2008-04-30
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 Wanguri Primary School students, accompanied by their teacher, Ms Emily Kuhn, who are participating in the Parliament of the Wizards. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms LAWRIE (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that leave of absence be granted to the member for Port Darwin for today due to ill health.
Motion agreed to.
Mr NATT (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I report to the Assembly on my recent visit to Vietnam and Sabah. As you are aware, the live cattle export industry is of vital importance to the economy of the Territory and it is due to this fact that I recently led a combined government and industry delegation to Sabah, Malaysia and Vietnam, with the purpose to maintain and further develop existing relations in Sabah and to explore potential for the export of Northern Territory cattle to Vietnam.
In Malaysia, discussions revealed considerable interest for the renewal of the memorandum of cooperation between the State of Sabah and the Northern Territory. Whilst there is strong support from Sabah for the renewal of the memorandum of cooperation, the position made clear by the Northern Territory government is that there will be a report completed on the outcomes of the memorandum of cooperation which will be considered prior to any possible undertakings of a further extension of the memorandum of cooperation.
Discussions indicated that interim assistance to be provided to Sabah by the Northern Territory government will be continued evaluation of state government farms in Sabah; assistance in establishing a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) training; and continued cross-jurisdictional staff training. Sabah officials indicated that, in 2008, they plan to import shipments of 1000 breeder cattle, 100 Brahman bulls and 160 buffalo. There were also discussions of private sector imports; however, all of these will eventually be determined by shipping availability and other market factors.
In Vietnam, I visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi which is the key ministry responsible for livestock and cattle production in Vietnam. I provided the Vice Minister with an overview of the Territory’s live cattle industry and indicated that the Territory live cattle industry was keen to support Vietnamese farmers and pass on knowledge and expertise they had gained over many years. I also made clear the potential benefits to both countries’ economies through live cattle trade and feed-lotting, and sought the Vice Minister’s support and assistance in developing trade links between the Territory and Vietnam.
In Hanoi, I also visited the Ministry of Industry and Trade and provided Vice Minister Bien with an update of progress in developing live cattle trade between the Territory and Vietnam. I also attended a formal meeting with Chairman Vo Lam Phi of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Government in Nha Trang City, and attended the opening of the cattle industry seminars in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh Cities.
Mr Stuart Kenny, the then Executive Director of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association; Mr Adam Hill, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association; and Mr Alister Trier from my department delivered two well-attended presentations providing an overview of the Territory cattle industry and the export and feedlot processes. This included identifying the extent of responsibilities of the exporter and importer, and also an indication of technical requirements such as animal welfare, appropriate infrastructure, market considerations and operational requirements to maximise yield and economic return.
As a consequence of the seminar in Ho Chi Minh City, a Director from Pas Foods Company in Vung Tau sought an additional meeting with staff from my department to gain further information on the benefits, the costs and considerations of feedlot cattle. I understand that since this meeting, Pas Foods has been in regular contact.
Madam Speaker, you can see from this report that our visits and presentations have laid the groundwork that will underpin the Territory’s cattle export industry into the future.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I support the report. It is important and welcomed to get updates of activity within the region. I maintain the view that this is an area of our strategic advantage and we really do need to work hard and smart to develop and extend upon the connections we have already established. It is good to hear these reports.
I still, though, am troubled by this notion of the reports that are presented in parliament. It is not parliamentary practice; it is like at the start of school where you get news for the day. As a parliamentarian, to be able to provide a response on the spot is interesting. However, it could be more effective, because there are a number of issues that were touched on that I would like a little more information on. If we could have a bit more warning of these reports, we can engage in a more constructive debate to the benefit of those we are endeavouring to serve.
Before saying anything further on that, I place on record most firmly the outstanding contribution of Stuart Kenny. His leadership to the pastoral and cattle industry is first class, and it is a sad loss for the Northern Territory. I wish him - as I am sure members on the other side of the Chamber also wish him - and his family all the best in his new career in Queensland.
It is important I put on the record that there is word going around that there is some trouble in the trucking industry. If we are going to have cattle arriving in Hanoi or in Sabah, they have to spend part of that journey on a truck. Perhaps in your reply, minister, you will be able to give some reference to any issues that you are aware of in the trucking industry so that we can ensure that there is efficient movement from the property to the port of destination and the feedlot.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. I also agree with the Leader of the Opposition that some of these reports could be presented to parliament as statements, so we have full debate on these issues.
The live cattle industry, I suppose, is one of our major exports from an agricultural point of view in the Northern Territory, and it is very important that we debate the future of that industry. Some of the areas I would like to see debated, for instance, would be how many Aboriginal pastoral stations are now involved in live cattle exports. It is great to be talking about the economy growing quite rapidly in the Northern Territory, but it is important to see whether Aboriginal people are benefiting from that growth. The area we should be looking at is whether they are part of the live cattle export in the Northern Territory and whether there is any advantage to those people.
There is also the issue of land clearing in the Douglas Daly. The government has decided there is to be another two-year moratorium on that, so that is also affecting people who wish to expand their live cattle capacity in those areas. The government should at least be keeping us up-to-date on what is happening in that area as well.
I also agree with the Leader of the Opposition with regard to Stuart Kenny. He has done much work for the Cattlemen’s Association. He has worked hard in relation to the local government reform. Whether you agree with him on those issues, the point is he was an advocate for the people he represented and he did a good job. He will be difficult to replace.
Minister, I have always said primary industry is a poor cousin when it comes to departments in the Northern Territory. However, I believe it is time we had a chance to debate it in a statement in this parliament so we can do it justice.
Mr NATT (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nelson for their comments. Leader of the Opposition, I understand there is a national skills shortage in the trucking industry, but we are working closely with the Livestock Trucking Association. The minister for Transport is working closely with them to see if we can overcome some of those issues. I take the point of the member for Nelson on the indigenous pastoral program. Perhaps we might be able to do a report on that in the not-too-distant future and bring you up-to-date with what is happening with that as well.
I also express my thanks to Stuart Kenny. He has been a great advocate and contributor to the Northern Territory in his role as CEO of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. I thank him for all the support he has given me in the short time I have been in this role. I know he has moved on to a responsible position with the Australian Agricultural Company, and I wish him all the best - as do all the members on this side of the House - in the future for him and his family. We wish him well in his new venture.
Mr KIELY (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of attending a major forum involving Parks staff, Central and Northern Land Council staff and about 80 traditional owners of 22 parks and reserves which took place over 1 to 3 April this year at Hamilton Downs Youth Camp, north-west of Alice Springs. The forum was the first of its kind, providing an opportunity for traditional owners from all regions of the Territory to discuss issues and opportunities related to joint management.
Many topics were explored at the forum including economic opportunities, governance issues and the roles and responsibilities of the traditional owners, Parks and Wildlife and the land councils. Presentations were given by traditional owners relating to indigenous rangers working on their own country and balancing cultural and employment responsibilities, their involvement with business and tourism enterprises, developing their own land management expertise, and contracting those skills and labour to Parks and other purchasers of those services.
Two of the major issues which arose during the forum were the need for a greater focus on joint management as a mechanism to deliver social, cultural and economic development opportunities, and the need for stronger communication with traditional owners, especially for those parks where there has been less joint management activity.
This government is directing significant resources into the development of joint management plans. In one new joint management plan, a position has been created in each of the northern, Katherine and southern regions. Joint management plans are currently in process for 15 parks and reserves. Two of these - Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve and Devil’s Marbles Conservation Reserve - have been released for public comment. Draft management plans for Flora River, Fogg Dam, Harrison Dam, Lambells Lagoon, Black Jungle and Melacca Swamp Conservation Reserves, Chambers Hill Historical Reserve and the West MacDonnell National Park should be released for public comment before the end of this year.
Joint management funding contributes directly to the employment of 12 indigenous rangers and trainees across Territory parks. In the Alice Springs region, two indigenous rangers have completed 18-month traineeships and now have permanent ranger positions. Three more traineeships are currently being undertaken. In the Katherine region, four traditional owners are undertaking traineeships, and another four are engaged in regular contract work on parks. In the Darwin region, two traditional owners have taken up traineeship positions based at Fogg Dam. The Parks and Wildlife Service now employs 24 traditional owners in various ranger, trainee and contract positions.
The flexible employment program continues to provide opportunities for traditional owners to gain work experience and training while working alongside rangers on park management projects. The program has proven successful in building work readiness in traditional owner participants, and contract readiness in partner Aboriginal organisations. A full-time coordinator has been employed in Alice Springs so the program outcomes can be maximised across this region.
The flexible employment program, together with joint management funding, has been significant in the establishment of the Tjuwanpa Ranger Group at Hermannsburg which, last year, won a $40 000 campground upgrade contract at Finke Gorge National Park. This program is also supporting indigenous ranger groups in the Alice Springs and East MacDonnell districts. More works and service contracts are foreseen for other Aboriginal organisations during the next year.
Madam Speaker, the benefits of this government’s commitment to joint management are clear: the economic and employment opportunities are beginning to be realised. I look forward to continuing to work with traditional owners and the Northern and Central Land Councils to ensure we take full advantage of these opportunities.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. I also feel that two minutes is not long enough, minister, for me to be able to digest all that you have said and respond. I would like to see a statement in relation to such an important issue as joint management of our parks.
Minister, regarding the traditional owners that you were saying had a lot of input at this forum, I would like you to tell me in your response how many forums are going to be held in the future to ensure that there is a full understanding and cooperation between the Territory government, the Parks management and the traditional owners of what management is.
You mentioned apprenticeships have been offered. How are you going to continue those apprenticeships and ensure that there are more people offered those apprenticeships in these parks? There are many parks which have joint management now throughout the Territory. In your response, I would like to know that, thank you, minister. Perhaps in the future you could give a statement on joint management in parks in the Northern Territory so that we are able to respond and debate it in full.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. It is great that the park management plans are making more jobs available to indigenous people. One concern I have is that we are not just employing these people because they are indigenous or traditional owners. If we are not using this as a means to improve literacy and numeracy, to improve the skills of these people then, to some extent, we could be accused of putting up a shopfront version of employment of indigenous people, whereas we really need to be using this program to improve the skills and qualifications of these people.
Being a ranger requires fairly high qualifications today. I imagine many of these traditional people, obviously, would not have those same qualifications as other rangers. I hope the government sees this as a first stepping stone to upgrading and improving their skills so that we have good, qualified local people who not only have an understanding of the traditions of the area they are operating in, but also the scientific skills and knowledge needed to go with those skills.
I congratulate the government on its plans to encourage Aboriginal people to be employed as part of these management plans. I consider it a productive move. It is one of the reasons I supported the changes that the government brought in. However, I would like to see some hard evidence that this is part of a stepping stone for these people into the future.
Mr KIELY (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, I thank the members for their comments. The member for Katherine mentioned that she did not think there was sufficient time to participate substantially in responding to the report and called for a statement on joint management program in Parks and Wildlife. This has been debated over the years ...
Mrs Miller: Your updated report.
Mr KIELY: This is very well known. I am just updating the people in this Chamber and in the Territory so they know what is going on with our joint management program. It is pretty well out there, member for Katherine. I will ensure that you get the Hansards for all those debates, seeing you need to be refreshed on those debates.
When it comes to how often the forums will be held, this was the first forum, member for Katherine. We got together and, from that initial forum, we are hopeful of holding one at least once a year. It was a highly impressive gathering of a whole range of people and expertise dealing specifically with the progression of people.
As far as the member for Nelson is concerned, I am trying to get this in regarding education: Bridging the Gap. It is not just about one job in one particular area; it is about getting the whole community in all of these areas that are being disadvantaged up to scratch.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I report to the House on the Department of Employment, Education and Training’s Leading for Improved Performance School Leader’s Conference 2008, conducted on 8 and 9 April 2008 at the Crowne Plaza, Darwin. The conference was attended by principals, assistant principals, indigenous executive teachers, senior DEET officers, and education services staff. A total of 190 DEET employees attended.
I strongly believe that the educational leaders in schools play a pivotal role in improving a school’s overall performance. It is these leaders who must focus the resources of the school - human and physical - on improving student outcomes. These leaders must continue to learn if they are to be leaders in the 21st century. We have expectations that our students will be lifelong learners and we must have high expectations that our leaders will be also.
The DEET conference provides an opportunity for targeted and Northern Territory specific issues to be addressed. The focus of the Leading for Improved Performance conference was to engage school leaders and senior DEET officers to work together to:
share their experiences, knowledge and expertise to meet priorities in the delivery of high-quality teaching and education services which maximise the learning and wellbeing for all students;
In my keynote address, I informed the school leaders of prioritising the importance of continuing to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous outcomes, and the need to target early childhood education. The department’s chief executive, Margaret Banks, emphasised the importance of a focused and whole-of-school approach to literacy and numeracy and said that, working from a common base of high expectations, educators can effect change by using improvement targets to track individual student progress. She emphasised to those present that it is important to remember that each student is precious.
One of the key note addresses was presented by videoconference from New Zealand. Professor Viviane Robinson from the University of Auckland presented a lecture on school leadership and student outcomes, identifying what works and why.
Support speakers, Graham Marshall, who is a Senior Fellow from the University of Melbourne, spoke about leading performance management and improved outcomes. Justin Noel, from Origin Communications, presented an address on identifying, developing and supporting indigenous leaders, while Grant Donovan presented on developing high performing and independent teams. A number of principals presented on high quality programs that were being implemented in their schools. Paul Nyhuis from Malak Primary School talked about the schools program to target at-risk students and the good results they were seeing. Dr Terry Quong from Millner Primary School presented his school’s work on tracking transient students and reporting student gains to parents. Tony Considine from Taminmin High School demonstrated the online curriculum the school has developed. Ursula Balfour, an Alice Springs principal, talked about the work they are doing with students in town camps and the success of the transition of the Irrkerlantye students into mainstream schooling.
The conference was well received and attendee evaluation showed that the conference was considered a great professional and personal development opportunity which ranked favourably with national and international conferences; it linked performance management practices and processes to achieving positive outcomes for students with thought-provoking, inspirational, informative; and it offered excellent information.
Madam Speaker, our school leaders are the people who will create the environments needed in our schools to ensure our students are achieving their full potential. Bringing together our school leaders keeps the organisation focused and moving towards our goals and aspirations. With Closing the Gap, the Northern Territory has five-, 10- and 20-year goals and our school leaders will be the ones needed to lead our schools and teachers to achieve these goals.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, perhaps I could do a deal that you could let the opposition know the title of these reports so we have better opportunity to engage more constructively. I would like to progress that with Leader of Government Business later.
I find it surprising that there is no reference given to the non-government sector in this. I believe all members who take pride in their indigenous heritage have had their education from the non-government sector. There is leadership provided from all sectors in education. If you are reinforcing your position as the minister for the Department of Education, fine, but I believe we should take a broader view that it is education and there are lessons to be learnt from both sides from all those who are participating in it. I am surprised that there was no reference made to the non-government sector.
There were many words in there, but we need to be reminded of core principles. One is the responsibility of a government to provide qualified teachers before every classroom across the Northern Territory. On that, I note that Professor Helen Hughes from the ANU was not on the list. Second, that government has a responsibility to ensure that those schools are adequately resourced with a qualified teacher and learning facilities in all of these communities. Third, it is the responsibility of a parent to send their kids to that school. If you do not have those three responsibilities properly addressed, all the rest is talk.
There have to be measures, and we are going to have to bite a very tough bullet, to ensure that that responsibility that is largely borne by a parent is acted upon. With all your talk and all the money you are spending to talk about parental responsibility, there are measures already in existence that you could use to enhance the motivating factors to get a parent to send their kids to school. However, you fail to use them and you will spend a lot of money and take pride in all the things that you are doing, but you will not take the hard step to ensure there is enhanced responsibility on a parent to do the right thing and send their kids to school. All the rest is talk.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I am really pleased that principals get together for professional development and interaction. It brings memories back to me. It is important that you have those experienced principals working with the ones who are new to the job and who have smaller schools and responsibilities.
It is also important that you develop that relationship between DEET people in the office and the people on the ground. I suppose, if there is any criticism I make, it is that they still seem to be very remote from what happens on the ground. To the DEET people in the office, please get out and visit your schools as much as you can. The people out there in the schools who are doing it tough need your support. They need to know that they are being valued and that there is support for them when they need it. They need to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone. If they have met a principal that they have good relationships with through a conference such as this, then you have achieved something.
There is great value in this sharing of information and expertise. It is amazing how little things can mean so much to some of those inexperienced principals who may have been there. However, it also blows the cobwebs out of those ones who are experienced and, perhaps, have been at schools for a long time. Let us face it; we do have some principals who have been in these schools a long time and need a bit of a shake, rattle and roll about the way they are going about things.
We are going to talk about education in a statement later in the day. Most of what I want to say about education I will say then. However, minister, please continue to provide professional development for teachers and principals; it is an important element of their professionalism. I am pleased to hear that this has happened.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling and the Opposition Leader for their comments. To the Opposition Leader, it was interesting talking to Daryl Manzie this morning. I like Daryl Manzie, who was a former Eduction minister under the CLP government. His words to me were that if there was a simple solution to this complex issue that we find in indigenous communities with attendance and the partnership, it would have been found by the CLP government - who did nothing. What we are talking about here is historical deficit. However, at some stage with education, we have to get beyond the infantile bickering of members opposite who continually think that they have the magic bullet. They have not, otherwise they would have found the solution to this a long time ago. It was their neglect that we are dealing with today.
Regarding the non-government sector, I have been engaging with the non-government sector, as has the Chief Minister and the Treasurer, to look at different choices …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Reports noted pursuant to standing orders.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have given my leave for the member for Nelson to make a personal explanation. I remind you that personal explanations are not a debate and I ask you to listen in silence.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, yesterday the following was said in relation to the proposed LNG plant:
Parliamentary Record, August, 2002:
February 2003:
NT News by Paul Dyer, May 2004:
NT News, May 2004 editorial:
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr BURNS (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Amendment Bill 2008 (Serial 142) passing through all stages at these sittings.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, as you know, I do not like bills passing through parliament on an urgency motion. In this case, if the minister has good reasons for this bill being put forward for urgent reasons, then I am interested to hear those reasons. I have some concerns that, although this appears to be a bill based on a judgment by a court - and that needs some amendment - I am concerned that this may also be in relation to, perhaps, a mistake by the government.
I am interested to hear what the minister has to say are the reasons why this bill should go through on an urgency motion.
Madam SPEAKER: At the moment, the motion before the Chair is to suspend standing orders that would prevent the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Amendment Bill passing through all stages. It is just on that motion; it is not the bill itself.
Are there any further speakers on the motion to suspend standing orders?
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I support the motion. It is appropriate that this bill pass during these sittings. Interestingly, I read the case a few weeks ago on an aeroplane. Peter Toyne was on the same plane. As we were getting off, I commented to him that, ‘Whoops, a couple of mistakes have been made’, and we had, thereafter, a private discussion …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is a motion to suspend standing orders not substantive debate. We are happy to participate in substantive debate once we have passed the motion on the suspension of standing orders. It is a motion on suspension of standing orders.
Mr Mills: Yes, that is correct.
Mrs Miller: Just sit down.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of Government Business is correct. Member for Araluen, please come to the point fairly quickly in relation to the motion.
Ms CARNEY: The point, Madam Speaker, is that we support the bill passing during these sittings because it should. We make the point, however - and we will continue to make it on the way through - that, invariably, when government passes legislation, all the media releases go out saying: ‘It is going to do this and it is going do this’ …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Ms CARNEY: Well, here is another example of you failing to do it, but we will support the motion, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. What is your point of order?
Ms LAWRIE: The member for Araluen is rambling. Can we get on with dealing with the motion before us?
Ms Carney: You read the case, did you? Were you across the original legislation? I think not!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Lawrie: You are rambling, as usual.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Dr BURNS (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I am happy to speak. I take what the Independent member has said, and the Leader of the Opposition. I will certainly be giving a lot of detail in my second reading speech on this particular bill. However, to reduce it to the facts, government had a very clear intention in relation to this bill when it passed through this parliament.
I will read an extract from the second reading speech that Peter Toyne gave on this particular issue. It was crystal clear what government’s intention was.
Essentially …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Ms Carney: Then you should have drafted the legislation accordingly.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WOOD: We are basically arguing, in this case, why it should be brought forward on urgency. That is what this is about.
Ms Carney: Delia, are you going to object?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members, I like it when I can actually be heard. Minister, if you continue remarks, it must only be in relation to the urgency, nothing to do with the bill itself - only in relation to the urgency.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In essence, the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, through appeal, has granted a prisoner - who, through the intent of the legislation, should be serving 25 years because there was an aggravating offence involved - the right to apply for parole. That parole hearing occurs in mid-May. The reason for the urgency in this bill is to set this matter straight and implement the clear intentions of government in relation to this whole matter, and this prisoner in particular.
Motion agreed to.
Dr BURNS (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to clarify the original intent of this parliament in passing the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Act 2003. That act introduced a system of parole for Northern Territory prisoners serving a life sentence for the crime of murder. Prior to the introduction of that act, prisoners serving a life sentence were not eligible to apply for parole. The only way that these prisoners could negotiate a release from prison was by formally approaching His Honour the Administrator for a grant of executive clemency.
This government, through the introduction of the 2003 act, introduced a system whereby prisoners serving life sentences for the crime of murder could become eligible for parole after serving a minimum non-parole period of at least 20 years. I must acknowledge that it was the previous CLP government which initially examined the prospect of creating parole periods for prisoners serving life sentences. Of course, they did not follow through and it was up to this government to deliver these reforms. The 2003 act gave offenders the opportunity to obtain parole if they satisfied the criteria by serving a minimum period of imprisonment and met pre-parole requirements.
It was always intended by this parliament that prisoners who had committed the crime of murder would have to serve a non-parole period of at least 20 years imprisonment. However, in the 2003 act, this government also included provision which stated that prisoners who had committed certain acts of aggravation during the commission of a murder would have to serve a minimum period of 25 years imprisonment before they could be eligible for parole. In the second reading speech, the then Attorney-General stated:
It has become necessary for this government to clarify precisely what was intended by the provisions of the act. A recent decision by the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal calls into question whether the act, as currently drafted, does, in fact, do as it was originally intended by this parliament. These proposed amendments, therefore, clarify that if the facts of a particular case include the presence of aggravating circumstances which have not changed since the introduction of the act in 2003, the Director of Public Prosecutions must make an application to the court to have the standard 20-year non-parole term extended. Once the court is satisfied these circumstances are, indeed present, the courts must impose at least a 25-year minimum term. Both the DPP and the court are obliged to act if the circumstances of aggravation outlined in section 19(3) of the act are found to be present. The existing entitlements for the court to award more than a 25-year minimum term, or decline to fix a parole period, remain.
This act specifically deals with the sentencing regime for the most serious category of offenders. The community expects they be punished for their crimes. This is why government is removing any possible discretion from the DPP in bringing the application, or the court in deciding the application as to minimum terms. A lengthy sentence of imprisonment must be imposed and the community expects this class of prisoner to serve that sentence.
I turn now to the retrospective component contained in the bill. As a result of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, one transitional life prisoner who committed the offence of murder with an aggravating circumstance has received a minimum non-parole period of 20 years imprisonment. All other transitional life prisoners who have been found to have committed murders with circumstances of aggravation have all received sentences of at least 25 years imprisonment or higher. One has been declined a parole period. Until this most recent case, the court has always interpreted the act as precluding it from having any discretion to impose less than the 25-year minimum term for murders where aggravating circumstances were present.
If government does not act, those prisoners who have been given a 25-year minimum term may justifiably feel a sense of grievance that they were not given the same consideration as in the recent case of Jonathon Bakewell. However, those other prisoners were dealt with in the manner which was always intended by parliament and Mr Bakewell was not. This is why government must act swiftly. Mr Bakewell has not been considered for parole yet, but this bill provides specific powers for a further application to be made for the DPP or me to apply a longer parole period. The prompt response of government means that Mr Bakewell will not get his hopes up at the possibility of release, or even to be temporarily released only to return to prison upon this legislation’s commencement.
To this end, I have written to the South Australian Corrective Services minister, Hon Carmel Zollo, informing her of the Northern Territory’s actions and requesting that this be conveyed to the South Australian Parole Board for its information. The presence of circumstances of aggravation in the murder committed by Mr Bakewell means that it was always this parliament’s intention that he should serve a non-parole period of 25 years, just like all the other transitional life prisoners who have been brought before the court so far.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 20 February 2008.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report to the Legislative Assembly on matters arising from audits conducted during the six months to 31 December 2007. My ministerial colleagues and I value the work of the Auditor-General in assisting the process of accountability by providing independent analysis of financial results, and by drawing parliament’s attention to matters of interest.
In the six months to 31 December 2007, the Auditor-General completed 33 separate reports, most of which deal with the outcome of audits and financial analyses of agencies and entities. Of this number, only three reports have audit qualifications: one in respect of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement; one in respect of Power and Water Corporation; and one in respect of NT Build. The qualification on the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement is a technical qualification which will only be resolved when the Australian Accounting Standards are harmonised with the currently used Government Finance Statistics Reporting Framework.
The qualification to the Power and Water Corporation is related to a difference of opinion with the Auditor-General on the appropriate discount rates required when determining the values of certain classes of assets in the 2005-06 operating result. Because these values flow through to subsequent years, they have resulted in a qualification this year, and will do so again next year. It is important to note that the initial issue has been resolved and is not expected to arise again.
In the case of NT Build, the Auditor-General was unable to satisfy himself that all revenues due to NT Build under the long service levy have been captured. The board is well aware of the problem and, in conjunction with the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, is pursuing suitable amendments to both the Building Act and the Planning Act. NT Build recognises that legislative action alone will not remove the uncertainty, and has also instituted a range of mechanisms to identify leviable construction projects.
The Auditor-General carried out a number of other performance audits including an assessment of how well the process used by my department to award and administer contracts for the provision of advertising and related services complied with Northern Territory government procurement policy. There was particular emphasis on the value of work allocated to one company because of the increase in value that was generated by my department. The increase was primarily attributable to both the road safety and Creating Darwin’s Future campaigns. The Auditor-General was satisfied that the company was the best qualified firm to provide those services at the time. He was also satisfied that the department’s procurement processes generally complied with the Northern Territory government procurement guidelines. The Auditor-General had some concerns regarding the documentation of decisions and the level of information recorded about the performance of contractors, and my department has put in place procedures to address those issues.
A review of the IT control environment in the Department of Corporate and Information Services found that Data Centre Services staff were implementing practices to mirror industry best practice and they had good incident management procedures and system monitoring tools. Some areas for improvement were identified in relation to change management policies, security standards, and documentation of operations and procedures with regards to Internet security. DCIS has already developed an action plan to address the Auditor-General’s finings.
The Auditor-General also reviewed the IT control environment of two systems used by the Department of Health and Community Services: Ascribe and Quantel. Ascribe is a pharmacy stock control system and, as well as a number of strengths, some areas for improvement were identified in relation to the management of system security. Quantel is an inventory management system and, again, some weaknesses were identified in relation to IT security, segregation of duty controls, and physical access to the server. The Department of Health and Community Services has already addressed some of the Auditor-General’s recommendations and is in the process of addressing others.
The Auditor-General has reviewed the McArthur River Mines security deposit and found that the Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines processes and internal controls provide a reasonable assurance that the security required in relation to the mine is adequate. This will avoid a repeat of the unfortunate situation related to the Mt Todd mine where the Territory was required to meet the costs of rehabilitation. Of the other financial statement audits carried out it is pleasing to note that there were no qualified audit opinions issued.
On behalf of my colleagues, I extend my gratitude to the Auditor-General for his report. I fully support his continued work in upholding the highest standards of governance and accountability for the parliament, and to agency and entity executives.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I follow on those words of endorsement for the fine work that the Auditor-General does. It is a very important office fulfilled very well by Auditor-General, Frank McGuiness.
I note at the outset that the Auditor-General has changed the format somewhat this year, and the report is more detailed in specific areas that he has audited. This is a direct product of the current Auditor-General’s approach to what he does. There are two ways to audit. The first takes an inch-deep and a mile-wide approach. These are, essentially, desktop audits that allow for a broad investigation of government but do not allow for in-depth investigations of particular areas and issues. The other way is the inch-wide, mile-deep approach. This allows the Auditor-General little capacity to audit broadly but, where an audit is conducted, the audit is a detailed analysis of the area chosen to be audited. I notice that the Auditor-General took the latter of the two approaches and what he has discovered is, in some circumstances, very interesting indeed.
The Auditor-General’s first port of call was an analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, or TAFR, or TAFS as it is sometimes referred to. It is amazing to discover, surprisingly, that the Treasurer’s own work received a qualified audit form report when it was handed to the Auditor-General. I am certain that it must be frustrating for the Under Treasurer to receive a qualified report from the Auditor-General, as the Under Treasurer is trapped by the legislative instruments to which she is bound. Sadly, the government financial statistics are not immediately compatible with the Australian Accounting Standards, AAS 31, which is the benchmark upon which the Auditor-General tests his audits. Consequently, the GFS leaves the Auditor- General incapable of giving an unqualified audit opinion because the Auditor-General is bound to the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards, which have adopted the AAS 31. This is not an issue limited to the Territory, and I am hopeful that the Treasurer can assure this place that steps are being taken to address these issues.
This report also invites comment about how fiscal management is proceeding in the Territory. The Territory’s income has gone up enormously in the past six years. The GST, specific purpose payment revenue, has seen Commonwealth-sourced income rise by 80% during that period. Unsourced revenue has also risen in a big way, to 70% during the same period.
Similarly, the declaration of several roads in the Territory as roads of national significance, and population calculations, has seen the Territory’s relativity move from 4.368 to 4.518 in the current cycle, and has a significant effect on funding into the Territory to our benefit. However, it needs to be remembered that the outcome for the year 2000-01 was a total of $1.94bn - see Budget Paper No 3 2001, Mini-budget, page 85. Honourable members might like to have a look at that, particularly those on the other side who think that the CLP was responsible for that, and you just came along and – whacko! - the money increased. History does not confirm that view.
In 2001, the nation’s taxation regime began to use a broad-based consumption tax called the GST. That was a system aggressively attacked by the Labor opposition in the Territory - you never mention that, by the way - at the time. The new taxation arrangements, along with increased grants, have seen the Territory’s total revenue grow to $3.49bn - see 2007-08 Mid-year Report, page 28. Projections to the year 2010-11 anticipate the Territory’s income to reach $3.78bn.
The Territory has repeatedly and substantially underestimated its revenue outcomes. In Budget Paper No 2 for the year 2004-05, the projected income for the year 2007-08 was $2.77bn. That is on page 108. Clearly, that is much less than the actual result achieved in the Mid-year Report for 2007-08 of $3.49bn – a significant difference.
Nevertheless, as I will explain, government has consistently managed to spend the extra income even before they were aware that they had it, particularly in the area of settling wage disputes. In 2005, employee expenses exceeded budget estimates by $120m – that is 12%. Government, nevertheless, managed to return a surplus because of unexpected growth in revenue. This is indicative of an approach that is more founded in good luck than good management …
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Mr MILLS: You will have your chance to address this historical record.
This is certainly not in accord with the Territory’s fiscal strategy of prudent management of liabilities; it is good luck, good fortune, being in the right place at the right time. The stars align beautifully for the Labor Party, which is really good at spending. They point to all that they have spent as an achievement. Indeed, the Auditor-General mentions this issue on page 13 of the report, where he points out that the total public sector nett financial worth has declined in the Territory. How is that possible for such vastly increased revenues?
The government makes much of the fact that its nett debt employee liability ratio is reaching 106%. True, but that is not because of good management. Good management would have seen the ratio reduced to double figures some time ago. It is because of increased federal income. If the 2004-05 Treasury projection of $2.77bn was correct, then the current ratio would be 121%. This supports the proposition that the government has been lucky, not wise.
The Territory’s superannuation liability has far exceeded projections and, other than Tasmania, the Territory is the most poorly positioned jurisdiction in dealing with that debt. In Territory Budget Paper No 2 for the financial year 2002-03, the final estimate for the Territory’s superannuation liability was nearly $1.4bn precisely. That is on page 74. In that paper, the projected growth in that financial year of the liability saw it grow to just under $1.45bn for the financial year 2005-06. By the time the final results for the year 2005-06 were calculated in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report for that year, the debt had expanded to $1.8bn - that is on page 38 - and there was continued projected growth in later budgets. In the 2007-08 Bugdet Paper No 2, the superannuation debt had been calculated to be $2.3bn, growing to $2.4bn by the year 2010-11 - far later than recent predictions. This calculation reveals that outstanding superannuation liability has grown nearly $1bn more than the Territory government had stated it would five years ago.
On 14 October 2004, the Treasurer of the Northern Territory, Mr Stirling, said:
However, by 2006, it had reached $2.25bn. The evidence is now that the liability has not peaked at all, and is continuing to grow, and on current projections it will reach $2.4bn in 2010-11.
I note that the Auditor-General observes that the peak in cash outflow for superannuation has been pushed out to 2022-23. That is on page 51. This has prompted the Territory government to put money into a Conditions of Service Reserve, a Territory version of the federal Future Fund. If you compare the reserve with the debt, you begin to understand the difference between what you have and what you owe.
The defence that the government has offered for the increases is that the actuary who did the NT government’s calculation passed away. The government claimed that only after his passing was it revealed that his system of forward estimates produced a different result. This was reported to the parliament on 12 October 2006, when Mr Stirling said:
Another flaw in this argument is that the actuary passed away in 2004, and the superannuation reviews continued to throw up increasing amounts of debt. The Territory government has been at pains to blame the past actuary, as well as changes in actuarial benchmarks, rather than drawing attention to their own contribution to these blowouts - not least of which is the incapacity to contain wages and live within your means.
As many public servants are still members of defined benefit superannuation schemes, every decision to raise wages resonates with the outstanding superannuation liability that the government carries. The Auditor-General has seen fit to repeat his observations about the incapacity of the government to deal with wages growth in the Territory ...
Ms Lawrie: This is the man who wants to pay teachers and police more.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: No, I can sustain that argument if you would like to do it in a sensible and intelligent way ...
Ms Lawrie: You are unbelievable.
Mr Bonson: You are not vote-grabbing are you?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition has the call.
Mr MILLS: In February 2006, the Auditor-General’s report pointed out that the wages budget for the year ending 30 June 2005 for employee costs had increased by 12% for that year, adding $120m of unbudgeted wages expenditure to the budget. Again, in February 2008, the Auditor-General returned to the theme outlining that employee expenses rose by a further 6% during the 2006-07 year. On table 5 on page 39, the Auditor-General demonstrated how the employee expenses increased by $63m of unbudgeted expenditure. It is arguable, from tracking the process of wage increases, that there has been a direct effect on local inflation which has exceeded national rates. Because the Northern Territory government is the largest employer, its barely restrained spending has led to poor outcomes in local inflation.
In September 2006, the ABS reported in its CPI assessment that the Territory’s CPI had reached 4.9%, and that the higher result in Darwin was driven by higher than average rises in recreation, housing, alcohol and tobacco. It is arguable from this comment that the extra money in has been pouring not only into housing but into consumable services, particularly in the areas of gaming, alcohol, and tobacco. The substantial increases in gaming over the past few years in the Territory reflect the amount of disposable income available in the Territory.
I accept that, in the case of front line public servants, there will be occasions where unbudgeted wage increases may be necessary. However, proper planning should take into account increases in administrative public servant wages. Those increases should be factored into the budget as a part of the ordinary budget cycle.
Treasurer’s Advances fulfil the role of dealing with unbudgeted expenditure. What has occurred in the Territory up until now has far exceeded the capacity of the Treasurer’s Advance and exceeded well beyond frontline public servants. I also add that nothing that I have said here should be interpreted or promoted to suggest that the County Liberal Party in any way supports cuts to wages or conditions of frontline public servants.
In the financial year, 2000-01, the Territory’s nett debt was $1.29bn - that is Budget Paper 3, 2001 Mini-budget, page 85. The projected nett debt for the current financial year is $1.25bn. Over the past seven years, in spite of enormous increases in revenue, the Territory government has barely reduced nett debt and has also added to unfunded superannuation liabilities. The situation in the Territory has deteriorated substantially.
Although there have been increases in infrastructure spending in recent years in the Territory, much of this spending will be aimed at repairing an ageing asset base. After self-government in 1978, the Territory borrowed substantially, as well as taking on the debt of the jurisdiction to build infrastructure in the jurisdiction. Much of that infrastructure is reaching its use-by date, and some of the infrastructure needs upgrading because of the incapacity of existing infrastructure to deal with the current population, such as the money being spent on new power generation capacity in Darwin. Many roads, schools, hospitals and other buildings now need work. On page 31 of the February 2008 report, the Auditor-General alluded to this issue by pointing out that there will be a need to borrow for infrastructure augmentation into the future.
I now turn my attention to the Department of Chief Minister. Regarding other aspects of the report, I have to say it is with some astonishment that we see only one firm pick up 85% of the work from the Department of Chief Minister. The Auditor-General has seen fit to point out substantial shortcomings in the procurement process used by the Department of Chief Minister. What is most astonishing is that, in some instances, the contracts were let before the necessary paperwork had been done by the Department of Chief Minister. How on earth were these panel contracts managed? Is it the case that a simple phone call was made by the Chief Minister or his or her representative to this firm and the contract was dealt with over the phone so that government could get its message out? If that is the case, then it is very telling, Madam Speaker. Government has to sidestep its own procurement protocols so often …
Ms Lawrie: What a lot of rot.
Mr MILLS: Read the Auditor-General’s report.
Ms Lawrie: You are in fantasy land.
Mr MILLS: Read the report. Government has …
Ms Lawrie: I have. You have been very selective with your interpretations.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr MILLS: The government has to sidestep its own procurement protocols so often it betrays the fact that this is a government that is fixed in a place where all they do is policy on the run …
Ms Lawrie: That is not in the report.
Mr MILLS: If you had been following the argument you would understand it. Surely, if the budget process has been followed, the Department of Chief Minister would know in sufficient time what was on the agenda so that it could be done in a timely and, more importantly, compliant fashion in order that it can get the work done that needs to be done. It is talking about planning and not breaching their systems and protocols.
However, because this government does so much policy on the run and the media cycle is more important than people’s needs, it has to take shortcuts, as the Auditor-General indicated or hinted at. The result is that public servants are forced to breach procurement guidelines to meet this government’s demands.
A condensed version of this critique is that the government in the Territory is a product of half-hearted planning reinforced by a half-hearted approach of complying with subordinate legislation ...
Mr Warren: Give your evidence for that. It is not there.
Mr MILLS: The Auditor-General’s report. Have a read of it, mate.
Mr Warren: I have.
Mr MILLS: I know, you have your own special Labor Party glasses on and you can only see good stuff.
There are many other issues that are raised in the Auditor-General’s report. Some of them would make difficult reading for members opposite who really want to read it and fulfil their obligations as members of this Chamber representing the good people of the Territory.
However, many other issues will be attended to by other comments in this Chamber. On that note I support the Auditor-General’s report; it raised some very important issues. The opposition will continue to maintain a watching brief as government responds to these matters.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I commend the Auditor-General, Frank McGuiness, who does a very fine job in the role of Auditor-General for the Northern Territory. This government responds to Auditor-General’s reports in a very proactive way. Those of us who have been around the Territory for a long time would understand that that was not always the case in the Territory; that previous Auditor-General’s reports would go on to the shelf and the CLP government of the day would stick its head in the sand.
In stark contrast, we are seeing, in consecutive Auditor-General’s reports under the Labor government, our agencies respond - and respond with gusto - quite appropriately to anything the Auditor-General has pointed out – quite appropriately so.
The report covers the findings of the financial statement, IT controls, and compliance audits conducted by the Auditor-General from 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2007, with particular focus on the 2006-07 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statements, the TAFS.
The report is positive, despite what the Leader of the Opposition would have us believe in his fantasy land. It concludes that the financial result in 2006-07 was better than budgeted and continues the government’s adherence to its fiscal strategy targets and fiscal prudence since the introduction of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act in 2001. Need we be reminded why we had to bring in that act after the creative accounting methods of the previous CLP governments?
Regarding the TAFS, the report concludes that we are tracking well with our fiscal strategy targets and our fiscal prudence, but it does caution the risks associated with any slowing in the GST revenue growth and the recent increases in superannuation liabilities resulting in the need for continued expenditure control. The Auditor-General acknowledges that these risks are published annually in the Statement of Risk section of Budget Paper No 2, and that the government set aside $150m in 2006-07 to offset the superannuation liability. The Leader of the Opposition could not even bring himself to say the quantum - $150m. We recognise that we need to deal with the superannuation liability, and we have been reining in the unsustainable nett debt levels that we had inherited.
In addition to the ‘above bar’ comments, the Auditor-General also included an explanation of the use of the government finance statistics, the GFS framework, rather than the Australian Accounting Standards as the reporting framework for the TAFS, resulting in a technical qualification that has existed since 1999. I really was embarrassed when I heard the Leader of the Opposition refer to how uncomfortable the Under Treasurer must be in this regard. I took that as a slur on the professionalism of the Under Treasurer. The Auditor-General recognises that there is a general recognition that the GFS framework is the most appropriate model for government reporting, and that the harmonisation - a point not even recognised by the Leader of the Opposition - of the two frameworks in 2008-09 will mean an end to this qualification; that is, Treasury is absolutely doing its job.
The Auditor-General stated that general government expenses were dominated by employment costs, predominantly in the functional areas of education, health, and public order and safety. Oh, would these be the same frontline operators that the Leader of the Opposition was referring to? We have had growth for the year at 6%, largely attributable to the EBAs in and around 3%, and the growth in numbers of 2%. Beware the CLP razor gang, I say to the public service, having listened to the contribution by the Leader of the Opposition. This government makes no apology for the fact that we have had to build, in core services areas of government, the staff required to fulfil the functions right throughout the Territory. That is a stark contrast to what we inherited. If you look into the area of child protection alone, we have had staff in to the area of child protection to address the deficit in the operations. We make no apology for that.
The Leader of the Opposition would have us believe that government alone sets the wages conditions by which the Territory is driven. What a lot of rot! We have had significant growth in private sector investment in the Territory. We are competing with the private sector for the skilled workforce and, appropriately so. People will move around in their careers more than they have in the past and, so, those skills and talents are moving in and out of the public sector. We are a significant trainer for skills when it comes to public sector employment, and we make no apology for that. We train and we often see our skilled public servants move out into the private sector where their earning capacity is quite significant.
I will just give an example, as Transport minister. We are seeing our bus drivers, skilled heavy vehicle licensees, moving into the mining sector where they are making an absolute motser in driving trucks for the mines. Yes, we are growing our public service, predominantly in the functional areas of education, health and public order and safety. However, we are a government that has a wages policy which is around the area of constraint. Where possible, we have been constraining wages growth, as we should if we are a fiscally responsible government.
But what are we greeted with here? In the reality of the EBA processes, we are greeted with a bizarre Leader of the Opposition trumpeting that we should just give the unions what they ask for - no view to wage constraint because of the millions of dollars it puts on the bottom line of the budget immediately - recurrent. It is not one-off capital, it is recurrent. Tens of millions of dollars on the bottom line if we followed the path the Leader of the Opposition would have us follow in EBA negotiations - foolish, reckless, dangerous, economic vandal that he is.
Madam Speaker, the Auditor-General stated that, in relation to the explanation of the use of the $64.9m increase in Treasurer’s Advance during 2006-07, he concluded that this was able to be appropriated due to the increased GST and own source revenue. The Auditor-General stated, in relation to the government’s balance sheet regarding the management of data and information on the age and condition of public sector asset buildings, that currently this information is stored in a number of systems and, therefore, does not allow a centralised assessment of the future replacement and maintenance decisions.
Although the statement about the number of systems is correct, processes have been in place for many years to ensure that this information is provided in an appropriate manner. Notwithstanding this, the Auditor-General also noted that DPI has commissioned the procurement of a new asset management system to provide an integrated approach to assist in assessing future asset replacement and maintenance needs across the public sector. We are a government that recognises that we have an ageing infrastructure across our public sector, and we have ensured we are putting in place a new asset management system to provide that integrated approach to asset replacement and maintenance needs.
Regarding the other audit findings, in addition to the TAS findings, there are some key audit findings that ministers respond to in terms of their aspects of their agency responses in the report. There were no material issues and all agencies have responded positively.
In relation to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, as I have recognised, the Auditor-General noted in his report that the IT effectiveness audit - that is, how well does IT fit the agency’s business needs - identified that the strategic alignment between IT and business could not be clearly demonstrated. The report noted that IT is operating as a utility - that is, a general supportive process - and not as a strategic enabler - that is, delivering value, cost rationalisation and risk mitigation - within the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
The Auditor-General’s report further noted that the audit of the 2007 financial statements of the Construction Division disclosed several instances of payments being made without the correct authorisation being applied.
The report further noted that he found no matter of significance to report in respect of his audit of the Darwin Bus Service 2007 financial statement.
In response, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure has acknowledged the issues through the IT effectiveness audit. In addressing the key findings identified through the audit, the agency has identified that the new Director of Information and Business Services commenced on 19 November last year and, as a priority, would re-establish the Information Management Committee with a revised terms of reference and, as part of establishing IT governors, IT strategy and IT performance monitoring, KPIs and defined metrics for achievement, and offers to find objectives will be documented, reviewed and monitored on an ongoing basis.
The IMC met on 13 December last year and noted the findings of the audit, and endorsed the revised terms of reference. Furthermore, the IMC agreed to meet monthly until June of this year and, as a high priority, progress the development of the IT Strategic Plan, with a draft expected in June of this year. The agency has fully responded to the matters raised in that IT audit.
In respect to the Construction Division matter raised, the Construction Division has investigated the instances noted in the report and is working to tighten and ensure robust and internal procedures, including adherence to financial delegations. The Construction Division has implemented an internal audit plan that covers various financial processes over the five regions. The Auditor-General has noted that the division has improved its system of internal controls during the past year. Several new initiatives were undertaken during the year to enhance the commercial focus of the Construction Division. This included the formation of an Audit Working Group to review processes within the division. Staff training on financial issues was also undertaken during the year.
The majority of the audit findings can be related to the lack of the IT strategy, governance framework, and vacancies in the support and management IT. The development of an effective strategic plan, recruitment to key vacancies, and re-establishment of the IMC will address these major issues identified.
Madam Speaker, in closing, as Treasurer, regarding the increase in revenues that the Auditor-General identified in the analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement - and this speaks volumes for the approach taken by this government - I will quote from page 7 of the Auditor-General’s report, last paragraph:
Yes, we have been in a period of increasing revenue into the Territory as a result of GST relativities, but the Leader of the Opposition would have us believe that the GST means we are awash in finances.
We have been very prudent. The GST replaced the Commonwealth Grants Commission grants processes; that is, prior to the GST, the Northern Territory was significantly funded through Commonwealth grants. Why is that? Well, look around. We are a very large jurisdiction geographically, we have a very small population, and we are dispersed across that very large geographical area. Realistically, we cannot survive on own source revenue alone. Everyone knows that. That is why we have had a Commonwealth Grants Commission in place. That is why we have the GST relativity process through the Commonwealth Grants Commission. We make no apology for going out and pursuing a better slice of the GST pie.
If you buy into the rhetoric of the Opposition Leader - that we are somehow getting money that is not entitled to us and somehow are squandering that money - you would be a fool. We are turning the additional GST revenue into capital infrastructure where we can. We are building schools, roads, and the infrastructure we need to underpin the future growth of the Territory. We are unashamedly doing that right across the Territory. We have a deficit to address in the bush. Closing the Gap is our plan for the next few decades. It is a 20-year plan and we are funded to close the gap - the deficit which was a generational gap of previous governments which benefited through the Commonwealth Grants Commission and spent that money in limited areas without vision, without understanding that to have a robust Territory we needed to grow our regions.
What is sitting in the regions? We have the wealth of human capital, of people of the Territory who should be, by rights, properly educated, and have opportunities for training and for employment. What is also sitting out in our regions is our mineral wealth. As a resource rich jurisdiction, we would be absolutely foolhardy not to pursue the resource wealth in our regions. Whether it is the mines in Central Australia or the Top End, the best we can do is ensure that we are meeting the infrastructure and regulatory needs and providing the necessary human capital; that is, providing opportunities for the people to have real jobs.
How do you get to that point? You provide education in the bush. You provide opportunities for training in the bush. You ensure you do not use the politics of blame to beat down Territorians - as has happened to our shame in the past consistently by the CLP. The Leader of the Opposition chooses to ignore the reality of the situation that this government is tackling head on. We are spending on capital infrastructure. He chooses to ignore the significant capital investment we are making in our energy and water resources. Look at the strife that the southern jurisdictions have got themselves into by not putting investment into the capital requirements of your energy and water resources. We make no apology that we have been growing our GST revenue, our special purpose payments relationship with the Commonwealth, and our own source revenue but, throughout this process, we have been very carefully and judiciously putting those extra funds into capital expansion.
In 2000-01, we inherited a capital works program with no cash against it. A program that was, ‘Well, we are going to do build this, but we have no cash to build it’. We had a sign that declared ‘the future home of soccer stadium’, but there was no cash to build it. We are a government that is building the infrastructure to underpin the economic growth of the Territory. That also goes to critically important human capital – education, training and jobs. We are funding education at record levels. We are funding training at record levels. We actually have a Jobs Plan. It was unheard of previously.
Yes, the Auditor-General reports that we have had increased revenue. The Auditor-General recognises that, significantly, we are funding into the capital requirements of the Territory. The Auditor-General recognises that we have significantly reduced nett debt. I will quote from page 29 of the analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement:
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report; he does a very fine job for Territorians. I am proud to be a member of a government which responds to Auditor-General’s reports, rather than put them on the shelf and bury their heads in the sand as the CLP has done.
Dr BURNS (Health): Madam Speaker, I welcome the Auditor-General’s February 2008 Report and appreciate the work that he does helping to maintain high standards of governance and accountability in our public sector.
The Auditor-General conducted audits across a number of agencies, including the Department of Health and Community Services, as a regular scheduled audit. Three areas in the department were audited. A general information technology fit - that is, whether the department had information technology aligned to business needs; the Ascribe pharmacy stock control system; and the Quantel stock control system for other than pharmacy goods.
In his report, the Auditor-General recognised quite a number of strengths within the department, and what the department is doing, and I appreciate those very positive comments from him. However, the Auditor-General has also identified some areas, as he puts it, ‘for improvement opportunities’. Those are opportunities that we are going to grasp, and the department has already taken on board the comments of the Auditor-General.
For new members in this place, it is useful to reflect on the situation when we came to power in 2001. The then Auditor-General complained that his reports were ignored by the previous CLP government. In fact, he would do quite detailed reports and there would not even be a comment in the report from a department. Departments were not obliged to report and comment and put forward their remedies to what the Auditor-General had suggested.
As a government, we changed that. We said to the departments: ‘You must respond to the Auditor-General’s report, and you must offer comments’. In some cases, departments disagree with the Auditor-General, and they say so, but they give reasons why they disagree and why they want to do things in a certain way. However, in the whole, in the majority of cases, departments acknowledge that the Auditor-General - an independent assessor, if you like - has come in, made suggestions and opportunities for improvement, and take those on board. I believe it is a very constructive process that has been instituted under this government, and it brings about transparency in government. It is there for all to see - both what the Auditor-General says and the departmental response.
I will go back to the issues related to the Department of Health and Community Services. In relation to the information technology, the main issue identified by the Auditor-General was that the department’s Strategic Information Management Steering Committee was not strategic enough with the alignment to business needs. The management has responded and said that the department’s new Chief Operations Officer now chairs the meetings of that particular committee, and the terms of reference of this committee have now been revised to provide a more strategic focus.
Ascribe: the Auditor-General made comments about the strengths of this prescribing and dispensing system - the pharmacy system. Some of the things that the Auditor-General noted were that there was a sound understanding of the system and business procedures; the controls regarding the accuracy and completeness of the system interfaces; and also changed control procedures which include the need for testing and approval. However, there were a number of issues that were identified. The Auditor-General felt there was weak security; in particular, access not properly controlled and physical access too easy. The management has responded in no uncertain terms to make the access more secure and the physical access requirements have been changed. The department’s own audit committee is continuing to follow-up on this audit and ensure that all necessary recommendations are followed.
Quantel: this is an ordering system and the issues that were identified by the Auditor-General were: concern over the adequacy of the interface between Quantel and the Government Accounting System or GAS; security of user access lacking; and segregation of purchasing and receiving stock lacking. The management has responded to that. They agree with the Auditor-General’s findings and they will review the Quantel system and address those recommendations. The department is also advised that changes may be required to cater for broader reforms to procurement required under the national E-Health Transition Authority. The department’s audit committee is also continuing to follow-up on this audit to ensure all necessary recommendations are followed.
Turning to the Department of Justice, the Auditor-General also made comment about the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission. It was pleasing to report that the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, which receives the majority of its funding from the Commonwealth and Territory governments, received an unqualified audit opinion and the audit did not identify any material weaknesses or matters of significance.
Madam Speaker, in closing, I appreciate the work of the Auditor-General. I know that he makes very constructive suggestions to departments in order to get transparency and accountability within government processes and the financial structures of government. I commend the Auditor-General’s report to this parliament.
Mr VATSKALIS (Business and Economic Development): Madam Speaker, I am grateful to the Auditor-General for his work and, today, I discuss issues raised by his report.
First, the Department of Business, Economic and Regional Development, Desert Knowledge Australia: the February 2008 Report of the Auditor-General for the Northern Territory noted that:
to improve internal control through the use of purchase orders;
Desert Knowledge Australia has reported that each of these matters has been or is being addressed. On key issue 1, DKA established and implemented a purchase order system in July 2007. In respect to issue 2, DKA advised that the rental agreement would be worked through with Territory Housing, though this has not as yet been achieved. In relation to issue 3, a draft agreement has been prepared and endorsed by DKA and DBERD as part of the memorandum of understanding between both organisations. The MOU is being finalised for execution. With regard to issue 4, petty cash has been reconciled quarterly since the 2005-06 audit, but DKA is now reconciling petty cash on a monthly basis as suggested by the Auditor-General.
With regard to Territory Housing, the audit of Territory Housing for the year ended resulted in an unqualified audit opinion being issued by the Auditor-General on 17 October 2007. Further, Territory Housing year-ended accounting procedures and internal control procedures were found to be satisfactory, with the exception of the system issues which were noted by the Auditor-General and affected the Asset Information System and the Tenancy Management System, which resulted in large reconciling items between the Government Accounting System, General Ledger, and the subsidiary systems.
In relation to the key issue of systems, Territory Housing continues to investigate systematic solutions to resolve the long-standing issues noted by the Auditor-General.
With regard to Power and Water, the Auditor-General’s report to the Legislative Assembly noted that he had issued a qualified audit opinion on Power and Water’s financial statements and consolidated entity for the year ending 30 June 2007. The corporation recorded a nett loss after tax of $69.2m for 2006-07, after an impairment write-down in the value of water and sewerage assets of $102.5m post-tax, or $146.4m pre-tax, which resulted after the Australian Accounting Standard 136, ‘Impairment of Assets’ was applied. After eliminating the effects of the asset write-down, there was a consolidated nett profit after tax of $33.3m. This qualified audit opinion contains two main elements: it carried over for the comparative information included in the 2006-07 reports; and the impairment write-down of $146.4m pre-tax straddles the 2005-06 and 2006-07 financial years, which caused the loss reported in the 2006-07 income statement to be overstated.
