budget that has something for everyone and will enhance our current economic market, improve our educational challenges, build a much better and healthier Territory, provide a safer community and enhance our fantastic lifestyle. My congratulations to all. I commend the Treasurer’s budget and the Martin’s Labor government’s budget to the House.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Speaker, in a way we did not expect this budget to be anything outstanding or different. It is a mid-term budget and, obviously, the Treasurer should be making sure that he consolidates the government’s position. He has had a couple of years of GST to make sure that everything is going well. He should be looking at the future and we will all expect some nice things when the election is due.
It concerns me that we are responding to a budget before the Estimates Committee as it is very difficult to find much of what you want to know in the budget papers so that you can make a sensible response. Therefore, the response I am making is based on the limited information that we have been given in the budget papers.
I would like to ask the Treasurer about the debt situation at the moment. It is my understanding that, on a per capita basis, we have the highest debt of any other jurisdiction in Australia. I wonder, with a population of 200 000, how long we can sustain that debt. If I look at the Fiscal and Economic Outlook book, on one page it shows an increase in debt for this year. If I look at another page, where it says ‘nett debt plus employee liabilities’, it has quadrupled that amount. It is a huge debt that we are holding as a small Territory.
I wonder whether the windfall of the GST should not have been used more wisely by the minister in his budget to make sure that we did not have such a large debt. Why has he allowed so many of his departments to blow their budgets over the past financial year? Does that show a lack of monitoring by the ministers concerned? Does it show a lack of responsibility by the CEOs concerned? Surely, a government in this day and age should be keeping a tight rein on their departments and the way they are operating.
I believe the nett debt figures we have do not include the payout to NT Power or the legal costs. Perhaps the minister could give use some information on what the government has to pay out eventually to NT Power and how will that affect his budget.
I cannot see how it is also covering the costs of the infrastructure building after Cyclone Monica. It is probably interesting that the Northern Territory and Tasmania are the only two jurisdictions that do not have some sort of insurance to cover such disasters as this. How many millions are needed to fix the damage done by Cyclone Monica? It is my understanding that the debt could blow out considerably more because we are not getting a true picture of all the costs that this government will incur over the next 12 months.
It is also disturbing to see the huge increase in public servants. Fine, it is great to be a public servant and to have a job in the Territory. However, why did we need such a huge increase over the last couple of years? Are we getting value for money? One of the questions that will be asked is: how many of these public servants are attached to the fifth floor? If we have so many public servants - over 16 000 at the moment, or is it 17 600 which is the figure that has been given to me - what are we achieving? It worries me when we see so many problems in so many of our departments, and so many small programs being axed. I would much prefer to see money go to the grassroots than on building up a department.
I note that I still have not had the answer from the minister from DCIS as to whether the payroll section from Alice Springs has been transferred to Darwin …
Dr Burns: I posted that letter to you. You should have received it.
Mrs BRAHAM: I do not have it. Is it being transferred or not?
Dr Burns: I have replied to your letter.
Mrs BRAHAM: So you are not going to tell me? I certainly do not have it. Is that a cost-cutting exercise? Why do we need to do it? Is it because there are too many public servants? Does the minister hope that, somehow or other, this will effectively do that? I am not sure. Perhaps the Treasurer can explain to us why there was a need for such an increase in the public service over the years. It is not all police or teachers; we know that.
There were some good things in the budget. In saying that the debt worries me for such a small population as we have here, there were some good things for the Centre in the budget. I cannot find in DEET, whether the upgrade for Ross Park Primary School is included. You may recall the media statement that was released before the last election, where the minister said that there would be a $6.5m upgrade for Ross Park. I am not sure whether it is there or not. Perhaps the minister can clarify that.
I would also like to know about the back-to-school payments that the government handed out. How much was given out and was there any monitoring on how that money was spent? I am not saying it is a bad thing, but it was, obviously, a bit of an election ploy. What happened to all that money the government gave out to parents? Did it go direct to parents, or did it go to schools? Did it add an extra administrative load on large schools to make sure this was spent on the children? I cannot find the amount that was spent.
I also cannot find any upgrade of airconditioning for three of the schools in Alice Springs. I am thinking particularly of the Braitling Primary School. Last year, the school had to transport students to another school because the airconditioning service failed completely. I have been trying to find in the budget some recognition of the problem of airconditioning at Braitling, and whether the Treasurer has budgeted for that in the DEET budget.
I want to thank the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. I have the two bicycle paths in Braitling that we wanted. One was to connect Larapinta Drive with the Simpson’s Gap path, and that is great. It will go past the new subdivision. The other was the one on Milner Road to Lovegrove Drive. It is in the budget and, minister, I will be watching to make sure it happens; it was something that we did request of you. I am pleased that has happened.
I also wonder why on earth Larapinta Stage 2 has not gone ahead. I am sure the member for Araluen is pleased to see the upgrade of the Keith Lawrie flats is happening at long last.
One of the things we cannot find in the budget is the cost of the Alice Springs Hospital upgrade after the disaster of the previous upgrade, and whether the government is going to take the contractors to court over it and seek compensation. The legal costs of all government departments is something I have flagged that I will be interested in, along with how much is eventually required of government to pay for all this, and whether it has been budgeted. I cannot see that it has.
One of the other programs that I was particularly interested in was the Living Skills program the Minister for Housing has been talking about for so long. The amount of money that is given to that is a fairly paltry amount, considering that we do need that program, not just in public housing but also in town camps and out in communities. I wonder whether the government believes they can do anything with the small amount allocated to that. I am trying to find it in my notes here, but it is a pretty small amount.
The town camps upgrade will also need a considerable contribution by the government. This particular issue has come about after the budget was prepared, so it will be interesting to see whether the Treasurer has again increased his debt by having to fund some of the infrastructure and the programs if this government is really serious about improving the town camps.
Also, I could not find the money which has now been transferred from the Commonwealth to the NT government for the IHANT program. How has that affected the budget for housing, and is it reflected within the budget? Unfortunately, because of the way the budget books are written, it is very hard to find some of the small items that you really want to know about. What is happening to that extra amount of money for IHANT? Has it replaced some of the money that would normally go into the housing program? Are we still getting public houses built? We have been offered another facility in Alice Springs, but I cannot see that. How many public houses will be sold? I cannot see that in the budget, even though I believe there will be some sold to cover the costs of new complexes built.
These are the areas I am interested in but it is very difficult to find them within the papers that we are looking at. I guess it is very easy for the government backbenchers to say: ‘Wow, I have this and that for my electorate’. It sounds good and we understand that is what budgets are all about; we have all been there and done that same thing. However, the bottom line is that to really give a budget speech with any depth is difficult when you have not been through the estimates. As yet, I have not had a briefing from Treasury. I have asked for one but, at the moment, it has not come about. I am talking a little in the dark about what this budget is all about.
All I know is that too many departments seem to have blown their budget. There does not seem to be enough checking of exactly what is happening in the departments. Too many public servants are being employed and we are not quite sure why, particularly as I see many public servants quite disillusioned with their jobs at the moment. Too many small programs have been axed, whereas it is often the grassroots ones that are the most effective. We need to say to the Treasurer: be careful of your debt. Are you going to put us in a situation that you complained about when you took over in government in 2001? Is your debt going to be sustainable by a small population like this? Why have you not used the GST to be more effective so that Territorians do not have to wear this heavy debt that you are imposing upon them at the moment? During the estimates, will you give us all the details that we wish regarding some of the small programs that we have? Will we have time to ask all questions, which is something we will probably be talking about later in the estimates motion?
I suggest that it is time this government started looking at insurance on some of their facilities, particularly as we are prone to cyclones and floods as happened in Katherine. We all know the enormous amount of money that it is going to cost to fix up that infrastructure. Why do we not do what other governments do, and take out some sort of cover to make sure it does not hit Territorians so heavily at all? Can the minister tell me whether that debt figure covers all the debt the Northern Territory will be responsible for?
Debate suspended.
VISITORS
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of visitors as part of the Parliament House Public Tour Program. On behalf of honourable members, I extend a warm welcome to our visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
MOTION
Appointment of Acting Deputy Speaker
Appointment of Acting Deputy Speaker
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Mr Acting Speaker, I move that, for the purposes of the operation of paragraphs 35 to 37 of the terms of reference to the Estimates Committee 2006-07 and paragraphs 32 to 34 of the terms of reference of the Government Owned Corporations Committee, Mr Matthew Bonson be appointed as Acting Deputy Speaker during the meetings of the Estimates and Government Owned Corporations Committees from 20 June 2006 to 23 June 2006.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Proposed Censure of Chief Minister
Proposed Censure of Chief Minister
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Mr Acting Speaker, I move that this Assembly censures the Chief Minister for:
- 1. her atrocious response to the issues raised by Dr Nanette Rogers in her interview on Lateline in May regarding violence against women and children;
- 2. her lacklustre response to the issue of violence against women and children since coming to government;
- 3. lying to Territorians and Australians about a number of issues relating to violence in indigenous communities;
4. embarrassing herself, her party and the Northern Territory during the national debate about violence in indigenous communities;
- 5. failing to provide any solutions to address violence in indigenous communities;
- 6. refusing to attend the national summit called by the federal Indigenous Affairs minister; and
- 7. failing to remove customary law from the consideration of courts when sentencing violent Aboriginal men, thereby sanctioning their rights and preferring those rights over those of their victims, namely women and children.
Never has a censure motion against a minister of the Crown or, indeed, a Chief Minister, been so serious and so thoroughly and utterly deserved.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, please wait a moment. Please ensure that all broadcasting has ceased. Please continue, Leader of the Opposition.
Ms CARNEY: Mr Acting Speaker, the conduct of the Chief Minister has been appalling, atrocious, misleading and embarrassing. Most of all, it has proven that the Chief Minister cares little about this issue generally, and would have Territorians believe that monuments to this government such as the waterfront are more important then the first duty any government has to its citizens; that is, to protect them.
I will go through all of the points raised in the censure motion. It is deeply regrettable that I only have 30 minutes on this; this is a censure that is worthy of one hour. In any event, I will go through some of the key aspects.
The Chief Minister admitted the day after the Lateline interview that she did not see the interview. Given the promos, which were very public to anyone who watches the ABC - and I note the Chief Minister was a former ABC journalist - you would have thought that the Territory’s Chief Minister would have bothered to stay up and watch it. The next morning, you would have thought that she would read the transcripts. Alas, she did not. It is clear that she just made things up as she went along, which is why she had the worst three weeks since she became Chief Minister.
She said that Dr Rogers had said that things were getting better. That is not what Dr Rogers said. I defy the Chief Minister to point to where, in a transcript of the interview, she did. That was a lie.
The media and others around this country were calling out for the Labor indigenous members of the Northern Territory Branch of the Australian Labor Party to say something on this issue. Indeed, when asked by journalists, my colleagues and I begged and urged them to come out, be brave and have something to say. After a few days - and we do not know whether it was the fifth floor who instructed the members to come out - a couple of them did have their say. They were, in my view, somewhat restrained. However, I understand from a source who advised me on the weekend that those women who did speak out were slammed and carpeted by the Chief Minister for daring to speak out without the Chief Minister’s approval. Last time I looked, we were in a democracy in the Northern Territory. I point the Labor indigenous members to their leader’s conduct, which has been atrocious, and urge them to, in their own way, encourage the Chief Minister to get across this issue and do much better on it.
Then, after the interview, to make matters worse, the Chief Minister picked a political fight with the federal Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs who, unlike the Chief Minister, was clearly and greatly moved by what he heard on that interview. Indeed, my view is that he has been moved by many aspects of disadvantage in Aboriginal society. However, no one could have not been moved as a result of the interview - no one except for the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory.
The best the Chief Minister did the day after was to misrepresent Dr Rogers - a PhD doctor as opposed to a medical doctor. That is the best the Chief Minister could do. It was scandalous, to say the least. In her usual form, the Chief Minister tried to spin her way through but she did not succeed. In relation to what I have described as her lacklustre response to the issue of violence against women and children since coming to government, I say this: the Chief Minister just does not get violence. She does not get that it is about power, and she does not get that the government must have, as its central platform, the protection of its citizens as a first priority.
Members will recall that, a couple of years ago, I described this Chief Minister as the worst Minister for Women’s Policy ever. Some would say that was a pretty big call, given that the CLP was in office for some 26 or 27 years and the ministers for Women’s Policy were men. I say that the current Chief Minister is by far the worst and most appalling minister for Women’s Policy. We need only look, albeit briefly, at her form. This is the Chief Minister who abolished the Women’s Advisory Council and the Business Women’s Consultative Council. She was the one who moved the portfolio of Women’s Policy out of her own. We have had CLP Chief Ministers who took it seriously enough to have Women’s Policy in the portfolio or being run by the Chief Minister. Not this Chief Minister. That demonstrates, in our view, her lack of commitment to this area. For this Chief Minister - the first woman Chief Minister in the Territory’s history - to relegate the portfolio of Women’s Policy to a junior minister in all of the circumstances is scandalous.
As leader of her party, she is the one who has failed women and children who are victims of crime. Nothing is more obvious than the recent changes to the crimes compensation package passed recently. I said at the time, and say again, that that legislation discriminates against women and children. Their compensation will be reduced and they can only make one claim, regardless of how many times they have been assaulted. That legislation will not assist Aboriginal women and children, and the Chief Minister does not even care. It is interesting that she is, in fact, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs. You would have thought that someone who had previously, at least, been Minister for Women’s Policy and Indigenous Affairs might actually care about these issues but, alas, she does not.
I thought it appropriate in the context of this censure to see if I could assist the Chief Minister in her – I am hopeful - attempt to understand the issue of violence and what it means and what it is doing to our communities. It is mostly male on female. It includes domestic violence, homicide, adult sexual assault and child sexual assault. The rate of homicide in the Territory is higher than the national average. Violence is a normal cultural and social aspect of modern indigenous life in many regional centres. It is a normal cultural and social aspect of modern life out in the bush, as well as the town camps. Indigenous men are responsible for almost all of the violence that occurs every day. Indigenous women are 52 times more likely to be hospitalised by assault-related injuries than non-indigenous women, and that is from a report published by the Centre for Remote Health in 2005. I would have thought that the Chief Minister may have seen, if not read, that report but, clearly, she has not.
I am being polite, frankly, by calling it a lacklustre response to the issue of violence against women since coming to office. This Chief Minister just does not get it. I am sure she will never get it, but I implore her colleagues to see what they can do to ensure that she gets it. I know she does not get it - it is demonstrated by everything you do and say.
This Chief Minister lied to Territorians and Australians about a number of issues relating to violence in indigenous communities after the Lateline interview on 15 May. It was astonishing, to say the least, that after the interview, the Chief Minister said that what Dr Rogers had said was that things were getting better. That was a lie. That was a big, fat, good, old-fashioned whopper! But it goes on.
In the interview with John Laws on 17 May, the Chief Minister said that the paper Dr Rogers delivered at a police conference indicated the ‘effective action’ that the government was taking. Dr Rogers did no such thing and I know that the Chief Minister has not, and could not possibly, have read that paper. That is another lie that is scandalous and offensive to anyone interested in this issue and, I would imagine, Dr Rogers herself. In the same interview, the Chief Minister said that one of the cases Dr Rogers referred to, involving the rape and drowning of a young girl, had not previously become public. That was a lie. That demonstrates that the Chief Minister just makes it up as she goes along. She had no right to say that. God knows why she did!
This is a woman who lectures me, whenever it suits, for being a lawyer. This is a woman who should know enough about the law, although she demonstrated at Question Time that she did not. She should know well enough that we have in this country an open justice system. Anyone, including journalists, can swing by the local court or the Supreme Court and watch the cases that happen. I remember that case because it received much public attention in the local media, as it should have. It was a disgraceful series of crimes. Why did the Chief Minister say to John Laws: ‘Oh these have never become public’? What arrant nonsense! It belittles the Chief Minister, frankly, that she would make things up these sorts of issues. I sincerely urge her colleagues to, at least if you are going to wind up your Chief Minister and send her out the front, to give her the lines. Can the staffers please ensure they get it right, because she has demonstrated time and time again that she willing to lie on pretty much everything? However, on this issue she has been caught out and she is very sadly wanting.
An alternative and charitable view might be that it was a cheap and lazy attempt to move away from the issues. This is a Chief Minister who has demonstrated that she is prepared to do and say anything in order to hold on to her job. It is obvious that, on this issue, the Chief Minister has lied to Territorians and Australians about a number of issues relating to violence in indigenous communities. My view is that she had no credibility to begin with; she certainly does not have any credibility now, and she cannot even bring herself to attend the national summit. However, I will come to that shortly.
The next point of the censure is that the Chief Minister be censured for ‘embarrassing herself, her party and the Northern Territory during the national debate about violence in indigenous communities’. She embarrassed herself clearly because she so willingly lied throughout the process. However, she performed abysmally on a number of other fronts. We all remember her walking away from the media conference. Nothing like having a hissy fit if you are the Chief Minister - just walk away! Just say ‘No’ to all the journalists ‘I have had enough. This is too hard. I really do not know much about this issue. I know I make it up from time to time, but I have had enough’. She walked out of a media conference, clearly showing she was rattled. We all know each other well enough to know when we are rattled and when we are happy. The Chief Minister was clearly rattled and on the back foot, so she threw the hissy fit and off she went.
This Chief Minister was interviewed around the country and, deservedly, got a hard time from some of this nation’s leading journalists. She was roundly criticised for simply repeating the government line: ‘Oh, it is complex. Oh, it is complex’. When everyone was looking for leadership and commitment, none could be seen from this Chief Minister on the most important of issues.
Then we have the bizarre assertion that ‘overcrowding causes violence’. Again, she made it up. On the John Laws show on 17 May she said:
- We have communities where people live 16 to a house. Now, if you are going to create circumstances for that kind of situation to happen with child abuse, that it a good one.
In a letter to the Prime Minister she said:
- I believe that the situation of overcrowded housing is a key contributing factor to family violence.
I was interested when she said on John Laws’ show that overcrowding causes abuse. I know why she holds that view because, in a letter to the Prime Minister that she published, she said: ‘I believe the situation of overcrowded housing is a key contributing factor’. She believes it, and so that is where she got it from. That is where she got it from: she plucked it from thin air and said: ‘I think this sounds like a good idea. I will see what happens’. Of course, anyone with even a passing interest, or a minuscule amount of knowledge about this issue, knows the blindingly obvious; that is, sexual abuse does not occur in front of a bunch of people. It is not as though the other 15 people in the house gather around and say: ‘Go for it’. It occurs in private; that is why it is so difficult to prosecute. That is why there are rarely any witnesses. Hands up anyone in this Chamber who has heard of sexual abuse being committed against children in front of a group of people. It just does not happen.
It was interesting that she was not picked up on that in the media. However, it is important, if I can assist the Chief Minister’s understanding of this issue. I urge her to seriously reflect and withdraw the offensive remark - offensive particularly to anyone who experiences overcrowding in a large family - and to at least acknowledge that sexual abuse occurs in private; it does not occur in public. The Chief Minister’s lack of understanding is deeply troubling on this and so many other issues.
The Chief Minister, presumably, holds the view that the same thing exists with alcohol; that is, alcohol causes violence. I urge the Chief Minister to look at the research. There is a lot around and I can point to one, but there are many others. It is a paper written by Memmott, Stacy, Chambers and Keys in 2001 - many of us will remember Paul Memmott when he was in Alice Springs – in which those learned authors said:
- Although alcohol and violence are commonly portrayed as interdependent in indigenous contexts, it must be emphasised that alcohol itself does not cause violence. This is evident in the fact that there are examples of (a) alcohol-free indigenous communities where violence occurred; and (b) indigenous people who drink alcohol but who are not violent.
Read the research.
Further, anyone who has even a passing interest in this area would know that women who report violence say that their husbands hit them, drunk or sober. Therefore, to the same person who says overcrowding causes all of these nasty things, the extension of the logic is that alcohol must do it as well. I have truck loads of research on all of this stuff. I am happy to give it to the Chief Minister if she would like to ask.
The Chief Minister’s logic is that any large family that has experienced overcrowding has a predisposition to violence. Wrong - must be a lie. It is patently absurd and is offensive to large families, both indigenous and non-indigenous. Julia Gillard got it right, and I am a bit of a fan of Julia Gillard. I reckon she should knock off Bomber Beazley and be leader, although she is from the left and unmarried which, apparently, represents a problem in the Australian Labor Party.
However, young Julia got it right when she said on the floor of the federal parliament: ‘It would be disgraceful for anyone to suggest that overcrowding causes child abuse. It would be disgraceful’. I say, go Julia. Go you good thing and, while you are at it, tell your little friend in the Northern Territory that, if she does not understand child abuse and violence against women - and Julia Gillard is a seriously clever woman - I reckon Julia Gillard would be able to give the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, if not the well-rounded education that she should have, but perhaps just the words so that, in future, the Chief Minister will not make such a dill out of herself when talking about this issue.
The most alarming thing about the overcrowding point, which is just bizarre and peculiar, is, again, a logical extension which is: forget about customary law being used to mitigate a sentence. According to this Chief Minister, men who rape children can tell the court that they came from an overcrowded house and that they reckon that should be taken into account. It is patently absurd, and the Chief Minister should do us all a favour and square off her remarks.
The next point on the censure motion is ‘failing to provide any solutions to address violence in indigenous communities’. The Chief Minister just went through the motions after the interview. She obviously thought this nasty little issue - which she is not very good at, and everyone knows she is not very good at - would go away and all she had to do was bat away. It did not work.
In light of the national debate, she should have done better. She should have locked herself in a room with the experts - and there are plenty of them - and come up with a plan, but she failed. After three weeks of public pressure, some of which was spent hiding from journalists, she came up with a media release in which she hailed a 20-year plan. The media release does not mention the word violence. It starts with ‘v’; you can say it a bit more often. Your media release to address what is the core of the Rogers’ interview with Tony Jones was about violence in indigenous communities - and you could not even be bothered to put the ‘v’ word in a media release. That is absolutely disgraceful. It was gob-smacking, frankly. I, and plenty of others, just could not believe it. You mark my words; I sent your media release all around the Territory.
It demonstrates that, while the rest of the country was talking about violence, this Chief Minister wanted to talk about something else. She is not comfortable with this issue and clearly does not understand it. It is demonstrated time and time again. In addition to her preposterous remark that overcrowding causes violence, all we have heard from the Chief Minister is: ‘Give us money, give us money. That will solve the problems’. She gloated about putting more money into child protection but was silent about the results. The only results she talked about was that there were more reports. Well, Chief Minister, more reports of child abuse is not a good outcome. It is not something to get excited about. It is actually a really bad outcome.
There is no plan, no vision and no commitment from this Chief Minister. She simply adopts the old Labor line of ‘Give us more money, give us more money’, and blaming the federal government. When this government talks about extra money being put into just about everything, in this area it is very hard to see any improvements.
We have not seen the Chief Minister’s so-called 20-year plan. We are concerned that the Chief Minister still refuses to talk about male violence against women. We said fairly early on that you need short-, medium- and long-term plans. Indeed, we took the liberty of providing some initiatives to her in a letter to which she has still, rudely, not responded. In any event, while long-term planning is essential, we owe it to our fellow citizens to act now, to do something now, about what the culture of violence is in many remote communities.
I would like to spend some time talking about the Chief Minister’s failure to attend the national summit called by the federal Indigenous Affairs minister, which is the sixth item on the censure motion. It had to have been tactical mistake. The alternative view is the Chief Minister does not want to talk about violence with anyone, anywhere, anytime. The Chief Minister refused to attend the summit called by Mal Brough who, I said earlier, was clearly moved by that interview and, indeed, other factors.
In what The Australian newspaper described as ‘a bizarre piece of political grandstanding’ the Chief Minister simply said she would not have a bar of it. Then, after two weeks of public pressure, she said that she would send three of her ministers. Yet, the Chief Minister as leader of her party, as leader of the Northern Territory, and minister for Indigenous Affairs, still refuses to go. If ever there was a time for leadership it is now, and she has failed. She continues to fail. She and all Labor Party members will fail while she is the captain of her ship. If you care about this issue, get rid of her. There is a young bloke over there who is showing both potential and ambition - give him a spin. I suspect he, at least, understands the issue much more than the person sitting on his right.
So, we have three government minister who will attend. Of course, at the time - apart from sinking to the depths of simply boycotting the summit, indicating that she does not want to talk about it - she said of the summit: ‘It would be a waste of time and a talkfest’. She came under much criticism for her belligerence. Then, when she said: ‘Well, I am sending the three ministers’, it begs the question. If she thinks it is a waste of time, why on earth is she sending not one, not two, but three of her ministers? We can only assume that she was told by her colleagues that she should go, and that is why their views, I suspect, are different from hers.
On the one hand she does not want to go, she does not want to talk about it. Whoops! She is getting slammed by everyone and, then, she says: ‘The only way I can spin my way out of this is to send not one, two, but three ministers’. In the final wash up, even though I am calling on the Chief Minister to lead – because she fancies herself as a leader, and she should lead, and she should be there – the three people she is sending are probably going to get better results because at least they care about this issue.
I want to deal now with the seventh item on the censure motion, which is customary law. I look forward to providing assistance to the Chief Minister so that she has some degree of understanding about why it should be removed.
When you look at her form, the Chief Minister really does not demonstrate that she knows much about the issue. She has never contributed to debates on customary law, and very rarely talks about women or violence. There are a number of questions to be asked about the Chief Minister’s commitment, but time is against me, so I need to move on.
However, I was curious when she issued a media release for the Yarralin case appeal, in which she said that she would wait until the Court of Criminal Appeal dealt with the matter before deciding whether she would change the law. Again, she demonstrated her lack of understanding because she completely missed the issue. Either the law as it stands is satisfactory, or it is not. It is not good enough to stand back and watch high profile appeals like Yarralin and Pascoe and just say: ‘Nothing needs to be changed because we have an appeal process’. On that logic, arguably, the Chief Minister would sit back and watch case after case, and appeal after appeal against sentences where customary law was taken into account, and do nothing. Therefore, it is a flawed logic.
The Chief Minister could remove customary law so that the appeals would not be necessary. She could remove it so that submissions would not be made on behalf of violent Aboriginal men. She could remove it and, thereby, send a practical and symbolic message that hiding behind the veil of customary law will not be tolerated. However, she will not, and it is cowardly, in my view.
Predictably, of course, cultural practices and customary law took off, as its own issue, following the Lateline interview. I refer the transcript of that interview to the Chief Minister, in which Dr Rogers said when she was talking about her doctoral thesis that she was:
- … taken aback at how much emphasis was placed on Aboriginal customary law in terms of placing the offender in the best light and it really closed off the voices of Aboriginal women …
She went on – but time is against me on that front.
Customary law, Chief Minister, in all its guises is used almost every day in the courts of the Northern Territory. It is used to try to reduce or excuse an offender’s criminality. Defence lawyers urge the court to take into account the fact that violent men have been, for instance, subjected to payback. They ask the court to take that into account when sentencing. That is one example. Sometimes, defence lawyers argue that the woman referred to ‘men’s business’ which made her attacker angry, which is why he beat her. On other occasions, courts hear how violent men are initiated and have ceremonial responsibilities, and are asked to take those into account when sentencing. That is using customary law and cultural practices as a mitigating circumstance. There is nothing culturally appropriate about violence and it behoves us all to remove the protection that customary law provides.
It is somewhat remarkable that many people in the Australian Labor Party, many of whom have written to me, have been very supportive of Dr Rogers and her comments but, at the same time, have completely - and in my view somewhat hysterically - rejected any consideration of the removal of customary law for sentencing purposes. We should all be consistent, at least.
Opponents to the removal of customary law from sentencing assert that to do so is to impinge a person’s human rights. One wonders whose human rights they prefer - that of violent Aboriginal men or the women and children who are their victims? I know, as a result of the Chief Minister’s conduct, whose rights the Chief Minister prefers. She stands condemned for her conduct for all of the reasons I have outlined. There are plenty more but, in 30 minutes, it is just not possible to get to all of them.
I thought it was very interesting that people like Jane Lloyd, a well-respected anthropologist in Central Australian who works for NPY Women’s Council and has done for about 12 years, talked about ‘the culture of violence’. She said in an interview:
- Many of these communities do not see anything socially or culturally wrong in assaulting women; in burning them when they perceive they have done something wrong.
In another interview, she talked about the types of injuries that women sustain:
- Women are burnt in the abdomen, genital and upper thigh areas, also with firesticks. They are deliberate assaults intended to disfigure and sexually mutilate women.
She goes on and on about the type of violence.
I commend members of the Australian Labor Party to the article written by Paul Toohey in The Bulletin. In the article, he talked about the absolute mess the Chief Minister has made of this issue and said:
- All she had was a deep ABC radio and television trained voice from her days as a Darwin broadcaster. It sounded convincing, but nothing she said had any weight.
If the subject veered away from oil and gas, she stumbled and stammered. She was at it again last week, caught short, desperately trying to bluff her way out of the responsibility she has so patently shirked on indigenous affairs.
Mr Acting Speaker, never has a censure motion been more warranted or more deserving. The Chief Minister stands condemned. This debate, whether she likes it or not, will go on. Australians are concerned about it, even if the Chief Minister is not. Her colleagues should get her to resign.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Acting Speaker, I am definitely not resigning. It is interesting. I listened carefully for half-an-hour to the Opposition Leader. The judgments that she makes about someone like me are fascinating. We rarely have any conversations - it is just a fact of life. We do not sit down and have coffee. I would say that the Opposition Leader has no idea of the priorities I have in government and personally. Yet, for half-an-hour, I have heard allegations that she did not actually spell out that, somehow, I am on the side of violent Aboriginal men. That was something that she implied.
The Opposition Leader went through interviews selectively over the last three weeks - absolutely selectively - and picked out facts that fitted her view of my world - her view that says I am the worst Chief Minister in the world and also the worst Minister for Women’s Policy that she has ever seen and, even more offensively, I deigned to give the portfolio of Women’s Policy to a junior indigenous minister. What a disgrace! Somehow or other, because I deigned to give the portfolio to a junior indigenous minister, I am downgrading the issue of Women’s Policy. There is such a tenuous line of argument in anything that I heard from the Opposition Leader for 30 minutes, that I simply reject every single aspect of this censure, because it does not make sense.
Let us just go through some of the nonsense that we have heard. I do not have a PhD, and I do not know many people who have PhDs but, obviously, the Opposition Leader does. She is quoting lines like ‘alcohol does not cause violence’ because she read it in a PhD document. Terrific! I say to the Opposition Leader: why do you not try talking to our police? Why do you not just try, in one circumstance, talking to our police about domestic violence, and what the link is between those who perpetrate domestic violence and their consumption of alcohol? It is starkly clear. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: you are in Alice Springs, that is where you live; ask for a briefing from our Domestic Violence Unit of the police in Alice Springs, and just listen to the detail of what they are doing and what the links are between the violence they deal with and what is consumed by those perpetrators of that violence. It is not rocket science. Are the police wrong? I ask the Leader of the Opposition: are the police simply wrong when they say alcohol is that trigger?
When we look around the Territory at the trigger of alcohol, it is why we are taking such strong action on alcohol, because there is a direct link between alcohol and the violence we see. There is a link between substance abuse, domestic violence and child sexual abuse. When you are talking about substance abuse, it is not only alcohol; it is other drugs.
I was interested to note that this is the CLP which, when the previous member for Brennan was the leader, castigated this government in this House for putting $10m into tackling substance abuse regarding sniffing of petrol. He castigated us and said that this is where that government’s priorities were, tackling a blight on our community, a serious damage in links to child sexual abuse. We were castigated by a previous leader of the CLP for saying that was where our priorities were: ‘How could we waste those kinds of funds in the Territory?’ We have real hypocrisy coming from the opposition here – a real hypocrisy. We recognise those links with alcohol and other drugs and the violence that we, unfortunately, see so often, particularly in our Aboriginal communities - not only in our Aboriginal communities, but particularly so.
The Opposition Leader can stand here and make up stuff about the link between alcohol and violence, but let me tell you, Mr Acting Speaker and, therefore, the opposition, that there is a link, and our police deal with it every single day, very sadly for this Territory. They deal with it every single day. It is important that the Opposition Leader stands up and addresses issues here, rather than sitting there with long PhD theses and quoting from them selectively. The alcohol link is one that is very clear.
While we are talking about the alcohol link, let me praise the community of Groote Eylandt. They have been an outstanding success of what happens to communities when you do tackle alcohol. Two years ago, the leadership of the Anindilyakwa Land Council talked to us and said: ‘It is time to do something about the damage alcohol is doing in our communities, particularly the communities of Angurugu and Umbakumba’. We sat down with them. We got all the players together. Police and the Licensing Commission were there and, importantly, the community. The miners were also there. They sat down and said: ‘How can we tackle the issue?’ They came up with a permit to be able to have takeaway alcohol. That is in place and is managed by different communities in different ways. After 12 months of this being in place - and this is how little the opposition knows about the link between alcohol and violence and crime - police figures are showing that there has been a decrease in crime on the island of up to 75%, particularly the levels of personal crime and antisocial behaviour.
I pay tribute to the Groote Eylandt community. I pay tribute to the leadership of the Anindilyakwa Land Council for tackling what is a key issue in all the things we are talking about here. We are taking about abuse of children, violence towards women and, yet, we have male leadership - and I will stand behind them on this issue - on Groote Eylandt who said: ‘Let us do something’. I am extraordinarily proud of that male leadership. We have seen measures taken on that island to reduce the level of crime and violence that was happening. I care about that. I understand that there are those links, and we will continue to work with those with alcohol management right around the Territory.
When the Opposition Leader says, in the first five minutes of this censure, that I am the worst Minister for Women’s Policy because I got rid of the Women’s Advisory Council, let me say how effective our Women’s Forums we hold around the Territory are now. Sitting in Timber Creek last week with quite a number of local women from right around the region attending that meeting were three of the female ministers of government. The much maligned Minister for Women’s Policy was there – much maligned – the member for Arafura. The member for Karama was there in her capacity as an interested woman, but also as the Minister for Family and Children’s Services. We listened to what those women had to say. Do you know what their No 1 issue was? Education is always the No 1 issue, but managing alcohol was a very strong issue. They want to be part of alcohol management plans. We will have the Licensing Commission there next week talking to those women and to that community. They will be talking to women who know what is happening, like Lorraine Jones, who is chair of the council and also the local ACPO, talking to women like that about how we deal with the issues that affect them every day.
I challenge the Opposition Leader to go to Timber Creek and tell those women that alcohol does not play a part. Go on. You go to Timber Creek, to those communities and say: ‘You are imagining it when you think there is a link between the violence that you are sometimes experiencing, all too often, and the consumption of alcohol’. You go and tell them that. I did not read it in a PhD thesis; I talked to women on the ground. I talked to the police who are doing the work. I talked to Family and Community Services and their child protection workers. We know what is happening. We do not sit there making it up, like the Opposition Leader does on that side of the House.
Let us talk about the other issue where part of the censure was about: ‘… and this woman knows nothing about overcrowding and housing, knows nothing, she just made it up. She wrote to the Prime Minister and said that. She said to John Laws that overcrowding is a major issue in dealing with the violence we have in Aboriginal communities and the child sex abuse’. She also said I have no evidence.
World Health Organisation research shows that there is a direct association between child abuse and overcrowding. The World Health Organisation does a little research. They have a little understanding of world circumstances, and they say that they have identified overcrowded housing and resultant stress as key factors in relation to family violence. That was a 2002 World Health Organisation report.
Let us go to something more recent, and this is over the last few weeks. One Professor Fiona Stanley, Executive Director of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth - a former Australian of the Year – said on ABC radio: ‘If you have 18 people living in a house, that is a huge risk factor for child abuse’. If you have 18 people living in a house, that is a huge risk factor for child abuse. That is exactly what I was getting at. We have the Opposition Leader coming in here saying that I got it wrong. I say: ‘Who got it wrong?’ Is overcrowding in housing one of the factors that can lead to that, or is the Opposition Leader simply right? Again, I say to the Opposition Leader, pick up the phone and have a word to Fiona Stanley - she is a very generous woman – and see what she might have to say about it.
Ms Carney: You should get your words right. You have told Australians that it causes it, you silly woman.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to withdraw that comment.
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw, Mr Acting Speaker.
Ms MARTIN: Mr Acting Speaker, overcrowding is a key issue in the Northern Territory; about how we can provide safe and effective futures for our Aboriginal communities. I have been in here a fair bit longer than the Opposition Leader, and I heard members of the previous government railing here about federal governments which would not assist in solving the problem of overcrowding in our bush communities. That is not just something you have heard from the Labor Party; you have heard it from successive CLP ministers. Ministers for housing stood in here and said: ‘We have to have federal assistance in dealing with this problem; it leads to so many other aspects of dysfunction in communities’.
Yet, how can the Opposition Leader have any credibility when she says: ‘It has no link. It is not an important issue’? The Opposition Leader in that case is simply wrong - she is simply wrong.
Let us just go through Nos 1 to 7 of this censure. Regarding the interview that Nanette Rogers gave. As I said in Question Time, the perception that interview gave around the country was interesting – and I am not blaming this on Nanette Rogers; I am just saying that interviews can do this – in that the impression was that all these cases had happened in the Northern Territory and there had been no follow-up through child protection or police, and that those who had perpetrated these horrible crimes had faced no punishment. That was not the case. It was really startling to talk to John Laws when he said: ‘All those stories we heard - those horrible stories that we heard on that Lateline interview - they have all been followed up, prosecutions gone to court, and there have been sentences imposed and, at the harshest end, a life sentence?’
That was not the perception that was given and it was one that certainly had to be tackled nationally. It had to be tackled, it had to be explained that our police and our child protection workers had done their job over a 15-year period. Those cases were taken from a 15-year period. It does not excuse them – it certainly does not excuse them - but they had to be put in a context. Australia did not understand that the Territory had pursued those; that we had had prosecutors, police and child protection working and there had been prosecutions. That was something that had to be cleared up.
I do not pretend it was easy; it was a very tough time arguing against ‘facts’ such as we did not have mandatory reporting for child abuse which I also had to deal with – I do not know where that came from. I was told by national media outlets that we had none of this. How could the Territory not? I was trying to say: ‘Well, just hold on, we do’. However, there were all these perceptions being fed - I know not from where - about the Northern Territory; that we sat on our hands about child abuse, we did not have mandatory reporting, and a number of other issues that emerged in a frenzy of attention on the Territory. I do not mind that attention on the Territory, but I believe it should be accurate.
It needed to recognise – and this is something that I did argue hard at a national level – the resources we had put in. I gave it a context. I said: ‘All over Australia, various state governments, because of the issues of child sexual abuse, had put significant increased resources’. After the Gordon Report in Western Australia, the government put in significantly increased resources into child protection. The Queensland government did it; the New South Wales government did it; Victoria did it; South Australia has done it; and the Northern Territory, as well. Each jurisdiction recognises the impact of child sexual abuse and the need to take much greater interventions to not allow a lid to be a cover on what was happening. That was what was happening. Here in the Territory, how could it not have happened under the previous government? There was not one extra child protection worker from the early 1990s to 2001 - not one in the Northern Territory. You talk about a lid being put on a very difficult issue; one that needed to be uncovered. Yet, under the CLP, there was not one extra child protection worker, I understand, in 10 years.
We recognised the need to put those child protection workers in place. We recognised the need for greater policing, for police to work more effectively with the violence we saw in our communities, the violence we saw in our towns. It is unacceptable, and it breaks everyone’s heart - whether you are male, female, young, old whoever you are - to see it happen.
We did that. We did not make posturing statements. We did not quote PhD theses; we went out and did it. We established properly resourced Domestic Violence Units. We more effectively resourced child protection by quadrupling the amount of funding going to child protection. We still need more money; there is no doubt about it. However, when the Opposition Leader says it is a disgrace that there are more cases of child abuse reported – yes, it is very sad, but it is part of uncovering what is happening and making sure that we are dealing with the issues: that the perpetrators are facing penalties, that we are assisting those children and those families.
Tell me what you should do. Should you not fund those areas and pretend that it is not happening, as we saw under the CLP? Or should we fund those areas effectively. We would like more money and more police, there is no doubt about it. I am sure the Police minister would say that. However, we have increased the budget by 55%. That is a lot more police and effective strategies. I pay tribute to the police for their crime reduction strategy and their team, which is doing very effective and targeted work - very effective and a hard slog.
I say to the Leader of the Opposition: talk to the Domestic Violence Unit in Alice Springs. They are a fine group of people who are working strategically with women who report domestic violence and supporting them through the court system. They are making sure that pressures do not come to drop those charges, and they are seeing those women being able to take action. Charges are being laid against the perpetrators. One of the issues that they did raise with me recently was the fact that the recidivism is a problem, and that is something that we really have to focus on. We have to focus on it through the prison system and alcohol rehabilitation - I should not mention that, as the Opposition Leader said there is no link - and also employment opportunities. It is a complex area but, again, those resources are there.
For the Opposition Leader to be saying: ‘You heartless Chief Minister, you do not care about this; you are not standing up there making endless public statements about it’, the reason is because we are taking action and putting resources where they need to go. If you said to me: ‘Should you stand publicly and go on about it or should you do something, I know what I will do. I will do something’. That is exactly the reason why endless talkfests about issues of domestic violence and child abuse facing Aboriginal communities is not the way to go.
I will quote from John Paterson who is running AMSANT these days, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance NT. John said that there has been at least 25 major reports in the last 30 years on this issue all recommending improved programs for health, housing, education, training, nutrition and economic development, substance abuse, crime prevention and policing. He has it wrong too, Opposition Leader? He says they are all linked. They are all being totally ignored, he said. John Paterson said that there have been 25 major reports in the last 30 years in this area, and, that they have all been totally ignored, left sitting on shelves and bookcases.
The Opposition Leader thinks I should go and join in again? Join in again on the issue of let us talk about Aboriginal domestic violence and child sex abuse!
Ms Carney: Why is he going, why is he going?
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I remind you of Standing Order 51, once again.
Ms MARTIN: Three years ago, the Prime Minister had a major summit on exactly that issue. If the Prime Minister had been in the country, he might have reminded his Indigenous Affairs minister of that. Those who were at that summit asked what happened out of it. We had a talkfest, we all put reports to the summit that the Prime Minister called because this is an important issue, and nothing happened! Nothing happened! The federal government said, ‘Terrible issue’, and walked away. We have example after example of where the federal government comes in and, for 12 months, will fund a program - for example, a program to tackle indigenous men’s violence. They will do it for 12 months …
Ms Carney: How much is it going to cost to send three ministers? Do not spend the money.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition!
Ms MARTIN: … then say ‘That is enough’, and off they walk. Where is the federal government’s commitment when they put pilot programs in place - and I have learned that a number worked very well – and then walks away from it? The federal government walks away. These big talkfests about a whole range of issues have produced nothing over all that time. What we need is action; not more PhDs written or more summits that do not have specific issues to deal with.
Ms Carney: Why are you sending three ministers?
Ms MARTIN: After some discussion, the minister has decided that there are some very specific issues he would like to talk about, which is why three specific ministers are going. He wants to talk about the court system - the effectiveness of the court system in dealing with Aboriginal communities.
If you want to look at that, the issue of Wadeye is a good one because it has been only over the last few weeks that the frustration of the community in not having perpetrators of a level of violence dealt with immediately has caused a level of concern to that community. That is what happened in Wadeye. When that had been highlighted to us, rather than wait for the court to sit in Wadeye and leave those perpetrators of the disruptions in town, we took different action. We brought them in - many of them are in remand at Berrimah - and we have additional resources going in to hearing those charges at Wadeye over the next couple of days. It is a good issue to have raised; it is one that we have been able to respond to. That is one of the issues that the minister for Indigenous Affairs wants to discuss at his meeting later this month.
Another one is customary law. Again, I am being castigated by the Opposition Leader for the customary law issue. That is one the minister has decided he would like to talk about.
Another one that was a late addition to this was about all kids going to school. We absolutely agree. Of course, all children in the Northern Territory should go to school. One of the things this government is very proud of is the fact that, for the first time, we are establishing secondary education in our bush schools. Never in 27 years of the previous governments - never! You would think that mob would be embarrassed. Last year, we had 25 Year 12 students in their bush communities. Galiwinku had a wonderful celebration a couple of weeks ago. Wadeye had seven Year 12 students, and they were delighted and had a wonderful celebration earlier this year. There were three at Maningrida …
Ms Scrymgour: Sixteen!
Ms MARTIN: Sixteen? Sixteen Year 12s at Maningrida last year. There we are! We are seeing those communities grab those opportunities - part of what this government is doing in addressing the issues of the bush.
If Mal Brough wants to talk about children going to school, we are right there. We believe children should go to school. It is what we will talk about with every single community. Every bush member says that students from the ages of Transition through to Year 12 need to be going to school all over the Territory. It is an important issue.
Initially, when the idea from the minister was to have his large repeat discussion about domestic violence - no, we have had enough talk on that. We know what to do; we have our strategies in place. If the federal government wants to assist - great! We can do with more police, more police stations, more child protection workers and more programs to deal with indigenous violence, with levels of personal crime.
Another one I put to the Aboriginal Affairs minister: what about continuing to fund juvenile diversion? Funded it for five years and then said: ‘That is enough of that, on your own’. I have taken that back to the federal government and said: ‘Fund juvenile diversion; it is an important part of dealing with safer communities in the bush’. The funds that we are currently going to spend on it will put more police in the bush. It is a good trade and it is something the federal government can do. It is really important in this whole issue that the federal government not just make one-line comments about things, and say it is important to talk more, but actually take action.
I have talked to my state colleagues. The Western Australians have a very strong strategy about what they are doing for their remote communities, the same as the Queenslanders. The whole idea of having a national strategy is - when you look at what we have on national strategies; we have a whole lot of them - very important issues need a national strategy. We have national strategies for tourism. We have national strategies to combat pollution of the sea by oil and other noxious and hazardous substances. We have a national strategy for human pandemic influenza – important. We have a national oral health program. We have a national livestock ID scheme strategy. We have a national strategy for the prevention and management of marine pest incursions.
You know what we do not have? We do not have a national strategy for how we are going to change the circumstances facing, particularly remote Aboriginal, Australians over the next 20 years. That is missing in every national strategy and, yet, it is the most outstanding issue facing this country. Whether you are in the west, the Territory, South Australia, Queensland, for our remote communities it is an outstanding issue. It is about housing, safe communities, getting effective law and order into communities and getting those kids to school. It is about better housing - appropriate housing. We need a national strategy, and Australia needs to agree that it is important to do that, and that we set targets over five, 10 and 15 years to make sure that we do see generational change - that we are not sitting here in 20 years time saying the level of child sexual abuse is unacceptably high in our Aboriginal communities, that domestic violence is unacceptably high, that people do not have jobs, that kids are not going to school and that we still have 17 to 20 people in a house. We, as a country, cannot do that.
Out of the last few weeks of this debate - much of it uninformed, about what happens in the Territory - we need to come up with a strategy for the future. This plan is a strategy. If we can have plans for pollutants at sea, for marine pest incursions and a gambling strategy – we have a national gambling strategy and a national cane toad strategy – let us see if we can have a strategy for the most important outstanding issue that we face in this country; that is, the circumstances facing particularly remote Aboriginal people.
I reject this censure absolutely. The Opposition Leader has not put one fact forward that demonstrates …
Ms Carney: What about all the lies you told?
Ms MARTIN: She has been selective, she has been judgemental. She has simply made up things about me and this government which are wrong.
Ms Carney: You are on the record.
Ms MARTIN: I will be judged on my actions, Mr Acting Speaker.
Ms Carney: You are on the record. I think you might. Bring it on!
Ms MARTIN: I will not be judged on the words that come out of the mouth of the Opposition Leader, because they are simply wrong. This government has taken steps, I believe, in the right direction. We have much more to do, but I believe we have put the funds in the right place and we will continue to do that. I absolutely reject this censure.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Speaker, what a pathetic performance from a Chief Minister who tries to defend herself from a censure motion. What a pathetic performance! Half-an-hour of diatribe that contained absolutely nothing and does not justify her actions in the last two months.
Why are you being censured, Chief Minister? It is because you failed to deal with the issues of violence against women and children, especially among our indigenous population. Why are you being censured, Chief Minister? It is because you have made the Territory the ridicule of the country. National and international newspapers ridicule the Territory. You are the first Chief Minister to ever put the Territory in such a difficult situation, and you should be ashamed. I challenge you to stay here and listen to what I have to say.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Acting Speaker! The member has been here long enough to know that he does not make reference to whether a member is here or not.
Dr LIM: Speaking to a point of order, I did not reflect on the Chief Minister’s presence or absence. I challenged her to stay here and listen to what I have to say. If she does not want to, that is her problem, not mine.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: It is a very fine line, but you do know the standing order.
Dr LIM: I understand standing orders and I chose my words carefully, Mr Acting Speaker. I chose my words very carefully and I said: ‘I challenge the Chief Minister to listen to what I have to say’.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: I am aware. Please continue.
Dr LIM: It is up to her. She can watch CCTV if she wants to - still talking to a point of order.
Mr Acting Speaker, I am angry with this Chief Minister for having put Territorians to such ridicule all over the world. Never in history since self-government have we had a Chief Minister who has ever done that. Why? Because of her pathetic performance since Dr Nanette Rogers went on air and advised Territorians and the world how bad the situation was.
Let me get to a few points. When the story broke, all the Chief Minister could do was to say: ‘No, I am not going to do anything, I am not going to attend Mal Brough’s summit’. That was her initial reaction. That was within a week of her standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the federal minister for Indigenous Affairs, saying that they was going to commit jointly $30m to ensure that some of the indigenous issues in Central Australia are dealt with. I applaud the federal government for putting $20m, and also the Northern Territory government for putting $10m over the next two years towards the program. I thought, at long last, there is a ray of hope that something will be delivered for indigenous people, at least in Central Australia. There was a ray of hope that this Chief Minister would finally realise what she had not done in the five years that she has been the leader of this government. But, no. Within a few days of that very dramatic presentation to the media, and to everyone else on the lawns of the Greatorex Building in Alice Springs, she said: ‘No more’. Here is an Indigenous Affairs Minister of the Northern Territory who is not prepared to do the right thing by the very people who have voted her in over two general elections.
The Chief Minister slammed into the federal government and asked: ‘What have you done for the Territory?’ They have done a fair bit. I mentioned the $20m. The sniffer dogs the federal minister provided on request by the Northern Territory to try to stop the drug traffic that is occurring in the Territory. Therefore, when the federal minister calls for a summit on violence in indigenous affairs, the Chief Minister and Minister for Indigenous Affairs should go. But no, she is not. She is going to send not one, not two, but three ministers in her place. Is she trying to tell us that she is worth three ministers? Good God, her performance surely belies that! Not one of the three ministers is the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.
This issue is too important to play politics. This Chief Minister has done nothing but play politics from the very day the story broke. Since we have had this problem, all we have had is platitudes from this Chief Minister. What she has done in these last five years, she says, is supposed to be working. Chief Minister, it is not working. I do not know if you remember your own Northern Territory Labor policies on law enforcement and child welfare. Let me read a couple of lines for you, just to remind you of your own policies. In fact, action 7.2 on law enforcement states clearly that you will provide equitable policing services to all populated areas of the Northern Territory. The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services said this morning that we have eight police in Wadeye and Groote Eylandt, where the Chief Minister thinks it is doing fantastic, the men are asking for all the right things. How many police do you have out there? A couple of ACPOs, perhaps, while the people out there are asking for fully-fledged or fully-trained police officers. When we compare that with Tennant Creek, where there are 20 police officers, a town almost the same size as that of Wadeye. Maybe the Chief Minister needs to look at what her promises have failed to deliver.
For child welfare, it reads that the Northern Territory Labor will collaborate with the community sector and Commonwealth government to ensure adequate and equitable child welfare services to the indigenous community. That is a laugh! What have they done? This Labor government came into power on the back of the indigenous vote - a huge vote - and they have had that for years and years.
In opposition, they promised the earth and they led these people to believe in them, that this government would deliver. However, in government they have delivered nought. It is worthwhile referring to the article Paul Toohey wrote in The Bulletin. It is article I want to put on the record. I quote from the article by Paul Toohey titled ‘Territorial Territorians’ written on 30 May. Paraphrasing a little, it was early days 2001 and Paul had to this to say:
- For years, perception had walked hand-in-hand with the reality that the CLP did not care about blackfellas. They were the CLP’s favourite whipping-boy subject; every Aborigine that got kicked transferred directly to a vote for the CLP. People thought NT Labor might change that. They didn’t know Clare Martin.
I will jump a couple of lines and quote again:
Martin was asked, and asked again, about Aboriginal violence. She had nothing to say. She never even used the word ‘Aborigine’ - and still doesn’t – fearing, one presumes, it would annoy her now larger, white-voter base.
- What was one of Martin’s first priorities after becoming Chief Minister? To catch a barramundi ...
…
The mission failed - all they got was sandflies and mud, no fish. It’s a bit like her leadership in general.
I quote again from Paul Toohey’s observations:
Seen early on as something of a Labor darling among her southern Labor premier contemporaries, she was given a dream run.
I will skip a couple of lines and quote some more:
- Many up north, watching her charm the south, couldn’t really understand it. All she had was a deep ABC radio and television trained voice from her days as a Darwin broadcaster. It sounded convincing, but nothing she said had any weight.
- If the subject veered away from oil and gas she stumbled and stammered. She was at it again last week, caught short, desperately trying to bluff her way out of the responsibility she has so patently shirked on indigenous affairs …
Who, in the Northern Territory, would know she actually holds the Indigenous Affairs portfolio? Very few. Because Martin, carefully, deliberately, refuses to deal with Aborigines, let alone say the word. Does she visit communities? Hardly ever. Her view has been that Aborigines are a federal problem.
- It might sound hateful to say it, but it has been a pleasure to watch Martin squirm for this last week. She has comprehensively, and deliberately, failed to represent Aborigines of the north. She has been caught out. She has failed her four Aboriginal parliamentary colleagues and she has failed her entire Aboriginal constituency. She has no vision for the people who make up nearly a third of the Territory’s population.
In the old days, they called the CLP ‘racist’. What words describe Martin’s leadership? Apartheid might go close.
I continue further in this article:
- Two weeks ago, NT Attorney-General, Peter Toyne, gave journalists a very disheartening response to their argument, citing the fact that there was no record of journalists being denied permits ...
That is getting permits to go into Aboriginal country:
- Of course there wasn’t. Who would keep records of such things?
It goes on about what is happening with this government under the permit system. You have an independent journalist talking about this government ...
Mr Knight: He is not independent!
Dr LIM: Oh, not independent, like the …
Mr Knight: Not independent. He got kicked off Aboriginal land because he did not get a permit.
Dr LIM: Yes, that is right.
Mr Knight: He is a sook!
Dr LIM: A sook? Mr Toohey would like to know that the member for Brennan has called him a sook.
Mr Knight: The member for Daly called him a sook, thank you.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Member for Daly!
Dr LIM: The member for Daly. I correct myself. The member for Daly called him a sook.
Ms Carney: I hope Hansard picked up what you said.
Dr LIM: I am sure it would.
Mr Knight: I am proud to say it.
Dr LIM: It is no good for the Chief Minister to say: ‘Oh, it is a very difficult problem, it is very hard and it takes time’. What have you done? You say you have 100 nurses. Where are they? They are not on the wards, they are not in the bush. You have 100 more police. I just told you Wadeye has eight today, as stated by the minister. They need more. Where are they? There is more funding for FACS, yet there are more kids getting sexually transmitted infections. Children under 14 years of age are getting infections - admitted by the CEO of Health. Therefore, you are not delivering where you say you are.
I now come to the Chief Minister’s press release that was handed out on 1 June 2006: the 20-year plan. After a couple of weeks of thrashing around like a fish out of water in a boat, she came up with five dot points! Five dot points! What is even sadder is the fact that it shows that this government did not have a plan of action, in spite of having a policy that was written and disseminated prior to the election in 2001. Five years later, they still do not have a policy. They accuse the CLP of failing, but what has this government done in the last five years? No plan - that is the disgrace.
I believe the Leader of the Opposition attempted to offer a bipartisan approach in this matter. It was a matter that affected all Territorians and we, in the opposition, wanted to see something good come out of this. But no, her plan was rejected out of hand. If I had time, I would like to go into it. All of you would have received a copy of the media release from the Leader of the Opposition and her suggested short-, medium- and long-term solutions to the issue. We are prepared to sit and talk about it with the government to try to progress this. However, what do you do? Reject it out of hand again.
It is funny that when this media release on the 20-year plan came out - and I was listening very closely to it - the Chief Minister said, ‘Oh well, we will talk about alcohol management, public housing, more police in remote areas, introducing reforms into local government and support changes to welfare’. When she was quizzed on the ABC: ‘Okay, what are the details of that, Chief Minister?’, her response was: ‘Oh well, we do not have any detail on this yet’. No detail. What? Was this just political posturing, trying to position herself away from the disaster of the previous two weeks? The Chief Minister has to be serious and, obviously, she is not.
You still have not dealt with the short-term problems. How are you going to deal with them? How are you going to deal with the violence - the violent men hiding behind customary law? What are you going to do for the medium term? Or is it just another too difficult issue you cannot deal with? The people of the Northern Territory voted this government in with an expectation that they were going to deliver and, for five years, they have failed.
It is no good saying to the federal minister, ‘Put up or shut up’, because what you have done yourself is nothing but political filibustering: five dot points which delivers nothing for Territorians, while children continue to get sexually transmitted infections, which is really another term for children being sexually abused. I am sure the Chief Minister and all the ministers across the Chamber would know that you do not pick up sexually transmitted infections off toilet seats.
When the Territory was put to ridicule - and you could read it so blatantly in all the media, nationally and internationally - it was so hurtful, many Territorians were speechless. There was no way to defend themselves. When the Chief Minister was unable to defend herself, Territorians just felt, ‘Where are we at?’. To top it off, not one of the five indigenous members in this Chamber spoke up about it - not one. In their maiden speeches, they stood, hands on their hearts, and said: ‘I am here because of indigenous people and I will be there to represent and protect indigenous people’. When it came to the crunch, they were not there. Where were they? They should be ashamed and they should be out there in their own electorates apologising right this very moment, telling their indigenous constituents why they have failed them. This is so - I do not have the words to describe it. I feel so very disappointed.
This Chief Minister should do whatever it takes, just the way Graham Richardson does - whatever it takes. Do you all recall when Graham Richardson came to Katherine when he was the minister? He swanned around Katherine and said: ‘Oh, this is disastrous. We have to do something - have to do something’. He came, he went and he forgot – did nothing. At least we can say of the federal minister, Mal Brough, that he came, he is determined. For goodness sake, Chief Minister, help him; help him do something right.
It is a problem. If you do not keep your promise now, then I suggest to you that your true believers will leave you. They have been led up the garden path these last five years. I will just read this paragraph; that will be a lot easier:
The reason why I hold this fear is because …
Excuse me.
Let me just say this, Mr Acting Speaker: I am upset because I feel the indigenous people deserve better than what we give them at the moment. We have to do something.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Mr Acting Speaker, obviously, the government will not be accepting this censure motion. It has been raised here in the context of national debate that has been very loud, very direct and very confrontational over the last few weeks. Speaking to the motion from the Leader of the Opposition and her comments in supporting that motion, I suppose what I can say up-front is that actions speak louder than words.
The CLP was in government in the Northern Territory for 27 years, and their efforts in improving outcomes for Aboriginal people across the Northern Territory will be judged by history, as will this government’s outcomes. I am very confident that when people look back over this period of history in the Northern Territory, it will show that it was the Labor government, when it came to power, which started to work in a very genuine way to turn around the tide of Aboriginal disadvantage in the Northern Territory.
However, there is no quick fix. Anybody who understands the complexities of the issues that we are trying to deal with - the deficit in infrastructure and funding across a whole range of structures, both physical and in relation to service delivery, the cultural issues involved - everybody who follows this debate and this issue knows that there are no silver bullet solutions. We are dealing with complex issues. This is a government, through all of our processes - the Caucus room, the Cabinet room, the budget processes - that is doing everything we can to turn around the tide of disadvantage. I have to say, as a minister in this government - and I proudly have been since day one - the amount of time and effort and work that goes into improving for indigenous people in the Northern Territory is huge.
One of the most challenging things is the ill-informed comment that has been circulating nationally over the last few weeks, and particularly the article in The Bulletin the member for Greatorex was quoting from, is that somehow this is a government that did not care about these issues. Nothing could be further form the truth. I find those types of ill-informed comments particularly offensive. However, we are in public life and people are entitled to have an opinion. That particular journalist has his opinion and I disagree with it. However, actions speak louder than words.
I thought the Leader of the Opposition’s contribution was nave, ignorant and ill-informed. Her comments about overcrowding in housing and alcohol abuse were not contributing factors to violence and child sexual abuse absolutely astound me - and more about that in a moment.
If we look at the points in the motion, she talked about the Chief Minister’s initial response to the Lateline interview with Dr Nanette Rogers. The Chief Minister covered that. The context of that interview was just – well, who knows what the context of the interview was. When I saw the interview on Lateline, I was on the phone to the Police Commissioner immediately, because the context of the interview was that, somehow, there was this secret report circulating at senior levels in the Northern Territory Police Force with all of these cases that have been identified and not acted upon. That was the impression that I got from that interview, and I was absolutely amazed. I put a call through to the commissioner and found out the following morning when he got to the bottom of it, that all of the cases that Nanette Rogers was talking about in that interview were brought to the attention of the DPP by the way of police briefs to support charges being laid. In each and every one of those cases, charges were laid, the matter had gone to court, the courts had determined guilt or otherwise, and many people were sentenced to long periods of incarceration. The whole debate was steamrolled on a premise that these issues were not being dealt with in the Northern Territory, when they were.
Many of those issues had gone back a number of years for up to 15 years. Therefore, in playing catch-up in the national debate, it was a pretty hard race to catch up with. I do not know what the motivation was in that interview, the context of it, or how much of the interview was left on the cutting room floor. However, the way it was presented to the people of Australia was that, somehow, there was this secret report floating around. These outrageous criminal acts had been identified and police were sitting on a report and nothing was being done. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The censure then talks about a lacklustre response to the issues of violence against women. Nothing could be further from the truth. What do you call a 55% increase in the police budget, and a fourfold increase in the child protection budget? I remind the Leader of the Opposition that she was a member of the party that, in the last year of their government, had a budget for child protection of just under $8m. This is a government that has increased that budget to $32m, a fourfold increase in five years. If that is not serious policy effort and reform and additional resources, I do not know what is. In the past 18 months, there have been 51 new child protection workers put on in the Northern Territory, compared to the last 10 years of the CLP government where not one additional child protection worker was engaged.
The Leader of the Opposition and the member for Greatorex - I will say it here, he was part of a government, a minister for a period, who had an opportunity to do something about these issues, which are not new to the Northern Territory, and we have crocodile tears on these issues. They had an opportunity to do something and, when they were in government, did absolutely nothing.
The Leader of the Opposition talked about lying to Territorians about issues relating to violence. She did not prosecute that at all; did not give one single example. It was just offensive diatribe across the Chamber. She talked about embarrassing the Labor Party during the national debate. It is going to be interesting to see how this all pans out because, in regards to the national debate, the indigenous affairs minister has jumped in and, yes, he certainly has made a very big splash on this particular issue. However, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. What will the federal government contribute to working with the Northern Territory to turn around the tide of disadvantage on indigenous communities?
What is John Howard’s legacy going to be as his term of Prime Minister of this country comes to an end? The member for Macdonnell was at the summit convened in 2003 by the Prime Minister, at a time of great hurt for Aboriginal people for many of these issues to come out into the open. It took a lot of strong-willed Aboriginal people a great deal of courage to tell their stories to the Prime Minister, thinking that the Prime Minister was genuine in his commitment to work with Aboriginal people and state governments to turn around some of these issues.
What did we see? We had the summit in October 2003 and, out of that summit, the commitment was to fund ATSIC to deliver domestic violence programs to communities throughout Australia. In February 2004, the Prime Minister announced that they were going to abolish ATSIC. Where was the commitment? Do not tell me that, in October 2003, the Prime Minister of Australia was not thinking about abolishing ATSIC. Here he was with a national summit. We got everybody in, people telling their stories, demonstrating great courage, encouraging ATSIC to get on and work with the Commonwealth government to deliver these programs and, less than six months later, he guts and abolishes ATSIC. Where is the genuine commitment from the Prime Minister of Australia?
What was worse was that the funding was then allocated to the Commonwealth Department of Family and Children’s Services - $20m I am advised. In the Estimates Committee hearings just a couple of weeks ago in the federal parliament, we found out that FACS has spent less than half of that money - less than half of that money - on a national basis. Where is the commitment from the Commonwealth government? We have a shiny new Indigenous Affairs minister waltzing into the Northern Territory uncovering this abuse and disadvantage that had been brought to the Prime Minister’s attention less than three years ago. Where is the commitment? There is no commitment unless some can be demonstrated in the meeting that I, the Health Minister, Justice minister and Housing Minister will be attending. I will certainly be asking some pretty tough questions about the commitment of the Commonwealth government and what happened as a result of that 2003 summit.