In 2006-07, the corporation re-engineered the financial model, using an expected cash flow approach, for testing the carrying value of assets under Accounting Standard AASB 136, and obtained independent advice on an appropriate discount rate.
There has been substantial work done to improve the reliability of financial projections in the annual Statement of Corporate Intent which, amongst other things, forms the basis of data for the asset impairment test.
The 2007-08 Statement of Corporate Intent highlighted a significant increase in investment in capital works and repairs and maintenance expenditure, showing the necessity of the CIP-based tariff rises in 2007. Without these increases, it is likely that the asset write-down would have been greater. The revised asset impairment review process was used to prepare the 2006-07 financial statements and met audit scrutiny. We understand the Auditor-General accepted this approach as the qualification was in respect to timing and carryover information.
The qualified audit opinion issued on 30 June 2007 financial statements will have a carryover impact in 2007-08, as these financial statements are included as comparative information in the 30 June 2008 report.
As noted in the Auditor-General’s report, a comprehensive stocktake of the corporation’s assets and reconciliation with the fixed asset register is under way. While this has been a substantial exercise, the corporation is on schedule to include these results in the 2007-08 financial statements.
The audit findings and analysis of Territory Discoveries’ financial statements for the year ending 30 June 2007 were published in the Auditor-General’s report. The audit did not identify any matters of significance, and no material weaknesses in controls were identified. Tourism NT is not reported on in the Auditor-General’s report.
All agencies under my administration always cast a very serious eye to the comments of the Auditor-General and work with him to iron out any issues.
Madam Speaker, I am very grateful to the Auditor-General for his work.
Mr NATT (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I will make a few remarks on the Auditor-General’s findings into my Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines’ assessment of the McArthur River Mine security bond. McArthur River Mining Pty Ltd is required to provide a Mine Management Plan annually, or when there are significant changes made to the mine. My Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines continually reviews mine management plans to ensure their currency, and that adequate securities are in place. This process is conducted in accordance with the Mine Management Act and is also guided by the agency’s Risk Management Audit Committee schedule.
Additionally, to ensure complete open and transparent operations, my department engages external consultants to review their processes and business practices, which have to date been found to be in order. I am satisfied that my department’s overall processes provide a robust mechanism for determining an appropriate quantum and lodgement of security deposit by the company.
The key findings of the Auditor-General’s report are an accurate reflection of the current situation. The audit looked at the processes followed by my department when assessing the value of security required to be lodged in connection with the McArthur River Mine expansion. These processes were found to be appropriate. The audit was undertaken in the light of experience with the Mt Todd mine where, following an insolvency of the operator, the Territory was required to meet the costs associated with rehabilitation of the site and, as everyone is aware, those costs are an ongoing drain to Territory taxpayers. This government is committed to rehabilitation of the Mt Todd mine site, a legacy inherited from the previous CLP government.
I can also report that this government has, for the first time, insisted that security bonds covering the full amount of rehabilitation costs be in place for all current mining projects - a clear demonstration that we will not allow Territorians to be exposed to the potential costs of another Mt Todd. A further demonstration that this government takes mining compliance seriously is that we have been the first government in the Territory to prosecute – and, I might say, prosecute successfully - mining companies that have breached their obligations under the Mining Management Act.
This government is a strong supporter of the mining industry. It provides jobs for Territorians and makes a substantial contribution to our economic growth. At the same time, we also send a clear message to the mining industry that all developments will need to be environmentally sustainable and that we expect them to meet all of their obligations of site rehabilitation and commitments reflected in their mining management plans.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report and the great work that he does for the Northern Territory.
Mr KIELY (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I place on the record my thanks to the Auditor-General and his staff for the important work they do. It is an important job and a key component in ensuring Territorians continue to enjoy open and accountable government. Their labour is acknowledged and appreciated by this government.
The Auditor-General, in this February report, passed opinion on the financial statements of the Territory Wildlife Parks, a government business division of the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, the Cobourg Peninsula Sanctuary and Marine Park Board, and the Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park Board, statutory authorities also administered through the department. For the second year running, the Auditor-General has expressed a clear, unqualified opinion on the financial statements of these three entities, reflecting confidence in their governance and standards of accountability and financial reporting. This report provides comfort that these entities are being managed and reported in an accountable way.
Mr BONSON (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, the Auditor-General’s February report referred to two entities for which I have responsibility: the Departments of Corporate and Information Services, and Sport and Recreation.
I will turn first to the Department of Corporate and Information Services. The February 2008 Report covered audits of financial statements of all three DCIS government business divisions, the NT Fleet, the Government Printing Office, and Data Centre Services. The audits of financial statements of all three government business divisions did not identify any matters of significance or any material weaknesses in control. The Auditor-General also reviewed IT controls within Data Centre Services, including testing Internet security and management of remote access to NT government networks.
Generally, the practices in place were found to be appropriate. However, areas for improvement in documentation were identified including: consistency of terminology in change management documentation; a common approach between Data Centre Services and DCIS ICT policy branch in development of security standards; and better documentation to support systems management procedures regarding Internet security. An action plan has been developed in response to these findings and is being implemented by Data Centre Services.
The Auditor-General also analysed the financial statements for the Territory Motor Sports Board Ltd to the year ended 30 June 2007. The company was established to manage, operate, control, and further develop the Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex. The company took over the assets of the NT Motor Sports Council on 1 July 2001. The company ceased to trade from 30 September 2006, with the business transferred to the Department of Local Government, Housing and Sport. Madam Speaker, the audit did not identify any matters of significance and no material weaknesses in control were identified.
Mr KNIGHT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I make comment in relation to the Auditor-General’s report. The audit of the Jabiru Town Development Authority (JTDA) 2006-07 Annual Financial Statement resulted in an unqualified independent audit opinion issued by the Auditor-General. The audit opinion, while not qualified, placed emphasis on the authority’s expectation that the moratorium of future interest and repayment of loans due to the Northern Territory government, totalling approximately $8.8m, would continue. The JTDA operate under the Jabiru Town Development Act and is the statutory authority responsible to the Minister for Local Government. Its two principal members are representatives from the Northern Territory government and Energy Resources of Australia, operators of the Ranger Uranium Mine.
During the establishment of Jabiru, the Northern Territory government provided loan funds to JTDA for designed infrastructure that was constructed to meet the expected population of approximately 6000 people. The Territory expected to recoup its investment as further mining ventures developed.
In 1985, the cost sharing agreement between ERA and the JTDA was signed, identifying the contributions by both parties in the development of the town, and to protect the interest of both parties by establishing criteria for the contribution towards the original development costs on the part of the new entrance to the town. This cost-sharing agreement also established the role of JTDA as holding in trust the assets of the town for the Commonwealth and the Territory governments, JTDA and ERA.
In 1986, the Northern Territory government granted JTDA a moratorium on the repayment of the loan and the interest payments. JTDA advised that the Auditor-General, in its annual financial statement, expects the moratorium on future interests and loan repayments to continue, enabling the JTDA to continue as an ongoing concern.
In January 2006, Cabinet approved the establishment of an inter-departmental committee, chaired by the Department of the Chief Minister, to consider the strategic interest of the Northern Territory government in the Jabiru region, and to manage a consultation process with key stakeholders in relation to the future of the town.
There are a number of key issues requiring resolution to progress the Northern Territory government’s strategic interest in the region. An extension of the head lease and the simplification of the planning and development processes will be necessary for commercial development in Jabiru. The ownership and maintenance of Jabiru’s ageing infrastructure is a further issue requiring resolution. Negotiations are commencing with Northern Territory Treasury, with an aim of that department managing all future negotiations in the resolution of the cost-sharing agreement.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I make comment in regard to the Auditor-General’s report. The Auditor-General stated that the Department of Education, Employment and Training was not one of the agencies that he noted, but the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education was mentioned. The Auditor-General noted that this was the second consecutive year that the institute had failed to meet its reporting deadlines, and that the financial statements required a number of amendments. That has been addressed.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report and the work that he does for the openness and transparency of our government.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members who have contributed to this debate. The Auditor-General is a very important part of the checks and balances of government and agencies, and is a very important institution within the Westminster system of parliament. As Chief Minister, I am sure all of the ministers in my Cabinet take his reports seriously, get across the recommendations that he has made, the issues he has raised, and ensure that those issues are fixed in work between ministers and chief executive officers.
I will pick up on comments made by the Leader of the Opposition in reference to the Auditor-General’s comments regarding instances where the analysis of firm’s capabilities were documented after the decision was made to engage those firms for assignments. He tried to read into it that public servants had intentionally ignored and side-stepped procurement policy and the procurement process. That is outrageous.
Since the opposition has been in opposition, there have been a number of instances where they have made allegations in this Chamber that public servants have either not acted properly or are in collusion with government. They have a bit of a track record in making implications about the professional capacity and the work that our public servants do. It is very regrettable that the Leader of the Opposition would read into the Auditor-General’s comments that, somehow, they had deliberately ignored procurement processes. The Auditor-General very clearly said that he was satisfied that the company involved was the firm best qualified to provide the services required. They ranked above other panel members providing similar services, and the department’s processes were generally consistent with Northern Territory government procurement policy. To accuse public servants of intentionally ignoring and side-stepping procurement policy is a very long bow to draw, and reflects on the professional integrity of our public servants. I just do not think it is warranted.
Regarding his comments on repeated underestimations of revenue, revenue increases are due to higher economic growth in the Territory, our own source taxes and royalties and, nationally, GST and SPPs. SPPs always grow through the year as agreements are signed, and GST revenue grows with national collections of GST. Again, the Leader of the Opposition thinks that forecasting revenue is some sort of exact science. It is not. It is not an exact science and, when you look around government’s budgeting revenue estimations, final positions in government accounts at the end of financial years - it does not matter whether it is state governments, territory governments or the national government - there is always a difference at the end of the financial year from the figures that were forecast in the budget at the beginning of the financial year.
If the Leader of the Opposition has a crystal ball that is much better than the best Treasury brains in the land, he could make himself a lot of money in the private sector in accurately forecasting revenues and growth projections, because it is not an exact science. It is not just Labor governments that have final account positions different to what was forecast at the beginning of the financial year. The previous Howard/Costello team in Canberra, every year, had budget surpluses larger than were forecasted during the beginning of the financial year, as revenue growths to the federal government coffers increased along with an expanding economy. Obviously, the Leader of the Opposition thinks that he has a better crystal ball than anybody else.
Regarding his comments on liabilities and debt, the comments on debt are wrong. The numbers he has used are related to unfunded superannuation liabilities, and these were incurred between 1986 and 1999. With respect to when liabilities peaked, there are two issues. The benefits will peak in 2020 to 2023, but the liability peaks in 2015. There is no link between liabilities and the current wages of public servants. Liabilities are related to closed schemes of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme and NTGPASS. The liabilities are, therefore, due to past policies. All new employees since 1999 have the superannuation costs fully funded. Again, the Leader of the Opposition and shadow Treasurer is wrong in the comments that he has made.
Regarding the use of Treasurer’s Advance, he obviously does not understand the Financial Management Act. It allows for appropriation to be increased through the year in line with increased revenue. Treasurer’s Advance is not for ongoing, recurrent increases and it is not used for that purpose. I am sure my colleague, the Treasurer, would be happy to give him a briefing about the workings of Treasury throughout the financial year, and the various mechanisms that are used to allocate budgets and decisions that are made during the financial year. The Treasurer’s Advance is not used for ongoing expenditure items. Again, the Leader of the Opposition was wrong in the comments that he made.
In concluding, Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report. The government values his independent and transparent way of bringing about good governance; in particular, accountability. It is certainly a very important check and balance on our system of government. I thank the Auditor-General and his team for the ongoing good work that serves not only this parliament well, but the people of the Northern Territory well.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
Continued from 19 February 2008.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, government has introduced the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill 2008, and we understand that this is to amend the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, which was the old Work Health Act.
The Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is being amended in four ways as we see. First, to fast-track the mediation process; second, to allow full disclosure for medical records; third, closing a loophole that allowed insurers to avoid paying medical costs and, finally, closing a loophole that allowed for compensated volunteers to receive full benefits and have a full-time job. I will touch on each of those points as we go through.
Mediation: currently, if a person who is claiming for an injury enters into a dispute with their employer, they are required to go through a mediation process. During the process, the worker whose payments are denied or reduced suffers a financial stress. The current period for NT WorkSafe to organise mediation is 28 days. To alleviate the stresses on the claimant party, that mediation period has been shortened to 21 days. We believe that is a sensible move.
Full disclosure: these changes will require full disclosure of medical records to the claimant party. Full disclosure, with some exceptions, is an increasingly common benchmark for civil matters in all Australian jurisdictions because it helps matters to be settled out of court. This is replacing discovery as the primary mechanism for pre-trial communication. We also support that measure.
Insurer’s loophole: currently, where a person is injured, the insurer must make a decision whether to reject or accept liability for the injury within 10 working days. However, there is a capacity for the insurer to defer the decision for up to 56 days so that the matter may be further investigated. During this hiatus, the insurer does not pay medical or rehabilitation costs for injuries other than mental stress. This amendment means that the intent of section 87 is explained more fulsomely to avoid the use of the deferral period as a means to postpone liability. In the second reading speech, the minister said that this is designed to put pressure on the insurer to reach a decision and notify the claimant that they either accept or deny the claim. A reading of section 87 suggests that this was the intent of the original section when passed. The amendment clarifies that position. The Insurance Council of Australia is currently examining the bill, as we understand, to determine what action, if any, they want to take in relation to that matter. We support also the clarification of that point.
Volunteers’ compensation: there is also another anomaly that is being addressed. Currently, a volunteer may be compensated for injuries received whilst engaged in some volunteer work. However, where the injury continues to render the volunteer unfit for their volunteer work, but is able, nevertheless, to return to the source of their full-time income, it is possible for compensation to be claimed whilst the full-time income is being earned. An example would be a volunteer ambulance officer who injures their knee on duty. While being unable to conduct the volunteer work, the person may return to a desk job for which they draw a full-time income. In those circumstances, the volunteer would be paid compensation and a full-time wage. This was not the intent of the original amendment and was to protect volunteers.
Madam Speaker, with that said, and that summary as presented by the opposition, we think that these proposals are common sense and we support these amendments.
Debate suspended.
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of the legislation. My comments are limited to those aspects of the bill that address the full disclosure of medical reports prior to mediation and mediation itself. I ask members throughout this contribution to remember that a worker is required by legislation to attend any medical assessments arranged by the insurer, unless they provide adequate reasons to the insurer otherwise. If they do not do this, then it can be the basis for a refusal of the claim. It is a very heavy stick. Bear in mind also that, as things stand, the worker has no right to obtain a copy of any such reports.
It can also affect the continued acceptance of the claim. The insurer can hold back the medical reports it holds until such time as it wishes to rely on them in rejecting the claim. Members should remember you do not just have rejection or acceptance of the claim in total, but you also have acceptance or rejection of medical expenses which are reasonably linked to the injury suffered. Therefore, if an insurer forms the view on the basis of a medical report that is obtained but not in the possession of the treating practitioner, the cost of that treatment can be knocked back by the insurer, notwithstanding that it still accepts that there is other treatment that would be linked to the injury.
This is an area where plaintiff lawyers are very active in trying to protect the interests of their client. However, bear in mind where we are in the time line. It is most unlikely that anyone will consult a lawyer at this stage because, for most people, there is no legal dispute, so why would you? Those who do will find their lawyers seek disclosure of these reports on the basis that the insurer has relied on them in accepting the claim, in order to start preparing in the event that some aspect goes against the injured worker. I have digressed a little into an area that is not really the subject of this bill but one which, perhaps, the government can look into.
Back to the words I was looking at: ‘reports upon which the insurer relies’. Insurers interpret this as meaning that, if they do not wish to use the report in making their decision, then it is not a report on which they rely. The decision not to use the report can solely be on the basis that it is not favourable to their argument. Advocates on behalf of injured workers - at this stage usually union officials as lawyers are barred from the mediation process - will argue that if the insurer thought it necessary to require the worker to be medically assessed that, in itself, shows the insurer intended to rely on it. It does not matter that the insurer decided, for whatever reason, that the report was not useful. I again point out that is an argument run by advocates on behalf of workers.
Another form of words often used is based upon whether a medical report is relevant to the insurer’s decision, not whether or not they relied on it. This, too, is quite a vexed area of litigation. The arguments are similar to the issue of what is reliant. The insurers argue: ‘Yes, we obtained it, but it is not relevant’. The worker’s advocate will say: ‘We would like to see it because we cannot assess whether it is relevant without seeing it’. The insurer again says: ‘Well, you can take us to court to challenge our decision and then you can argue before the court the relevance or otherwise and whether you can get your hands on it or not. But here at a mediation process, you are not getting it and, more importantly, neither is the mediator’.
Interestingly, the operation of court rules of discovery often compel the insurer to disclose the report. This is because the insurer must, at the very least, disclose their existence. If they then refuse to provide them – even if they win the argument not to provide them - the worker’s legal representative is likely to argue that they are not being provided because they are not favourable, and will invite the court to infer this in any decision it reaches. Some may think: ‘Well, there is protection for the worker’. However, I ask members to again remember there is usually considerable time and treatment between the rejection of a claim and the discovery process in court; remembering also that many injured workers may not seek legal advice or even go that far. Therefore, the injured worker has been paying medical bills on their own, and is both often financially and emotionally stressed.
The legislative requirement for the insurer to hand over all reports prior to mediation evens the bargaining power at the mediation, and also has the benefits for treating physicians, who then have the benefit of looking at medical reports obtained by the insurer.
I will now address the mediation process. I welcome the changes that speed up the process. Members ought be aware that an injured worker must have requested mediation before they can commence proceedings in court. The intention of this is good: to try to resolve claims before getting to court and, therefore, reduce the cost. The execution is varied. Some insurers – some, not all – have no interest whatsoever in meaningfully addressing mediation. Their idea of resolution is that the injured worker simply accepts that their claim has been rejected and that is the end of it.
In my role as an industrial officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, I accompanied a number of members of the union on several occasions to mediations. I can inform the House that, on a number of these occasions, the only point to mediation was simply to get the mediator’s certificate that mediation was attempted but not possible so that the injured worker could then go to their legal advisor and seek advice on legal proceedings. It was simply a tick in the box that you had to clear the way, and there was nothing meaningful about the mediation at all. On one occasion, I recall the insurer’s representative did not even bother bringing the injured person’s file. On another occasion, I asked the insurer why they had bothered to show up at all if they were not there to resolve any issues. The answer, not verbatim, was along the lines of, ‘We are here because we have to be. We are not here to actually discuss anything’.
Again, this is an area that could be looked into, and I certainly encourage some review, but confess I am not sure how you actually force a party to any mediation to meaningfully engage in mediation. It is one of those things that you can provide the mechanism, but you cannot legislate for the genuineness of participation. The value of mediation as a low-cost alternative to litigation is only valuable if both parties use it for that purpose.
However, having made these observations, I reiterate that I believe this is a step forward. The changes in the bill will lead to a somewhat quicker resolution of claims, which will reduce hardship on injured workers engaged in dispute with the insurer of their employer in trying to have their claim, or a part of their claim, accepted.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank all speakers who have contributed to this bill. First, I will go to the Leader of the Opposition, who spoke just before lunch. He raised one issue. I can advise the Leader of the Opposition that the Insurance Council of Australia raised no issue at all with the bill.
I thank the member for Brennan, who certainly has much experience in this area, having worked, as he said in his response to the bill, in this area for a long time. I also thank my department who have done this, and Ms Sue Carter.
What we have done, as we can see, will reduce the length of time that workers have to wait before being able to make an application to the court, and to provide for the full disclosure of medical reports in an effort to reduce the number of disputes being referred to the court. This fixes up that loophole which is in the legislation. It is good for workers and it certainly provides that coverage, particularly for volunteers and other people working in that area.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I welcome staff from the Department of Employment, Education and Training who have come here to listen to this statement. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Transforming Indigenous Education
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I welcome all my staff from the Department of Employment, Education and Training who are present to hear this statement.
Since taking on the Education portfolio, my attention has constantly been drawn to a profound contradiction in the results our education system achieves. We have a system that produces student performances amongst the best in the nation; a system able to maintain academic standards which would see those students competitively rank in any national merit survey. Students who receive our top tertiary entrance results are well placed to get into universities of their choice.
Within and beyond the school gate, we have the highest proportion of students undertaking Vocational Education and Training in Australia. We are doing more than any other government to get our young people ready to meet critical skills shortage.
It was fantastic to go to Rosebery and, together with the Chief Minister, make one of the biggest one-off education infrastructure announcements the Territory has ever seen. We will spend almost $50m in Palmerston on two new schools. The Henderson Labor government is clearly and deeply committed to quality education.
Sadly, we have a substantial group of children and young adults - indigenous Territorians - who are not effectively engaging with or benefiting from the system. While I am the Education minister for all our kids, it is indigenous education that presents my greatest and most urgent challenge. The fundamental question is this: how do we ensure that we comprehensively overcome the enormous backlog of educational disadvantage faced by indigenous students in the Territory whilst, at the same time, not in any way compromise the high standards that have been achieved for non-indigenous students? Addressing this question is the most important and pressing task facing us in education. It mirrors the fundamental threshold issues that this government must address across a range of programs and social indicators in implementing our Closing the Gap commitments.
The resources we need to fix these problems will be substantial and long term, as has also been recognised by the Rudd government. We cannot shrink from the effort and cost of finding solutions. If we do, we will reap a bitter harvest of poverty, disadvantage and social dysfunction. Education that leads to employment and which instils critical life skills must be seen as the foundation for the advancement of indigenous Territorians, which means the advancement of the Territory as a whole.
I am not just speaking of capital resources. Human resources are an equally vital ingredient in the mix. This means parents and the wider community, as well as teachers. Parents and carers must be part of the solution; they must resolve to guard, support and morally underwrite the future of their children. There is no longer any excuse for anything other than an absolute dedication on their part. It goes without saying that teachers are the indispensable foot soldiers in this campaign. We must take Territory teachers, as good as any in the country, with us on the road to closing the gap.
As well as the effort we expect from teachers and parents, we need to see an equivalent undertaking from communities generally - from the tiniest outstation to our major suburbs. The problems that many of our kids experience are not quarantined to the bush; they are challenges which are also found in the towns. They are part of the continuum with kids and parents moving from remote to rural to urban centres and back again. We must understand and learn from the myriad impediments many of our kids face in health and housing; how overcrowding, substance abuse and violence in the home can negate the preconditions necessary for a proper start in the educational journey.
Today, I announce a package of measures designed to begin the transformation of indigenous education in the Northern Territory. However, before doing so, I make members of this Assembly aware of some hard, cold facts. These are the facts that have motivated my moves to transform indigenous education. I have directed my department to post these figures on its website immediately. I make no apology for doing so. All Territorians must have a clear and transparent understanding of these figures, and I have directed that this information become a permanent feature of disclosure in the future. It is the kind of disclosure we all require if we are to measure our progress.
First, the latest results of testing for literacy and numeracy in the Territory for Years 3, 5 and 7 children demonstrate the stark differences that exist. They confirm what we already know. Literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in the bush compared to the Northern Territory student population as a whole are: at Year 3 - 40.5% reading and 50% numeracy, compared to 72.8% and 82.3%; at Year 5 – 16.5% reading and 13.4% numeracy, compared to 72.3% and 70.2%; and at Year 7 – 16.4% reading and 10% numeracy, compared to 68% and 66.7%.
Second, ongoing results for school attendance in regional and remote schools showed persistent failure. I have spoken of the crisis in our education system. It is this crisis in attendance that I was speaking of. Between 2006 and 2007, the overall enrolment numbers increased by 1%; attendance at all Territory schools was steady at 83%. Provincial schools, Darwin and Palmerston, saw a 1% enrolment increase, a minor attendance rise of 0.3% to 89.3%. Remote schools saw a decrease of 1% in enrolments with a slight rise in attendance to 86%. Very remote schools saw an increase in enrolments of 3% with a static attendance rate of 69.1%, up only 0.1%.
Going to school is the bedrock for the future of Aboriginal people in the Territory. Unless we dramatically and sustainably lift school attendance, we may as well give the game away. Parents and carers of our children have to get on with it. You have to maintain it. If you do not you betray our children and you betray our culture. There is nothing in Aboriginal tradition or law that says we should not worry about going to school - quite the opposite. In fact, learning and acquiring knowledge is at the heart of our tradition and law - simple as that. It has been true for many thousands of years. Learning and knowledge is what makes us strong as Aboriginal people.
The same mothers, aunties and grandmothers who teach our children to find and prepare food, must also make sure our kids go to school. The same fathers, uncles and grandfathers who teach our children to hunt and sing, have to make them attend each day. The men and women who lead our ceremonies and who teach our children to hold the law must also tell of the importance of schooling. The men and women who take our girls to netball or softball, or who take our boys to footy, must also embrace taking our kids to school. It is vital that the habit of attending school is embedded early in a child’s life. However, just as critically, such attendance must be embraced by parents and carers. I say again: learning and knowledge is what makes us strong.
I now turn to the details of the Henderson government’s commitment to transforming indigenous education in order to make significant improvements. The seven principles that will guide this transformation are:
1. community ownership and control to increase respect for education;
In conjunction with these principles, I announce that my department will investigate the delivery of five new major projects to transform indigenous education in the Territory. These projects are designed to create much-needed improvement across the short-, medium- and long-term. Furthermore - and I wish to emphasise this in the strongest terms - the projects are strongly based on research evidence. We will incorporate an ongoing assessment and evaluation processes in all projects. As various elements of each project are proved up in the field, they will be extended across the system. They will not be locked away to gather dust somewhere in an office cupboard.
I have asked Dr Jonathon Carapetis of Menzies School to be involved from the start in a formal evaluation process of the new emphasis we give indigenous education. It will allow us to build on this evidence-based approach, allowing us, with ongoing evaluation, to roll out what exactly works across the rest of the Territory.
As with all elements of Closing the Gap, these comprehensive indigenous education reforms go far beyond election cycles. They are dedicated towards inter-generational change.
In considering these changes, I have held many discussions with my department CEO, Ms Margaret Banks. Together with her senior executives, we know we face a huge and urgent task. She will immediately establish the Transforming Indigenous Education Task Force group within DEET. It will coordinate DEET and other agencies to lift the unacceptably low educational achievements of indigenous Territorians.
In our general response to indigenous disadvantage, the Territory government is investing a record $286m in Closing the Gap. In this year’s budget, I am pleased to announce that under Closing the Gap education commitments, we will allocate $11.2m for seven remote school upgrades, $2.6m for 10 additional teachers, 16 additional assistant teachers, $1.5m for four new mobile preschools, and $650 000 for a school attendance team to campaign on the value of schooling. These announcements will begin to target some of the remote education issues. However, we recognise that we must put much more effort into transforming indigenous education. These new directions, some of which are already funded or partly funded, some of which we are still discussing with the Commonwealth, will give members an idea of the new directions we must take.
I want to have an informed dialogue with members about indigenous education. It is for that reason that this statement contains some work which is still in developmental stage. I will welcome members’ response to this approach. I have raised the issues at national forums and spoken with the Deputy Prime Minister about my concerns at the most recent Education Ministerial Council meeting. I told her that the Territory government was in no way willing to let low outcomes affecting indigenous kids to continue. She is committed to working with the Territory government in resolving indigenous disadvantage.
I will also engage the private school sector in these reforms. I will engage the most important stakeholder group such as the Council of Government Schools Organisation. Crucially, with particular reference to workforce development, I will also engage with the broader union movement and the Australian Education Union.
I turn now to specific new project directions we will be considering. First is the establishment of Community Partnership Education Boards, or CPEBs. As has been demonstrated over many years in the health sector, Aboriginal control over primary health care contributes enormously to closing the gap in indigenous health. We see this as a model for the education sector, with direct relevance to schools in very remote areas of the Territory.
We will develop a business case for two Community Partnership Education Boards - fully established, evaluated over a 10-year period - to progressively improve education, training and employment. Subject to negotiations, the two CPEBs will be the Warlpiri triangle of Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Nyirripi and Willowra, and the East Arnhem, the Miwatj or Yolgnu Matha speaking communities. Much work has already been done in these areas in building remote learning partnerships.
National recommendations in Australian Direction in Indigenous Education 2005-08 urges strong engagement from local indigenous communities in the education of their children and the life of the school. The CPEBs will extend this engagement to our remote schools. I see the CPEBs providing:
strong and genuine community ownership and management of education and training services and responsibility for achievement of outcomes;
The Territory and Australian governments will work together with communities and service providers to establish these boards. Concepts for the CPEBs will be based on other successful community engagement projects. Groups of communities will work through processes to increase self-governance and management at the local level. Capacity and capability building are necessary components.
The ultimate aim is the decentralisation of real power, responsibility and accountability, where the groups of communities work under one governance structure to manage delivery of quality education and training, as well as social and emotional support services. The boards will coordinate effective use of resources and expertise, and act as consumer/representative fund holders with responsibility for the purchase of education and training services.
The range of potential services and programs include: preschool, primary, middle and senior years education supported by distance learning services; careers advice, enterprise and vocational education; higher and other adult education, including training and up skilling programs; library services; student welfare services to address social and emotional wellbeing and special needs; school-based police and nurses, youth workers, professional learning and mentoring programs for teachers; support staff, community and board members and community-driven language and culture programs. Importantly, the model could also include a regional residential hostel.
There must be opportunities to develop flexible working arrangements for staff and changes to the school day and year to meet local needs. The importance of involving the local community in the education process and decision-making about schooling is to be made as close as possible to the student.
A community partnership mentoring program will be established through the use of renowned indigenous educator, Dr Chris Sarra. He will work closely with Mark Motlop, chair of the Indigenous Education Advisory Council. This will be an important development and will, I am sure, provide a way forward for further community involvement. It will be an important part of our approach to involve local people on the ground and expertise as needed.
Second, we will, in partnership with the Commonwealth, investigate the establishment of early learning and development family centres. These centres will help ensure indigenous children in remote communities are born healthy and have support, care and education throughout early childhood to equip them for life and learning, delivered in ways that actively engage families. It is a reform that will result in significant developmental, social and economic improvements for remote indigenous children and their families. Evidence shows the importance of early investment in children, as these very early years are critical to future cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. Longitudinal studies show long-term social outcomes including higher employment rates and less adult criminality.
These Sturdy Foundations Family Centres will lead to: healthy, nurtured, safe, school-ready children with positive dispositions to life and learning; positive, responsive and interactive parenting and care; caring and supportive communities understanding the importance of the early years of life and schooling; improved outcomes in children’s health, enrolment and attendance, English literacy and numeracy and social and emotional development; and increased training and employment of local people in jobs at the centres.
The Australian government has committed itself to the establishment of up 260 new childcare and early learning centres. Our governments will work together and, with communities and service providers, establish multi-agency family centres in remote communities. The centres will coordinate early learning and development services and support for children aged 0 to 8 and their families, and establish strong connections with the school. They will provide integrated services response that meets the needs of the community in building local capacity and solutions. Services and programs will include: child and maternal and family health services; early learning and development programs; and parenting and family support.
The third element sees the Northern Territory government supporting the establishment of community-based residential hostels enabling young people in remote communities and towns to access quality secondary education in or near their communities. These hostels, staffed with indigenous house parents, will provide accommodation, care and learning support options for secondary students so that more students complete their NTCE and move into work and further studies. The community-based hostels will allow: increased numbers of students having a safe and supportive environment in which to live during their secondary schooling; improved health and social and emotional wellbeing; increased numbers of students completing their secondary education; increased numbers of students moving from school to work and further learning; and training and employment of local people in jobs.
Parents want secondary education to be provided in their home communities or closer to them. Such arrangements will mitigate against barriers to effective participation in schooling in the student’s home community, and also against factors which effect retention at boarding schools further from home. Our government will work together with communities to identify optimum sites to establish residential hostels for remote secondary students. The Australian government has committed $44m over four years to establish hostels in the Northern Territory for Years 8 to 12 students. The Northern Territory, through Closing the Gap, has committed $700 000 recurrent for these hostels.
The fourth strategy looks towards establishing Fit for Learning health and wellbeing support services so indigenous children and young people from town camps have a level of health and wellbeing enabling them to engage in quality teaching and learning programs. The Fit for Learning services are designed to deliver coordination services that provide ‘wrap-around’ support to town-based indigenous students, their families and school staff. It will help to address welfare, health and wellbeing needs so students can focus on learning at school and their teachers can focus on teaching. The Fit for Learning support services will assist: students to engage effectively in teaching and learning programs; families in accessing welfare support for children; strengthened relationships and information sharing between families, schools and other service providers, improved outcomes in attendance, behaviour, wellbeing, English literacy and numeracy; and teachers being able to focus on preparation and delivery of quality teaching and learning.
In Alice Springs, four of the seven primary schools and both middle schools already have Indigenous Transition Units catering for children who lack the social and academic skills to participate in regular classrooms. Some of these kids face huge challenges. These include irregular attendance and little experience of schooling, and of appropriate classroom behaviours. They may have been exposed to violence and other traumas. They may have hearing loss, nutrition and eye problems. They speak English as another language and have very low levels of English literacy and numeracy. We must have programs that deal with these challenges. I will not give up on my job which is to ensure an education for all our kids, and I will particularly not give up on the kids who are tough to deal with.
Fifth, we will expand our strategy to build our local indigenous workforce through what we have called Growing Our Own. We will achieve a far greater percentage of indigenous employees that matches the percentage of indigenous people in the Northern Territory population. The development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy for effective targeted recruitment, professional learning and training will result in significant increases over time in the size and the capability of DEET’s indigenous workforce.
Growing Our Own will extend across all DEET workplaces. Growing Our Own aims to achieve an increased proportion of indigenous staff working across DEET workplaces; increased participation by indigenous people in economic and social life; increased numbers of indigenous people in tertiary study; increased numbers of indigenous people participating in upskilling programs; responsive on-site higher education and training service provision by CDU and Batchelor; DEET as an employer of choice for indigenous people; and increased capacity of DEET to improve enrolment, attendance, participation and attainment by indigenous children and young people.
Growing DEET’s indigenous workforce is essential to build the local labour market and increase participation of indigenous people in the social and economic life of the Territory. As part of managing the Australian government’s emergency response, DEET has moved to ensure that the former CDEP workers who are connected to schools are now provided with the opportunity to move into departmental positions. I want to see all those educators, teaching assistants, and tutors taking full positions in the education system. They will require skills development and training to fulfil their new roles and to broaden their employment pathway options.
Our governments will work together to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to address recruitment, retention, skills development, training and further study, careers planning and progression, and leadership development. Growing Our Own will be a sustained process over a generation.
These proposals accord with the aspirations, outcomes and policy directions outlined by the COAG’s Productivity Agenda Working Group and the intent of the Commonwealth intervention and the Northern Territory government’s Closing the Gap initiative. Monitoring and reporting will be aligned with national reporting, processes, time lines and targets.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, since coming into government in 2001, we have made some significant progress and seen some important improvements. It is a surprise to many new arrivals to the Territory that, until four years ago, not a single student schooled on a remote community had ever achieved the Northern Territory Certificate of Education. Since 2003, that number has been boosted and I am very happy to report to the Assembly that one of our first NTCE graduates from Kalkarindji, Lianna Brown, graduated this year from Flinders University with a degree in Cultural Tourism.
There is a change, and for the better. However, I want to see these changes permanently embedded in our education system, from preschool to tertiary and vocational studies. I would like, as well, for this parliament to approach indigenous education in a genuine spirit of bipartisanship. It is, frankly, too important for any of us to trade cheap shots over. We know the educational landscape for most indigenous Territorians is bleak. Let us not make it a battlefield where the only victims are politicians exchanging shots from the trenches. As Prime Minister Rudd told federal parliament:
It is a sentiment I trust all here can endorse today.
In closing, I pay tribute to the former minister for Education, the member for Nhulunbuy, whom, I believe, will be acknowledged when future histories are written of indigenous education in the Northern Territory, as a key player in our achievements. If I, in my current role or, indeed, immediate predecessor, the Chief Minister, can see the horizons more clearly, it is because of the groundbreaking work that the member for Nhulunbuy initiated - and for that I sincerely thank him.
We cannot walk away from these significant challenges. Every day, my resolve, as Education minister - and I think that of every member in this parliament - grows stronger, to make the changes we need.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I will commence with the sentiment that was expressed at the close of the statement: the urging for a spirit of bipartisanship. Interestingly, that has been an offer presented in the past from this side of the Chamber - I led that - and it was rejected. We need to reassess if we are fair dinkum. We have to go a little further than words that sound good, because this is going to be hard - very hard. If we cannot at least find a place where we can put aside personal and political agendas, and a place to meet to advance this issue - in this Chamber with our community leaders who have been elected to represent the Northern Territory - we are dreaming if we think we will effect change anywhere else remote from this place. It will be hard.
If you think for a moment that to utter the words that let us proceed in bipartisanship, implying that there cannot be robust debate or that I should, therefore, run alongside of you and say ‘Everything is good and let us go along and I hope it all works out’, that will not be the case. I am a member of a family and we have robust debate. We have strong disagreement but we stay together on the foundations and the principles. Ultimately, in the best interests of our children, we disagree and have robust debate and disagreement. That is what I understand to be bipartisanship: we have a common interest in advancing the right of a child to have a quality education. That is the first principle.
I felt some sadness, in some ways, looking at this statement because I have taken these statements before and tried to find where I could make a meaningful contribution. I find a similar feeling coming back - unfortunately, with some increased sadness – because I feel we are saying the same things again and again. That is what troubles me. This will be healthy. I can say to you that the initiatives that have been described have been described before, and I do not find, in themselves, great problem with the initiatives themselves. If we are going to make progress, I believe we could start by taking all of these initiatives and programs that have been packaged, badged, sold, presented in certain ways to create certain impressions - just put them out for a second and let us look at what we need to have in the box.
The first principle must be the right of a child to a quality education. Next comes the responsibilities. There are two responsibilities. One is the responsibility of the parent; the other is the responsibility of the education system of government. The responsibility of a government is to provide qualified and supported teachers to allow that child to have an education. They need to be resourced with, in my view, a quality curriculum that focuses on the basics first and foremost: reading, writing and maths. Then, a skills-based, standards-based approach, a clearer focus on the curriculum. You need quality teachers, quality and focused curriculum and, then, a well resourced learning environment, a classroom. That is the responsibility of a government, remembering it is the right of a child to receive an education and the responsibility of a government to provide the resources and the means: teacher, curriculum and resourcing.
The core of this - and this is where I find all of these measures fall short - is looking honestly at the issue of the responsibility of a parent. That is the difficult area. That is why I have found increasing sadness when we look at the measures that have been outlined, because I do not believe we look honestly enough at that issue. Philosophically, I believe individuals are responsible - that cannot be taken away. If you provide excuses and reasons - in one form or another, sophisticated or unsophisticated excuses - then you remove the obligation of that person to own their own behaviour and accept the part that they have in providing a solution. If you diminish personal responsibility - in this case of a parent - you then increase the responsibility of the system to provide the answer. I believe that is the problem of modern politics; particularly of leftist politics where the belief is the system has the ultimate responsibility to fix the problem.
I believe the reverse of that. The system should be there to support the individual who has primary responsibility. It is the other way round. If you believe that there is a social problem and, therefore, you believe that it has a political solution - as we put a lot of faith in these systems, processes and programs that we have in place - we talk about the solutions that we will provide - what was announced today has been announced in the past – and then put increased faith on the system, on government, to solve the problem. Then we offload the responsibility to government and we end up with increased, greater responsibility falling on government. You are removing it from the very place where it should rest; that is, with the parent, with an individual.
Our society is built upon individual responsibility. That individual responsibility falls in different ways. We have responsibilities to care for the needy; that is, a responsibility for those who have a problem. There is no one in our society who has no responsibility at all. Everyone, at some place on the continuum, has personal responsibility.
I would like you to bear that in mind; that, if we are going to move forward - and this will be hard - we have to stop at that issue and look at it fair and square. How can we ensure that the equation is balanced and that there is parental responsibility? We have to have a measure to create the necessary motivation for a parent to assume that responsibility. This is serious business. If they do not assume that responsibility and you do not put the effected measures in - an individual has responsibility; they have a child after all - you are condoning neglect. You are supporting neglect and I cannot condone that. It is wrong.
That is the deficiency in all of this. I will tell you quite honestly; it is well-intentioned. There is not one measure here that I could not support as it misses the essential ingredient, the foundation stone: personal responsibility. If you cannot bring that to bear in this equation, you will just continue to talk about the amount of money that has been spent, the number of teachers that have been employed, the new programs, the rejigging of this, the removing of that, the renaming of this, the re-announcing of this, that or the other, and the results will not budge.
Why will they not budge? Because you have not brought an individual into the equation. You talk about social and emotional health. There has to be some emotional buy-in here - the people have to feel some sense of obligation. I went to Alice Springs recently. I honestly thought it was school holidays in Alice Springs. As a former school principal and a responsible parent – I am still a responsible parent, though my children have grown up, but I am a former school principal – I look at children, and parents in the street with kids, and I ask the question: ‘Shouldn’t you be at school? Have you knocked off early? You are a bit late for school’. I will say that wherever I go and kids will often pull up short and say: ‘I am on my way’ or ‘I have leave to go here, there or anywhere’. We need to reinforce a common community standard. There is an expectation in our community: ‘Excuse me, shouldn’t you be at school?’. I talk to them. I do not mean you try to bash them. Just say this and you reinforce a standard.
While I was in Alice Springs, I thought there were school holidays on because there were kids everywhere. It appeared to me that the community had accepted a standard that I cannot tolerate. Why are these children wandering around the street? I inquired: ‘Is there a school holiday on?’ ‘No’. I thought there might have been some special carnival. There was not. However, there were children everywhere in the middle of a school day.
At the same time, the government was talking about hostels. The hostel proposal has merit. It is fantasy, though, to run the hostel argument in isolation. I will support it, but not if you cannot attend to the basics and get primary school kids to go to school and to have a standard reinforced. The only way to do that is through personal accountability and responsibility. For example, if there is a football carnival on, that is often the given reason: ‘Oh, there was football on, on the weekend’. It is now Wednesday but they still have not gone back. I bet those parents who chose to pull up their tent pegs and come into town to watch the football get there on time. They are punctual because there is a motive, there is a reason to be there. When it is time to go back, they can loiter because there is no real motivator. ‘We will stay around the bright lights’. There is a missing motivator; that is, the consequence for not fulfilling your obligation to get back to school.
Schooling is not an option. It is a requirement. It should be backed up, not just by programs to assist the vulnerable, but by recognising that every parent who has a child has a responsibility.
The minister has within her power the capacity to impose a suitable penalty; a motivator to ensure that understanding occurs. If you miss that ingredient or part of the package, we will continue to fail. When the minister has time to reflect, I am very interested to go through this process regarding the question that I asked. I know we get caught up in here; the game is played - and some refer to it as a game. I do not, particularly when it comes to serious matters like this …
Ms Scrymgour: You think it is a game, and it is not; it is a serious issue.
Mr MILLS: I am acknowledging the context in which debate occurs in Question Time, okay?
I asked a question today regarding the commitment made on 28 February 2002. I know the member for Nhulunbuy is a passionate man; he really believed this and I wanted it to be the case - we all wanted it to be the case. You set a benchmark: you wanted to see a 26% increase in literacy over four years, and there were programs described to achieve that. We want success; we want that benchmark to be achieved. Some people over there are so jaundiced in their view they would think that the opposition would prefer you to fail, because we are really against you. Not everybody is in politics and sees it as their prime game; some actually want to effect change. So, put that aside ...
Ms Scrymgour: Work with it; not against it.
Mr MILLS: Put that aside.
That benchmark, that goal, was set. You were supported by the federal government to reach that target, but the results actually fell. Around that benchmark, that target that was set, there was a range of measures. Some of those measures were almost identical to the measures described today.
The question - although not answered adequately in Question Time, and I am acknowledging the context – is: please provide the assessment, the honest analysis, as to why it failed, because the measures that are being described today, in some cases, are identical to those that were described in 2002?
A detailed analysis needs to be provided otherwise we will embark on another grand and well intentioned adventure which will cost us dearly. I put on notice that, perhaps, we can have a briefing to provide a detailed analysis - if it does occur - as to why there was that failure. School attendance is an obvious reason. However, let us look at the measures that were described at the time, how they were applied, were they applied, did they work and, if not, why? More detail is not suitable in Question Time, but the point was made. If you cannot provide that kind of material, then it is reinforcing this notion that it is well intentioned but nave and likely to be setting kids up for failure.
The thing that I find most shocking in this is to remember that, if you talk to non-indigenous kids in urban communities, the first question you often ask when they are in primary school is: ‘What you would like to do when you leave school?’ They will begin to describe all the wonderful things they would like to do or to be. Then, if you ask the same question in Aboriginal communities - ask those bright eyed, beautiful kids – ‘What would you like to be when you finish your schooling?’ They say practically the same things. If you ask a little later on, the look in their eyes is different, they feel that they will not be able to get to the things that other kids want. If you ask them in Grade 1, 2, or 3, they want the same things. They want to be policemen, they want to fly planes, they want to drive fire trucks, they want to be teachers, be nurses - exactly the same, there is no difference.
However, generally, the dream evaporates and becomes a nightmare and disillusionment as they reach puberty. They realise there is something wrong. I reckon that we have presented a different standard for indigenous kids. We have not required the same rigour, imposed the same set of responsibilities upon parents, and we have provided more excuses than reasons to shoulder their responsibility as a parent. That is why we must push this one hard.
Perhaps there is an ideological difference. Perhaps I and the Country Liberal Party have a different position when it comes to the notion of personal responsibility. When you talk about things such as tough love, some people say: ‘Oh, that is a bit too tough; I cannot see any love in that’. However, we are going to have to make some courageous decisions, otherwise we are going to be spending a heck of a lot of money and having report after report, statement after statement in this Chamber, and it will be the same tragic and sad story. I have a memory of taking these things seriously. I have been here nearly nine years; this is probably about the fifth of these statements. They all hold promise; they all say the same thing, and point to the problem. However, the answer is found in the individual: you are a parent, you have a child, you have a responsibility. There needs to be some constructs around that notion to strengthen responsibility ...
Ms Scrymgour: I disagree with you.
Mr MILLS: Well, the mind of government is influenced by polling and focus groups, and we now know …
Ms Scrymgour: I do not think that is true. You said that this was a bipartisan thing. As if the CLP is not driven by polls and everything else, Terry. Come on, we are talking about indigenous education. Get back onto what it is supposed to be.
Mr MILLS: Can you help me out here?
Mrs MILLER: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Ms Scrymgour: Sorry, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I was drawn. He is being deliberately provocative. He stands up here and preaches about everyone else does a bad job, but it is all right for him. I withdraw.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Please continue, Leader of the Opposition.
Mrs Miller: It is debate.
Mr MILLS: Robust debate?
Ms Scrymgour: Allow the robust debate. Have the debate on what the issue is about.
Mrs MILLER: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Deputy Chief Minister, can you please let the Leader of the Opposition finish his speech.
Ms Scrymgour: I wish he had some substance there. Touchy, touchy!
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. This may be unpleasant, but the truth is that going into an election - I think the one before last - there was a recognition. Look, just to make it perhaps a bit easier, I acknowledge that the Country Liberal Party in government did not do a good job. Okay? Not in all areas; some good, some bad. However, I do not accept that when the Labor Party came to office that they were completely new and really good. There was good and bad. Okay? Both sides. Let us just relax about this.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, address your point through the Chair, rather than across the table? That would help to ameliorate a bit.
Mr MILLS: Right, okay. However, when governments – and there is only one government - form their policy positions they get a view of what the community expects. The community expects truants to be pulled into line. It is implied when you use the word ‘truant’ that a parent is going to be held responsible. Therefore, those words were deliberately used when government - or when the Labor Party came into office they talked about Truancy Officer and $5m. They came to office and there was an expectation that had been fed, because they knew the community wanted that.
However, when it came to reality, those Truancy Officers became School Attendance Officers and they were not what was expected. When you use the term ‘truant’ and a ‘Truancy Officer’, you imply a certain thing and it is deliberately used. However, the language has slowly changed so it becomes ‘School Attendance Officer’. I am very interested in how they would operate, but there was no punitive aspect to it at all. It was all about trying to help parents accept their responsibility and, implied in that is that ultimately there is no responsibility on the parent. It is as though society is at fault: ‘Whatever we can do, anything else we can do to help you and, maybe, it is too difficult’. You can have all of that. You have to provide the care for those who are in need, but you also have to have the other thing.
I ran a school community and there was a full stop. I chased parents up. I did not make it easy for them to shirk their responsibility. I had emotional buy-in. I took it seriously and I followed it up, and I expect government to put policies in place that follow that stuff up. Do not say words that imply a certain thing and then take the contents of that word out and replace it with something that removes personal responsibility.
A truancy officer must be a truancy officer. Good cop, bad cop. Some people need some help provided to them. If they do not accept that help and they do not make any progress, then there must be a consequence ...
Mr Kiely: What is your position on strapping?
Mr MILLS: You are a minister of the Crown, not some schoolboy bully.
Mr Kiely: I have heard your position on strapping.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please keep the interjections down to a minimum. Let us give the Leader of the Opposition a fair go.
Mr MILLS: Having said all that, this statement is acknowledged as a well-intentioned statement. We agree that there is a problem and this is a further re-jigging and redefining of initiatives that do head in the right direction. I only urge the minister to add one essential ingredient and I reckon we then have action; and that is to provide the measures that will result in personal responsibility. There needs to be the punitive edge as well. You must have the capacity and the unflinching in your expectation that a parent must fulfil their responsibility. Miss that out of the equation and the whole thing collapses, and we resort to the language of input.
You are talking about your achievement as the description of a program that costs this much money – this many people, this much money. You find your language is talking about money spent on programs as your achievement. The outcome, the result, is the achievement. To change the attendance rates and the benchmark results in the MAP test is the result, not the achievement of the amount of money spent. None of this will change unless you bring in personal responsibility.
I will repeat: the core of this is the right of a child to an education. That is a right. The responsibility of a government is to provide qualified teachers before every class. A question still stands with this government, in light of Professor Hughes’ comments: is it the case that there are schools, there are classes, which do not have a full-time qualified teacher …
Ms Scrymgour: That is not true.
Mr MILLS: The responsibility is to provide teachers. I asked for an independent assessment. I have not had an answer on that …
Ms Scrymgour: I will respond to that.
Mr MILLS: The second responsibility of government is to provide a well-focused and well-resourced curriculum. You do not get an education without a teacher - a motivated, focused and qualified teacher who is professionally supported. The current EBAs would indicate that there is a lack of understanding of the need to value the profession properly. You could have processed these EBAs, which are well overdue, in a manner that does not erode the essential core of the profession.
Responsibility, teacher, curriculum and properly resourced classrooms: there are some questions still outstanding; answers have not been provided yet. They are the responsibilities of government and the parent. The responsibility of the parent is the essential ingredient. If you do not have measures in this to bring responsibility for their parenting to send a kid to school, then the whole thing will collapse.
I look forward to continuing robust debate. I trust that we can do so, and that we can make real progress because, separate from the statement, the minister has acknowledged that this is the area that needs to be worked on, but I have yet to see any action. You will see action if there is a change of government. If there is not, I hope there is a change of policy and direction, and change of heart of government, so that we can at last make some progress. Parents must be brought into the equation.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the statement is acknowledged. It is well-intentioned but, I believe, ineffective because it misses one essential ingredient - parental responsibility.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for Education on the indigenous education statement. It heralds a sea change of approach. We have heard contributions to the debate today, and I am sure we will hear them continuing regarding the efforts that various governments have made delivering education to indigenous Territorians. We have seen some successes and some failures. What we needed to see, though, was a sea change where we bring all the different elements of what has been introduced, trialled and proven to succeed in the past, together into a coordinated effort which genuinely provides a robust response to the needs to close the gap of disadvantage in the field of education.
The sea change is in the creation of the Community Partnership Education Boards. It is similar to the coordinated care trials that were seen as a sea change in the delivery of health ...
Mr Mills: They were announced in 2004.
Ms LAWRIE: I pick up on the interjection from the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow spokesperson on Education. He said that was 2004. This was a statement of ignorance - pure ignorance. What was introduced in 2004 was community partnerships in education. What is contained in the statement today - the sea change I am referring to - are the boards.
Two coordinated care trials are commencing - one in the Warlpiri triangle, the other in East Arnhem. Nothing like this has been tried before, comprehensively pooling all the different government-funded aspects within education. Whether it was Commonwealth or Territorian level, nothing before has occurred where funding has been pooled together and trialled as a board which has community participation and ownership. That is, fundamentally, what it takes for it to work in delivery.
The opposition members can be smart with their little quips and interjections, but it shows an ignorance; an inability to listen and comprehend where change is and what is driving that change. Sadly, we have seen a significant group of children and young adults - our indigenous Territorians - who have not seen the benefits of the education system in the Territory.
It is universally accepted and recognised that we have a need for generational change here. We have seen generations grow up – in the post-mission schooling era - without access to education or the opportunities that education brings. We need a significant educational generational change.
School attendance is fundamental to a success in the delivery of education. We have seen the community partnerships which the former Education minister, the member for Nhulunbuy, introduced as a critical first step to increase school attendance. To increase attendance at a local level, you need a buy-in from the community. You need an understanding from the parents and community structures that it is essential to get children to school. It is not a desirable goal, it is an essential one.
That was the idea of the community partnerships. This statement today steps up a level from that - a sea change step as far as I am concerned. It introduces a range of coordinated approaches. It brings a new focus on indigenous education so that all the different programs, schemes and aspects of education delivery that we see in some schools across the Territory are coordinated in trials. It harnesses the Commonwealth and Territory government’s resources, programs and funds, together with the professional skills of the teachers, the wellbeing, and social skills, to come together into a coordinated effort. That has not been done before; that is the sea change.
As I say, it is akin and similar to the coordinated care trials that we saw introduced. It is no strange coincidence that the sea change being brought about is from someone who actually brought about the sea change in the health system through coordinated care trials and delivery of the Katherine West Health Board. If you take the Katherine West Health Board model and apply it in a conceptual basis to education, this is akin to what we are talking about here. We know that accelerated literacy as a program is delivering results. It is delivering results in the bush and in the towns where it is introduced. We have a generation of children who are behind the benchmarks to begin with and need the accelerated literacy programs to get them to the point that they need to be to benefit from the mainstream education system. That is one example.
The school/parent community engagement aspects of the Community Partnership Education Boards are critical. If there is no local, parent, school community, or broad community ownership then we are setting up to fail. The aspect of this that I have enormous support for and an enormous desire to see delivered in real terms, is the focus on early childhood. I have said it in the Chamber before and I will say it again: education begins with early childhood. If you can get it right at the level of early childhood, you can actually set people up to succeed, rather than perpetuate failure, because you are addressing the top end of the spectrum not the early childhood end of the spectrum. The most exciting aspect of this for me, apart from the structure of the boards and the coordinated aspects, is the introduction of that accelerated literacy and numeracy into it and, critically, the focus on early childhood education.
All of this needs to be supported by the welfare services, those wellbeing support services the minister for Education talked about. This is not shallow talk; she has actually gone ahead and restructured government departments to support the model. The movement of early childhood from where it had existed in Family and Community Services into Education, fundamentally, in the sense of a bureaucratic government approach, supports this new sea change of delivery into indigenous education. She understands the social and wellbeing support services that do work in assisting families in crisis, and here we are dealing with families who have been in crisis. As hard as we can roll out our housing construction program across the bush, we will still have overcrowding in our bush communities, in those houses which are barriers to ensuring that the children are in a wellbeing scenario which helps get them to school in the morning.
We need these wellbeing structures in and around to support the education service, to take the pressure off those teachers in the classrooms who are struggling, quite appropriately so, with the additional challenging behaviours that come as a result of the generational dysfunction we have seen. We all know the associated alcohol and substance abuse issues that come with this overcrowding and the dysfunction in the community.
This is not about saying that everything that has gone before is wrong. This is about saying we acknowledge everything that has gone before, and what the factors are that have worked within the delivery of education within the Territory. Once more, we are pulling that all together into a trial so that it is a concentrated, focused effort supported by a community-based partnership education board, sitting across on top to ensure that this coordinated effort comes together and is supported by the community.
Another aspect of this that I really commend the minister for is that she is not just looking at the early childhood aspects of these changes, but importantly, those Year 12 students and beyond, and how to create the links from Year 12 into training and work. Conceptually, you might call it a year 13. Bearing in mind that in indigenous education, particularly in the remote areas, there was no access to secondary education prior to the last few years, so it is new, this government believes you have to provide the additional support in the system for the Year 12 students who are, fundamentally, in a new environment in secondary education. Through that process, into the training, we have to provide those links to both training and job opportunities, so it is a real support.
I have a Family and Community Services background, so I say that is akin to the change we introduced into the care and protection of children, where we said children who have been in the foster care system will, when they exit foster care aged 18, continue to have support through to 25 years of age. It is recognising that people who come from a basis of disadvantage, particularly young people and teenagers, need to have those extra supports, ensuring that they get every opportunity to make a success of their lives. Fundamentally, in education, that is a great model.
I commend the minister on the statement. It is a bold move. It is not something where we will see the fruits overnight. Obviously, for something of this significance to occur, it is going to take a concerted effort. Fundamentally, we are in the best position ever in the history of the Territory to work with the Commonwealth, to ensure that the Commonwealth programs are coordinated with the Territory programs, to be delivered in a concentrated and focused effort on the ground.
The minister is seizing the opportunity of a Labor Commonwealth government and a Labor Territory government to say: ‘Let us pull it together and make a concerted effort together to really address the existing disadvantage in delivering indigenous education’. When I talk about indigenous education, clearly, obviously, significantly, the challenge is in the bush - absolutely no doubt about that. I also recognise that there is a challenge in our towns as well. All of our regional centres, including our capital city, have significant numbers of indigenous students in our schools. Therefore, when you are talking indigenous education it is not just a bush issue. It is fundamentally and significantly a bush issue, but it is not just a bush issue; it is also an issue in our urban centre.
I have talked about programs that we have tried and programs which we have seen work. I will talk specifically in this respect to schools in my electorate because we have a very high percentage of indigenous students at these schools. When I say ‘indigenous students’ they are indigenous students whose families have been Darwin families for many generations but, also, we have had increasing numbers of indigenous students who come in from outlying communities throughout the Territory who are now calling Darwin home. We have a mix of what can be called the local indigenous families of Darwin, plus the families who come in from the communities who have settled here and want their kids to have access to urban education.
Manunda Terrace Primary School is a school within my electorate. A few years ago, we created a link between Manunda Terrace Primary School and Knuckeys Lagoon where we have a housing lease there run by an organisation. The houses there are tenanted by indigenous families, and these kids have come in from remote communities. We have a bus that picks those kids up and brings them into Manunda Terrace. To deal with the increasing numbers of children from disadvantaged backgrounds - significantly indigenous families, but also in the instance of Manunda Terrace, non-English speaking background families from, for example, Timor Leste – Manunda Terrace recognised that they had a problem with the social behaviours of many of the children attending that school. Why did they have a problem with the social behaviours? Because, for many of the kids, English was their second language; indigenous and other languages were their first languages. Also, they had had very limited access to education, whether it was Timor Leste or, indeed, a remote community of the Northern Territory.
In response to this, they created a program called Strong Men, Strong Women, Strong Models where four young indigenous people were engaged to work in the school as role models. These adults work in classes and they conduct sports skills clinics, as well as a lunchtime program of modified sports. The program began in 2002 using CDEP, and was highly valued by the school community. It received enormous support from the school community. There was a great amount of school community buy-in. Also, as local member, I created links with the Department of Education, Employment and Training to get the support from the department. With 48% of the 265 students at Manunda Terrace being indigenous, the Strong Men, Strong Women, Strong Models program provides real role models and mentors for these young students. The program has been successful in increasing enrolment and retention of local indigenous students. Indigenous enrolment has grown from 85 students in 2003, to 138 indigenous students in 2007.
The program encourages their participation in classroom activities. It increases the attainment levels in numeracy and literacy. This is a school that took out the National Numeracy and Literacy Award a few years ago - the national award for a school that sits in the middle of the lower socioeconomic area of a suburb of Darwin, building student self-esteem and encouraging a sense of identity with their class, their school and their community. It provides students with strong role models to motivate and encourage them to develop positive attitudes to school and learning.
The program also has positive outcomes for young adults involved. We are transitioning through the funding of government to paid jobs for young adults formerly on CDEP. It has been pretty fundamental and amazing to watch the change in students, but also to witness the change in the young adults. When they came in, they were shy and unsure of themselves. I have seen the program build their self-esteem and develop their leadership skills, self-motivation and initiative, organisation and planning skills, confidence working in a professional environment, strategies for dealing with student behaviour, working with other adults, coaching and teaching students, and develop a sense of future direction through the provision of career advice and contact networks within our government agencies. This has been an incredibly valuable program for Manunda Terrace for the students, the teachers, the parents and the community. It has resulted in improved learning outcomes, including the development of a school culture that encompasses acceptance, fairness and respect.
Since the program began in October 2001, 23 of the 36 role models have gone directly into full-time work or studies from Manunda Terrace. That includes two who have enrolled in teacher training at Batchelor, one who has been accepted in the Northern Territory Police, one who has been accepted in community policing on the Tiwi Islands, two who have gone into public service positions, and four who have left to pursue football careers interstate.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and another local school of mine that has a very high indigenous enrolment is Malak Primary School. As part of their school’s improvement process, they decided to set a goal: that 80% of all students participating in the 2007 MAP test would achieve benchmark and beyond. Some would think that is a pretty tough goal for a school that has a very high percentage of indigenous enrolments. As I said, these are not just kids who are from the local indigenous Darwin families who have lived here for generations. These are kids who have come in from the bush. The figure was set because it was an improvement target that the school had every confidence they could achieve.
To support the achievement of this goal, Malak school, through the leadership of the principal, Paul Nyhuis, implemented a targeted initiative called the Magic Five. Magic Five is about targeting five under-achieving individual students in each early childhood and primary class. Last year, this equated to a total of 50 students at the school. The Magic Five is not necessarily focused on the lowest-achieving students. Instead, it focuses on students who, with some intensive support, could make significant improvements in literacy and numeracy and, subsequently, meet those benchmarks. Classroom teachers review reporting and MAP data, as well as anecdotal information to select students for the Magic Five, and to tailor the program and levels of support specific to the students’ needs. The program holds to the notion that, if you move one group up, others follow and, in this way, the program raises the individual, the year and the whole school achievement levels.
From 2006 to 2007, Malak school experienced some quite dramatic performance increases. In the case of Year 5 reading, the number of students achieving benchmark went from 66% to 87% and, in Year 3, writing went from 54% to 78%. Six of the nine assessment areas across all year levels reached the 80% goal, while the remaining three were extremely close to their target. These results are positive and it shows that where there is an improvement on the previous year, there is a whole school-wide achievement of their levels. It shows that we have successes in amongst the picture of the failures that we are aware of, where there is intense and focused effort. What the minister for Education today is doing in her statement is raising the intense and focused effort up to a level that we have never seen previously in the delivery of education in the Territory.
Another school in my electorate, Karama school, won the Urban School of the Year last year for its contribution to student wellbeing through a range of programs like the Red Cross Good Start Breakfast Club and the Rock and Water program.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, your time is up unless someone moves an extension.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the minister’s time be extended, pursuant to Standing Order 77, for the minister to complete her remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: I thank my colleagues. I will be within the 10 minute extension. It is important to recognise where we have a focused effort at the local level in delivering education to indigenous students, and the successes that actually come out of that. One of the most effective programs at Karama school to contribute to the wellbeing was the introduction of accelerated literacy.
This literacy program was started with three classes at Karama in 2005 and expanded to the entire school from the beginning of 2006. It has brought about significant changes in the learning of both the students and the staff. The Australian Council of Education Research comprehension tests are given once a year and have shown steady improvement by most of their students. The success this program is having on the communication skills and the wellbeing of students at the school was recognised recently when Karama school became the only Northern Territory school to win a 2007 Dare to Lead Excellence in Leadership in Indigenous Education Award announced in March of this year.
Karama school has also developed a leading role as an accelerated literacy hub school by encouraging visitors from other schools to talk with and observe good teaching and administrative practice by both the teaching and the support staff. The most pleasing aspect of this program has been the growth in the self-esteem and the confidence of the students to speak or read publicly, to articulate their concerns or ask questions, and to reflect on and acknowledge the personal value of being able to read what they want to read or say what they want to say in a way that absolutely and fundamentally empowers them.
Parent responses in the Karama school’s community perception survey overwhelmingly supported the view that Karama school is achieving improved educational outcomes. I acknowledge the work done by Marg Fenbury and the fantastic teaching and support staff of Karama school.
Finally, in my local schools and their approach to innovative ways to improve attendance at school and the outcomes of indigenous education is Sanderson Middle School. The Clontarf program being run in schools such as Sanderson is proving to be an enormous success. An article in the NT News on Sunday clearly showed the kids involved in this program wanted to stay in school. Kyle Tinoco from Sanderson High was quoted as saying: ‘I think it’s great. If they keep it up, I’ll definitely stay in school’.
My electorate officer was recently speaking with three participants of this program to get a feel for how they felt the program was going. In their own words, this is what Jordon Wilson, Joseph Thompson and Abi-Solomon Gabey had to say on behalf of the Sanderson football academy:
That statement certainly speaks for itself. Our education is so incredibly important in shaping the future of our young Territorians.
This government will continue to strengthen our education system. We will continue to introduce programs into our schools that keep our students engaged. In the statement delivered in the House today, it shows, fundamentally, that we will have a renewed focus that I believe is of such significance I refer to it as a sea change - a delivery of indigenous education in the Territory.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, may we see the generational change and the opportunities the Territory, and all Territorians, so desperately need.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, today I talk about the minister’s statement on transforming indigenous education and, just for the minister’s sake, I do not stand here as the guru on education. I am just a person who takes an interest in it from my family point of view. It is also an interest that I have had since entering this parliament.
My comments will revolve around a number of areas. I am not going to cover everything that is in this document. If we were to talk about indigenous education we would probably have a conference that would go for about a week at least. There have been many statements made in this parliament about indigenous education before today. I will be asking questions that need to be answered in the light of the minister’s statement.
The minister started off with a question that is highlighted in her document which says:
I thought it was a little strange. I would have just finished that quote with: ‘How to ensure that we comprehensively overcome the enormous backlog of educational disadvantage faced by indigenous students in the Territory?’. That is what we are all about. I would not imagine any educational program put in place by the government that is going to disadvantage another section of the educational system. I expect that if we need to do more in indigenous education, then we find that money from a source other than taking it away from existing resources.
The questions I am going to ask, minister, basically revolve around your government having been in power for seven years and, in that time, there have been many programs. I was just looking through some of the annual reports of the department of Education since 2001. The first one is the Learning Lessons program and that had an update in about 2006. I would like to know: if we are going down a new path, what is wrong with the old path? I know the Chief Minister thinks I was a flat-earth man; he is entitled to think that. However, before we head down a new path, what was wrong with the old path? It is obvious there are some failings, otherwise we would not have some of these terrible education figures we have. Were some of these programs successful? Have we been wasting money on other programs? I do not know, but I am interested to hear from the minister what is the state of Learning Lessons? Has there been any evidence that it has improved numeracy and literacy? If I look at the figures regarding reading and numeracy, I do not see any great changes from 2002 to 2008.
There was the NT Literacy and Numeracy Strategy which was mentioned in a number of documents that the government has released. In the year 2003-04 annual report, it talked about the DEET English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy implementation. It said:
This is a program that has been running. What has happened to it? Are these figures that there has been a student literacy increase accurate? If it is accurate, why has it not really shown up in the figures? When we deal with this whole issue, although we have all these programs, obviously, many of them have not worked because we would not have had the intervention and the new minister saying, basically, ‘This is terrible’.
We have spent all this money on various programs. Another one is the Northern Territory Indigenous Music Education Program. The annual report in 2002-03 noted:
Of course, it was introduced to try to influence retention and literacy. What happened to it? Was it a failure? Did it make any changes?
It also said in the annual report:
I know you mentioned that in your statement. How does that change when it comes to indigenous children?
The report says:
There was an Attendance Officer, for instance, in Central Australia - only one for the region. Does that Attendance Officer position still exist and does that person still work there? Have we increased the number of Attendance Officers because, obviously, part of the poor results is that children are not coming to school?
I will also quote from the annual report for 2006-07. It said what the 2006 results show and it is referring to the data that I will come to in a little while:
There are many programs - more programs than you mentioned, minister - that sound like a new program but, obviously, this program was around for a while because it says here - and this is the 2003-04 annual report:
There are other programs here under the 2006-07 achievements. In that annual report, it talks about the department undertaking a longitudinal study called the Evaluation of Literacy Approaches for English as a Second Language (ESL) Indigenous Students. Where is that longitudinal study? There is a project called the Northern Territory Indigenous Education Strategic Plan 2006 to 2009. There is the Enrolment and Attendance Strategic Action Framework which was:
Minister, what I am highlighting is that, right through these annual reports of the department, there was a lot of money spent on a whole range of programs. It would be good to know where we see ourselves. Were these programs successful? Are some of them still relevant? Why are we reinventing the wheel? In other words, are we going to do exactly the same thing? We need to evaluate what has gone on in the past before we go too quickly down into the future.
The other area that concerns me is that you say - to some extent in your document - when it comes to knowing what the status of literacy and numeracy in the Northern Territory is what other people are saying. I quote you:
I say that the government has deliberately avoided giving us the figures for indigenous numeracy and literacy. I do not say that lightly; I say that based on the facts. If anyone was to look at the budget papers over the years from 2002-03 to 2007-08, they will notice that there was a period in 2003-04 and 2004-05 where the department actually split ‘indigenous’ into ‘indigenous’, ‘indigenous urban’ and ‘indigenous remote’. When you look at some of the remote figures - for instance, in 2003-04 - at the percentage of remote indigenous children that reached the NT primary education benchmark achievements, you will see it was 9%, although they estimated it would be 21%. The next year, they estimated it would be 30%, and it actually turned out to be 20% - still a very low figure. Then it was removed from the figures. Both ‘urban indigenous’ and ‘remote indigenous’ were combined to just ‘indigenous’, which makes a whole lot of difference. For instance, all of a sudden, in 2005-06, it was estimated that the benchmark for reading for indigenous students would be 41%. It actually turned out to be 36% - still terrible. What that has done by removing the split between urban and remote, is actually allow people to see what a disastrous level of numeracy and literacy we have, especially in remote communities.
It is the same for the numeracy figures. They were broken up into ‘indigenous urban’ and ‘indigenous remote’ in 2003-04, and the same for 2004-05. I will give you an indication of what those figures were like. In 2003-04, in Year 5, only 20% of students reached the NT primary education benchmark achievement, even though that was close to the estimate. In year 2004-05, the estimate was that 26% of students would reach the numeracy education benchmark achievement, and only 16% reached it.
Those figures are terrible, yet the government removed them from the years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08. You cannot come back now and say, ‘I make no apology for doing all this’, because the government removed the figures. In fact, the figures that the minister has given us still do not break up into remote and urban areas. That, to me, highlights how the government, to some extent, has hidden the problem. I am not saying it did not know the problem, but it has tried to hide it, to some extent, from the knowledge of the community; that here we have something that is of national shame.
That is part of the reason the intervention occurred. Part of that intervention was about school attendance, and school attendance relates to whether kids are actually at school learning. It is a bit hard for me to believe that this government says: ‘We are going to move on. We are going to tell you the truth’. The truth was there over the last few years, but deliberately removed from both the budget and annual reports. In 2002-03 annual report, they showed ‘indigenous urban’ and ‘indigenous remote’ and that continued for the next two years. Then, the department put all the indigenous figures into one group, which tended to make it look better than it was.
I remember raising this issue at Estimates Committee. I am fairly sure I was given some sort of economic reason why they could not split them up. The reality is we needed to know because, if you do not know these things, then how are you expected to know there is a problem?
In this document from Professor Helen Hughes – and I presume other members have obtained it - she highlighted exactly that same thing. She talked about how the figures seem to have been changed. She said:
I highlight that this is not something that fell out of the sky and we did not realise that this had happened. It has happened and, unfortunately, I believe the government, to some extent, has tried to shield the public from what is happening.
I know the government will look at new programs and at new ways of doing things. I sometimes wonder whether we should go back to the past, at times. I have said this before. My wife was born in the bush. She lived for quite a long time along the coast between Daly River and the Finniss River area. She then went to school at Delissaville, which is now Belyuen, and then she went to school at Daly River Mission. She had an education up to Grade 6, and attended Grade 6 about three times because that is as far you could go at that stage. Still, I would bet my bottom dollar she can read and write much better than many Aboriginal people today. You could include my children as well. They all have good jobs. They all reached Year 12. What is the difference and why is it not the same for Aboriginal children? Do we have to really call a spade a spade? My wife was also the Aboriginal assistant teacher for seven years at Sacred Heart school at Palmerston.
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, I move an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77, to allow the member to conclude his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, member for Brennan.
She found the greatest problem with kids at school was non-attendance. There would be many reasons for not attending, such as parents who are out all night or do not care about the kids. The kids are up all night watching videos or whatever. There is a lack of discipline and parental care. I have no doubt that my wife not only received parental care from her family, she had parental care from the nuns because she lived in the dormitory, and they made sure you went to school. I looked after the boys’ dormitory for a while. Those kids were up in the morning, showered and off to school. There was a certain amount of ‘force’ required – and I use that word in inverted commas. However, you were required to go to school or else you were in trouble.
Now, we tend to have a society where that is not the way you do things. You talk kids through the problems, you have committees, you have parents and friends, and we all discuss it, and we have programs to encourage children. I ask the Aboriginal members in this House: ‘How did you get your education? How were you so well educated that you are in this House today?’. Perhaps we should copy the way the Aboriginal members in this House were educated and go back to some serious attempts to changing things. We had some discipline and there had to be some self-discipline. There had to be discipline imposed, otherwise we would did not get anywhere. If we are really going to change things, there has to be some way of not only having the carrot, but having some stick because all these programs are all very nice, but the reality is it is a disaster.
When my wife taught at Sacred Heart, she told me of a young kid from Elcho Island who lived at the Lagoon Road community. Even at Year 7 he still could not spell his name on his lunch bag. That is an urban kid. He, obviously, had a family that was all over the place and he was probably staying with grandma and aunties.
However, the reality is that we are seeing young people wasted that should be part of the boom that the Chief Minister is talking about. He is talking about the economy booming. Well, if Aboriginal people are not a part of that boom in the economy, then we are kidding ourselves that everyone is sharing in the wealth in the Territory. Aboriginal people cannot share in the wealth of the Territory if their education standards are poor.
If you take note of what Professor Helen Hughes said - and I suppose there will be people who debate whether this is accurate or not - she quoted the figure of 10 000 Aboriginal students - illiterate non-numerate teenagers and young men and women in their 20s - who are unemployed because of educational failures of the last decade. It may or may not be right, and could be an exaggeration but, even if it was an exaggeration, half of that figure is just too much.
Instead of all the fancy ideas, the fancy theories, and educationalists coming out of our ears which you can see from all the programs that have been put forward over the years, perhaps we have to get back to grassroots of education. Perhaps we have to look at, say, the member for Stuart. He is an educated gentleman, but how was he educated? What were the things that helped him to be educated? Was it a good home life? Did someone kick him in the bum and ensure that he did not miss school? Did he enjoy school as well? We talk about the Clontarf scheme, where we see kids who like to play football. What happens to the girls? Let us not forget about the girls. We cannot rely on everyone playing sport all the time.
There must have been methods that people like the member for Stuart can remember that ensured that he went to school and studied and did well; he is now a member of parliament. That opportunity should be for all people in the Territory, especially indigenous people. I know I am not the guru of education, as the minister might think I am, but I do think that we have to think sideways. Sometimes we might have to think back. My wife only received education up to Year 6. She can read and write very well, drive a car, teach kids at school an old-fashioned education - which was that you turned up for school and they taught you how to spell – and she can still speak language. In fact, she goes back and studies the language now because she is one of those who switched from one Aboriginal language to another because she moved from one part of the Top End to another. She is able to speak three languages and she can speak English very well.
We should not get too hung up on some of the great theories; we should get back to the grassroots. We need to involve the parents. Without the parents, you are not going to get anywhere.
The member for Karama spoke about Manunda Terrace school, which takes kids from the Lagoon Road community which is in my electorate. If you went to Lagoon Road community and asked: ‘What hope do these kids have of actually studying, or doing some homework when they come home from school?’, I would say that they have Buckley’s. You have a place that has major problems with alcohol. It is actually trying to lift itself up. There is a bloke there called Ronnie who is doing a fantastic amount of work trying to get breakfast programs and a mothers’ programs going, trying to change things. However, if you look at the place with long grass, dogs, rubbish, houses with the television going all the time, you can see how difficult it is for a young kid coming home from school to do a bit of school work, especially if the parents are not home. There are some problems there that need to be looked at. If you do not have the parents helping you, or have the parents’ support, then it is very difficult for someone to improve their education, because you need that little shove and your parents are the best people to give it to you.
Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement. There is plenty in the statement that I am sure some of these people here, with much more experience in educational fields, can comment on better than I. I thought to at least bring some comments to the House. I do them in a constructive manner. I have some criticisms about the way the figures have been publicised over the years. However, I believe we all need to pull together to change these things, because it will end up a society where the rich get richer and the poor will just stay still or get poorer. That would be very sad for the Territory. Economic growth must include everyone in the Territory.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I welcome the statement by the Minister for Education, Employment and Training. First, as the minister mentioned, there will be new primary and high schools for Palmerston which will, without doubt, go some way to meeting the needs that are present in the community of Palmerston for education services. Palmerston, like most places in the Territory, has a significant indigenous population. I am not saying that the new high or primary school will be exclusively beneficial for indigenous kids; they will be facilities that will benefit all kids in Palmerston. The indigenous children and young people in Palmerston will benefit from what is an investment in infrastructure of some $50m.
I am a bit disjointed, I suppose but, before I forget, I found the previous contribution most interesting. I do not agree with everything, member for Nelson, but I did find what you had to say very interesting. Much of what you said I have agreement with. It is not just about young people being in schools, it is about learning and outcomes. I share your view that, in our economic boom, it is about an economic boom that everyone deserves to share in. Education is a part of sharing in that financial gain for the Territory and families in the Territory.
As I said in my maiden speech, we need improvements in indigenous health, education and job availability to harness the full economic power of what is about 30% of the Territory’s population. If we do not do that, we are selling ourselves short. Members will no doubt know - as many people who work for government know - health, education and housing are inextricably linked. You cannot really separate them; one affects the other two so completely that improvements need to be across the board. Of course, I would add job availability to that.
As I said, the announcement of the two schools, a primary school and a high school in Palmerston, will provide, together, about an extract 1300 places. I believe it is 850 for the middle school, the others going to the primary school. Where we already have schools in Palmerston with large student cohorts it will assist in relieving the pressure on those schools, which will make the education more targeted for the existing services.
I recognise the great work that all the school staff in Palmerston do: the teachers, the non-teaching staff, the wellbeing officers, the support officers, the Aboriginal welfare officers - to assist all the children and young people in the schools to achieve what they can. It is about enabling an individual to achieve as much as they possibly can, and want to.
The other major facility in Palmerston, of course, is the new senior wing. I am advised that is being progressed to open on time. That is wonderful and excellent news, because that is the state-of-the-art facility which will provide the young adults of Palmerston with an excellent education environment, and will, into the future, ensure that Palmerston High School takes its place, as it should, of being able to provide as good a senior and middle school education as any other school in the Territory.
That is really what is at the guts of the statement, in my view. It is about - wherever you live in the Territory, whatever your station, whatever your background – individuals have as much availability to educational facilities and resources as anyone else. That is a big ask for government to provide. We live in a big Territory. Our communities are scattered right across that Territory, and providing those services for those communities has its specific challenges. What amounts to approximately $72m spent on education will be a great injection for Palmerston.
However, it is not just about buildings. In fact – and I am sure others have said it in this House - the buildings and the facilities are the lesser part of the equation. It is about the people who fill them: the teachers and the other staff. Already mentioned today is the Clontarf Academy. They operate at Palmerston High School as well, and they have been getting some excellent results for indigenous young men who attend Palmerston High School and have had problems with attendance in the past. I hope you will not mind me referring to it, but I was talking with Michael McLean about the results they have been achieving. He was telling me how, when they started, they had a bunch of young men who were not really sure of what was going on or what was expected of them and they were very much individuals, whereas, he is seeing the progression now where they are a single group. They bond together, they look out for each other, they do their training together, and they have breakfast together. Indeed, when they discovered that a couple of the young lads were not attending classes, they had a chat to the individuals involved, but so did the other boys who are part of the program. That is an excellent result and provides that extra support – family - for individuals who may not be getting it from the traditional places.
I take on board what the member for Nelson said about what are we doing for young women. That is something we do need to be looking at. Clontarf has taken off. AFL has done amazing things for young men from indigenous communities. We need to find a similar mechanism, whether it is sport or something else, for the young women, to bring them through and give them the opportunity for the same support that has been provided through the mechanism of Clontarf.
There is another program of which I am aware that Gray school has run, and I will make reference in relation to that. I am referring to the Shine program for girls, but I will come to that a little later.
The other thing that I pick up on from the minister’s statement is the VET schools for vocational training. VET in Schools has been very successful, particularly at Palmerston High School. We need to ensure we provide these opportunities to indigenous children and young people, not just in the main urban centres, but closer to home in their communities. It was interesting to hear the minister talk about the community and family support structures in providing educational opportunities closer to home in the form of the community-based residential hostels. I welcomed that initiative as outlined by the minister.
Some time ago I had a Labor identity, Mr Curly Nixon, in my office talking to me. He has lived in the Territory for at least 40 years - probably longer; I may be doing him a disservice. He was saying to me: ‘What about kids in Pine Creek who cannot get apprenticeships because they do not have the availability there? They cannot afford to move out of home and they cannot live on the money that they might be paid and pay all the bills they would have to deal with. What about setting up boarding houses and paying a portion of monies direct to the boarding house as an incentive? Not coming out of the pay of the individual doing the apprenticeship, but something from government’. It is not exactly the same, but it sounded similar to that community-based residential hostel idea that the minister mentioned.
As I said, the VET in Schools provides great opportunities for young people to get a feel for the trades. Many of us have gone into one career and found that it was not quite for us and have been able to change to another. Some have been lucky enough to know what career they wanted to be in from the start. The VET in Schools allows some exposure to various trades. Anything we can do at that level for indigenous kids in remote communities, especially, is a boon. It comes back to the economic argument as well, and job availability.
How do we engage young people in communities and be able to keep them there so that communities become economically self-sustaining and viable? It is a big ask but not impossible, and is long term rather than short term. That is something that providing the VET program in schools can do. Obviously, we need support from the private sector. If the experience in Palmerston has been anything to go by, that support is certainly there.
I will briefly mention Moulden Park Primary School. It is not in my area of Palmerston but I go down there quite a bit. The minister was talking about community engagement, having the community as part of the school, and taking ownership of education because, without the communities supporting children and young people and showing the benefits that education will bring, you are doomed to failure. Moulden Park Primary School embodies that sense of community engagement. The community of Moulden around the school really has taken ownership of the school, and the support the school gets from its family groups - and vice versa, the support the school community gives families - is just fantastic. I like visiting, as there has always been a great feeling at the school and you notice, feel and see it. You have to recognise that Moulden Park Primary School has a number of challenges that it needs to overcome. Despite those challenges being there, it does an extremely good job. I put on the record my recognition of the fantastic work they do at Moulden Park Primary School.
Gray Primary School is very similar to Moulden Park Primary School in the school community and the community around it. There are a number of things that happen which also happen at Moulden Park Primary School. Some of them, I am not so sure about. The breakfast program is certainly one, where the school provides a room to ensure that kids who come to the school can get a breakfast without questions being asked or any sense of judgment on families. It is just there to provide kids with a stable breakfast so that, when they go into class, they are not hungry or distracted; it settles them down. I have been helping with that program in the past, but not so recently. I have seen, over a couple of years, the children go through there and the great benefit it has. I also have to say that program would not run without the support and dedication above and beyond what is in a teacher’s standard duty statement, because the teachers take on the running of it. They put in the extra time, they man it in the morning and have to get there early, and it is taking up their personal time. They have a commitment to it.
The Families and Schools Together, the FAST program, is an excellent program. It is not just about education; it is about families taking time out for each other within the family to provide that support. Part of that, I guess, has rubbed off because it is saying to parents: ‘You have to take an interest in what your kids are doing’. Most parents do try to do that, but we live very busy lives, and those lives can sometimes get in the way. This program is really about giving mechanisms to parents as to how they can break through that and give their children the attention that they need to.
The Shine program for girls has been excellent, giving self-pride to young girls, showing them deportment skills, and how to breed confidence. It always amazes me that so many young girls have so little self-confidence when they really should; there is no reason for them not to. The Shine program has been brilliant at bringing young girls through that and showing that they really have a lot to feel proud about in themselves.
I also mention the YMCA in Palmerston. They recently commenced the Indigenous Youth Counselling Services and, whilst it is not directly within DEET - DEET has nothing to do with it - they certainly provide support services and the community sense that the minister was talking about, in providing an avenue for young people who are at school who might be struggling with other things outside their school environment that is impacting on them. It provides them a way to give them someone to talk to who can give them some mechanism. That is another service in Palmerston that is working extremely well.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister on the statement. I look forward to hearing more about the new initiatives as they are rolled out. I saw in the statement $1.5m for four mobile preschools. That will be a fantastic addition in remote areas, I am sure, and the kids will really benefit from it.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I will be brief. So much has been said by so many people and, just like the alcohol debate we had yesterday, I think we are all at one in the overall objectives. Interestingly, Neil Bell and Eric Poole would have been having debates very similar to these over the years and, no doubt, hoping that future generations of politicians would not be having the same debates in the Northern Territory. But, alas, we are.
Minister, I am not sure that you can achieve all that you want from this statement. As you know, education is not an area that I have previous involvement in except, of course, my own, and I profess to no level of expertise in the area. However, it is great that you have delivered a statement setting what I regard - and I think many others will regard - as a fairly high bar. If you can achieve half of it, then that is probably going to be a reasonable outcome.
I wanted to ascertain your views on just a couple of issues, given the statement that we are debating now. I am not sure whether the Minister for Central Australia is going to be as interested, but I will keep going anyway. No doubt, the minister has others listening. I will put it to them. I would like the minister’s response to the following couple of issues. What is government’s response to a proposal put by us recently called the ‘No School, No Service’ proposal? I formally met with the Alice Springs Chamber of Commerce’s new executive officer and, indeed, have written to her. I know that, like all ideas, not everyone is going to agree, but I have asked the Chamber to consider this issue. It is, for those who missed it, based on the ‘No School, No Pool’ policy which works, as I understand, with varying degrees of success in the bush. It seems to me from the minister’s statement that she is saying: ‘In relation to getting more indigenous kids to school, we will try this, we will try that’. I would like to know whether the minister for Education would be prepared to even consider a ‘No School, No Service’ policy? If not, why not? If she is prepared to consider it, then perhaps, she could outline what she sees as variations to it if it is of any interest to her.
We issued a media release on the day. We said it was very simple and based on ‘No School, No Pool’. We are trying to make it less attractive, and unappealing, for kids to be in the CBD during school hours. This operates in other places in the country. If school-age kids do not have a leave pass or a note, they are not served. What is the objective? Hanging around in town is not likely to be as attractive for them. At least that is the theory. If it works with even a little success in some places, I simply ask: is it not worth considering for us in the Northern Territory? I do not think it has been considered before; there may be reasons for that. However, is it something that the minister would consider?
In addition, around two to four months ago or thereabouts, the opposition asked maybe you minister, or someone else, why there had not been any prosecutions under the Education Act. That is an interesting question, and no one seems to really have a reasonable response. Certainly, very few people can recollect a prosecution. The clich ‘carrot and stick’ is one oft used by politicians on both sides of politics. However, for the want of a better one, there does need to be, in getting kids to school, some carrot and some stick. Why have there not been prosecutions? If it is the case that the government thinks that there should not be parents prosecuted under the Education Act, then should we, as a parliament, consider taking that provision out of the Education Act? The alternative is, if we, as parliamentarians, think that there should be prosecutions, then why are there not prosecutions? I would like the minister, to the extent that she is able, to comment on that matter.
I also note, with interest, that the minister is also Minister for Child Protection, although that may have a name change after 1 July and …
Ms Scrymgour: Still the same.
Ms CARNEY: Pardon? Still the same.
I looked on the government Intranet for the Care and Protection of Children Act, but it is not there. If memory serves me correctly, I reckon we passed that in August last year. As a side issue, it is April, and this seems to be taking a long time. I will let that dangle with the minister.
Therefore, we are left, right here, right now, with the existing provisions of the Community Welfare Act. I used to know some of these sections off by heart, but these days I do not. I think it is section 3 of the act that is current legislation in the Northern Territory. No, I refer the minister and members to section 4(3)(b):
(3) For the purposes of this Act, a child shall be taken to have suffered maltreatment where –
The question has to be asked - and we all need to be honest with ourselves: by kids not going to school, does it not follow that the parents who are not sending their kids to school are, in addition to contravening the Education Act, putting those kids at risk, given the current definition of the current child welfare legislation of the Northern Territory; that is, the Community Welfare Act? I believe the answer to that question is yes.
Since May last year, or since the Lateline interviews, there has been a fundamental shift in the way many Australians - ourselves in this Chamber included - talk about indigenous affairs. Having said that, regardless of what people think of the intervention - and I note that as per the letter written by the minister for Justice yesterday to the Senate committee which said ‘the government fully supports the intervention’ - it is fair to say that the intervention has allowed all of us to change our language.
There are many reasons for that, and I will not go into them. However, one of the effects of the intervention, in addition to many people changing their language, has been to see governments react in a fundamentally different way. That is best illustrated by the intervention itself. The intervention, obviously, is interventionist. I do not think it was going to be possible before the Lateline interview, and the consequences of that interview, to even discuss things like income management in mainstream Australia. All of us have moved on that issue. It is now, for the most part, accepted by both sides of politics - people on the left and the right, regardless of gender or race - that income management is a good thing - notwithstanding the obvious difficulties that are being experienced in Alice Springs with its implementation.
Why am I referring to intervention in this context? I do so for this reason. If we are seeing governments being more interventionist when it comes to indigenous affairs, should we, as parliament, and you, as government, be more interventionist in pursuing children who, under existing legislation, can only be described as children at risk, or children who are being abused? Is it not incumbent on government to intervene and take those children into care?
Before the Lateline interviews, it would only have been a brave, middle-of-the-road politician who would talk this language. Things have changed to such an extent that both sides of politics see that we need to go places which, perhaps, we have not been before. What has been happening has not been working, so let us keep trying other things.
Some cynics might say this is best left for dinner party conversations. I do not think it is. I would like to hear the minister in reply. Whether I am here or elsewhere, I can assure the minister that I will be listening because I am genuinely interested in this. In the context of this debate, I thought it was important to raise the matters I have. Madam Deputy Speaker, with those comments, I look forward to the minister’s response.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the important statement on transforming indigenous education delivered by my colleague, the Deputy Chief Minister. I have known my colleague for a number of years now. She is a very passionate advocate for all Territorians, whether they live in urban, rural or remote areas. She has a particular passion for her electorate and the indigenous people and the problems that they face in our wider community.
I will pick up on the member for Araluen’s comments about the mood change in Australia. I hope she is correct. I hope this mood change stays for a long period. It would have to break a cycle of 200 years when there have been other occasions - whether it was the right to vote, the recognition of Australian citizenship - periods in our history where indigenous disadvantage was brought to the fore. One thing I contend, though, is that members such as the member for Arafura, the former member for Arnhem, Hon Jack Ah Kit, the member for Macdonnell and I have, for the last seven years, been addressing issues of disadvantage and talking about the investment needed in these areas.
Like the member for Araluen, it is not really my intention to comment on the politics of what happened with the intervention. Its benefit is that it blew a whole range of indigenous issues wide open so that now people - white, black, green or purple - have come together and said enough is enough. Aboriginal people, whether in urban or remote areas, deserve the opportunity to have the same access to services as every Australian citizen.
What services do we take for granted? If you live in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or the rural areas of New South Wales or Victoria, you would expect the right to go to preschool, primary school and high school. It has only been under the leadership team with people like the member for Arafura who is now the Education minister. As she mentioned in her speech, there has been a change in the focus on trying to deliver secondary education to the bush. What we have seen is the further investment through Closing the Gap, and I will talk about that as we go on. Now it is about building partnerships with the federal government, and investing in our remote areas.
There is a country in this world that, in the last 15 years, has taken 400 million people from poverty, and been recognised by the United Nations for taking those people into working- to middle-class environments. That country is China. That decision was made in the early 1990s, when countries in Western Europe and the United States decided to invest in China. The Chinese people, of course, speak a different language, have a different political structure and, economically, they believe in communism, not capitalism. A major intervention occurred through Western European countries and North America - in particular, the United States - which invested trillions of dollars into a country that does not have the same political beliefs as they do, did not speak the same language, did not have the same culture, but achieved what we have now - which is the fastest growing economy recorded since the industrial revolution. That was through investment.
What we are seeing today is an investment into the education system which is one the areas you need to invest in, as well as housing, jobs, and creation of economic independence. We classify ourselves as a first world nation. If this can be done in a country such as China - where people do not speak our language or believe in our political system, yet, investment in this foreign country results in 400 million people coming out of poverty into working or middle class – then, surely, we can affect the 50 000 to 60 000 people who live in the remote areas of the Northern Territory. Per head of population, arguably, we are one of the richest countries in the world. This type of investment should have been happening for the last 50 years in these areas - not because these people are indigenous people or live in remote areas, but because they are recognised as Australian citizens. As Australian citizens, they should have the right to go to preschool, primary school and high school, have proper housing, and opportunities for employment and training, and so forth.
Many members in this House have been talking that way, including me. I will go back to the Parliamentary Record and quote a speech made by the former member for Arnhem, Jack Ah Kit. You will see this language has been used for seven years. However, now we are working in partnership with the Commonwealth where we can create even more advantage, we must remember this: there is still this unbelievable need for investment. We are just chipping at the tip of the iceberg. The formula will not be solved in one year, two years, three years or four years, because we will not be investing trillions of dollars. We will not even be investing billions of dollars. We will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars. In housing, for example - and the Housing Minister, no doubt over the next two or three years, has an important role of carrying that forward - has about $1bn extra to invest in remote areas, yet, the need is $2.4bn recognised by independent authorities.
Even in this country today, in 2008, we will not be addressing the total need for housing in remote areas. It is up to us, as members of this Assembly, the representative body of the Northern Territory, to work with the Kevin Rudd Labor government to make people understand that, yes, we appreciate this investment that is coming in with issues like the intervention and Closing the Gap. However, it is not because we are greedy, but we do need more. The only reason we need more is because Australian citizens are lacking the same opportunities as those who live in other parts of Australia.
The statement focuses the spotlight on one of the greatest challenges facing this government: overcoming the educational disadvantage suffered by indigenous children in the Northern Territory. All of us in this place recognise the value of education. Some of us, such as the members for Nhulunbuy, Blain and Braitling, were once members of the teaching profession. All of us have benefited to a greater or lesser degree from opportunities that became available through obtaining a decent education. We would all agree with the flip side; that the lack of a decent education is the No 1 barrier to lasting improvements in socioeconomic status. This is a fact in all societies throughout the world, no matter what background, religion, culture, race, or continent you live on. This is not just an indigenous problem in particular; this is a human problem.
It is also a fact that indigenous Australians remain severely disadvantaged in education attainment. The Deputy Chief Minister has outlined the long-term resources required - and we are talking both financial and human resources that are needed to tackle this issue. I do not think the Howard government ever understood the nature or extent of the financial and human resources required for its intervention. On the financial side, the Prime Minister thought a few million dollars would be sufficient. On the human side, the Howard government never understood that strategies imposed on indigenous Territorians from outside, without any consultation, would have little or no likelihood of success. That is why I have welcomed the establishment of the Community Partnership Education Boards; engaging indigenous people into education processes and empowering them with control over their own lives and development.
Meanwhile, we face the challenge of closing the gap in outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous Territorians. The tragedy is that the gap was ever allowed to get so wide. One of the most passionate speeches I have heard in this Assembly was delivered by my former colleague, Hon Mr Jack Ah Kit, on the subject of indigenous education. As we all know, Jack is an easygoing bloke, but that day he told how one issue always made him deeply angry - what he called the absolute callous neglect of the education of indigenous Territorians over 27 years of the CLP government. I remind members of what Jack said:
Another great Australian was the late Charles Perkins, the first indigenous man to receive a tertiary degree. He was born on a table at the Telegraph Station at Alice Springs. He was a descendent of the Arrernte people and devoted his life to fighting against racism and for equal rights. He was, and is, an inspiration to indigenous people throughout this country and, of course, one day, hopefully, will be an inspiration to all Australians. It was his struggle to gain an education that led him on the path of leadership. I will quote a few lines from his obituary published in The Australian on 19 October 2000:
Madam Deputy Speaker, Charles Perkins showed his people what could be achieved with the benefit of a mainstream education. As the Deputy Chief Minister said in her statement, the acquisition of knowledge is fundamental to indigenous culture and law. The tragedy for generations of indigenous people is that they were deliberately denied access to mainstream education.
As Minister for Sport and Recreation, I am keenly aware of the opportunities that sporting activities can provide in assisting the education of our young Territorians. Charlie Perkins got out the ghetto, so to speak, through his ability at soccer. The game took him to Adelaide and, later, to England, broadening the young man’s horizons.
Here in the Territory, we have the Clontarf Football Academies. I first heard of the Clontarf football programs in the first term of government that I was involved with as a member of this House. I travelled to Alice Springs and met with Gerard Neesham; went to the original site of Clontarf, spoke to individuals and heard their story and understood what the Clontarf football concept was about. I came back and spoke to the then Education minister, now Chief Minister. It took two or three years for the idea to be developed and brought on, and to be understood, but it came here. I will comment on some of those ideas now. It came into Alice Springs, and I am happy to see it coming to Darwin and Katherine and other regional areas because, as we know, one of the ways we can engage young people, particularly indigenous people, to enter school is through sport. The other way is through music and art. When we get them there, then we have an opportunity to educate them on many other issues.
This program is one-third funded each by the Territory government, the Commonwealth government and the private sector. It comes under the Education minister’s portfolio, but you will not be surprised that I am particularly interested in it. The Clontarf Football Academies are about engaging and supporting young indigenous boys in mainstream education. They do this by engaging with these boys through their love of Australian Rules Football.
Three Clontarf Football Academies started last year in Central Australia: at Alice Springs High School, ANZAC Hill High School and Yirara College. I know that the member for Stuart is very keen on the Clontarf program, and I hear great reports from him and the family that are involved with it.
I was very pleased to read the story in Monday’s NT News about the start-up of the Clontarf Academies in the Top End at Sanderson - where the member for Sanderson is much appreciative of this program, Palmerston and Katherine High Schools. That is 230 teenage boys who have an extra reason to stay on at school. Basically, we are talking about, in the last 200 years in this country, the most disadvantaged individuals, and the most likely to be incarcerated, uneducated, and to die at an early age. Indigenous young men are going to be given an opportunity to stay in school and be engaged in school. That is 230 teenage boys who have an extra reason to stay on at school. I wish them every success.
As an indigenous man who was born and raised in the Territory, I am only too aware of the issues surrounding indigenous education. We will, and can, make a difference. Sometimes this can only be done by stepping into new territory. As Charlie Perkins said: ‘If you only do what you know you can do, you never do very much’.
I congratulate the Deputy Chief Minister for her statement on Transforming Indigenous Education. I heard members talk about what they thought had engaged them and others in attending school. Of course, it is a strong family life. My testament to getting into mainstream education was the encouragement of my family to go to school, to get up in the morning to attend, to try to engage in reading and writing, etcetera. I had an opportunity to go to Matriculation. I worked for a while but, when I reached the age of 21 or 22, I realised if I wanted to build a career, I had to go to university and get a degree. I chose to get a degree in law and become a solicitor.
I went through the University of Western Australia. Like Charlie Perkins, this gave me an opportunity to open my horizons from what I knew in the Territory. Unfortunately, after two years of living down south with no money, in the cold, starving - I do not know if you have seen my physique, Madam Speaker, but I do not mind curried chicken and rice - I had to come home. I graduated from the then Northern Territory University, now Charles Darwin University. It gave me the ability to educate myself. Many people in this House, who have a secondary or at least a high school certificate, have an ability to keep learning. I believe we forget that, as we get older, we learn more and more.
Some might describe that as experience, some might describe it as wisdom. The reality is that, unless you know that you can keep learning, you do not do it. You have to be taught how to learn. You have to find a way to teach yourself. The other lesson my law degree gave me was the ability to think my arguments through. To think: ‘Okay, this is my argument, but what is their argument? Where are they coming from?’ I know we have a solicitor on the other side of the House. She takes a very adversarial role in trying to get her arguments across. My approach is trying to understand her argument. The better I understand it, the better I can address it. That is what my tertiary education taught me.
I am very proud to be part of this House from Labor’s first term with the former Chief Minister, the Clare Martin government and, now, the new Paul Henderson government, and how we have taken education through a number of different ministers including the member for Nhulunbuy, the current Chief Minister, and the present Education minister, because we all realise how education can make a difference.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I hope, as a government that we keep investing. We are getting small numbers of people graduating from matriculation in the bush. I think it was 10 the first time. The numbers might go up to 20, 30, 40, and 50. Imagine if we start getting 500 or 600 people graduating. Imagine how powerful that would be.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is interesting when people speak to a statement on education that they do not need to have notes; they draw on their own experiences. That is what we have heard in the House today. Many people have spoken about how education has affected them, how their lives have been shaped by the education they received, and how important it has been to them.
That is the message we should be getting out to the people who are not sending their kids to school. It is as simple as that: education is what makes you what you are when you grow up and, without education none of us would be who we are today. It is a very important theme. I am pleased that the minister has presented this statement, even though I suppose there are little parts that I am disappointed in. I believe that it is important that we all talk about education at this very crucial time because we are seeing too often too many kids not at school, particularly in the Centre. We are seeing results going downhill and, yet, we know in the past we achieved results. We know in the past kids did learn and when they grew up they became very successful in what they did.
Still, teaching is not easy. It is not a simple job. It is not one of those jobs that everyone would want to do. Yes, some children do not need to be taught because they have the ability to learn by themselves. However, for the majority of our students, they need guidance, the skills and methods to learn and, most of all, they want to learn. You take any child, no matter where they are, it is not natural to learn without some guidance.
I was fortunate to teach at a time when school was an accepted part of life. I notice that the minister used those particular words; that it is ‘part of your life’, and that is important. When I was a teacher students came to school willingly, happily, and with enthusiasm. Their parents were behind them all the way. I often think I taught in the best time ever. But times and attitudes have changed in both communities and in the attitudes of families.
I know in the early 1980s I had the privilege of being an early childhood adviser and I travelled to many remote schools in the Territory. There were good things going on in those schools. There were great schools, dedicated teachers, and happy kids really enjoying it.
I also say at the moment that everything is not doom and gloom out there. There are some communities doing so well that all they really need is to have that extra support, extra recognition, and feel that they are valued and that there is a future for their children. We do tend, sometimes, to talk about the negative side of education. Unfortunately, it can become easy to criticise education. As I said, it is not an easy task and, if you are not a good teacher, it certainly shows.
I hope the minister follows through on this particular paper because we have had a number of government papers and policies since 2001: A Framework of Partnership with Indigenous Territorians 2005; the Overarching Agreement on Indigenous Affairs between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Northern Territory; the Agenda for Action; in 2006 the 20-year Plan and, now in 2007, Closing the Gap. We get a little tired of motherhood statements. I would have liked to have seen a little more action.
The heading of this statement is ‘Transforming Indigenous Education’. Transforming can be a pretty airy-fairy word. Why not make it stronger? Why not make it talk about implementing indigenous education, or action for indigenous education? Let us not be all rhetoric without action. That is what the most important thing is.
The results of the past and the methods used seem to me, as the member for Nelson said, far more successful than many of the ones that we use today. I have to say that Gough Whitlam has a lot to answer for when he took away the stability and, perhaps, the paternalism of Aboriginal communities and introduced sit-down money. It is almost as though the people of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s had a better life than they have now. They had a better life in the fact that there was routine, security, and stability. But now, out in many of our communities, much of that has gone and many of the families are not quite sure where they are going.
You might get angry sometimes at what is happening, but you cannot help but empathise with them and ask where we went wrong because, certainly, we did go wrong. We seem to have taken away the attitude we all grew up with that education is compulsory. We had no choice. Remember the kids who came to school who were healthy and well fed? Nowadays, we need to say to schools that they need to provide a breakfast program. Schools are taking on not just the role of educators, but a social role as well. Is it any wonder we burn out our teachers? Is it any wonder they wonder where their priorities lie? Is it in actual teaching, or is it being a social worker? Is it being mother? Is it being all those things that we are not really paid for …
Mrs MILLER: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I bring to your attention the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Please continue.
Mrs BRAHAM: Madam Deputy Speaker, the word that I liked in this statement was when it referred to the ‘habit’ of attending. The habit was something we did as kids. It is a habit that has been ingrained within our society for a long time - the habit of going to school each day. Yet, that habit seems to have disappeared. This is what the minister is trying to say; that we need to get back to that habit of attending.
I get frustrated at the number of children on our streets who should be attending school. I have talked about truancy so many times and, yet, I do not see that it is improving at all. I am talking about truancy, not just for our town schools, because we have a very good system of liaison officers who follow-up any students who are enrolled and not attending that school, but truancy of those young children on our streets who are from remote communities. No one seems to be taking charge of them. No one seems to be saying: ‘Where are you from? Let us get you back to your community’.
I will mention one of the officers from DEET, and I am sure he will not mind. You all know Ken Davies. Ken Davies used to be the principal of a two-teacher school at Napperby years ago. Ken said: ‘When the kids were going into town, the parents would pop their head in the door of the school and say: “We are going to town for a few days, but we will be back”, so the principal always knew where his students were’. However, that communication with schools now is no longer there. Parents or kids go into town and the schools are not informed. That is where, quite often, they lose track of their students.
I came up with the suggestion a long time ago - and it is a brief one on my newsletter - about having notices in shop windows in town that say if school-aged children are in the store during school hours, the police will be called. It is an idea that came from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and it is also in the windows of shops in Port Augusta. It is not the same as what the CLP is advocating. In fact, I do not agree with the CLP’s suggestion of ‘No School, No Service’. I have talked to some of the business people out there and they have said: ‘No, it will cause confrontation. It will cause retaliation. We do not want to be the truancy officers for the Education department’. I can understand that. If you are in a small takeaway store and kids come in and you say: ‘We are not serving you because you should be at school’, these kids are cheeky …
Mrs Miller interjecting.
Mrs BRAHAM: No, they are cheeky and they will get back at you later on. That is why small business people I have talked to have said: ‘No, we do not want to be truancy officers’. However, there is a simple way …
Mrs Miller interjecting.
Mrs BRAHAM: You can have your say in a minute. There is a simple way that we can get around that. The act allows for authorised people. We have, in many of our major centres, security guards. We have Peppered Black, I think it is called in Alice Springs, who patrol Yeperenye. Why not take these security people and train them to be authorised people under the act? They would be able to, in fact, not just move on the people they need to move on, but also be able to refer to the department and get many of these kids off our streets, out of the shopping centres, and back into school. Obviously, the department does not have enough personnel to have these authorised people wandering the streets every day looking for these students. However, we all know those security guards are in our shopping centres. I know at North Side, quite often they are just standing there. Let us give them a role as well and, under the act, they can be an authorised person to act as a truancy officer. That is a suggestion, minister, you might like to take up.
I understand what the CLP is saying because in some small communities there is a policy. It used to be a policy, I think, at Ntaria, that when a student went into the shop during school time, they did not get served; they were told to go back to school. That is good but, in a big town like Alice Springs where we have so much bad behaviour, so many windows smashed and rocks thrown, and so much cheek given, I would not like to put that onus on the business people. I ask the CLP to consider my point of view without rejecting it completely.
Regarding attendance at many of our schools, it would be interesting to see what sort of attendance numbers you have at the moment, with the intervention and the fact that so many people are in town. I know Yipirinya is suffering. Their attendance is down. In a particular case like that, I think it is about bus services. The bussing to school in town centres and town camps has been an issue for a long time. I know it costs money to run these buses. I know government has a school bus run for the major centres and schools and, quite often going into a town camp to collect the children and, for the number of town camps we are talking about, you have to start your bus run very early. You have to start it before 7 am or 6.30 am and that, quite frankly, is why many of our young students on town camps just do not get on the bus - they are just not ready. Many of the schools are introducing the breakfast program, because the kids are getting there so early - I know Braitling does it - and they are coming empty without any breakfast. Perhaps, they need to know that is going to happen also.
I need to make a statement here and now about Braitling Primary School, because it is the only public school in Alice Springs that does not have a school bus run. I know government and the minister have been lobbied about that. Once upon a time, it had no bus run for the simple reason that it was a large school. When I was there, there were over 500 students, and you did not need any more students. Therefore, it was zoned exclusively just for that area. However, as times have changed and we have more private schools appearing in Alice Springs, the numbers have dropped. People who are living outside that zoned area who want their children to go to Braitling either have to bring them themselves, or send them to another school. I ask the minister to consider putting on a bus run to Braitling, the same as happens to all the other schools in town.