Talking about embarrassing, I am never going to forget having to deal with Mal Brough’s allegations that there were organised paedophile rings operating within Northern Territory indigenous communities. Talk about lying! Here was a minister of the Crown who stated that he had brought this to the attention of the Police Commissioner of the Northern Territory. I spoke to the Police Commissioner. The Police Commissioner of the Northern Territory issued a statement and said that, in the meeting that he had with Mal Brough, they canvassed a range of issues and not once did Mal Brough raise the issue of child sex abuse, nor did he raise the issue that he had evidence of organised paedophile rings operating in the Northern Territory. Mal Brough did not have the decency to say: ‘Okay, I got away from the debate a bit. I apologise, I do not have any evidence of organised paedophile rings in the Territory, let alone having said that I advised the Police Commissioner’.
What credibility does Mal Brough have? He certainly has a lot of ground to make up for me, as Police minister in the Northern Territory, when he verbals a Police Commissioner of the Northern Territory who is putting all of his years of policing experience into improving the police force’s capacity to deal with these issues in the Northern Territory. When you talk about embarrassing Australia at the national debate, there is a lot of detail that has gone on this debate that has been ill-informed, misleading and downright mistruths from the mouth of the new Indigenous Affairs minister in Canberra.
The censure motion goes on about failing to provide solutions to address violence in indigenous communities. What about the 55% increase in police expenditure, the new police stations in Kintore and Numbulwar, the one that is being built at Mutitjulu, the police station that is being built across the border at Warakurna, that we are going to have a police officer based in? We cannot churn out police officers overnight. We are certainly improving our capacity to deliver in remote communities. Name me one police minister in Australia who would not accommodate additional police officers if they could. Those solutions to address violence go to changes to legislation, increased numbers of FACS workers and police. The evidence is there. There is no silver bullet solution; I give that to the Leader of the Opposition. However, to say that we are not providing any forward movement in this area is a blatant untruth.
Regarding refusing to attend the national summit, the Chief Minister attended a COAG meeting after the national summit that the Prime Minister held on child sex abuse in indigenous communities. That went nowhere. Why, given the Commonwealth’s track record of failing to back up their concern with considerable funding and working with the states to address these issues, as opposed to hand grenades being lobbed by way of press release pointing the finger? Where is the commitment from the Commonwealth? I hope to see some commitment from the Commonwealth. I am going to attend this meeting in a spirit of wanting to work with the Commonwealth to achieve improved outcomes, but history shows, particularly with this current federal government, that from time to time they articulate concern - but do they do anything? No, they do not.
When the debate was on indigenous housing, we had the Prime Minister on the lawns at Washington with his good friend, the President of the United States of America, being asked if additional funding was required, and he said, no, there was enough money being spent on indigenous affairs; it was not an issue of funding. I challenge the Prime Minister to come to some of these communities in the Northern Territory where the Commonwealth government still has the significant primary responsibility for funding indigenous housing. They still do under the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act, under the Constitution. For the Prime Minister to say funding is not an issue, it has obviously been some time since the Prime Minister has visited a remote, impoverished community in the Northern Territory where the Commonwealth still has the primary responsibility for indigenous housing.
Then we get to the issue of customary law. Again, this is an issue that the Commonwealth and commentators can wave around and say, ‘If only the states would abolish the consideration of customary law in sentencing. This is the silver bullet; if we were to abolish the consideration of customary law at sentencing. Then that would send a very strong signal, and these offences would certainly diminish in great numbers because people would know they could not get away with it’. What a load of hogwash! It is a total smokescreen to hide behind the real issue that, if we want to turn around the appalling levels of abuse and violence, then we have to get serious about the social indicators as well as enforcing the law. The smokescreen in and around customary law is just a smokescreen for the Commonwealth to hide behind so that they do not have to contribute any more of the $10bn surplus that they are projecting for next year - trying to protect one red cent of that - going towards dealing with the issues that the new Commonwealth minister has raised.
The Leader of the Opposition was saying that alcohol in itself does not cause violence. What planet is the Leader of the Opposition on? I talk to police officers around the Northern Territory who say, in most of the regional centres - certainly in Alice Springs - that 80% of the police work load is as a result of excessive consumption of alcohol. These are well understood numbers in the Northern Territory. For the Leader of the Opposition to say that alcohol in itself does not cause violence, again, it shows her naivety or ignorance - I am not sure which one that it is.
In regards to customary law, there are no customary law defences in the Territory. The government repealed the last one in 2003, which was the defence of marriage to the charge of sex with underage girls. I remind the Leader of the Opposition - and she was in the party room at the time, when the member for Blain was the Leader of the Opposition, when the opposition actually opposed the repeal of this defence. I quote from the then Leader of the Opposition in the Northern Territory News article on 11 December 2003. The member for Araluen was in the party room. I did not see the member for Araluen standing out and saying: ‘No, I disagree with this. I am a member of the CLP and I disagree with this’. There are considerable quotes from it:
- Mr Mills told the Northern Territory News on Tuesday he would consider repealing aspects of the government’s controversial gay age-of-consent laws - including preventing customary law being used as a defence in underage sex cases.
‘There are two issues of particular concern’, Mr Mills said. ‘They are the age of consent and customary marriage. In response to those concerns, I would consider, if given the opportunity, repealing those two contentious aspects’.
That was the official position of the Country Liberal Party when we introduced the legislation to repeal the defence of marriage to a charge of sex with underage girls under customary law. The position of the Country Liberal Party was that they would repeal those aspects in government. The Leader of the Opposition, the member for Araluen, was in that party room at the time when they, obviously, received representation from indigenous organisations in the Northern Territory; I know that we did. Obviously, the CLP thought there were a few votes out there in indigenous seats where, if they made a commitment to repeal that aspect, they could pick up those votes.
When I talk about the Leader of the Opposition and the Country Liberal Party having crocodile tears on these issues, actions speak louder then words. The Leader of the Opposition, the member of Araluen, in not speaking out against that policy position for a few cheap votes in the forthcoming election …
Ms Carney: You are just a liar like the Chief Minister.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Please stop the clock. I just need some clarification, Clerk.
Leader of the Opposition, I ask you to withdraw that remark where you accused the Leader of Government Business of being a liar.
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw it.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you. For a few potential cheap votes, the opposition was going to repeal those aspects of customary law that we were making illegal. It is a pity to see such a very critical and crucial debate unfolding into a series of attacks on the Northern Territory. However, we as a government will continue to work hard to see significant improved outcomes for Aboriginal people. We will try to work in the spirit of partnership with the Commonwealth, and just wish that the Commonwealth would back up their sentiment with considerable support and funding, as they should.
Mr Acting Speaker, I move that the question be now put.
Motion agreed to.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: The question now is that the motion be agreed to.
Motion negatived.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2006-07
(Serial 50)
(Serial 50)
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Mr Acting Speaker, I thank the Treasurer for Budget 2006-07 and for a very valuable speech he gave at the last sittings.
There are two things that are very important to me as a member of the Legislative Assembly, more than any other: the education and health of my fellow Territorians. Without these two elements, we cannot consider ourselves as a truly functioning society. Budget 2006-07 delivers on both.
When I entered politics at the last election, I made a commitment to stand up to be counted on issues that mattered to my constituents. I proudly stand here today and proclaim my commitment and support to the Middle Years Approach which is a major element of Budget 2006-07.
The Ramsey Report of 2004 showed clearly our own high school students here in the Territory were not receiving the same educational outcomes as even the lowest of the other states. That is fact – hard, cold fact. This government could have taken the easy, least controversial, classic Tory approach – the status quo with their heads in the sand. However, we did not. What is more, for better or worse, we embarked on the whole middle years concept with the full and proper consultation of our Territory community. We engaged the community and listened to what our fellow Territorians had to say, and adjusted the model accordingly. Budget 2006-07 will go down as a pivotal moment of the Territory’s history. 2006 will go down as the year when Labor put money and resources into a 21st century education system for our children.
This government is spending $46.7m on new school facilities to support the introduction of Middle Years Approach. As the member for Goyder, I am pleased to say that the NT government has just announced it will spend $4.6m in the rural area on new facilities at Taminmin High School as part of the middle years program. As for my Palmerston and rural constituents who send their children to Palmerston High School, a further $9m will be spent at Palmerston High on a new senior block, plus an extra $2m for upgrading existing facilities. That is fabulous news, indeed. The best news is that these facilities will be constructed in time for the 2007-08 school years.
This government is providing the infrastructure funds to ensure that the middle years approach is a success. This government is committed to raising the standards of education throughout the Territory. Middle years will allow students to develop better and closer relationships with their teachers than they would at a traditional high school. It will make the change from primary less overwhelming and, most importantly, students and parents will receive information support to assist with the transition into the new school environment.
While I am on the subject of middle schools, I would like to tell members present about how Humpty Doo Primary School has already embraced the middle years concept and embarked on a school-based middle years’ program. Humpty Doo embarked on this program because the school community believes that the middle years’ methodology provides an educational approach to teaching and learning that better meets the academic and social needs of its students.
At Humpty Doo, interdisciplinary teaching teams work together to plan and present work units using an integrated curriculum that is more relevant to the students’ life experiences. The students pose the problems and questions for investigating and then take an active role in designing their own learning. While the students focus on higher order critical thinking, there is still a strong focus on literacy and numeracy. The timetables are quite flexible and learning is encouraged outside the traditional classrooms. Students are organised in smaller groups of learning communities or sub-schools within the larger school communities.
A critical part of the program at Humpty Doo Primary School is strong linkages which are continually being developed with locally-based business and organisations. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the school’s chicken yard project where Department of Primary Industry staff engaged with students and assisted them in the construction. The chicken yard opening attracted much media attention, and the Treasurer and minister for Education, Hon Syd Stirling, cut the ribbon at the opening before a healthy crowd including media journalists, the member for Nelson, me, school staff, students, and senior Education Department personnel. However, what must not be forgotten is that the chicken yard construction involved learning practical mathematics, technology, engineering and student collaboration, while the environment the chickens live in involved studying science, art and creativity. How the project was viewed by students and others involved learning technology, media issues, creativity and more student collaboration.
I am very proud of Humpty Doo Primary School and how they embraced their own brand of middle years. I do not mind telling members of this House how proud of them I am. I am especially proud of one young student who decided to write down his impression. I would like to take a moment to read out his very special thoughts. Hua Cao is an English as a Second Language Year 6/7 student at Humpty Doo Primary School. This is addressed to the members of the Northern Territory parliament:
- Term 1 was terrific and I enjoyed most of the activities in the ‘middle years’ at Humpty Doo Primary School. The middle years is a project to teach us skills that can help us in the future. My home group is 6/7 Forde in Block K. The reason I am in middle years is because last year children at Humpty Doo were given a chance to participate in ‘middle years’, so I decided to join. I decided to be part of the ‘middle years’ because I thought it would be fun. The ‘middle years’ was great and I liked it a lot. It was different from other things at school, making it unique.
The most exciting subject I think is ‘Core Studies’. I am in the media/filming group in term 1 ‘Core Studies’ and it has been great. The media group’s main teachers are Mr Pilkie and Mrs Whiteaker. ‘Core Studies’ started in week four term 1 and I joined the media group because I was given a choice like everyone else to participate in the art group, media group or chicken shed group, but I chose the media group because I thought it would be great and I thought being a host would be nice. Mr Pilkie came up with some bizarre ideas, but one idea changed nearly everything. I enjoyed ‘Core Studies’ a lot and every lesson that passes, it gets better and better.
Our most common subject I believe is maths and Literacy rotations. In maths rotations, we study with the same teacher for a few lessons, then we rotate. In literacy rotations, we don’t have the same teacher for more than a lesson in a row. Our maths teachers are Mrs Forde, Mr Pilkie, Mrs Whiteaker and Miss Cass. In literacy, our teachers are Mrs Forde, Mr Pilkie, Mrs Springhall and Mrs Davage. The rotations take place in four classrooms with four groups. Both rotations are not bad, but I enjoy maths rotations better.
And finally, term 1 was a great time. I got used to everything and learnt a lot of things. I made some friends and some enemies. There were some very annoying incidents and things, for examples, some of my classmates, who often bug me for fun. Besides the incidents, everything else was fine.
- By Hua Cao
from Humpty Doo Primary School.
I believe that is a fantastic story, and I am sure you do also. Mr Acting Speaker, I seek leave to table that document.
Leave granted.
Mr WARREN: The good news for Humpty Doo School does not end there. As part of Budget 2006-07, I am pleased that the Northern Territory government will provide $800 000 to fund a special education annexe for Humpty Doo Primary School. As the Treasurer said, this will replace the existing classrooms which are far too small, quite inappropriate and in very poor condition.
The new special needs classrooms and buildings for disabled and special needs students will provide modern, high-support education facilities - a level of education never before provided for these students - close to home in the rural area. It will be the centrepiece for proper educational services for disabled and special needs children spread right across the rural area.
The Treasurer has said:
- The government has a fundamental commitment to special needs children and their families and the delivery of the new Humpty Doo annexe is part of that commitment.
I commend the Treasurer for that.
This is an exciting project for which I thank the compassionate NT government from the bottom of my heart. This is the kind of project I entered politics to fight for, and I am proud I did. I am proud that I joined a government that, when push comes to shove, acts with compassion and decency on social issues.
The upgrade will include three classroom spaces, an ablution facility, as well as an office and storeroom. The annexe will be a purpose-built, lightweight facility, especially designed to cater for students with disabilities and special needs.
When I visited the Humpty Doo Primary School on Thursday, 20 April, to announce the Budget 2006-07 commitment, I was greeted by a very excited school community. They told me that the school started its original high-support annexe in 1995, with an initial intake of five students. This has grown to 13 students, and they now expect this number to grow considerably as soon as the new facility is opened and more local students take advantage of this facility. Many of the students require support from occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech pathologists. In the past, this has been very difficult to facilitate, but the new annexe will change that situation completely. The fact that the special education annexe is attached to Humpty Doo school will allow these special kids to be educated in the same school as their brothers, sisters and friends. This will help enhance their self-esteem, as well as encouraging tolerance and understanding from other school students, school staff and the local community.
I must pay tribute to the Humpty Doo Primary School community, the school principal, Felicity Hancock, and the dedicated staff of the current annexe, led by the committed Kay Jukes, the special education annexe senior teacher.
The great news is that the planning for the annexe will commence immediately, and construction will start as soon as possible. Being able to help deliver this kind of community project reinforces my reasons for entering politics. I am actually very proud of the rural community which lobbied strongly for this facility.
The great news for our rural school communities continues. I am pleased to report construction has already started on a new $150 000 school bus interchange for the Cox Peninsula Road, adjacent to the Stuart Highway turnoff, only days after it was announced in Budget 2006-07. This is, again, one of the many projects I have lobbied for in our electorate, and I am very pleased to see that work has commenced, because it will mean that soon more of our kids will have a proper all weather pick up/drop off facility. A couple of days ago, I visited the construction site and spoke to the contractor undertaking the work. He believes it will be completed in a matter of only a few weeks. Therefore, we can expect this great facility to be up and running before the end of the school year. No more dusty or dangerous roadside pickups near the Middle Arm or Cox Peninsula Road turnoffs. Again, this government has delivered, and how is that for prompt service?
There are still more educational dollars in Budget 2006-07 for rural Territorians. I am extremely pleased that the government is continuing with the very successful and much appreciated $50 back to school vouchers for all schoolchildren. This small but important financial assistance to all Territory families is again paid in the first term of school and is for the purchase of school materials.
As I have just shown, there is no doubting this government’s commitment to our rural area education in Budget 2006-07. With an overall commitment of $360.7m across the Territory for employment, education and training, this government is clearly serious about ensuring that everyday Territorians get the best education and training we can deliver.
As I said at the outset, the education and health of my fellow Territorians is paramount to me. I have spoken at length about education, and I am now pleased to throw my support behind the government’s commitment to Health and Community Services in Budget 2006-07.
This year, the government has added over $100m more to bring this element of Budget 2006-07 up to a whopping $789m. In the delivery of health services, I am very encouraged to see that this government is spending an additional $14.1m towards sustaining high levels of growth in hospital activity, an additional $800 000 across the Territory to expand renal services, and $360 000 for Stage 3 of renal facilities in communities such as Belyuen in my electorate. This financial year will see the commencement of the $13m National Trauma Centre at Royal Darwin Hospital, as well as $560 000 for increased hospital beds at Royal Darwin Hospital, and $230 000 to provide universal hearing tests for newborn Territory babies - all great initiatives.
In the area of community services, my rural constituents who have young children are having to grapple with the decisions of whether to work and pay ever-increasing amounts for childcare, or stay at home and care for their children. This is a particularly vexing issue, especially as the cost of fuel continues to rise dramatically. I remind members of the Northern Territory Minister for Family and Community Services’ report on childcare during the last sittings, in which he noted that the Commonwealth government is responsible for the provision of affordable and accessible childcare in Australia. There has been a great deal of debate recently in relation to how they do this, which has included criticism from within their own ranks.
Currently, childcare fees are rising at five times the rate of CPI and, yet, the federal government seems oblivious to this trend. The only likely beneficiaries are private childcare centres, which mercilessly put up fees. There are very few centres offering childcare in my extensive rural electorate. What we need is affordable childcare in the rural area and, yet, the federal government seems hell-bent on promoting private sector childcare at the expense of not-for-profit community-based self-help organisations. They seem quite prepared to tear the heart out of regional Australia community childcare centres by withdrawing subjects like the essential Disadvantaged Areas Subsidy funding from community-based centres. Many rural families commute long distances daily to work. The loss of the remaining couple of not-for-profit centres would have a substantial impact on the costs faced by these families and may drive some people out of the Northern Territory workforce, not to mention the financial impact on rural parents who are trying to get into and stay in the workplace, or basically survive as families.
In the Northern Territory, we do what we can to alleviate the problem. The Martin government is the only jurisdiction in Australia that does provide a childcare subsidy. This year, we have committed $3.6m to subsidised childcare, and $500 000 will be spent on playground equipment at not-for-profit childcare centres across the Territory.
This leads me to applaud the government’s $1.05m new initiative to provide concessions for carers with the Northern Territory carers’ card, for living expenses such as rates, power and water. This year, the government is also spending an additional $660 000 to increase pensioner concession funding for power, water and sewerage services. The disabled in our community will benefit from the $19.2m for services under the Commonwealth/state/territory Disability Services Agreement.
I have spoken about education and health, and I will finish on those important infrastructure projects that directly benefit the rural area. First, I must also congratulate the government for allocating $482m on infrastructure throughout the Territory. In the rural area, as well as the $800 000 for the special education annexe for Humpty Doo primary, and the $150 000 for the new school bus interchange at Cox Peninsula Road, this government is allocating $150 000 to landscape the Stuart Highway at Coolalinga; and $270 000 to remove inbound traffic lights at Tulagi Road near Palmerston, and I am pleased to report that his work has already commenced. It is fantastic that $25m is allocated for a new power generator at Channel Island and $5m for a new substation at the Archer zone at Palmerston. The Territory Wildlife Park in my electorate of Goyder has not missed out either, and a combined total of $120 000 has been allocated for car park lighting and interpretive signage.
Protecting our rural environment is a big issue for many of my rural constituents, and they would be pleased to note that this government has allocated $3.147m for continued development of an Environmental Protection Agency. I was recently privileged to open the inaugural Royal Environment Day Expo at the Bullocky Point museum, where I gave an update on the EPA procedures and announced the commencement of the Territory-wide workshops which started about a week ago. These workshops will allow the Territory public to help frame the format and functions of the Environmental Protection Agency. The government has recognised the importance of grassroots environmental groups by allocating a $566 000 in environment grants for community groups across the Territory, and $120 000 has been set aside for water monitoring under the Darwin Harbour Regional Plan of Management.
The rural area is a burgeoning area for business start-ups, and I am sure the government’s 2006-07 budget commitment that now makes the Territory the lowest taxing region in Australia will be very welcome news for our rural businesses, as will be the lifting of the payroll tax threshold to $1.25m, and the removal of stamp duty on leases and unquoted marketable securities. Those businesses in the tourism industry will certainly applaud the government’s injection of $10m into tourism.
Mr Acting Speaker, I have spent a considerable amount of time giving a snapshot of some, but by no means all, of the benefits that my constituents in Goyder will be receiving as a result of this government’s Budget 2006-07. This is a good budget by a good government. It is responsible and yet rewarding. Budget 2006-07, like previous Labor government budgets, will continue to be the backbone for the continued growth and development of the Territory. I am proud to be part of a Labor government which has delivered yet again.
Ms SACILOTTO (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the Treasurer on behalf of the Port Darwin electorate for developing a budget in 2006 that is a responsible budget for the whole of the Territory. It looks forward and is building a sound future with a strong support for business. Budget 2006-07 helps to support Territory business through continued tax cuts, strategic investment and large infrastructure programming which will target and support business.
In this budget, the government will have cut $74m since 2001 and will continue with a further $134m of tax cuts during this term of office. Payroll tax will be slashed from 1 July 2006 when the threshold will be lifted to $1.25m. This is the best Australia has to offer. What this means for business in the Northern Territory is that the tax-free threshold will have doubled from $600 000 to $1.25m since 2001, and 58 more business will no longer pay payroll tax this year. Around 187 businesses no longer pay payroll tax under this Labor government. These are considerable achievements for our government, and demonstrate a strong continued support for the business community of the Northern Territory. This government is a government that has listened to business and acted. Of course, there is always more to do.
Since 2001, the Martin government has introduced vital improvements to the sale of property with an increase in the tax-free threshold for stamp duty for first home buyers from $80 000 to $225 000. Also, there is further support for home owners by way of the increase to $2500 of the principle place of residence rebate for stamp duty on your own home. An addition in Budget 2006-07 is that the government will remove stamp duty on unquotable marketable securities and on the grant and renewal and leases and franchises. Furthermore, over the next three years the government will also remove the stamp duty on hiring arrangements and on the business component of non-residential conveyancing.
Coming from a business background, I understand the impact that these tax cuts and reductions will have on business in the Northern Territory and, particularly, our business hub within the Port Darwin electorate. Strong infrastructure projects are vital to the economy and the wellbeing of all Territorians. Without it, the Territory could not continue its impressive path of development and remain attractive to outside developers.
Since 2001, $2.7bn has been allocated in cash to infrastructure projects including the commitment of a project to upgrade Fisherman’s Wharf with a budgeted amount of $1.1m being allocated. I was particularly pleased to see this inclusion in Budget 2006-07. As the local member for Port Darwin, I lobbied for this on upgrade on behalf of my constituents in my electorate.
The construction industry provides thousands of jobs, both directly and indirectly, for Territorians. The government’s high level of infrastructure spending supports jobs for Territorians, work for local business and the flowthrough to the whole economy. Our Labor government recognises this and has continued with an effective and record construction program in Budget 2006-07. This year, $482m will be spent with a further $100m committed to the Darwin waterfront and convention centre as a result of the government’s commitment to this project. The waterfront project will underpin the Territory’s construction industry for the next 15 years and add a new economic dimension to our tourism industry.
Infrastructure also contributes to strong growth in our tourism industry, which I believe is gaining in intensity. Increased visitor numbers is also being achieved by good marketing, both internally and externally. The benefit of a strong tourism industry will bring prosperity to a broad spectrum of Territorians, from the roadhouse on the Stuart Highway or a local small business in a small town to the major centres throughout the Territory. In Budget 2006-07, our government will make a three-year marketing program an ongoing part of the tourism budget. This year, tourism marketing will equal $27.6m and the total tourism budget will be $38.36m. This is invaluable support for local business, both tourism and otherwise.
The Territory is becoming very attractive to other Australians as a place to settle, build a business, raise a family and even a warm and friendly destination to retire to - something that until recently has been a rarity. We must look after, cater to, and continue to market our Territory to these Australians, as these people will become an integral part of our future. A skilled workforce through education, training and skilled migration will back business and build the future of the Territory. This year, the government will spend $84m in supporting, training and employment programs; specifically $1.56m for employer incentives, and $500 000 for Build Skills NT to assist existing workers upgrade their skills. Also, 2550 trainees and apprentices will commence their training this year.
This Labor government understands the need for industry support and, in Budget 2006-07, has provided $1.15m to peak industry associations for specific development services. They have also provided $650 000 for business management and capability programs. Indigenous Territorians have been granted $587 000 for economic development initiatives. Regional economic development was granted $500 000 for support, and $470 000 granted for business information and licensing services through the network of Territory Business Centres.
A healthy Territory is a prosperous Territory, and our government is striving for a healthier Territory through a record Health and Community Services budget. Budget 2006-07 sees significant investment in the task of overcoming ill health. $788.6m is provided, which is an increase in funding of 64% since 2001.
The government recognises the contribution of the carer in our community, and Budget 2006-07 delivers the 2005 election commitment to extend pensioner concessions - excluding travel concessions - to Commonwealth carer cardholders with an allocation of $1.05m.
Strong families are fundamental to the Territory’s future and this budget supports the family through $8.2m for pensioner concessions and $3.6m to subsidise childcare, making childcare more affordable.
The mental health initiatives announced in Budget 2006-07 will assist Territorians with needs caused by mental illness. It is a critical part of funding in this budget. This year’s initiatives include $500 000 for a new Central Australian mental health crisis assessment service and $500 000 additional funds for community-based residential care services with 24-hour support for people with mental illness and their carers. This is a great initiative, although we seem to be playing catch-up on the lack of action over the past 20 or so years. There is certainly more to do in support of the sufferers of mental illness.
My electorate of Port Darwin will benefit from many areas of this budget, both directly and indirectly: business, education, health, police, infrastructure, and tourism.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the 2006-07 Budget to the House.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, we in opposition have listened to the responses from members, and the level of self-congratulation is predictable and understandable. I listened carefully and I heard reports of money being spent here, there and everywhere, and the welcome it receives. That is good. It is the responsibility of government to allocate expenditure.
However, I was listening very carefully to get a grasp of what the vision of this government is. What is the driving goal, the objective of government, to take the Territory to a place different than it is today? What are we creating for the future? It is that kind of message that I am listening for, and I have not yet been able to hear it. I tried to assess that fairly honestly because, being an opposition member, I would thus be blinded to any capacity of being able to see a vision of government. However, I would not mind getting a grasp of a vision that is greater than government, which creates a picture of the Territory in five years time and then, sequentially, lays the platform to achieve that. If I disagreed with the direction, then I would be able to talk about an alternative direction. However, I did have difficulty in grasping that.
I understand the vision of government is to get re-elected. If that is your primary objective, this budget and the responses accompanying the announcement of the budget, conform to that objective. The focus of government is to get re-elected and to allocate funds to achieve that objective. That is what concerns me as a member of this House. For those who might get a little rankled by that, I have sat in this parliament - not as a member of the former Cabinet but as an elected representative occupying a seat in the Chamber - and listened carefully. I also heard the speeches that some of the members opposite made whilst they were in opposition. I certainly listened carefully to all the speeches that have been made by way of maiden speeches. We have travelled a distance since those days.
They approach this budget - the allocations of the funds that government has responsibility to allocate - conforming to an objective which, I suspect, is, sadly, largely the objective to be re-elected. Therefore, politics plays a larger part than I am comfortable with and, I am sure, some members opposite also, if they reflect in their quiet moments.
However, talking about strictly fiscal matters, it has become clear that government is acting as though it has a cash problem. It is behaviour that is understandable. If anyone has had good times and the money has flowed in and you have received more money than you expected, you gain an appetite for money and, when that appetite is very hard to satisfy, it, in fact, increases. Therefore, this government does have a cash problem. It has grown an enlarged appetite for cash. In so doing, it has been operating under an objective that is primarily to get re-elected and to do whatever it can to ensure that the image and the perception of this government to the community is maintained so that it can achieve that objective. It has lost some central focus which is given by having a progressive vision of where the Territory will be in five, 10 or 15 years time.
Yes, we have had all the talk. We have had the talkfests in here, and there has been some good information that has come through and some suggestions of paths forward. However, the primary objective appears to be, nonetheless, the energy delivered to those policy directions and suggestions by this government have largely been in the interests of a self-indulgent nature.
When government realised they had a cash problem, they played their hand by saying out of one side of their mouth, ‘We are just going to pass some legislation through this Chamber to address some issues with TIO. Oh, under no circumstances are we considering selling TIO but we, as a matter of course, need to run some of this procedural legislation through the Chamber’. It happened to be not so long before Christmas when things developed - there you go - as everyone was at a Christmas function. In fact, it was as I went to the Catholic Education Office for their Christmas drinks that it became even clearer that government were actually moving to sell TIO. Of course, it caused great angst. It could have all been allayed if the word had come out but, no, government stuck to what had been said; that they were not going to sell TIO. Anyway, all that came and went, part of history. There was a record petition delivered to this government.
However, many were left with the question: why sell TIO? The reasons they gave, as they often are, was to satisfy that primary objective: create a good impression, protect self and sell a story that suits the purposes of government. However, that did not really satisfy a lot of people. It became clear that the government did have a problem with cash, they needed to sell an asset. As the Treasurer, at one stage in one of the sessions of parliament alluded to: ‘It would be a handy one-off cash injection’.
That alerted a number of observers of how this government is managing the economy. They seriously do have a cash problem, so much so that they would consider constructing and rearranging reality to mount a case for the sale of TIO and, then, have the audacity to stand before the community and say: ‘Oh, we probably would have made this decision with or without the record number of petitions signed’. Then, with people sensing what was motivating government, they were really given away because of a violation of fundamental principles - opposed to the sale of Telstra but happy to sell an asset that belongs to the community. That is really what showed their hand.
The opposition then presented a bill called No New Taxes in parliament, saying that, if it was the case they did not have a money problem, they would not be passing on any new taxes. That was rejected out of hand, when the community knew full well that they had just received unexpected GST revenue. The alarm bells rang very loudly when the Treasurer made a response on an ABC news broadcast by saying: ‘Granted this is a larger amount than expected but, be under no illusion, the cost of government increases by about $70m a year. We are getting a far more expensive operation; it is costing us more and more to operate each year. Most of that is going to be taken up in the costs of running government. It is going through the roof - $70m’. That really rang alarm bells. So, you did not expect the windfall. The windfall came in and it goes to feed an enlarged and increasingly expensive government operation. The plot thickened. The rejection of the No New Taxes Bill was done with accusations that we were just being political and annoying, and put that away and let us get on with the serious business of running Territory. Those words were spoken - I paraphrased them, of course - in this Chamber in rebutting the No New Taxes Bill - rejected.
Four weeks out from the budget, while the attention of the Northern Territory community was fixed on Katherine as it was flooded, there was a decision made to raise power, water and sewerage costs. It makes one who is an observer of personality and personality of a government wonder about that calculated move. Those once fine true believers in opposition, now sitting on the other side, are as cynical as you like, timing these things to a ‘T’. There would be some current and former political masters around this country who would rub their hands with glee and say: ‘What a master stroke; to say no new taxes and raise power. An unpleasant announcement, but make it four weeks out from the budget to extract the pain from it prior to the package being fully presented. We have the gloss machine in operation ready to go so that we can sell the message. We can create the impression. We can maintain the perception for the objective of being re-elected’.
People are starting to see through it; they are expecting more. There has been talk in this Chamber even today of action. People are beginning to realise that there is a need to bite deeper on some of these issues and to start to cast a vision that is forward, rather than internal and self-indulgent.
We have established that government has a cash problem: TIO, the raising of power and water and sewerage costs. Then, we move to their unexpected revenue. Own source taxation was up $78m – unexpected; unexpected GST revenue was up $63m; unbudgeted asset sales raised $40m; other fees and charges raised $36m. Therefore, accustomed to cash, yet seeming to have insufficient.
If we are going to understand how this economy is being managed by this government, this helps to understand how things are panning out so far, and where they will go in time to come. As anyone who has had personal experience with this knows - whether they have been in business or just running a household and have worked hard for income - when the money flows you either spend it like there is no tomorrow, enjoying the largesse of the now, or you can focus your strategy on strengthening your business for the lean time. Anyone involved in wealth generation in the real world understands you have two choices: spend it now or invest it strategically to strengthen for lean times - because come they will; it will not always be a bumper season. You will not always have unexpected revenue windfalls. You will not always have them, so you either make hay whilst the sun shines and spend it, or you develop a strategic plan to leave the Territory in a far better place in the future. Forgo now for a far greater reward in the future.
This current government is doing too much of the former - spending it - and insufficient of the latter. The reason I make that accusation is because we have evidence, which is clearly in the senior public service blowouts. If you take that approach with the revenue that flows in, you can spend it in either of two ways. It appears that the objective of this government has largely been inward looking and self-indulgent and, therefore, able to increase their wages bill to an extraordinary level.
It seems to be something related with the Labor Party mentality or psychology, because the same issue is reoccurring around this nation. In South Australian before the election, the Labor Party said: ‘Oh no, there are not too many people in the public sector’. After the election: ‘Oh my goodness, we start to reduce the size’. The same thing is happening in New South Wales. It is the same issue around the country. It seems to be a particular psychology of Labor governments: enjoying the cash flow, spending whilst you have it like there is no tomorrow and, then, one day the chickens come home to roost and you find you do not have enough there for the difficult times.