We are talking about public schools, but it is interesting that the growth of private schools in Alice Springs has been quite remarkable. For a small town of 26 000 people, we have four private schools, a couple of which are quite large. It is a reflection, perhaps, on the fact that many parents are voting with their feet and sending their kids to the private schools. It is a trend across Australia, and the federal government is offering more funding for private schools as well. I am a product of a private school, but I was a teacher in the public schools and, quite frankly, public schools offer as good an education as do the private schools. I will defend them completely.
Mr Stirling: Hear, hear!
Mrs BRAHAM: Thank you, member for Nhulunbuy. I knew you would agree with me on that.
One of the things I liked about the minister’s statement is her emphasis on early childhood. We all have children and know how important it is for our children at a very young age to start learning, listening to stories, and all those sorts of things that we tend to teach them. It is good that the statement said: ‘All four-year-olds will have 15 hours of preschool’. Well, please do it. The thing about this statement is that there is no time line. It does not say: ‘Okay, this is our plan first up. These are the schools we will do the programs in to start off’. What we need is not just this global statement of what the government wants to do, but to see a programmed plan of implementation. That is probably one of the most important things that is missing from this particular paper: the time frame of when the government and the minister wants to actually get these done. The ideas of the multi-agency family centres in remote communities, and about early childhood, is all good stuff. I would just like to see it happen.
I need to comment on the residential community hostels. There is a school outside Tennant Creek which had a couple of very good, new secondary teachers, and the secondary classes took off in that particular school - so much so that parents in Tennant Creek were sending their kids to this community to live so that they could go to that particular secondary school. One of the Aboriginal teachers, when I was talking about it, said to me: ‘What we really need is a hostel in this community. Then, we could cater for these kids out of Tennant Creek without them moving in with family. We could get them away from the town where they were getting into trouble and we could give them the opportunity to have this good secondary education’.
The idea of residential community school hostels is not a silly idea. It is something that should be followed through. I hope that the government has something or somewhere in mind for that to start. Not at a large community necessarily as it would work best in a small community. It will be interesting to see what happens.
In conclusion, let me say the success for the minister depends of many things, one of which is having committed and good teachers. Teachers who are trained well, and who feel their work is valued and wanted. Success will also depend on enthusiastic and healthy children, parents who are interested and supportive, and adequate resourcing. It does not have to be lavish resourcing, but it needs to be adequate and to be there. Most of all, success will depend on community support. The success of this statement will depend on the genuine commitment by government to actually implement what the minister said, in a time frame that does not take too long, and with the necessary resources.
The statement also needs the strong support of the department. The department officers need to get behind this minister and her statement and ensure that they make it work. Otherwise, it will not.
Madam Deputy Speaker, most of all, it depends on indigenous people such as the people in this parliament, standing up for their kids and their communities, taking responsibility and ensuring that their children attend school, and they are involved in this project.
Mr KNIGHT (Local Government): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Deputy Chief Minister and minister for Education’s statement. It is a statement which provides a new starting point. We have talked about indigenous education in this House several times. I believe this is a critical point, where we say: ‘We have to achieve something here and be very open and transparent and get all stakeholders involved’.
The situation which has developed out bush in the past has been fairly disastrous. The education level means that, in one of my communities, a group of only six young girls graduated in 2006. That was the first time ever secondary kids in this large indigenous community in the Northern Territory had graduated. Big changes are required out there. Having travelled quite a bit, there is just no connection, as the minister said, with the education system.
People are dealing with a whole range of other issues that they see as a priority. There are so many distractions in the communities as far as just surviving, that is what is happening most of the time - parents are just surviving. They grew up in that survival atmosphere. When you look back at their grandparents, you see they are the ones who achieved a level of education. They are the ones who came to regional schools or went through mission schools and have a level of education, featuring quite good read and writing. They are the ones who can speak very eloquently. The next generation, however, and their children currently in school, are very disconnected with the education system. It is seen as an option rather than a necessity in many communities, with the problem being the total distraction to other issues. This has been going on for quite some time.
The problem is that we have a significant issue with the numbers out in the bush, but we also have a huge backlog with infrastructure. We are not only dealing with trying to get an education for the kids in primary school and the secondary colleges out there, but their parents who have Year 1 education and they are role model as parents and are struggling to find their way to live their lives. It is a huge burden and something that has been going on for quite some time.
It is at a point where we must do something very radical now. I welcome the minister’s statement and her initiatives, but it is a landmark time to do something. Every single year, we may only have 20% or 30% attendance out bush, which means that 70% of the kids or more are not attending. They grow up with no education and find themselves in situations that they cannot handle, and resort to substance abuse, and fall into the trap of poverty. We have to take a strong step to resolve this.
Parents and carers have to play their role. They have to see education as the key for a better way of life. Every single problem that we are dealing with out bush really is about the lack of education. The health of a child is primarily dependant on the education levels of the mother. When you look at the health issues for young children, it can be directly related to education levels. In every sector - be it police, health or different areas - it comes back to education.
I must commend the teachers out bush; they do cop flack from time to time. I know many of the teachers out there and they work in very difficult circumstances. They are not just turning up to a class trying to teach children, they are dealing with a whole range of social issues with those children who actually do come, and also other issues in the community. It is a very difficult job. They do a great job in those circumstances. Understandably over time, with those situations in the bush teachers have been more attracted to the urban centres where there is, perhaps, more normality in teaching. It is a very difficult role that they play.
The education system we have in the Northern Territory is unique. We try very hard to get education right out there to some very small outstations with clusters of 10 to 20 kids. We try very hard to get education out there. However, when you are dealing with a bucket of money, you spread it very thin if you are trying to stretch it right across a whole jurisdiction like the Northern Territory. There has to be some negotiation, I believe, in the way service is delivered. We can try to attract more funding into this area, but there has to be a bit of give and take from both the parents and the children, but also from the government to provide funds. If we want to achieve the levels of education that we must achieve, there has to be a bit give and take, a bit of compromise.
Members spoke about kids not going to school and walking the streets, or just failing to attend. There is a whole range of real barriers that they face. From my own experience, I have seen kids who have been kept up all night by noise of cars spinning around their house, violence happening, or the fact that they just have nowhere to sleep. In an overcrowded house, they walk around all night and then go back to the house in the morning, and find a bed that somebody else has been sleeping in because there is just no room.
I had that situation in Timber Creek. The school bus pulled up in a community. Kids were making an education choice; they were not dumb kids, they were smart kids. They hopped on that bus and went to school. They had no money. There is a canteen at school. They were taking no food to school and they did not have any money to buy any food. They knew if they went to school they would starve all day. If they stayed at home, they could go around family and find something to eat. There are some real barriers that we have to overcome. We must get kids to school - that is the primary goal - but we have to sort out those barriers about why they are not going to school.
This package of reforms really is an opportunity that we cannot miss. I applaud the minister for having the courage and the commitment to show what the real situation is across the Northern Territory by publishing the school results on the Internet. Not only can you access it from anywhere in the Territory, you can access them from anywhere in the world to see what is happening in various communities and schools across the Northern Territory and monitor that. This minister shows a great deal of courage and openness. We do not totally own this problem; it has been a problem for governments in the Territory right back to Commonwealth times. It is something that we have to sort out together and be very open with.
I have some results from schools in my electorate. It just absolutely floored me. I was having a look at my results and next to me was a colleague from an urban electorate. In the bar graphs about numeracy, reading and writing, my electorate schools are around 20% down to 10%. You hardly see the actual bars. However, a colleague from an urban centre could see a lot of them nearly right up the top, nearly 100%. I am not saying there are not problems in the urban centres, but that is the stark difference. There is a huge difference between urban and the bush. It is something that we just cannot tolerate. In 2007, in Year 7 writing, 4% of the students in one school actually passed - achieved writing. That means 96% did not - 96% failed. It is horrendous and I applaud the minister for actually publishing those. It is something that we all can have a look at. We will all be judged regarding the change in those statistics.
Attendance has been a huge issue for me in my own electorate. Wadeye is a place which gets a bit of media attention from time to time. It can be related to the education levels. For the attendance and the education that has been delivered there, you would expect more problems. I will start with the enrolment levels. There are probably 1000 school-aged children in that community, of whom 500 to 600 actually bother to enrol. So, 50% or 60% actually enrol. Of that number, only about 20% of 60% actually go to school on a regular basis, which means there is a whole group of children year to year to year who are not attending school, getting no education, who grow up to become uneducated, angry teenagers. Many of the problems there - the violence and the disruption - is caused by these kids.
Their grandparents are the people who are trying to sort out a lot of the trouble there. They are the ones who went through mission schools, have an education and have opportunity. They have reading and writing skills, have confidence about that, and they can go into a workplace and actually achieve the work. Those young boys and girls have a lack of confidence because they cannot read and write. They feel ashamed, and they cannot take on those jobs which will lift them, to a degree, out of the poverty.
The minister referred to learning as being part of traditional culture, and it absolutely is. I believe we have allowed it to drift away. There are so many other issues that have been dealt with in communities. We have tried to patch those up, as you do, but the real antibiotic for this sore is education. We have to pour our resources into education, because that is going to fix this gaping wound within these communities. We can put a bandaid over it, and do all these things but, unless we take the antibiotic to actually fix this wound, it will never heal. Engaging with communities about education - they understand it is important. I believe it is a matter of us articulating that we are there to help, and to put it back on the table, front and centre, so it does become a habit so, as people grow up, they understand that it is normal to get up in the morning, have some breakfast, get on the school bus or walk to school, every single day, five days a week. It really has to be a habit within the community: no kids walking around, they are all at school, paying attention, and doing their bit about education and, when they leave school at the end of secondary, they move on to work or further studies.
There was a bit of talk about the rights of the child. The United Nations’ Rights of the Child clearly mentions the right of a child to have an education. That is not only government providing education, it is the parents getting the child into the school. There is a mutual obligation of parents and government to provide education for that child, because it is as good as giving yourself a vaccination. This is about the wellbeing of the child. The child might not understand it, but we, as adults, either in government or as a parent, understand that it is going to make that child’s life, as they grow older, so much better.
The community ownership and control is a vital part of this that you cannot take away. We have found through the intervention that if you take control and ownership away from any initiative going on out bush, you just will not succeed. It will fail every single time. If the community is on board, if they understand it, they see that it is beneficial for them, they will be the champions. The community ownership, understanding, and ability to control what goes on are key parts of making this succeed. Also, engaging with families and ensuring that they are part of the solution to this. There are a number of initiatives happening out bush, and I mentioned Wadeye. It is a great initiative, engaging with family groups and getting them to understand the benefits of school.
The pooling of resources is something that we are looking at, through the local government reform, on a regional basis. Again, this could happen with education as well. Using proven successes is another key - what works. Sometimes it may not work; but the principle will work.
There are leadership groups in those communities. They have been saying: ‘We have to do something about this’. Now, it is up to us to really listen to them, and take on what they want to do. Many of the initiatives they are coming up with are fairly confronting for the average person living in a city, whether it is in Darwin or down south. However, those people know the problems. They know what needs to be done, and they know what is going to work. We have to be brave enough to listen to them about the solutions. We have to be able to allow them to take a degree of control, and trust in the initiatives that they put forward because, ultimately, it is their families, their kids, that they are actually trying to achieve something for. If they believe something is going to work, well, we should allow them to do those things.
The minister also talked about how this goes into the future, beyond election cycles. The member for Nhulunbuy has often said privately, quite a lot - and it is mentioned in here - that when you get into this place, you hold the baton, you run as hard and as fast, and you hold that baton as high as you can, and then you pass it to the next person. That is what our role in here is: to grab this baton and run as hard and fast, and work as hard as possible to achieve the outcomes that we have stated and, then, be ready to hand over to the next person. However, we have to do it together.
If we as, a generation of politicians in this House, can look back in 10 years, 20 years time either as current members - which will be sad, if you are here in 20 years time – or as ex-politicians and see the education results, the attendance and achievement rates double or quadruple out bush, that would be a success. If that is something that happened in my time in parliament - great waterfront, great gas plant, great railway, and all things great – they would all pale into significance when you have that human, generational success out bush.
The setting up of the Community Partnership Education Boards is great. The Katherine West Health Board is something that I have had a bit to do with, in meeting the member for Arafura. The first time I ever met her was when she came out as a departmental officer setting up the Katherine West Health Board many years ago. I cannot even think how long ago it was – about 10 years ago. Those health boards were highly successful. They have used the communities. Much depends on the management and elected members. These are programs that we can build on and, obviously, the minister has taken that into consideration.
There is a whole range of initiatives that are absolutely vital. Those boards need to look at 100% enrolment and 100% attendance. We have to achieve it. Also, when we are getting kids moving from school to work, we have to look at mobility. It has been done in the past. Historically, many Aboriginal people went away for the Dry Season to work and came back to their homelands or communities with the money they had earned and lived off that for that Wet Season. We have to look at mobility in the workplace and capacity building. We have to start to build those communities up. There is a range of initiatives that are happening all around the Northern Territory.
I commend the minister for this. She has gone out very courageously and published this information. We will all be looking at it and using every part of this initiative in each one of our communities. I will be actively lobbying for the resources and coming back to the minister with initiatives from out bush. I will be engaging with my communities and saying this government is absolutely serious about improving education. People need to get on board and we need to solve this problem.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for her statement and I look forward to working with her to solve the education problems out bush.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the minister on motivating herself to putting the results that she has right now, which are not really good, on to the web, to use them as a benchmark. I see that as a fairly brave move. It also indicates her seriousness about wanting to make a difference. It is commendable of her to do that.
There is no doubt that absolutely every child deserves an education. The way education has not worked in our remote communities is a reflection on many things that have been tried over the years by successive governments, all with the best intentions but, unfortunately, not with the results that we would like to see.
You have some bold proposals in here. Some of those have been just glossed up a little from previous times but, obviously, as a package, you intend for them to work. You intend for them to work and I am not having a cheap shot at you; I am making a genuine comment here.
Education has changed so much over the years. Many years ago when I was at school, we did not have a lot of conveniences to get to school. We had to travel on grotty old, sandy roads on push bike if we were lucky, or sometimes we had to walk. Otherwise, Dad would have us on the back of the utility. We had about 15 km to go each way to a one-room school that had anywhere between 20 and 30 children in it who were doing from Years 1 to 7 with one teacher and no other assistance at all.
As children, it never ever crossed our minds to say we did not want to go to school. We wanted to go to school and were motivated by our parents. I certainly was because neither my mother nor father had a great education. I think Dad went to school for two-and-a-half years before he went back to the farm with the rest of his family. Mum went to school for about four years and writes quite well. Dad’s writing was a bit of a scrawl but we could understand it.
When I went to high school I was having a bit of a challenge with maths, Dad would say: ‘I will give you a hand, old girl‘, and he would do it in such a great long, unmethodical way. I would say: ‘I cannot present that because there is a method to the way we do our maths’. He used to argue with me and say: ‘It does not matter which way you do it, girl, as long as you get the answer’. He always got the answer. He was committed to ongoing learning his whole life.
Things have definitely changed, although one thing is the same. I went away to a co-ed boarding hostel in Port Lincoln for kids who lived on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. I can remember my first 12 months of being away was pretty challenging. Being a free-spirited person from a country town with Mum and Dad having 15 000 ha, I could run around pretty free and easy. I can relate to a lot of people who have come from a community where they had a lot of freedom and, all of a sudden, being confined into a small place.
Katherine has two accommodation hostels for people from remote communities to come to, and they are both run very well and are full. There is an opportunity for students to come in to Katherine High School, and it is really pleasing to see those who do board and attend the school.
With many of the issues that we talked about regarding why children do not go to school, I can also relate to some of those, because where I live in Katherine I am surrounded by children in houses. However, some of them do not have the best home life and there is a lot of violence and a drunken behaviour that goes on all hours of the night during the week. Unfortunately, in one situation, I have experienced several times a mother having to run from the house in the middle of the night with her children to try to escape from the terrible violence that was happening there, who was calling out to get the police. There have been many times, unfortunately, when I have had to do that. I used to look at those children and wonder how in the hell they were expected to go school the next day and learn. Well, it was impossible; I do not know how on earth they ever did because they had not had much sleep at all. Those are factors that we have to take into consideration.
We all know that the way out of poverty and these terrible situations is education and opportunity. When the Substance Abuse committee visited many of the communities, it became obvious to us that substance abuse was a very significant factor and one of the reasons why the children were not going to school. For the sake of the record, I am going to read what our findings were as far as education in the communities was concerned. This was handed down in our report last year. I quote from it:
That was one of our recommendations from the substance abuse report last year. The minister, from what I can read in here, has taken up some of those issues, and they should be addressed in the future. It is good to see that one of those recommendations from that report is being taken up.
Minister, it is going to be a long, hard road; there is no question about that. However, I have no doubt that you are sincerely committed to making a change for regional and, especially, remote community children. I certainly look forward with interest to you keeping up ongoing reports on the web and keeping that up-to-date so that people can see how it is progressing. Obviously, as things are progressing, if some part of it is not working out, you will, obviously, reassess it and put something else in place that will.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her statement. I would like to see some positive outcomes from it.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s statement, Transforming Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory. The heading speaks for itself: Transforming Indigenous Education. The minister has highlighted the cold, hard facts - and has spoken publicly, as has the Chief Minister - that we do have a crisis in education regarding what level of education our children are at in our remote regions.
Having said that, one of the most exciting things I find in regard to this particular statement is how there is a consistent pattern of continuity between our previous and current Education ministers in the challenge of overcoming the diverse differences of our children in the bush in what they learn, where they live, and the desire of needing to go to school.
Those are cold, hard facts and I have to begin with those, because they are facts that are now going to be released publicly on the website. That, in itself, is quite an extraordinary step for our government, so that every single person, not only in this House, but right across the Northern Territory, is going to be acutely aware of where we stand as people here in the Northern Territory, compared with each other and also in comparison with fellow Australians across the country in our education performance. That is not a bad thing; that is a very good thing. It is time for that sort of accountability and transparency to be so apparent that we have no excuses - no excuses whatsoever; not only as members of this Assembly, but also as parents, as family, as teachers, as members in a bureaucracy, and all those staff who work in education centres right across the Northern Territory. We now know that we have reached a particular point in the history of education in the Northern Territory that says we are turning the corner; that change is here, it is happening.
Let us have a look at the multilevel assessment program for 2007. I have to read through these because we need to highlight the appalling statistics here, and the comparisons of indigenous students to non-indigenous students. In Year 3 at reading level, provincial 85.7%; in remote areas, it is 71.8%, and in very remote areas it is 37.6%. I have 16 schools in the electorate of Arnhem and they are largely considered very remote. My schools would fall into these categories. For Year 5, in provincial - 85.1%; in remote - 77.9%; in very remote - 36.8%. These are, again, schools which are in my electorate. In Year 7 provincial - 83.7%; in remote 61.3%; in very remote 33.6% - again, schools in the Arnhem electorate.
So the numbers go on for numeracy and for writing. The figures for numeracy go up slightly in Year 3; they fall back down again in Year 5 and Year 7. For writing, in Year 3 - 28.3% for very remote areas. In Year 5 - 27.3% for very remote areas. In Year 7 - 27%. These in comparison with provincial schools in our towns and city - 80.9%.
We no longer can say we do not know what is going on in our communities. It is one thing for the teachers and parents in a community and, indeed, for the particular local member of those communities to be aware of the educational statistics; it is another to have those statistics so broadly expressed for every eye to see - for every single Territorian and every Australian to see. I commend the minister on such a courageous step.
I also commend the minister for taking the department and, indeed, the school system, on a new direction which, again, as I said in the beginning, has been a consistent pattern of our government with previous ministers, in particular the former minister for Education, the member for Nhulunbuy.
One of the other things that really interested me in the transformation of indigenous education in this statement is the welcome involvement of the Menzies School of Health in a formal evaluation process. We talked about the education plans and strategies, and what we would like to see. Indeed, we heard from each of the members here about their own personal experiences. This step of involving Menzies is an interesting one - certainly a very different one - where we are calling on an internationally-renowned research facility to walk in partnership with the Northern Territory government in the area of education now, as it already does in health, to oversee and monitor how we go. How are we going to go over the coming years and, indeed, decades, as we try to break through this enormous gap that has been there out of sheer neglect because our students were not given the opportunity to have the benefits of an education system that our students in our towns and in the Darwin city have had as a right of life?
I commend the minister for including Menzies, and I look forward to seeing how that partnership is going to evolve and grow. No doubt, with Menzies’ track record in health research in Aboriginal areas, they will not be shy in revealing how well or how badly we are going as a government in the steps that we want to see improved in our regions.
At Menzies, a newly developed Aboriginal unit has been established under the leadership of Bilawara Lee, a local Larrakia woman of great integrity. I am encouraged to know that Menzies and, indeed, people like Bilawara, will be watching and working very closely with our government in the evaluation process.
The Community Partnership Education Boards is another area that is quite exciting. To have two at this stage is very good. I am very conscious of having the issue of quality rather than quantity. It is important that we are not overloading ourselves with boards at this particular stage. It may happen down the track. I say to the minister and the staff of the department that having these two education boards in the two regions that have been announced will be good – in the Warlpiri and East Arnhem regions. By having the boards we can encourage decentralisation of power. It is about responsibility and accountability, where the groups of communities work under one governance structure. That is a very exciting concept for education. We have yet to really see the fruition of that work.
There have been small groups over the years, but this is an actual concentrated effort in line with the health models, for example, the Katherine West Health Board. We see the Sunrise Medical Health in the Katherine East region. They are important models that we can learn from, borrow what has proven productive and useful, and perhaps leave aside those things that have not been so good. This will allow us to embrace a model for the education system in these two boards that can actually see fundamental, real change on the ground in those communities that they represent. That is not to say that those communities that do not have a board are going to be any less better off. In fact, we need to be aware that, talking about quality, let us get the quality of these boards right, and then seek to expand and emulate these boards across the Northern Territory where appropriate.
The only suggestion I have in regard to the board is the naming of them. I notice we have called it the Community Partnership Education Board. I say to the minister and her staff that CPEB is perhaps a little too close to CDEP. What I suggest is that once these boards are established, they may wish to have their own names – very individual, reflective of their region, and may be in language. That will, obviously, be a decision by the members of the board. I encourage the minister to ensure that members have the opportunity to properly own boards so they feel from the very beginning that it does reflect the diversity of their communities.
I heard here today discussion on regional residential hostels. That is an area we have yet to explore thoroughly. If we look at the non-government schools, say, for example, Marrara Christian College, they have 15 group homes in Darwin. In those homes, they take on 10 children from Top End communities. They have what is called house-parent home-style living. It is not a boarding school; it is a boarding house, but in a family environment. With the many children that our family have cared for over the past 10 years, we have been able to see our children go through these homes. When we talk about residential hostels with a family-type atmosphere, these group homes are an outstanding, solid example. I believe they can be appraised and emulated in our communities. Once these two boards are set up, they will, no doubt, have a look at the residential hostels themselves.
What about those communities that do not have boards? They will certainly want to be looking at the hostels for themselves. I know that there are communities in my electorate that talk about that quite a lot. We are all aware of the difficulties that children have in leaving home to go to a boarding school, or just to leave their community to attend a nearby school. They suffer from feelings of homesickness, alienation, and trying to adjust to something different. These are not unique feelings. It does not matter whether you are Aboriginal; we all have those feelings. I am sure people can speak of their own experiences if they have had to leave home to live at school.
To know that the federal government, together with the Northern Territory government, is seriously looking at residential hostels in our communities is an exciting thought. The federal government’s offer of $44m over four years gives scope to people across the Northern Territory who are keen to see hostels or boarding-type situations in their communities. They now can think about whether this is an opportunity for their community. This an opportunity for their community to establish a school system where they can keep their kids there; where they can have the option of being surrounded safely with a bed, sporting recreation facilities, and the knowledge that they are safe. They go to bed at night feeling safe.
I also notice that it has been an issue in the national press with regard to Galarrwuy Yunupingu and his calls for boarding schools. We have, perhaps, come full circle in some sense because we know that we can actually have a look at these issues now. The difference at looking at those issues now is not because, as some might think, we are reverting to the past. The difference is that we can actually have a look at these things from the vantage point of choice. We now have a choice. As Aboriginal people in Australia today, we have a choice like our fellow Australians to think about the kind of future we want, not only for ourselves but for our children, unlike the policies of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s where children were taken away. There was no choice. Let us not forget that if we are going to have a discussion and debate about boarding schools, homes or missionary styles, let us not get lost in the debate and think that we are reverting to the past.
The difference is choice. We can now, as equal Australians, stand at the table and say: ‘These are the things and decisions we want to make based on who we are now and how we are respected within Australian society now with equal rights’. We can stand up now for our children and say, ‘This is a good thing for our child’, or ‘This is not a good thing for our child’ whereas, in the past, we have had no choice. Those decisions were made for and on our behalf without any consultation or discussion.
I urge members in future discussions on this area - and there will be - that that is the most important point in all of this: the issue of choice. As parents, the same as any parents across the country, we want to be able to choose what is best for our children. I believe that that is an exciting area, minister, in transforming indigenous education. It is another area of indigenous education that is going to be quite exciting to talk about. Some parents who will love it and there will be some parents who will hate it, but hey, they have a choice and that will be a good thing.
The thing that comes through with all of this for me now, in particular, is that I gave examples in the three years that I have been in parliament of having to go out to the 16 schools continuously, to see how staff and students are going. For example, in places like Ngukurr we have had huge problems with many children and not enough desks, chairs or classrooms. In fact, Ngukurr school was using the library and the computer room as a full-time classroom. Also, there are places like Bulman where the staffroom was used as a secondary classroom because there were just no more classrooms available.
I can say how absolutely wonderful it feels to go to Ngukurr now and to see that they have four new classrooms that our kids can be fitted in, seated in, quite adequately. We still need more classrooms, but I can tell you it is fantastic. The feeling in the school with the teachers and the students was something I have not seen. I know it was because there was this great sense of change; something was happening. Those classrooms are because of the Closing the Gap monies. That is the reason why those classrooms are there. Two of those classrooms have come from Beswick.
Beswick is another fantastic story, thanks to our former Chief Minister and our former Education minister who pushed hard to ensure that the children of Beswick did not go through another Wet Season of flooding where their school, year after year without fail - and sometimes it was almost three times a year in that particular Wet Season – and not only would the flood go through the school, but there would be sewage as well. It would take literally weeks to clean the carpets. Who would dare go in there? Not to mention the houses of the teachers.
In the next couple of weeks - I believe it is happening in May - we are going to be seeing the official opening of a school costing approximately $2m at Beswick, housing all the students. It is one of the most heartening structures. When I go out there, I think, yes, this is a government that believes in all of our children right across the Northern Territory. That change is happening - it is happening right now. You can go into those classrooms to see the change, to feel it, to see the smiles on the children’s faces, knowing that the big hurdle of just the physical structure has been jumped; that now we get down to business. Now we get down to the reading levels, the numeracy levels, the writing levels …
Mr HAMPTON: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the member receive an extension of time to complete her remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms McCARTHY: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Now that we have the structure in place, and have this beaut new school, the real challenge is to ensure that it actually works for the benefit of the kids there. We have to ensure, now that we have a great new school, that we do not just sit back and relax and think that the job is done. Now the job really begins. Now it is about ensuring that our teachers are adequately provided for, that there are houses for our staff, and houses also for the indigenous staff who have worked long and hard in these communities and want to be appreciated and valued for the contribution they make to the future of their children.
Now is the time to really ensure we improve our statistics. I do not want to see 37.6% in reading for kids in Arnhem. I do not want to see 36.8% or 33.6%. I want to see 80%, 85.1% - hell, I want to see 100%.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for this statement to the House. I send this particular message to the staff of the Northern Territory Education department and teachers right across the Northern Territory: change is happening, it is happening right now; go with us on this.
Mr HAMPTON (Stuart): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s statement, Transforming Indigenous Education. Since self-government, the report card on indigenous education is not a good one for all parliamentarians. The issue and the statement that we have heard today and the contribution from other members is above politics. While the report card to date is not good, there is certainly room for improvement. This statement goes a long way in improving that and, hopefully, one day we can all stand up and say: ‘Let us give ourselves an A or an A+ on the report card for indigenous education’.
I also congratulate the minister on her honesty, frankness and preparedness to put these statistics on the public record, not only in parliament, but on the department’s website. That is a great first step in us being honest and frank about this issue and improving on that report card. Regarding her pervious life in the health sector, her experience and her knowledge is still well respected in my electorate, in communities such as Yarralin, Pigeon Hole, Kalkarindji and Lajamanu, in particular, for putting the health sector in the hands of community control. Your work in that area is certainly still well recognised. The first principle that the minister announced today in relation to putting education in community control, along with strong working relationships with the government and department, will also go a long way in the future years in terms of recognition.
On that, the two levels of the seven principles that the minister announced are the two that I would like to mention early in my contribution. Principle one that will guide this transformation - and I put it on public record again - is that of community ownership and control to increase respect for value and support of services. The other one is the last one; that is, new models of delivery will operate within accountability frameworks and the service level agreements that include quality assurance measures. We see in a lot of public policy, particularly regarding the intervention, those two principles still missing. One is putting some of those measures in the hands of the community in dealing with such a huge change. The other is we, as government and as politicians, can make these announcements of policy decisions but, unless there is some sort of formal agreement in what we are trying to do with the community, then we hold ourselves in a position that may lack a bit of accountability on both ends, and we do not know what our relationship with each other is. In the emergency response, the intervention, those two measures, in particular, are still missing. It is good to see in the transformation of education that those two principles are fair and squarely in there.
As previous speakers have said, this statement on transforming indigenous education is very timely, given the changes to indigenous affairs over the last 10 months. We have had the new focus by COAG since the new federal government has come in, with that overarching agreement and various other agreements over the past 12 months at least. I believe this statement today on how we are going to transform education for indigenous people is very timely, and picks up and builds on those other announcements and those other policy issues.
Also, the important aspects that impact on indigenous education are health and housing, particularly for the children. We talk about many barriers, but one of the biggest barriers we have in education and improving those levels of achievement that we are hearing about is health. I have always strongly advocated that one of the positive and strong points of the intervention has been the child health checks. To date, during Phase 1 of the health checks, 1195 children have had these health checks done throughout the Northern Territory by Australian government volunteer health teams. With Phase 2 of these health checks, it includes completion of child health checks and follow-up treatment of problems identified through the checks. Something like 1800 children in Central Australia have had health checks completed. I understand the team is currently going through my electorate at Ti Tree, Kings Canyon and permanent outstations currently to undertake Phase 2.
A few weeks ago, we saw some of the follow-up treatment, which is vitally important as well, with children from remote communities coming to the hospital in Alice Springs and undergoing operations or further treatment for hearing and eye problems. For this statement, that particular aspect of the intervention is very important. It plays an important role when we talk about improving attendance and enrolment in our schools and, in particular, those seven principles of transformation that the minister has mentioned.
Regarding housing, we have had the recent housing announcement, and the joint announcement by both levels of government, the Territory and Commonwealth. Once again, we heard in the House today the impact overcrowded housing has on indigenous attendance and enrolments through our schools, in the bush particularly, and also in the urban areas, such as Alice Springs and the town camps. This statement by the minister is very timely regarding those two important areas of health and housing that impact on education. It is going to coordinate very well with those two important announcements and policy shifts.
There is no doubt that, over the coming year and into the future, any Education minister is going to have a fair number of challenges, despite this statement. Education, particularly indigenous education, is such a huge challenge for this government to take forward. I wish the minister well. No doubt, there are changes and issues within the Education Act that will need to be looked at. With the intervention, we know about the positives and negatives we have talked about, particularly those such as health. There are also the issues of CDEP and transferring the Aboriginal assistant teachers over into full-time employment. Those discussions of CDEP and getting assistant teachers into real jobs would also be another challenge in the future.
The member for Millner - and I think the member for Braitling as well as a couple of other members - touched on the fact that, during the history of self-government in the Northern Territory in this parliament, we have had something like nine indigenous members. That is a great achievement in itself. It does reflect on each one of us in terms of our education, where we have come from, and our family backgrounds. Many of those nine indigenous members have come from remote communities and have not had to lose their culture and their language. They can balance both worlds here in parliament, as well as back home in their communities, whether they are participating in ceremonies or just community life.
The minister said, on the one hand, the system of education in the Territory has produced individual student performances which are amongst the best in the nation, yet, there are other students who have fallen through gaps and struggle. The same can be said of indigenous people themselves. We have the high achievers, such as those who have reached the high point of being a member of parliament but, then there are the kids out bush or in town today, who are really struggling to be able to read and write and to leave schools with a good standard of education. That is just another comparison to add to what the minister was saying in her statement.
We are seeing the domino effect in our communities throughout the Territory. The minister said that we cannot shrink from the effort of finding solutions. However, we are seeing the results of a set of bad report cards of this parliament on indigenous education with the high incarceration rates amongst indigenous people in the Territory, as well as the poor health statistics that we see and hear about all the time. One of the issues that I am continuously raising is that of indigenous men. Obviously, being an indigenous male myself, I often see a lot of my brothers and relations who are suffering because they have fallen through the gap in our education system. I know the Congress men’s health unit in Alice Springs is seeing close to 200 to 300 men a week, whether they are there just looking for support or help, or just to have a shower or to wash their clothes. There is a big gap and I truly hope that this transformation in indigenous education goes a long way in addressing that gap that exists for indigenous men in the Territory.
One of the programs that has had a positive effect on increasing male enrolments and attendance in our schools is the Clontarf Football Academy. The member for Millner talked about that. I know, through my own personal experience of my two boys participating in the Clontarf Football Academy at ANZAC High and at Centralian College, it is certainly delivering some very worthwhile early outcomes for indigenous men in the education system. One particular case in point is Yirara College, where retention rates were up last year around 80%, which is what we want to see and achieve. Sometimes, we have to think outside the square, and programs like the Clontarf Football Academy are doing exactly that and we have seen some good early results.
I acknowledge the work that that particular academy is doing and also acknowledge this government for taking on that particular program. It was something that was outside the box. We knew of the successes it was having in Western Australia. To take that program on did take some courage, and I acknowledge the former Chief Minister for that. I attended the first opening of the program in Alice Springs about a year-and-a-half ago. It is those sorts of programs that we need to look at. The member for Nelson said we need to keep it basic but our community has changed from the 1930s, 1970s and even the late 1990s. Darwin has changed. Members who grew up here can tell you that. I can certainly tell you that Alice Springs has changed. Young people today are looking for and needing different things to get them involved. I believe the Clontarf Football Academy deserves an early pat on the back and, particularly, all those indigenous men who are working in it.
The other side of the scene to it is that it is engaging many indigenous men into the education system, which has been missing for many years. Many men I know in Alice Springs are now part of the Clontarf Football Academy teaching staff, and that is great to see because they are the role models that young indigenous men in school need.
The member for Nelson mentioned me and what I had achieved in education. I suppose my inspiration is my grandparents - I talked about them in my first speech to parliament - Tim and Sarah Hampton. They had 11 sons and in the early days, in the 1930s, I suppose the luxury of what we are talking about nowadays of school facilities, programs and resources were not there. They travelled around the Territory in the 1930s to get the best education and employment opportunities for their 11 sons. That meant moving from Roper River Mission to Groote Eylandt, into Darwin and into places like Hatches Creek, Barrow Creek and then, finally, on to Alice Springs. It even meant sending some of their sons away, I suppose during the Stolen Generations era. There were many Aboriginal parents back then who sent their kids away - we are talking about the 1930s and1940s - to get a better education in places like Adelaide or in New South Wales.
That is my inspiration: people back then took on those challenges despite the geographical, economical and social challenges that they had. It puts our challenges into insignificance really because we do have many more resources and the money now to try to meet the challenges that we have. I suppose it is a different challenge, but my inspiration in getting a good education and ensuring my sons get a good education were my grandparents. I look back in that time in the history of the Northern Territory and the challenges we have now are nowhere near as hard as they had with 11 sons in remote places like Roper River, Groote Eylandt, Hatches Creek, and Barrow Creek. Sending your kids away in the 1930s to get a good education provided a really strong role model and inspiration for me.
For me, growing up at The Gap, I attended Traeger Park Primary School and that was a public education school in the 1970s. Obviously, the government at the time made a decision to close that school, but it was a school where many Aboriginal kids who grew up in Alice Springs, particularly down The Gap area, gained a very valuable education. It was a shame to see that school close down in the mid-1980s. Traeger Park was a very important first stage of my education life. It was a school that even many white kids from low socioeconomic families attended. Many of those families still live in Alice Springs today. It crossed racial barriers and it was a school that was there for all Alice Springs’ residents. To see that public school close down was a real shame.
In those days, we started to see family structures change, in Alice Springs particularly. We started to see movement of many of the community people into Alice Springs - this was in the mid-1970s. We talk about migration from communities into Alice today, but it has been going on since the 1970s, and it is just the result of the political policies of the time. For me, obviously, moving to Adelaide with my father in the late 1970s, attending some public schools in Adelaide and, then, going on to Emmanuel College, a private boarding school, was probably the second most important step in my education life.
At the time, we were fortunate there was Austudy and it actually covered a lot of the school fees for parents of indigenous kids who wanted to go that next step. I spent five years at Emmanuel College boarding school, and had tutors who helped me reach a very good level of education. There were programs such as Austudy - and I do not know whether they are still around - which had a boarding allowance component in it which allowed many parents, to send their children, particularly some from Central Australia. The Williams family from Hermannsburg went to Emmanuel College, along with the Lechleitners and McCormacks. Austudy opened the door for many Aboriginal children from Central Australia. It kept me in Emmanuel College for five years, where I completed Year 12.
Then I went on to adult education. The Institute for Aboriginal Development enabled me to complete an Associate Diploma externally through partnership with the South Australian University. There are opportunities that exist through good, strong community organisations and training providers like IAD. They also play a valuable part in filling the gap for some of those kids who do get through. I suppose that was the third step in my education history.
Traeger Park, Emmanuel College and IAD all played important roles in my education and getting me to where I am, as well as the inspiration of my grandparents and the challenges they went through in their life.
For my sons, I suppose that has rubbed off on me; it is a generational thing. What your parents …
Dr BURNS: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the member be granted 10 minutes extra time to conclude his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HAMPTON: I will not be much longer. In my personal life, that certainly is the influences for me. As I said, we have different challenges.
I will just go back to the minister’s statement. I mention the other five new major projects that the minister has announced, in particular the Community Partnership Education Boards. I am particularly excited and overwhelmed that one of the two sites for proposed boards is going to be the Warlpiri triangle or the Warlpiri Patu Kurlangu Jaru region of Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Nyirripi, and Willowra. It is well deserved; it has been around for a long time – they have worked. It has been a community-driven education region.
I feel for those people like Jeannie Egan, Thomas Rice, Nancy Oldfield, Barbara Martin, Enid Gallagher, Maisie Kitson from Willowra and Pauline Gallagher and Fiona Gibson from Nyirripi, who, for a long time, have worked tirelessly, and often with little reward in remuneration or thanks by the wider community, for the work they have done. I feel really overwhelmed that this is one of the two sites that have been recommended. It is certainly well deserved, and I look forward to working closely with the minister and the department in ensuring that it is a success.
I have talked about for residential college for a long time. Regarding a business case, there were strong arguments for that to happen. Their long association with the mining industry in that region puts them in good stead, and their decision, some time ago, to set up the Warlpiri Education Training Trust, also put in a stronger argument for their business case. One of the ideas I have had is to start to run a Clontarf Football Academy based in this college. That would go a long way to improving attendance and enrolments, particularly for indigenous men in the region. They are just some ideas that I will talk to the minister about. In terms of that project, I feel very overwhelmed about it and I am looking forward to that becoming a success, which I am sure it will be.
Another announcement is the $2m for the Utopia homelands. Another challenge in the future is the outstations in the Northern Territory. We have some 600 outstations. I know we are working on an outstations policy. A big part of that policy framework should be based around education. Places like Utopia are getting some really good results in education outcomes. I know the school and clinic. I went there a couple of months ago to see the new classroom. While it may be a small building the reaction and flow-on effects to the rest of the community are bigger than any building can be. That has taken a long time. I thank the minister for the new classroom at Utopia, and the announcement that $2m will go into that region to set up a middle schools program as well, which is very welcomed.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the minister on her honesty and her courage. As I said, the report card of this parliament on indigenous education is not good since self-government, but this is a very good step forward. I hope all members of this parliament put politics aside, and let us make some really big improvements into the future.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend and support the Education minister, the Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, on the very brave statement she made today. I commend her for not just thinking about Aboriginal education, but for thinking about all Territory children. This is not about making the lives of indigenous kids better; it is about making all children’s education better in the whole of the Territory. We govern for the whole of the Territory. The minister’s statement quite clearly states that, in true partnership with the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory governments, our aims and aspirations are to improve the educational quality of all kids in the whole of the Territory. They are our future.
I also commend the minister for Education, and all of my colleagues in Cabinet, because without the support of Cabinet, no doubt, the minister would not have succeeded in her policy. I thank the Chief Minister, the Treasurer, and all the ministers - the Ministers for Health, Primary Industry, and Local Government - for putting your beliefs and support behind the minister for Education. It is the belief that you have in your Territory children that has made this statement possible. I commend you again, minister.
In my contribution, I will talk about the fact that governments can only do so much. As indigenous politicians in this House, it is up to us to talk to our communities and tell our communities and the parents of these children that they have to take education very seriously. It is the failure of our community leaders and of parents that has created the results that the members for Arnhem and Stuart, the minister, the Treasurer and everybody else who has contributed to this statement has spoken about. It is the failure of parents to force their children to go to school. There are no ethics inside the family structure any more.
I will just go back to my childhood. I did not live in a government provided $300 000, $400 000 or $500 000 house with a toilet, shower and three bedrooms. I went to school every day from a humpy, and I loved going to school. I remember every morning we would go to school in what was called our camp clothes, and we would have school uniforms waiting for us at school. We would have a shower and put on our school uniforms and enjoy the six hours contact that we had with our teachers. That was a time for us to have something that we did not have outside the school yard; that was, the love and attention that the teachers gave us. I believe they still give our children that love and attention today.
To reflect on my past, it was a time for me to live inside a book that my teachers read. If they read any books inside the classroom, I would imagine that I was the character inside that book, and that helped me to escape from the things outside the classroom and in the community. If you look at my community’s history in the early 1970s, Papunya was a very violent community. School allowed me to escape to something much nicer.
I take this opportunity to congratulate this government; this is a really revolutionary statement. It is a revolution in the history of Territory education, not just indigenous education. We have to ensure that we focus on all our children because, whether an urban school is getting 71% or 65%, we need to increase those numbers to 90%. There are bad results in all areas and we need to increase them.
As Territorians we are responsible for ensuring that we look after the future generations of our children. We, as politicians and parents, should go into our communities and encourage our community leaders and the parents of these children to take education seriously and ensure they send their children to school five days a week, unless those children are sick. I see in the statement that, in all this, we are going to be looking after our teachers. As the minister’s statement says, they are our foot soldiers. They are the backbone behind all our children. Inside every single classroom we have, whether it is at Docker River, Kintore, Milingimbi, or in Karama, they are the backbone of our children’s education. For six hours a day, these people are committed to our children. We probably have the children as parents and grandparents for four, five hours a day before we send them to bed. I take my hat off to all our Territory teachers, all over the Northern Territory, and commend them for all the love and compassion they give to our children.
It is really important that we must have a strategy to send a message to all the parents in remote Aboriginal communities to take education seriously. They cannot load their children up in cars and take them to a sports weekend across to Yuendumu without going to school on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. That is a clear indication that those children are only getting three days a week, if not two days a week, education inside a classroom. During the winter in Central Australia, this will happen every week. You will probably get some children who will go to school five days a week whose parents are really not interested in following the sports weekends around. However, you will get the majority of the children whose results quite clearly show in that statement, who will travel around with parents to every sports weekend in every community, and maybe, go to school twice if not three times a week.
We have a duty of care, an obligation as politicians, as parents, as local members of our communities, to ensure that we send this message to those communities loud and clear. Governments can only do so much. You have a responsibility to your child to send your child to school, to ensure that your child is educated so that that child can have a future, and to ensure that that child is healthy. If we cannot do that, then collectively, along with the parents, we fail the future generations of Territorians as well.
It is not about whether the minister, together with her colleagues, will implement this. I believe the minister and this government is very brave to take the steps in confronting what we have seen and heard about for many decades. It is a failure of all of us, not just the previous government and previous ministers who have been in this House, because, as parents and leaders before we became politicians, we were out in communities and we knew these appalling results.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for being so brave. I also commend this Labor government for being so brave and moving forward to ensure that there is a revolution in the future of our Territory kids.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all members who have responded to my statement on indigenous education, Transforming Indigenous Education.
I welcome the generally bipartisan responses to my statement. As the member for Blain said, he looks forward to a robust debate. All of us must not be shy to have that robust debate and not get touchy when we tend to point fingers in this place, and say: ‘You were to blame’. We have to move beyond that. I often said regarding child protection and those areas I had with Family and Community Services, that there are issues that are too important. When it comes to our kids, we have to get beyond our bickering, how we might feel in our partisan CLP versus ALP. We have to get beyond it. It is about our children, their future, and having the robust debate.
Everybody tonight contributed to that statement. It does not have all of the solutions in it. I did not say I was presenting in a statement that was going to be the panacea or the solution to what we know has been an eroding problem for a long time. Yes, we are in the right climate; it is time to bite the bullet. It is time to say to our communities, enough is enough, we cannot continue doing this. I remember about eight years ago, prior to coming into parliament actually, talking about parents neglecting to give their child access to an education is a form of child abuse. I was shouted down and I criticised and told: ‘You are wrong, that is not true’. Well, in my books, I am sorry, the way I was brought up, if parents failed to give their child access to an education, I believe it was a form of child abuse – they were neglecting that child’s right to an education. All of the contributions of members in this House today reflected that.
We have come a long way. The days of political correctness - I was listening to the member for Araluen when she spoke. We need to call a spade a spade and have a look at these issues and address them. For all of us who represent the bush communities, it is not about standing here as an Aboriginal person as the only one who can talk about Aboriginal education. That is not true. I think all of us agree; it is not about whether you are black or white, it is about what is right. It is about restorative justice. It is about doing what is right.
I, and many of my colleagues including the former minister, enjoy listening to members opposite such as the member for Braitling, because every time she speaks about education, it is genuine. It is about bringing the knowledge, experience and skill that she had before she came into politics, as a former principal and teacher. Sometimes, she treats us like former students in class, but that is not a bad thing. I enjoyed her contribution. Listening to some of it, we might not necessarily always agree, but I respect her view and I will certainly take on board her contribution to the debate.
The member for Blain was talking about personal responsibility. The Community Partnership Education Boards will decentralise some of that. It will put the responsibility and accountability back into those communities. We have commenced some of that work with the Remote Partnership Agreement, but this is going beyond that where a group of communities can work under one governance structure to manage delivery of quality education and training, as well as social and emotional support services to their children.
The member for Blain also talked about having qualified teachers in every classroom. Well, we do have very qualified teachers. Like all members who spoke, I take my hat off to those teachers because they are out there doing the hard slog. We all know that. I have gone out, like all members who get out to their electorates, go into their schools, and watch teachers teaching our little ones - whether it is in an urban setting or a remote setting. In a remote setting, I often feel sorry for our young teachers out there. When you have grown up on the eastern seaboard and then you are brought up here. I have met so many of them who had rose-tinted glasses; they wanted to fix the whole world. They do it with all the right intentions. They want to make those inroads. They want to do the best job that they can with our kids. Then, the reality sets in and they become disillusioned and hardened. Some of them walk away, but some of them will stay and they will continue working in that system to try to make those changes.
We do have valued, qualified teachers. The Growing Our Own strategy is looking at the sustainability into the future of education, where we have to get serious about looking at our Aboriginal Teacher Assistants, our tutors, and about putting the resources and the support behind those teachers, getting them upskilled so that they can work with our children in communities. We will always have teachers coming and going out of communities but, at some stage, we have to have our own teachers in the classrooms teaching our kids with the same level of qualification as a non-indigenous teacher.
People might think that that is ambitious, but I do not think so. I believe that is an important part of the strategy. It is about getting our Aboriginal teachers skilled. People thought it was ambitious with Aboriginal Health Workers. Well, guess what? You go into any remote community, any remote clinic, and an essential part in that clinic is that multidisciplinary person, an Aboriginal Health Worker. If you can skill those people to the right level, anything is possible and we can turn that around. We need to get our indigenous people trained as teachers to work in our remote communities.
The member for Blain also talked about the curriculum. He has mentioned it a couple of times. Just recently, there was the MCEETYA - Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Training and Youth Affairs - meeting in Melbourne. One of the agenda items supported by all the state governments and the Australian government was the development of a national curriculum. Everybody supported it, everyone voted on it. We will now move towards a national curriculum. The work has started on this. The chair who has been conducting the review over the last 12 months, Dr Barry McGaw, said English, Mathematics, Geography and Science will be the first subjects to be developed that will be put nationally across Australia. So, in the near future, all Australian teachers will be planning teaching programs from the same curriculum, with the same standard.
Furthermore, the national testing will be happening for the first time in May this year. Every Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 student will be tested. As I said in my statement, I have directed the department to put the attendance and MAP results on the website. From the testing in May, we will have the results much earlier than we have had in previous years. I think it is August when all of those results of the testing that happens in May for this year, will be ready; whereas, previously, we would wait until the end of the year. It would not be until the next year that we got the results. The target of publishing those results is the need to have a clear and transparent understanding of these figures. This information needs to become a permanent feature of disclosure in the future. It is the kind of disclosure we all require if we are to measure our progress.
The member for Araluen - I thank her - was saying she basically supports the framework of that 100% attendance. I welcome that. I do not believe there was any disagreement that there needs to be a carrot and stick approach to ensure our kids are going to school every day, and I have touched on some of that. I have been on record to say that, if kids are being neglected or harmed, it is mandatory to report and whatever is required should occur, because it is the law. She talked of - and a couple of the other speakers talked about – the authorised person. I think the member for Braitling also talked about it. I looked at the Education Act in my office. When I said I was studying the Education Act, I think there was a bit of a shudder from my staff, when I was pulling down acts and having a look at it.
I was looking at that part on compulsory education and the mechanisms under the Education Act. There are mechanisms; it says it there. However, the mechanisms to actually implement them are not there. If we can look at how parts of that system and that mechanism work under the VSA, which has been reviewed, then we might be able to translate it with that. Nothing is off the table. They are things that we will work through and, I believe, should happen, if we talk about how education is compulsory and every child should be attending.
Member for Braitling, I agree that teaching can be a difficult profession, and I take my hat off, as I said to our hard-working, committed teachers. Since being minister for Education, and even before I was elected to parliament, I have had the opportunity to visit the many schools in most members’ electorates at different times. In looking at those schools, talking to the teaching staff, sitting down with our little ones, but also taking note of the environment in which those kids are growing up, I saw that we are expecting them to learn, with wonderful programs of accelerated literacy being taught. I have witnessed that and it is a fantastic initiative and should be expanded. You talked about the fines and the lack of attendance or truant officers. As I said, there are some mechanisms and we can look at some of that and address it.
Our Fit for Learning project will work with local agencies such as FACS, Safe Families, Aboriginal Medical Services, Allied Health Services and Youth Services in order to provide timely and appropriate services for our students as required. We will be having a look at the Education Act to see how we can make it a bit more contemporary to pick up some of those areas.
I thank the member for Karama for her contribution. She spoke of the importance of the pathways from Year 12 to training through to employment in the Territory. She talked about the 24 000 students enrolled in VET courses and how we have to keep these programs strong. She also spoke about indigenous education not being a bush issue - and she is absolutely right; there are significant numbers of indigenous students in our urban schools. The member for Karama has significant numbers in the schools in her electorate.
The strategy, Fit for Learning, is very important, and this strategy will provide services and support for our town camp and town-based indigenous kids, which goes some way to getting some of these students ready to attend mainstream classes.
The member for Millner talked about his electorate very passionately, and of other areas. He also talked about Charles Perkins, a hero of mine. There are many things that he achieved that I have a lot of admiration for.
I thank the member for Brennan for his contribution. He talked about the Clontarf Football Academy getting results in Alice Springs, with the attendance being 80% and all the Year 9 Clontarf boys moving on to Year 10. He also talked of the retention of students through to Year 12, which is very important. Both he and the member for Nelson raised the issue of, whilst we have Clontarf for our young men, we certainly need to look at our young women - and I recognise that there is certainly a gap there. Both the members for Nelson and Brennan raised that. It is something we need to look at. There is a program in Central Australia for young women and it is working. We need to look at the Top End because there is a bit of a gap there.
The member for Arnhem, as always, is very passionate – she talks from the heart. I thank her for her support and will certainly take on board her suggestions about the name of the board. I like her idea of the boards coming up with an appropriate name rather than the acronyms. I believe that is important.
Having Dr Jonathon Carapetis and the Menzies team involved from the start in a formal evaluation process is very important for all of this. Whilst there has been much research - and the reading I have done since having the Education portfolio has been interesting, with all the research I have had a look at - the research that has actually gone back to the communities has almost been zero. That is what is needed. When you look at that research, all of it is anecdotal; none of it is real evidence. Part of bringing Menzies in from the start to put in place an evaluation framework is so that we can begin gathering the real evidence in relation to indigenous education. I am quite excited that Jonathon Carapetis and his team are going to take up the offer to do that. I am sure that all members of this parliament will agree that they have done some fantastic work.
I thank the member for Stuart for his contribution. Part of this transforming education will be with the Warlpiri trial. It is exciting; we can build on what is happening there. He talked about the outstation policy and, yes, I can say education is central to that because, unless we get that right, we are never going to get anywhere.
I thank the member for Macdonnell. She is absolutely right. We do have to get our parents to take more of a responsibility for getting kids to school. Many members spoke of rights and opportunities, and this is what it is all about. Our indigenous students have a right to a quality education just like every child. Our government will provide the opportunity.
The kids in this lift-out - and I do not know how many members of this parliament saw this lift-out, but do you want to know what the stark reality is? You look at those little kids in this photo. These are the kids whose results we are going to be looking at in two years’ time. These are the little ones in some of our remote communities, but also our urban and regional centres. They are the ones whose MAP test results we will be looking at in four years’ time, when they are tested as part of our commitment to Closing the Gap. That is why it is urgent. It is for these little ones in this lift-out that we have to turn it around. These kids will be literate. All parents want this for their children.
The member for Macdonnell was talking about what I will speak of before I finish. I grew up in a house with 11 siblings - eight sisters and three brothers. Both of my parents had access to very basic education. Both of them did it very tough growing up. My father was a member of the Stolen Generations, and I have talked about that a number of times in this parliament, and also my mother. It was not until recently that we found a piece of paper which showed that, if there had not been an intervention of some sort, my mother would have grown up in Victoria, unbeknownst to members of her family. She was removed from the Tiwi Islands, sent to Victoria and then, when she was in Victoria, she was diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease. The Victorians panicked so they sent her back to the Territory. She came back, so it was a miracle intervention.