That is what concerns the CLP. There has been a consistent message; there has been insufficient focus on strengthening the grassroots economy for the more difficult times that will come …
Mr Stirling: Is this the same party that ran up a $212m deficit? What a joke, look at the history - $212m deficit. Is that blowing the books?
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Member for Nhulunbuy!
Mr Stirling: Keep it honest!
Mr MILLS: Whilst there can be claims made to support that principle objective of government to get re-elected whatever it takes, you can create the impression that you are managing your finances reasonably well. You can create that impression and, the reason you have the luxury of creating that impression, is because of the unexpected revenue of an extraordinary nature that flows in. Any member of this Chamber could read those budget books and see it for themselves. They can see the unusual amounts that are flowing in.
Take the wider view – a historical view. Those who like to live in the past and remember the time before Labor came to the Northern Territory will cast up any story of the past to cast themselves in a more favourable light. There was a time when the GST revenue never flowed in to the Northern Territory coffers; now it does. It was rejected by those who are now enjoying it. However, historically speaking, the only time that revenue flowed in to the Northern Territory of this magnitude was at self-government, and that is what established the Northern Territory. Basic infrastructure was put in place; the Territory was built: the roads we drive on, many of the schools were established, and our basic infrastructure for tourism was put in place in those early days. There were rivers of revenue in those times.
A member interjecting.
Mr MILLS: Now, it is flowing again, but what are we left with? I heard a murmur over there.
This is the reinforcement of that basic principle: you either spend it now or you invest it in something that will strengthen the domestic economy. How is this? In this period, wages have gone up $341m and infrastructure is down $14m. It speaks for itself. No, there have not been record spends in infrastructure and investment.
Mr Stirling: And cash, unlike you blokes. You announced in budgets and never spent on them. You never had the cash to spend on it.
Mr MILLS: It is a record spend on repairs and maintenance. You have, in fact, a reduced investment in infrastructure of a physical kind that will produce wealth into the future, but you have a greatly enlarged investment in people at the senior levels to provide you support to run that primary objective: spin and gloss and political advice to ensure you get re-elected - and that is your primary objective. You are too focused on that, and the Territory is going to wake up en masse when it comes to the election, and make a change because it is getting from bad to worse and they are recognising that change: your insincerity and your commitment to a grubby political goal, which is just to get re-elected. Listen to those speeches, match it with your first statements in this Chamber and the words you spoke when you were in opposition, and you stand condemned by your own words.
This is a budget that reinforces the psychology of the Labor Party. It is self-indulgent, awash with cash that is misappropriated and not put in the right place. If I were running a business and had the luxury of blowing my wages bill by 12% without regard for an increase in the outputs in the return, I would not be in business more than a year or two. Luckily, you have a great benefactor, someone who pours money into the coffers, and can afford that for a period.
There will come the time when there is no further chance of that delusion. That is the problem here; it will be a time to come when we will look back at this and wish that we had a driving vision, a clear focus, a strategy. You, as members of this Chamber, as any human being, want to leave a legacy, something substantial behind. It is not a plaque on a building opened by an honourable member that is making the lives of Territorians far better. You have an opportunity to invest far more deeply and leave a genuine legacy that speaks to future generations, rather than a legacy of an entry in some historical account of the politics of the Northern Territory which references ‘I was a minister in a Labor government for a couple of terms’. We need a bigger legacy than that, if we are going to walk away from this Chamber knowing that we have actually achieved something as a lasting and increasing value to future generations.
You can only do that if you develop a vision, if you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve for other people - not for yourselves, your reviews, your community consultations, your spin outfits, or the disregard of the previously-held strongly articulated principles that you based all your decisions on. You disregard those to achieve this one objective: let us get re-elected. Well, that is a game you can only play for a period of time. Sadly, it may just be the legacy that you leave: you just got re-elected once, perhaps twice. I do not think it is going to be three times lucky if you keep this up.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Speaker, I would like to add a few words about this budget. Having gone through it at some length, I am concerned with some of the issues that the government has raised with this budget. Media commentators have said this has been a lost opportunity. Indeed, it is a lost opportunity when there is so much money coming in. Some commentators describe it as the equivalent of what used to happen in the first 10 years of self-government when there was a memorandum of understanding between the Commonwealth government and the Northern Territory for the establishment of much-wanted infrastructure in those days.
To then see this sort of money coming into the Territory and not seeing any infrastructure is such a tragedy. Where has the money gone? We know that much of the money has gone into the public sector, without a doubt. When I was browsing through this Budget Paper - there is no number on this one, it is entitled Northern Territory Economy - there is much information in there that people ought to be taking a lot of notice of. Just open any chapter you like and read it through, and it shows you a lot of issues that will plague this government. For instance, take chapter 15 on the public sector. It recognises that non-military public employment is fairly high. I will quote a couple of lines from page 120 of that book:
- In 2005-06, non-defence public sector expenditure totalled an estimated $3218m, a 5% increase on 2004-05.
Further on it says:
- In 2004-05, non-defence public sector expenditure was $1511 per capita, compared to $845 per capita nationally.
Obviously, in the Northern Territory, the public service is a major employer and that is what brings the population up in employment figures. However, when you look at the difference between the Commonwealth government and the Territory government, and the numbers of public sector employees per year on average, between 2001 and the 2006 estimate, it went up some 3000 people. On page 122, under the Territory government column in 2001, it quotes 16 675 public sector employees. By the 2006 estimate, it went up to 19 700. Therefore, according to the government’s own budget books, we have over 3000 more public service employees, and it is no wonder that this government continues to then suffer budget blowouts. When you have such a huge public service salary commitment, there is nothing more you can do. When you get EBAs or salary increases of one form or another, it further erodes into the amount of money that you have.
Whether this government did this deliberately to increase the public service so that it could mask the likely increase in unemployment rates, only the government would know. However, I suggest to you that may be one of the reasons why the government embarked on such a huge employment within the public service.
While the resident population increased in the Territory in the last few years, when you drill down into it, it is not really very much because of interstate migration - as the minister would want you to believe - it is more about childbirth. While I believe we should have more children born in the Territory, in this case, we will have to wait some 15 to 18 years before these children will become productive members of our society. We also recognise that many of the children were born in the bush and, therefore, we need to be cognisant that we must provide them with a good education so that they will become employable and productive members of Territory society.
Population trends are not as encouraging. In the Economy Overview booklet put out by this government, the population growth rates, while it jumped significantly from 2003 to 2005, the government itself has forecast that it will then start to taper off and drop down to about 1.5% or 1%. That is a concern. If the Australian population continues to grow and our population rate declines as a proportion of the Australian population, we will suffer significant deterioration of our GST share. The government needs to be very conscious of what it is doing with its policy to bring people into the Territory, and to ensure that that our population continues to grow.
I concentrated much of my reading time on portfolios that relate to my shadow portfolios and, going through quickly, there were issues about Health and Community Services. One of the most pressing issues at the moment is the funding for an oncology unit. This government has been very - I do not use any negative descriptors to say what this government did but it is trying to wriggle its way out of its commitment to provide an oncology unit for the Northern Territory. Having made a promise back in 2001 and again last year that they are prepared to do it, and having stated quite clearly that it was going to cost $40m of thereabouts, when it came to the crunch - after the minister sought the federal government’s help and the federal member for Solomon provided that commitment from the federal government of some $15m plus ongoing costs - this government came up with a very inappropriate way of doing this calculation and further confused the figures.
Not only does it say that to provide the oncology unit would cost $50m, it confused it by adding accommodation, equipment depreciation and the like. This government does not depreciate equipment. Yes, it might have to replace the equipment and, yes, it might have to provide repairs and maintenance, but it does not depreciate. The irony of it all is that, from a report which the minister commented upon earlier today at ministerial reports - mind you leaked or not leaked - but released through the question of the Labor Senator for the Northern Territory, Trish Crossin, at the Senate Estimates Inquiry, was how the copy of the Frommer report became public. It was not released by this minister but through the Labor Senator for the Northern Territory. The Frommer report actually calculated the replacement cost of the equipment in its report to the minister. Even before the Frommer report was released publicly, one of the two writers of the Frommer report had contradicted the minister when that minister said it was going to cost $50m. I cannot remember the writer’s name, but he was on television saying: ‘That is not right, what the minister is quoting is double what we recommend’.
I suggest to members opposite that they get out the Frommer report. If you do not have a copy, please let me know, and I will be more than happy to provide you with copies of it. Read where your minister has been misleading Territorians, and misleading quite unashamedly.
I am sure we will have a lot more to say during our estimates process next week when we can explore the difference between the minister’s - and I warn the minister now that we will be exploring it - calculation of what it will cost to commence and run an oncology unit versus what is in the Frommer report.
The health budget has undoubtedly increased - and increased hugely. The minister and Chief Minister have quoted how much they have increased the budget by over the last five years. The tragedy of it all, and we see it over and over again, is: where has the money gone? You have not been able to ensure that Territorians are getting the health services that they deserve. Patients are waiting longer. Waiting lists for elective surgery definitely are getting longer across the Territory. When will you tell us that you can provide better services, in spite of all the money that has been pumped into the health budget?
The Minister for Community Services has gone to the media saying I am misleading Territorians talking about the level of investigation into child harm. If you investigate then you would say that child protection reports investigated all of them, 2400 or 2500 next year. However, specifically, you say that you investigated 1200 or 1250 for next year which is exactly 50% of the number of notifications you anticipate. You cannot say you investigate, yet you are not prepared to write in your budget book that you investigate. Do not give me any weasel words, you either investigate or you do not. Obviously, you have not investigated or you do not investigate all of them. We will again, for one minister, go into the estimates and be inquiring into this a lot more.
In DCIS, while it has always been a reasonably well performing department and I have very little to query on it, looking at the budget papers recently there are some issues regarding how it is performing. I am again signalling to the minister that there will be some questions asked about it to ensure that, having turned full circle on the outsourcing contract, we are not going to get into a worse situation than before.
With local government, look at government housing. It is amazing that, when I look at figures for the number of homes that have been built particularly through the IHANT program, it appears that houses are being built for well over $0.5m each. You have to understand that, in building a house out bush, the land component is not factored into it. Therefore, each house, if it is worth $0.5m to build, means that putting together the labour and materials cost alone, it is $0.5m per home. You could build a $0.5m mansion in Alice Springs, and all you get for $0.5m in the bush is a basic Housing Commission home. Something is wrong there, and I hope the minister will chase that up and look into it. I will be asking questions about that in the estimates as well.
The other thing is community governance. Obviously, there are issues. The Minister for Local Government was on television, on the ABC Four Corners program, I think it was, where he spoke about the breakdown at Imanpa. One of his comments to the reporter was that about a third of community government councils in the bush are like Imanpa - almost ready to fall over or have already fallen over. If that is the case, then I question why, in Budget Paper No 3 on page 256, ‘councils subjected to formal investigation’ is three. I would have thought that if you think a third of community government councils are falling over, you would be investigating them formally as soon as you possibly can to find out and identify what the reasons are for their impending failure, and do something about it. However, you are prepared with your budget to formally investigate three for last year and three next year. That is not going to be adequate, is it, if you have over 60 community government councils and one third of them are about to fall over? That is an issue, minister, that you ought to be very wary of.
Mr McAdam: Ask me next week in estimates.
Dr LIM: In Central Australia, in terms of - I beg your pardon? I ask the minister for his interjections to speak a bit louder, please?
Mr McAdam: Next week in estimates, perhaps?
Dr LIM: Yes, we will talk about it next week in estimates. I am sure we will talk about that.
Regarding Central Australia, the government said: ‘Oh, God, look at that. We are spending $46m over in Central Australia’. The reality is not anywhere near this $46m that is purported to have been spent there. It continues to dress up the pretence that you are looking to delivering for Central Australia when, in fact, all you are doing is ripping from the hip pockets of Central Australians to bolster those north of the Berrimah Line, and pumping it mostly straight into the waterfront project.
I remember during the CLP government, that for Regional Highlights, we had a book per region there were that many projects. Do you know what? In this government’s Regional Highlights, there are 20 pages. That is supposed to cover the whole of the Territory. I looked at it very closely and, in Alice Springs – I will talk about Alice Springs and the Barkly region; I will leave to the member of Katherine to talk about Katherine and others - the booklet says, and I quote:
- The Alice Springs region comprises 40% of the Territory’s land mass and has a population of 38 700 people (about 20% of the Territory’s population).
Yet, it gets almost zero. Even if you said $46m …
Mr Stirling: What are you counting? Are you counting 25% of the capital works budget?
Dr LIM: … is for infrastructure, under Infrastructure Highlights, when you add it all up - $45m, rah, rah, rah!. The reality is most of them are revotes from previous years. There is really very little new money being put into Central Australia. While the minister can interject and object to my comments, that is the truth. When you add up all the stuff that is supposed to be new for Alice Springs, you would be lucky to get just over $7m - $7m! It is an area that represents 40% of the Territory, holding some 20% of its population, and it gets a miserly $7m.
The promises that they made about undergrounding power in Alice Springs - well, there is nothing there. However, to boot, they are going to fund more to put another noisy turbine at the Ron Goodin Power Station. The current turbine at the power plant is like having a jet engine sitting in a suburb on a concrete pad. That is what it is. It is causing diabolical noise levels in the surrounding suburbs, causing residents disturbed sleep and, as a consequence of that, many stresses within the family. Every three months, government says: ‘Oh, we are going to fix it, we are going to fix it’. It gets put off and, in another three months: ‘Oh, well, it is a delay. We are going to fix it. We will fix it in the next three months’. Come March, come June, now it is going to be October. When is it going to be fixed? The government has to be a bit more committed to Central Australia. Why do you think there are so many petitions coming from Central Australia about this government’s activities? Because they are feeling very much out of the loop, where the Territory is concerned. It might as well not be there.
I have spoken about the Health budget. In Alice Springs, I believe it comes out pretty even. In one way, it has not gone up, but at least it has not gone down …
Mr Stirling: Hasn’t gone up? You joke.
Dr LIM: When you talked about the government doing things in Central Australia, non-acute services in Central Australia has suffered cuts. Joke? Acute services have gone up, but non-acute services have been cut, so it is a line ball as far as I am concerned. What happens then is, let us make sure that elective surgery numbers get to be whittled down so that patients are not waiting for ever and a day.
Aboriginal Interpreter Services is another one in Central Australia that is going to miss out, I am sure. At least one position has been cut from that service. That is an $82 000 reduction in its allocation. Already, at least one court case in Alice Springs that had to be deferred because of that.
This budget has been one big missed opportunity. This government this year will receive more than $217m in revenue which it could either given back to Territorians, or spend it on actually improving services for Territorians. Instead, they are wasting it on more backroom public servants and more executives.
I am glad to read in today’s Centralian Advocate that the Minister for Sport and Recreation says, ‘Oh, your $8.1m aquatic centre will be there. But, hang on a minute, you are only going to get $100 000 this year to do a feasibility study’. I will take the minister on her word as reported in the Centralian Advocate today, that the remaining $8m will be delivered at the next budget in 2007-08. I will remind her next year when that does not appear. If it does appear, well and good. This is what we want to see delivered. You threw $15m with the candidate for Greatorex, the current lame duck Mayor of Alice Springs and, I hope - and I am going to make sure - that you deliver that $15m of promises that you threw with her. I do not need the bath tub swirl, just the contents. The $15m will go down very well.
Let me commend the government on one thing, though. They are going to provide funding to enhance Aranda House. That is a good initiative. We need that to ensure that our youth detainees are housed somewhere. This is something that the CLP actually suggested last year in the lead-up to the election, and they have picked it up. I am glad that they have; it will help us, without a doubt.
In Barkly, the one thing that jumped up at me was that some $9.7m for acute care services, including road and aero-retrieval, will be provided. That is, essentially, money that is for general operations, as you would do anywhere, such as running of the hospital, outpatients services and extension services from the Alice Springs Hospital. Tragically, I believe a lot of that money will be spent evacuating patients from Tennant Creek Hospital to the Alice Springs Hospital. The government has to try to get better medical personnel to not go, but stay in Tennant Creek. The Tennant Creek community deserves better than that. For too long now, they have been struggling to get a good GP practice service there. I know the member for Barkly is working his heart out to get it there as well, and I wish him all the luck. He has tried hard, and I hope he continues to push this government to deliver, to make sure that his government has thought for areas outside of Darwin and Palmerston.
Alice Springs has several complaints, one being about the push to move DCIS personnel from Alice Springs to Darwin. This was in reference to the salaries section of DCIS. I tabled a petition in this Chamber last sittings and the response from the minister, I believe, is inadequate. There is no doubt that personnel positions will be shifted from Alice Springs to Darwin, again forsaking the employment opportunities for people in Alice Springs and concentrating jobs up here. There is no need to do that. People need more than just a little shopfront with one person dealing with salary inquiries in Alice Springs. There are many public servants in Alice Springs who do get into difficulties with the way that their salaries are written down on their payslips. They need somebody face-to-face to talk to, to resolve their difficulties.
In regards to alcohol issues in Central Australia, the money is definitely not there to deal with the issues in Central Australia. It is something I find quite laughable. Last week, the minister for Licensing said: ‘We are going to launch this new policy of no more takeaway licences for the next 12 months. That is how we are going to fix the drunks’. Fix the drunks? The drunks are there because of the takeaway licences and easy access to alcohol now ...
Mr Stirling: Who allowed all those licences into the supermarkets, Richard?
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Order! Member for Nhulunbuy!
Dr LIM: No more licences! You know what? Immediately after that, within minutes, the Chief Minister came out with her media release: ‘Aha, yes, yes, yes, fantastic way, we will now fix up the drunks by not giving another takeaway licence’. For goodness sake, think of it, the logic of it! You have problems with it. You have problems with drunks and alcoholics in Central Australia and the rest of the Territory because of the number of takeaway outlets we have. No good saying: ‘We will not have anymore and we will fix it.’ What sort of logic is that? It is ludicrous! That is the trouble; this is a government that micromanages to make sure it looks good. It micromanages so badly that it just puts it foot back where it should not be.
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Dr LIM: It is a problem. Stop your micromanaging, but make sure you do the right thing by the people in the Territory. Territorians need government action now to ensure that the lifestyle and economy of the Territory is better. You can do that. If the minister wants to talk about alcohol licences, he can talk about putting on a sunset clause of some 25 years, and businesses can trade themselves out of a liquor licence.
Mr Stirling: Twenty five years!
Dr LIM: You have a problem with that? That is at least getting rid of licences. What you are doing is saying ‘no more’. What does that mean? It means nothing. At least my way you get rid of the licences. Shorten the period; make it 10 years if you like. The minister’s method does nothing and that is a waste of opportunity.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, my response to the 2006-07 budget will be very measured. I have only been back at work for a very short period of time following my accident, and have not had the opportunity to intensely scrutinise the budget papers for the shadow portfolios that I presently represent. However, do not worry; I will definitely do it before estimates next week. I intend to speak to a few points that have become obvious as I have glanced through them.
First of all, I noticed the media release put out by the Treasurer for building the future of the Katherine region where he stated, amongst other things - and I am sure that all media releases for all regions would have probably stated the same thing - that this budget delivers economic growth and creates thousands of jobs for Territorians. That statement would be welcomed in Katherine if there was a performance indicator alongside that could measure the thousands of jobs. Speaking for the Katherine region alone, hundreds of jobs would be welcomed. I would like to see where these jobs will be, Treasurer.
Also, a member of the Katherine Regional Cultural Precinct is telling Katherine people that the Chief Minister has stated quite clearly that they are assured of getting the $6.5m that was promised to build the Regional Cultural Precinct in Katherine …
Mr Stirling: Yes, it is true.
Mrs MILLER: I do not know where that is in the budget papers, because I have not been able to find it. Maybe you would be able to point that out to me because he is quite vocal about it.
In tourism, the first thing that I noticed was that the performance measures have been changed across all areas. How was that determined and how is the benchmark set for this budget period in the tourism area? The transfer from the Northern Territory Tourist Commission to Tourism NT has no performance indicators either. How will the performance of the new Tourism NT be assessed?
Also interesting is that there is no visitor satisfaction line this year. Hopefully, that does not mean, Treasurer, that there is no satisfaction at all …
Mr Stirling: No, no. It does not mean that.
Mrs MILLER: Interestingly enough, I have often wondered just how that neat little rounded figure is nearly always the same in previous documents. I would like to know how it got there and how it is actually assessed.
Tourism development this year also has unrecognisable performance measures. There is no benchmark. The number of staff in the Tourist Commission is usually indicated in the budget papers as well. Last year, it was noted there were 105.5 staff but, this year, the staff numbers are noticeably absent from the budget papers. The Tourist Commission budget shows that this year’s employee expenses are considerably reduced. Does that mean that there are going to be staff cuts and where would they be cut from?
Territory Discovery shows that, during this past 12 months, it ran at a loss. Again, the performance measures have changed. However, it is interesting to note that the estimate for 2006-07 for gross sales revenue is increased by $5.9m. I welcome that outcome but, again, how has that figure been calculated through Territory Discovery? It honestly looks just like a smokescreen to me. Estimates is going to be very interesting, although judging by the amount of time that was available during the past two estimates, I will be lucky to get half my questions asked.
In environment and heritage, the line items are changed again in this area from last year. I have noticed that heritage conservation, which was cut by some $42 000 last year, has again been cut in this year’s budget, making cutbacks over two years of $100 000. It is also interesting to note that the line item in environment and heritage of greenhouse policy has been removed. Why is that, I wonder, when we are talking about the environment so passionately?
Our seniors in the Northern Territory are very valuable and have contributed much to our communities. I appreciate their experience and knowledge as I am sure most members in here do. I also appreciate the many hours that so many of these people contribute voluntarily in so many areas. Most of them are aged pensioners who are living on tight budgets, but they never fail to contribute to the community all they can. The budget last year for seniors was $877 000. The actual estimate was $844 000. That shows that $33 000 was not spent on our seniors last year. Now the estimate for the 2007-08 budget is $805 000, making the amount spent now reduced by $72 000 over the two budgets, which equates to an almost 10% decrease. How could this happen to the respected segment of our society? What message does this send to our seniors who we want to encourage to stay in the Territory? We all know that too many of them leave to live interstate. We must turn that around by supporting them as much as possible, not cutting their budget even further. $72 000 may not seem much money in the scheme of things, but it means a lot to our senior Territorians.
In my area of transport and infrastructure, without a doubt the biggest challenge facing rural and remote Northern Territory is the state of our roads, which have deteriorated to the point of being dangerous and, in some areas, impassable. A perfect example of this is the Tanami Road which is in such a perilous state that at least one businessman from Alice Springs has had to make the decision to move his business to Western Australia because the condition of the Tanami Road was costing him too much in damage to his transport vehicles. We can ill afford to lose any business from the Northern Territory.
Another example of a road in serious need of upgrading is the Plenty Highway, which is also well known to all members here. I have had a visit from a major transport company which operates right across the Northern Territory with many vehicles, which has had over $30 000 damage done to a trailer on one trip alone. He is very concerned about the ongoing repairs and maintenance he has for his vehicle fleet. Knowing that there is serious funding needed to be put into the road structure, it was a bit of a shock to see that minor new works in this budget have been cut by a third or $9m. In addition, in major new works, program delivery is reduced by $1m. Does this mean, Treasurer, that you are removing public servants, or is there less work planned? Or are you just cutting delivery? Another stack of questions for estimates.
I also see that capital works are predicted to be $268.3m. Last year, this government spent $320.5m. Despite all the rhetoric, this is actually the lowest amount of money in capital works since this government came to power. Treasurer, this government has received bucket loads of additional money than the previous government ever had, but no additional money is finding its way into our very important road infrastructure.
In closing in this very brief response, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I look forward to the estimates process next week when serious questions can be asked of these budget papers.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank members for their contribution. I listened closely to the member for Katherine and, of the speakers on the other side of the Chamber, she has the most genuine questions to raise at estimates. I do not intend to try to answer regarding tourism and roads. The member for Katherine will have her opportunity next week to put those questions. They are genuine questions and I expect she would get genuine responses.
We, as a government, always had a view in opposition - and it is a view that we have tried to carry into government - that government ought to act in a cyclical fashion in order to balance out the lumps and bumps in the economy as far as possible. Avoid the troughs and yes, certainly, work to peaks, but try to keep a sustained level of operational capacity out there, particularly in the construction industry because that is the single simplest lever by which government can stimulate economic activity. Pump up your capital works and get the industry moving and going. We did that from the November 2001 mini-budget as far as we could. That was before the GST revenue started to flow. We were setting deficit budgets in order to put as much into capital works as we could. It still took a long time for that to generate enough activity for things to spin off and then to attract private sector.
At this time, and over the last 18 months, where the construction industry is very busy, where they cannot get enough staff - and that is the single biggest criticism business has at the moment; getting trained and qualified staff on their books - the issue is not getting the money out there, it is the capacity of the industry to deliver the goods. We have always had a view that government ought back off and get out of the way of the private sector where it can, and reduce its capital works inroads into the overall economy to give the private sector a chance to get its work done.
Nonetheless, government does have its own priorities - none more important, for example, than the $47m-odd that we will spend on middle schools over the next three years. They have to go to the top of the priority list for government for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, our construction agency, because we are relying on them in order to be able to place the Year 7 students and the Year 10 students into the future - Year 10 students next year and Year 7 the year after. That is the aim of government. It is not always possible to achieve to get it under way because government capital works, election commitments, all of those things carry their own priority. When you have school infrastructure changes, there is no better example of priorities of government which just have to occur no matter what.
We are seeing incredible escalation on government work, particularly in rural and remote areas where contractors are so busy that they say: ‘I probably have enough to see me through this next six months, but it is a government job. If we can fit it in, let us whack in a tender 30% to 40% over what we normally would and see how we go’. That is the sort of pressure that the government and everyone out there trying to get work done is under at the moment, because it is so busy. In that sense, government should try to act in a cyclical fashion - pump in when things are crook and back off when things are going well. As I said, works carry their own priorities.
The measure of success, I suppose, of any budget is the economic activity that it generates and the services it delivers. On those sorts of measures, the Territory economy is going well. It is in good shape and it does stand, as I was just saying, in stark contrast to the dead cat we inherited in 2001 when our capital works was so unfunded that they could not do the revote. There was not enough cash to do the revote of the work not completed the year before, let alone anywhere near the work that was being committed in that particular budget.
There have been five years of record budgets in education, health and police. We now have education services with a greater reach, health services tackling the underlying causes of illness as well as the high levels of illness in the community, and more police out on the beat catching more criminals. Gross state product is 6.7%, with a predicted growth next year of 5.8%, still amongst the highest in Australia. We have the highest ever population, with 2005 recording a year of positive interstate migration, the first four years since the military moved to the north in the mid-1990s and, prior to that, not since the 1980s. Population growth is 1.8%, the second highest in Australia at the moment.
In the year to April, retail trade grew at 3.6%, and motor vehicle sales increased by 4.4%. Those figures are lower than when we were reporting it last year, but they are coming off high benchmarks, high yearly growth from the previous year and, indeed, the year before that. Therefore, they are more impressive than they looked at first sight coming off the high base that they were on.
Tourism takings through the year to December 2005 are 8.1% higher than the previous year. The construction industry, as I said, is incredibly busy. Darwin and Palmerston has cranes on the skyline, residential construction, the development of the new suburb of Lyons, the building of upgraded commercial premises - Bunnings as an example - and the massive redevelopment of the waterfront.
In Alice Springs, tourism, construction, residential construction, the construction by government of the Desert Peoples Centre and the Mereenie Loop Road are all picking up the construction industry in the Centre.
Home loan affordability still remains the best in Australia. Territorians, I believe, have reason to feel that things are travelling fairly well.
The budget delivered in May built on the successful policies of the Martin government over the last five years. It will deliver growth and jobs, and build the Territory’s future with $482m in the infrastructure development and record budgets for police, health, and education. It reduces taxes. In fact, to date, we have reduced taxes by $74m, and we have a further $134m to go in this term.
I do not mind criticism from the other side and, indeed, the shadow Treasurer. That is the job of the shadow Treasurer to attack the government and the Treasurer, and try to put questions of credibility. However, you would think sometimes there would be some recognition for what we have done. The shadow Treasurer ought talk to business sometime. I had a letter the other day. Treasurers do not often get letters from business, unless there are concerns about tax, or queries or appeals against tax decisions and the like. This was a letter from a business saying: ‘Thank you, government, for your tax reduction’. I forget which particular one - I think it was the stamp duty removal from 1 July. It will save that small business $16 000 a year. I was quite touched to get that letter, because I think it is a first from a business person saying: ‘Thank you, well done, we do appreciate what you have done’. It is good to get that recognition. Just once in a while, the opposition should say this government has done well in the way of tax reductions - $74m out of the system forever; $134m to go in this term. It continues our policy of tight fiscal management.
We hear from the opposition - in fact from the shadow Treasurer - that the world is quite a different place from what I believe it to be. As I said, nothing the government has done warrants any level of support, whether it is tax cuts or record budgets. In fact, we get a different view altogether that record budgets reflect some sort of failure rather than success. There is no recognition of the budget surplus produced in three of the last four budgets, and the record infrastructure budgets over the last five years.
Even the quite conservative Institute of Public Affairs, usually referred to as a right wing think tank, conceded in a recent criticism of the states around their use of the GST that the Northern Territory had, in fact, acted more constructively than other state governments in relation to infrastructure and the work we are doing. Therefore, the opposition needs to reflect on a little short history here when they make these sorts of criticisms. When we came to power, as I said, the infrastructure budget did not have enough cash to pay for the revote of the previous year. In other words, no new project could get under way for two years. The Health budget was stretched so tight we have had to inject 64% additional money between coming into government in 2001 and now to meet that rising demand. Gross state product in 2001-02 was zero. There were no secondary schools in the bush; we now have six producing Northern Territory Certificate of Education graduates in their own communities.
Training was among the lowest effort in Australia. We had a hands-off minister who did not understand or care, or even try to set policies for training. We are among the highest proportionally now; training numbers have increased by 50%. The police service was so rundown we have had to increase police force numbers by around 200 to get on top of the crime levels that have built up. The Chief Minister of the day even refused to accept that there was any link between drug use and crime.
The government of the day delivered two budgets providing a $200m deficit level and $130m deficit level. Debt to revenue ratio, which is a measure you can use to cross-compare states and territories, was 134%. The opposition, by its negativity and its refusal to open their eyes to reality, do close themselves out of recent community debate about economic policy.
This government is proud of its achievements. I am equally proud of the achievements of the five budgets delivered by this government.
I want to pick up on a couple of issues put forward by the member for Braitling regarding the back to school payment of $50. Her question was in regard to evaluation and monitoring how effective the use of that money has been. The program will be thoroughly evaluated beginning in September, and schools will be required to account for the expenditure and detail how it was implemented. However, I have to say it has been terrifically well received. We have had nothing but positive feedback on the initiative. Following the evaluation, we will put changes in place before the 2007 round.
By way of example, one school’s use of it, at Shepherdson on Galiwinku – I was there to open a new high school facility a couple of weeks ago - there were over 300 students in school uniform inside the school on that day, from the very little to teenage, and all in their spick and span bright new uniforms. That is one school’s use of that $50 and, I imagine, there would be many other examples throughout the bush. It was a tremendous day. All the staff similarly wore the same sort of shirts. The evaluation will be interesting; however, we will see plenty of examples such as at Shepherdson College.
Ross Park Primary School, as the member asked for, is on the forward works list. We were originally going to do the airconditioning with a major redesign of all the rooms. That airconditioning was put off. It is on the forward works list and is an election commitment to undertake it this term.
In relation to debt - and the member for Braitling is not here and perhaps we can deal with it at estimates - we would stand at the estimate at the end of 2005-06 with a nett debt of $1708m. When we came to government in 2001-02, nett debt stood at $1753m. In that time, $45m has gone off nett debt. It was better in 2004-05, 2003-04. We did, with those surplus budgets, get nett debt right back down, but it is still less than when we came to government in 2001-02.
With nett debt we can control it in how you are going with the actual budget. We have less control of employee liabilities, which are about half as much again. If you put nett debt and employee liabilities together, you are looking at $3.8bn this year. Employee liabilities shot up in the latter part of this financial year in large part because of the actuarial assessments around superannuation. That employee liability picks up all the long service leave on the books and what government owes into the future by way of superannuation. Therefore, it is not a debt due tomorrow or even next week but, nonetheless, it is a very real liability on the books against the government because it has to be paid, albeit at some point into the future.
However, we can and should work to get nett debt down as far as possible. We get some increase over the next few years because we are predicting in the forward estimates for deficit budgets. By way of history again, I can give an example of how this government has gone. In the 2001-02 mini-budget, we estimated in November 2001 that the deficit for the end of the 2001-02 would be $139m. We came in at $92, so that was $47m plus change. In 2002-03, we went for a deficit of $95. We actually achieved a plus-$9m, a surplus. Therefore, the difference between what we estimated and what we got was a plus-$104m. In 2003-04, we estimated a $24m deficit. We came in at plus-$36m so, again, a $60m turnaround to what we had estimated. In 2004-05, we estimated a balance that is a zero budget. We came in at plus-$51m, a $51m nett improvement. If you add up those improvement levels, those change factors, over those years, you get a $260m better outcome than we estimated that budget time over four years. That is something in the order of $60m, or a little better, that we have traditionally achieved over each year.
For the budget for 2005-06, we are on track. The revised estimate was $47m, down from the original budget of $68m. I believe it will come in at less than that again, with revenues - late payments by the Commonwealth to the Northern Territory. The Commonwealth is always keen to clear their books and get rid of surplus cash by the end of the financial year - and don’t they have some! When you are talking about surplus budgets of $15bn and $16bn, they have plenty of cash to throw around. Some of that will find its way to the Territory, undoubtedly. It will suit the Commonwealth to make some of those payments before 30 June. If they are received by the Territory before 30 June, they will further reduce the outstanding deficit for the 2005-06 year.
Regarding staff - we have heard a lot about staffing. There is no doubt there is an increase in numbers, but there have also been significant EBAs over the last couple of years. Whether they are for two years or three years, every time each of the years inside the EBA contain a wage increase, of course, that fuels into the salaries overall. I have said several times that public service numbers will come down over time, but we are not about to jump into a slashing and burning - sacking people and forcing redundancies and the like. Numbers will come down. I have said that publicly and I will say it again. Over the next 12, 18 months, two years, we will see public sector numbers in the Northern Territory return to more historic levels that we have seen in the past.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I look forward to estimates next week.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the committee stage be postponed until Friday, 23 June 2006.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Middle Years of Schooling
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 7 June, the government announced the most significant reform in education policy in the last 20 years.
Mrs Braham: You hope.
Mr STIRLING: It is still the most significant reform in education in the last 20 years.
Mrs Braham: You hope it will be.
Mr STIRLING: Good or bad, it is the most significant reform in the last 20 years - and you would know that, member for Braitling.
The adoption and implementation of the middle years of schooling will transform the education of our students and the result that they achieve. We have listened to the community and we will introduce these changes in a two-stage process over three years. Adopting the middle years approach will lift the education performance of Territory students from the bottom of Australia to amongst the best in the nation. It will mean that our young people will be more engaged in learning. They will be better prepared for learning in the senior years of schooling. They will have a strong foundation for a successful transition from school to work, further training and higher education. That is good news for parents, the community, and for the future social and economic development of the Territory. It is particularly good news for the students themselves.
While other systems are implementing middle years approaches, only the Territory is comprehensively reforming all aspects of education in the middle years. We are the envy of educators across Australia who also believe these reforms are needed - and needed in the comprehensive way that we have tackled them.
These decisions were arrived at after considerable public consultation stretching over more than three years. They will be implemented over the rest of this year and through 2007-08, with the system finally in place in 2009. This time line will allow for the necessary professional development focus to occur and for the infrastructure to be put into place. In making those decisions, we have minimised disruption to students, their families and teachers.
The decisions we have made are these. We have determined that middle years are Years 7 to 9; senior years are Years 10 to 12. We have decided that to make middle years educationally effective, we will restructure the stages of schooling. This will enable us to provide a greater and more effective focus on teaching in the middle years way.
In 2007, all Year 10 will move to join Years 11 and 12 in the senior years, either in senior secondary college or as senior sub-schools of existing high schools. The exception is Sanderson, where the move will occur in 2008. Year 7 will move to join Years 8 and 9 into the middle years, either in specialised middle schools or in middle sub-schools within existing high schools. This is already in place in the southern part of the Territory, in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. In all other areas, this will take effect in 2008, giving schools sufficient lead time to prepare for these important changes to teaching and learning in the middle years. The government will retain two middle schools in Alice Springs - ANZAC Hill High School and Alice Springs High School. The government will retain Ludmilla Primary School as a transition to Year 6 primary school.
To implement these decisions, the government will provide extensive new infrastructure. The government will build a new middle school at Bullocky Point near to what will be the Darwin Senior College, at a total cost around $19.5m. Government will expand the Palmerston High School substantially, at a total cost around $11m. In addition, the government is committed to building the new school at Rosebery with planning for construction to begin in financial year 2008-09. What age groups this school provides for will be determined in the consultation process between the department and school community stakeholders in Palmerston. These changes to Palmerston will form the basis of a Palmerston education plan.
We will fund upgrades and expansions to the following schools to accommodate Year 10: Casuarina Secondary College $3.4m; and Centralian College $975 000. To accommodate Year 7 students, the government will fund upgrades and expansions to Nhulunbuy High School $1.35m; Katherine High School $970 000; and Taminmin High School $4.6m. The government will commit $1m for middle years minor new works in 2006-07. We have also committed to fitting out the schools. The total infrastructure cost is in the order of $46.7m.
These infrastructure changes are now under way, with my department and the Department of Infrastructure and Planning working actively together. Recurrent operational costs for the implementation of these decisions are still subject to minor change. The ongoing recurrent cost from 2008 is likely to be $6.7m. This can be broken down into around $2.6m for additional staffing, $879 000 for grants, $150 000 for additional operational costs within the department, and $3.12m for bussing students. This will be paid for by a combination of refocusing internal resources and additional resources provided by government.
The middle years journey has been a long one, and one which has provided public consultation consistently along the way. As I have already advised the House in many statements, in 2002 we commenced the examination of secondary education with a comprehensive secondary education review, undertaken by a professional team led by highly-respected Dr Gregor Ramsey. That team, made up of experts from across the Territory, received 111 submissions, visited 134 sites including 40 remote communities, and spent from February to August of that year analysing the Territory situation. Visits to places of best practice interstate also occurred. Public forums were held in each urban centre. Despite the extensive public consultation undertaken, the government felt the proposals were of such breadth and dimension that further public engagement and listening was required.
We contracted a consulting group called SOCOM Consulting to undertake that engagement. Public consultation occurred in 2004 from April to August, with focus groups about the middle years of schooling held in November of that year. A steering committee with members from the Australian Education Union, the Council of Government School Organisations, the business sector, schools, the Association of NT School Educational Leaders (ANTSEL) and a DEET executive was appointed to guide and monitor the consultation and subsequent report. Parents, educators, professional associations, youth workers, business and industry participated in workshops held in the Territory’s regional centres. One hundred and forty-eight people, representing 109 stakeholder groups, participated in Phase 1, with 20 remote communities being represented. Public forums and meetings were held. Over 900 people attended the Darwin information evening, and approximately 60 people attended the evening in Alice Springs.
In addition, approximately 250 educators attended the remote schools conference in Alice Springs at the end of July 2004, at which they spent a significant proportion of time providing feedback on the secondary education report.
A student forum was hosted by then DEET Chief Executive, Peter Plummer. Consultation visits to a number of remote indigenous communities were also conducted. Members of the public were able to complete individual response sheets that formed part of the community’s feedback.
All of this resulted in a report to Cabinet. At the time of the introduction of the Building Better Schools package, I announced the government would undertake further extensive public consultation on middle years. Once again, following a public tender, we contracted SOCOM to do two further phases of consultation. The first phase was to develop the principles and policy framework for the middle years, and the second phase was to assist the government in determining the best structure suited to implement middle years across the Territory.
The first round of consultation, backed by advertising on television, radio and print media, occurred from 7 September 2005 to 17 October 2005. The second round of consultation began in January 2006, when education leaders and the agency engaged in discussion around how implementation could occur. That consultation finished in March, and the final Cabinet decision was made in May 2006.
Almost four years after we began the community discussion about secondary education, we have seen the final middle years decisions now in place for implementation. This is not a rush, this is a considered approach, an approach which has required public information and consultation at every stage. It is an approach where, at every stage, that feedback has been carefully considered and included in our decision-making.
These decisions will mean students will receive an improved education and will get better results. It will mean better attendance and greater retention. It will mean education, while remaining a rigorous process, will be more relevant for our students. It means that, in Years 7 to 9, students will be taught in a different way - a way that acknowledges and supports the challenges they face in adolescence.
The student/teacher ratio will be improved from 22:1 currently applied to Year 7, to 17:1. In the junior high school level and, overall, students will have fewer changes in teachers in any one day. Greater pastoral care will be in place. Innovative teaching practices will be welcomed and encouraged throughout the system. Parents will form an integral and welcome part of the school. They will be encouraged to be involved in school activities, a feature of many successful primary school programs. There will also be increased opportunities for members of the community to work with schools and learning programs so that learning is more relevant to students’ everyday life.
Schools will no longer need to divert resources from their middle years to supplement teaching resources at the senior years. For senior years students, there will also be a positive impact. Government believes that Year 10 students are mature enough to be considered senior students. We also believe that Year 10 is a critical transition year that has not been fully utilised as a staging ground for education in Years 11 and 12, and for life beyond education.
The introduction of the middle years will see students enter Year 10 better prepared and more engaged in their education. Year 10 will now be a major transition point for students. They will have increased opportunities to build a strong base with the Northern Territory Certificate of Education years. They will have opportunities to participate in VET programs and more appropriate Stage 1 courses, and they will have the opportunity to actively plan for their future. The student/teacher ratio for Year 10 students will improve from 17:1 to 14:1 to reflect current senior ratios.
As part of my consultation program prior to making the middle years final decisions, I met with business groups in Alice Springs and Darwin. The message to me was overwhelming: we want better prepared students with better results. The changes announced will deliver that outcome for business people and greater employment opportunities for students.
The movement of Year 10 students to senior secondary schools, or sub-schools, will allow greater focus on vocational education to allow an apprenticeship or traineeship as an option beyond school. It fits closely with the government’s major investment in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, our Jobs Plan initiatives, and our commitment to lifting the training levels of the Territory.
Middle schools deliver greater opportunity to our young people to determine the future that is best for them. Ultimately, middle schooling is about changed teacher practices and innovative and new approaches to education. Professional development of teachers in the middle years has been in place since 2001. Schools and teachers will be supported to ensure that professional learning is school-based and/or customised to school or regional needs.
This includes development of the middle years Teaching and Learning Handbook, an online self-assessment tool for teachers to monitor their teaching and learning practices in the middle years; grants to individual schools or groups of schools for teachers to learn effective middle years teaching and learning strategies; centrally or regionally facilitated workshops to enable teachers to develop rigorous assessment tasks for use with middle year students; grants for schools and classes to implement programs that provide expanded opportunities for students to engage in enterprise education; workshops for senior secondary teachers to become familiar with the Northern Territory curriculum framework to deliver teaching and learning for Year 10 students; and professional learning for school leaders to transform and lead these changes.
Total amount of additional funding provided specifically for professional learning and support to schools is $5.1m over three years. Members should also be aware that once the changes are completed in 2008, professional development for teachers will be ongoing.
More teaching positions will be required as a result of these changes. The numbers of staff will also change as a result of both Year 7 and 10 receiving improved staffing ratios. In 2008, we expect additional staff, including teachers and administrative staff, to be around 30 in number. I can assure teachers they will be looked after through this process. The government values teachers and the important role they play in the community. We also believe they are professionals and will take to these changes with gusto and enthusiasm.
The details around teacher transfers and relocations are matters that the department will work through with each teacher. The department has worked with the Australian Education Union to ensure that each and every teacher understands the opportunities and choices they have about their future. Recruitment of new teachers will focus on teachers with middle years training or experience, or a willingness to implement middle years approaches. Training institutions are already preparing graduates specifically for the middle years.
The government has made its decision with the intention to minimise the disruption to students. The movement of Year 10, 11 and 12 into senior secondary colleges will be accompanied by strong transition and support programs. The agency is fully cognisant of this issue, and will be working closely with the students, their families and the teachers in making the transition as smooth as possible.
The existing comprehensive secondary schools already have Year 10 students on-site. Any movement or reorganisation in those schools will be determined by the school in the way they decide to implement sub-schools. In the case of Sanderson High School, Years 10, 11 and 12 students will move to Casuarina Senior College in 2008 to allow for the transition of specialist programs developed in the school.
Questions have been raised around the programs in place in Alice Springs High School. I spent several days in Alice Springs earlier this year, and am particularly aware of the programs that have been raised. I can assure members that the Centralian College does have in place the Pathways program that exists in Alice Springs High School, and will be able to deliver those programs effectively. They already have on their staff teachers who helped to establish the programs at other schools, and they have done a great job putting those Pathways programs in place at Centralian College.
Those same transition programs will need to be established at Casuarina College. The government has decided it is better to spend next year setting them into place before moving the Sanderson High School students. The moving of Year 7s to middle schools or middle year sub-schools involves the movement of more children. That is why the government has decided to use 2007 as a transition year. The consultation process showed parents were concerned that more time was needed to prepare their children for this move. We have heard this concern and we have acted on it. As a result, 2007 will begin the implementation of the middle years approach, with teachers receiving professional development. Through that year, secondary and primary schools will be encouraged to develop a close relationship to make the transition much smoother for students.
As a priority, local area management groups consisting of school and council members will be established to oversee the transition of students, especially those students seen to be at risk. Additionally, each school will develop a school implementation plan to address all the issues that will be required to implement the middle years. The transition year in 2007 will also allow the necessary infrastructure to be established where needed. Buses will also be in place to ensure a smooth transition for students in 2008.
To ensure a clearer understanding of student movement is in place, I wish to touch on the issue of feeder schools and priority enrolment. Let me reiterate that zoning has not been introduced. Zoning precludes students from attending schools outside their feeder area. The government has not changed the principles underlying our arrangements for students to date. What will occur is that middle schools, senior secondary colleges and the remaining comprehensive secondary schools will have feeder schools notionally allocated to them, as already occurs. This will mean that children attending those schools will receive priority enrolment into the relevant middle schools and subsequent senior years arrangements. Schools will be asked to manage their enrolment to ensure that they stay within designated numbers and capacity. How they do this will be determined with the school and the relevant business centres of the agency.
Members should note that the only significant change in this arrangement impacts on Ludmilla Primary School, which will now be placed in the Darwin Middle School feeder area, and Nightcliff middle school, which will now be placed in the Darwin Senior College feeder area. All special schools annexes with students in Year 7 to 9 will deliver a middle years program.
In 2007, Acacia Hill and Henbury Schools will establish a senior year sub-school for students in Years 10 to 12. In 2008, Year 7 students will be part of middle year sub-schools at Acacia Hill and Henbury Schools, depending on families negotiating individual teaching and learning needs of students around programs and locations. These movements will be carefully phased in to accommodate the special needs.
The remote parts of our Territory are also impacted on by these decisions. These changes will provide significant new opportunities for education in remote communities. Each remote school with Year 7 students will now receive a new staffing formula of 17:1 for those students. This will see a movement of teaching positions to those communities, the final number yet to be determined. Indicative figures suggest it could be around 20 positions, including in-school staff, by 2008. In addition, as part of the decision-making leading up to the 7 June announcement, the chief executive has issued a directive following a discussion with me, requiring all schools to admit all students up to the end of compulsory years. If a student turns up at school, they will be required to find a place for that student. This was not the policy that was inherited, and the discussion around middle schools uncovered this anomaly.
Remote students will also benefit from middle years approach of the new world-class Distance Education Service announced by the government on 24 May. In large and remote communities where secondary education is being taught, the new focus will provide the same level of engagement of students as we expect it to do in the urban areas. Perhaps more importantly, the new staffing formula will mean more teachers for remote schools. Combined with the placing of 10 regional learning agents, the collaborative Trial Sites Program, and the placement of specialist teachers into the bush, education for remote students is moving ahead in leaps and bounds.
I began this statement by declaring middle years of schooling decisions the most significant education decision made in 20 years. I end this statement be reiterating that view. This overhaul of how we deliver education will change the face of Territory students’ results forever. It will see us address some of the issues such as poor attendance that have characterised our system. It will provide teachers with greater professional learning opportunities and support. It will bring parents in the community into the education of their children. More importantly, it will lift the opportunities available to our young people to live their life to their fullest capacity. That is the core aim and objective of every parent and the Martin government.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, now that the decision has been made and communicated, the whole pitch of this will change because, in many respects, the opposition will need to observe and monitor the development of the plan that has been outlined here. Gone are the opportunities for debate on the issues that were cast up in this community consultation. They are gone for now because this will change the face of education in the Territory – as you have said in your statement - forever. It will change the face of education in the Northern Territory; that is the look of it. However, substantial change? I do not believe so.
If we are going to reform education we can take either of two approaches. One is that which is noticeably reformist in its appearance - something novel and new and interesting like middle schools and a restructure. Everybody is going to notice the school structure change. That will create a sense within the community that there has been significant and substantial change, because of the reconfiguration of schooling. Perhaps not so because, underneath that appearance of substantial change which you can call reform - which simply means reshape - you then have the second order of that; this thing called the middle years approach to teaching. That is not so radical. In fact, it fits within that broad heading of outcomes-based education, which is intended to make people feel generally okay about education. It is largely non-threatening; everybody does okay - except the poor parent who is trying to understand whether their child is achieving or not. They will get a general sense from a pat on the back and kids heading in the right direction. However, there are so many terms that even teachers - and the minister will know this - who have left the system and are now parents cannot understand how their child is performing after reading these reports.
Nonetheless, generally speaking, there will be a sense that everybody is doing okay. We will manage to maintain this. First, we will go back to reform - big headline makes people feel good. Then we restructure and reshape the way education looks in the Territory. My goodness, there is evidence of this reform! Then there is a different way of delivering the curriculum material within those classrooms. Perhaps they will all be wearing school uniforms, so it will just cap it off beautifully and there will this sense of significant change.
There are many in our community who feel that the fundamental questions were not addressed. One is if you are going to reform education, you do not start from the outside. You could start from the outside and create a whole new look and people will get a little buzz for a time. However, if you are really going to reform education you start with the curriculum and you ask some hard questions about the curriculum. Is it the curriculum that is causing the poor results? Surely, it is not the way that our buildings are configured - or are you proposing that is the case; it is the actual structure itself that is causing the results that really drive this whole reform agenda? We get a little tenuous there if we suspect that it is the structure and the shape of how our infrastructure hangs together that is causing the results. A bit like the old housing issue. There is something far deeper than that. It is the curriculum itself.
You have to lift your head up and have a look around what is going on in this nation and in other countries with regards to curriculum. Australia is one of the few countries which maintains outcomes-based education. I believe it suits Labor governments, particularly, to create this feel-good approach - the impression of things occurring. No one is troubled or deeply threatened, except when we find that our literacy rates are starting to taper off. However, we can mask it. It is very hard to pick it up because you cannot actually measure or test anything.
I have never been a supporter of outcomes-based education. I fear that the opportunity for that sort of discussion at that level, if we are genuinely talking about reform, could have at least dealt with the issue of the curriculum itself. There is enough information out there and enough debate and, if you were genuine about reform in education, you would start with curriculum, because you cannot change anything substantially unless you change the curriculum. It is a bit like having a new computer, with exactly the same operating system, exactly the same software and expecting a better performance, because it is a new, different computer.
That is what we have here: the larger investment is in infrastructure. It is not infrastructure that delivers education. It is not bricks and mortar, and school buses and transport logistics that educates students. It is the curriculum, delivered by properly strengthened and supported teachers. Dr Kenneth Rowe wrote a paper that I rate as one that really reinforces what is at the heart of any educator and anyone who has an interest in education. What makes the greatest change in education? Kenneth Rowe’s paper – I do not recall the title of it, but if you go back in the Parliamentary Record, I have referred to it a few times. I remember reading this paper. By the time I landed in Alice Springs, I thought: ‘That is absolutely right. You can mention this to any educator’. What makes the greatest difference in educational outcomes? It is teachers. Teachers make the difference.
Invest in novel ideas and in things that create impressions, new learning strategies, new approaches to curriculum. As I said at the beginning, If anyone has been involved in education for some time as I have - I was never a supporter of outcomes-based education. I never got caught up too much - as much as I could resist it - in all the fads that flow through education which preoccupies and burdens teachers from their primary task of engaging with those wonderful kids who are so hungry to learn. They get snowed under.
That is what is going to happen here. There is going to be that snowing under with additional expectations which are very vague, broad and abstract. I know what it is like in a middle school. I know the pressure that falls upon teachers who are endeavouring to deliver this kind of broad, general, fanatic approach. The minister has his day in the sun, and the expectations of parents are elevated. Off we go, perhaps with our school uniforms, to new and exciting locations across the countryside and expect something drastically different. However, you are actually quite likely going to find teachers who are a little more burdened now with the task of delivering this in classrooms.
However, we have not dealt with the core of this, which is the curriculum. We really are setting ourselves up for a very big challenge, indeed. However, this is the role of governments, ministers and Cabinets to weigh it all up and make the decision. It is just a shame, with the timing of all this, that it seems to smack of too much listening to the political imperatives inherent within this whole discussion
If you track the political windows of opportunity, it was too scary to go anywhere near this issue of changing the way that the physical structure of schools would be configured across the Territory - they would not touch that before the election. You just made vague reference to it but kept talking about these really nice, feel-good stuff about going to focus on the middle years of schooling. Well, that is excellent. Anybody would agree that that was benign and feel-good and appropriate to talk about focusing on the middle years of schooling. However, prolong that, hold that by stalling into a holding pattern for as long as you can until 18 June and, then, not long afterwards, you start dropping hints that there are going to be some real change. Then - wacko! - we now have a very prompt process of, probably, the third round of the consultation, if you could call it that …
Mr Stirling: You told us to get on with it the year before, Terry. You forget what you said 12 months ago.
Mr MILLS: Just for the sake of the honourable member on the other side who is chiming up a little, he obviously did not hear. There were two aspects to this consultation. The first aspect was the most benign and easy to sell: ‘We are going to focus on the middle years of schooling. What do you think community?’ ‘We think that is great’. ‘Hmmm, they all think it is great. Do you think it is really great?’ ‘Yes, we do’. So that is round two of the community consultation. That is the most benign, the easiest thing to do.
Once that has been established and the election date had passed, then you talked about the difficult stuff and you left a very narrow frame for it to be considered, digested and implemented. The questions and the arguments urging for a different approach was ‘Let us talk about something substantial in that first prolonged stage. We are fairly genuine about reform in education, let us talk about that’.
However, they could not talk about that. They talked about the most benign and innocuous question which everybody agrees with - which cost us a lot of money, I am sure, to have that view established which was a politically expedient view - until after the election. Then it changed. That is when it sped up because the consultation - and you can probably see the inverted commas over that – was, in fact …
Mr Stirling: I have pages of quotes here, Terry, all supportive.
Mr MILLS: … a marketing exercise to sell a position that government wanted. I attended those community consultations. I have to say Sheila O’Sullivan did a marvellous job and she will be very highly paid for the work that she did - breathtaking, in fact.
The egg has now been scrambled and we will now look at it and see how it develops. I will now focus on what I fear are two aspects of this that are going to cause great concern. I would like some definitive statements from the minister.
One concern is Nightcliff High School. We would like to have satisfied this niggle that there maybe some other agenda afoot; that is, is Nightcliff going to survive? Will it be maintained and retained as a government school? We need to have that clarified because, to any observer, the decision, as it pans out, puts the viability of that school at risk. Also Sanderson High School. I cannot think of the other schools that have been left with smaller numbers during this transitionary period. Perhaps there is that agenda but that can be clarified by a clear statement from the minister. It should not be too hard to do. I will come back to that.
It is of grave concern that the community in Palmerston and the rural area was not asked the right question. I do not recall at any stage anyone in the Palmerston or rural community being asked if they would like to have a very large high school structure in Palmerston: ‘Would you like to see the school increased in size - all those in favour please raise your hands?’ That question was never asked by Ms O’Sullivan, not at all. If you were honestly seeking the view of the good folk of Palmerston and the rural area, you would have put all those ideas before them. They were of the view that there was going to be something quite innovative occurring in Palmerston - a senior secondary campus near the university. The news of those considerations, with little glossies at times, had travelled down a number of pathways. That there was something genuinely innovative going to be put in place in Palmerston, near the campus, was met with some excitement in the Palmerston and rural community. That was exciting.
Then, running in the background, was this $10m that was delivered to Palmerston High School. Heaven knows, I have forgotten which year it was, but I know it was re-announced again.
Mr Stirling: It is $11m now.
Mr MILLS: It should be a lot more than that because of the length of time it took. The announcements that were made: ‘$10m going to be spent in Palmerston!’ The parents go, ‘Hey, yippee, because we have a crowded school at Bakewell and we have a very seriously overcrowded school at Woodroffe. That is good news’. Well, that good news was so good that they re-announced the same good news the following year with no action, and then again. Then the strangest thing occurred; this senior secondary facility just disappeared on us. That left the people of Palmerston and rural area confused, concerned and somewhat angry because we are still left with Woodroffe, Bakewell having their educational outcomes challenged by overcrowding, year after year.
Mr Stirling: That is not true. They have great outcomes in those schools.
Mr MILLS: To pick up the interjection, yes, there are great outcomes at those schools notwithstanding, however, the pressure that those teachers and the administration of the school and the school councils have had to withstand year after year. I have said on many occasions when I visited those schools and spoke to those teachers, either privately or formally, it is an immense credit to those school councils and those teachers that have been able to maintain a high standard of education performance under difficult circumstances. The very first function I ever attended as an elected member was in 1999, at the opening of Bakewell Primary School. All these years later, it is now the largest school in the Northern Territory.
The real issue is that, without any consultation of a substantive nature, it is proposed that in Palmerston there is going to be no senior secondary facility, which would have fitted in perfectly with the aims and objectives of this reform to change the look of education. You now have a mega-school, a super school at Palmerston High School - Years 7 to Year 12s. If the minister has visited that place, he will have found that it is actually a rather small site. I understand also that the basketball court is going to be removed whilst they develop this annexe. If the Palmerston community were consulted - and you are very keen to find out exactly what the community thinks you would have the courage to actually ask them: ‘Is this meeting with your approval? Is this the best that we can do for you?’ I believe the community would leave you with no misunderstanding: ‘This is not what we expected of government. It is not what we were led to believe we were receiving’. I understand the high school is pretty excited they have some money to play with, and there are some great concept plans.
However, I do not support this initiative of this government to bolster, increase and enlarge the secondary school in Palmerston. I believe it is wrong. If you are looking at how you are going to better deliver secondary education and, particularly in this case, middle schooling, you want to make that transition from the primary school into the middle school less intrusive than it has been going from primary into secondary. How much more intrusive can it be if they leave their little primary school and go into a school of 1400 students on a restricted site? It is a small site. This is a super school that is being constructed. This is a decision that has occurred which will come back to haunt government and those aspiring members in Palmerston. Try to sell this one! It would be easier to sell if you had not already raised the expectation in Palmerston that you had something special in mind at the university, something that inspired and encouraged. Instead, with all the hype about the possibilities that middle schooling presents, we have something that you could not have made further from the core values of middle schooling; that is, 1400 students at Palmerston High School. The community will not be satisfied with that as a result of this whole exercise. That is the part of this whole exercise that will remain with this minister and with members opposite. It is a decision that has been made and, I warn, a difficult decision to manage, because it will be played out and it will have an effect.
In closing, a reminder to me and to the minister specifically regarding Nightcliff. We need to hear a clear statement as to the long-term plans for that school - a simple statement that it will remain a government school for a long time.
We started this with knowing, if you are going to reform education, you start with curriculum. You then strengthen those who have the capacity and the duty of teaching. Then, last of all, the infrastructure. In that order. Any paper, any commentator, anyone with a real interest in education, knows that if you are going to reform that is where you start.
The absence of an argument that substantiates the claim that results will improve is concerning. That will be watched. Once there was the assertion that, within five to 10 years, we will not see any difference. However, the minister has brought it right back to here and now we are going to see massive improvement straight up. Those results will be weighed and measured carefully. What will they be? What will we be measuring? Will we be measuring attendance? Will we be measuring academic performance? How? How can you do that when you have a curriculum that is so broad, so nebulous, so abstract, that it is almost unmeasurable. You can put out reports to parents …
Mr Stirling: TER scores are not a fair measure, just for one?
Mr MILLS: You can report backwards and forwards - we are talking about middle schooling, minister. The opposite of an outcomes-based education approach is a syllabus model that that would deliver the greatest change in education. It is an approach that, unlike the outcomes-based education approach which we are seeing now entrenched in Years 7, 8, 9 more firmly, there is greater concern of what is happening in Years 10, 11 and 12. The minister may be aware of the concerns that are now being expressed in South Australia with regards to the reform. That is going to flow without any comment or resistance, I guess, from government, into the shape of the Years 10, 11 and 12. That decision is largely made in South Australia, but it appears that we are just going to go down the same track. The first stage is to bring Year 10s into the 11 and 12 mix, and then we will change …
Mr Stirling: We actually are an interventionist government. We just do not let things happen.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, this is my contribution. The minister can debate at a proper time, as he should well know, if he can control himself and speak when he has his allocated time, rather than the silly banter across the Table.
Succinct and unambiguous – we need that kind of approach in our curriculum. We need an approach in our curriculum, particularly in Years 10, 11 and 12, that is academically based and focused on essential learning - not a phrase, but genuinely, essential knowledge. Year level related, measurable current curriculum reduces the capacity to measure what goes on in the classroom. We have to focus more on teacher directed lessons and formal instruction. It is teacher friendly, where you reduce the load on teachers who are spending their times in the evening basically writing tailor-made programs, not just for classes, but for groups within classes. If we have a syllabus-based approach, the teacher can spend more time in actually teaching the student, because it is the teacher who makes the greatest difference to educational outcomes.
There needs to be an increase in testing, and the expectation that standards are met before students are promoted. If we are going to build anything sustainable to genuinely reform education, those are the sorts of approaches that are required. Those are the sorts of discussions we were not permitted to have in this whole debate and, as a result, we are going to see some superficial change. It will have some refocusing of resources, largely in bricks and mortar. There will be a reinforcing of the outcomes-based approach. We will see it further encroach into Years 10, 11 and 12. Those are decisions that have been made as a result of this whole review.
You are going to have some serious issues in Palmerston of a practical nature to get to, quickly - with no money put aside in this budget for the Rosebery School. There is still an existing in-your-face problem for teachers today in Palmerston, and there will be even further problems in the future as the Year 7s are brought into a small site at the Palmerston High School.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I apologise to the member for Braitling. However, I have another appointment to make in a certain time so I would like to make my contribution now so that the business of government can continue as well.
The policy decision that government has made is quite sound and, I believe, is seen by the bulk of the community as being a beneficial change in our secondary education system. That is reassuring. What we are left with is some hot spots of local issues and variations on the initial single process that was put forward.
I agree with the opposition spokesman on Education that it is not the only factor that is going to affect the education outcomes of our secondary schools. Curriculum is, obviously, important and so is the quality of teachers and the professional development support that is available to them. All of those things are going to impact on educational outcomes.
However, there is no question, either in my mind or in the mind of the vast majority of the community, that a middle school model is going to bring benefit. It will refocus debate on the performance of our government schools within the Northern Territory. I believe that is healthy. It has been overdue in our education system that we actually address the outcomes of our current programs and the way in which they are organised.
I will now spend my contribution looking at the Alice Springs schools and the decisions that have been made regarding those. I believe Cabinet has made two very wise decisions. The first decision was to allow options to be put to the Alice Springs school and general community regarding the way in which we pursue the middle school model in Central Australia. There was no doubt, when the final round of consultation was held, that Alice Springs did have a choice of either having two middle school campuses or one. They were both put forward. The community made it absolutely clear as to the preference they had for it. I had the experience of marching in the May Day section of the Bangtail Muster. Part of the May Day float group was the ANZAC Hill High parents, students and supporters, who were very warmly supported by probably thousands of people along the route of the march. Certainly there was a number of people signing the petition. There was no doubt what the general opinion of the Alice Springs community was.
Cabinet then made another decision. It was also to the credit of the Cabinet and our government that we listened to what the community overwhelmingly said. I guess the one truism that applies to all education is that, if it is not fully supported by the community, it is going to be very difficult to make whatever model you want to put forward produce the results that we all want for students in the secondary system in the Northern Territory.
We have now reached a point where we have given Alice Springs community and its secondary schools the chance to prove themselves against the outcomes that have been, quite rightly, demanded by the Education minister and the Department of Education. We simply have to raise the standard of what our schools are producing.
I have met with many teachers now since the decision was announced, and can certainly say that the message getting to those teachers is not one of status quo, let us just go back to what we were doing. There are some real, huge challenges ahead now for government schools in Alice Springs, that every teacher, every school council member, and the general community have to face up to - to make the three campus model work, particularly in Alice Springs where there is very strong competition from the private schools in Central Australia. Unlike Darwin, some 50% of the secondary-age students go to private schools, not go to government schools. There is some major continued work needed, because I know Centralian College, particularly, has been making some inroads on the percentage of students they are catering to, compared to the three private schools that are operating as well.