She was strong in her identity as a Tiwi and strong in her cultural obligations. My father had his problems and, up until his death, he was a chronic alcoholic. When I stand in this Chamber and ask who I owe or give credit to for being in the position that I am in, it is both of my parents - my mother before her premature death and my father - who were both very strict and strong disciplinarians when it came to going to school. With my father there was never anything black or white, it was: you had to go to school. It was him who instilled the value of schooling and that, if you did not go to school and learn, you could not get an education and you would not have been able to have become what you are.
Being a mother, when I can get Sundays off I pick up my granddaughter. I am very lucky being a grandmother of five. When I pick up my eldest granddaughter, we buy a book which is her reward for the week when she has been very good in school. What brings home the stark reality is my granddaughter, all of eight years old, is able to sit down and read a book. I can translate that by sitting down with any child in my electorate and, with the same book, they are not able to read at the same level as my eight-year-old granddaughter who has access to the same education in Nightcliff. We do have to turn a number of things around and to get our parents to send their kids to school.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all members who have contributed to this statement. There is much hard work ahead. I am not saying that we are going to fix this overnight. There is never any magic wand to this. If we had the magic wand, we would all wave it and hope that it goes away. I thank every member sincerely. There is a lot of work ahead.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Ms LAWRIE (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, yesterday, I reported to the House on my travel to China, the focus of which was my Tourism portfolio. Today, I report on my trip to Singapore where the focus was my portfolio of Asian Relations and Business.
During this visit, I spoke with several key economic and business players. My first appointment was with the Jurong Town Corporation - the JTC Corporation - which operates the Jurong Industrial Estate which contains 3200 ha of development. The JTC is a government body operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It consists of a board made up of private industry and government representatives. Like everything else in Singapore, this is a phenomenal outcome of careful planning, massive government investment, and a determination to provide a strong economic future for the nation - planned from the 1960s.
What overwhelms you about Singapore is its long-term view. This industrial estate was planned in the 1960s, with a board in place charged with the responsibility to put into place manufacturing, research and development programs, and infrastructure aimed at attracting the industries of the future. Today, the JTC contains refineries, petrochemical industries, and is leading the world in biomedical technology research, having set into place a biopolis for researches.
I am grateful to Mr Heah Soon Poh, Director of Specialised Park Development, for his briefing session and time. One of the sister boards of the Jurong Town Corporation is the Economic Development Board. In fact, it was through this board Lew Kwan Yu first began the momentous task of planning the future of Singapore. This board was the original one and has now evolved into many separate boards and quasi government authorities. The Economic Development Board and its subsidiary, Economic Investments, have collectively planned and guided Singapore’s development.
I am grateful to Mr Tan Choon Shian, who is responsible for Economic Development Board’s global operations, and Ms Lynette Tan, Centre Director for Asia Pacific, for their briefing. I was particularly impressed with the fact that the advisory board is made up of people who are from the private sector and contains a number of people who are not even from Singapore. I also met one of those people, Mr David Ross, the Vice President of FedEx. He is a strong advocate of the EDB model. He is also a strong advocate of Darwin, having travelled here. He is very optimistic about our future and has factored our development into his company plan.
I met the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Miles Kupa. Miles and I have met on numerous occasions and it was good to catch up with this most effective Australian representative. I also caught up with Penny Burtt, Deputy High Commissioner, and Maureen Lam, Austrade Senior Commissioner. The support of the High Commission, including the Defence staff, for my visit was greatly appreciated.
On Thursday afternoon, I travelled to the Boat Asia Exhibition. Members interested in boats would have been in heaven at that show. The growth of the super yacht and yachting industry is phenomenal. The Northern Territory and Western Australia joined forces and hosted an exhibition. My department made a small financial contribution to the stand, and Mr Jeff Norton from my department did a great job supporting the guys at the stand. My thanks go to Mr Jeff Dunn of Darwin Shipstores for his work, and also Tony Thiele from Pearl Marine Engineering. They did a great job selling the Territory, and I am grateful for their effort. It is people like Tony who help build and grow business so effectively in the Territory.
I met Mr Hermann Ho, the Director of Boat Asia, and had a wonderful opportunity discussing with him the issues around marinas. He introduced me to Mr Tony Siddique who is responsible for designing the Keppell Marina. I can only urge honourable members to have a look at it one day if they go to Singapore. It is developing some unique architectural buildings. Mr Siddique was interested in what I had to say about Darwin and, hopefully, we will get him over here to have a look.
Perhaps the highlight of my trip to Singapore was my participation in the Anzac Day dawn service at Kranji War Memorial and the honour of representing the Territory and the Darwin Sub-branch of the RSL alongside young Joshua Bowling. World War II had a direct impact on the Territory and its people, and I was proud to honour the memory of those who served and the many who fell during the defence of Australia. I suggested I stay in Singapore for the dawn service rather than flying to Darwin, as it was impossible to be in time for the Darwin Anzac dawn service. It was suggested that we take to Singapore a young person who had a connection with the events of that nation.
Joshua Bowling is the great-grandson of the late George Reid, a World War II veteran who was a prisoner of war at the Changi camp in Singapore. Mr Reid also served on the notorious Burma Railway. Joshua’s grandparents, Kevin and Karen Jurek accompanied him to Singapore and together, he and I laid a wreath at the dawn service.
Karen Jurek is George Reid’s daughter. Mr Reid died only last year at the age of 86. I learned directly from Karen of the bravery of her father and the many others who protected this nation and the principles of democracy and freedom. I was very impressed with Joshua. He is a sensible, mature and intelligent young man. The future of the Territory bodes well if Joshua is an example of our young Territorians.
Also at the dawn service, I was very pleased to meet up with Lance Corporal Cedric John from Borroloola and NORFORCE. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Adam Goodall from Alice Springs. Lance Corporal John played the didgeridoo at the dawn service and, in the half light of the humid Singaporean morning, it was haunting and beautiful. I also met up with representatives of 3 RAR from Robertson Barracks who were doing an overseas rotation at Butterworth, Malaysia, and who formed the honour guard at the Kranji service. The Territory can be very proud of our military representatives.
I was very impressed with the number of Territorians and other Australians who attended this service. Together with Joshua and the Jureks, I was privileged to be taken to the Kranji War Memorial and, later, made a tour of the Changi Museum and Chapel. I am grateful to the Director of the Changi Museum and Kranji War Memorial, Jeyathurai A and Assistant Curator, Mr Razeen Chan. Jeyathurai and I discussed the possibility of closer collaboration between our two museums, a matter I will take up with my colleague, the Deputy Chief Minister. I will assist in whatever way I can for this to occur.
I am also grateful for the efforts of Mr Jeff Norton from DBERD and Mr Brendan Doran from DCM for putting this together and making it happen smoothly on the ground in Singapore.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I also congratulate four Power and Water apprentices on receiving Group Training Northern Territory Awards for Darwin-based apprentices and trainees.
The training awards were held recently at SKYCITY. The Power and Water Corporation apprentices who received awards were: Luke Garrett, Outstanding Apprentice Stage 1; Richard Baldock, Outstanding Apprentice Stage 2; Jason Holland, Indigenous Apprentice of the Year; and Brendan Killalea, Runner Up, Apprentice of the Year. Jason is a cable joiner and the other three are line workers. All are undertaking, or have completed, Certificate III in Electrical Supply Industry Distribution.
To be considered for an award, nominees have to demonstrate a high quality of performance on the job, including commitment to safe work practices, completion of on- and off-the-job training, excellent personal qualities, and have identified their future career goals.
Luke Garrett is currently undertaking his second trade as he is already a qualified refrigeration mechanic. Richard Baldock was the NECA Electrical Apprentice of the Year last year at the Territory Construction Awards, and Jason Holland completed four years of theory in just 18 months.
Apprenticeships are not just for young people straight out of school. Brendan Killalea was a mature-age apprentice who also completed a Frontline Management Course while completing his apprenticeship.
In March, Power and Water Corporation’s Alice Springs apprentice linesman, Robert Cheslett, was announced as the Outstanding Apprentice Stage 2 in the southern region awards. The Katherine awards will be announced tonight, with Power and Water apprentice Ben Howard nominated for Outstanding Apprentice Stage 2, and Power and Water nominated as Host Employer of the Year.
With a nationwide skill shortage facing organisations, Power and Water believes investing in skilled staff is critical to providing current and future essential services for Territorians. To this end, Power and Water has employed 12 new apprentices this year, bringing the total to 16 to the southern region and 45 in the Top End.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, congratulations to all the apprentices and to Power and Water for investing in our apprentices.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I have pleasure in placing on the Parliamentary Record a bit of history about a wonderful lady in Katherine whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for 18 years. This lovely lady, Merle Wright, is 82 years young and was the Katherine Citizen of the Year in 2007. Merle is described as being 82 years young because youth is what this lady has in energy, attitude and enthusiasm, generally found in a person much younger than herself.
Merle was born in Alberton, South Australia, the eldest of four children. She went to school at Largs Bay and Port Adelaide Primary Schools and Port Adelaide Girls Technical School. Merle left school at 13 years of age during the Depression and worked at the Lions Food Factory on North Terrace, Adelaide in the test kitchen, where her pay was 7/6d per week. At that time, it cost 5d per week on the bus, so Merle rode her bike to work for five years to save the money. I do not know the exact distance she rode her bike, but it was a long way from Alberton into the city - many miles in those days.
Merle met her husband, Campbell Wright, at a Cheer-up Hut behind the Adelaide Railway Station. After they married, Merle and Campbell moved to Bridgewater in the Adelaide hills before returning to Alberton, where their first son, John, was born.
Campbell served in World War II and, when he returned home, he applied for what was known then as Soldier’s Settlement Land. There were three locations around South Australia and Merle, Campbell, and John were allocated land at Kangaroo Island along with 30 other soldier settlers. They and their sister-in-law were the seventh and eighth families to be located. They lived in second-hand huts in long rows for three years waiting for their land location, which was 1306 acres when they were finally able to move into their cottage. The land had to be cleared first.
Campbell had suffered injuries during the war and was in and out of the Repatriation Hospital in Daw Park, Adelaide continuously. Merle and Campbell’s other three sons, Colin, Greg and Mitchell, were born on Kangaroo Island. Merle said they were poor but they had a great life fishing, camping and playing sport, and were never hungry.
Campbell died of his war injuries when he was only 52 years of age. It took three years for Merle to get the War Widow’s Pension and, during that time, she and the boys moved into Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, where Merle worked in the hardware store. Eventually, the family moved back to Adelaide.
Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin in 1974, and that changed the Wright family’s movements. John had already moved to Katherine to work prior to the cyclone. Colin was in Western Australia and Mitchell in Adelaide, along with Greg. Greg was offered work rebuilding Darwin and, when he had completed the months of rebuilding in Darwin, he visited his brother, John, in Katherine before returning to Adelaide. It was not long before Merle and Greg were on the dirt road heading for Katherine, joining brother, John, and his family. Greg was involved in building around Katherine where he met Peter Semrau and they formed a partnership, Semrite Constructions. In 1990, I became their office manager and worked for these great guys for several years until I moved into the tourism industry. This is also, of course, where I first met Merle, who is affectionately known by all people around Katherine as Nanna Merle.
Merle now lives on Gorge Road in a lovely cottage on Greg’s property. She is deeply involved in the community with seniors, Red Cross trolley at the hospital, St Vincent’s op shop, Rotary, hospital visits, Rocky Ridge Care, and was first President of the Lioness Club - not to mention being highly in demand as a house sitter. Her wonderful sense of fun and adventure keeps her on the go; for example: wearing clothing the colours of the house team that her grandchildren play sport for, decorating her red Suzuki as a Christmas tree for the car rally, wearing a tattoo of the Australian flag on her cheek for Australia Day ceremony - and the list goes on and on.
Merle has a wonderful attitude to life. Recently, she had a hip replacement in Darwin hospital, and I have to say that it still has not slowed her down very much at all. She now has 11 grandchildren and two great-granddaughters and her highest priority is her family, despite all the other commitments that she has.
It was wonderful to see Merle acknowledged as the Senior Citizen of the Year for Katherine in 2007. It is thoroughly deserved for all the voluntary work that she does so willingly and with so much enthusiasm. Nothing is ever too much trouble to be involved in for Nanna Merle, especially if it is helping someone disadvantaged. Well done, Merle. Keep up the energy, drive and enthusiasm; you put a lot of younger people to shame.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 2 April this year, one of my constituents, Jean Vickery, celebrated the 60th anniversary of her arrival in Darwin. Jean remembers that day clearly. It had taken two days to fly to Darwin from Perth, and Jean and her husband arrived in what she described as a dreadful storm and the rain continued for 10 days straight.
Darwin in 1948 is still vivid in Jean’s memory. She said it looked as though the bombing six years earlier had just taken place: bombed houses, the Post Office destroyed, and sunken ships in the harbour. Housing was Sydney Williams huts, and Jean and her husband lived in such a hut between Mitchell and Smith Streets.
The Darwin community was full of young people, none with much money, but there was a lively social life. Jean, as a dressmaker, was kept busy producing dresses on her Singer treadle machine, usually from pictures taken from newspapers or magazines. Jean told me that the sewing machine was a gift from the Army to help get back into business when she left the Defence Forces in 1946.
Four years after arriving here, the Vickery family bought land at Parap which, in the early 1950s, was way out of town and part of the Vestey’s estate. Jean still lives on that land today where an elevated house was built, part of which is there today. Cyclone Tracy took a big swipe at the Vickery house and the upstairs blew away while the family huddled in the bathroom. The downstairs was rebuilt, a rebuilding that took two years while the family lived in a caravan and built beneath the floorboards - cypress ones that live on in the roof now. Jean says those floorboards keep her lovely house wonderfully cool.
Jean loves her house, which today, has all the 21st century amenities, none of which she had in the 1950s, as she was raising her three children, Cathy, Kerry and Gary. Jean remembers those days with much affection, although there were no fans, no flywire, no fridge, a tiny, little stove and, of course, the much-heralded flaming fury.
It was a great delight to sit with Jean over afternoon tea and hear her recollections of not only those years, but the decades following. Jean has played a significant role in so many community organisations and activities, as well as working for our public sector for 22 years in a variety of areas, some of which took her into Arnhem Land on a regular basis in the early 1960s.
Jean was a foundation and active member of the Darwin Bowls Club. Then the green was actually black, made of rubber, but she remembers it worked well. She also remembers the restrictions on women bowlers. Dresses had to be mid-calf length, stockings had to be worn, and those requirements were carefully policed. One of the committee would emerge with a tape measure from time to time and check on the dresses.
Golf was another sport that Jean was actively involved in. The Darwin Golf Club was established in 1957 at East Point, with the clubhouse near to where the toilet block is now at Fannie Bay beach. It began with nine holes, extended to 18, and Jean says it was a great course - certainly a very special place for a game of golf. Jean still laments the decision to move the course from East Point to Marrara, and I must say I agree.
Another activity that Jean was keenly involved in was the Darwin Garden Club set up by one of her neighbours in Parap, May Fitzpatrick. Jean says that in the 1950s Darwin people did not talk about being in the tropics, the plants of the town were crotons and aralias, and there was barely a palm in sight, except at Government House. The garden club set about planting trees in Darwin, sometimes in conjunction with the Darwin City Council. Sadly, most of the trees the club planted were knocked down in Tracy. The garden club is no longer, but Jean has taken her passion for gardening to her own garden, which is a delight, and to advocating for a greener and better planned Darwin.
She describes herself as being a problem for a lot of people, whether that is the government, the council or the local member, but I strongly disagree. Jean is a fighter and puts her energy into making her suburb and her city a more attractive place to live. Whether it is a local park and its maintenance, or the appropriateness of a proposed development, Jean’s voice will be strong and coherent. She has been a member of the Parap Residents’ Association since its start. Add to that membership of the National Trust and the Fannie Bay History and Heritage Society, and it is so clear that Jean, even in her 80s, is still making a difference.
I cannot leave this tribute to Jean without mentioning bridge. She loves bridge. She plays regularly and does so with much energy and, for someone in her mid-80s, a lot of success.
As Jean’s local member and friend, I thank her for her contribution to Darwin over 60 years. Her life here in Darwin embodies much of the history of this city. We would most certainly be a lesser place today without her contribution.
I know a pretty extraordinary long-time Territorian Fannie Bay constituent, Mary Joyce, who, rather like Jean, achieved a very special milestone recently. Mary Joyce turned 90. Mary was born in England. As a young woman, she joined the British Army as part of the Women’s Voluntary Service and left England aboard a ship carrying 6000 men and only 20 women, bound for Burma, where she undertook troop welfare work with Indian troops. From Burma, she was transferred to Japan, where she met Brian, her husband, who was in Japan with the Australian Army. Mary and Brian were married in Yokohama, Japan, in December 1947 and have enjoyed 60 wonderful years of marriage. After leaving Japan and living in Sydney, Mt Isa, Townsville and Adelaide, Mary and the family moved to Darwin in December 1978, and she and Brian have been here ever since.
Mary is a very talented artist and, after arriving in Darwin, completed her degree of Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) at the university which was then known as the Darwin Community College. Her work has been displayed in numerous art exhibitions over the years in venues such as the Darwin Art Gallery and Museum, 24 HR Art, and her own art exhibition at the Lindsay Street Gallery.
Today, Mary remains active in the community and is a member of 24 HR Art, the Wood Street Gallery and the Fannie Bay History and Heritage Society. She is often nicknamed ‘Auntie’ or ‘Queen’.
Mary and Brian flew to Townsville for her 90th birthday and, to celebrate, Mary’s daughter, Susan, hosted a birthday party. Mary’s three children, Susan, John and Robert, and their partners were there to celebrate, as were Mary’s four grandchildren, Renee, Bree, Alice Mary and Christopher George. Many of Mary’s long-time friends from Townsville were also there to celebrate her special day.
Happy birthday to Mary Joyce; 90 is a wonderful effort. Here’s to many more birthdays!
I also talk this evening about a small but committed group of Darwin people, the Friends of the Gardens Road Cemetery. The friends have been around for 18 months now, and their mission is to work with the Darwin City Council and government to maintain and restore a most important and significant part of Darwin’s history. I do not know how many members have actually walked through the Gardens Road Cemetery or know its story, but it is well worth taking the time to do so.
The cemetery was gazetted in April 1919 and took over as the burial place for Top End people from the Palmerston Cemetery in Goyder Road. There was a very good reason for the change. The Palmerston Cemetery began its operation in 1873. Many people from Darwin were buried in the site. However, the site is rock and digging graves was difficult and costly. As the Administrator, Dr Gilruth, wrote in 1918: ‘In the Wet Season each open grave is simply a tank full of water’, which meant that if you had a burial in the Wet Season, you actually had to put holes in the bottom of the coffin so it would sink and you could carry out the burial. It was no wonder that the Gardens Road took over from the Palmerston Cemetery on the hill and, for 51 years, it was where hundreds of people were buried and their stories were told on the sometimes very brief inscriptions on their headstones.
A walk through the Gardens Road Cemetery is fascinating because it is a walk through our history. Strolling past the headstones, you walk past the grave sites of Japanese, Malay and Filipino pearl divers, men who died so far from home; and of some of the Territory’s pioneers: Chinese merchant Chin Toy; Daly River settlers Charles Dargie and James Fleming; and the simple grave of policeman Constable McColl who was buried there in 1934 in one of the largest funerals ever seen in Darwin. Especially poignant are the graves of the many babies and young children who died way before their time, alongside the headstones of people with family names that are well known today: Kailis, Ah Mat, Chin, Cubillo, Nudl and Paspalis. Australian servicemen were buried there, as were their United States counterparts, although the American servicemen were exhumed after the war and returned to the States.
Records for just who is buried at the Gardens Road Cemetery were not well kept and, although there are some 240 graves recorded there, many more are known to have been interred on the site. Working through the records, researchers have established that over the 51 years of its operation, some 848 adults and 83 children were actually buried there.
A walk through the cemetery will also demonstrate quite quickly that many of the graves need extensive repair: headstones fallen, concrete cracked, vegetation taking over, even a bush turkey mound growing by the months. There is a conservation and management plan for the cemetery done nine years ago by heritage consultant, Bob Alford. His recommendations are still relevant today, and the Friends are keen to get going on them. They cover conservation, interpretation and management.
There is a remarkable amount of goodwill towards the Friends from both council and government, and an enthusiasm to work with them. Michael Nilon is the convenor of the group, and he has brought together a diverse group of mostly Darwin people who share his interest in protecting a unique place of remembrance and history in our city. A first and most important task for the protection of the cemetery is a fence around it, as was done with the Palmerston Cemetery and the Darwin Cemetery in McMillans Road. Darwin City Council has taken on this task and the Friends are looking forward to a positive response from our new council on that proposal.
I chose to speak about the Friends tonight because I am delighted, as local member, that they have taken up the cause of the cemetery. I certainly look forward to their next meeting and, particularly, their first working day at the cemetery.
Anzac Day services were held in most Top End schools last Thursday, and I acknowledge all staff and students who participated in the services I attended last Thursday at Stuart Park and Parap Primary Schools. Stuart Park Primary held a very moving service, introduced by Principal, Bernie Bree, who explained to students the importance of Anzac Day and their role during the service.
Students P J Hassing, Jessica Bowling, Joseph White and Chelsea Moyd recited Ted Egan’s Greater Love Than This, and Aircraftwoman Cindy Baines from the 321 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron then delivered her address to the children about the values of the Anzacs.
Many students brought flowers with them to school and, each grade, assisted by School Captains Caterina Savvas, Samantha Piper, Arran Barker and Isaac Hinchliffe placed their flowers underneath the Australian flag. The colour and variety of flowers was just beautiful – one of the many advantages of living in a tropical environment.
I also recognise Raz de Jongh and the Stuart Park Primary School Choir for their beautiful performance of Lest We Forget; Millie Cummings for delivering The Ode of Remembrance; and bugler, Brian Manning, for playing The Last Post and Reveille. The service concluded with everyone proudly singing the National Anthem.
Parap Primary School and Principal, Mick Myers, also held a moving service that began with Leta Smith and Richard Smith entering the assembly area playing the bagpipes and side drum, followed closely by those students involved in the order of service. The MCs for the service, Jo Guthridge and Adam Phelps, introduced the service, and Tahnee Cvirn spoke about the significance of Anzac Day. Dayna Bonson and Ray Ronganni gave an explanation of the symbol of remembrance, the poppy, and Clarinta Gardiner and Sam Adam told the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, who became known as ‘the man with the donkey’ at Gallipoli. Well done to you all. I also recognise Alex Rafferty and India Cavanagh who laid the wreath, Grace Bruxner for delivering the Ode of Remembrance, the Parap School Choir for their performance of Lest We Forget, and bugler, Jo Clark, for playing the Last Post and Reveille. After two verses of the National Anthem, everyone took their seats for a tribute written by Kemal Atatrk, the first President of the Republic of Turkey and spoken by Lachlan Hatty and Ray Ronganni. The conclusion of the ceremony was delivered by Adam Phelps. After Adam’s conclusion, the wreath and poppies were laid by the school’s memorial stone to the poignant sound of the bagpipes.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate both schools for their efforts in organising the commemorative services, and to all students who participated - you did a wonderful job and should be very proud. I wish both primary schools all the best for the remainder of the 2008 year.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme and, in particular, its effect on those living in Central Australia in the electorate of Greatorex. I recognise the Minister for Health for at least attempting to address some of the issues that have been raised many times before and, in particular those concerns brought to my attention since I have been the shadow spokesperson for Health.
Some of those concerns have been earmarked for improvement by the minister in the upcoming 2008-09 Health budget, such as the rate of assistance from $33 through to $35 which is a step in the right direction. This is still not enough if a patient is forced to seek commercial accommodation, which they quite often do due to the lack of beds available in supportive accommodation. It does not go very far.
Another area that the minister thought he should address after much public scrutiny was the issue of a taxi fare to help with airport transfers. I think it was $40, not a lot of money when you consider the amount of travel some patients are required to do, particularly when they find themselves on public transport for two hours heading home from treatment. It is not a great place to find yourself when you are sick, away from home, frail and frightened on a bus. But still, at the very least, it is a step in the right direction.
Perhaps the most significant part of the minister’s PATS announcement is the provision of carers to travel with patients. This has been a source of some constant stress and frustration by not only those suffering from cancer, but their loved ones, their family, their spouse, and their kids who are left behind in so many cases. This is a significant step and, certainly, a step in the right direction.
The biggest disappointment in the announcement of some PATS reform by the minister with a $2m injection into the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme in the upcoming budget is the continued lack of choice for Central Australians. When, or if, an oncology unit is built in Darwin, the minister has made it very clear that cancer sufferers in Central Australia will not receive travel assistance if they want to continue to utilise an Adelaide hospital as a treatment option. This is a very disappointing decision by the Health Minister and this government. It has not been well thought through. If this government had the will and the desire to achieve this goal, then it could.
The Barton-Frommer report commissioned by the Northern Territory government, and released in 2004, clearly states - and I will quote from this report:
It also says, among other things, at recommendation 6 that Northern Territory cancer patients from Central Australia should retain the right to choose whether they receive radiotherapy in Darwin or Adelaide, regardless of whether the Adelaide service or another radiation oncology service becomes linked with the Darwin unit.
There it is: the Barton-Frommer report, commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory of Australia and released in July 2004. This report is often referred to by the Northern Territory government and the Health Minister. It is certainly referred to when it suits the government, but dismissed out of hand when it does not. In this case, it is clearly dismissed out of hand.
The refusal by the Northern Territory government to not allow the option of Adelaide for oncology treatment clearly demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about the people of Central Australia. As I have said on many occasions, we are all proud to be Territorians, to live here in the Northern Territory. However, the Top End and the Centre are two very different parts of the Northern Territory. To lump them together in this particular issue is insensitive and displays ignorance of anything below that famous Berrimah Line.
Central Australians have a unique bond with South Australia and, as someone who is originally from Queensland, this bond was omnipresent when I first arrived in the Northern Territory. There are many clinical areas that can aid in the recovery of cancer, but the fundamental emotional issue is family and the surrounds. If someone is forced to spend their treatment periods in an unfamiliar city surrounded by strangers, it does compound the stress and frustration for them and their families, over and above other concerns relating to recovery for these patients. One of these concerns that has been brought to my attention by many cancer sufferers - patients and their families - and cancer organisations such as Bosom Buddies and the Cancer Council is the high levels of humidity in the Top End.
Territorians deserve the best possible treatment. They should be able to expect that their government will do whatever it can to aid in their recovery. A $2m injection into the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme is, as I said, a step in the right direction with boosting the rate from $33 to $35. The taxi fare allowance, while it is certainly helpful to aid in airport transfers, does not help those patients who are receiving daily treatment and must travel to and from either their hotel, supportive accommodation, or their friend’s or family’s house and the treatment centre. This can be several times and the cost adds up. If they cannot afford it, they have to resort to public transport. Again, I say when you find yourself after treatment, particularly chemotherapy when you are alone, frail and frightened and, perhaps in a strange city, that does not go very far to aid in that treatment and is a little insensitive. Nevertheless, a taxi fare from the airport is a good start.
I have to say it is a significant announcement by the Minister for Health for the provision of carers to travel with patients, and is a step in the right direction. I am sure it will be welcomed by many cancer sufferers and their families in Central Australia. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, while the minister has shown some compassion in some areas of PATS reform, I still feel that he is still well short of the mark.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Greatorex. He and I both knew that we would be talking about PATS and oncology during these sittings. I did not know until he spoke that, in fact, we were going to be talking about it on the same night. Such is the depth of passion about this issue, and the commitment of two out of the five members from Central Australia, that we will argue the case for the people of Central Australia as often as we possibly can.
I received a copy of a letter from the Bosom Buddies NT Inc group. That letter was addressed to the Minister for Health and was dated 4 April 2008. My colleague, the member for Greatorex, received that as well. It was sent, I note, to all members of the Legislative Assembly from the Central Australian region. I will quote from that letter. The authors are Lesley Reilly, Ann South and Cherie Zaleski. As members know, Bosom Buddies NT is a well-respected advocacy group for breast cancer sufferers in particular. However, their level of expertise and experience in the area of cancer, generally, cannot be underestimated and they are incredibly well regarded.
Returning to the letter to the Minister for Health, I will quote a couple of parts of it as follows:
My colleague, the member for Greatorex, touched on that in his contribution as well. The letter to the Minister for Health went on to say as follows:
I do not propose to read the rest of the letter, which was a good letter to the Minister for Health. I hope that the Minister for Health has given the authors the courtesy which he infrequently shows me; that is, of delivering a reply to the letter in a timely manner.
The matters raised by Bosom Buddies NT are not new to the Health Minister nor, indeed, his Cabinet colleagues. I note in passing the irony that Bosom Buddies NT – and, of course, they are not the only ones of this view - noted that, as a result of the disadvantage created by the government’s inability - or refusal, I should say - to provide the people of Central Australia with a choice - as Bosom Buddies say in the letter - that is: ‘left to the most economically disadvantaged residents who have no options left due to this proposed policy’.
An interesting policy from a Labor government, do you not think, member for Greatorex and other members? A very interesting policy for a Labor government. Members in this Chamber who are members of the Australian Labor Party, with their hearts on their sleeves at every opportunity, say that they are championing the causes for the disadvantaged and, yet, stand by and say, ‘Well, you get that’, in essence, to the people of Central Australia, disadvantaged people who have no option as a result of this pernicious government policy.
My colleague, the member for Greatorex, referred to the Barton Frommer report. Indeed, he quoted extracts from it. It is somewhat extraordinary that a government would commission a report and, then, ignore much of it. Parts of the report are very straightforward and say that NT cancer patients living in Central Australia should retain the choice of travelling to Adelaide rather than Darwin for radiotherapy.
I also refer members to a Senate committee report dated September 2007. That was the Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committee, Community Affairs, Highway to health: better access for rural, regional and remote patients. There is a series of recommendations. Many of them, of course, refer to the relatively paltry amount of money provided under the PATS scheme. I know that this government has made some recent changes. That is good. I have to say, however, that increasing the allowance from $33 to $35 is not what I would regard as generous. If a person interstate needs to provide himself or herself with accommodation in facilities other than that which is traditionally used by cancer patients in Adelaide which are well known, they would be hard-pressed - would they not? – to get a commercial accommodation place for $35 a day.
In any event, I digress. I wanted to quote a part of the Senate committee report to which I have referred, and I do so now as follows:
However, many of us are of the view that the majority of them do not. Not only does the government’s insistence that these people be deprived, if you like, of the opportunity of travelling south; the fact is that they will simply be forced to come up to a place where many of them do not have friends and family, and that is a critical issue in the care and ongoing treatment of those afflicted with cancer.
So, serious issues, serious stuff, yet, despite the facts, the government’s own report, the Senate Committee report, and what we would regard as doing the right thing by the people of Central Australia, this government still refuses to do so. I am glad that the member for Greatorex leapt to his feet before I did. I believe it is important that, as members representing Alice Springs and, in a broader sense, Central Australia, we both argue the case for those we represent. I am very pleased to have joined him in his efforts tonight. We implore the government to get it back together, do the decent thing, and treat the people of Alice Springs and Central Australia in a fair and respectful manner.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 5/6 Wanguri Primary School students, accompanied by their teacher, Ms Emily Kuhn, who are participating in the Parliament of the Wizards. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
LEAVE OF ABSENCE
Member for Port Darwin
Member for Port Darwin
Ms LAWRIE (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that leave of absence be granted to the member for Port Darwin for today due to ill health.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Travel to Asia – Live Cattle Exports
Travel to Asia – Live Cattle Exports
Mr NATT (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I report to the Assembly on my recent visit to Vietnam and Sabah. As you are aware, the live cattle export industry is of vital importance to the economy of the Territory and it is due to this fact that I recently led a combined government and industry delegation to Sabah, Malaysia and Vietnam, with the purpose to maintain and further develop existing relations in Sabah and to explore potential for the export of Northern Territory cattle to Vietnam.
In Malaysia, discussions revealed considerable interest for the renewal of the memorandum of cooperation between the State of Sabah and the Northern Territory. Whilst there is strong support from Sabah for the renewal of the memorandum of cooperation, the position made clear by the Northern Territory government is that there will be a report completed on the outcomes of the memorandum of cooperation which will be considered prior to any possible undertakings of a further extension of the memorandum of cooperation.
Discussions indicated that interim assistance to be provided to Sabah by the Northern Territory government will be continued evaluation of state government farms in Sabah; assistance in establishing a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) training; and continued cross-jurisdictional staff training. Sabah officials indicated that, in 2008, they plan to import shipments of 1000 breeder cattle, 100 Brahman bulls and 160 buffalo. There were also discussions of private sector imports; however, all of these will eventually be determined by shipping availability and other market factors.
In Vietnam, I visited the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hanoi which is the key ministry responsible for livestock and cattle production in Vietnam. I provided the Vice Minister with an overview of the Territory’s live cattle industry and indicated that the Territory live cattle industry was keen to support Vietnamese farmers and pass on knowledge and expertise they had gained over many years. I also made clear the potential benefits to both countries’ economies through live cattle trade and feed-lotting, and sought the Vice Minister’s support and assistance in developing trade links between the Territory and Vietnam.
In Hanoi, I also visited the Ministry of Industry and Trade and provided Vice Minister Bien with an update of progress in developing live cattle trade between the Territory and Vietnam. I also attended a formal meeting with Chairman Vo Lam Phi of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Government in Nha Trang City, and attended the opening of the cattle industry seminars in Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh Cities.
Mr Stuart Kenny, the then Executive Director of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association; Mr Adam Hill, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Livestock Exporters Association; and Mr Alister Trier from my department delivered two well-attended presentations providing an overview of the Territory cattle industry and the export and feedlot processes. This included identifying the extent of responsibilities of the exporter and importer, and also an indication of technical requirements such as animal welfare, appropriate infrastructure, market considerations and operational requirements to maximise yield and economic return.
As a consequence of the seminar in Ho Chi Minh City, a Director from Pas Foods Company in Vung Tau sought an additional meeting with staff from my department to gain further information on the benefits, the costs and considerations of feedlot cattle. I understand that since this meeting, Pas Foods has been in regular contact.
Madam Speaker, you can see from this report that our visits and presentations have laid the groundwork that will underpin the Territory’s cattle export industry into the future.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I support the report. It is important and welcomed to get updates of activity within the region. I maintain the view that this is an area of our strategic advantage and we really do need to work hard and smart to develop and extend upon the connections we have already established. It is good to hear these reports.
I still, though, am troubled by this notion of the reports that are presented in parliament. It is not parliamentary practice; it is like at the start of school where you get news for the day. As a parliamentarian, to be able to provide a response on the spot is interesting. However, it could be more effective, because there are a number of issues that were touched on that I would like a little more information on. If we could have a bit more warning of these reports, we can engage in a more constructive debate to the benefit of those we are endeavouring to serve.
Before saying anything further on that, I place on record most firmly the outstanding contribution of Stuart Kenny. His leadership to the pastoral and cattle industry is first class, and it is a sad loss for the Northern Territory. I wish him - as I am sure members on the other side of the Chamber also wish him - and his family all the best in his new career in Queensland.
It is important I put on the record that there is word going around that there is some trouble in the trucking industry. If we are going to have cattle arriving in Hanoi or in Sabah, they have to spend part of that journey on a truck. Perhaps in your reply, minister, you will be able to give some reference to any issues that you are aware of in the trucking industry so that we can ensure that there is efficient movement from the property to the port of destination and the feedlot.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. I also agree with the Leader of the Opposition that some of these reports could be presented to parliament as statements, so we have full debate on these issues.
The live cattle industry, I suppose, is one of our major exports from an agricultural point of view in the Northern Territory, and it is very important that we debate the future of that industry. Some of the areas I would like to see debated, for instance, would be how many Aboriginal pastoral stations are now involved in live cattle exports. It is great to be talking about the economy growing quite rapidly in the Northern Territory, but it is important to see whether Aboriginal people are benefiting from that growth. The area we should be looking at is whether they are part of the live cattle export in the Northern Territory and whether there is any advantage to those people.
There is also the issue of land clearing in the Douglas Daly. The government has decided there is to be another two-year moratorium on that, so that is also affecting people who wish to expand their live cattle capacity in those areas. The government should at least be keeping us up-to-date on what is happening in that area as well.
I also agree with the Leader of the Opposition with regard to Stuart Kenny. He has done much work for the Cattlemen’s Association. He has worked hard in relation to the local government reform. Whether you agree with him on those issues, the point is he was an advocate for the people he represented and he did a good job. He will be difficult to replace.
Minister, I have always said primary industry is a poor cousin when it comes to departments in the Northern Territory. However, I believe it is time we had a chance to debate it in a statement in this parliament so we can do it justice.
Mr NATT (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nelson for their comments. Leader of the Opposition, I understand there is a national skills shortage in the trucking industry, but we are working closely with the Livestock Trucking Association. The minister for Transport is working closely with them to see if we can overcome some of those issues. I take the point of the member for Nelson on the indigenous pastoral program. Perhaps we might be able to do a report on that in the not-too-distant future and bring you up-to-date with what is happening with that as well.
I also express my thanks to Stuart Kenny. He has been a great advocate and contributor to the Northern Territory in his role as CEO of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. I thank him for all the support he has given me in the short time I have been in this role. I know he has moved on to a responsible position with the Australian Agricultural Company, and I wish him all the best - as do all the members on this side of the House - in the future for him and his family. We wish him well in his new venture.
Joint Management Forum
Mr KIELY (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, I had the privilege of attending a major forum involving Parks staff, Central and Northern Land Council staff and about 80 traditional owners of 22 parks and reserves which took place over 1 to 3 April this year at Hamilton Downs Youth Camp, north-west of Alice Springs. The forum was the first of its kind, providing an opportunity for traditional owners from all regions of the Territory to discuss issues and opportunities related to joint management.
Many topics were explored at the forum including economic opportunities, governance issues and the roles and responsibilities of the traditional owners, Parks and Wildlife and the land councils. Presentations were given by traditional owners relating to indigenous rangers working on their own country and balancing cultural and employment responsibilities, their involvement with business and tourism enterprises, developing their own land management expertise, and contracting those skills and labour to Parks and other purchasers of those services.
Two of the major issues which arose during the forum were the need for a greater focus on joint management as a mechanism to deliver social, cultural and economic development opportunities, and the need for stronger communication with traditional owners, especially for those parks where there has been less joint management activity.
This government is directing significant resources into the development of joint management plans. In one new joint management plan, a position has been created in each of the northern, Katherine and southern regions. Joint management plans are currently in process for 15 parks and reserves. Two of these - Rainbow Valley Conservation Reserve and Devil’s Marbles Conservation Reserve - have been released for public comment. Draft management plans for Flora River, Fogg Dam, Harrison Dam, Lambells Lagoon, Black Jungle and Melacca Swamp Conservation Reserves, Chambers Hill Historical Reserve and the West MacDonnell National Park should be released for public comment before the end of this year.
Joint management funding contributes directly to the employment of 12 indigenous rangers and trainees across Territory parks. In the Alice Springs region, two indigenous rangers have completed 18-month traineeships and now have permanent ranger positions. Three more traineeships are currently being undertaken. In the Katherine region, four traditional owners are undertaking traineeships, and another four are engaged in regular contract work on parks. In the Darwin region, two traditional owners have taken up traineeship positions based at Fogg Dam. The Parks and Wildlife Service now employs 24 traditional owners in various ranger, trainee and contract positions.
The flexible employment program continues to provide opportunities for traditional owners to gain work experience and training while working alongside rangers on park management projects. The program has proven successful in building work readiness in traditional owner participants, and contract readiness in partner Aboriginal organisations. A full-time coordinator has been employed in Alice Springs so the program outcomes can be maximised across this region.
The flexible employment program, together with joint management funding, has been significant in the establishment of the Tjuwanpa Ranger Group at Hermannsburg which, last year, won a $40 000 campground upgrade contract at Finke Gorge National Park. This program is also supporting indigenous ranger groups in the Alice Springs and East MacDonnell districts. More works and service contracts are foreseen for other Aboriginal organisations during the next year.
Madam Speaker, the benefits of this government’s commitment to joint management are clear: the economic and employment opportunities are beginning to be realised. I look forward to continuing to work with traditional owners and the Northern and Central Land Councils to ensure we take full advantage of these opportunities.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. I also feel that two minutes is not long enough, minister, for me to be able to digest all that you have said and respond. I would like to see a statement in relation to such an important issue as joint management of our parks.
Minister, regarding the traditional owners that you were saying had a lot of input at this forum, I would like you to tell me in your response how many forums are going to be held in the future to ensure that there is a full understanding and cooperation between the Territory government, the Parks management and the traditional owners of what management is.
You mentioned apprenticeships have been offered. How are you going to continue those apprenticeships and ensure that there are more people offered those apprenticeships in these parks? There are many parks which have joint management now throughout the Territory. In your response, I would like to know that, thank you, minister. Perhaps in the future you could give a statement on joint management in parks in the Northern Territory so that we are able to respond and debate it in full.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. It is great that the park management plans are making more jobs available to indigenous people. One concern I have is that we are not just employing these people because they are indigenous or traditional owners. If we are not using this as a means to improve literacy and numeracy, to improve the skills of these people then, to some extent, we could be accused of putting up a shopfront version of employment of indigenous people, whereas we really need to be using this program to improve the skills and qualifications of these people.
Being a ranger requires fairly high qualifications today. I imagine many of these traditional people, obviously, would not have those same qualifications as other rangers. I hope the government sees this as a first stepping stone to upgrading and improving their skills so that we have good, qualified local people who not only have an understanding of the traditions of the area they are operating in, but also the scientific skills and knowledge needed to go with those skills.
I congratulate the government on its plans to encourage Aboriginal people to be employed as part of these management plans. I consider it a productive move. It is one of the reasons I supported the changes that the government brought in. However, I would like to see some hard evidence that this is part of a stepping stone for these people into the future.
Mr KIELY (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, I thank the members for their comments. The member for Katherine mentioned that she did not think there was sufficient time to participate substantially in responding to the report and called for a statement on joint management program in Parks and Wildlife. This has been debated over the years ...
Mrs Miller: Your updated report.
Mr KIELY: This is very well known. I am just updating the people in this Chamber and in the Territory so they know what is going on with our joint management program. It is pretty well out there, member for Katherine. I will ensure that you get the Hansards for all those debates, seeing you need to be refreshed on those debates.
When it comes to how often the forums will be held, this was the first forum, member for Katherine. We got together and, from that initial forum, we are hopeful of holding one at least once a year. It was a highly impressive gathering of a whole range of people and expertise dealing specifically with the progression of people.
As far as the member for Nelson is concerned, I am trying to get this in regarding education: Bridging the Gap. It is not just about one job in one particular area; it is about getting the whole community in all of these areas that are being disadvantaged up to scratch.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Leading for Improved Performance -
School Leader’s Conference 2008
School Leader’s Conference 2008
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I report to the House on the Department of Employment, Education and Training’s Leading for Improved Performance School Leader’s Conference 2008, conducted on 8 and 9 April 2008 at the Crowne Plaza, Darwin. The conference was attended by principals, assistant principals, indigenous executive teachers, senior DEET officers, and education services staff. A total of 190 DEET employees attended.
I strongly believe that the educational leaders in schools play a pivotal role in improving a school’s overall performance. It is these leaders who must focus the resources of the school - human and physical - on improving student outcomes. These leaders must continue to learn if they are to be leaders in the 21st century. We have expectations that our students will be lifelong learners and we must have high expectations that our leaders will be also.
The DEET conference provides an opportunity for targeted and Northern Territory specific issues to be addressed. The focus of the Leading for Improved Performance conference was to engage school leaders and senior DEET officers to work together to:
share their experiences, knowledge and expertise to meet priorities in the delivery of high-quality teaching and education services which maximise the learning and wellbeing for all students;
In my keynote address, I informed the school leaders of prioritising the importance of continuing to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous outcomes, and the need to target early childhood education. The department’s chief executive, Margaret Banks, emphasised the importance of a focused and whole-of-school approach to literacy and numeracy and said that, working from a common base of high expectations, educators can effect change by using improvement targets to track individual student progress. She emphasised to those present that it is important to remember that each student is precious.
One of the key note addresses was presented by videoconference from New Zealand. Professor Viviane Robinson from the University of Auckland presented a lecture on school leadership and student outcomes, identifying what works and why.
Support speakers, Graham Marshall, who is a Senior Fellow from the University of Melbourne, spoke about leading performance management and improved outcomes. Justin Noel, from Origin Communications, presented an address on identifying, developing and supporting indigenous leaders, while Grant Donovan presented on developing high performing and independent teams. A number of principals presented on high quality programs that were being implemented in their schools. Paul Nyhuis from Malak Primary School talked about the schools program to target at-risk students and the good results they were seeing. Dr Terry Quong from Millner Primary School presented his school’s work on tracking transient students and reporting student gains to parents. Tony Considine from Taminmin High School demonstrated the online curriculum the school has developed. Ursula Balfour, an Alice Springs principal, talked about the work they are doing with students in town camps and the success of the transition of the Irrkerlantye students into mainstream schooling.
The conference was well received and attendee evaluation showed that the conference was considered a great professional and personal development opportunity which ranked favourably with national and international conferences; it linked performance management practices and processes to achieving positive outcomes for students with thought-provoking, inspirational, informative; and it offered excellent information.
Madam Speaker, our school leaders are the people who will create the environments needed in our schools to ensure our students are achieving their full potential. Bringing together our school leaders keeps the organisation focused and moving towards our goals and aspirations. With Closing the Gap, the Northern Territory has five-, 10- and 20-year goals and our school leaders will be the ones needed to lead our schools and teachers to achieve these goals.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, perhaps I could do a deal that you could let the opposition know the title of these reports so we have better opportunity to engage more constructively. I would like to progress that with Leader of Government Business later.
I find it surprising that there is no reference given to the non-government sector in this. I believe all members who take pride in their indigenous heritage have had their education from the non-government sector. There is leadership provided from all sectors in education. If you are reinforcing your position as the minister for the Department of Education, fine, but I believe we should take a broader view that it is education and there are lessons to be learnt from both sides from all those who are participating in it. I am surprised that there was no reference made to the non-government sector.
There were many words in there, but we need to be reminded of core principles. One is the responsibility of a government to provide qualified teachers before every classroom across the Northern Territory. On that, I note that Professor Helen Hughes from the ANU was not on the list. Second, that government has a responsibility to ensure that those schools are adequately resourced with a qualified teacher and learning facilities in all of these communities. Third, it is the responsibility of a parent to send their kids to that school. If you do not have those three responsibilities properly addressed, all the rest is talk.
There have to be measures, and we are going to have to bite a very tough bullet, to ensure that that responsibility that is largely borne by a parent is acted upon. With all your talk and all the money you are spending to talk about parental responsibility, there are measures already in existence that you could use to enhance the motivating factors to get a parent to send their kids to school. However, you fail to use them and you will spend a lot of money and take pride in all the things that you are doing, but you will not take the hard step to ensure there is enhanced responsibility on a parent to do the right thing and send their kids to school. All the rest is talk.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I am really pleased that principals get together for professional development and interaction. It brings memories back to me. It is important that you have those experienced principals working with the ones who are new to the job and who have smaller schools and responsibilities.
It is also important that you develop that relationship between DEET people in the office and the people on the ground. I suppose, if there is any criticism I make, it is that they still seem to be very remote from what happens on the ground. To the DEET people in the office, please get out and visit your schools as much as you can. The people out there in the schools who are doing it tough need your support. They need to know that they are being valued and that there is support for them when they need it. They need to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone. If they have met a principal that they have good relationships with through a conference such as this, then you have achieved something.
There is great value in this sharing of information and expertise. It is amazing how little things can mean so much to some of those inexperienced principals who may have been there. However, it also blows the cobwebs out of those ones who are experienced and, perhaps, have been at schools for a long time. Let us face it; we do have some principals who have been in these schools a long time and need a bit of a shake, rattle and roll about the way they are going about things.
We are going to talk about education in a statement later in the day. Most of what I want to say about education I will say then. However, minister, please continue to provide professional development for teachers and principals; it is an important element of their professionalism. I am pleased to hear that this has happened.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Braitling and the Opposition Leader for their comments. To the Opposition Leader, it was interesting talking to Daryl Manzie this morning. I like Daryl Manzie, who was a former Eduction minister under the CLP government. His words to me were that if there was a simple solution to this complex issue that we find in indigenous communities with attendance and the partnership, it would have been found by the CLP government - who did nothing. What we are talking about here is historical deficit. However, at some stage with education, we have to get beyond the infantile bickering of members opposite who continually think that they have the magic bullet. They have not, otherwise they would have found the solution to this a long time ago. It was their neglect that we are dealing with today.
Regarding the non-government sector, I have been engaging with the non-government sector, as has the Chief Minister and the Treasurer, to look at different choices …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Reports noted pursuant to standing orders.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Member for Nelson
Member for Nelson
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have given my leave for the member for Nelson to make a personal explanation. I remind you that personal explanations are not a debate and I ask you to listen in silence.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, yesterday the following was said in relation to the proposed LNG plant:
- Mr HENDERSON: … that there would be political certainty for this project. I said the member for Nelson would probably oppose it because he opposed the first one, but I said there would be political certainty.
Mr Wood: I did not.’
- … we have got the LNG plant and I have not opposed the LNG plant ...
Parliamentary Record, August, 2002:
- … and I once again say I support the Phillips proposal.
February 2003:
- … that is why I supported Phillips ...
NT News by Paul Dyer, May 2004:
- Independent MLA Gerry Wood, who also supported the LNG plant at Wickham Point, accused the Labor government of selling out its ‘clean, green image’.
NT News, May 2004 editorial:
- Mr Wood voted for the LNG plant.
Thank you, Madam Speaker.
SENTENCING (CRIME OF MURDER) AND PAROLE REFORM AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 142)
(Serial 142)
Bill presented and read a first time.
_____________________
Suspension of Standing Orders
Pass Bill through all Stages
Pass Bill through all Stages
Dr BURNS (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Amendment Bill 2008 (Serial 142) passing through all stages at these sittings.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, as you know, I do not like bills passing through parliament on an urgency motion. In this case, if the minister has good reasons for this bill being put forward for urgent reasons, then I am interested to hear those reasons. I have some concerns that, although this appears to be a bill based on a judgment by a court - and that needs some amendment - I am concerned that this may also be in relation to, perhaps, a mistake by the government.
I am interested to hear what the minister has to say are the reasons why this bill should go through on an urgency motion.
Madam SPEAKER: At the moment, the motion before the Chair is to suspend standing orders that would prevent the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Amendment Bill passing through all stages. It is just on that motion; it is not the bill itself.
Are there any further speakers on the motion to suspend standing orders?
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I support the motion. It is appropriate that this bill pass during these sittings. Interestingly, I read the case a few weeks ago on an aeroplane. Peter Toyne was on the same plane. As we were getting off, I commented to him that, ‘Whoops, a couple of mistakes have been made’, and we had, thereafter, a private discussion …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is a motion to suspend standing orders not substantive debate. We are happy to participate in substantive debate once we have passed the motion on the suspension of standing orders. It is a motion on suspension of standing orders.
Mr Mills: Yes, that is correct.
Mrs Miller: Just sit down.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of Government Business is correct. Member for Araluen, please come to the point fairly quickly in relation to the motion.
Ms CARNEY: The point, Madam Speaker, is that we support the bill passing during these sittings because it should. We make the point, however - and we will continue to make it on the way through - that, invariably, when government passes legislation, all the media releases go out saying: ‘It is going to do this and it is going do this’ …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Ms CARNEY: Well, here is another example of you failing to do it, but we will support the motion, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Please pause. What is your point of order?
Ms LAWRIE: The member for Araluen is rambling. Can we get on with dealing with the motion before us?
Ms Carney: You read the case, did you? Were you across the original legislation? I think not!
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms Lawrie: You are rambling, as usual.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The question is that the motion be agreed to.
Dr BURNS (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I am happy to speak. I take what the Independent member has said, and the Leader of the Opposition. I will certainly be giving a lot of detail in my second reading speech on this particular bill. However, to reduce it to the facts, government had a very clear intention in relation to this bill when it passed through this parliament.
I will read an extract from the second reading speech that Peter Toyne gave on this particular issue. It was crystal clear what government’s intention was.
Essentially …
Mr WOOD: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Ms Carney: Then you should have drafted the legislation accordingly.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr WOOD: We are basically arguing, in this case, why it should be brought forward on urgency. That is what this is about.
Ms Carney: Delia, are you going to object?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Honourable members, I like it when I can actually be heard. Minister, if you continue remarks, it must only be in relation to the urgency, nothing to do with the bill itself - only in relation to the urgency.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In essence, the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory, through appeal, has granted a prisoner - who, through the intent of the legislation, should be serving 25 years because there was an aggravating offence involved - the right to apply for parole. That parole hearing occurs in mid-May. The reason for the urgency in this bill is to set this matter straight and implement the clear intentions of government in relation to this whole matter, and this prisoner in particular.
Motion agreed to.
_____________________
Dr BURNS (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to clarify the original intent of this parliament in passing the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Act 2003. That act introduced a system of parole for Northern Territory prisoners serving a life sentence for the crime of murder. Prior to the introduction of that act, prisoners serving a life sentence were not eligible to apply for parole. The only way that these prisoners could negotiate a release from prison was by formally approaching His Honour the Administrator for a grant of executive clemency.
This government, through the introduction of the 2003 act, introduced a system whereby prisoners serving life sentences for the crime of murder could become eligible for parole after serving a minimum non-parole period of at least 20 years. I must acknowledge that it was the previous CLP government which initially examined the prospect of creating parole periods for prisoners serving life sentences. Of course, they did not follow through and it was up to this government to deliver these reforms. The 2003 act gave offenders the opportunity to obtain parole if they satisfied the criteria by serving a minimum period of imprisonment and met pre-parole requirements.
It was always intended by this parliament that prisoners who had committed the crime of murder would have to serve a non-parole period of at least 20 years imprisonment. However, in the 2003 act, this government also included provision which stated that prisoners who had committed certain acts of aggravation during the commission of a murder would have to serve a minimum period of 25 years imprisonment before they could be eligible for parole. In the second reading speech, the then Attorney-General stated:
- Together with a standard minimum non-parole period of 20 years, the bill establishes for the first time a higher minimum non-parole period of 25 years. This non-parole period specifically recognises and identifies cases which involve particular circumstances of aggravation that increase the relative seriousness of the offence. The minimum non-parole period of 25 years will automatically apply to cases involving the murder of more than one person; murders which involve sexual assault; murders of children; murders of public officials who are acting in the course of their duties, such as police, teachers and nurses; and cases where the accused has previously been convicted of murder or manslaughter.
It has become necessary for this government to clarify precisely what was intended by the provisions of the act. A recent decision by the Northern Territory Court of Criminal Appeal calls into question whether the act, as currently drafted, does, in fact, do as it was originally intended by this parliament. These proposed amendments, therefore, clarify that if the facts of a particular case include the presence of aggravating circumstances which have not changed since the introduction of the act in 2003, the Director of Public Prosecutions must make an application to the court to have the standard 20-year non-parole term extended. Once the court is satisfied these circumstances are, indeed present, the courts must impose at least a 25-year minimum term. Both the DPP and the court are obliged to act if the circumstances of aggravation outlined in section 19(3) of the act are found to be present. The existing entitlements for the court to award more than a 25-year minimum term, or decline to fix a parole period, remain.