It is pretty clear talking to the teachers, the elements of the challenge that is ahead. The first element is to aggressively recruit from the Year 6 students who are coming out of our primary schools. That is a very important task for the secondary schools, the two middle schools. They are going to have to trot their wares, sell their case, to as many families as possible sending students up to the Year 7 level. That is absolutely essential, given the low student numbers that could, potentially, develop in a two campus system without Years 10, 11 and 12 involved. I am assured that is going to happen.
The second thing is that, when you look at the enrolments compared to the attendance of those two middle schools, there is plenty of room for work to be done to re-engage or to engage more students. ANZAC Hill High, to take an example, would expect to enrol probably something of the order of 200 to 220 students at the start of next year on the current patterns. They actually have 30 or 40 less students than that attending regularly at school. Those students who have enrolled but are not attending are a target group for a school campaign subprogram to re-engage those students into the school programs. That alone would bring the attendance up above 200, and that is starting to make the schools viable. A school program, a subprogram, aimed at increasing the success of the attendance compared to the enrolment would be absolutely essential for those schools to institute.
What do those programs look like? These are professional teachers and I am sure they will come up with professional proposals as to how that can be done. Some of the ideas being mooted were included in one of the options for the middle schools in Alice Springs. Maybe we could set up sports-based or music-based programs in the schools to act as an attracting force for the students who are not inclined to come to school regularly in that group.
It is essentially my view, that many of the parents put forward arguments during the third phase consultation along the lines that this family and this family do not get along, so you cannot mix the students. That is an absolutely ridiculous proposal to put forward as a way of forming up how we provide educational programs in the Alice Springs community in Central Australia. We have to get beyond that. That is parochial nonsense. We have to get to a point ...
Mrs Braham: How come you have set up these reconciliation groups when you have had problems with families?
Dr TOYNE: Member for Braitling, you will get your chance.
Mrs Braham: You know you have family problems.
Dr TOYNE: Say what you like in your speech, just leave me alone.
There are many ways in which those two middle schools can exchange students into the programs and specialise what is occurring on their campuses. There is no reason why Alice Springs High students cannot attend, say, the music programs at ANZAC Hill. There is no reason why ANZAC Hill secondary students cannot go to the Alice Springs High School to attend specialist programs, whether they be academic or sports-based. In fact, the sporting facilities around Alice Springs High School are far better than the ones available to ANZAC Hill. I believe there is a huge potential for those two schools to exchange their strengths and open up the width of the programs that are extended to both.
I heard plenty of arguments, both during the consultations and through my network of teachers that I talk regularly to in Central Australia, about the need for a smaller student cohort. There was a very strong argument put by both of those current schools, because of the very diverse nature of their student body at the moment, for the need to have a lot of counselling and support for students. That is better done in a small school. It is not new to education around Australia. There have been many jurisdictions where schools have become very large and there has been a realisation that they have become counterproductive to providing the detailed support that students need.
The movement of students to Year 10 remains an issue. Both of those middle schools have concerns about some of the students that would be going to Centralian College under the new arrangement. However, when you talk more carefully to the teachers involved and to the leadership of the schools, they are not worried about the whole body of those students. There are some of those students they feel will struggle to make the transition. With both schools, they are saying the vast majority of students will be okay in the transition. We are talking micromanagement of some of those students to help them into that new situation. I am sure, with the professional and management skills of those three schools, they will work that out. They are everyday problems that teachers deal with, while professionally managing the best interests of their students. I have absolute confidence that those issues can be worked through.
The other element is something I know I have been promoting as a personal focus; that is, the relationship between the urban school programs and the emerging remote school programs. One of the things that this minister can put on his CV with great pride is that, in his watch, secondary education came to the bush. That was a huge decision by government, a huge change of direction in the priorities within our education system. We have to support those programs. I have gone around to as many of the remote secondary programs that are operating around the Territory remote communities now, and I just hear every time I go to there: ‘We want some sort of relationship; a sister school relationship, or a relationship to the schools in Katherine or Alice Springs or Darwin, so that we can draw from the broader resources and skills that are available in the education system. We are not happy to do absolutely everything out here’.
Even with open learning, there are other things you just simply cannot deliver. You need to have different environments for the students to expand the range of what they are doing. I can see some really major benefits in all these emerging secondary remote programs interacting with the three urban Alice Springs schools. That alone would not only introduce more students into our system and have them better supported through a network of schools, but it will also deal with some of the issues that are emerging with the drift of young people, particularly into Alice Springs and other urban centres. We need to get them in there while they are still at school and start to habitualise them to what you do in an urban centre, because it is different to living out bush. You need to have skills to live in the town, to use the town’s facilities, to get yourself a job if you want to stay in town for a long period. All of those things are best done by having some flow between the remote community programs and the urban-based secondary programs - whether that be at the middle school level or at the senior level, once those students are emerging in the bush programs.
Mr Acting Speaker, the minister and the government has made the right decision here. I believe the community accepts and recognises that. We now have to get down to the sort of detail I have been talking about in Central Australia. It is down to the grunt work of making sure it makes sense, that it works, and it produces the outcomes school-by-school, area-by-area. I have no doubt that the Alice Springs schools staying in the three-campus situation they are in at the moment will justify the faith that we have shown, and prove to us that they can rise to that challenge and produce the outcomes that we, quite rightly, want to see those schools producing.
I look forward to seeing more apprentices in apprenticeships, and more students coming out of those schools into tertiary education, with much better scores at all levels through those secondary years, from both the urban schools and the remote programs in Central Australia. It is an exciting time to be around. We can look forward to some very great results that we can get together and celebrate.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Speaker, the minister has done it. He has introduced his significant reform and we are all going to sit back and wait and see what happens. I just wonder, minister, if you will be around long enough to see the effect of what you have done. You talked about significant reform, and we have to realise that education is a moving feast; it is always changing. To be honest, Alice Springs has never had a problem with middle schools. We have been handling it very well ever since we took the Year 7 students into those junior secondary schools. The problem we had was the approach of the consultation and some of the structural changes that you are introducing to programs that are running well. Why change something if it is going well? Why create change for the sake of change?
I was thinking when you talked about a significant reform. Remember when we introduced Transition? Kids in the Territory went straight into Year 1 when they were five. We realised that they were having problems so we introduced continuous Transition. Philosophically, we were sold on it; we thought it was the greatest thing ever. We believed we were giving the kids the best start to school. However, over time, it was not long before the problems started to emerge and we realised the demands on students and teachers were having detrimental effects. As time went by, changes occurred to the way children came into the schools during Transition. I only make that example because I am quite sure that, in four or five years time, you will need to evaluate what changes you are introducing now and whether they were for the best and, if they were not, then make changes again.
I also believe, now that you have introduced it, we have to give it support. Although there is still some hardship and concern with some our parents and teachers in Alice Springs, we have to get behind it. What worries me a little is that there may be a backlash to public schools; that there may be a switch with people going to enrol in private schools because they are a bit disillusioned with what you have done after their strong support for what their schools are doing. Having taught in public schools all my teaching career, and as someone who believes that public schools provide an extremely good system here in the Territory, I worry a little that you have pushed a lot of our parents into the private school system. Of course, from your point of view, that is probably a good thing because it will save you money.
I also worry about the fact that we have two small schools now in Alice Springs, and taking the Years 9 and 10 out of them will have a significant effect upon their numbers. For instance, ANZAC Hill, at the moment, has 280 kids and they are going to lose 70 Year 10s and 70 Year 9s, so that leaves you with a secondary school of 140. I do not see how you are ever going to maintain that. Alice Springs High School will end up with a population of about 250 by the time they lose their Year 9s and 10s, plus their Futures Directions programs and Alice Outcomes. You cannot tell me, minister, that you will maintain two small schools with numbers as low as that …
Dr Lim: It is closure by stealth.
Mrs BRAHAM: I am quite sure that in 12 months time, you will close one of those schools.
Mr Stirling: That is the latest is it? You blokes tell lies. You tell big lies, Richard.
Mrs BRAHAM: I cannot see you maintain that, particularly as you are taking away two of the most successful programs we have had at ASHS. I am talking about the Futures Directions. I know there are people in this House who will agree with me that, when they were commenced, they really set a different model for many of the kids at risk who would not attend school. Many of our kids are from town camps, and there are about 75% Aboriginal kids in that program. I do not know whether they will stay at school when you move that program to Centralian College. I am not casting aspersions on ...
Mr Stirling: You told me the kids from Irrkerlantye would not go to school. Did you read the Alice Springs News? You told me the kids from Irrkerlantye would not go to school.
Mrs BRAHAM: Don’t tell me you believe what Erwin writes? Wow!
Mr Stirling: Now you are going to tell me these kids will not go to school.
Mrs BRAHAM: You were the one putting them down, and what have they discovered about the Irrkerlantye kids …
Mr Stirling interjecting.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Minister for Education! Speak to me, member for Braitling.
Mrs BRAHAM: … that the standard of their results is actually good, and that some of them in high school have mainstreamed. So, minister, do not come me with that gobble …
Mr Stirling: Were they ever going to mainstream at Irrkerlantye? Were they ever going to get a proper secondary at Irrkerlantye?
Mrs BRAHAM: They are at that level, minister. Speak to him. Do not speak back to me, Mr Acting Speaker.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: I think you will find that I did, member for Braitling.
Mrs BRAHAM: If he yells at me, I am entitled to yell back.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: The clock is ticking on you.
Mrs BRAHAM: That is okay. Minister, in your reply you can put on record whether you intend to keep those two schools open, because that would be a …
Mr Stirling: You people changed your mind. You wanted it kept open, now you want it closed.
Mrs BRAHAM: Yes, we do, but I bet you close them in 12 months time, for sure.
Mr Stirling: Now you want it closed.
Mrs BRAHAM: Of course, we want to leave them open. We also want to maintain our two programs at Alice Springs High School which have been so successful.
I am worried that your decision has been based more on physical changes rather than on educational rationale. I would hope, as the member for Blain mentioned, that you do not go down the road of Western Australia, which is considering looking at all subjects in Year 12 to have equal weight for tertiary TER scores. I believe curriculum is the important part, and I believe teachers play a significant part.
I have no problems. The member for Blain is worried that the teachers are going to have problems when they get the Year 7s. It has been proved at Alice Springs High School and ANZAC Hill High School that when they did get the Year 7s they changed the teaching methods. After 12 months, they realised this was not good for these young students, so they changed the style and it worked. Minister, we are not saying it did not work.
In your statement, you made some pretty good generalisations. You said: ‘Adopting the middle schools approach will lift the educational reforms of Territory students from the bottom to amongst the best’. You also say that our young people will be more engaged, they will be better prepared and they will have a strong foundation. I know the teachers out there are going to be pretty insulted by those comments. Do you not think now that they are working their butts off to engage students in learning; that they are really trying to give the students the best preparation they can for when they leave school? Sometimes, you do not realise that, with these comments you make, minister, you really hurt the people who are the ones who are doing the best for them.
I also want to point out to you your Labor Party platform: recognising that one size does not fit all school communities; consult school councils, parents, teachers, industries, school communities, relevant ministries regarding the local and regionally appropriate level of devolution of powers. You even said in your platform, one size does not fit all but, suddenly, we are having the same boot right across the Territory. Minister, you have jumped to these conclusions without really looking at the results, and that is what is going to be the proof of the pudding: what is going to happen in two or three year’s time. Have a look at how many students have continued in this particular system. Have a look at how many have gone to the private system, and have a look at how many have dropped out. Those numbers are the ones that are going to tell whether you are right or not.
In saying that, I hope you are right. I hope we do succeed because it is important. You said that there will have to be a professional development focus. Forever, I have been saying that one of the most important parts of any education system is to make sure that all teachers have professional development. You said in making these decisions, you have minimised disruption to students, their families and to teachers. I do not think you really thought about that very carefully: minimum disruption to students, their families and to teachers. Teachers do not even know where they will be next year, for goodness sake. Families are not quite sure how they are going to get their kids to school. They are not even sure what the make-up of the school will be. You make these generalisations as though it is a fate accompli, but there is still a lot of hard work to be done. You said the government will retain two middle schools in Alice Springs but, as you know, I question that. I do not think you will.
You are talking about funding Centralian College to the tune of $975 000. Wow! What we could do with that sort of money. Do we really need to upgrade Centralian College that was built for quite a few students? Are you going to say to CDU: ‘Get out of our premises and let us have it for the students who are coming in’? It worried me when I heard the principal of Centralian College talking about: ‘We will have to change the playground’. We are talking about Year 10s. ‘We will have to change the timetable’, and that was a good one. It seems as though suddenly we are going to have this precious group of children going into a school where you are going to have two different groups: Years 11 and 12 who run an 8 to 5 timetable and have free periods, and this little group of Year 10s who are going to be isolated from the rest of Centralian College. That is the sort of feedback people in Alice Springs are getting from the Education Department. I do not think that was your intent, minister, but if that is what is going to happen, then something is not right.
You also said you are going to put in $3.12m for bussing students. I hope your bussing system is going to be better than it is at the moment. These generalisations go on. ‘These decisions will mean students will receive an improved education.’ ‘Wow, thanks very much,’ said teachers at ANZAC Hill. ‘It will mean better attendance and greater attention. It will mean education, while remaining a vigorous process, will be more relevant for our students.’ Wow, you ask the teachers who put the kids through the VET courses. You ask the teachers who are actually preparing the students for their SOCE subjects. I think you have taken the line, minister, that you want to put down teachers.
You should not because you are a teacher yourself, and you know how darn hard it is in the classroom to work, to cater for different students. You know that different students have different needs. You also know that not all students will need to go to university or to reach Year 12. Even though I see some states looking at increasing the school leaving age to 17, you know we have a skills shortage in the workforce; that we are trying to get kids into apprenticeships and traineeships. Yet, somehow, you do not seem to realise that these specialist programs that have started have done so much for just what you want. That is what you need to acknowledge.
There is no need at all for Future Directions and Alice Outcomes to be disbanded from Alice Springs High School. They are supported tremendously by teachers, parents and students. It will be an indictment on this government if, in 12 months time, we see the kids who were in that opt out. That is what worries me a little, minister, the fact that these changes …
Mr Stirling: Exactly what you said about Irrkerlantye: they are all attending and all achieving.
Mrs BRAHAM: No they are not, not all, sorry. That is another one of your generalisations. You are pretty good at flipping those out.
Mr Stirling: No, you tell lies.
Mrs BRAHAM: No, no, no, no, no.
Dr LIM: A point of order, Mr Acting Speaker!
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Yes.
Mr Stirling: You said they would not go to school.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Minister, I ask you to withdraw that comment.
Mr Stirling: I withdraw the accusation of lies, it is untruths.
Mrs BRAHAM: You can have your turn in a minute.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Minister, I ask you to let the member for Braitling finish her contribution in peace.
Mrs BRAHAM: Mr Acting Speaker, now you have made me lose my place, but not to worry.
The minister also talked about zoning, which has not been introduced. I would say thank goodness, because I do not know how on earth you would zone in Alice Springs anyway. I do not think that is a relevant point, but you have to be careful that zoning will not be applied by some parents who suddenly decide instead of sending their child to a particular school they might send them to another. It is the private schools that worry me most of all.
You talked about each remote school with Year 7 students now receiving a new staffing formula. We can say we have not looked after secondary students in remote schools very well, but they are not attending school. You are not even getting the primary school kids to school. I have talked about truancy in this House so many times I cannot believe it. You do not seem to want to attack truancy. At the moment, students are supposed to stay at school until they are 15 years of age. Are they? No, you only have to go to Casuarina to see many of them there as you do in the mall in Alice Springs. People continually ask me why these school-age kids are on our streets when they should be in school. If anything, the minister should be addressing that with some positive action as he can do in his act, which has been pointed out to him.
In saying all that, I am not against the middle schools concept. I was pleased to see the Minister for Central Australia put his support behind it. I guess what worries me most is the fact that we have had some successful schools in Alice Springs. Although the minister does not believe they are getting the outcomes that he would like, at least they are supported and have good parent support. At least they are catering for many of the kids who would not be going to school.
Minister, if you are going to do it, do it properly and let us see in two or three years time just what has happened. However, in 12 months time, let us look at numbers and see whether you have been right or whether people have decided they no longer want to be part of the public school system and go into the private system.
Dr BURNS (Planning and Lands): Mr Acting Speaker, I congratulate the minister on the introduction of middle schools in the Northern Territory. I totally agree with his statement that it is a significant step in education in the Northern Territory with the aim of improving educational outcomes for our secondary students. I commend the minister on the middle schools approach. In a previous statement in this House, I supported middle schools and went into detail of why I support middle schools. However, tonight, because infrastructure will play a major part in implementing middle schools, my speech will focus on the delivery of infrastructure needs for middle schools. It is an integral part of the planning process.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has been closely involved with the Department of Employment, Education and Training to plan for the middle schools project from the outset. The aim has been to ensure that the middle schools program is fully supported by necessary buildings and other infrastructure, as well as ensuring that transport and road issues are addressed. I am pleased to say that all required infrastructure has been planned, funded and scheduled to meet the middle schools implementation program over the next three years.
The total anticipated infrastructure expenditure on the middle schools program is $42.7m. To support middle schools, the government has committed $9m in the financial year 2005-06, $20.7m in the financial year 2006-07, and $13m in the financial year 2007-08. In addition, there is a further commitment over the three years of $3.96m for furniture, fit-out and IT requirements. In practice, this will mean that the construction industry can expect to undertake construction work on middle schools to the value of $4.3m in the remainder of this year to Christmas. Construction work to the value of $36m will continue in the calendar year 2007, with the remaining $6.4m in early 2008. It is anticipated that most of this work will be undertaken by Territory construction companies. The figures through DPI over the years since I have been minister show that, with these projects, about 93% to 95% of construction work in the Territory undertaken through DPI is undertaken by local firms, and I would expect this to continue.
In addition to this sum of $42.7m, the total work going to the design industry over this period will be in the order of $3.5m. $500 000 of this design work has already been let to local consultants. More is currently being prepared by the Department of Planning and Infrastructure. Work is currently in hand and is on schedule for the following projects: $19.5m for a new Darwin middle school; $11m for Palmerston High School; $4.6m for Taminmin High School; $3.4m to redevelop facilities at Casuarina Senior College; $1.35m for Nhulunbuy High School; $975 000 for Centralian Senior Secondary College; $970 000 for Katherine High School; $1m as the first of two tranches of minor new works required to make adjustments to a number of other schools; and a further tranche of minor new works will be developed during 2007.
As I mentioned earlier, nearly $4m has been allocated in furniture and fit-out, including IT and laptop computers. This was allocated across a wide range of schools. All this is in addition to the $2m allocated in this year’s budget for refurbishment of Darwin High School. Funding is also under consideration for the major revision and enhancement of the school bus services which will be necessary to serve the new middle school system. I will come to this later.
I will now deal with the work on infrastructure planning for each school year - what will be ready for Term 1, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Under the middle schools implementation program, the following facilities will be available for the first day of school, Term 1, 2007. Casuarina Senior College will welcome about 100 Year 10 students in 2007 and a further 100 students in 2008 - $3.4m has been allocated to accommodate this. The work will be completed in time for Term 1 2007 and will include: $400 000 to upgrade the existing administration block; $400 000 to upgrade the services to support these works; $350 000 to upgrade IT labs; $250 000 for the redevelopment of parking and access; and $2m on other work currently being defined. Design work has already commenced for this work and is on schedule. Public tenders will be invited around the end of next month, probably in three appropriate trade-related packages. Construction is scheduled to begin in August, for completion in time for Term 1 2007.
Centralian Senior Secondary College in Alice Springs will become a senior years college, taking all Year 10 to 12 students in Alice Springs, and will increase its capacity from 340 to about 600 by 2008. $975 000 has been allocated to upgrade facilities by the start of Term 1 2007. The work consists of $300 000 for an airconditioning upgrade scheduled to take place during the Christmas school holiday period; $100 000 for an upgrade to the maths and business wing, also scheduled to take place during the Christmas holidays; $275 000 for upgrades to the library and canteen; $150 000 for the outdoor activities area; and $100 000 for IT upgrades. Design work for this is under way. Public tenders are expected to be called in August, probably in two or three more trade-related packages. The two critical elements of this are the airconditioning upgrade and the maths business wing, as these require the school to be empty, and work cannot start on the site until the end of Term 4 this year. Prefabrication work off-site will enable upgrades to be in place for Term 1 2007.
Some minor new works are required to make adjustments to a number of other schools. $1m has been allocated as the first of two tranches of minor new works in the 2006-07 financial year. These will be carried out principally at Sanderson, Dripstone, Parap and Millner, but also at some remote area schools such as Maningrida that have approved secondary programs.
A second tranche of minor new works will be developed during 2007. This work is currently being developed between the Departments of Planning and Infrastructure and Education. Much of this work can proceed during term time. $1m of the $3.96m allocated to furnish a fit-out in IT will be spent between now and the beginning of Term 1 2007. The procurement of this furniture fit-out in IT is to be consolidated under a single procurement process and coordinated with the infrastructure program.
The following facilities will be available for the first day of school Term 1 2008: $11m has been allocated for Palmerston High School, which will take Year 7s from 2008 and will have middle and senior years sub-schools. Definition work and preliminary design is well under way for a design and construct contract to be tendered in July this year for delivery by Term 1 2008.
The new Darwin middle school is to be built on the Darwin High School site to accommodate 600 students. The school will be constructed on land in the north-east corner of the Darwin High School site, adjacent to the museum. This land has been allocated for educational purposes for a very long time, and is an extremely attractive site for a middle school given its location on Bullocky Point adjacent to the extensive parklands and footpaths, the museum, the botanical gardens and the opportunity for appropriately designed road access.
The school will be a state-of-the-art middle school facility, making use of the design development from the best example available from states and territories with proven middle school experience. The essentially green field nature of the site allows us freedom to do this. The new school will be physically and visually quite separate from the existing high school buildings, and will allow the development of an independent middle school community, while giving access to some of the high school facilities and providing a logical progression for students within the same campus area. The design does not affect the existing high school main oval.
Construction is scheduled in two stages. $14m is allocated in 2006-07 for Stage 1, which will accommodate 350 middle school students and will be available in Term 1 2008. This will be followed by $5.5m in 2007-08 for Stage 2, which will be available from Term 1 2009, bringing the total capacity of the school up to 600. Definition of the school requirements and master plans for both stages are already well progressed. This master plan will be separated into two design and construct packages, with the first being advertised in July and the second to be advertised around September 2007.
Traffic and access issues concerning the new Darwin middle school are dealt with under another project looking at existing traffic issues surrounding the whole of the Bullocky Point area, and I will come to that later.
For Nhulunbuy, design work has already begun for the following work totalling $1.35m, which will be carried out in two stages. Stage 1 will be handed over the school at the end of Term 4 2007 and will consist of: $300 000 for the refurbishment of Block 21 for Year 7s; $250 000 to relocate the Special Education Unit and the music school; and $300 000 for the refurbishment of Block 22 for Year 12. These will be available for the school to commission by the end of Term 4 2007, ready for 2008. This will be followed immediately by Stage 2; the refurbishment of the administration block at a cost of $500 000. This will be available by mid-February 2009. The work is well in hand for delivery on schedule.
In Katherine, the high school is to be extended to include part of the existing MacFarlane Primary School to support the middle schools implementation. Works totalling $970 000 will include the following elements: $750 000 for new toilet facilities and staff common room; $100 000 for the removal of the existing transportables that contain asbestos; $50 000 for the relocation of play equipment; $100 000 for a new toilet block and common room facilities; and $70 000 for new landscaping and new covered pathways to integrate the MacFarlane facilities into the high school block. Design work has already commenced on these and is well ahead of schedule. Tenders will be called around April 2007. Construction work on-site should begin in June 2007, and is scheduled to allow a handover to the school for commissioning by December 2007.
The government has allocated $4.6m to Taminmin High School in order for it to be able to offer a middle years school and senior years school in 2008. The work includes $3.7m for 10 new classrooms; $150 000 for a new toilet block; and $750 000 for power supply upgrade. Tenders for construction are expected to be advertised in December 2006. Work on-site will commence in early 2007 for a handover to the school by the end of 2007 for the beginning of 2008. This work is well in hand and on schedule for Term 1 2008.
The second tranche of minor new works funding will pay for minor changes to enable a number of other schools to accept middle school students by Term 1 2008. Subject to further analysis during the 2007 implementation, about $1.5m is likely to be set aside in 2007-08. A further $1.48m of the $3.96m allocated to furniture, fit-out and IT will be spent in preparation for the beginning of Term 1 2008 under the consolidated single procurement process, and coordinated with the infrastructure program.
The following facilities will be available for the first day of school Term 1 2009: $5.5m has been allocated for Stage 2 of the new Darwin middle school which will continue on immediately from the completion of Stage 1. This will complete Darwin middle school and bring the school capacity up to 600. The addition of 600 middle school students, together with the anticipated growth of Darwin Senior School, will result in a combined student capacity at Bullocky Point of about 1850 by 2009.
The traffic management implications of the increase in student drop-off and pick-up traffic, together with the access to the Museum and Art Gallery, Ski Club, Bowling Club and the adjacent parklands, clearly needs to be addressed by January 2009. Previous studies identified planning concepts for this area, including future educational facilities which are now Darwin middle schools. The middle schools program brings a degree of urgency to refine these concepts in a form suitable for inclusion in the new NT Planning Scheme. More will be said at a later date when the planning exercise is complete. Among other things, such a plan is likely to create a formal entry to the locality and revise the precinct’s internal traffic circulation including Atkins Drive, Conacher Street and the high school loop.
Those who have had to drop off and pick up students from Darwin High School, as I have had to, especially during peak hour in the morning, will be aware that there is already a congestion problem at both the drop-off point and also at the junction of Conacher Street and Gilruth Avenue.
A further $1.48m of the $3.96m allocated to furniture, fit-out and IT is set aside in 2008-09 and will be spent in preparation for the beginning of Term 1 2009.
The middle school program will require changes to a number of supporting services, the major one being the school bus service. The aggregation of Year 7 primary school classes into fewer larger middle schools changes the pattern of school bus transport and requires a major revision of the school bus services, including rescheduling and additional bus services. The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has been assessing the impact that the middle schooling change will have on school bus transport as an integral part of planning for middle schools.
It is anticipated that the survey will be conducted through schools to determine the travel requirements of students. This information will be used to reframe and plan the school bus requirements ready for the start of the 2007 school year. Additional bus services may be required in some areas; however, refinement of existing bus routes will be made to ensure the most efficient use of buses. Maps of proposed school routes will be available later in the year for students and parents to prepare for the 2007 year. It is anticipated that some of the school bus routes that currently experience capacity issues will be refined as part of the bus route review.
Clearly, there is a great deal of work to do to ensure that the middle schools implementation is properly supported by required infrastructure within the time frame. This project is one of the larger and more complex that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure has had to deliver. I am very pleased that the Department of Planning and Infrastructure has been able to work so closely with the Department of Education throughout the planning process, and I believe that this will continue. This has made possible a good start and, in some cases, even finish of the detailed definition of design process that led up to the middle schools announcement.
In conclusion, 100% of the definition design construction work required to support the middle schools has been scheduled into a time frame that achieves the required facilities by the first day of Term 1 in years 2007, 2008 and 2009. It will be tight, but I am very determined that we achieve those time frames. I know the department and the construction agency is very much focused on delivering these outcomes for government. This is a very important initiative for government and it will deliver quality education to students.
There is a massive investment in new infrastructure. It will improve the amenity of the schools, and the facilities of schools. There is a lot of extra cash being spent in this over and above the capital works projects that were announced in the last budget, and I know that this is going to be welcomed by the construction industry right across the Territory. This is going to provide a lot of work. It is going to provide continuation of the high levels of activity that we have seen under this government, in contrast to the previous government in 2001 when there was zero growth in construction. People and companies were just sitting around with no work. This is a continuation of that work. This is a great step forward for education and it is also supporting the industry and economy throughout the Territory. I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Establishment of Estimates and Government Owned Corporation Scrutiny Committee
Establishment of Estimates and Government Owned Corporation Scrutiny Committee
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Speaker, I move that the Assembly appoint an Estimates Committee and a Government Owned Corporations Scrutiny Committee pursuant to the terms circulated to members.
This is a procedural motion to formally establish the Estimates Committee and the Government Owned Corporations Scrutiny Committee to scrutinise the budget next week, minister by minister, agency by agency. It is the fourth time that this Assembly will have formally had an Estimates Committee process to scrutinise the government budget for the 2006-07 financial year. It is an institution that is now evolving within this parliament which gives all members access to question ministers, and to also seek detailed information in regards to budget allocations and outputs and outcomes from CEOs and other senior government agency personnel.
The terms of reference are consistent with the previous sitting of the Estimates Committee last year, except that the sitting times have been extended. We now have an 8th minister in our Cabinet. As Leader of Government Business, I had the decision to make as to whether we kept the global time limits of some 45 hours for scrutiny of the budget, given that the budget allocation, essentially, has not substantially increased since the last sittings, or allocate an additional four-and-a-half hours for the additional minister. In a spirit of transparency and accountability, rather than compress the additional minister into the 45 hours time frame, we allowed another four-and-a-half hours for the committee’s capacity to scrutinise the budget this year. That is the significant change from last year.
I take this opportunity to thank all Assembly staff who have worked so hard to establish the Estimates Committee and make sure that the facilities are up and running. It is a significant logistical exercise. However, it is a process that has improved the transparency and accountability of government budgets. Even within the public sector, I can say that, as a minister who has had carriage of estimates questioning for a number of years now along with other ministers, agencies do take their responsibilities very seriously in regards to being prepared to present and front the Estimates Committee. I believe it has been a very worthwhile reform in agency accountability for outcomes and expenditures of monies that are appropriated to agencies through the budget bill that is currently passing through the parliament. Therefore, in agency and CEO accountability and the work that agencies put into understanding their responsibilities, it has been a significant move.
Mr Acting Speaker, I commend the motion to the House.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Mr Acting Speaker, I wish to make a number of comments, having heard much of what the minister said and having regard to the contents of the guidelines for this forthcoming Estimates Committee hearing. It is important, for the sake of completeness perhaps more than any other reason, for me to place on the Parliamentary Record, by way of a refresher, some of the difficulties we had with the estimates process we raised last year which have not been addressed by government.
I will run through a few things based, essentially, on the speech I made at the end of the estimates process last year. In that speech, I referred to what the member for Nhulunbuy, when he was Leader of Government Business, said on 23 May 2002, when he enthusiastically introduced the estimates process - and I liked what he said then …
Mr Stirling: I still feel proud of it.
Ms CARNEY: He still feels proud of it, and good on him. The problem is the reality does not resemble the hopeful optimism that the member for Nhulunbuy showed. I suppose that is the Australian Labor Party in the Northern Territory. He said on 23 May 2002 that estimates will benefit the opposition and will benefit Territorians. He did not qualify his remarks or say that there would be limitations; he simply said that it would assist all of us. It does not, and the process is flawed because of the very tight time limits that exist. When the member for Nhulunbuy proudly said that the estimates process would benefit the opposition and Territorians, we thought that we would have an opportunity to interrogate each minister for as long as it took.
I know Labor members who were members of parliament when the CLP was in office, complained. The Deputy Chief Minister has a good story. I believe he wants to bring tears to our eyes about how he parked his little suitcase at the old Darwin Hotel, and stayed up all night asking questions, and then went back the next morning and picked up his luggage and off he went. However, there was an advantage with that system, Mr Acting Speaker and fellow members. The advantage was, in the days when Labor was in opposition, they could just ask questions until their questions ran out. With the time frames that this government has consistently set for estimates, it really does bring into question the process, and it certainly highlights the deficiencies of the process when measured against what the member for Nhulunbuy wanted the estimates process to be. He said, in 2002:
- Accountability is a word often championed by oppositions and certainly ourselves in the past, but this government is serious about accountability and we see the Estimates Committee as another vehicle in favour of it.
I said, at the conclusion of estimates last year:
- Well, if this government was serious about accountability, you would not know it from the performance we saw this week.
I then went to talk about numerous examples of deficiencies in the system. We had belligerence on the part of some ministers and, on the part of others, a stubbornness and an unwillingness to answer questions. We had a number of questions involving, not the member for Nhulunbuy’s, the Chief Minister’s, or the member for Wanguri’s money, but money that belongs to all of us as Territorians, and we were consistently cut short. We culled our questions. I know that we do this every year and it has become traditional, so we may as well just get through it but, when we raised this, Labor said, ‘Your questions weren’t much good, you should have prioritised’.
This is a significant budget, it involves millions and millions of dollars, and a couple hours of questioning for some ministers. The Attorney-General is the Minister for Health. I have not looked because it is not my portfolio, but I think Health is probably up to about $700m these days, and Justice is around $400m. That is a lot of Territorians’ money that we should ask questions about. When you take into account the other portfolios that the minister for Justice and Health has, including Central Australia, that is one of the best examples of there just not being enough time in four-and-a-half hours or thereabouts.
The member for Nhulunbuy said in May 2002 that the Estimates Committee will:
- … provide individual members with an unparalleled opportunity to gather information on the operations of government.
If you wrote this yourself, Treasurer, you did well and you were particularly eloquent, if I may say so. However, the stringing together of the words that make up the sentence, unfortunately, just do not reflect the reality. I am not sure what is unparalleled about being given an hour, an hour-and-a-half or two hours to ask ministers who have the carriage of significant budgets, but that is a question which, no doubt, the member for Nhulunbuy can ask himself in his own time.
We did not enjoy what were, for the most part, indignant remarks along the lines of ‘get a briefing, get a briefing’, when we asked a curly one. We ask that the government treat us perhaps a little better this time. I live in hope.
When I spoke about this at the end of the Estimates Committee process last year, I said:
- The system that was in existence prior to Labor coming into office was very different. A minister was asked questions until the opposition ran out. If that meant that … the member for Nhulunbuy checked into his hotel and checked out again early the next morning without going to his room, so be it. At least he was given the courtesy and the opportunity of asking questions until he had no more.
I am not sure that I can illustrate the difficulties more graphically. Looking through what I said last year - oh, here is a good one, public servants. I am sure some Labor members felt pretty sorry for the public servants who, like the rest of us, were staying up late getting ready for estimates, and they rocked up on the third floor thinking they might get a run and get onto the field but, because there simply was not enough time, the poor buggers just did not get a run.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I do not think ‘poor buggers’ is the correct term to be using when describing our public servants.
Ms CARNEY: It is just a colloquial Australian expression, Mr Acting Speaker.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: I ask you to refrain from such colloquialisms in that context.
Mr WOOD: Can I speak to the point of order?
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr Wood: Oh, I thought there was.
Dr LIM: You did. You pulled her up. That is the point of calling a point of order. That is where you pulled her up.
Mr WOOD: I hope that parliament does not lose some of our colloquialisms, we do not get too sensitive to that.
Mr ACTING SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Leader of the Opposition.
Ms CARNEY: I respect the ruling, Mr Acting Speaker, but do not agree. I respect it because of the position you hold, and I withdraw it. In any event, the poor little blighters stayed up late, did not get a run …
Dr Burns: Well, you should organise your time a bit better – completely disorganised.
Ms CARNEY: Yes, one day minister Burns is going to surprise me – again, I live in hope. In any event, though, even if you want to take the politics out of it, you have to ask - and clearly the question was not asked by the government last year - about whether it is efficient to have all of these people on standby from 5 pm, 6 pm, 7 pm, 8 pm, 9 pm, 10 pm onwards. I do not think that is fair to our hard-working public servants. We are all human beings. We saw the look of exasperation and disappointment on the faces of some of those public servants. That is yet another flaw in the system.
We said last year, as we have said in previous years, that estimates should be extended for more than three days plus the one for GOCS. I repeat that plea. In 2002, the member for Nhulunbuy said, when he was enthusiastically talking about estimates, that it was about ‘opening the books of government.’ That was a fine speech, Treasurer. That was one of your best, if I may say so. It has Chips’ name written all over it but, if it was your work, then that is terrific. We said at the time that the books are only partially opened or, put in another way, the door is not wide open, it is only ajar. For government ministers and members to talk about openness, transparency and accountability, it really was a bit rich when you look at the system itself.
No system is perfect. I am not saying that the one the CLP had was perfect. I have said over the years that, perhaps, a hybrid or a merging of the two would probably get the balance about right. That would ensure that both government and the opposition do their jobs efficiently and, at the end of the day, that is what it is all about.
I love quoting the member for Nhulunbuy. He also said in May 2002:
- … we are not so arrogant to think it is absolutely perfect.
He said at the Estimates Committee:
- … commonsense would dictate … that we should give the model a bit of a trial run first, and then seriously review it.
I ask if members of government have seriously reviewed it? I can only conclude that they have not, based on us, basically, following the same plan as we have had for some years. I make the point that, when the member for Nhulunbuy said that he did not think he was so arrogant in May 2002, that he may not have been so arrogant in May 2002, but, at that time in 2005, I thought he and his government had become arrogant, and I stand by those words.
I ask the estimates process be reviewed next time. You know that I will keep saying this and you are never going to change it. Welcome to my world. However, it is my obligation to put these matters on the Parliamentary Record.
The difficulty experienced by the Independents is not one that we as a parliament should overlook. We know that politics is about governments kicking oppositions, but the Independents are equal members of this parliament and they, perhaps more than the opposition, I thought, got a particularly bad run last year. These are not the traits of the model trumpeted by the member for Nhulunbuy and Treasurer in 2002.
I said last year that the process does not meet the objectives so proudly announced by the then Leader of Government Business in May 2002 when he announced the Estimates Committee process. I said:
- I have only quoted parts of … his speech … but I commend it to those on the government side, particularly new members, because it consists of good stuff, good principles. It is a good read. However, the week that we have just had shows us that those objectives were not met, and cannot be met under the present system.
I also said that Labor members call themselves the true believers and they proudly describe themselves as so. I said that we do not expect Labor members to live by our standards and our principles, but we and other Territorians at the very least expect them to live by their own. I said to use the words of young people these days: ‘Treasurer, right back at you’. I repeat those words and, once again, go through the motions of urging government to review its Estimates Committee process. You never know, one day I might get lucky. That concludes my remarks.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Speaker, having been quoted at length from what I thought was a quality contribution back in 2002 - it remains so today, despite the views of the Leader of the Opposition - I felt incumbent to make some remarks.
We have never said that we are opposed to any future change. The proper place to put suggestions about strengthening or improving the process of the Estimates Committee is through the Standing Orders Committee. At any time proposals are put through there, they will be canvassed fully inside that committee and any changes recommended coming out of that committee will come in to the House, and the House itself would decide on the process.
I will just go back to a couple of points the Leader of the Opposition said. She talked about the frustration, I suppose, of public servants sitting around until late in the evening and then not getting a question because the opposition did not get to that particular output or responsibility of the minister. I will say how bad it was before we introduced this; when we had the three days under the old, full parliamentary system inside the Chamber. The latest we went was 7.40 am the next morning. How bad was it for the public servants then? How bad was it for the minister between 3 am to 7 am in the morning? How bad was it for the opposition? No one is thinking or functioning affectively at 2.30 am or 3 am in the morning, the time in the 24 hour cycle when the oxygen is at its lowest and everyone is tired and grumpy.
You have to pay tribute to the professionalism of the members of parliament in those days that we got through that process without too much acrimony and bitterness, and at a time when you are under stress at 3.30 am to 4 am in the morning. The same thing applied, with public servants waiting in the back room, sometimes to no avail - much worse than the current system. However, I stand by what I said in 2002. If there are constructive changes, notwithstanding there are now four days where there used to be three, and there are now more hours than we ever used even when every possible question was answered.
I refer the Leader of the Opposition to the opposition Estimates Watch, on how the estimates system works. It is a fairly objective piece. It talks about the old system where sessions often went in to the small hours of the morning and continued until the questions were exhausted. Although these were public debates, they were not broadcast. In the new Estimates Committee process the other big difference is that in this environment, public servants can be asked direct questions. Their answers are recorded on Hansard and, under this system, media is allowed to record all that happens in process.
However it is summed up with the pros and cons in the last paragraph:
- Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages. The greatest advantage under the old system was no time limits so particular issues could be explored until exhausted, either the time or the issue or the member or the minister - either one. Under the new system, access to public servants and media access mean that the process is smoother and easier to communicate. Public servants do not like this as a general rule because it has the potential to politicise their positions. They are usually very careful to avoid this and politicians generally respect that particular difficulty.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for drawing my attention to my remarks made in 2002 when I was Leader of Government Business and we were implementing this for the first time. If there is a better way, bring it forward, put it up through the Standing Orders Committee. Whilst I am not Leader of Government Business now, I can vouch for my colleague who is; that he will give any practical, sensible suggestions coming forward a proper and full hearing, and they will be brought back to the House for debate.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Speaker, at the outset I support the Estimates Committee and the concept behind it because it has two important values. One is it is open to the public. We have a system where the public can attend or can be represented by the media to report on what has been said at the Estimates Committee. The other thing is that one can question the departmental staff directly. I gather previously you could only question the minister. It is worth being able to question the departmental staff because the minister cannot be on top of everything that goes on in his or her department, because some of those departments are extremely big. It also keeps the department staff on their toes, knowing they can be questioned directly. That is an important part of the process.
My only other comment is that, although some may say that the Estimates Committee is working well, that does not mean one should not look for refinements or finetuning. One of the areas that needs to be at least looked at - and I have spoken on this before - is the weighting of certain departments. Except for the Treasury, all the other departments have more or less the same time given at the Estimates Committee. You have the department of Lands and Planning, Transport Infrastructure etcetera, which is one of the biggest departments the Territory has, especially in expenditure. Then you have the minister for Community Services which is a lot smaller. We never get through everything in the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
The example I give is that I do not know whether we have ever questioned the minister about the port. The port is a very important part of the Territory’s economy. It is an area where we spend lots of money, yet we have never really had the opportunity to question the minister about that particular area of his portfolio. Is that the way it should be? I am not even sure whether, since the estimates came into being, we have had an opportunity to talk about the port. However, from a public point of view, is that the right way? They expect us to ask the minister questions about the port, and we should have the time to do that.
Some people say to arrange your time better so you can work together with the opposition and shorten your questions in other areas so that you know you will get down to asking questions about the port. My feeling is that there are plenty of questions that need to be asked of the minister because it is such an important portfolio. It would be a shame if we have to cut off those questions simply to make sure we were able to ask the minister about the port.
My suggestion is that, in a review of how the Estimates Committee works, we look at those parts of each department which have not ever had a question or only had a small amount of questioning. I remember some nights where the departmental people just sat down at 11.29 pm and the Chairman then said, ‘That is it’, and they have gone home. We need to analyse which departments have not had a fulsome questioning and change the timetable. For instance, next year the port could be the first cab off the rank and we then move backwards through the rest of the department. The other way, of course, is to increase the amount of time that the bigger departments have compared to the smaller departments. I still think that is a reasonable option. After all, we do it for the Treasury; why can’t we do it for some of the other departments?
I also think that we owe it to the public servants who prepare all these documents, turn up, get ready for the questioning, stay up half the night waiting for us to question them - or half the day - and then we run out of time. That is important as well. It is not only that I believe the public wants us to question the government on some of these areas, but the department would like to know that all the hard work they have done in preparing for the questioning has been of some value. I know that that certainly has not happened in all cases.
I certainly support the Estimates Committee process. I believe it is a good process, but I certainly think it needs some finetuning. As I said, I raise those two issues that some parts of departments have not been questioned over the time I have been on the Estimates Committee, and that we really need to look at the weighting of each department and adjust the time given for questioning according to that weighting.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Speaker, I thank all members for their contribution and, I believe, general support for the Estimates Committee process. I remind the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nelson, after the Leader of the Opposition said: ‘It is time we had a serious review of this’, that we did do a comprehensive review. I am pretty sure it was after the 2002-03 budget when we did have a public review. We called on members of the public, the media, and departments to make submissions into the estimates process and asked for suggestions for changes to do that.
This is an evolving process. I am happy to make the commitment here and now that, after this Estimates Committee process, that information will come back to the Standing Orders Committee, and we will, once again, have another public review of the process and the issues that have been raised by the member for Nelson about being more flexible with weightings and times. How would you calibrate that? Would it be total expenditure by agency or areas of activity? That is something we can canvas. We are not being belligerent and saying that this is set in stone.
It is about transparency and, as I said before, not only is it a good workout for the ministers and ensures that ministers are across the detail of the budgets allocated to their departments, and are accountable for expenditure and outcomes for those allocations, but for the public service themselves. If you talk to CEOs and other senior people who do the work to ready themselves for questions as at estimates, it has been an important policy initiative in accountability through the public service as well, for those public servants knowing that they can be asked tricky questions during an estimates process. I believe, overall, in accountability and transparency, it has been a good process. These current standing orders are not cast in stone, and we will have a full public review again, two or three years after the last review, to see if further refinements can be brought.
However, regarding the continual harking back to the past by the Leader of the Opposition about exhausting all questions, with 50 hours that are now being allocated to questions, this is by far in excess of the total number of hours that were previously used when the committee sat in the Committee of the Whole, and members could ask questions to exhaustion. Therefore, there is no diminishing of the time available, it has been increased. The reality that the previous Committee of the Whole system was somehow better was a complete farce, because members had to put questions in writing to the public service some weeks before the committee met as a whole to consider the budget. Thousands of hours must have been wasted, not only by members of parliament sitting down writing out questions they wanted to ask, but for departments to have to sit there and spend tens of thousands of hours, probably cumulatively, coming up with answers. Then in the parliament, the member reading a prepared question and the minister reading a prepared answer was an absolute farce, and in no way supported transparency and accountability.
Mr Acting Speaker, I thank members for their support. I thank the Department of Legislative Assembly and everybody who is putting together the Estimates Committee facilities, process and procedure for next week. I am sure that all ministers are a little nervous. It is quite a workout. The Treasurer gets seven-and-a-half hours; it is pretty tough on the Treasurer. The spirit of estimates is about accountability, transparency, and I commit on the record to have a public review of the process once we have completed this year.
Motion agreed to.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Acting Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
I congratulate the Stuart Park Primary School on their recent very successful sports carnival. They tried something different this year with the events being held over three days. On Wednesday, 17 May, they started with the 800 m run for students aged 10 years and up. This was followed by a range of field and relay events for middle primary students including shot put, long jump and high jump. The next day, the upper primary students went to Marrara Sports Stadium to compete in a range of track and field events starting with the 100 m.
On the Friday, all students took part in sports day at the school, and this included the early childhood. The students participated in tabloid events and, after lunch, they held activities involving parents, students and teachers and finished up with a school assembly. All up, an exciting week.
Congratulations and many thanks to staff, parents and even grandparents for organising the carnival and assisting over three days. In particular, special thanks to teachers Tina Polomka and Michelle Williams for coordinating the event. Principal Bernie Bree was very taken with the sportsmanship shown by the students throughout the carnival and said it was great to see children having a go and cheering on their friends.
Congratulations to all the students and the house leaders: Ray Riseley and Claire Darben from Sirius; Annie Piper and Aaron Smith from Beagle; Jordan Williams and Krista Bridgman from Moonta; and Asha Nur and Jack McMillan from Alligator House. Special congratulations to Yianni Stafanidakis and Cassie Deacon-Casey who were junior champions; Aaron Smith and Claire Darben, the senior champions; and Matthew Button and Maria Melas who received special awards for courage, persistence and good sportsmanship. And a big cheer for Moonta House, the overall carnival winners.
The National Schools Debating Championships were held in Darwin last month. Anne Disney, who is science teacher at Darwin High, was the coach of the Territory team. Darwin High was well represented with Elissa Pollock, Joshua Lee, Gemma Nourse and Cameron Angus, joining Robyn Lambert and Pradeep Kandiah from Casuarina Senior College in the team. The team put up a great effort, competing in seven debates over six days. Five of their seven debates were lost by margins of only one or two points, which gave several of the bigger states a real scare.
The topics were rather controversial and difficult to argue, as they should be in debating competitions. They included that we should remove children from detention centres; that we should withdraw troops from Iraq; that the Liberals should tell John Howard ‘it’s time’; that HIV testing should be compulsory for all; that we should increase taxes on petrol; that the government should fund research into human cloning; and that the West should stop promoting democracy in the Middle East.
The teams did not know any of the topics prior to debating them, and they only had one hour of preparation for each of the debates before they had to compete. That was quite a challenge considering those varied topics. I extend my congratulations to all team members and their coach. You did the Territory proud.
I would also like to update the House on our Community Cabinet visit to Katherine on 14 and 15 May and the tremendous work of the community in the wake of the recent floods. The Cabinet’s visit to Katherine was initially planned for April, but the floods in the region meant that the meeting was put on hold for a month. When it finally went ahead in May, it gave us all a chance to see how the recovery efforts were progressing and to experience firsthand the incredible spirit and resilience of the town and its people. A community barbecue was held at the YMCA, and was attended by around 200 people including many flood recovery volunteers. I take this opportunity to say how pleased I and Cabinet colleagues were to see the local member for Katherine at the event.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms MARTIN: It was great to see Fay back and in such good spirits. On behalf of everyone in this place - I think we said so this morning - but welcome back again.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms MARTIN: St Paul’s Anglican Church organised the catering for the event and I thank them for their efforts.
I take this opportunity to mention some of the people and organisations which have done so much over the past two months to help Katherine and the region get back on its feet. The leadership shown by the Katherine Counter Disaster Council, Commissioner Paul White and his team; Recovery Coordinator Barry Chambers, and Mayor Anne Shepherd and her council, was exceptional and our deserves our thanks.
Leadership was also shown right across the community when it was most needed. For example, many traumatised residents needed care and support, shelter in the evacuation centres, as well as necessities like food and bottled water. The following organisations deserve special praise for their outstanding work. Red Cross; Anglicare; Mission Australia; Sommerville Community Services; The Salvation Army; Centacare; and St Vincent de Paul. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Many thanks must also go to the St John Ambulance; the Katherine Community Radio Station and ABC radio; Wulaning Homeland Centre at Lajamanu; the Jawoyn Association; Katherine East Community Centre; Jilkminggan Community Government Council; Nyirranggulung-Mardrulk-NgadberreRegional Council; Mataranka Town Council; Katherine Regional Tourist Association; EAS; and Centrelink.
The business sector also rose to the challenge during the crisis. For example, at Woolworths, Simon Kennedy helped out by providing supplies to the evacuation centres, including food, nappies and other consumables. He and his staff also worked all through the Friday night to make sure the store was open for business on Saturday. Telstra did a great job getting the town’s phones and communication infrastructure up and running quickly, and the TIO was also quick to respond, working on the ground with the community from an early stage.
I must also make mention of Wastemaster and cleaning contractor Glen Hewitt who, from all accounts, did a magnificent job on the cleanup work in town. Other businesses which responded were Jones Meat; Trans Territory Foods; plumber Stephen Murphy; electrician Peter Duncan; Travel North; Nitmiluk Tours; Renflo; Allan King and Son; Prosser Investments; Steve Bennett Engineering; Uralla Electrical; Northern Machinery Sales; Power Projects; Astral Contracting; Works Infrastructure; Downes Graderways; Suffren Constracting; Jones Truck Hire; Ace Traffic Control; John Ly Fencing; Aitken Buildings; and Doyle Contracting.
A whole range of Territory government agencies also worked, and continue to work, with the Katherine community. They include police; FACS; Fire and Rescue Service; Bushfire Council volunteers; NT Emergency Service volunteers; Power and Water Corporation; DPI; NRETA; DCIS; Health and Community Services; Department of Local Government and Sport; DEET; and DBERD – in fact everyone from across government. A special thank you to the staff at the Katherine Hospital which was evacuated to Tindal, and the nurses from other Territory centres who provided backup to the local staff. Your efforts are also greatly appreciated by all of us.
We will continue to work with the affected communities in the Katherine region to ensure their recovery continues to run smoothly. Once again, to everyone who rose to the challenge during this crisis, thank you.
Finally, I take this opportunity tonight to congratulate and acknowledge the 74 graduates of the Territory’s Public Sector Management Program. As probably everyone knows, the PSM program is a national program and is supported by the Commonwealth, state and local governments. It delivers first-class public sector management training that brings new skills and knowledge into our workplaces. It has helped ensure that our public sector has remained dynamic, relevant and highly motivated.
Over the years, the public service has played a crucial role in building the Territory and giving us one of Australia’s great lifestyles. It is our public servants who have paid a big part in developing strong, visionary policy and are there on the ground in our schools and hospitals, our police force, and in regional and remote communities across the Territory helping deliver the services we all need.
I attended the graduation ceremonies at Parliament House on 11 May and at the Desert Park in Alice Springs a week later. I pay tribute to all those graduates. If I could incorporate those 74 names rather than read them all out if that is all right with the House?
Leave granted.
- Top End graduates:
Jennifer Abdilla Jenny Henwood
Bridgitte Adams Ellen Herden
Jasminder Anand Jill Jackson
Gordon Atkinson Elizabeth Jacob
Kevin Ayers Michael Kinnaird
Joseph Babbini Matthew Kinch
Russell Ball Mark Kondakov
Merci Betts David Lees
Linda Blair Helen Loundes
Allan Buckingham Frances MacLean
Jann Buckland Leah Magee
Lisa Connell Harry McSherry
Ken Conway Shane Nelson
Annie Cowley Craig Overell
Danielle Cross Caroline Pendlebury
Kathleen Davis Maria Rizidis
Carol Dowling Monique Roberts
Gerald Dunbar Julie Roffman
Brett Easton Suzanne Carol Smith
Peter Egan Jacinta Stanford
Lilia Garard Lorraine Swan
Geoffrey Gillman Inta Tumuls
Rebecca Godden Marguerite Wall
David Griffiths Kathryn White
David Hamilton Neva Yates
Sheree Hansen
Alice Springs graduates:
- Samantha Arbuthnot Len Griffiths
Robert Benson Anne Hughes
Darlene Brooks Jane Josif
Dorothy Close Judith Mills
Gerard Coffey Malcolm Moyses
Robin Cross Lorraine Parsons
Michael Deegan Robyn Stow
Graeme Eatts Bronwyn Taylor
Sharyn Elkin Marion Taylor
Rebecca Farrell Elizabeth Williams
Elizabeth Gilliam Michelle Goodwin
Rodney Wyber-Hughes
Ms MARTIN: Thank you. I congratulate all those graduates who were part of the Public Sector Management Program this year. Hearing their tales as they spoke at the graduation ceremonies, there has been a lot of late night work. They all have full-time jobs and many have young families and, yet, they put in quite extensive, very long hours, and at a very high quality, to achieve that - I think it is a two-year course. We gain. They put in a lot of effort and time, and our public sector and those who work in it are the better for this program. Thanks to OCPE for their involvement in this but, also importantly, thanks to all those graduates.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, it is with pleasure that tonight I place on the Parliamentary Record my thanks to many people who helped my husband, Mike, and I following the vehicle accident we had on 12 March on the Stuart Highway about 10 km south of Aileron. That particular Sunday started off really well. After visiting the markets in Todd Mall and buying some lunch which we were to eat at Ti Tree, we left Alice Springs just before midday.
I was driving and noticed what appeared to be a mirage on a long stretch of straight roadway. Unfortunately, it was water running across the road and Mike’s and my life was about to change in a matter of a few seconds. The car hit the water, veered slightly to the right then aquaplaned 90 to the left, sliding sideways off the road and through the muddy water, making the most incredibly loud noise that I will never forget. While we were unable to see what was happening in that few seconds because of the mud and water being sprayed over the windows, we were both very aware of the vehicle rolling several times before coming to rest on its wheels facing the roadway.
While the vehicle was rolling, I felt the heat and pain of the fracture to my spine. The silence when the vehicle stopped, except for the sound of dripping water and mud, was pretty dramatic and very quiet. The first few moments followed were filled with relief that Mike was not injured and, while I knew I had a serious spinal injury, I had no paralysis, for which I was immediately grateful.
I spent around 15 years as a St John Ambulance officer in South Australia, the last few of those being in advanced care training, so I knew that I did not have any injuries that were life-threatening, and that Mike and I would just have to wait until somebody came along to get help. Fortunately, we did not have to wait very long before vehicles came along, and there were soon many people doing what they could to help.
I am never usually short of something to say but, in this instance, I knew I had to very quiet and keep as relaxed as possible to control the pain level. I, honestly, have never been very successful at meditating before - I am always too impatient and have too much to do. However, this time, I am very pleased to say that it worked very successfully. It only seemed a short while before Alice Springs St John Ambulance arrived. The sound of a familiar voice in paramedic Toni-Marie Elferink was certainly reassuring and I knew I was in good hands.
I will always be very grateful for the assistance from everyone who stopped at the accident scene to do whatever they could to help. Amongst the first, were two ladies were from Tennant Creek, and I only know their Christian names - Davina and Lillian. I sincerely thank them because I know how daunting it is when you first arrive at an accident scene and you are not quite sure whether you should go and have a look or not, or what you are actually going to find. I was really very grateful to them.
Thank you to the Emergency Services personnel who included Mark James, Gary Banson, Adrian Sgarbossa and Warren Todd for cutting me out of the vehicle, and who assisted paramedics Toni-Marie Elferink and Gary Carter in ensuring that my spinal fracture was stabilised before moving me. Thank you to those people who took care of Mike and reassured him, who included Ian and Barbara McKie from Alice Springs. Barbara also took a few dozen photographs of the accident scene, and it was only last week that I received the CD and viewed them. It was a bit of a shock because I was not actually expecting that. However, it was really very interesting to look at them from the other side, and I very much appreciate Barbara sending them to me.
Many thanks to the Ti Tree Police who attended, Police Officers Brevet Sergeant Clay Evans and Constable Blair Sanders, and also the Ti Tree clinic nurse, whose name I do not know but who arrived with a pain killing injection. Believe me, it was very much appreciated. To the people who picked up our personal possessions from the roadside and out of the vehicle and ensured that they were sent back to Alice Springs, thank you.
The treatment that I received at the Emergency Department at Alice Springs Hospital was excellent and I thank them all; they determined exactly the seriousness of the fracture and stitched up my head wound. Mind you, it was not with hot pink thread, it was just a boring colour of yellow, and I had asked if they had something a bit more cheerful. Thank you very much, member for Macdonnell, for not actually trying to talk to me at that time. I know you were there.
The Royal Flying Doctor flight to Adelaide the following morning and a St John Ambulance from Adelaide Airport delivered me to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where my sister, Julie Barr, was waiting at emergency. The following few days were spent trying to get traction on the fracture with a halo screwed into my scalp, which did not turn out very successful at all. Therefore, finally surgery was performed and five plates and assorted screws were inserted into my spine. I have no doubt over the next few months I will certainly have some smart remarks like ‘she has a screw loose’, but I hope that you are quite wrong and that I do not have any screws loose.
I was very fortunate that I was able to demonstrate that I could leave the Spinal Unit two weeks after being admitted, after having excellent care there, and spent the following six weeks healing and slowly regaining my strength with my sister and brother-in-law, Julie and Greg Barr. I am so very grateful for their love and support during this time. There is no doubt about it; having the support of family and friends is so very valuable and I treasure that very much.
I would like to put on the Parliamentary Record the names of some of the special people who supported Mike and me during this time. My dear family, my sister and brother-in-law, Julie and Greg and their son, my godson, Brad; my daughter, Trisha Wachtel, who brought my darling grandchildren, Jack and Jorja, from Darwin to Adelaide to visit funny looking Nanna; my mother, Win Bates, and Ervyn Hoffrichter; Carolyn and Neville Chalmers in Alice Springs for helping Mike during a hard time; Pauline and Mike Lamb from Katherine, who were in Adelaide at that time who brightened my mornings in the Spinal Unit by dropping in for a chat while out walking, bringing in little things like biscuits and whatever she had made the day before; my dear colleagues for their fantastic moral support and encouragement; and for taking on even more portfolio responsibilities; my electoral secretary, Lorna Hart and the Katherine Branch of the CLP who have been so supportive; Legislative Assembly members and staff who so kindly contacted me, either with flowers, cards, telephone calls, and I have to say, beautiful teddy bears; and the many wonderful friends who called in either at the hospital or at home to say hello.
My hospital room was absolutely amazing, it did not look anything like a hospital. It was absolutely filled with flower arrangements, balloons, bears and baskets of goodies amongst other things. One sister said, in 32 years of nursing around Australia, she had never seen anything like it. It is no wonder that I felt so loved and supported. It has gone a long way in assisting in my healing.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, in closing, I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for their sincere support and encouragement. I appreciate it and will always treasure it. It is fabulous to be home. I have to admit that I was looking forward to escaping the cold weather in Adelaide, only to return to one of the coldest periods I can remember in Katherine and the Top End. The winter clothes have not been put away yet. I am very pleased to be back in my electorate and again working in the community, and also here in the Assembly representing the Katherine electorate and the people of the Northern Territory.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr TOYNE (Stuart): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I begin on a sad note in relation to a death at Timber Creek, which happened at the same time as I was attending Community Cabinet in the Victoria River region. Mr Vincent, who is the full son of Vincent Lingiari, passed away from a long-standing medical condition.
Mr Vincent was a man in his father’s likeness and had an enduring commitment to his people. He was born in 1939 and is survived by two brothers, Tim and Jock Vincent. Sadly, his wife died in a car accident just after Christmas last year, also at Timber Creek. Mr Vincent spent some time living and developing his outstation at Purta Wurta. He was a regional representative on the ATSIC board, a long-time Daguragu councillor, and offered constructive advice to help process Daguragu and Kalkaringi.
In 2001, Mr Vincent poured dirt back into the hands of the former Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, in a poignant reversal of the famous ceremony of 1975. This year, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Wave Hill walk-off and, while it is very sad that Mr Vincent will not be there in person, we will certainly remember him and his legacy on that day.
On a more joyous note, I would like to mention a celebration that happened a couple of weeks ago involving a group of nuns from the order of the Little Sisters of Jesus, who celebrated 50 years of living and working amongst the poor and destitute in Central Australia. One of these nuns, Sister Magali, is due to celebrate 50 years of working entirely in Central Australia and has a wealth of experience working with the Arrernte and Warlpiri people. The other Little Sister, Claire, had for years put off becoming an Australian citizen until she moved to Yuendumu. Apparently, the place and the people there made such an impression on Sister Claire that she decided she would get a local man, Eddie Robertson, to do the officiating at her ceremony a few years ago. Both Magali and Claire continue to live and work out at Yuendumu. Sister Michelle, who I remember crocheting quite fantastic beanies, especially in winter, is currently working in Adelaide but visits Yuendumu as often as she can.
Like many Central Australians this week, I am a bit sore and stiff, but I bear my aches and pains with pride as a competitor in this year’s Finke Desert Race. The Finke is, of course, Australia’s greatest and toughest desert race, and I am very proud to have taken part this year for the second year in a row. The NT Correctional Services entry, fondly known as ‘The Fugly’, again survived the best efforts of the track to kill it this year, coming in 40th on Day 2. I would like to thank drivers, Bill Yan and Rick Schembri for all their work and patient training of me as the navigator. Of course, thanks must go to everyone who put in the time and effort to keep ‘The Fugly’ mobile, especially to Neil Anderson, the mechanic genius behind the buggy, as well as a new good-looking ute, which we do not know what we will call yet - maybe ‘The Not Fugly At All’.
The buggy has a big support crew of officers and prisoners from the Alice Springs Corrections Centre and there is actually method behind the off-road madness. ‘The Fugly’ is a valuable learning tool for prisoners, teaching mechanical skills and playing a big part in the sentencing plan and rehabilitation for many inmates. Thirty trade certificates have flowed from the program and, because ‘The Fugly’ is based on absolutely stock-standard Ford Falcon parts, when those prisoners return to their communities, as long as they do not have the bad taste to buy a Holden, they will be able to fix their own cars and those in the communities around them. It is one of the most outstanding prison programs that we are running currently in the Northern Territory. The other outstanding feature of it is that the vehicle parts have been entirely donated from the community, so the taxpayer is getting a fantastic run for very little money in supporting that program.
The Northern Territory government is a very proud supporter of the Finke Desert Race. We have committed more than $800 000 in improvements at the start/finishing line, and also assist with upgrades of sections of the track. Thanks must also go to the committee of the Finke Desert Race and the hundred of hard-working volunteers who dedicate so much time and effort to the race. The Finke is not just a sporting event in the Centre; it is a major part of our lifestyle, with thousands heading off camping in the cool weather to watch the race.
Congratulations to this year’s Kings of the Desert: young Ryan Branford in the bikes – it was just great to see a 19-year-old local lad beat everyone home this year on a very track; and Shannon and Ian Rentsch who were first to cross the line in the car section and retain the title from last year.
Like all of these riders and drivers, I am looking forward to another successful Finke in 2007.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I pay my respects to the family of Glenn Skipworth, known to most us in Alice Springs, Darwin and the Sunshine Coast as ‘Skippy’. Glenn was sent to Darwin in the late 1970s to work as an insurance inspector. In about 1979, he was posted to Alice Springs by his employer New Zealand Insurance. It was then he brought his partner, Vicki Warne, with him. I understand that he did his job so well as an inspector that he was encouraged by many people in Alice Springs to open an insurance brokering company of his own. This he did, and his business grew from scratch until he became a very large insurance broker in Alice Springs. Once that business was established properly in Alice Springs - it is ten minutes now is it, adjournment?
Ms Carney: The clock is wrong too.
Dr LIM: Thank you. Once the business was well established in Alice Springs, he moved up to Darwin - I think it was 1990 - and established AIB Insurance Brokers at Woods Street where he had a very large office. That became his head office in the Northern Territory. Then, unfortunately, for many of us who were his clients in Alice Springs, the office became a subsidiary and provided very good service, I must say. I was one of his clients and continued to be his client when he moved his business to Darwin. Ten years later, in the year 2000, Glenn moved to the Sunshine Coast where established AIB, and eventually grew the business to the extent that he then developed his head office in the Sunshine Coast with branches in Alice Springs and Darwin.