This act specifically deals with the sentencing regime for the most serious category of offenders. The community expects they be punished for their crimes. This is why government is removing any possible discretion from the DPP in bringing the application, or the court in deciding the application as to minimum terms. A lengthy sentence of imprisonment must be imposed and the community expects this class of prisoner to serve that sentence.
I turn now to the retrospective component contained in the bill. As a result of the Supreme Court’s recent decision, one transitional life prisoner who committed the offence of murder with an aggravating circumstance has received a minimum non-parole period of 20 years imprisonment. All other transitional life prisoners who have been found to have committed murders with circumstances of aggravation have all received sentences of at least 25 years imprisonment or higher. One has been declined a parole period. Until this most recent case, the court has always interpreted the act as precluding it from having any discretion to impose less than the 25-year minimum term for murders where aggravating circumstances were present.
If government does not act, those prisoners who have been given a 25-year minimum term may justifiably feel a sense of grievance that they were not given the same consideration as in the recent case of Jonathon Bakewell. However, those other prisoners were dealt with in the manner which was always intended by parliament and Mr Bakewell was not. This is why government must act swiftly. Mr Bakewell has not been considered for parole yet, but this bill provides specific powers for a further application to be made for the DPP or me to apply a longer parole period. The prompt response of government means that Mr Bakewell will not get his hopes up at the possibility of release, or even to be temporarily released only to return to prison upon this legislation’s commencement.
To this end, I have written to the South Australian Corrective Services minister, Hon Carmel Zollo, informing her of the Northern Territory’s actions and requesting that this be conveyed to the South Australian Parole Board for its information. The presence of circumstances of aggravation in the murder committed by Mr Bakewell means that it was always this parliament’s intention that he should serve a non-parole period of 25 years, just like all the other transitional life prisoners who have been brought before the court so far.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s February 2008 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s February 2008 Report to the Legislative Assembly
Continued from 20 February 2008.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report to the Legislative Assembly on matters arising from audits conducted during the six months to 31 December 2007. My ministerial colleagues and I value the work of the Auditor-General in assisting the process of accountability by providing independent analysis of financial results, and by drawing parliament’s attention to matters of interest.
In the six months to 31 December 2007, the Auditor-General completed 33 separate reports, most of which deal with the outcome of audits and financial analyses of agencies and entities. Of this number, only three reports have audit qualifications: one in respect of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement; one in respect of Power and Water Corporation; and one in respect of NT Build. The qualification on the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement is a technical qualification which will only be resolved when the Australian Accounting Standards are harmonised with the currently used Government Finance Statistics Reporting Framework.
The qualification to the Power and Water Corporation is related to a difference of opinion with the Auditor-General on the appropriate discount rates required when determining the values of certain classes of assets in the 2005-06 operating result. Because these values flow through to subsequent years, they have resulted in a qualification this year, and will do so again next year. It is important to note that the initial issue has been resolved and is not expected to arise again.
In the case of NT Build, the Auditor-General was unable to satisfy himself that all revenues due to NT Build under the long service levy have been captured. The board is well aware of the problem and, in conjunction with the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, is pursuing suitable amendments to both the Building Act and the Planning Act. NT Build recognises that legislative action alone will not remove the uncertainty, and has also instituted a range of mechanisms to identify leviable construction projects.
The Auditor-General carried out a number of other performance audits including an assessment of how well the process used by my department to award and administer contracts for the provision of advertising and related services complied with Northern Territory government procurement policy. There was particular emphasis on the value of work allocated to one company because of the increase in value that was generated by my department. The increase was primarily attributable to both the road safety and Creating Darwin’s Future campaigns. The Auditor-General was satisfied that the company was the best qualified firm to provide those services at the time. He was also satisfied that the department’s procurement processes generally complied with the Northern Territory government procurement guidelines. The Auditor-General had some concerns regarding the documentation of decisions and the level of information recorded about the performance of contractors, and my department has put in place procedures to address those issues.
A review of the IT control environment in the Department of Corporate and Information Services found that Data Centre Services staff were implementing practices to mirror industry best practice and they had good incident management procedures and system monitoring tools. Some areas for improvement were identified in relation to change management policies, security standards, and documentation of operations and procedures with regards to Internet security. DCIS has already developed an action plan to address the Auditor-General’s finings.
The Auditor-General also reviewed the IT control environment of two systems used by the Department of Health and Community Services: Ascribe and Quantel. Ascribe is a pharmacy stock control system and, as well as a number of strengths, some areas for improvement were identified in relation to the management of system security. Quantel is an inventory management system and, again, some weaknesses were identified in relation to IT security, segregation of duty controls, and physical access to the server. The Department of Health and Community Services has already addressed some of the Auditor-General’s recommendations and is in the process of addressing others.
The Auditor-General has reviewed the McArthur River Mines security deposit and found that the Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines processes and internal controls provide a reasonable assurance that the security required in relation to the mine is adequate. This will avoid a repeat of the unfortunate situation related to the Mt Todd mine where the Territory was required to meet the costs of rehabilitation. Of the other financial statement audits carried out it is pleasing to note that there were no qualified audit opinions issued.
On behalf of my colleagues, I extend my gratitude to the Auditor-General for his report. I fully support his continued work in upholding the highest standards of governance and accountability for the parliament, and to agency and entity executives.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I follow on those words of endorsement for the fine work that the Auditor-General does. It is a very important office fulfilled very well by Auditor-General, Frank McGuiness.
I note at the outset that the Auditor-General has changed the format somewhat this year, and the report is more detailed in specific areas that he has audited. This is a direct product of the current Auditor-General’s approach to what he does. There are two ways to audit. The first takes an inch-deep and a mile-wide approach. These are, essentially, desktop audits that allow for a broad investigation of government but do not allow for in-depth investigations of particular areas and issues. The other way is the inch-wide, mile-deep approach. This allows the Auditor-General little capacity to audit broadly but, where an audit is conducted, the audit is a detailed analysis of the area chosen to be audited. I notice that the Auditor-General took the latter of the two approaches and what he has discovered is, in some circumstances, very interesting indeed.
The Auditor-General’s first port of call was an analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report, or TAFR, or TAFS as it is sometimes referred to. It is amazing to discover, surprisingly, that the Treasurer’s own work received a qualified audit form report when it was handed to the Auditor-General. I am certain that it must be frustrating for the Under Treasurer to receive a qualified report from the Auditor-General, as the Under Treasurer is trapped by the legislative instruments to which she is bound. Sadly, the government financial statistics are not immediately compatible with the Australian Accounting Standards, AAS 31, which is the benchmark upon which the Auditor-General tests his audits. Consequently, the GFS leaves the Auditor- General incapable of giving an unqualified audit opinion because the Auditor-General is bound to the Australian Auditing and Assurance Standards, which have adopted the AAS 31. This is not an issue limited to the Territory, and I am hopeful that the Treasurer can assure this place that steps are being taken to address these issues.
This report also invites comment about how fiscal management is proceeding in the Territory. The Territory’s income has gone up enormously in the past six years. The GST, specific purpose payment revenue, has seen Commonwealth-sourced income rise by 80% during that period. Unsourced revenue has also risen in a big way, to 70% during the same period.
Similarly, the declaration of several roads in the Territory as roads of national significance, and population calculations, has seen the Territory’s relativity move from 4.368 to 4.518 in the current cycle, and has a significant effect on funding into the Territory to our benefit. However, it needs to be remembered that the outcome for the year 2000-01 was a total of $1.94bn - see Budget Paper No 3 2001, Mini-budget, page 85. Honourable members might like to have a look at that, particularly those on the other side who think that the CLP was responsible for that, and you just came along and – whacko! - the money increased. History does not confirm that view.
In 2001, the nation’s taxation regime began to use a broad-based consumption tax called the GST. That was a system aggressively attacked by the Labor opposition in the Territory - you never mention that, by the way - at the time. The new taxation arrangements, along with increased grants, have seen the Territory’s total revenue grow to $3.49bn - see 2007-08 Mid-year Report, page 28. Projections to the year 2010-11 anticipate the Territory’s income to reach $3.78bn.
The Territory has repeatedly and substantially underestimated its revenue outcomes. In Budget Paper No 2 for the year 2004-05, the projected income for the year 2007-08 was $2.77bn. That is on page 108. Clearly, that is much less than the actual result achieved in the Mid-year Report for 2007-08 of $3.49bn – a significant difference.
Nevertheless, as I will explain, government has consistently managed to spend the extra income even before they were aware that they had it, particularly in the area of settling wage disputes. In 2005, employee expenses exceeded budget estimates by $120m – that is 12%. Government, nevertheless, managed to return a surplus because of unexpected growth in revenue. This is indicative of an approach that is more founded in good luck than good management …
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Mr MILLS: You will have your chance to address this historical record.
This is certainly not in accord with the Territory’s fiscal strategy of prudent management of liabilities; it is good luck, good fortune, being in the right place at the right time. The stars align beautifully for the Labor Party, which is really good at spending. They point to all that they have spent as an achievement. Indeed, the Auditor-General mentions this issue on page 13 of the report, where he points out that the total public sector nett financial worth has declined in the Territory. How is that possible for such vastly increased revenues?
The government makes much of the fact that its nett debt employee liability ratio is reaching 106%. True, but that is not because of good management. Good management would have seen the ratio reduced to double figures some time ago. It is because of increased federal income. If the 2004-05 Treasury projection of $2.77bn was correct, then the current ratio would be 121%. This supports the proposition that the government has been lucky, not wise.
The Territory’s superannuation liability has far exceeded projections and, other than Tasmania, the Territory is the most poorly positioned jurisdiction in dealing with that debt. In Territory Budget Paper No 2 for the financial year 2002-03, the final estimate for the Territory’s superannuation liability was nearly $1.4bn precisely. That is on page 74. In that paper, the projected growth in that financial year of the liability saw it grow to just under $1.45bn for the financial year 2005-06. By the time the final results for the year 2005-06 were calculated in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report for that year, the debt had expanded to $1.8bn - that is on page 38 - and there was continued projected growth in later budgets. In the 2007-08 Bugdet Paper No 2, the superannuation debt had been calculated to be $2.3bn, growing to $2.4bn by the year 2010-11 - far later than recent predictions. This calculation reveals that outstanding superannuation liability has grown nearly $1bn more than the Territory government had stated it would five years ago.
On 14 October 2004, the Treasurer of the Northern Territory, Mr Stirling, said:
- The Territory’s unfunded superannuation liability of $1467m at 30 June 2004 is expected to peak some time around 2006.
However, by 2006, it had reached $2.25bn. The evidence is now that the liability has not peaked at all, and is continuing to grow, and on current projections it will reach $2.4bn in 2010-11.
I note that the Auditor-General observes that the peak in cash outflow for superannuation has been pushed out to 2022-23. That is on page 51. This has prompted the Territory government to put money into a Conditions of Service Reserve, a Territory version of the federal Future Fund. If you compare the reserve with the debt, you begin to understand the difference between what you have and what you owe.
The defence that the government has offered for the increases is that the actuary who did the NT government’s calculation passed away. The government claimed that only after his passing was it revealed that his system of forward estimates produced a different result. This was reported to the parliament on 12 October 2006, when Mr Stirling said:
- We have also been subject to a significant increase in the assessed superannuation liabilities as a result of change in actuary.
Another flaw in this argument is that the actuary passed away in 2004, and the superannuation reviews continued to throw up increasing amounts of debt. The Territory government has been at pains to blame the past actuary, as well as changes in actuarial benchmarks, rather than drawing attention to their own contribution to these blowouts - not least of which is the incapacity to contain wages and live within your means.
As many public servants are still members of defined benefit superannuation schemes, every decision to raise wages resonates with the outstanding superannuation liability that the government carries. The Auditor-General has seen fit to repeat his observations about the incapacity of the government to deal with wages growth in the Territory ...
Ms Lawrie: This is the man who wants to pay teachers and police more.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: No, I can sustain that argument if you would like to do it in a sensible and intelligent way ...
Ms Lawrie: You are unbelievable.
Mr Bonson: You are not vote-grabbing are you?
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition has the call.
Mr MILLS: In February 2006, the Auditor-General’s report pointed out that the wages budget for the year ending 30 June 2005 for employee costs had increased by 12% for that year, adding $120m of unbudgeted wages expenditure to the budget. Again, in February 2008, the Auditor-General returned to the theme outlining that employee expenses rose by a further 6% during the 2006-07 year. On table 5 on page 39, the Auditor-General demonstrated how the employee expenses increased by $63m of unbudgeted expenditure. It is arguable, from tracking the process of wage increases, that there has been a direct effect on local inflation which has exceeded national rates. Because the Northern Territory government is the largest employer, its barely restrained spending has led to poor outcomes in local inflation.
In September 2006, the ABS reported in its CPI assessment that the Territory’s CPI had reached 4.9%, and that the higher result in Darwin was driven by higher than average rises in recreation, housing, alcohol and tobacco. It is arguable from this comment that the extra money in has been pouring not only into housing but into consumable services, particularly in the areas of gaming, alcohol, and tobacco. The substantial increases in gaming over the past few years in the Territory reflect the amount of disposable income available in the Territory.
I accept that, in the case of front line public servants, there will be occasions where unbudgeted wage increases may be necessary. However, proper planning should take into account increases in administrative public servant wages. Those increases should be factored into the budget as a part of the ordinary budget cycle.
Treasurer’s Advances fulfil the role of dealing with unbudgeted expenditure. What has occurred in the Territory up until now has far exceeded the capacity of the Treasurer’s Advance and exceeded well beyond frontline public servants. I also add that nothing that I have said here should be interpreted or promoted to suggest that the County Liberal Party in any way supports cuts to wages or conditions of frontline public servants.
In the financial year, 2000-01, the Territory’s nett debt was $1.29bn - that is Budget Paper 3, 2001 Mini-budget, page 85. The projected nett debt for the current financial year is $1.25bn. Over the past seven years, in spite of enormous increases in revenue, the Territory government has barely reduced nett debt and has also added to unfunded superannuation liabilities. The situation in the Territory has deteriorated substantially.
Although there have been increases in infrastructure spending in recent years in the Territory, much of this spending will be aimed at repairing an ageing asset base. After self-government in 1978, the Territory borrowed substantially, as well as taking on the debt of the jurisdiction to build infrastructure in the jurisdiction. Much of that infrastructure is reaching its use-by date, and some of the infrastructure needs upgrading because of the incapacity of existing infrastructure to deal with the current population, such as the money being spent on new power generation capacity in Darwin. Many roads, schools, hospitals and other buildings now need work. On page 31 of the February 2008 report, the Auditor-General alluded to this issue by pointing out that there will be a need to borrow for infrastructure augmentation into the future.
I now turn my attention to the Department of Chief Minister. Regarding other aspects of the report, I have to say it is with some astonishment that we see only one firm pick up 85% of the work from the Department of Chief Minister. The Auditor-General has seen fit to point out substantial shortcomings in the procurement process used by the Department of Chief Minister. What is most astonishing is that, in some instances, the contracts were let before the necessary paperwork had been done by the Department of Chief Minister. How on earth were these panel contracts managed? Is it the case that a simple phone call was made by the Chief Minister or his or her representative to this firm and the contract was dealt with over the phone so that government could get its message out? If that is the case, then it is very telling, Madam Speaker. Government has to sidestep its own procurement protocols so often …
Ms Lawrie: What a lot of rot.
Mr MILLS: Read the Auditor-General’s report.
Ms Lawrie: You are in fantasy land.
Mr MILLS: Read the report. Government has …
Ms Lawrie: I have. You have been very selective with your interpretations.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr MILLS: The government has to sidestep its own procurement protocols so often it betrays the fact that this is a government that is fixed in a place where all they do is policy on the run …
Ms Lawrie: That is not in the report.
Mr MILLS: If you had been following the argument you would understand it. Surely, if the budget process has been followed, the Department of Chief Minister would know in sufficient time what was on the agenda so that it could be done in a timely and, more importantly, compliant fashion in order that it can get the work done that needs to be done. It is talking about planning and not breaching their systems and protocols.
However, because this government does so much policy on the run and the media cycle is more important than people’s needs, it has to take shortcuts, as the Auditor-General indicated or hinted at. The result is that public servants are forced to breach procurement guidelines to meet this government’s demands.
A condensed version of this critique is that the government in the Territory is a product of half-hearted planning reinforced by a half-hearted approach of complying with subordinate legislation ...
Mr Warren: Give your evidence for that. It is not there.
Mr MILLS: The Auditor-General’s report. Have a read of it, mate.
Mr Warren: I have.
Mr MILLS: I know, you have your own special Labor Party glasses on and you can only see good stuff.
There are many other issues that are raised in the Auditor-General’s report. Some of them would make difficult reading for members opposite who really want to read it and fulfil their obligations as members of this Chamber representing the good people of the Territory.
However, many other issues will be attended to by other comments in this Chamber. On that note I support the Auditor-General’s report; it raised some very important issues. The opposition will continue to maintain a watching brief as government responds to these matters.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I commend the Auditor-General, Frank McGuiness, who does a very fine job in the role of Auditor-General for the Northern Territory. This government responds to Auditor-General’s reports in a very proactive way. Those of us who have been around the Territory for a long time would understand that that was not always the case in the Territory; that previous Auditor-General’s reports would go on to the shelf and the CLP government of the day would stick its head in the sand.
In stark contrast, we are seeing, in consecutive Auditor-General’s reports under the Labor government, our agencies respond - and respond with gusto - quite appropriately to anything the Auditor-General has pointed out – quite appropriately so.
The report covers the findings of the financial statement, IT controls, and compliance audits conducted by the Auditor-General from 1 July 2007 to 31 December 2007, with particular focus on the 2006-07 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statements, the TAFS.
The report is positive, despite what the Leader of the Opposition would have us believe in his fantasy land. It concludes that the financial result in 2006-07 was better than budgeted and continues the government’s adherence to its fiscal strategy targets and fiscal prudence since the introduction of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act in 2001. Need we be reminded why we had to bring in that act after the creative accounting methods of the previous CLP governments?
Regarding the TAFS, the report concludes that we are tracking well with our fiscal strategy targets and our fiscal prudence, but it does caution the risks associated with any slowing in the GST revenue growth and the recent increases in superannuation liabilities resulting in the need for continued expenditure control. The Auditor-General acknowledges that these risks are published annually in the Statement of Risk section of Budget Paper No 2, and that the government set aside $150m in 2006-07 to offset the superannuation liability. The Leader of the Opposition could not even bring himself to say the quantum - $150m. We recognise that we need to deal with the superannuation liability, and we have been reining in the unsustainable nett debt levels that we had inherited.
In addition to the ‘above bar’ comments, the Auditor-General also included an explanation of the use of the government finance statistics, the GFS framework, rather than the Australian Accounting Standards as the reporting framework for the TAFS, resulting in a technical qualification that has existed since 1999. I really was embarrassed when I heard the Leader of the Opposition refer to how uncomfortable the Under Treasurer must be in this regard. I took that as a slur on the professionalism of the Under Treasurer. The Auditor-General recognises that there is a general recognition that the GFS framework is the most appropriate model for government reporting, and that the harmonisation - a point not even recognised by the Leader of the Opposition - of the two frameworks in 2008-09 will mean an end to this qualification; that is, Treasury is absolutely doing its job.
The Auditor-General stated that general government expenses were dominated by employment costs, predominantly in the functional areas of education, health, and public order and safety. Oh, would these be the same frontline operators that the Leader of the Opposition was referring to? We have had growth for the year at 6%, largely attributable to the EBAs in and around 3%, and the growth in numbers of 2%. Beware the CLP razor gang, I say to the public service, having listened to the contribution by the Leader of the Opposition. This government makes no apology for the fact that we have had to build, in core services areas of government, the staff required to fulfil the functions right throughout the Territory. That is a stark contrast to what we inherited. If you look into the area of child protection alone, we have had staff in to the area of child protection to address the deficit in the operations. We make no apology for that.
The Leader of the Opposition would have us believe that government alone sets the wages conditions by which the Territory is driven. What a lot of rot! We have had significant growth in private sector investment in the Territory. We are competing with the private sector for the skilled workforce and, appropriately so. People will move around in their careers more than they have in the past and, so, those skills and talents are moving in and out of the public sector. We are a significant trainer for skills when it comes to public sector employment, and we make no apology for that. We train and we often see our skilled public servants move out into the private sector where their earning capacity is quite significant.
I will just give an example, as Transport minister. We are seeing our bus drivers, skilled heavy vehicle licensees, moving into the mining sector where they are making an absolute motser in driving trucks for the mines. Yes, we are growing our public service, predominantly in the functional areas of education, health and public order and safety. However, we are a government that has a wages policy which is around the area of constraint. Where possible, we have been constraining wages growth, as we should if we are a fiscally responsible government.
But what are we greeted with here? In the reality of the EBA processes, we are greeted with a bizarre Leader of the Opposition trumpeting that we should just give the unions what they ask for - no view to wage constraint because of the millions of dollars it puts on the bottom line of the budget immediately - recurrent. It is not one-off capital, it is recurrent. Tens of millions of dollars on the bottom line if we followed the path the Leader of the Opposition would have us follow in EBA negotiations - foolish, reckless, dangerous, economic vandal that he is.
Madam Speaker, the Auditor-General stated that, in relation to the explanation of the use of the $64.9m increase in Treasurer’s Advance during 2006-07, he concluded that this was able to be appropriated due to the increased GST and own source revenue. The Auditor-General stated, in relation to the government’s balance sheet regarding the management of data and information on the age and condition of public sector asset buildings, that currently this information is stored in a number of systems and, therefore, does not allow a centralised assessment of the future replacement and maintenance decisions.
Although the statement about the number of systems is correct, processes have been in place for many years to ensure that this information is provided in an appropriate manner. Notwithstanding this, the Auditor-General also noted that DPI has commissioned the procurement of a new asset management system to provide an integrated approach to assist in assessing future asset replacement and maintenance needs across the public sector. We are a government that recognises that we have an ageing infrastructure across our public sector, and we have ensured we are putting in place a new asset management system to provide that integrated approach to asset replacement and maintenance needs.
Regarding the other audit findings, in addition to the TAS findings, there are some key audit findings that ministers respond to in terms of their aspects of their agency responses in the report. There were no material issues and all agencies have responded positively.
In relation to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, as I have recognised, the Auditor-General noted in his report that the IT effectiveness audit - that is, how well does IT fit the agency’s business needs - identified that the strategic alignment between IT and business could not be clearly demonstrated. The report noted that IT is operating as a utility - that is, a general supportive process - and not as a strategic enabler - that is, delivering value, cost rationalisation and risk mitigation - within the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.
The Auditor-General’s report further noted that the audit of the 2007 financial statements of the Construction Division disclosed several instances of payments being made without the correct authorisation being applied.
The report further noted that he found no matter of significance to report in respect of his audit of the Darwin Bus Service 2007 financial statement.
In response, the Department of Planning and Infrastructure has acknowledged the issues through the IT effectiveness audit. In addressing the key findings identified through the audit, the agency has identified that the new Director of Information and Business Services commenced on 19 November last year and, as a priority, would re-establish the Information Management Committee with a revised terms of reference and, as part of establishing IT governors, IT strategy and IT performance monitoring, KPIs and defined metrics for achievement, and offers to find objectives will be documented, reviewed and monitored on an ongoing basis.
The IMC met on 13 December last year and noted the findings of the audit, and endorsed the revised terms of reference. Furthermore, the IMC agreed to meet monthly until June of this year and, as a high priority, progress the development of the IT Strategic Plan, with a draft expected in June of this year. The agency has fully responded to the matters raised in that IT audit.
In respect to the Construction Division matter raised, the Construction Division has investigated the instances noted in the report and is working to tighten and ensure robust and internal procedures, including adherence to financial delegations. The Construction Division has implemented an internal audit plan that covers various financial processes over the five regions. The Auditor-General has noted that the division has improved its system of internal controls during the past year. Several new initiatives were undertaken during the year to enhance the commercial focus of the Construction Division. This included the formation of an Audit Working Group to review processes within the division. Staff training on financial issues was also undertaken during the year.
The majority of the audit findings can be related to the lack of the IT strategy, governance framework, and vacancies in the support and management IT. The development of an effective strategic plan, recruitment to key vacancies, and re-establishment of the IMC will address these major issues identified.
Madam Speaker, in closing, as Treasurer, regarding the increase in revenues that the Auditor-General identified in the analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement - and this speaks volumes for the approach taken by this government - I will quote from page 7 of the Auditor-General’s report, last paragraph:
- The operating cash surplus, supplemented by nett cash inflows as a result of financing activities, was applied to financing the capital program, with the latter activity requiring nett cash outlays of $579.5m.
Yes, we have been in a period of increasing revenue into the Territory as a result of GST relativities, but the Leader of the Opposition would have us believe that the GST means we are awash in finances.
We have been very prudent. The GST replaced the Commonwealth Grants Commission grants processes; that is, prior to the GST, the Northern Territory was significantly funded through Commonwealth grants. Why is that? Well, look around. We are a very large jurisdiction geographically, we have a very small population, and we are dispersed across that very large geographical area. Realistically, we cannot survive on own source revenue alone. Everyone knows that. That is why we have had a Commonwealth Grants Commission in place. That is why we have the GST relativity process through the Commonwealth Grants Commission. We make no apology for going out and pursuing a better slice of the GST pie.
If you buy into the rhetoric of the Opposition Leader - that we are somehow getting money that is not entitled to us and somehow are squandering that money - you would be a fool. We are turning the additional GST revenue into capital infrastructure where we can. We are building schools, roads, and the infrastructure we need to underpin the future growth of the Territory. We are unashamedly doing that right across the Territory. We have a deficit to address in the bush. Closing the Gap is our plan for the next few decades. It is a 20-year plan and we are funded to close the gap - the deficit which was a generational gap of previous governments which benefited through the Commonwealth Grants Commission and spent that money in limited areas without vision, without understanding that to have a robust Territory we needed to grow our regions.
What is sitting in the regions? We have the wealth of human capital, of people of the Territory who should be, by rights, properly educated, and have opportunities for training and for employment. What is also sitting out in our regions is our mineral wealth. As a resource rich jurisdiction, we would be absolutely foolhardy not to pursue the resource wealth in our regions. Whether it is the mines in Central Australia or the Top End, the best we can do is ensure that we are meeting the infrastructure and regulatory needs and providing the necessary human capital; that is, providing opportunities for the people to have real jobs.
How do you get to that point? You provide education in the bush. You provide opportunities for training in the bush. You ensure you do not use the politics of blame to beat down Territorians - as has happened to our shame in the past consistently by the CLP. The Leader of the Opposition chooses to ignore the reality of the situation that this government is tackling head on. We are spending on capital infrastructure. He chooses to ignore the significant capital investment we are making in our energy and water resources. Look at the strife that the southern jurisdictions have got themselves into by not putting investment into the capital requirements of your energy and water resources. We make no apology that we have been growing our GST revenue, our special purpose payments relationship with the Commonwealth, and our own source revenue but, throughout this process, we have been very carefully and judiciously putting those extra funds into capital expansion.
In 2000-01, we inherited a capital works program with no cash against it. A program that was, ‘Well, we are going to do build this, but we have no cash to build it’. We had a sign that declared ‘the future home of soccer stadium’, but there was no cash to build it. We are a government that is building the infrastructure to underpin the economic growth of the Territory. That also goes to critically important human capital – education, training and jobs. We are funding education at record levels. We are funding training at record levels. We actually have a Jobs Plan. It was unheard of previously.
Yes, the Auditor-General reports that we have had increased revenue. The Auditor-General recognises that, significantly, we are funding into the capital requirements of the Territory. The Auditor-General recognises that we have significantly reduced nett debt. I will quote from page 29 of the analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement:
- The Territory’s nett debt position as at 30 June 2007 improved significantly when compared with the prior year.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report; he does a very fine job for Territorians. I am proud to be a member of a government which responds to Auditor-General’s reports, rather than put them on the shelf and bury their heads in the sand as the CLP has done.
Dr BURNS (Health): Madam Speaker, I welcome the Auditor-General’s February 2008 Report and appreciate the work that he does helping to maintain high standards of governance and accountability in our public sector.
The Auditor-General conducted audits across a number of agencies, including the Department of Health and Community Services, as a regular scheduled audit. Three areas in the department were audited. A general information technology fit - that is, whether the department had information technology aligned to business needs; the Ascribe pharmacy stock control system; and the Quantel stock control system for other than pharmacy goods.
In his report, the Auditor-General recognised quite a number of strengths within the department, and what the department is doing, and I appreciate those very positive comments from him. However, the Auditor-General has also identified some areas, as he puts it, ‘for improvement opportunities’. Those are opportunities that we are going to grasp, and the department has already taken on board the comments of the Auditor-General.
For new members in this place, it is useful to reflect on the situation when we came to power in 2001. The then Auditor-General complained that his reports were ignored by the previous CLP government. In fact, he would do quite detailed reports and there would not even be a comment in the report from a department. Departments were not obliged to report and comment and put forward their remedies to what the Auditor-General had suggested.
As a government, we changed that. We said to the departments: ‘You must respond to the Auditor-General’s report, and you must offer comments’. In some cases, departments disagree with the Auditor-General, and they say so, but they give reasons why they disagree and why they want to do things in a certain way. However, in the whole, in the majority of cases, departments acknowledge that the Auditor-General - an independent assessor, if you like - has come in, made suggestions and opportunities for improvement, and take those on board. I believe it is a very constructive process that has been instituted under this government, and it brings about transparency in government. It is there for all to see - both what the Auditor-General says and the departmental response.
I will go back to the issues related to the Department of Health and Community Services. In relation to the information technology, the main issue identified by the Auditor-General was that the department’s Strategic Information Management Steering Committee was not strategic enough with the alignment to business needs. The management has responded and said that the department’s new Chief Operations Officer now chairs the meetings of that particular committee, and the terms of reference of this committee have now been revised to provide a more strategic focus.
Ascribe: the Auditor-General made comments about the strengths of this prescribing and dispensing system - the pharmacy system. Some of the things that the Auditor-General noted were that there was a sound understanding of the system and business procedures; the controls regarding the accuracy and completeness of the system interfaces; and also changed control procedures which include the need for testing and approval. However, there were a number of issues that were identified. The Auditor-General felt there was weak security; in particular, access not properly controlled and physical access too easy. The management has responded in no uncertain terms to make the access more secure and the physical access requirements have been changed. The department’s own audit committee is continuing to follow-up on this audit and ensure that all necessary recommendations are followed.
Quantel: this is an ordering system and the issues that were identified by the Auditor-General were: concern over the adequacy of the interface between Quantel and the Government Accounting System or GAS; security of user access lacking; and segregation of purchasing and receiving stock lacking. The management has responded to that. They agree with the Auditor-General’s findings and they will review the Quantel system and address those recommendations. The department is also advised that changes may be required to cater for broader reforms to procurement required under the national E-Health Transition Authority. The department’s audit committee is also continuing to follow-up on this audit to ensure all necessary recommendations are followed.
Turning to the Department of Justice, the Auditor-General also made comment about the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission. It was pleasing to report that the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, which receives the majority of its funding from the Commonwealth and Territory governments, received an unqualified audit opinion and the audit did not identify any material weaknesses or matters of significance.
Madam Speaker, in closing, I appreciate the work of the Auditor-General. I know that he makes very constructive suggestions to departments in order to get transparency and accountability within government processes and the financial structures of government. I commend the Auditor-General’s report to this parliament.
Mr VATSKALIS (Business and Economic Development): Madam Speaker, I am grateful to the Auditor-General for his work and, today, I discuss issues raised by his report.
First, the Department of Business, Economic and Regional Development, Desert Knowledge Australia: the February 2008 Report of the Auditor-General for the Northern Territory noted that:
- While no matters of significance were raised as a result of the audit, a number of minor matters were again brought to the attention of the Board. This included the need:
to improve internal control through the use of purchase orders;
Desert Knowledge Australia has reported that each of these matters has been or is being addressed. On key issue 1, DKA established and implemented a purchase order system in July 2007. In respect to issue 2, DKA advised that the rental agreement would be worked through with Territory Housing, though this has not as yet been achieved. In relation to issue 3, a draft agreement has been prepared and endorsed by DKA and DBERD as part of the memorandum of understanding between both organisations. The MOU is being finalised for execution. With regard to issue 4, petty cash has been reconciled quarterly since the 2005-06 audit, but DKA is now reconciling petty cash on a monthly basis as suggested by the Auditor-General.
With regard to Territory Housing, the audit of Territory Housing for the year ended resulted in an unqualified audit opinion being issued by the Auditor-General on 17 October 2007. Further, Territory Housing year-ended accounting procedures and internal control procedures were found to be satisfactory, with the exception of the system issues which were noted by the Auditor-General and affected the Asset Information System and the Tenancy Management System, which resulted in large reconciling items between the Government Accounting System, General Ledger, and the subsidiary systems.
In relation to the key issue of systems, Territory Housing continues to investigate systematic solutions to resolve the long-standing issues noted by the Auditor-General.
With regard to Power and Water, the Auditor-General’s report to the Legislative Assembly noted that he had issued a qualified audit opinion on Power and Water’s financial statements and consolidated entity for the year ending 30 June 2007. The corporation recorded a nett loss after tax of $69.2m for 2006-07, after an impairment write-down in the value of water and sewerage assets of $102.5m post-tax, or $146.4m pre-tax, which resulted after the Australian Accounting Standard 136, ‘Impairment of Assets’ was applied. After eliminating the effects of the asset write-down, there was a consolidated nett profit after tax of $33.3m. This qualified audit opinion contains two main elements: it carried over for the comparative information included in the 2006-07 reports; and the impairment write-down of $146.4m pre-tax straddles the 2005-06 and 2006-07 financial years, which caused the loss reported in the 2006-07 income statement to be overstated.
In 2006-07, the corporation re-engineered the financial model, using an expected cash flow approach, for testing the carrying value of assets under Accounting Standard AASB 136, and obtained independent advice on an appropriate discount rate.
There has been substantial work done to improve the reliability of financial projections in the annual Statement of Corporate Intent which, amongst other things, forms the basis of data for the asset impairment test.
The 2007-08 Statement of Corporate Intent highlighted a significant increase in investment in capital works and repairs and maintenance expenditure, showing the necessity of the CIP-based tariff rises in 2007. Without these increases, it is likely that the asset write-down would have been greater. The revised asset impairment review process was used to prepare the 2006-07 financial statements and met audit scrutiny. We understand the Auditor-General accepted this approach as the qualification was in respect to timing and carryover information.
The qualified audit opinion issued on 30 June 2007 financial statements will have a carryover impact in 2007-08, as these financial statements are included as comparative information in the 30 June 2008 report.
As noted in the Auditor-General’s report, a comprehensive stocktake of the corporation’s assets and reconciliation with the fixed asset register is under way. While this has been a substantial exercise, the corporation is on schedule to include these results in the 2007-08 financial statements.
The audit findings and analysis of Territory Discoveries’ financial statements for the year ending 30 June 2007 were published in the Auditor-General’s report. The audit did not identify any matters of significance, and no material weaknesses in controls were identified. Tourism NT is not reported on in the Auditor-General’s report.
All agencies under my administration always cast a very serious eye to the comments of the Auditor-General and work with him to iron out any issues.
Madam Speaker, I am very grateful to the Auditor-General for his work.
Mr NATT (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I will make a few remarks on the Auditor-General’s findings into my Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines’ assessment of the McArthur River Mine security bond. McArthur River Mining Pty Ltd is required to provide a Mine Management Plan annually, or when there are significant changes made to the mine. My Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines continually reviews mine management plans to ensure their currency, and that adequate securities are in place. This process is conducted in accordance with the Mine Management Act and is also guided by the agency’s Risk Management Audit Committee schedule.
Additionally, to ensure complete open and transparent operations, my department engages external consultants to review their processes and business practices, which have to date been found to be in order. I am satisfied that my department’s overall processes provide a robust mechanism for determining an appropriate quantum and lodgement of security deposit by the company.
The key findings of the Auditor-General’s report are an accurate reflection of the current situation. The audit looked at the processes followed by my department when assessing the value of security required to be lodged in connection with the McArthur River Mine expansion. These processes were found to be appropriate. The audit was undertaken in the light of experience with the Mt Todd mine where, following an insolvency of the operator, the Territory was required to meet the costs associated with rehabilitation of the site and, as everyone is aware, those costs are an ongoing drain to Territory taxpayers. This government is committed to rehabilitation of the Mt Todd mine site, a legacy inherited from the previous CLP government.
I can also report that this government has, for the first time, insisted that security bonds covering the full amount of rehabilitation costs be in place for all current mining projects - a clear demonstration that we will not allow Territorians to be exposed to the potential costs of another Mt Todd. A further demonstration that this government takes mining compliance seriously is that we have been the first government in the Territory to prosecute – and, I might say, prosecute successfully - mining companies that have breached their obligations under the Mining Management Act.
This government is a strong supporter of the mining industry. It provides jobs for Territorians and makes a substantial contribution to our economic growth. At the same time, we also send a clear message to the mining industry that all developments will need to be environmentally sustainable and that we expect them to meet all of their obligations of site rehabilitation and commitments reflected in their mining management plans.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report and the great work that he does for the Northern Territory.
Mr KIELY (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I place on the record my thanks to the Auditor-General and his staff for the important work they do. It is an important job and a key component in ensuring Territorians continue to enjoy open and accountable government. Their labour is acknowledged and appreciated by this government.
The Auditor-General, in this February report, passed opinion on the financial statements of the Territory Wildlife Parks, a government business division of the Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts, the Cobourg Peninsula Sanctuary and Marine Park Board, and the Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park Board, statutory authorities also administered through the department. For the second year running, the Auditor-General has expressed a clear, unqualified opinion on the financial statements of these three entities, reflecting confidence in their governance and standards of accountability and financial reporting. This report provides comfort that these entities are being managed and reported in an accountable way.
Mr BONSON (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, the Auditor-General’s February report referred to two entities for which I have responsibility: the Departments of Corporate and Information Services, and Sport and Recreation.
I will turn first to the Department of Corporate and Information Services. The February 2008 Report covered audits of financial statements of all three DCIS government business divisions, the NT Fleet, the Government Printing Office, and Data Centre Services. The audits of financial statements of all three government business divisions did not identify any matters of significance or any material weaknesses in control. The Auditor-General also reviewed IT controls within Data Centre Services, including testing Internet security and management of remote access to NT government networks.
Generally, the practices in place were found to be appropriate. However, areas for improvement in documentation were identified including: consistency of terminology in change management documentation; a common approach between Data Centre Services and DCIS ICT policy branch in development of security standards; and better documentation to support systems management procedures regarding Internet security. An action plan has been developed in response to these findings and is being implemented by Data Centre Services.
The Auditor-General also analysed the financial statements for the Territory Motor Sports Board Ltd to the year ended 30 June 2007. The company was established to manage, operate, control, and further develop the Hidden Valley Motor Sports Complex. The company took over the assets of the NT Motor Sports Council on 1 July 2001. The company ceased to trade from 30 September 2006, with the business transferred to the Department of Local Government, Housing and Sport. Madam Speaker, the audit did not identify any matters of significance and no material weaknesses in control were identified.
Mr KNIGHT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I make comment in relation to the Auditor-General’s report. The audit of the Jabiru Town Development Authority (JTDA) 2006-07 Annual Financial Statement resulted in an unqualified independent audit opinion issued by the Auditor-General. The audit opinion, while not qualified, placed emphasis on the authority’s expectation that the moratorium of future interest and repayment of loans due to the Northern Territory government, totalling approximately $8.8m, would continue. The JTDA operate under the Jabiru Town Development Act and is the statutory authority responsible to the Minister for Local Government. Its two principal members are representatives from the Northern Territory government and Energy Resources of Australia, operators of the Ranger Uranium Mine.
During the establishment of Jabiru, the Northern Territory government provided loan funds to JTDA for designed infrastructure that was constructed to meet the expected population of approximately 6000 people. The Territory expected to recoup its investment as further mining ventures developed.
In 1985, the cost sharing agreement between ERA and the JTDA was signed, identifying the contributions by both parties in the development of the town, and to protect the interest of both parties by establishing criteria for the contribution towards the original development costs on the part of the new entrance to the town. This cost-sharing agreement also established the role of JTDA as holding in trust the assets of the town for the Commonwealth and the Territory governments, JTDA and ERA.
In 1986, the Northern Territory government granted JTDA a moratorium on the repayment of the loan and the interest payments. JTDA advised that the Auditor-General, in its annual financial statement, expects the moratorium on future interests and loan repayments to continue, enabling the JTDA to continue as an ongoing concern.
In January 2006, Cabinet approved the establishment of an inter-departmental committee, chaired by the Department of the Chief Minister, to consider the strategic interest of the Northern Territory government in the Jabiru region, and to manage a consultation process with key stakeholders in relation to the future of the town.
There are a number of key issues requiring resolution to progress the Northern Territory government’s strategic interest in the region. An extension of the head lease and the simplification of the planning and development processes will be necessary for commercial development in Jabiru. The ownership and maintenance of Jabiru’s ageing infrastructure is a further issue requiring resolution. Negotiations are commencing with Northern Territory Treasury, with an aim of that department managing all future negotiations in the resolution of the cost-sharing agreement.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I make comment in regard to the Auditor-General’s report. The Auditor-General stated that the Department of Education, Employment and Training was not one of the agencies that he noted, but the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education was mentioned. The Auditor-General noted that this was the second consecutive year that the institute had failed to meet its reporting deadlines, and that the financial statements required a number of amendments. That has been addressed.
Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report and the work that he does for the openness and transparency of our government.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members who have contributed to this debate. The Auditor-General is a very important part of the checks and balances of government and agencies, and is a very important institution within the Westminster system of parliament. As Chief Minister, I am sure all of the ministers in my Cabinet take his reports seriously, get across the recommendations that he has made, the issues he has raised, and ensure that those issues are fixed in work between ministers and chief executive officers.
I will pick up on comments made by the Leader of the Opposition in reference to the Auditor-General’s comments regarding instances where the analysis of firm’s capabilities were documented after the decision was made to engage those firms for assignments. He tried to read into it that public servants had intentionally ignored and side-stepped procurement policy and the procurement process. That is outrageous.
Since the opposition has been in opposition, there have been a number of instances where they have made allegations in this Chamber that public servants have either not acted properly or are in collusion with government. They have a bit of a track record in making implications about the professional capacity and the work that our public servants do. It is very regrettable that the Leader of the Opposition would read into the Auditor-General’s comments that, somehow, they had deliberately ignored procurement processes. The Auditor-General very clearly said that he was satisfied that the company involved was the firm best qualified to provide the services required. They ranked above other panel members providing similar services, and the department’s processes were generally consistent with Northern Territory government procurement policy. To accuse public servants of intentionally ignoring and side-stepping procurement policy is a very long bow to draw, and reflects on the professional integrity of our public servants. I just do not think it is warranted.
Regarding his comments on repeated underestimations of revenue, revenue increases are due to higher economic growth in the Territory, our own source taxes and royalties and, nationally, GST and SPPs. SPPs always grow through the year as agreements are signed, and GST revenue grows with national collections of GST. Again, the Leader of the Opposition thinks that forecasting revenue is some sort of exact science. It is not. It is not an exact science and, when you look around government’s budgeting revenue estimations, final positions in government accounts at the end of financial years - it does not matter whether it is state governments, territory governments or the national government - there is always a difference at the end of the financial year from the figures that were forecast in the budget at the beginning of the financial year.
If the Leader of the Opposition has a crystal ball that is much better than the best Treasury brains in the land, he could make himself a lot of money in the private sector in accurately forecasting revenues and growth projections, because it is not an exact science. It is not just Labor governments that have final account positions different to what was forecast at the beginning of the financial year. The previous Howard/Costello team in Canberra, every year, had budget surpluses larger than were forecasted during the beginning of the financial year, as revenue growths to the federal government coffers increased along with an expanding economy. Obviously, the Leader of the Opposition thinks that he has a better crystal ball than anybody else.
Regarding his comments on liabilities and debt, the comments on debt are wrong. The numbers he has used are related to unfunded superannuation liabilities, and these were incurred between 1986 and 1999. With respect to when liabilities peaked, there are two issues. The benefits will peak in 2020 to 2023, but the liability peaks in 2015. There is no link between liabilities and the current wages of public servants. Liabilities are related to closed schemes of the Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme and NTGPASS. The liabilities are, therefore, due to past policies. All new employees since 1999 have the superannuation costs fully funded. Again, the Leader of the Opposition and shadow Treasurer is wrong in the comments that he has made.
Regarding the use of Treasurer’s Advance, he obviously does not understand the Financial Management Act. It allows for appropriation to be increased through the year in line with increased revenue. Treasurer’s Advance is not for ongoing, recurrent increases and it is not used for that purpose. I am sure my colleague, the Treasurer, would be happy to give him a briefing about the workings of Treasury throughout the financial year, and the various mechanisms that are used to allocate budgets and decisions that are made during the financial year. The Treasurer’s Advance is not used for ongoing expenditure items. Again, the Leader of the Opposition was wrong in the comments that he made.
In concluding, Madam Speaker, I thank the Auditor-General for his report. The government values his independent and transparent way of bringing about good governance; in particular, accountability. It is certainly a very important check and balance on our system of government. I thank the Auditor-General and his team for the ongoing good work that serves not only this parliament well, but the people of the Northern Territory well.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 135)
(Serial 135)
Continued from 19 February 2008.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, government has introduced the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment Bill 2008, and we understand that this is to amend the Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act, which was the old Work Health Act.
The Workers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is being amended in four ways as we see. First, to fast-track the mediation process; second, to allow full disclosure for medical records; third, closing a loophole that allowed insurers to avoid paying medical costs and, finally, closing a loophole that allowed for compensated volunteers to receive full benefits and have a full-time job. I will touch on each of those points as we go through.
Mediation: currently, if a person who is claiming for an injury enters into a dispute with their employer, they are required to go through a mediation process. During the process, the worker whose payments are denied or reduced suffers a financial stress. The current period for NT WorkSafe to organise mediation is 28 days. To alleviate the stresses on the claimant party, that mediation period has been shortened to 21 days. We believe that is a sensible move.
Full disclosure: these changes will require full disclosure of medical records to the claimant party. Full disclosure, with some exceptions, is an increasingly common benchmark for civil matters in all Australian jurisdictions because it helps matters to be settled out of court. This is replacing discovery as the primary mechanism for pre-trial communication. We also support that measure.
Insurer’s loophole: currently, where a person is injured, the insurer must make a decision whether to reject or accept liability for the injury within 10 working days. However, there is a capacity for the insurer to defer the decision for up to 56 days so that the matter may be further investigated. During this hiatus, the insurer does not pay medical or rehabilitation costs for injuries other than mental stress. This amendment means that the intent of section 87 is explained more fulsomely to avoid the use of the deferral period as a means to postpone liability. In the second reading speech, the minister said that this is designed to put pressure on the insurer to reach a decision and notify the claimant that they either accept or deny the claim. A reading of section 87 suggests that this was the intent of the original section when passed. The amendment clarifies that position. The Insurance Council of Australia is currently examining the bill, as we understand, to determine what action, if any, they want to take in relation to that matter. We support also the clarification of that point.
Volunteers’ compensation: there is also another anomaly that is being addressed. Currently, a volunteer may be compensated for injuries received whilst engaged in some volunteer work. However, where the injury continues to render the volunteer unfit for their volunteer work, but is able, nevertheless, to return to the source of their full-time income, it is possible for compensation to be claimed whilst the full-time income is being earned. An example would be a volunteer ambulance officer who injures their knee on duty. While being unable to conduct the volunteer work, the person may return to a desk job for which they draw a full-time income. In those circumstances, the volunteer would be paid compensation and a full-time wage. This was not the intent of the original amendment and was to protect volunteers.
Madam Speaker, with that said, and that summary as presented by the opposition, we think that these proposals are common sense and we support these amendments.
Debate suspended.
WORKERS REHABILITATION AND COMPENSATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 135)
(Serial 135)
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of the legislation. My comments are limited to those aspects of the bill that address the full disclosure of medical reports prior to mediation and mediation itself. I ask members throughout this contribution to remember that a worker is required by legislation to attend any medical assessments arranged by the insurer, unless they provide adequate reasons to the insurer otherwise. If they do not do this, then it can be the basis for a refusal of the claim. It is a very heavy stick. Bear in mind also that, as things stand, the worker has no right to obtain a copy of any such reports.
It can also affect the continued acceptance of the claim. The insurer can hold back the medical reports it holds until such time as it wishes to rely on them in rejecting the claim. Members should remember you do not just have rejection or acceptance of the claim in total, but you also have acceptance or rejection of medical expenses which are reasonably linked to the injury suffered. Therefore, if an insurer forms the view on the basis of a medical report that is obtained but not in the possession of the treating practitioner, the cost of that treatment can be knocked back by the insurer, notwithstanding that it still accepts that there is other treatment that would be linked to the injury.
This is an area where plaintiff lawyers are very active in trying to protect the interests of their client. However, bear in mind where we are in the time line. It is most unlikely that anyone will consult a lawyer at this stage because, for most people, there is no legal dispute, so why would you? Those who do will find their lawyers seek disclosure of these reports on the basis that the insurer has relied on them in accepting the claim, in order to start preparing in the event that some aspect goes against the injured worker. I have digressed a little into an area that is not really the subject of this bill but one which, perhaps, the government can look into.
Back to the words I was looking at: ‘reports upon which the insurer relies’. Insurers interpret this as meaning that, if they do not wish to use the report in making their decision, then it is not a report on which they rely. The decision not to use the report can solely be on the basis that it is not favourable to their argument. Advocates on behalf of injured workers - at this stage usually union officials as lawyers are barred from the mediation process - will argue that if the insurer thought it necessary to require the worker to be medically assessed that, in itself, shows the insurer intended to rely on it. It does not matter that the insurer decided, for whatever reason, that the report was not useful. I again point out that is an argument run by advocates on behalf of workers.
Another form of words often used is based upon whether a medical report is relevant to the insurer’s decision, not whether or not they relied on it. This, too, is quite a vexed area of litigation. The arguments are similar to the issue of what is reliant. The insurers argue: ‘Yes, we obtained it, but it is not relevant’. The worker’s advocate will say: ‘We would like to see it because we cannot assess whether it is relevant without seeing it’. The insurer again says: ‘Well, you can take us to court to challenge our decision and then you can argue before the court the relevance or otherwise and whether you can get your hands on it or not. But here at a mediation process, you are not getting it and, more importantly, neither is the mediator’.
Interestingly, the operation of court rules of discovery often compel the insurer to disclose the report. This is because the insurer must, at the very least, disclose their existence. If they then refuse to provide them – even if they win the argument not to provide them - the worker’s legal representative is likely to argue that they are not being provided because they are not favourable, and will invite the court to infer this in any decision it reaches. Some may think: ‘Well, there is protection for the worker’. However, I ask members to again remember there is usually considerable time and treatment between the rejection of a claim and the discovery process in court; remembering also that many injured workers may not seek legal advice or even go that far. Therefore, the injured worker has been paying medical bills on their own, and is both often financially and emotionally stressed.
The legislative requirement for the insurer to hand over all reports prior to mediation evens the bargaining power at the mediation, and also has the benefits for treating physicians, who then have the benefit of looking at medical reports obtained by the insurer.
I will now address the mediation process. I welcome the changes that speed up the process. Members ought be aware that an injured worker must have requested mediation before they can commence proceedings in court. The intention of this is good: to try to resolve claims before getting to court and, therefore, reduce the cost. The execution is varied. Some insurers – some, not all – have no interest whatsoever in meaningfully addressing mediation. Their idea of resolution is that the injured worker simply accepts that their claim has been rejected and that is the end of it.
In my role as an industrial officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union, I accompanied a number of members of the union on several occasions to mediations. I can inform the House that, on a number of these occasions, the only point to mediation was simply to get the mediator’s certificate that mediation was attempted but not possible so that the injured worker could then go to their legal advisor and seek advice on legal proceedings. It was simply a tick in the box that you had to clear the way, and there was nothing meaningful about the mediation at all. On one occasion, I recall the insurer’s representative did not even bother bringing the injured person’s file. On another occasion, I asked the insurer why they had bothered to show up at all if they were not there to resolve any issues. The answer, not verbatim, was along the lines of, ‘We are here because we have to be. We are not here to actually discuss anything’.
Again, this is an area that could be looked into, and I certainly encourage some review, but confess I am not sure how you actually force a party to any mediation to meaningfully engage in mediation. It is one of those things that you can provide the mechanism, but you cannot legislate for the genuineness of participation. The value of mediation as a low-cost alternative to litigation is only valuable if both parties use it for that purpose.
However, having made these observations, I reiterate that I believe this is a step forward. The changes in the bill will lead to a somewhat quicker resolution of claims, which will reduce hardship on injured workers engaged in dispute with the insurer of their employer in trying to have their claim, or a part of their claim, accepted.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank all speakers who have contributed to this bill. First, I will go to the Leader of the Opposition, who spoke just before lunch. He raised one issue. I can advise the Leader of the Opposition that the Insurance Council of Australia raised no issue at all with the bill.
I thank the member for Brennan, who certainly has much experience in this area, having worked, as he said in his response to the bill, in this area for a long time. I also thank my department who have done this, and Ms Sue Carter.
What we have done, as we can see, will reduce the length of time that workers have to wait before being able to make an application to the court, and to provide for the full disclosure of medical reports in an effort to reduce the number of disputes being referred to the court. This fixes up that loophole which is in the legislation. It is good for workers and it certainly provides that coverage, particularly for volunteers and other people working in that area.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I welcome staff from the Department of Employment, Education and Training who have come here to listen to this statement. On behalf of honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Transforming Indigenous Education
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I welcome all my staff from the Department of Employment, Education and Training who are present to hear this statement.
Since taking on the Education portfolio, my attention has constantly been drawn to a profound contradiction in the results our education system achieves. We have a system that produces student performances amongst the best in the nation; a system able to maintain academic standards which would see those students competitively rank in any national merit survey. Students who receive our top tertiary entrance results are well placed to get into universities of their choice.
Within and beyond the school gate, we have the highest proportion of students undertaking Vocational Education and Training in Australia. We are doing more than any other government to get our young people ready to meet critical skills shortage.
It was fantastic to go to Rosebery and, together with the Chief Minister, make one of the biggest one-off education infrastructure announcements the Territory has ever seen. We will spend almost $50m in Palmerston on two new schools. The Henderson Labor government is clearly and deeply committed to quality education.
Sadly, we have a substantial group of children and young adults - indigenous Territorians - who are not effectively engaging with or benefiting from the system. While I am the Education minister for all our kids, it is indigenous education that presents my greatest and most urgent challenge. The fundamental question is this: how do we ensure that we comprehensively overcome the enormous backlog of educational disadvantage faced by indigenous students in the Territory whilst, at the same time, not in any way compromise the high standards that have been achieved for non-indigenous students? Addressing this question is the most important and pressing task facing us in education. It mirrors the fundamental threshold issues that this government must address across a range of programs and social indicators in implementing our Closing the Gap commitments.