I remember Glenn when he was living in Alice Springs. He used to travel with me to Tennant Creek to provide services. I used to fly to Tennant Creek once a week to provide medical services to the people living in Tennant Creek as a general practitioner working out of the Tennant Creek Hospital, initially, and then going to Peko Mines and working for them as their occupational health medical officer. Glenn used to hitch a ride in my plane when I flew there and, while I continued my medical business, he did his insurance brokering business.
On occasions, when we could not fly we would go in Glenn’s Porsche, which was his pride and joy. He bought himself a Porsche 911. I tell you what, when we were not flying in the sky between Alice Springs and Tennant Creek, we were flying on the ground, getting into Tennant Creek almost as quickly as we could when we flew. The story was that there was one passenger whose fingernail marks were on the dashboard because they had to grip the dashboard so hard when Glenn drove his car. He lived a fast life. He pushed everything to the edge; there were no flies on his back - that is for sure. His language was something to be heard to be appreciated. Every second word was a four-letter word, and he called a spade a spade, I tell you that.
During the last two weeks before he went to his untimely end, he came to - let me go back a little.
In 2001, after establishing his business at the Sunshine Coast, he decided that, to service all his clients around Australia from Queensland to the Northern Territory and into Western Australia, he would buy himself an aircraft. He bought himself a Bonanza and then he flew around the country serving his clients. For 15 years, he did that on a regular basis. This last time, he had been flying from Queensland through to Alice Springs, and to Western Australia. He was going via Kununurra where he stopped and saw some clients, and he was on his way from Kununurra to Bathurst when he suffered a plane crash when he hurt himself quite severely. He was able to get out of his aircraft, I understand, and activated the EPIRB before he passed away.
Glenn passed away on 1 June this year on Bathurst Island. I bet when he was lying there on the ground wondering whether he was going to be rescued before anything untoward happened, he would have thought: ‘Well, what do I do now?’ He lived his life fast and hard, he made lots of money, he spent his money, he developed a business through surrounding himself with very good people. His wife and partner, Vicki Warne, undoubtedly helped him with his business. I remember her working in the office in Alice Springs, and I am sure she also worked in the Sunshine Coast in the same way.
Allan Day, another person we knew in Alice Springs, used to run a private business in Alice and, when he decided to move to Queensland, was quickly engaged by Glenn to go with him. Allan is now General Manager Australia for AIB Insurance Brokers and will, I am sure, be helping Vicki Warne to manage the business the way that Glenn would have wanted it.
Other people in the business include National Manager, Mark Lee, who was a former AIB Darwin staff member. To say that AIB is now one of the largest privately-owned Australian insurance brokerage businesses would be no exaggeration. I have seen it start from Alice Springs and spread its influence to Darwin and the Gold Coast which is quite an achievement.
Glenn was flying to Bathurst Island because a large portion of his business included indigenous clients. He made every effort he could to make a call on his clients even at the most remote localities, something that AIB has honoured continually since he first established his business in 1992. His unique style of comprehensive insurance for clients, when insurance was very difficult to obtain, and by flying to his clients, obviously provided the personal contact which everybody appreciated. It was that reason more than any that people took up business with Glenn.
Now that Glenn has passed away, Vicki will take on the mantle of Managing Director of the business with the able help of General Manager, Allan Day.
My sympathies go to Vicki and Allan and all the people involved with AIB. In the Centralian Advocate last Friday, a notice was placed and I read it for the Parliamentary Record:
- Skipworth, Glenn ‘Skippy’,
Managing Director, AIB Insurance Brokers.
Died tragically in a plane crash on Bathurst Island (NT)
Aged 48 years
Very young, and very untimely. It continues:
- Loving partner to Vicki. Dearly loved son of John and Betty. Brother and brother-in-law to Heather and David, Barbara and Albert, Rodney and Christine. Uncle and great uncle to their families.
Relatives, friends and business associates are respectfully invited to attend a celebration of Glenn’s life to be held at the Gregson and Weight Chapel, 5 Gregson Place, Caloundra, Queensland, on Saturday 10 June, 2006, commencing at 12 noon.
At the funeral service, people mostly spoke about Glenn in a celebration of his life. Glenn was cremated and his ashes were scattered on the ocean near his home. We wish Vicki and Allan and all the people associated with AIB and his family well. Let us remember him for his love of life and not any tragedy that has occurred.
In the short time that is left, I would like to speak about another matter that has been vexing for us in Alice Springs; the Alice Springs Hospital and the services that it renders. A wife of a constituent struggles like most people who require elective surgery in Alice Springs. This man was admitted to the Alice Springs Hospital with a serious heart problem in April 2006. He was so bad that the Alice Springs Hospital decided to evacuate him via the RFDS a few days later to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for cardiac surgery, which he did receive at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. On 21 April, he was returned to Alice Springs Hospital for monitoring of his medical condition.
Unfortunately, while he was in the Alice Springs Hospital - and it has nothing to do with the cause of it - for observation, he developed a prostrate problem where a catheter had to be inserted. Normally, as you know, the catheter is inserted without any operative procedure except for putting a plastic tube through the urethra into the bladder to empty the bladder. Unfortunately, this was not possible and he had to have a surgical incision placed through his abdominal wall to enter his over-extended bladder. That was the only way they could relieve the pressure of the urine that was building within his bladder.
He was discharged from hospital three days later, and was then put on a waiting list to see the urologist regarding surgery to his prostrate to allow him to be able to urinate normally. While waiting for his surgery, he had to see his cardiologist for a review of his heart problem. That was done on 12 May. When he saw the cardiologist, he was told: You cannot have the catheter stitched into your abdominal wall with a tip inside your bladder long term because the incision wound will be exposed to infection and, if it does, that infection will more than likely affect your heart and the heart surgery that you had’. The cardiologist then told him: ‘You have to have that surgery done’. He has been advised that he was going to see the urologist in two weeks. Now, he is told: ‘No, you cannot, there is no urologist available and you have to wait’. The cardiologist says: ‘You cannot wait; you cannot afford to wait’.
He cannot see the urologist until August. It is way too long, and the hospital has to do something about it. If we do not have a urologist in Alice Springs to provide the services then, for goodness sake, get this man to see a urologist in Adelaide, where he can get his surgery and fix that problem. Then he will not have to suffer more complications of having cardiac issues if he does not. The infection has to be controlled and controlled quickly.
Mr NATT (Drysdale): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I was lucky enough to acquire two BassintheGrass tickets a few weeks ago and chose to give them to the Palmerston High School to use at their discretion. The Deputy Principal of the High School, Mr David Maclean, happily received the tickets and decided, after consultation with the other staff members, to choose two students who have made excellent application to their studies in the senior school.
At the school’s assembly on Thursday, 25 May, I was asked to present the tickets to the two successful students, Andrew Gold and Kirsten Nielsen, Year 11 students at the school who were very happy to be chosen as the winners by the staff. Congratulations to Andrew and Kirsten on their efforts thus far. I take this opportunity to wish them well with their studies as they continue towards Year 12. I am sure they would have had a great time at the concert. It also shows young people that, if you strive for excellence at whatever you do, rewards can be achieved.
While I am talking about rewards, I acknowledge the achievements of an outstanding policeman stationed at Palmerston. Sergeant Des Green is currently the Acting Officer-in-Charge of the station and has proved to be wonderful acquisition for the Palmerston community. I have had the pleasure of meeting with Des and his Acting Commanding Officer, Andrew Heath, on a couple of occasions to discuss several issues relating to the Palmerston community, more particularly within my electorate of Drysdale.
Both officers are active police with strong leadership qualities and fresh ideas to improve the standards of the area. I add the proof is in the pudding because the figures are supporting their plans and their approach to the reduction of crime. For consistently performing to a high standard and projecting an excellent example of leadership at a supervisory level during his policing career, Sergeant Des Green has been awarded the inaugural NT Police Outstanding Leadership Medal. As the Officer-in-Charge of Kalkarindji Police Station in 2003-04, Des instigated some positive changes within the district. As a result of his performance and personal commitment to the area, the performance of the station improved markedly and Des became a very highly-respected member of the community.
Des has clearly shown exceptional problem solving and leadership skills. These are clearly put on show when he was asked to make a showcase presentation to an Operations OPR on Crime Management and General Duties Policing. Des has a very enthusiastic approach to his duties and strives to achieve positive outcomes in his daily workload, and his enthusiasm most definitely flows on to others under his command. I congratulate Des on this award, the inaugural NT Police Outstanding Leadership Medal; a true recognition by his peers on his approach to his job and the successes he has achieved. I go a little further by wishing Des all the very best in his current role at the Palmerston Police Station and, of course, his future with the NT Police. A very worthy recipient indeed.
On Saturday, 3 June, the city of Palmerston held its annual Palmerston Festival at the Driver Primary School oval. This major community event has been extremely successful over the last few years and this year was no exception. The day provides an opportunity for local community groups, businesses and organisations to display their wares, or to provide food to fundraise for their separate groups.
This year’s festival was run under the banner of Good Clean Fun, and it indeed was all of these headings. The Palmelody choir is a group of 300 schoolchildren formed from seven of the primary schools in Palmerston, and they performed exceptionally well for the crowd. They sang a couple of popular songs and were joined by a surprise guest artist, the NT’s Administrator, His Honour, Mr Ted Egan. He performed one of his own songs with the choir, The Laughing Song. His Honour and the choir were magnificent and are to be congratulated for their outstanding performances.
One of the interesting acts of the day was the orchestra assembled to use recycled rubbish as instruments. The sounds created by the students on the recycled instruments were unbelievable and extremely entertaining. Their organiser, Steve Langton, assisted the young people with the instruments. It was his ideas and foresight that went towards the construction of the instruments. The most interesting instrument was the ‘thongaphone’. The thongaphone was quite a large instrument made from plastic piping of various lengths and struck by a thong-like piece of rubber to make the very interesting sounds. Other instruments used were concocted from mag wheels and plastic Coca-Cola bottles. The crowds were enthralled with the innovative beats and tunes produced by the highly-entertaining segment. Well done, Steve, and your group of musical students.
One of the other segments enjoyed by the children during the afternoon was the bike rodeo. This event was run in conjunction with the Neighbourhood Watch to highlight the need to have bikes etched with registered serial numbers to assist police with finding the right owner of the bike if theft occurs.
The success of the festival can be attributed to the sponsors and their support of the event and the community. I would like to name the sponsors in recognition for their support: Power and Water, Mix-FM, Charles Darwin University, Cazalys, TRACKS Dance Theatre, Southern Cross Television, Bechtel, Festival Australia, Top End Sounds, DBH Contracting, Regional Arts Fund, Driver Primary School, Jape Homemaker Village, Palm City Church ‘Just Us’ Group, Lions Club Palmerston, The Tax Shop, General Excavators, Australia Food and Grocery Council, Palmerston Shopping Centre, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Arts, and AusDance NT. I sincerely hope I have named everyone because they all played an important part in the success of the day. I realise it was a little longwinded, but it is important to recognise sponsors who contribute greatly to such community events.
I had the pleasure of helping out at the Driver Primary School sausage sizzle at the festival rehearsal on Friday night and, on Saturday, working at the school’s drink stall. Activities such as these provide a much-needed avenue for fundraising for the school. I congratulate the school council on their initiative and thank the dedicated parents and teachers for their assistance over the two days.
Congratulations to all the performers, organisers, stallholders, participants and, of course, the workers who played their part to ensure the Palmerston Festival was the huge success that it was.
In closing, I congratulate Christine Garrett who won the Peoples’ Choice prize for her outstanding entry in the Grace Sivell Quilt competition. Unfortunately, I was unable to present the prize to Christine on the day, but I hope to catch up with here this Friday.
I would like to break tradition and recognise the significant impact a particular character has made on an industry in the Northern Territory. This particular character has achieved a Northern Territory first, something that none of his peers have achieved, which has been publicly acclaimed Australia-wide. The industry I am talking about is the horseracing industry and the character I speak about is the horse, Undue.
The Darwin Turf Club has worked extremely hard recently, under the guidance of the board members headed by chairman, Charles Burkett and their general manager, Des Friedrich and his hard-working staff, to achieve acceptance Australia-wide in the racing industry. The club achieved some wonderful outcomes lately and realised their visions, and all are to be congratulated. These outcomes will be buoyed by the success of Undue’s achievement, a recipe the racing fraternity could only concoct after many years of hard work on the ground. I feel Undue has done it for racing in the NT after one race. I am sure the members of the Darwin Turf Club, the committee, its employees, owners and trainers are extremely proud of Undue’s achievements, as are the people of the Territory, whether they are racegoers or not.
Undue, a Northern Territory gelding, achieved Australia-wide acclaim when it won the Group 1 Doomben 10 000 two weeks ago in Brisbane, the first NT horse to ever win a Group 1 race - an outstanding effort. ‘It is the best racing yarn in modern times’ was the quote by Queensland racing writer, Bart Sinclair, and that it was! Undue was a cast-off from the highly-respected John Hawkes’ stable after some moderate performances on tracks in and around Sydney. Darwin trainer, Shane Clarke, bought the gelding and syndicated it to a group of racing lovers here in Darwin, headed by school teacher David Waters, with co-owners spread from the Sunshine Coast to Davenport. Driver Primary School deputy principal, Mark Monaghan, is one of those co-owners, and a very excited and proud co-owner. I have never seen a person smile as much as Mark has done over this last term of school. The trophy has been paraded at the school assembly and even at the sausage sizzle last Friday night. Great stuff!
Let us get back to the horse. Undue won seven races in succession in Darwin and Adelaide after his debut race win in Darwin in a lowly Class B race on Anzac Day last year. Since then, trainer Shane Clarke was given the first hint of the horse’s potential to cope in the big races when it ran third in a Group 1 race in Melbourne at Moonee Valley in the Australia Stakes, although I really think that Shane did realise his potential before it ran in that race.
Undue had a little hiccup in its next race when it was unplaced at Flemington in the Newmarket Handicap. However, astute trainer Shane, unperturbed, eyed the next foray for the horse and specifically targeted the upcoming Brisbane Carnival where sprint races of high calibre had been programmed. The rest is history. Undue was nominated and accepted in the Group 1 Doomben 10 000 Sprint, a race over 1200 m. In a stunning finish, jockey Steve Arnold, whose parents live in Alice Springs, rode a wonderful race and, in a timely fashion, drove Undue along the rail to run up inside the leader at that time at the 100 m mark, Impaler, and went on to win the race by about a length or so. The shouts, cheers and tears were expressed everywhere over the next few minutes after the race. The excitement was felt everywhere, from the Fannie Bay track to every TAB and hotel in the Territory.
Undue is a remarkable horse. It has won on dirt and grass tracks. It has won on tracks running clockwise and anti-clockwise, and in three states; namely, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland - and let us not forget its wins here in the Territory. For the record, it has had six starts in the Northern Territory for four wins and two thirds. In South Australia, it had three starts for three wins. In Victoria, it had four starts for two wins and a third and, in Queensland, it has had two starts for an eighth and then it went on to win the Doomben. Unfortunately, it did not have enough weight to gain entry into the field in last Saturday’s Stradbroke Handicap, which was its mission. It did not get that far, which was a shame.
What a versatile animal it is. All accolades must be bestowed upon Shane Clarke’s training techniques and, of course, his supportive trainer wife, Elizabeth, should not be left out of this exciting trip. Shane is a former ringer who came to Darwin from Brisbane some years ago. Horseracing is a hard game and, although Shane has been a successful Darwin trainer, I am sure he has always dreamt of training an animal of this horse’s calibre. Congratulations, Shane, you deserve to have the success Undue has bestowed upon you and your stable. I am sure there are bigger things to come.
The quote of the year came from Shane when asked if it was a shock to see Undue cross the line so decisively to win the Group 1 race. Shane replied dryly: ‘We did not come here for a haircut’. Congratulations to everyone involved in the horse’s success, from the trainers, owners and jockeys, down to the stable hands. What a great story. Undue has helped place Northern Territory racing on the map in a big way, and created dreams of hope for trainers and horse owners to emulate his feats. I am sure the horseracing industry will prosper from Undue’s feats and continue to move forward successfully.
I finish by quoting the General Manager of the Darwin Turf Racing Club, Mr Des Friedrich. He said in an e-mail to me today:
- Northern Territory racing is extremely proud of the achievements of Undue and everyone connected to the horse, as the performance of Undue has put the spotlight on racing in the NT in the lead-up to the Carlton Darwin Cup Carnival commencing on Saturday, 8 July.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, it gives me enormous pleasure to record in this parliament’s recognition of the 45th anniversary of the Sitzler Bros. A cocktail party celebrating this achievement will be held in Alice Springs on 15 June, and I sincerely regret not being able to attend. I have passed on the reasons for my inability to attend to Mr Michael Sitzler; that is, that this parliament is in session and, accordingly, it would be impossible for me to attend the celebration.
When this parliament sits we, as elected members, often miss the opportunity of attending functions that are on from time to time. For me, missing this function is especially disappointing for a number of reasons. In any event, miss it I will, but I am sure the celebrations will go on successfully without me. I wish everyone who is going to celebrate the very best.
I understand that Laurie Sitzler, who now lives in Melbourne, will attend the celebration, as will Paul and Minna Sitzler, who now live in Adelaide. They will join Michael Sitzler and other family members, together with a large group of friends, colleagues and associates, as well as representatives from the community.
The contribution of Sitzler Bros and, indeed, the Sitzler family to the Territory has been and continues to be significant. I would like to recount some of the history and place it on the Parliamentary Record for all time as a permanent record of their contributions.
Today, Sitzler Bros is one of, if not the leading construction company in the Territory, and it has earned a reputation for excellence and integrity. The company Sitzler Bros was formed by Peter and Paul Sitzler. Peter followed his brother Paul to Australia in 1955, where they worked in South Australia before moving to Alice Springs in 1956. They set up a partnership PO and EW Sitzler in 1957, which became a company in 1967. The Sitzler brothers started work in Central Australia with a pick, a shovel and a few tools. They started to get contracts in the early 1960s. The company grew slowly at first, but it was not until the late 1970s and early 1980s that things really started to take off. In 1977, Sitzler Bros started a branch in Darwin, and I understand a third branch office was opened in Cairns in 1988.
Much of the company’s history was, fortunately, recorded in a series of newspaper articles in 1998. I have reviewed those articles and they offer a valuable insight into the company’s history. In order that this Parliamentary Record is comprehensive, I seek leave to table copies of the articles.
Leave granted.
Ms CARNEY: Paul Sitzler said in one of the articles that he had seen many companies come and go, some of them went broke, others did not. Through it all, Sitzlers went from strength to strength. Paul made the point in one of the interviews in 1998 that, while there were a lot of big companies in Darwin, they were all branches of national companies. Over its 45-year history, and still today, Sitzler Bros remains a Territory-owned company and that is something worthy of recognition and congratulations.
The company must have employed hundreds, if not thousands, of staff and subcontractors over the years. Paul said in his 1998 interview that he had had a loyal core of people working for the company and to quote him, he said: ‘When things went bad we would hang onto them’. Perhaps it is that sort of loyalty to staff that has been one of the many ingredients of making this company the success that it is.
Paul also talked about the banks in his interviews. He said that they were always lucky because they had a good bank, which was the ANZ. He said: ‘Quite often a bank gives you an umbrella, and when it rains they take it away. Our bank left us the umbrella when it rained’. The bank must have known that Sitzler Bros would be a very safe long-term bet.
In terms of its building achievements, there are too many to mention, but it is appropriate that I mention some of the significant ones that the company has built over its 45-year history. I will list them as follows: the Northern Territory Tourist Commission in Alice Springs; the Palmerston Civic Centre; Ford Plaza, which is now Alice Plaza; the Catholic and Lutheran churches in Alice Springs; the Anglican Cathedral in Darwin; much of the construction at Yulara; the Humpty Doo Naval Base, together with a lot of Army buildings at the Norforce Headquarters; the Darwin Institute of Technology, as it was then known; the Greatorex Building; the Holiday Inn in Darwin; Minerals House and the FAI Building in Alice Springs; the Centrepoint Building; the Diplomat Hotel; the Kings Canyon Resort; and the Wilderness Lodge, to name a few. They are a testament to the vision shown by Sitzler brothers, and their skills to build such terrific buildings the length and breadth of the Territory.
I would like to talk about the family members who founded the company. I believe this is necessary because, behind any corporate entity are people, and these people had the courage to start the company. It is due to their determination and vision that Sitzler Bros is where it is today.
Sadly, Peter Sitzler died in 1992. It is a testament to the esteem in which he was held that the entire Cabinet of the Northern Territory government attended his funeral at the Catholic church in Alice Springs - the church that his company built. At that time, the company had recently completed the building of the Northern Territory Tourist Commission in Alice. It was fitting that the building was subsequently named after Peter Sitzler. It is often the case that, when a building is named after a person, its formal name is forgotten or seldom used. This is not the case here. I believe it is a testament to Peter’s memory that the building which bears his name continues to be called the Peter Sitzler Building. His good friend, the late Roger Vale, recalled after Peter’s death that, in the 1960s, Peter was involved in building houses and the church at Hermannsburg. Roger said: ‘… that he not only built houses, but he taught Aborigines to build them as well’. What an impressive legacy, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker.
I now turn to Paul Sitzler OAM. Paul retired from the business in 1988 but has, it always seemed to me, maintained an interest in the company until he and his wife, Minna, left Alice Springs a few years ago. Paul’s interviews are worth a read and, in the interest of time, I will not repeat them here. However, I have tabled them and they will now become a permanent part of the history recorded by this parliament. I commend those interviews to anyone interested in the history of the Northern Territory or the construction industry generally. They are a very good read.
In his interviews, Paul talked about the difficulties doing work in the bush in the early days, the stress involved and the long hours. It shows what a frontier place the Territory was in those days and how, if anyone was prepared to work hard, be creative and take some risks, they would be rewarded. However, Paul did not just build buildings. Like his brother, he played a very active part in the Alice Springs community and, indeed, around the Territory generally. He was a member of Apex and Rotary and was the chairman of the local Bicentenary Committee and Bicentennial council.
I now turn to their wives, Minna and Laurie, because the history of the Sitzler brothers is incomplete without talking about the Sitzler wives. These women worked as hard as their husbands and supported them in every way imaginable. On long bush trips, they would be at home alone and, ultimately, they played the pivotal role in raising their children. When required to help out in practical ways, however, they did, and it even included being camp cook on occasion.
Peter Sitzler met his wife, Laurie, in Alice Springs. She was a midwife who worked at the Alice Springs Hospital. Laurie left Alice Springs to live in Melbourne about eight years ago, but regularly returns to Alice partly to see her son, Michael and wife, Terry, and her grandchildren, Luke and Sam, but also because she is a keen golfer - and everyone in the Territory knows that the course in Alice Springs is one of the best in the country.
Another notable feature of the history of Sitzlers in the Territory is the role played by Minna Sitzler, Paul’s wife. Minna was the first person to fill the position of Deputy of the Administrator when she was appointed by then Chief Minister Shane Stone in February 1997. She was sworn in by our then Governor-General, Sir William Deane, in Darwin on 17 February 1997 - a man whom Minna Sitzler greatly admired. In a media release issued by Shane Stone at that time, he said that the position of Deputy of the Administrator would give:
- … the Administrator’s position greater focus in Central Australia …
He further said that it was:
- … a reflection of the importance of Central Australia to the Office of the Administrator.
Indeed, it was. As an Alice Springs resident, I know how proud everyone in Alice Springs was of Minna Sitzler being the first person to be the Deputy of the Administrator. It was a positive move forward for the people of Alice Springs.
Minna Sitzler is one of my closest and dearest friends, and it was an absolute delight to see her in the role of Deputy of the Administrator. It was not because of the role itself, but it was delightful to see her relish the range of experiences it provided. She did things that she had never done before such as make public speeches - which was not something she especially enjoyed - as well as meet people around Alice who shared their lives and life experiences with her. I believe, and I am sure Minna would agree with me, that she found it to be a greatly enriching experience. Although I will miss the celebration on Thursday night, I do very much look forward to catching up with Minna on the weekend.
Paul and Minna left Alice Springs about four years ago. They left behind many friends, most of whom see them regularly in Adelaide.
I now move to the present. The company is now run by Mr Michael Sitzler and his business partner, Steve Margetic. They continue the tradition of working hard, having loyal staff and subcontractors, and developing the Territory. They are part of the consortium in the waterfront development. They are respected businessmen and have shown business acumen and integrity. All of us know that the company is in safe hands.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it is certainly appropriate that this parliament record the history of Sitzler Bros, and express its collective congratulations to all members of the Sitzler family on their celebration of 45 years. Importantly, it is also an opportunity for all of us to reflect on the vital role of the company and its family members have played in the development of the Northern Territory. The Territory would not be the place it is without their commitment, vision and hard work. On behalf of all members, I express our thanks and wish members of the Sitzler family well in their celebrations and well beyond those celebrations. Perhaps I can attend the 50th anniversary.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to make some comments on an issue which was raised in Question Time today. It relates to comments made by the Chief Minister regarding a question which focused on Australia becoming a nuclear power in the future. Whilst I do not intend to get into the nuclear debate because it is extremely large and you would not get through it in 15 minutes, I want to say a couple of things.
It is an important debate to have, and it is important, when we do have this debate, that we base our like or dislike of nuclear energy on some facts. One area that I find most alarming is that some comments which have come from the Labor Party - not just in this House but from the federal members - are simply untrue or, at best, inaccurate. Today’s comments by the Chief Minister are no exception.
If I go back a little, there was a petition circulated by the government last year. It was distributed by departments at various shows throughout the Northern Territory. It basically said that we did not want a nuclear waste facility. It was called by members of the Labor Party and some parts of the media a ‘nuclear waste dump’ to give it that terrifying approach. When it was presented in parliament, it was announced that there were approximately 5300 signatures on that petition. However, on the website for Mr Snowdon, member for Lingiari, there was a quote saying there were 9000 signatures. If you read Hansard of the federal parliament, you will see it was 5300.
I also attended the Senate select committee on this issue in Canberra. I said at that time that I was the only member of parliament to have visited Lucas Heights. I was pulled up by the Senator for the Northern Territory, Trish Crossin, who said that was wrong and that other members of parliament had attended Lucas Heights. What she did not say was that they stood outside the front gate. Anyone would have known that, when I said I visited Lucas Heights, I visited ANSTO’s facility. This was an inaccurate remark by the Senator, to pretend that members of her party had actually visited the nuclear facility. Senator Trish Crossin also made some alarming remarks about a pond being developed in the design of a nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory, which happened to the be the bund walls in case there was a spillage of some sort. It was made out as though this would be have a major effect on the environment when it was to protect the environment.
Today, the Chief Minister answered a question regarding nuclear power and she said:
- There you have a picture: rather than the one that the present federal government did some research on in the late 1990s, which dotted nuclear power stations around Australia, including in Darwin - no wonder they did not release that. They asked: ‘Where can we put a nuclear power station? Darwin is a good place’.
The facts are the federal government was not going to site a nuclear power plant; it was looking at a nuclear reactor. That is quite a different thing than a nuclear power plant. Again, let us not let the facts get in the way of a good story. It is an inaccurate statement. It is designed to scare people. It is not about arguing whether nuclear is good or bad; it is just simply to put up arguments to scare people.
What really got me this afternoon was that the minister said we really should be talking about gas; we should not be talking about nuclear. She said in her closing statement: ‘We need more loud voices to say gas is a very green energy source’. I dispute that wholeheartedly. There is no doubt that gas is probably a cleaner fuel than petrol or coal. However, to say that it is a very green energy source is just a load of rubbish. If you look at the environment assessment report, No 24, regarding the liquefied natural gas plant, which is the one in the middle of the harbour, and read the quote on air emissions from that facility - this report was done in February 1998 by the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment - it says:
- The operation of an LNG plant …
… will produce a number of atmospheric pollutants. These include carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOX), sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matters smaller than 10 um (PM10), and volatile organic compounds (VOC). Atmospheric emissions will be produced by combustion and from fugitive omissions …
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas emission.
On the next page under the heading ‘Greenhouse Gas Emissions’ - and this is the same LNG plant in the middle of the harbour:
- The LNG plant will be a major producer of greenhouse emissions, principally in the form of CO2. The sources of CO2 are the incoming LNG stream, the burning of LNG in the turbine drivers, and from flaring.
The proposal will unavoidably contribute to Australia’s greenhouse emissions at a time when the Commonwealth is committed to controlling such emissions. All measures to minimise CO2 emissions should be investigated as part of the ongoing operational EMP for the proposal.
In the draft EIS, the proponent notes that the main product of the plant will be LNG, which is recognised as a relatively clean burning product, compared to other fossil fuels. The implication is that LNG production and consumption as a fuel will result in nett global reduction of greenhouse gases if LNG is substituted for other fossil fuels and energy production. While this argument is acknowledged, the development of the Bayu-Undan field will inevitably result in additional CO2 emissions.
Therefore, whether you think gas is better than coal is fine, but it is not a very green energy source if you look at the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage’s report of greenhouse gas emissions from using LPG in your car. Many people say it is better to use LPG than petrol. Here are the facts from the Australian Greenhouse Office. LPG produces 1.6 kg of carbon dioxide per litre of fuel used compared to petrol which produces 2.5 kg of CO2. The report goes on to say:
- This is not the end of the story because it also matters how much fuel is consumed to travel a given distance. LPG has lower greenhouse emissions per litre of fuel consumed than petrol, but also has a lower energy content. Therefore, equivalent vehicles tend to consume more of LPG … to travel a given distance.
If you look at the manufacturing of LPG - and I have the environment report 2005 of ExxonMobil which operates a plant from Long Island in Victoria:
- Long Island Point receives liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and crude oil from the Longford Plants, the onshore receiving point for oil and gas in the Bass Strait production facilities. At Long Island Point, LPG is processed, stored and distributed to customers by ship, truck and pipeline. Crude oil is stored and distributed by ship and pipeline. During 37 years of operations, more than 640 million barrels of LPG and 3.5 billion barrels of crude oil have been processed and stored at the facility.
Therefore, to say in this parliament that gas is a very clean energy source, really requires a much better explanation from the Chief Minister. There is no doubt that it is probably a cleaner fuel than coal, but to say it is a very green energy source is simply done to scare people away from looking at the fact that nuclear power produces practically no emissions. Whilst one could argue that it will produce greenhouse gases in its construction, one can also say that the only reason for that is because, at the present time most of our energy sources to produce the materials required to build a nuclear power station, come from sources which produce greenhouse gases. If you had all sources of energy which did not produce greenhouse gases, then you could build things without greenhouse gas emissions.
I am not saying that nuclear power is the way for Australia to go, necessarily. I do support the concept of nuclear power, but I have said many times here that we should look at all the sources of power - wind and solar and tidal, which has been tried in the Territory. We also should be looking at my favourite subject, hot rock technology.
During this debate, when the Prime Minister announced we were going to have a nuclear debate, I know the company Geodynamics put out a press release saying isn’t it about time that the Prime Minister also looked at the concept of gaining clean power from the hot rocks in Innamincka in South Australia. In fact, the company was quoted, I believe in its press release, to say there was potentially enough power there to provide the major cities of Australia for the next 70 years.
I am happy to say that I believe nuclear has a role, especially in the reduction of greenhouse gases - and I do not know what the economics of it are; that needs to be looked at. I believe the economics should be weighed up against the benefits of producing greenhouse gases. It should not be purely nuclear versus coal, because coal is detrimental to the environment. I believe we have to be careful we do not have that debate purely on economic terms; we also need to ensure that we do have a debate that relates to environment.
Whilst I welcome the Prime Minister’s discussion on nuclear power, I believe there should be a lot more discussion about the hot rock technology in South Australia. We do know it works because there are other parts of the world where it is up and running. We know that there is a huge amount of rocks in Innamincka. In fact, the rocks in Innamincka are regarded as the hottest in the world outside of volcanoes. I believe that that is an alternative that should be looked at.
I am pleased that the minister for Mines is looking at putting some changes to legislation to allow the concept of exploring for this type of energy to make it easier for companies to explore in the Northern Territory. I believe we should be placing more emphasis on that.
However, in the end, we should have the debate, but we should make sure that debate is not based on scaremongering, on raising particular issues that are inaccurate and not true. It is not true to say that gas is a very green energy. It is not true to say that someone else went to Lucas Heights when they did not. It is not true to say that so many people put their name down for a petition when, in actual fact, they did not. It is not true to say that there were nuclear power plants proposed for Darwin - that is not true. While the government continues down that line, I will continue to tell people they are not telling the truth. If you want to argue the case on scientific grounds, by all means, but tell the truth and do not trick people with ideology.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016