The resources we need to fix these problems will be substantial and long term, as has also been recognised by the Rudd government. We cannot shrink from the effort and cost of finding solutions. If we do, we will reap a bitter harvest of poverty, disadvantage and social dysfunction. Education that leads to employment and which instils critical life skills must be seen as the foundation for the advancement of indigenous Territorians, which means the advancement of the Territory as a whole.
I am not just speaking of capital resources. Human resources are an equally vital ingredient in the mix. This means parents and the wider community, as well as teachers. Parents and carers must be part of the solution; they must resolve to guard, support and morally underwrite the future of their children. There is no longer any excuse for anything other than an absolute dedication on their part. It goes without saying that teachers are the indispensable foot soldiers in this campaign. We must take Territory teachers, as good as any in the country, with us on the road to closing the gap.
As well as the effort we expect from teachers and parents, we need to see an equivalent undertaking from communities generally - from the tiniest outstation to our major suburbs. The problems that many of our kids experience are not quarantined to the bush; they are challenges which are also found in the towns. They are part of the continuum with kids and parents moving from remote to rural to urban centres and back again. We must understand and learn from the myriad impediments many of our kids face in health and housing; how overcrowding, substance abuse and violence in the home can negate the preconditions necessary for a proper start in the educational journey.
Today, I announce a package of measures designed to begin the transformation of indigenous education in the Northern Territory. However, before doing so, I make members of this Assembly aware of some hard, cold facts. These are the facts that have motivated my moves to transform indigenous education. I have directed my department to post these figures on its website immediately. I make no apology for doing so. All Territorians must have a clear and transparent understanding of these figures, and I have directed that this information become a permanent feature of disclosure in the future. It is the kind of disclosure we all require if we are to measure our progress.
First, the latest results of testing for literacy and numeracy in the Territory for Years 3, 5 and 7 children demonstrate the stark differences that exist. They confirm what we already know. Literacy and numeracy outcomes for students in the bush compared to the Northern Territory student population as a whole are: at Year 3 - 40.5% reading and 50% numeracy, compared to 72.8% and 82.3%; at Year 5 – 16.5% reading and 13.4% numeracy, compared to 72.3% and 70.2%; and at Year 7 – 16.4% reading and 10% numeracy, compared to 68% and 66.7%.
Second, ongoing results for school attendance in regional and remote schools showed persistent failure. I have spoken of the crisis in our education system. It is this crisis in attendance that I was speaking of. Between 2006 and 2007, the overall enrolment numbers increased by 1%; attendance at all Territory schools was steady at 83%. Provincial schools, Darwin and Palmerston, saw a 1% enrolment increase, a minor attendance rise of 0.3% to 89.3%. Remote schools saw a decrease of 1% in enrolments with a slight rise in attendance to 86%. Very remote schools saw an increase in enrolments of 3% with a static attendance rate of 69.1%, up only 0.1%.
Going to school is the bedrock for the future of Aboriginal people in the Territory. Unless we dramatically and sustainably lift school attendance, we may as well give the game away. Parents and carers of our children have to get on with it. You have to maintain it. If you do not you betray our children and you betray our culture. There is nothing in Aboriginal tradition or law that says we should not worry about going to school - quite the opposite. In fact, learning and acquiring knowledge is at the heart of our tradition and law - simple as that. It has been true for many thousands of years. Learning and knowledge is what makes us strong as Aboriginal people.
The same mothers, aunties and grandmothers who teach our children to find and prepare food, must also make sure our kids go to school. The same fathers, uncles and grandfathers who teach our children to hunt and sing, have to make them attend each day. The men and women who lead our ceremonies and who teach our children to hold the law must also tell of the importance of schooling. The men and women who take our girls to netball or softball, or who take our boys to footy, must also embrace taking our kids to school. It is vital that the habit of attending school is embedded early in a child’s life. However, just as critically, such attendance must be embraced by parents and carers. I say again: learning and knowledge is what makes us strong.
I now turn to the details of the Henderson government’s commitment to transforming indigenous education in order to make significant improvements. The seven principles that will guide this transformation are:
1. community ownership and control to increase respect for education;
In conjunction with these principles, I announce that my department will investigate the delivery of five new major projects to transform indigenous education in the Territory. These projects are designed to create much-needed improvement across the short-, medium- and long-term. Furthermore - and I wish to emphasise this in the strongest terms - the projects are strongly based on research evidence. We will incorporate an ongoing assessment and evaluation processes in all projects. As various elements of each project are proved up in the field, they will be extended across the system. They will not be locked away to gather dust somewhere in an office cupboard.
I have asked Dr Jonathon Carapetis of Menzies School to be involved from the start in a formal evaluation process of the new emphasis we give indigenous education. It will allow us to build on this evidence-based approach, allowing us, with ongoing evaluation, to roll out what exactly works across the rest of the Territory.
As with all elements of Closing the Gap, these comprehensive indigenous education reforms go far beyond election cycles. They are dedicated towards inter-generational change.
In considering these changes, I have held many discussions with my department CEO, Ms Margaret Banks. Together with her senior executives, we know we face a huge and urgent task. She will immediately establish the Transforming Indigenous Education Task Force group within DEET. It will coordinate DEET and other agencies to lift the unacceptably low educational achievements of indigenous Territorians.
In our general response to indigenous disadvantage, the Territory government is investing a record $286m in Closing the Gap. In this year’s budget, I am pleased to announce that under Closing the Gap education commitments, we will allocate $11.2m for seven remote school upgrades, $2.6m for 10 additional teachers, 16 additional assistant teachers, $1.5m for four new mobile preschools, and $650 000 for a school attendance team to campaign on the value of schooling. These announcements will begin to target some of the remote education issues. However, we recognise that we must put much more effort into transforming indigenous education. These new directions, some of which are already funded or partly funded, some of which we are still discussing with the Commonwealth, will give members an idea of the new directions we must take.
I want to have an informed dialogue with members about indigenous education. It is for that reason that this statement contains some work which is still in developmental stage. I will welcome members’ response to this approach. I have raised the issues at national forums and spoken with the Deputy Prime Minister about my concerns at the most recent Education Ministerial Council meeting. I told her that the Territory government was in no way willing to let low outcomes affecting indigenous kids to continue. She is committed to working with the Territory government in resolving indigenous disadvantage.
I will also engage the private school sector in these reforms. I will engage the most important stakeholder group such as the Council of Government Schools Organisation. Crucially, with particular reference to workforce development, I will also engage with the broader union movement and the Australian Education Union.
I turn now to specific new project directions we will be considering. First is the establishment of Community Partnership Education Boards, or CPEBs. As has been demonstrated over many years in the health sector, Aboriginal control over primary health care contributes enormously to closing the gap in indigenous health. We see this as a model for the education sector, with direct relevance to schools in very remote areas of the Territory.
We will develop a business case for two Community Partnership Education Boards - fully established, evaluated over a 10-year period - to progressively improve education, training and employment. Subject to negotiations, the two CPEBs will be the Warlpiri triangle of Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Nyirripi and Willowra, and the East Arnhem, the Miwatj or Yolgnu Matha speaking communities. Much work has already been done in these areas in building remote learning partnerships.
National recommendations in Australian Direction in Indigenous Education 2005-08 urges strong engagement from local indigenous communities in the education of their children and the life of the school. The CPEBs will extend this engagement to our remote schools. I see the CPEBs providing:
strong and genuine community ownership and management of education and training services and responsibility for achievement of outcomes;
The Territory and Australian governments will work together with communities and service providers to establish these boards. Concepts for the CPEBs will be based on other successful community engagement projects. Groups of communities will work through processes to increase self-governance and management at the local level. Capacity and capability building are necessary components.
The ultimate aim is the decentralisation of real power, responsibility and accountability, where the groups of communities work under one governance structure to manage delivery of quality education and training, as well as social and emotional support services. The boards will coordinate effective use of resources and expertise, and act as consumer/representative fund holders with responsibility for the purchase of education and training services.
The range of potential services and programs include: preschool, primary, middle and senior years education supported by distance learning services; careers advice, enterprise and vocational education; higher and other adult education, including training and up skilling programs; library services; student welfare services to address social and emotional wellbeing and special needs; school-based police and nurses, youth workers, professional learning and mentoring programs for teachers; support staff, community and board members and community-driven language and culture programs. Importantly, the model could also include a regional residential hostel.
There must be opportunities to develop flexible working arrangements for staff and changes to the school day and year to meet local needs. The importance of involving the local community in the education process and decision-making about schooling is to be made as close as possible to the student.
A community partnership mentoring program will be established through the use of renowned indigenous educator, Dr Chris Sarra. He will work closely with Mark Motlop, chair of the Indigenous Education Advisory Council. This will be an important development and will, I am sure, provide a way forward for further community involvement. It will be an important part of our approach to involve local people on the ground and expertise as needed.
Second, we will, in partnership with the Commonwealth, investigate the establishment of early learning and development family centres. These centres will help ensure indigenous children in remote communities are born healthy and have support, care and education throughout early childhood to equip them for life and learning, delivered in ways that actively engage families. It is a reform that will result in significant developmental, social and economic improvements for remote indigenous children and their families. Evidence shows the importance of early investment in children, as these very early years are critical to future cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. Longitudinal studies show long-term social outcomes including higher employment rates and less adult criminality.
These Sturdy Foundations Family Centres will lead to: healthy, nurtured, safe, school-ready children with positive dispositions to life and learning; positive, responsive and interactive parenting and care; caring and supportive communities understanding the importance of the early years of life and schooling; improved outcomes in children’s health, enrolment and attendance, English literacy and numeracy and social and emotional development; and increased training and employment of local people in jobs at the centres.
The Australian government has committed itself to the establishment of up 260 new childcare and early learning centres. Our governments will work together and, with communities and service providers, establish multi-agency family centres in remote communities. The centres will coordinate early learning and development services and support for children aged 0 to 8 and their families, and establish strong connections with the school. They will provide integrated services response that meets the needs of the community in building local capacity and solutions. Services and programs will include: child and maternal and family health services; early learning and development programs; and parenting and family support.
The third element sees the Northern Territory government supporting the establishment of community-based residential hostels enabling young people in remote communities and towns to access quality secondary education in or near their communities. These hostels, staffed with indigenous house parents, will provide accommodation, care and learning support options for secondary students so that more students complete their NTCE and move into work and further studies. The community-based hostels will allow: increased numbers of students having a safe and supportive environment in which to live during their secondary schooling; improved health and social and emotional wellbeing; increased numbers of students completing their secondary education; increased numbers of students moving from school to work and further learning; and training and employment of local people in jobs.
Parents want secondary education to be provided in their home communities or closer to them. Such arrangements will mitigate against barriers to effective participation in schooling in the student’s home community, and also against factors which effect retention at boarding schools further from home. Our government will work together with communities to identify optimum sites to establish residential hostels for remote secondary students. The Australian government has committed $44m over four years to establish hostels in the Northern Territory for Years 8 to 12 students. The Northern Territory, through Closing the Gap, has committed $700 000 recurrent for these hostels.
The fourth strategy looks towards establishing Fit for Learning health and wellbeing support services so indigenous children and young people from town camps have a level of health and wellbeing enabling them to engage in quality teaching and learning programs. The Fit for Learning services are designed to deliver coordination services that provide ‘wrap-around’ support to town-based indigenous students, their families and school staff. It will help to address welfare, health and wellbeing needs so students can focus on learning at school and their teachers can focus on teaching. The Fit for Learning support services will assist: students to engage effectively in teaching and learning programs; families in accessing welfare support for children; strengthened relationships and information sharing between families, schools and other service providers, improved outcomes in attendance, behaviour, wellbeing, English literacy and numeracy; and teachers being able to focus on preparation and delivery of quality teaching and learning.
In Alice Springs, four of the seven primary schools and both middle schools already have Indigenous Transition Units catering for children who lack the social and academic skills to participate in regular classrooms. Some of these kids face huge challenges. These include irregular attendance and little experience of schooling, and of appropriate classroom behaviours. They may have been exposed to violence and other traumas. They may have hearing loss, nutrition and eye problems. They speak English as another language and have very low levels of English literacy and numeracy. We must have programs that deal with these challenges. I will not give up on my job which is to ensure an education for all our kids, and I will particularly not give up on the kids who are tough to deal with.
Fifth, we will expand our strategy to build our local indigenous workforce through what we have called Growing Our Own. We will achieve a far greater percentage of indigenous employees that matches the percentage of indigenous people in the Northern Territory population. The development and implementation of a comprehensive strategy for effective targeted recruitment, professional learning and training will result in significant increases over time in the size and the capability of DEET’s indigenous workforce.
Growing Our Own will extend across all DEET workplaces. Growing Our Own aims to achieve an increased proportion of indigenous staff working across DEET workplaces; increased participation by indigenous people in economic and social life; increased numbers of indigenous people in tertiary study; increased numbers of indigenous people participating in upskilling programs; responsive on-site higher education and training service provision by CDU and Batchelor; DEET as an employer of choice for indigenous people; and increased capacity of DEET to improve enrolment, attendance, participation and attainment by indigenous children and young people.
Growing DEET’s indigenous workforce is essential to build the local labour market and increase participation of indigenous people in the social and economic life of the Territory. As part of managing the Australian government’s emergency response, DEET has moved to ensure that the former CDEP workers who are connected to schools are now provided with the opportunity to move into departmental positions. I want to see all those educators, teaching assistants, and tutors taking full positions in the education system. They will require skills development and training to fulfil their new roles and to broaden their employment pathway options.
Our governments will work together to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to address recruitment, retention, skills development, training and further study, careers planning and progression, and leadership development. Growing Our Own will be a sustained process over a generation.
These proposals accord with the aspirations, outcomes and policy directions outlined by the COAG’s Productivity Agenda Working Group and the intent of the Commonwealth intervention and the Northern Territory government’s Closing the Gap initiative. Monitoring and reporting will be aligned with national reporting, processes, time lines and targets.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, since coming into government in 2001, we have made some significant progress and seen some important improvements. It is a surprise to many new arrivals to the Territory that, until four years ago, not a single student schooled on a remote community had ever achieved the Northern Territory Certificate of Education. Since 2003, that number has been boosted and I am very happy to report to the Assembly that one of our first NTCE graduates from Kalkarindji, Lianna Brown, graduated this year from Flinders University with a degree in Cultural Tourism.
There is a change, and for the better. However, I want to see these changes permanently embedded in our education system, from preschool to tertiary and vocational studies. I would like, as well, for this parliament to approach indigenous education in a genuine spirit of bipartisanship. It is, frankly, too important for any of us to trade cheap shots over. We know the educational landscape for most indigenous Territorians is bleak. Let us not make it a battlefield where the only victims are politicians exchanging shots from the trenches. As Prime Minister Rudd told federal parliament:
- None of this will be easy. Most of it will be hard - very hard. But none of it, none of it, is impossible, and all of it is achievable with clear goals, clear thinking, and by placing an absolute premium on respect, cooperation and mutual responsibility as the guiding principles of this new partnership on closing the gap ... The nation is calling on us, the politicians, to move beyond our infantile bickering, our point-scoring, and our mindlessly partisan politics and elevate this one core area of national responsibility to a rare position beyond the partisan divide. Surely this is the spirit, the unfulfilled spirit, of the 1967 referendum? Surely a least, from this day forward, we should give it a go?
It is a sentiment I trust all here can endorse today.
In closing, I pay tribute to the former minister for Education, the member for Nhulunbuy, whom, I believe, will be acknowledged when future histories are written of indigenous education in the Northern Territory, as a key player in our achievements. If I, in my current role or, indeed, immediate predecessor, the Chief Minister, can see the horizons more clearly, it is because of the groundbreaking work that the member for Nhulunbuy initiated - and for that I sincerely thank him.
We cannot walk away from these significant challenges. Every day, my resolve, as Education minister - and I think that of every member in this parliament - grows stronger, to make the changes we need.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I will commence with the sentiment that was expressed at the close of the statement: the urging for a spirit of bipartisanship. Interestingly, that has been an offer presented in the past from this side of the Chamber - I led that - and it was rejected. We need to reassess if we are fair dinkum. We have to go a little further than words that sound good, because this is going to be hard - very hard. If we cannot at least find a place where we can put aside personal and political agendas, and a place to meet to advance this issue - in this Chamber with our community leaders who have been elected to represent the Northern Territory - we are dreaming if we think we will effect change anywhere else remote from this place. It will be hard.
If you think for a moment that to utter the words that let us proceed in bipartisanship, implying that there cannot be robust debate or that I should, therefore, run alongside of you and say ‘Everything is good and let us go along and I hope it all works out’, that will not be the case. I am a member of a family and we have robust debate. We have strong disagreement but we stay together on the foundations and the principles. Ultimately, in the best interests of our children, we disagree and have robust debate and disagreement. That is what I understand to be bipartisanship: we have a common interest in advancing the right of a child to have a quality education. That is the first principle.
I felt some sadness, in some ways, looking at this statement because I have taken these statements before and tried to find where I could make a meaningful contribution. I find a similar feeling coming back - unfortunately, with some increased sadness – because I feel we are saying the same things again and again. That is what troubles me. This will be healthy. I can say to you that the initiatives that have been described have been described before, and I do not find, in themselves, great problem with the initiatives themselves. If we are going to make progress, I believe we could start by taking all of these initiatives and programs that have been packaged, badged, sold, presented in certain ways to create certain impressions - just put them out for a second and let us look at what we need to have in the box.
The first principle must be the right of a child to a quality education. Next comes the responsibilities. There are two responsibilities. One is the responsibility of the parent; the other is the responsibility of the education system of government. The responsibility of a government is to provide qualified and supported teachers to allow that child to have an education. They need to be resourced with, in my view, a quality curriculum that focuses on the basics first and foremost: reading, writing and maths. Then, a skills-based, standards-based approach, a clearer focus on the curriculum. You need quality teachers, quality and focused curriculum and, then, a well resourced learning environment, a classroom. That is the responsibility of a government, remembering it is the right of a child to receive an education and the responsibility of a government to provide the resources and the means: teacher, curriculum and resourcing.
The core of this - and this is where I find all of these measures fall short - is looking honestly at the issue of the responsibility of a parent. That is the difficult area. That is why I have found increasing sadness when we look at the measures that have been outlined, because I do not believe we look honestly enough at that issue. Philosophically, I believe individuals are responsible - that cannot be taken away. If you provide excuses and reasons - in one form or another, sophisticated or unsophisticated excuses - then you remove the obligation of that person to own their own behaviour and accept the part that they have in providing a solution. If you diminish personal responsibility - in this case of a parent - you then increase the responsibility of the system to provide the answer. I believe that is the problem of modern politics; particularly of leftist politics where the belief is the system has the ultimate responsibility to fix the problem.
I believe the reverse of that. The system should be there to support the individual who has primary responsibility. It is the other way round. If you believe that there is a social problem and, therefore, you believe that it has a political solution - as we put a lot of faith in these systems, processes and programs that we have in place - we talk about the solutions that we will provide - what was announced today has been announced in the past – and then put increased faith on the system, on government, to solve the problem. Then we offload the responsibility to government and we end up with increased, greater responsibility falling on government. You are removing it from the very place where it should rest; that is, with the parent, with an individual.
Our society is built upon individual responsibility. That individual responsibility falls in different ways. We have responsibilities to care for the needy; that is, a responsibility for those who have a problem. There is no one in our society who has no responsibility at all. Everyone, at some place on the continuum, has personal responsibility.
I would like you to bear that in mind; that, if we are going to move forward - and this will be hard - we have to stop at that issue and look at it fair and square. How can we ensure that the equation is balanced and that there is parental responsibility? We have to have a measure to create the necessary motivation for a parent to assume that responsibility. This is serious business. If they do not assume that responsibility and you do not put the effected measures in - an individual has responsibility; they have a child after all - you are condoning neglect. You are supporting neglect and I cannot condone that. It is wrong.
That is the deficiency in all of this. I will tell you quite honestly; it is well-intentioned. There is not one measure here that I could not support as it misses the essential ingredient, the foundation stone: personal responsibility. If you cannot bring that to bear in this equation, you will just continue to talk about the amount of money that has been spent, the number of teachers that have been employed, the new programs, the rejigging of this, the removing of that, the renaming of this, the re-announcing of this, that or the other, and the results will not budge.
Why will they not budge? Because you have not brought an individual into the equation. You talk about social and emotional health. There has to be some emotional buy-in here - the people have to feel some sense of obligation. I went to Alice Springs recently. I honestly thought it was school holidays in Alice Springs. As a former school principal and a responsible parent – I am still a responsible parent, though my children have grown up, but I am a former school principal – I look at children, and parents in the street with kids, and I ask the question: ‘Shouldn’t you be at school? Have you knocked off early? You are a bit late for school’. I will say that wherever I go and kids will often pull up short and say: ‘I am on my way’ or ‘I have leave to go here, there or anywhere’. We need to reinforce a common community standard. There is an expectation in our community: ‘Excuse me, shouldn’t you be at school?’. I talk to them. I do not mean you try to bash them. Just say this and you reinforce a standard.
While I was in Alice Springs, I thought there were school holidays on because there were kids everywhere. It appeared to me that the community had accepted a standard that I cannot tolerate. Why are these children wandering around the street? I inquired: ‘Is there a school holiday on?’ ‘No’. I thought there might have been some special carnival. There was not. However, there were children everywhere in the middle of a school day.
At the same time, the government was talking about hostels. The hostel proposal has merit. It is fantasy, though, to run the hostel argument in isolation. I will support it, but not if you cannot attend to the basics and get primary school kids to go to school and to have a standard reinforced. The only way to do that is through personal accountability and responsibility. For example, if there is a football carnival on, that is often the given reason: ‘Oh, there was football on, on the weekend’. It is now Wednesday but they still have not gone back. I bet those parents who chose to pull up their tent pegs and come into town to watch the football get there on time. They are punctual because there is a motive, there is a reason to be there. When it is time to go back, they can loiter because there is no real motivator. ‘We will stay around the bright lights’. There is a missing motivator; that is, the consequence for not fulfilling your obligation to get back to school.
Schooling is not an option. It is a requirement. It should be backed up, not just by programs to assist the vulnerable, but by recognising that every parent who has a child has a responsibility.
The minister has within her power the capacity to impose a suitable penalty; a motivator to ensure that understanding occurs. If you miss that ingredient or part of the package, we will continue to fail. When the minister has time to reflect, I am very interested to go through this process regarding the question that I asked. I know we get caught up in here; the game is played - and some refer to it as a game. I do not, particularly when it comes to serious matters like this …
Ms Scrymgour: You think it is a game, and it is not; it is a serious issue.
Mr MILLS: I am acknowledging the context in which debate occurs in Question Time, okay?
I asked a question today regarding the commitment made on 28 February 2002. I know the member for Nhulunbuy is a passionate man; he really believed this and I wanted it to be the case - we all wanted it to be the case. You set a benchmark: you wanted to see a 26% increase in literacy over four years, and there were programs described to achieve that. We want success; we want that benchmark to be achieved. Some people over there are so jaundiced in their view they would think that the opposition would prefer you to fail, because we are really against you. Not everybody is in politics and sees it as their prime game; some actually want to effect change. So, put that aside ...
Ms Scrymgour: Work with it; not against it.
Mr MILLS: Put that aside.
That benchmark, that goal, was set. You were supported by the federal government to reach that target, but the results actually fell. Around that benchmark, that target that was set, there was a range of measures. Some of those measures were almost identical to the measures described today.
The question - although not answered adequately in Question Time, and I am acknowledging the context – is: please provide the assessment, the honest analysis, as to why it failed, because the measures that are being described today, in some cases, are identical to those that were described in 2002?
A detailed analysis needs to be provided otherwise we will embark on another grand and well intentioned adventure which will cost us dearly. I put on notice that, perhaps, we can have a briefing to provide a detailed analysis - if it does occur - as to why there was that failure. School attendance is an obvious reason. However, let us look at the measures that were described at the time, how they were applied, were they applied, did they work and, if not, why? More detail is not suitable in Question Time, but the point was made. If you cannot provide that kind of material, then it is reinforcing this notion that it is well intentioned but nave and likely to be setting kids up for failure.
The thing that I find most shocking in this is to remember that, if you talk to non-indigenous kids in urban communities, the first question you often ask when they are in primary school is: ‘What you would like to do when you leave school?’ They will begin to describe all the wonderful things they would like to do or to be. Then, if you ask the same question in Aboriginal communities - ask those bright eyed, beautiful kids – ‘What would you like to be when you finish your schooling?’ They say practically the same things. If you ask a little later on, the look in their eyes is different, they feel that they will not be able to get to the things that other kids want. If you ask them in Grade 1, 2, or 3, they want the same things. They want to be policemen, they want to fly planes, they want to drive fire trucks, they want to be teachers, be nurses - exactly the same, there is no difference.
However, generally, the dream evaporates and becomes a nightmare and disillusionment as they reach puberty. They realise there is something wrong. I reckon that we have presented a different standard for indigenous kids. We have not required the same rigour, imposed the same set of responsibilities upon parents, and we have provided more excuses than reasons to shoulder their responsibility as a parent. That is why we must push this one hard.
Perhaps there is an ideological difference. Perhaps I and the Country Liberal Party have a different position when it comes to the notion of personal responsibility. When you talk about things such as tough love, some people say: ‘Oh, that is a bit too tough; I cannot see any love in that’. However, we are going to have to make some courageous decisions, otherwise we are going to be spending a heck of a lot of money and having report after report, statement after statement in this Chamber, and it will be the same tragic and sad story. I have a memory of taking these things seriously. I have been here nearly nine years; this is probably about the fifth of these statements. They all hold promise; they all say the same thing, and point to the problem. However, the answer is found in the individual: you are a parent, you have a child, you have a responsibility. There needs to be some constructs around that notion to strengthen responsibility ...
Ms Scrymgour: I disagree with you.
Mr MILLS: Well, the mind of government is influenced by polling and focus groups, and we now know …
Ms Scrymgour: I do not think that is true. You said that this was a bipartisan thing. As if the CLP is not driven by polls and everything else, Terry. Come on, we are talking about indigenous education. Get back onto what it is supposed to be.
Mr MILLS: Can you help me out here?
Mrs MILLER: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Ms Scrymgour: Sorry, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I was drawn. He is being deliberately provocative. He stands up here and preaches about everyone else does a bad job, but it is all right for him. I withdraw.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Please continue, Leader of the Opposition.
Mrs Miller: It is debate.
Mr MILLS: Robust debate?
Ms Scrymgour: Allow the robust debate. Have the debate on what the issue is about.
Mrs MILLER: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Deputy Chief Minister, can you please let the Leader of the Opposition finish his speech.
Ms Scrymgour: I wish he had some substance there. Touchy, touchy!
Mr MILLS: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. This may be unpleasant, but the truth is that going into an election - I think the one before last - there was a recognition. Look, just to make it perhaps a bit easier, I acknowledge that the Country Liberal Party in government did not do a good job. Okay? Not in all areas; some good, some bad. However, I do not accept that when the Labor Party came to office that they were completely new and really good. There was good and bad. Okay? Both sides. Let us just relax about this.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, address your point through the Chair, rather than across the table? That would help to ameliorate a bit.
Mr MILLS: Right, okay. However, when governments – and there is only one government - form their policy positions they get a view of what the community expects. The community expects truants to be pulled into line. It is implied when you use the word ‘truant’ that a parent is going to be held responsible. Therefore, those words were deliberately used when government - or when the Labor Party came into office they talked about Truancy Officer and $5m. They came to office and there was an expectation that had been fed, because they knew the community wanted that.
However, when it came to reality, those Truancy Officers became School Attendance Officers and they were not what was expected. When you use the term ‘truant’ and a ‘Truancy Officer’, you imply a certain thing and it is deliberately used. However, the language has slowly changed so it becomes ‘School Attendance Officer’. I am very interested in how they would operate, but there was no punitive aspect to it at all. It was all about trying to help parents accept their responsibility and, implied in that is that ultimately there is no responsibility on the parent. It is as though society is at fault: ‘Whatever we can do, anything else we can do to help you and, maybe, it is too difficult’. You can have all of that. You have to provide the care for those who are in need, but you also have to have the other thing.
I ran a school community and there was a full stop. I chased parents up. I did not make it easy for them to shirk their responsibility. I had emotional buy-in. I took it seriously and I followed it up, and I expect government to put policies in place that follow that stuff up. Do not say words that imply a certain thing and then take the contents of that word out and replace it with something that removes personal responsibility.
A truancy officer must be a truancy officer. Good cop, bad cop. Some people need some help provided to them. If they do not accept that help and they do not make any progress, then there must be a consequence ...
Mr Kiely: What is your position on strapping?
Mr MILLS: You are a minister of the Crown, not some schoolboy bully.
Mr Kiely: I have heard your position on strapping.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please keep the interjections down to a minimum. Let us give the Leader of the Opposition a fair go.
Mr MILLS: Having said all that, this statement is acknowledged as a well-intentioned statement. We agree that there is a problem and this is a further re-jigging and redefining of initiatives that do head in the right direction. I only urge the minister to add one essential ingredient and I reckon we then have action; and that is to provide the measures that will result in personal responsibility. There needs to be the punitive edge as well. You must have the capacity and the unflinching in your expectation that a parent must fulfil their responsibility. Miss that out of the equation and the whole thing collapses, and we resort to the language of input.
You are talking about your achievement as the description of a program that costs this much money – this many people, this much money. You find your language is talking about money spent on programs as your achievement. The outcome, the result, is the achievement. To change the attendance rates and the benchmark results in the MAP test is the result, not the achievement of the amount of money spent. None of this will change unless you bring in personal responsibility.
I will repeat: the core of this is the right of a child to an education. That is a right. The responsibility of a government is to provide qualified teachers before every class. A question still stands with this government, in light of Professor Hughes’ comments: is it the case that there are schools, there are classes, which do not have a full-time qualified teacher …
Ms Scrymgour: That is not true.
Mr MILLS: The responsibility is to provide teachers. I asked for an independent assessment. I have not had an answer on that …
Ms Scrymgour: I will respond to that.
Mr MILLS: The second responsibility of government is to provide a well-focused and well-resourced curriculum. You do not get an education without a teacher - a motivated, focused and qualified teacher who is professionally supported. The current EBAs would indicate that there is a lack of understanding of the need to value the profession properly. You could have processed these EBAs, which are well overdue, in a manner that does not erode the essential core of the profession.
Responsibility, teacher, curriculum and properly resourced classrooms: there are some questions still outstanding; answers have not been provided yet. They are the responsibilities of government and the parent. The responsibility of the parent is the essential ingredient. If you do not have measures in this to bring responsibility for their parenting to send a kid to school, then the whole thing will collapse.
I look forward to continuing robust debate. I trust that we can do so, and that we can make real progress because, separate from the statement, the minister has acknowledged that this is the area that needs to be worked on, but I have yet to see any action. You will see action if there is a change of government. If there is not, I hope there is a change of policy and direction, and change of heart of government, so that we can at last make some progress. Parents must be brought into the equation.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the statement is acknowledged. It is well-intentioned but, I believe, ineffective because it misses one essential ingredient - parental responsibility.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for Education on the indigenous education statement. It heralds a sea change of approach. We have heard contributions to the debate today, and I am sure we will hear them continuing regarding the efforts that various governments have made delivering education to indigenous Territorians. We have seen some successes and some failures. What we needed to see, though, was a sea change where we bring all the different elements of what has been introduced, trialled and proven to succeed in the past, together into a coordinated effort which genuinely provides a robust response to the needs to close the gap of disadvantage in the field of education.
The sea change is in the creation of the Community Partnership Education Boards. It is similar to the coordinated care trials that were seen as a sea change in the delivery of health ...
Mr Mills: They were announced in 2004.
Ms LAWRIE: I pick up on the interjection from the Leader of the Opposition, the shadow spokesperson on Education. He said that was 2004. This was a statement of ignorance - pure ignorance. What was introduced in 2004 was community partnerships in education. What is contained in the statement today - the sea change I am referring to - are the boards.
Two coordinated care trials are commencing - one in the Warlpiri triangle, the other in East Arnhem. Nothing like this has been tried before, comprehensively pooling all the different government-funded aspects within education. Whether it was Commonwealth or Territorian level, nothing before has occurred where funding has been pooled together and trialled as a board which has community participation and ownership. That is, fundamentally, what it takes for it to work in delivery.
The opposition members can be smart with their little quips and interjections, but it shows an ignorance; an inability to listen and comprehend where change is and what is driving that change. Sadly, we have seen a significant group of children and young adults - our indigenous Territorians - who have not seen the benefits of the education system in the Territory.
It is universally accepted and recognised that we have a need for generational change here. We have seen generations grow up – in the post-mission schooling era - without access to education or the opportunities that education brings. We need a significant educational generational change.
School attendance is fundamental to a success in the delivery of education. We have seen the community partnerships which the former Education minister, the member for Nhulunbuy, introduced as a critical first step to increase school attendance. To increase attendance at a local level, you need a buy-in from the community. You need an understanding from the parents and community structures that it is essential to get children to school. It is not a desirable goal, it is an essential one.
That was the idea of the community partnerships. This statement today steps up a level from that - a sea change step as far as I am concerned. It introduces a range of coordinated approaches. It brings a new focus on indigenous education so that all the different programs, schemes and aspects of education delivery that we see in some schools across the Territory are coordinated in trials. It harnesses the Commonwealth and Territory government’s resources, programs and funds, together with the professional skills of the teachers, the wellbeing, and social skills, to come together into a coordinated effort. That has not been done before; that is the sea change.
As I say, it is akin and similar to the coordinated care trials that we saw introduced. It is no strange coincidence that the sea change being brought about is from someone who actually brought about the sea change in the health system through coordinated care trials and delivery of the Katherine West Health Board. If you take the Katherine West Health Board model and apply it in a conceptual basis to education, this is akin to what we are talking about here. We know that accelerated literacy as a program is delivering results. It is delivering results in the bush and in the towns where it is introduced. We have a generation of children who are behind the benchmarks to begin with and need the accelerated literacy programs to get them to the point that they need to be to benefit from the mainstream education system. That is one example.
The school/parent community engagement aspects of the Community Partnership Education Boards are critical. If there is no local, parent, school community, or broad community ownership then we are setting up to fail. The aspect of this that I have enormous support for and an enormous desire to see delivered in real terms, is the focus on early childhood. I have said it in the Chamber before and I will say it again: education begins with early childhood. If you can get it right at the level of early childhood, you can actually set people up to succeed, rather than perpetuate failure, because you are addressing the top end of the spectrum not the early childhood end of the spectrum. The most exciting aspect of this for me, apart from the structure of the boards and the coordinated aspects, is the introduction of that accelerated literacy and numeracy into it and, critically, the focus on early childhood education.
All of this needs to be supported by the welfare services, those wellbeing support services the minister for Education talked about. This is not shallow talk; she has actually gone ahead and restructured government departments to support the model. The movement of early childhood from where it had existed in Family and Community Services into Education, fundamentally, in the sense of a bureaucratic government approach, supports this new sea change of delivery into indigenous education. She understands the social and wellbeing support services that do work in assisting families in crisis, and here we are dealing with families who have been in crisis. As hard as we can roll out our housing construction program across the bush, we will still have overcrowding in our bush communities, in those houses which are barriers to ensuring that the children are in a wellbeing scenario which helps get them to school in the morning.
We need these wellbeing structures in and around to support the education service, to take the pressure off those teachers in the classrooms who are struggling, quite appropriately so, with the additional challenging behaviours that come as a result of the generational dysfunction we have seen. We all know the associated alcohol and substance abuse issues that come with this overcrowding and the dysfunction in the community.
This is not about saying that everything that has gone before is wrong. This is about saying we acknowledge everything that has gone before, and what the factors are that have worked within the delivery of education within the Territory. Once more, we are pulling that all together into a trial so that it is a concentrated, focused effort supported by a community-based partnership education board, sitting across on top to ensure that this coordinated effort comes together and is supported by the community.
Another aspect of this that I really commend the minister for is that she is not just looking at the early childhood aspects of these changes, but importantly, those Year 12 students and beyond, and how to create the links from Year 12 into training and work. Conceptually, you might call it a year 13. Bearing in mind that in indigenous education, particularly in the remote areas, there was no access to secondary education prior to the last few years, so it is new, this government believes you have to provide the additional support in the system for the Year 12 students who are, fundamentally, in a new environment in secondary education. Through that process, into the training, we have to provide those links to both training and job opportunities, so it is a real support.
I have a Family and Community Services background, so I say that is akin to the change we introduced into the care and protection of children, where we said children who have been in the foster care system will, when they exit foster care aged 18, continue to have support through to 25 years of age. It is recognising that people who come from a basis of disadvantage, particularly young people and teenagers, need to have those extra supports, ensuring that they get every opportunity to make a success of their lives. Fundamentally, in education, that is a great model.
I commend the minister on the statement. It is a bold move. It is not something where we will see the fruits overnight. Obviously, for something of this significance to occur, it is going to take a concerted effort. Fundamentally, we are in the best position ever in the history of the Territory to work with the Commonwealth, to ensure that the Commonwealth programs are coordinated with the Territory programs, to be delivered in a concentrated and focused effort on the ground.
The minister is seizing the opportunity of a Labor Commonwealth government and a Labor Territory government to say: ‘Let us pull it together and make a concerted effort together to really address the existing disadvantage in delivering indigenous education’. When I talk about indigenous education, clearly, obviously, significantly, the challenge is in the bush - absolutely no doubt about that. I also recognise that there is a challenge in our towns as well. All of our regional centres, including our capital city, have significant numbers of indigenous students in our schools. Therefore, when you are talking indigenous education it is not just a bush issue. It is fundamentally and significantly a bush issue, but it is not just a bush issue; it is also an issue in our urban centre.
I have talked about programs that we have tried and programs which we have seen work. I will talk specifically in this respect to schools in my electorate because we have a very high percentage of indigenous students at these schools. When I say ‘indigenous students’ they are indigenous students whose families have been Darwin families for many generations but, also, we have had increasing numbers of indigenous students who come in from outlying communities throughout the Territory who are now calling Darwin home. We have a mix of what can be called the local indigenous families of Darwin, plus the families who come in from the communities who have settled here and want their kids to have access to urban education.
Manunda Terrace Primary School is a school within my electorate. A few years ago, we created a link between Manunda Terrace Primary School and Knuckeys Lagoon where we have a housing lease there run by an organisation. The houses there are tenanted by indigenous families, and these kids have come in from remote communities. We have a bus that picks those kids up and brings them into Manunda Terrace. To deal with the increasing numbers of children from disadvantaged backgrounds - significantly indigenous families, but also in the instance of Manunda Terrace, non-English speaking background families from, for example, Timor Leste – Manunda Terrace recognised that they had a problem with the social behaviours of many of the children attending that school. Why did they have a problem with the social behaviours? Because, for many of the kids, English was their second language; indigenous and other languages were their first languages. Also, they had had very limited access to education, whether it was Timor Leste or, indeed, a remote community of the Northern Territory.
In response to this, they created a program called Strong Men, Strong Women, Strong Models where four young indigenous people were engaged to work in the school as role models. These adults work in classes and they conduct sports skills clinics, as well as a lunchtime program of modified sports. The program began in 2002 using CDEP, and was highly valued by the school community. It received enormous support from the school community. There was a great amount of school community buy-in. Also, as local member, I created links with the Department of Education, Employment and Training to get the support from the department. With 48% of the 265 students at Manunda Terrace being indigenous, the Strong Men, Strong Women, Strong Models program provides real role models and mentors for these young students. The program has been successful in increasing enrolment and retention of local indigenous students. Indigenous enrolment has grown from 85 students in 2003, to 138 indigenous students in 2007.
The program encourages their participation in classroom activities. It increases the attainment levels in numeracy and literacy. This is a school that took out the National Numeracy and Literacy Award a few years ago - the national award for a school that sits in the middle of the lower socioeconomic area of a suburb of Darwin, building student self-esteem and encouraging a sense of identity with their class, their school and their community. It provides students with strong role models to motivate and encourage them to develop positive attitudes to school and learning.
The program also has positive outcomes for young adults involved. We are transitioning through the funding of government to paid jobs for young adults formerly on CDEP. It has been pretty fundamental and amazing to watch the change in students, but also to witness the change in the young adults. When they came in, they were shy and unsure of themselves. I have seen the program build their self-esteem and develop their leadership skills, self-motivation and initiative, organisation and planning skills, confidence working in a professional environment, strategies for dealing with student behaviour, working with other adults, coaching and teaching students, and develop a sense of future direction through the provision of career advice and contact networks within our government agencies. This has been an incredibly valuable program for Manunda Terrace for the students, the teachers, the parents and the community. It has resulted in improved learning outcomes, including the development of a school culture that encompasses acceptance, fairness and respect.
Since the program began in October 2001, 23 of the 36 role models have gone directly into full-time work or studies from Manunda Terrace. That includes two who have enrolled in teacher training at Batchelor, one who has been accepted in the Northern Territory Police, one who has been accepted in community policing on the Tiwi Islands, two who have gone into public service positions, and four who have left to pursue football careers interstate.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and another local school of mine that has a very high indigenous enrolment is Malak Primary School. As part of their school’s improvement process, they decided to set a goal: that 80% of all students participating in the 2007 MAP test would achieve benchmark and beyond. Some would think that is a pretty tough goal for a school that has a very high percentage of indigenous enrolments. As I said, these are not just kids who are from the local indigenous Darwin families who have lived here for generations. These are kids who have come in from the bush. The figure was set because it was an improvement target that the school had every confidence they could achieve.
To support the achievement of this goal, Malak school, through the leadership of the principal, Paul Nyhuis, implemented a targeted initiative called the Magic Five. Magic Five is about targeting five under-achieving individual students in each early childhood and primary class. Last year, this equated to a total of 50 students at the school. The Magic Five is not necessarily focused on the lowest-achieving students. Instead, it focuses on students who, with some intensive support, could make significant improvements in literacy and numeracy and, subsequently, meet those benchmarks. Classroom teachers review reporting and MAP data, as well as anecdotal information to select students for the Magic Five, and to tailor the program and levels of support specific to the students’ needs. The program holds to the notion that, if you move one group up, others follow and, in this way, the program raises the individual, the year and the whole school achievement levels.
From 2006 to 2007, Malak school experienced some quite dramatic performance increases. In the case of Year 5 reading, the number of students achieving benchmark went from 66% to 87% and, in Year 3, writing went from 54% to 78%. Six of the nine assessment areas across all year levels reached the 80% goal, while the remaining three were extremely close to their target. These results are positive and it shows that where there is an improvement on the previous year, there is a whole school-wide achievement of their levels. It shows that we have successes in amongst the picture of the failures that we are aware of, where there is intense and focused effort. What the minister for Education today is doing in her statement is raising the intense and focused effort up to a level that we have never seen previously in the delivery of education in the Territory.
Another school in my electorate, Karama school, won the Urban School of the Year last year for its contribution to student wellbeing through a range of programs like the Red Cross Good Start Breakfast Club and the Rock and Water program.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, your time is up unless someone moves an extension.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the minister’s time be extended, pursuant to Standing Order 77, for the minister to complete her remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: I thank my colleagues. I will be within the 10 minute extension. It is important to recognise where we have a focused effort at the local level in delivering education to indigenous students, and the successes that actually come out of that. One of the most effective programs at Karama school to contribute to the wellbeing was the introduction of accelerated literacy.
This literacy program was started with three classes at Karama in 2005 and expanded to the entire school from the beginning of 2006. It has brought about significant changes in the learning of both the students and the staff. The Australian Council of Education Research comprehension tests are given once a year and have shown steady improvement by most of their students. The success this program is having on the communication skills and the wellbeing of students at the school was recognised recently when Karama school became the only Northern Territory school to win a 2007 Dare to Lead Excellence in Leadership in Indigenous Education Award announced in March of this year.
Karama school has also developed a leading role as an accelerated literacy hub school by encouraging visitors from other schools to talk with and observe good teaching and administrative practice by both the teaching and the support staff. The most pleasing aspect of this program has been the growth in the self-esteem and the confidence of the students to speak or read publicly, to articulate their concerns or ask questions, and to reflect on and acknowledge the personal value of being able to read what they want to read or say what they want to say in a way that absolutely and fundamentally empowers them.
Parent responses in the Karama school’s community perception survey overwhelmingly supported the view that Karama school is achieving improved educational outcomes. I acknowledge the work done by Marg Fenbury and the fantastic teaching and support staff of Karama school.
Finally, in my local schools and their approach to innovative ways to improve attendance at school and the outcomes of indigenous education is Sanderson Middle School. The Clontarf program being run in schools such as Sanderson is proving to be an enormous success. An article in the NT News on Sunday clearly showed the kids involved in this program wanted to stay in school. Kyle Tinoco from Sanderson High was quoted as saying: ‘I think it’s great. If they keep it up, I’ll definitely stay in school’.
My electorate officer was recently speaking with three participants of this program to get a feel for how they felt the program was going. In their own words, this is what Jordon Wilson, Joseph Thompson and Abi-Solomon Gabey had to say on behalf of the Sanderson football academy:
- The Academy has brought us to school so that we can learn and meet our goals. They push us to do our work, so that we can then attend camps and trips. I, Jordon Wilson, am a part of the Leadership Program, this has made me a better and stronger person/student since being a part of this group. It has given me/us responsibility and given us a chance to play a sport we enjoy. Because this program isn’t just aimed at good footballers but also the not so good players, it gives everybody a chance and a fair go at footy.
School is different this year because we are getting pushed by Nathan, Chopper and Willsy to do harder work and show more respect to the teachers and others. We have been getting better grades at school and for doing that we get rewarded by going places and getting breakfast or lunch. So we enjoy going to school a whole lot more and it makes it fun.
This Thursday we will be attending Parliament House for a tour at 2.45 pm. We also attended the Anzac Dawn Service. Pick-up started at 5.20 am with me first (Jordan Wilson). Nathan picked all the boys up to attend, and we were all ready for him.
That statement certainly speaks for itself. Our education is so incredibly important in shaping the future of our young Territorians.
This government will continue to strengthen our education system. We will continue to introduce programs into our schools that keep our students engaged. In the statement delivered in the House today, it shows, fundamentally, that we will have a renewed focus that I believe is of such significance I refer to it as a sea change - a delivery of indigenous education in the Territory.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, may we see the generational change and the opportunities the Territory, and all Territorians, so desperately need.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, today I talk about the minister’s statement on transforming indigenous education and, just for the minister’s sake, I do not stand here as the guru on education. I am just a person who takes an interest in it from my family point of view. It is also an interest that I have had since entering this parliament.
My comments will revolve around a number of areas. I am not going to cover everything that is in this document. If we were to talk about indigenous education we would probably have a conference that would go for about a week at least. There have been many statements made in this parliament about indigenous education before today. I will be asking questions that need to be answered in the light of the minister’s statement.
The minister started off with a question that is highlighted in her document which says:
- How do we ensure that we comprehensively overcome the enormous backlog of educational disadvantage faced by indigenous students in the Territory whilst, at the same time, not in any way compromising the high standards that have been achieved for non-indigenous students?
I thought it was a little strange. I would have just finished that quote with: ‘How to ensure that we comprehensively overcome the enormous backlog of educational disadvantage faced by indigenous students in the Territory?’. That is what we are all about. I would not imagine any educational program put in place by the government that is going to disadvantage another section of the educational system. I expect that if we need to do more in indigenous education, then we find that money from a source other than taking it away from existing resources.
The questions I am going to ask, minister, basically revolve around your government having been in power for seven years and, in that time, there have been many programs. I was just looking through some of the annual reports of the department of Education since 2001. The first one is the Learning Lessons program and that had an update in about 2006. I would like to know: if we are going down a new path, what is wrong with the old path? I know the Chief Minister thinks I was a flat-earth man; he is entitled to think that. However, before we head down a new path, what was wrong with the old path? It is obvious there are some failings, otherwise we would not have some of these terrible education figures we have. Were some of these programs successful? Have we been wasting money on other programs? I do not know, but I am interested to hear from the minister what is the state of Learning Lessons? Has there been any evidence that it has improved numeracy and literacy? If I look at the figures regarding reading and numeracy, I do not see any great changes from 2002 to 2008.
There was the NT Literacy and Numeracy Strategy which was mentioned in a number of documents that the government has released. In the year 2003-04 annual report, it talked about the DEET English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy implementation. It said:
- During trial, student literacy increased from 0.4 to 1.7 year levels per year. Improvements in literacy were demonstrated for both indigenous and non-indigenous students in urban and remote contexts. This program was supported by the Australian government.
This is a program that has been running. What has happened to it? Are these figures that there has been a student literacy increase accurate? If it is accurate, why has it not really shown up in the figures? When we deal with this whole issue, although we have all these programs, obviously, many of them have not worked because we would not have had the intervention and the new minister saying, basically, ‘This is terrible’.
We have spent all this money on various programs. Another one is the Northern Territory Indigenous Music Education Program. The annual report in 2002-03 noted:
- The project was one of five selected nationally and rated as a new initiative for remote community delivery, with significant potential to influence retention and literacy. The program delivered music education to over 1000 students in 30 remote community schools and expanded to include all Indigenous students in Alice Springs and some Alice Springs town camps. Students obtained VET accreditation for units of competence completed. Upon successful completion of the Stage 1 music programs at Maningrida and Yirrkala Community Education Centres, the 42 students will have the option of enrolling in tertiary music courses.
Of course, it was introduced to try to influence retention and literacy. What happened to it? Was it a failure? Did it make any changes?
It also said in the annual report:
- In 2002 successful outcomes from the Accelerated Literacy Program ...
I know you mentioned that in your statement. How does that change when it comes to indigenous children?
The report says:
- At Gillen Primary School (GPS), improvements were achieved for all students, with the largest increase for targeted Indigenous students.
There was an Attendance Officer, for instance, in Central Australia - only one for the region. Does that Attendance Officer position still exist and does that person still work there? Have we increased the number of Attendance Officers because, obviously, part of the poor results is that children are not coming to school?
I will also quote from the annual report for 2006-07. It said what the 2006 results show and it is referring to the data that I will come to in a little while:
- The data indicates that Indigenous students continue to achieve well below their non-Indigenous peers. A variety of factors contribute to this disparity including the remoteness of their schooling, i.e. geolocation (which is explained later in this section), socioeconomic status, the level of English usage at home and in the community, health status, school attendance and mobility.
- In direct response to 2006 literacy results, an explicit focus on professional development related to writing has been initiated for both the First Steps and Accelerated Literacy programs. In addition, the department continues to expand its roll-out of the Australian government and Northern Territory government funded Accelerated Literacy Program and is on track to meet the nationally agreed target of 10 000 students, 700 teachers and 100 schools by the end of 2008.
In direct response to 2006 numeracy results:
There are many programs - more programs than you mentioned, minister - that sound like a new program but, obviously, this program was around for a while because it says here - and this is the 2003-04 annual report:
- Twenty-one mobile preschool sites were facilitated by the Mobile Preschool Pilot Program, with 258 enrolments in 2003. The pilot project provides access to pre-compulsory programs where no service is currently available. Since October 2003, the Northern Territory government has funded three of the Katherine mobile preschool sites at Yarralin, Bulman and Timber Creek. This program was supported by the Australian government.
There are other programs here under the 2006-07 achievements. In that annual report, it talks about the department undertaking a longitudinal study called the Evaluation of Literacy Approaches for English as a Second Language (ESL) Indigenous Students. Where is that longitudinal study? There is a project called the Northern Territory Indigenous Education Strategic Plan 2006 to 2009. There is the Enrolment and Attendance Strategic Action Framework which was:
- … created to drive systemic, community and school effort to enhance enrolment and attendance and the department reviewed the school Attendance Officer program and introduced a six-point plan to improve attendance across the NT.
Minister, what I am highlighting is that, right through these annual reports of the department, there was a lot of money spent on a whole range of programs. It would be good to know where we see ourselves. Were these programs successful? Are some of them still relevant? Why are we reinventing the wheel? In other words, are we going to do exactly the same thing? We need to evaluate what has gone on in the past before we go too quickly down into the future.
The other area that concerns me is that you say - to some extent in your document - when it comes to knowing what the status of literacy and numeracy in the Northern Territory is what other people are saying. I quote you:
- However, before doing so, I make members of this Assembly aware of some hard, cold facts. These are the facts that have motivated my moves to transform indigenous education. I have directed my department to post these figures on its website immediately. I make no apology for doing so. All Territorians must have a clear and transparent understanding of these figures, and I have directed that this information become a permanent feature of disclosure in the future.
I say that the government has deliberately avoided giving us the figures for indigenous numeracy and literacy. I do not say that lightly; I say that based on the facts. If anyone was to look at the budget papers over the years from 2002-03 to 2007-08, they will notice that there was a period in 2003-04 and 2004-05 where the department actually split ‘indigenous’ into ‘indigenous’, ‘indigenous urban’ and ‘indigenous remote’. When you look at some of the remote figures - for instance, in 2003-04 - at the percentage of remote indigenous children that reached the NT primary education benchmark achievements, you will see it was 9%, although they estimated it would be 21%. The next year, they estimated it would be 30%, and it actually turned out to be 20% - still a very low figure. Then it was removed from the figures. Both ‘urban indigenous’ and ‘remote indigenous’ were combined to just ‘indigenous’, which makes a whole lot of difference. For instance, all of a sudden, in 2005-06, it was estimated that the benchmark for reading for indigenous students would be 41%. It actually turned out to be 36% - still terrible. What that has done by removing the split between urban and remote, is actually allow people to see what a disastrous level of numeracy and literacy we have, especially in remote communities.
It is the same for the numeracy figures. They were broken up into ‘indigenous urban’ and ‘indigenous remote’ in 2003-04, and the same for 2004-05. I will give you an indication of what those figures were like. In 2003-04, in Year 5, only 20% of students reached the NT primary education benchmark achievement, even though that was close to the estimate. In year 2004-05, the estimate was that 26% of students would reach the numeracy education benchmark achievement, and only 16% reached it.
Those figures are terrible, yet the government removed them from the years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08. You cannot come back now and say, ‘I make no apology for doing all this’, because the government removed the figures. In fact, the figures that the minister has given us still do not break up into remote and urban areas. That, to me, highlights how the government, to some extent, has hidden the problem. I am not saying it did not know the problem, but it has tried to hide it, to some extent, from the knowledge of the community; that here we have something that is of national shame.
That is part of the reason the intervention occurred. Part of that intervention was about school attendance, and school attendance relates to whether kids are actually at school learning. It is a bit hard for me to believe that this government says: ‘We are going to move on. We are going to tell you the truth’. The truth was there over the last few years, but deliberately removed from both the budget and annual reports. In 2002-03 annual report, they showed ‘indigenous urban’ and ‘indigenous remote’ and that continued for the next two years. Then, the department put all the indigenous figures into one group, which tended to make it look better than it was.
I remember raising this issue at Estimates Committee. I am fairly sure I was given some sort of economic reason why they could not split them up. The reality is we needed to know because, if you do not know these things, then how are you expected to know there is a problem?
In this document from Professor Helen Hughes – and I presume other members have obtained it - she highlighted exactly that same thing. She talked about how the figures seem to have been changed. She said:
- The Northern Territory Department of Education has ceased publishing performance results for ‘remote Indigenous’ students. Its Annual Report 2006-07 claimed that ‘reading and numeracy results for non-Indigenous students show improvement across the board’, although there was no supporting evidence for this claim. The benchmark pass rate for Indigenous students were still shocking in 2006-07. Except for year 3 numeracy, at 62%, there were still from half to less than a third of non-Indigenous pass rates. Learning Centre students were again not included in benchmark tests, and the numbers and proportions of students tested were not published.
I highlight that this is not something that fell out of the sky and we did not realise that this had happened. It has happened and, unfortunately, I believe the government, to some extent, has tried to shield the public from what is happening.
I know the government will look at new programs and at new ways of doing things. I sometimes wonder whether we should go back to the past, at times. I have said this before. My wife was born in the bush. She lived for quite a long time along the coast between Daly River and the Finniss River area. She then went to school at Delissaville, which is now Belyuen, and then she went to school at Daly River Mission. She had an education up to Grade 6, and attended Grade 6 about three times because that is as far you could go at that stage. Still, I would bet my bottom dollar she can read and write much better than many Aboriginal people today. You could include my children as well. They all have good jobs. They all reached Year 12. What is the difference and why is it not the same for Aboriginal children? Do we have to really call a spade a spade? My wife was also the Aboriginal assistant teacher for seven years at Sacred Heart school at Palmerston.
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, I move an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77, to allow the member to conclude his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr WOOD: Thank you, member for Brennan.
She found the greatest problem with kids at school was non-attendance. There would be many reasons for not attending, such as parents who are out all night or do not care about the kids. The kids are up all night watching videos or whatever. There is a lack of discipline and parental care. I have no doubt that my wife not only received parental care from her family, she had parental care from the nuns because she lived in the dormitory, and they made sure you went to school. I looked after the boys’ dormitory for a while. Those kids were up in the morning, showered and off to school. There was a certain amount of ‘force’ required – and I use that word in inverted commas. However, you were required to go to school or else you were in trouble.
Now, we tend to have a society where that is not the way you do things. You talk kids through the problems, you have committees, you have parents and friends, and we all discuss it, and we have programs to encourage children. I ask the Aboriginal members in this House: ‘How did you get your education? How were you so well educated that you are in this House today?’. Perhaps we should copy the way the Aboriginal members in this House were educated and go back to some serious attempts to changing things. We had some discipline and there had to be some self-discipline. There had to be discipline imposed, otherwise we would did not get anywhere. If we are really going to change things, there has to be some way of not only having the carrot, but having some stick because all these programs are all very nice, but the reality is it is a disaster.
When my wife taught at Sacred Heart, she told me of a young kid from Elcho Island who lived at the Lagoon Road community. Even at Year 7 he still could not spell his name on his lunch bag. That is an urban kid. He, obviously, had a family that was all over the place and he was probably staying with grandma and aunties.
However, the reality is that we are seeing young people wasted that should be part of the boom that the Chief Minister is talking about. He is talking about the economy booming. Well, if Aboriginal people are not a part of that boom in the economy, then we are kidding ourselves that everyone is sharing in the wealth in the Territory. Aboriginal people cannot share in the wealth of the Territory if their education standards are poor.
If you take note of what Professor Helen Hughes said - and I suppose there will be people who debate whether this is accurate or not - she quoted the figure of 10 000 Aboriginal students - illiterate non-numerate teenagers and young men and women in their 20s - who are unemployed because of educational failures of the last decade. It may or may not be right, and could be an exaggeration but, even if it was an exaggeration, half of that figure is just too much.
Instead of all the fancy ideas, the fancy theories, and educationalists coming out of our ears which you can see from all the programs that have been put forward over the years, perhaps we have to get back to grassroots of education. Perhaps we have to look at, say, the member for Stuart. He is an educated gentleman, but how was he educated? What were the things that helped him to be educated? Was it a good home life? Did someone kick him in the bum and ensure that he did not miss school? Did he enjoy school as well? We talk about the Clontarf scheme, where we see kids who like to play football. What happens to the girls? Let us not forget about the girls. We cannot rely on everyone playing sport all the time.
There must have been methods that people like the member for Stuart can remember that ensured that he went to school and studied and did well; he is now a member of parliament. That opportunity should be for all people in the Territory, especially indigenous people. I know I am not the guru of education, as the minister might think I am, but I do think that we have to think sideways. Sometimes we might have to think back. My wife only received education up to Year 6. She can read and write very well, drive a car, teach kids at school an old-fashioned education - which was that you turned up for school and they taught you how to spell – and she can still speak language. In fact, she goes back and studies the language now because she is one of those who switched from one Aboriginal language to another because she moved from one part of the Top End to another. She is able to speak three languages and she can speak English very well.
We should not get too hung up on some of the great theories; we should get back to the grassroots. We need to involve the parents. Without the parents, you are not going to get anywhere.
The member for Karama spoke about Manunda Terrace school, which takes kids from the Lagoon Road community which is in my electorate. If you went to Lagoon Road community and asked: ‘What hope do these kids have of actually studying, or doing some homework when they come home from school?’, I would say that they have Buckley’s. You have a place that has major problems with alcohol. It is actually trying to lift itself up. There is a bloke there called Ronnie who is doing a fantastic amount of work trying to get breakfast programs and a mothers’ programs going, trying to change things. However, if you look at the place with long grass, dogs, rubbish, houses with the television going all the time, you can see how difficult it is for a young kid coming home from school to do a bit of school work, especially if the parents are not home. There are some problems there that need to be looked at. If you do not have the parents helping you, or have the parents’ support, then it is very difficult for someone to improve their education, because you need that little shove and your parents are the best people to give it to you.
Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement. There is plenty in the statement that I am sure some of these people here, with much more experience in educational fields, can comment on better than I. I thought to at least bring some comments to the House. I do them in a constructive manner. I have some criticisms about the way the figures have been publicised over the years. However, I believe we all need to pull together to change these things, because it will end up a society where the rich get richer and the poor will just stay still or get poorer. That would be very sad for the Territory. Economic growth must include everyone in the Territory.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I welcome the statement by the Minister for Education, Employment and Training. First, as the minister mentioned, there will be new primary and high schools for Palmerston which will, without doubt, go some way to meeting the needs that are present in the community of Palmerston for education services. Palmerston, like most places in the Territory, has a significant indigenous population. I am not saying that the new high or primary school will be exclusively beneficial for indigenous kids; they will be facilities that will benefit all kids in Palmerston. The indigenous children and young people in Palmerston will benefit from what is an investment in infrastructure of some $50m.
I am a bit disjointed, I suppose but, before I forget, I found the previous contribution most interesting. I do not agree with everything, member for Nelson, but I did find what you had to say very interesting. Much of what you said I have agreement with. It is not just about young people being in schools, it is about learning and outcomes. I share your view that, in our economic boom, it is about an economic boom that everyone deserves to share in. Education is a part of sharing in that financial gain for the Territory and families in the Territory.
As I said in my maiden speech, we need improvements in indigenous health, education and job availability to harness the full economic power of what is about 30% of the Territory’s population. If we do not do that, we are selling ourselves short. Members will no doubt know - as many people who work for government know - health, education and housing are inextricably linked. You cannot really separate them; one affects the other two so completely that improvements need to be across the board. Of course, I would add job availability to that.
As I said, the announcement of the two schools, a primary school and a high school in Palmerston, will provide, together, about an extract 1300 places. I believe it is 850 for the middle school, the others going to the primary school. Where we already have schools in Palmerston with large student cohorts it will assist in relieving the pressure on those schools, which will make the education more targeted for the existing services.
I recognise the great work that all the school staff in Palmerston do: the teachers, the non-teaching staff, the wellbeing officers, the support officers, the Aboriginal welfare officers - to assist all the children and young people in the schools to achieve what they can. It is about enabling an individual to achieve as much as they possibly can, and want to.
The other major facility in Palmerston, of course, is the new senior wing. I am advised that is being progressed to open on time. That is wonderful and excellent news, because that is the state-of-the-art facility which will provide the young adults of Palmerston with an excellent education environment, and will, into the future, ensure that Palmerston High School takes its place, as it should, of being able to provide as good a senior and middle school education as any other school in the Territory.
That is really what is at the guts of the statement, in my view. It is about - wherever you live in the Territory, whatever your station, whatever your background – individuals have as much availability to educational facilities and resources as anyone else. That is a big ask for government to provide. We live in a big Territory. Our communities are scattered right across that Territory, and providing those services for those communities has its specific challenges. What amounts to approximately $72m spent on education will be a great injection for Palmerston.
However, it is not just about buildings. In fact – and I am sure others have said it in this House - the buildings and the facilities are the lesser part of the equation. It is about the people who fill them: the teachers and the other staff. Already mentioned today is the Clontarf Academy. They operate at Palmerston High School as well, and they have been getting some excellent results for indigenous young men who attend Palmerston High School and have had problems with attendance in the past. I hope you will not mind me referring to it, but I was talking with Michael McLean about the results they have been achieving. He was telling me how, when they started, they had a bunch of young men who were not really sure of what was going on or what was expected of them and they were very much individuals, whereas, he is seeing the progression now where they are a single group. They bond together, they look out for each other, they do their training together, and they have breakfast together. Indeed, when they discovered that a couple of the young lads were not attending classes, they had a chat to the individuals involved, but so did the other boys who are part of the program. That is an excellent result and provides that extra support – family - for individuals who may not be getting it from the traditional places.
I take on board what the member for Nelson said about what are we doing for young women. That is something we do need to be looking at. Clontarf has taken off. AFL has done amazing things for young men from indigenous communities. We need to find a similar mechanism, whether it is sport or something else, for the young women, to bring them through and give them the opportunity for the same support that has been provided through the mechanism of Clontarf.
There is another program of which I am aware that Gray school has run, and I will make reference in relation to that. I am referring to the Shine program for girls, but I will come to that a little later.
The other thing that I pick up on from the minister’s statement is the VET schools for vocational training. VET in Schools has been very successful, particularly at Palmerston High School. We need to ensure we provide these opportunities to indigenous children and young people, not just in the main urban centres, but closer to home in their communities. It was interesting to hear the minister talk about the community and family support structures in providing educational opportunities closer to home in the form of the community-based residential hostels. I welcomed that initiative as outlined by the minister.
Some time ago I had a Labor identity, Mr Curly Nixon, in my office talking to me. He has lived in the Territory for at least 40 years - probably longer; I may be doing him a disservice. He was saying to me: ‘What about kids in Pine Creek who cannot get apprenticeships because they do not have the availability there? They cannot afford to move out of home and they cannot live on the money that they might be paid and pay all the bills they would have to deal with. What about setting up boarding houses and paying a portion of monies direct to the boarding house as an incentive? Not coming out of the pay of the individual doing the apprenticeship, but something from government’. It is not exactly the same, but it sounded similar to that community-based residential hostel idea that the minister mentioned.
As I said, the VET in Schools provides great opportunities for young people to get a feel for the trades. Many of us have gone into one career and found that it was not quite for us and have been able to change to another. Some have been lucky enough to know what career they wanted to be in from the start. The VET in Schools allows some exposure to various trades. Anything we can do at that level for indigenous kids in remote communities, especially, is a boon. It comes back to the economic argument as well, and job availability.
How do we engage young people in communities and be able to keep them there so that communities become economically self-sustaining and viable? It is a big ask but not impossible, and is long term rather than short term. That is something that providing the VET program in schools can do. Obviously, we need support from the private sector. If the experience in Palmerston has been anything to go by, that support is certainly there.
I will briefly mention Moulden Park Primary School. It is not in my area of Palmerston but I go down there quite a bit. The minister was talking about community engagement, having the community as part of the school, and taking ownership of education because, without the communities supporting children and young people and showing the benefits that education will bring, you are doomed to failure. Moulden Park Primary School embodies that sense of community engagement. The community of Moulden around the school really has taken ownership of the school, and the support the school gets from its family groups - and vice versa, the support the school community gives families - is just fantastic. I like visiting, as there has always been a great feeling at the school and you notice, feel and see it. You have to recognise that Moulden Park Primary School has a number of challenges that it needs to overcome. Despite those challenges being there, it does an extremely good job. I put on the record my recognition of the fantastic work they do at Moulden Park Primary School.
Gray Primary School is very similar to Moulden Park Primary School in the school community and the community around it. There are a number of things that happen which also happen at Moulden Park Primary School. Some of them, I am not so sure about. The breakfast program is certainly one, where the school provides a room to ensure that kids who come to the school can get a breakfast without questions being asked or any sense of judgment on families. It is just there to provide kids with a stable breakfast so that, when they go into class, they are not hungry or distracted; it settles them down. I have been helping with that program in the past, but not so recently. I have seen, over a couple of years, the children go through there and the great benefit it has. I also have to say that program would not run without the support and dedication above and beyond what is in a teacher’s standard duty statement, because the teachers take on the running of it. They put in the extra time, they man it in the morning and have to get there early, and it is taking up their personal time. They have a commitment to it.
The Families and Schools Together, the FAST program, is an excellent program. It is not just about education; it is about families taking time out for each other within the family to provide that support. Part of that, I guess, has rubbed off because it is saying to parents: ‘You have to take an interest in what your kids are doing’. Most parents do try to do that, but we live very busy lives, and those lives can sometimes get in the way. This program is really about giving mechanisms to parents as to how they can break through that and give their children the attention that they need to.
The Shine program for girls has been excellent, giving self-pride to young girls, showing them deportment skills, and how to breed confidence. It always amazes me that so many young girls have so little self-confidence when they really should; there is no reason for them not to. The Shine program has been brilliant at bringing young girls through that and showing that they really have a lot to feel proud about in themselves.
I also mention the YMCA in Palmerston. They recently commenced the Indigenous Youth Counselling Services and, whilst it is not directly within DEET - DEET has nothing to do with it - they certainly provide support services and the community sense that the minister was talking about, in providing an avenue for young people who are at school who might be struggling with other things outside their school environment that is impacting on them. It provides them a way to give them someone to talk to who can give them some mechanism. That is another service in Palmerston that is working extremely well.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister on the statement. I look forward to hearing more about the new initiatives as they are rolled out. I saw in the statement $1.5m for four mobile preschools. That will be a fantastic addition in remote areas, I am sure, and the kids will really benefit from it.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I will be brief. So much has been said by so many people and, just like the alcohol debate we had yesterday, I think we are all at one in the overall objectives. Interestingly, Neil Bell and Eric Poole would have been having debates very similar to these over the years and, no doubt, hoping that future generations of politicians would not be having the same debates in the Northern Territory. But, alas, we are.
Minister, I am not sure that you can achieve all that you want from this statement. As you know, education is not an area that I have previous involvement in except, of course, my own, and I profess to no level of expertise in the area. However, it is great that you have delivered a statement setting what I regard - and I think many others will regard - as a fairly high bar. If you can achieve half of it, then that is probably going to be a reasonable outcome.
I wanted to ascertain your views on just a couple of issues, given the statement that we are debating now. I am not sure whether the Minister for Central Australia is going to be as interested, but I will keep going anyway. No doubt, the minister has others listening. I will put it to them. I would like the minister’s response to the following couple of issues. What is government’s response to a proposal put by us recently called the ‘No School, No Service’ proposal? I formally met with the Alice Springs Chamber of Commerce’s new executive officer and, indeed, have written to her. I know that, like all ideas, not everyone is going to agree, but I have asked the Chamber to consider this issue. It is, for those who missed it, based on the ‘No School, No Pool’ policy which works, as I understand, with varying degrees of success in the bush. It seems to me from the minister’s statement that she is saying: ‘In relation to getting more indigenous kids to school, we will try this, we will try that’. I would like to know whether the minister for Education would be prepared to even consider a ‘No School, No Service’ policy? If not, why not? If she is prepared to consider it, then perhaps, she could outline what she sees as variations to it if it is of any interest to her.
We issued a media release on the day. We said it was very simple and based on ‘No School, No Pool’. We are trying to make it less attractive, and unappealing, for kids to be in the CBD during school hours. This operates in other places in the country. If school-age kids do not have a leave pass or a note, they are not served. What is the objective? Hanging around in town is not likely to be as attractive for them. At least that is the theory. If it works with even a little success in some places, I simply ask: is it not worth considering for us in the Northern Territory? I do not think it has been considered before; there may be reasons for that. However, is it something that the minister would consider?
In addition, around two to four months ago or thereabouts, the opposition asked maybe you minister, or someone else, why there had not been any prosecutions under the Education Act. That is an interesting question, and no one seems to really have a reasonable response. Certainly, very few people can recollect a prosecution. The clich ‘carrot and stick’ is one oft used by politicians on both sides of politics. However, for the want of a better one, there does need to be, in getting kids to school, some carrot and some stick. Why have there not been prosecutions? If it is the case that the government thinks that there should not be parents prosecuted under the Education Act, then should we, as a parliament, consider taking that provision out of the Education Act? The alternative is, if we, as parliamentarians, think that there should be prosecutions, then why are there not prosecutions? I would like the minister, to the extent that she is able, to comment on that matter.
I also note, with interest, that the minister is also Minister for Child Protection, although that may have a name change after 1 July and …
Ms Scrymgour: Still the same.
Ms CARNEY: Pardon? Still the same.
I looked on the government Intranet for the Care and Protection of Children Act, but it is not there. If memory serves me correctly, I reckon we passed that in August last year. As a side issue, it is April, and this seems to be taking a long time. I will let that dangle with the minister.
Therefore, we are left, right here, right now, with the existing provisions of the Community Welfare Act. I used to know some of these sections off by heart, but these days I do not. I think it is section 3 of the act that is current legislation in the Northern Territory. No, I refer the minister and members to section 4(3)(b):
(3) For the purposes of this Act, a child shall be taken to have suffered maltreatment where –
- …
- (b he or she has suffered serious emotional or intellectual impairment evidenced by severe psychological or social malfunctioning measured by the commonly accepted standards of the community to which he or she belongs, because of his or her physical surroundings, nutritional or other deprivation, or the emotional or social environment in which he or she is living or where there is a substantial risk that such surroundings, deprivation or environment will cause such emotional or intellectual impairment.
The question has to be asked - and we all need to be honest with ourselves: by kids not going to school, does it not follow that the parents who are not sending their kids to school are, in addition to contravening the Education Act, putting those kids at risk, given the current definition of the current child welfare legislation of the Northern Territory; that is, the Community Welfare Act? I believe the answer to that question is yes.
Since May last year, or since the Lateline interviews, there has been a fundamental shift in the way many Australians - ourselves in this Chamber included - talk about indigenous affairs. Having said that, regardless of what people think of the intervention - and I note that as per the letter written by the minister for Justice yesterday to the Senate committee which said ‘the government fully supports the intervention’ - it is fair to say that the intervention has allowed all of us to change our language.
There are many reasons for that, and I will not go into them. However, one of the effects of the intervention, in addition to many people changing their language, has been to see governments react in a fundamentally different way. That is best illustrated by the intervention itself. The intervention, obviously, is interventionist. I do not think it was going to be possible before the Lateline interview, and the consequences of that interview, to even discuss things like income management in mainstream Australia. All of us have moved on that issue. It is now, for the most part, accepted by both sides of politics - people on the left and the right, regardless of gender or race - that income management is a good thing - notwithstanding the obvious difficulties that are being experienced in Alice Springs with its implementation.
Why am I referring to intervention in this context? I do so for this reason. If we are seeing governments being more interventionist when it comes to indigenous affairs, should we, as parliament, and you, as government, be more interventionist in pursuing children who, under existing legislation, can only be described as children at risk, or children who are being abused? Is it not incumbent on government to intervene and take those children into care?
Before the Lateline interviews, it would only have been a brave, middle-of-the-road politician who would talk this language. Things have changed to such an extent that both sides of politics see that we need to go places which, perhaps, we have not been before. What has been happening has not been working, so let us keep trying other things.
Some cynics might say this is best left for dinner party conversations. I do not think it is. I would like to hear the minister in reply. Whether I am here or elsewhere, I can assure the minister that I will be listening because I am genuinely interested in this. In the context of this debate, I thought it was important to raise the matters I have. Madam Deputy Speaker, with those comments, I look forward to the minister’s response.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the important statement on transforming indigenous education delivered by my colleague, the Deputy Chief Minister. I have known my colleague for a number of years now. She is a very passionate advocate for all Territorians, whether they live in urban, rural or remote areas. She has a particular passion for her electorate and the indigenous people and the problems that they face in our wider community.
I will pick up on the member for Araluen’s comments about the mood change in Australia. I hope she is correct. I hope this mood change stays for a long period. It would have to break a cycle of 200 years when there have been other occasions - whether it was the right to vote, the recognition of Australian citizenship - periods in our history where indigenous disadvantage was brought to the fore. One thing I contend, though, is that members such as the member for Arafura, the former member for Arnhem, Hon Jack Ah Kit, the member for Macdonnell and I have, for the last seven years, been addressing issues of disadvantage and talking about the investment needed in these areas.
Like the member for Araluen, it is not really my intention to comment on the politics of what happened with the intervention. Its benefit is that it blew a whole range of indigenous issues wide open so that now people - white, black, green or purple - have come together and said enough is enough. Aboriginal people, whether in urban or remote areas, deserve the opportunity to have the same access to services as every Australian citizen.
What services do we take for granted? If you live in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or the rural areas of New South Wales or Victoria, you would expect the right to go to preschool, primary school and high school. It has only been under the leadership team with people like the member for Arafura who is now the Education minister. As she mentioned in her speech, there has been a change in the focus on trying to deliver secondary education to the bush. What we have seen is the further investment through Closing the Gap, and I will talk about that as we go on. Now it is about building partnerships with the federal government, and investing in our remote areas.
There is a country in this world that, in the last 15 years, has taken 400 million people from poverty, and been recognised by the United Nations for taking those people into working- to middle-class environments. That country is China. That decision was made in the early 1990s, when countries in Western Europe and the United States decided to invest in China. The Chinese people, of course, speak a different language, have a different political structure and, economically, they believe in communism, not capitalism. A major intervention occurred through Western European countries and North America - in particular, the United States - which invested trillions of dollars into a country that does not have the same political beliefs as they do, did not speak the same language, did not have the same culture, but achieved what we have now - which is the fastest growing economy recorded since the industrial revolution. That was through investment.
What we are seeing today is an investment into the education system which is one the areas you need to invest in, as well as housing, jobs, and creation of economic independence. We classify ourselves as a first world nation. If this can be done in a country such as China - where people do not speak our language or believe in our political system, yet, investment in this foreign country results in 400 million people coming out of poverty into working or middle class – then, surely, we can affect the 50 000 to 60 000 people who live in the remote areas of the Northern Territory. Per head of population, arguably, we are one of the richest countries in the world. This type of investment should have been happening for the last 50 years in these areas - not because these people are indigenous people or live in remote areas, but because they are recognised as Australian citizens. As Australian citizens, they should have the right to go to preschool, primary school and high school, have proper housing, and opportunities for employment and training, and so forth.
Many members in this House have been talking that way, including me. I will go back to the Parliamentary Record and quote a speech made by the former member for Arnhem, Jack Ah Kit. You will see this language has been used for seven years. However, now we are working in partnership with the Commonwealth where we can create even more advantage, we must remember this: there is still this unbelievable need for investment. We are just chipping at the tip of the iceberg. The formula will not be solved in one year, two years, three years or four years, because we will not be investing trillions of dollars. We will not even be investing billions of dollars. We will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars. In housing, for example - and the Housing Minister, no doubt over the next two or three years, has an important role of carrying that forward - has about $1bn extra to invest in remote areas, yet, the need is $2.4bn recognised by independent authorities.
Even in this country today, in 2008, we will not be addressing the total need for housing in remote areas. It is up to us, as members of this Assembly, the representative body of the Northern Territory, to work with the Kevin Rudd Labor government to make people understand that, yes, we appreciate this investment that is coming in with issues like the intervention and Closing the Gap. However, it is not because we are greedy, but we do need more. The only reason we need more is because Australian citizens are lacking the same opportunities as those who live in other parts of Australia.
The statement focuses the spotlight on one of the greatest challenges facing this government: overcoming the educational disadvantage suffered by indigenous children in the Northern Territory. All of us in this place recognise the value of education. Some of us, such as the members for Nhulunbuy, Blain and Braitling, were once members of the teaching profession. All of us have benefited to a greater or lesser degree from opportunities that became available through obtaining a decent education. We would all agree with the flip side; that the lack of a decent education is the No 1 barrier to lasting improvements in socioeconomic status. This is a fact in all societies throughout the world, no matter what background, religion, culture, race, or continent you live on. This is not just an indigenous problem in particular; this is a human problem.
It is also a fact that indigenous Australians remain severely disadvantaged in education attainment. The Deputy Chief Minister has outlined the long-term resources required - and we are talking both financial and human resources that are needed to tackle this issue. I do not think the Howard government ever understood the nature or extent of the financial and human resources required for its intervention. On the financial side, the Prime Minister thought a few million dollars would be sufficient. On the human side, the Howard government never understood that strategies imposed on indigenous Territorians from outside, without any consultation, would have little or no likelihood of success. That is why I have welcomed the establishment of the Community Partnership Education Boards; engaging indigenous people into education processes and empowering them with control over their own lives and development.
Meanwhile, we face the challenge of closing the gap in outcomes between indigenous and non-indigenous Territorians. The tragedy is that the gap was ever allowed to get so wide. One of the most passionate speeches I have heard in this Assembly was delivered by my former colleague, Hon Mr Jack Ah Kit, on the subject of indigenous education. As we all know, Jack is an easygoing bloke, but that day he told how one issue always made him deeply angry - what he called the absolute callous neglect of the education of indigenous Territorians over 27 years of the CLP government. I remind members of what Jack said:
- It is my firm view that the neglect of indigenous education over that period has been little short of a deliberate policy of starvation of the mind. It was a deliberate strategy to disempower a quarter of our population and reduce them to a state of dependency and poverty – both materially and spiritually. It was a deliberate policy of robbing generations of people of their future.
Another great Australian was the late Charles Perkins, the first indigenous man to receive a tertiary degree. He was born on a table at the Telegraph Station at Alice Springs. He was a descendent of the Arrernte people and devoted his life to fighting against racism and for equal rights. He was, and is, an inspiration to indigenous people throughout this country and, of course, one day, hopefully, will be an inspiration to all Australians. It was his struggle to gain an education that led him on the path of leadership. I will quote a few lines from his obituary published in The Australian on 19 October 2000:
When Perkins began his career, there were few educated Aborigines. Assimilation was firmly entrenched. Aborigines were expected to become, at best, manual workers. They did not enter hotels, swimming pools, clubs or hairdressing salons, buy houses or apply for bank loans. They had their own wards in country hospitals.
Forty years later, non-indigenous Australians had been led or forced to the understanding that the distinction between full and part descent was irrelevant; that Aboriginal individuals could achieve anything they chose and that negotiations must be as between equal partners.
For this shift in public perceptions, Perkins was, to a remarkable degree, responsible as much for the possibilities he demonstrated to younger Aborigines as what he achieved.
- Many of today’s generation of leaders concede that, though they may have clashed with him politically, he offered a lifesaving model of constructive advancement when none other was available.
Madam Deputy Speaker, Charles Perkins showed his people what could be achieved with the benefit of a mainstream education. As the Deputy Chief Minister said in her statement, the acquisition of knowledge is fundamental to indigenous culture and law. The tragedy for generations of indigenous people is that they were deliberately denied access to mainstream education.
As Minister for Sport and Recreation, I am keenly aware of the opportunities that sporting activities can provide in assisting the education of our young Territorians. Charlie Perkins got out the ghetto, so to speak, through his ability at soccer. The game took him to Adelaide and, later, to England, broadening the young man’s horizons.
Here in the Territory, we have the Clontarf Football Academies. I first heard of the Clontarf football programs in the first term of government that I was involved with as a member of this House. I travelled to Alice Springs and met with Gerard Neesham; went to the original site of Clontarf, spoke to individuals and heard their story and understood what the Clontarf football concept was about. I came back and spoke to the then Education minister, now Chief Minister. It took two or three years for the idea to be developed and brought on, and to be understood, but it came here. I will comment on some of those ideas now. It came into Alice Springs, and I am happy to see it coming to Darwin and Katherine and other regional areas because, as we know, one of the ways we can engage young people, particularly indigenous people, to enter school is through sport. The other way is through music and art. When we get them there, then we have an opportunity to educate them on many other issues.
This program is one-third funded each by the Territory government, the Commonwealth government and the private sector. It comes under the Education minister’s portfolio, but you will not be surprised that I am particularly interested in it. The Clontarf Football Academies are about engaging and supporting young indigenous boys in mainstream education. They do this by engaging with these boys through their love of Australian Rules Football.
Three Clontarf Football Academies started last year in Central Australia: at Alice Springs High School, ANZAC Hill High School and Yirara College. I know that the member for Stuart is very keen on the Clontarf program, and I hear great reports from him and the family that are involved with it.
I was very pleased to read the story in Monday’s NT News about the start-up of the Clontarf Academies in the Top End at Sanderson - where the member for Sanderson is much appreciative of this program, Palmerston and Katherine High Schools. That is 230 teenage boys who have an extra reason to stay on at school. Basically, we are talking about, in the last 200 years in this country, the most disadvantaged individuals, and the most likely to be incarcerated, uneducated, and to die at an early age. Indigenous young men are going to be given an opportunity to stay in school and be engaged in school. That is 230 teenage boys who have an extra reason to stay on at school. I wish them every success.
As an indigenous man who was born and raised in the Territory, I am only too aware of the issues surrounding indigenous education. We will, and can, make a difference. Sometimes this can only be done by stepping into new territory. As Charlie Perkins said: ‘If you only do what you know you can do, you never do very much’.
I congratulate the Deputy Chief Minister for her statement on Transforming Indigenous Education. I heard members talk about what they thought had engaged them and others in attending school. Of course, it is a strong family life. My testament to getting into mainstream education was the encouragement of my family to go to school, to get up in the morning to attend, to try to engage in reading and writing, etcetera. I had an opportunity to go to Matriculation. I worked for a while but, when I reached the age of 21 or 22, I realised if I wanted to build a career, I had to go to university and get a degree. I chose to get a degree in law and become a solicitor.
I went through the University of Western Australia. Like Charlie Perkins, this gave me an opportunity to open my horizons from what I knew in the Territory. Unfortunately, after two years of living down south with no money, in the cold, starving - I do not know if you have seen my physique, Madam Speaker, but I do not mind curried chicken and rice - I had to come home. I graduated from the then Northern Territory University, now Charles Darwin University. It gave me the ability to educate myself. Many people in this House, who have a secondary or at least a high school certificate, have an ability to keep learning. I believe we forget that, as we get older, we learn more and more.
Some might describe that as experience, some might describe it as wisdom. The reality is that, unless you know that you can keep learning, you do not do it. You have to be taught how to learn. You have to find a way to teach yourself. The other lesson my law degree gave me was the ability to think my arguments through. To think: ‘Okay, this is my argument, but what is their argument? Where are they coming from?’ I know we have a solicitor on the other side of the House. She takes a very adversarial role in trying to get her arguments across. My approach is trying to understand her argument. The better I understand it, the better I can address it. That is what my tertiary education taught me.
I am very proud to be part of this House from Labor’s first term with the former Chief Minister, the Clare Martin government and, now, the new Paul Henderson government, and how we have taken education through a number of different ministers including the member for Nhulunbuy, the current Chief Minister, and the present Education minister, because we all realise how education can make a difference.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I hope, as a government that we keep investing. We are getting small numbers of people graduating from matriculation in the bush. I think it was 10 the first time. The numbers might go up to 20, 30, 40, and 50. Imagine if we start getting 500 or 600 people graduating. Imagine how powerful that would be.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, it is interesting when people speak to a statement on education that they do not need to have notes; they draw on their own experiences. That is what we have heard in the House today. Many people have spoken about how education has affected them, how their lives have been shaped by the education they received, and how important it has been to them.
That is the message we should be getting out to the people who are not sending their kids to school. It is as simple as that: education is what makes you what you are when you grow up and, without education none of us would be who we are today. It is a very important theme. I am pleased that the minister has presented this statement, even though I suppose there are little parts that I am disappointed in. I believe that it is important that we all talk about education at this very crucial time because we are seeing too often too many kids not at school, particularly in the Centre. We are seeing results going downhill and, yet, we know in the past we achieved results. We know in the past kids did learn and when they grew up they became very successful in what they did.
Still, teaching is not easy. It is not a simple job. It is not one of those jobs that everyone would want to do. Yes, some children do not need to be taught because they have the ability to learn by themselves. However, for the majority of our students, they need guidance, the skills and methods to learn and, most of all, they want to learn. You take any child, no matter where they are, it is not natural to learn without some guidance.
I was fortunate to teach at a time when school was an accepted part of life. I notice that the minister used those particular words; that it is ‘part of your life’, and that is important. When I was a teacher students came to school willingly, happily, and with enthusiasm. Their parents were behind them all the way. I often think I taught in the best time ever. But times and attitudes have changed in both communities and in the attitudes of families.
I know in the early 1980s I had the privilege of being an early childhood adviser and I travelled to many remote schools in the Territory. There were good things going on in those schools. There were great schools, dedicated teachers, and happy kids really enjoying it.
I also say at the moment that everything is not doom and gloom out there. There are some communities doing so well that all they really need is to have that extra support, extra recognition, and feel that they are valued and that there is a future for their children. We do tend, sometimes, to talk about the negative side of education. Unfortunately, it can become easy to criticise education. As I said, it is not an easy task and, if you are not a good teacher, it certainly shows.
I hope the minister follows through on this particular paper because we have had a number of government papers and policies since 2001: A Framework of Partnership with Indigenous Territorians 2005; the Overarching Agreement on Indigenous Affairs between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Northern Territory; the Agenda for Action; in 2006 the 20-year Plan and, now in 2007, Closing the Gap. We get a little tired of motherhood statements. I would have liked to have seen a little more action.
The heading of this statement is ‘Transforming Indigenous Education’. Transforming can be a pretty airy-fairy word. Why not make it stronger? Why not make it talk about implementing indigenous education, or action for indigenous education? Let us not be all rhetoric without action. That is what the most important thing is.
The results of the past and the methods used seem to me, as the member for Nelson said, far more successful than many of the ones that we use today. I have to say that Gough Whitlam has a lot to answer for when he took away the stability and, perhaps, the paternalism of Aboriginal communities and introduced sit-down money. It is almost as though the people of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s had a better life than they have now. They had a better life in the fact that there was routine, security, and stability. But now, out in many of our communities, much of that has gone and many of the families are not quite sure where they are going.
You might get angry sometimes at what is happening, but you cannot help but empathise with them and ask where we went wrong because, certainly, we did go wrong. We seem to have taken away the attitude we all grew up with that education is compulsory. We had no choice. Remember the kids who came to school who were healthy and well fed? Nowadays, we need to say to schools that they need to provide a breakfast program. Schools are taking on not just the role of educators, but a social role as well. Is it any wonder we burn out our teachers? Is it any wonder they wonder where their priorities lie? Is it in actual teaching, or is it being a social worker? Is it being mother? Is it being all those things that we are not really paid for …
Mrs MILLER: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I bring to your attention the state of the House.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. A quorum is present. Please continue.
Mrs BRAHAM: Madam Deputy Speaker, the word that I liked in this statement was when it referred to the ‘habit’ of attending. The habit was something we did as kids. It is a habit that has been ingrained within our society for a long time - the habit of going to school each day. Yet, that habit seems to have disappeared. This is what the minister is trying to say; that we need to get back to that habit of attending.
I get frustrated at the number of children on our streets who should be attending school. I have talked about truancy so many times and, yet, I do not see that it is improving at all. I am talking about truancy, not just for our town schools, because we have a very good system of liaison officers who follow-up any students who are enrolled and not attending that school, but truancy of those young children on our streets who are from remote communities. No one seems to be taking charge of them. No one seems to be saying: ‘Where are you from? Let us get you back to your community’.
I will mention one of the officers from DEET, and I am sure he will not mind. You all know Ken Davies. Ken Davies used to be the principal of a two-teacher school at Napperby years ago. Ken said: ‘When the kids were going into town, the parents would pop their head in the door of the school and say: “We are going to town for a few days, but we will be back”, so the principal always knew where his students were’. However, that communication with schools now is no longer there. Parents or kids go into town and the schools are not informed. That is where, quite often, they lose track of their students.
I came up with the suggestion a long time ago - and it is a brief one on my newsletter - about having notices in shop windows in town that say if school-aged children are in the store during school hours, the police will be called. It is an idea that came from Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, and it is also in the windows of shops in Port Augusta. It is not the same as what the CLP is advocating. In fact, I do not agree with the CLP’s suggestion of ‘No School, No Service’. I have talked to some of the business people out there and they have said: ‘No, it will cause confrontation. It will cause retaliation. We do not want to be the truancy officers for the Education department’. I can understand that. If you are in a small takeaway store and kids come in and you say: ‘We are not serving you because you should be at school’, these kids are cheeky …
Mrs Miller interjecting.
Mrs BRAHAM: No, they are cheeky and they will get back at you later on. That is why small business people I have talked to have said: ‘No, we do not want to be truancy officers’. However, there is a simple way …
Mrs Miller interjecting.
Mrs BRAHAM: You can have your say in a minute. There is a simple way that we can get around that. The act allows for authorised people. We have, in many of our major centres, security guards. We have Peppered Black, I think it is called in Alice Springs, who patrol Yeperenye. Why not take these security people and train them to be authorised people under the act? They would be able to, in fact, not just move on the people they need to move on, but also be able to refer to the department and get many of these kids off our streets, out of the shopping centres, and back into school. Obviously, the department does not have enough personnel to have these authorised people wandering the streets every day looking for these students. However, we all know those security guards are in our shopping centres. I know at North Side, quite often they are just standing there. Let us give them a role as well and, under the act, they can be an authorised person to act as a truancy officer. That is a suggestion, minister, you might like to take up.
I understand what the CLP is saying because in some small communities there is a policy. It used to be a policy, I think, at Ntaria, that when a student went into the shop during school time, they did not get served; they were told to go back to school. That is good but, in a big town like Alice Springs where we have so much bad behaviour, so many windows smashed and rocks thrown, and so much cheek given, I would not like to put that onus on the business people. I ask the CLP to consider my point of view without rejecting it completely.
Regarding attendance at many of our schools, it would be interesting to see what sort of attendance numbers you have at the moment, with the intervention and the fact that so many people are in town. I know Yipirinya is suffering. Their attendance is down. In a particular case like that, I think it is about bus services. The bussing to school in town centres and town camps has been an issue for a long time. I know it costs money to run these buses. I know government has a school bus run for the major centres and schools and, quite often going into a town camp to collect the children and, for the number of town camps we are talking about, you have to start your bus run very early. You have to start it before 7 am or 6.30 am and that, quite frankly, is why many of our young students on town camps just do not get on the bus - they are just not ready. Many of the schools are introducing the breakfast program, because the kids are getting there so early - I know Braitling does it - and they are coming empty without any breakfast. Perhaps, they need to know that is going to happen also.
I need to make a statement here and now about Braitling Primary School, because it is the only public school in Alice Springs that does not have a school bus run. I know government and the minister have been lobbied about that. Once upon a time, it had no bus run for the simple reason that it was a large school. When I was there, there were over 500 students, and you did not need any more students. Therefore, it was zoned exclusively just for that area. However, as times have changed and we have more private schools appearing in Alice Springs, the numbers have dropped. People who are living outside that zoned area who want their children to go to Braitling either have to bring them themselves, or send them to another school. I ask the minister to consider putting on a bus run to Braitling, the same as happens to all the other schools in town.
We are talking about public schools, but it is interesting that the growth of private schools in Alice Springs has been quite remarkable. For a small town of 26 000 people, we have four private schools, a couple of which are quite large. It is a reflection, perhaps, on the fact that many parents are voting with their feet and sending their kids to the private schools. It is a trend across Australia, and the federal government is offering more funding for private schools as well. I am a product of a private school, but I was a teacher in the public schools and, quite frankly, public schools offer as good an education as do the private schools. I will defend them completely.
Mr Stirling: Hear, hear!
Mrs BRAHAM: Thank you, member for Nhulunbuy. I knew you would agree with me on that.
One of the things I liked about the minister’s statement is her emphasis on early childhood. We all have children and know how important it is for our children at a very young age to start learning, listening to stories, and all those sorts of things that we tend to teach them. It is good that the statement said: ‘All four-year-olds will have 15 hours of preschool’. Well, please do it. The thing about this statement is that there is no time line. It does not say: ‘Okay, this is our plan first up. These are the schools we will do the programs in to start off’. What we need is not just this global statement of what the government wants to do, but to see a programmed plan of implementation. That is probably one of the most important things that is missing from this particular paper: the time frame of when the government and the minister wants to actually get these done. The ideas of the multi-agency family centres in remote communities, and about early childhood, is all good stuff. I would just like to see it happen.
I need to comment on the residential community hostels. There is a school outside Tennant Creek which had a couple of very good, new secondary teachers, and the secondary classes took off in that particular school - so much so that parents in Tennant Creek were sending their kids to this community to live so that they could go to that particular secondary school. One of the Aboriginal teachers, when I was talking about it, said to me: ‘What we really need is a hostel in this community. Then, we could cater for these kids out of Tennant Creek without them moving in with family. We could get them away from the town where they were getting into trouble and we could give them the opportunity to have this good secondary education’.
The idea of residential community school hostels is not a silly idea. It is something that should be followed through. I hope that the government has something or somewhere in mind for that to start. Not at a large community necessarily as it would work best in a small community. It will be interesting to see what happens.
In conclusion, let me say the success for the minister depends of many things, one of which is having committed and good teachers. Teachers who are trained well, and who feel their work is valued and wanted. Success will also depend on enthusiastic and healthy children, parents who are interested and supportive, and adequate resourcing. It does not have to be lavish resourcing, but it needs to be adequate and to be there. Most of all, success will depend on community support. The success of this statement will depend on the genuine commitment by government to actually implement what the minister said, in a time frame that does not take too long, and with the necessary resources.
The statement also needs the strong support of the department. The department officers need to get behind this minister and her statement and ensure that they make it work. Otherwise, it will not.
Madam Deputy Speaker, most of all, it depends on indigenous people such as the people in this parliament, standing up for their kids and their communities, taking responsibility and ensuring that their children attend school, and they are involved in this project.
Mr KNIGHT (Local Government): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the Deputy Chief Minister and minister for Education’s statement. It is a statement which provides a new starting point. We have talked about indigenous education in this House several times. I believe this is a critical point, where we say: ‘We have to achieve something here and be very open and transparent and get all stakeholders involved’.
The situation which has developed out bush in the past has been fairly disastrous. The education level means that, in one of my communities, a group of only six young girls graduated in 2006. That was the first time ever secondary kids in this large indigenous community in the Northern Territory had graduated. Big changes are required out there. Having travelled quite a bit, there is just no connection, as the minister said, with the education system.
People are dealing with a whole range of other issues that they see as a priority. There are so many distractions in the communities as far as just surviving, that is what is happening most of the time - parents are just surviving. They grew up in that survival atmosphere. When you look back at their grandparents, you see they are the ones who achieved a level of education. They are the ones who came to regional schools or went through mission schools and have a level of education, featuring quite good read and writing. They are the ones who can speak very eloquently. The next generation, however, and their children currently in school, are very disconnected with the education system. It is seen as an option rather than a necessity in many communities, with the problem being the total distraction to other issues. This has been going on for quite some time.
The problem is that we have a significant issue with the numbers out in the bush, but we also have a huge backlog with infrastructure. We are not only dealing with trying to get an education for the kids in primary school and the secondary colleges out there, but their parents who have Year 1 education and they are role model as parents and are struggling to find their way to live their lives. It is a huge burden and something that has been going on for quite some time.
It is at a point where we must do something very radical now. I welcome the minister’s statement and her initiatives, but it is a landmark time to do something. Every single year, we may only have 20% or 30% attendance out bush, which means that 70% of the kids or more are not attending. They grow up with no education and find themselves in situations that they cannot handle, and resort to substance abuse, and fall into the trap of poverty. We have to take a strong step to resolve this.
Parents and carers have to play their role. They have to see education as the key for a better way of life. Every single problem that we are dealing with out bush really is about the lack of education. The health of a child is primarily dependant on the education levels of the mother. When you look at the health issues for young children, it can be directly related to education levels. In every sector - be it police, health or different areas - it comes back to education.
I must commend the teachers out bush; they do cop flack from time to time. I know many of the teachers out there and they work in very difficult circumstances. They are not just turning up to a class trying to teach children, they are dealing with a whole range of social issues with those children who actually do come, and also other issues in the community. It is a very difficult job. They do a great job in those circumstances. Understandably over time, with those situations in the bush teachers have been more attracted to the urban centres where there is, perhaps, more normality in teaching. It is a very difficult role that they play.
The education system we have in the Northern Territory is unique. We try very hard to get education right out there to some very small outstations with clusters of 10 to 20 kids. We try very hard to get education out there. However, when you are dealing with a bucket of money, you spread it very thin if you are trying to stretch it right across a whole jurisdiction like the Northern Territory. There has to be some negotiation, I believe, in the way service is delivered. We can try to attract more funding into this area, but there has to be a bit of give and take from both the parents and the children, but also from the government to provide funds. If we want to achieve the levels of education that we must achieve, there has to be a bit give and take, a bit of compromise.
Members spoke about kids not going to school and walking the streets, or just failing to attend. There is a whole range of real barriers that they face. From my own experience, I have seen kids who have been kept up all night by noise of cars spinning around their house, violence happening, or the fact that they just have nowhere to sleep. In an overcrowded house, they walk around all night and then go back to the house in the morning, and find a bed that somebody else has been sleeping in because there is just no room.
I had that situation in Timber Creek. The school bus pulled up in a community. Kids were making an education choice; they were not dumb kids, they were smart kids. They hopped on that bus and went to school. They had no money. There is a canteen at school. They were taking no food to school and they did not have any money to buy any food. They knew if they went to school they would starve all day. If they stayed at home, they could go around family and find something to eat. There are some real barriers that we have to overcome. We must get kids to school - that is the primary goal - but we have to sort out those barriers about why they are not going to school.
This package of reforms really is an opportunity that we cannot miss. I applaud the minister for having the courage and the commitment to show what the real situation is across the Northern Territory by publishing the school results on the Internet. Not only can you access it from anywhere in the Territory, you can access them from anywhere in the world to see what is happening in various communities and schools across the Northern Territory and monitor that. This minister shows a great deal of courage and openness. We do not totally own this problem; it has been a problem for governments in the Territory right back to Commonwealth times. It is something that we have to sort out together and be very open with.
I have some results from schools in my electorate. It just absolutely floored me. I was having a look at my results and next to me was a colleague from an urban electorate. In the bar graphs about numeracy, reading and writing, my electorate schools are around 20% down to 10%. You hardly see the actual bars. However, a colleague from an urban centre could see a lot of them nearly right up the top, nearly 100%. I am not saying there are not problems in the urban centres, but that is the stark difference. There is a huge difference between urban and the bush. It is something that we just cannot tolerate. In 2007, in Year 7 writing, 4% of the students in one school actually passed - achieved writing. That means 96% did not - 96% failed. It is horrendous and I applaud the minister for actually publishing those. It is something that we all can have a look at. We will all be judged regarding the change in those statistics.
Attendance has been a huge issue for me in my own electorate. Wadeye is a place which gets a bit of media attention from time to time. It can be related to the education levels. For the attendance and the education that has been delivered there, you would expect more problems. I will start with the enrolment levels. There are probably 1000 school-aged children in that community, of whom 500 to 600 actually bother to enrol. So, 50% or 60% actually enrol. Of that number, only about 20% of 60% actually go to school on a regular basis, which means there is a whole group of children year to year to year who are not attending school, getting no education, who grow up to become uneducated, angry teenagers. Many of the problems there - the violence and the disruption - is caused by these kids.
Their grandparents are the people who are trying to sort out a lot of the trouble there. They are the ones who went through mission schools, have an education and have opportunity. They have reading and writing skills, have confidence about that, and they can go into a workplace and actually achieve the work. Those young boys and girls have a lack of confidence because they cannot read and write. They feel ashamed, and they cannot take on those jobs which will lift them, to a degree, out of the poverty.
The minister referred to learning as being part of traditional culture, and it absolutely is. I believe we have allowed it to drift away. There are so many other issues that have been dealt with in communities. We have tried to patch those up, as you do, but the real antibiotic for this sore is education. We have to pour our resources into education, because that is going to fix this gaping wound within these communities. We can put a bandaid over it, and do all these things but, unless we take the antibiotic to actually fix this wound, it will never heal. Engaging with communities about education - they understand it is important. I believe it is a matter of us articulating that we are there to help, and to put it back on the table, front and centre, so it does become a habit so, as people grow up, they understand that it is normal to get up in the morning, have some breakfast, get on the school bus or walk to school, every single day, five days a week. It really has to be a habit within the community: no kids walking around, they are all at school, paying attention, and doing their bit about education and, when they leave school at the end of secondary, they move on to work or further studies.
There was a bit of talk about the rights of the child. The United Nations’ Rights of the Child clearly mentions the right of a child to have an education. That is not only government providing education, it is the parents getting the child into the school. There is a mutual obligation of parents and government to provide education for that child, because it is as good as giving yourself a vaccination. This is about the wellbeing of the child. The child might not understand it, but we, as adults, either in government or as a parent, understand that it is going to make that child’s life, as they grow older, so much better.
The community ownership and control is a vital part of this that you cannot take away. We have found through the intervention that if you take control and ownership away from any initiative going on out bush, you just will not succeed. It will fail every single time. If the community is on board, if they understand it, they see that it is beneficial for them, they will be the champions. The community ownership, understanding, and ability to control what goes on are key parts of making this succeed. Also, engaging with families and ensuring that they are part of the solution to this. There are a number of initiatives happening out bush, and I mentioned Wadeye. It is a great initiative, engaging with family groups and getting them to understand the benefits of school.
The pooling of resources is something that we are looking at, through the local government reform, on a regional basis. Again, this could happen with education as well. Using proven successes is another key - what works. Sometimes it may not work; but the principle will work.
There are leadership groups in those communities. They have been saying: ‘We have to do something about this’. Now, it is up to us to really listen to them, and take on what they want to do. Many of the initiatives they are coming up with are fairly confronting for the average person living in a city, whether it is in Darwin or down south. However, those people know the problems. They know what needs to be done, and they know what is going to work. We have to be brave enough to listen to them about the solutions. We have to be able to allow them to take a degree of control, and trust in the initiatives that they put forward because, ultimately, it is their families, their kids, that they are actually trying to achieve something for. If they believe something is going to work, well, we should allow them to do those things.
The minister also talked about how this goes into the future, beyond election cycles. The member for Nhulunbuy has often said privately, quite a lot - and it is mentioned in here - that when you get into this place, you hold the baton, you run as hard and as fast, and you hold that baton as high as you can, and then you pass it to the next person. That is what our role in here is: to grab this baton and run as hard and fast, and work as hard as possible to achieve the outcomes that we have stated and, then, be ready to hand over to the next person. However, we have to do it together.
If we as, a generation of politicians in this House, can look back in 10 years, 20 years time either as current members - which will be sad, if you are here in 20 years time – or as ex-politicians and see the education results, the attendance and achievement rates double or quadruple out bush, that would be a success. If that is something that happened in my time in parliament - great waterfront, great gas plant, great railway, and all things great – they would all pale into significance when you have that human, generational success out bush.
The setting up of the Community Partnership Education Boards is great. The Katherine West Health Board is something that I have had a bit to do with, in meeting the member for Arafura. The first time I ever met her was when she came out as a departmental officer setting up the Katherine West Health Board many years ago. I cannot even think how long ago it was – about 10 years ago. Those health boards were highly successful. They have used the communities. Much depends on the management and elected members. These are programs that we can build on and, obviously, the minister has taken that into consideration.
There is a whole range of initiatives that are absolutely vital. Those boards need to look at 100% enrolment and 100% attendance. We have to achieve it. Also, when we are getting kids moving from school to work, we have to look at mobility. It has been done in the past. Historically, many Aboriginal people went away for the Dry Season to work and came back to their homelands or communities with the money they had earned and lived off that for that Wet Season. We have to look at mobility in the workplace and capacity building. We have to start to build those communities up. There is a range of initiatives that are happening all around the Northern Territory.
I commend the minister for this. She has gone out very courageously and published this information. We will all be looking at it and using every part of this initiative in each one of our communities. I will be actively lobbying for the resources and coming back to the minister with initiatives from out bush. I will be engaging with my communities and saying this government is absolutely serious about improving education. People need to get on board and we need to solve this problem.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for her statement and I look forward to working with her to solve the education problems out bush.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the minister on motivating herself to putting the results that she has right now, which are not really good, on to the web, to use them as a benchmark. I see that as a fairly brave move. It also indicates her seriousness about wanting to make a difference. It is commendable of her to do that.
There is no doubt that absolutely every child deserves an education. The way education has not worked in our remote communities is a reflection on many things that have been tried over the years by successive governments, all with the best intentions but, unfortunately, not with the results that we would like to see.
You have some bold proposals in here. Some of those have been just glossed up a little from previous times but, obviously, as a package, you intend for them to work. You intend for them to work and I am not having a cheap shot at you; I am making a genuine comment here.
Education has changed so much over the years. Many years ago when I was at school, we did not have a lot of conveniences to get to school. We had to travel on grotty old, sandy roads on push bike if we were lucky, or sometimes we had to walk. Otherwise, Dad would have us on the back of the utility. We had about 15 km to go each way to a one-room school that had anywhere between 20 and 30 children in it who were doing from Years 1 to 7 with one teacher and no other assistance at all.
As children, it never ever crossed our minds to say we did not want to go to school. We wanted to go to school and were motivated by our parents. I certainly was because neither my mother nor father had a great education. I think Dad went to school for two-and-a-half years before he went back to the farm with the rest of his family. Mum went to school for about four years and writes quite well. Dad’s writing was a bit of a scrawl but we could understand it.
When I went to high school I was having a bit of a challenge with maths, Dad would say: ‘I will give you a hand, old girl‘, and he would do it in such a great long, unmethodical way. I would say: ‘I cannot present that because there is a method to the way we do our maths’. He used to argue with me and say: ‘It does not matter which way you do it, girl, as long as you get the answer’. He always got the answer. He was committed to ongoing learning his whole life.
Things have definitely changed, although one thing is the same. I went away to a co-ed boarding hostel in Port Lincoln for kids who lived on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. I can remember my first 12 months of being away was pretty challenging. Being a free-spirited person from a country town with Mum and Dad having 15 000 ha, I could run around pretty free and easy. I can relate to a lot of people who have come from a community where they had a lot of freedom and, all of a sudden, being confined into a small place.
Katherine has two accommodation hostels for people from remote communities to come to, and they are both run very well and are full. There is an opportunity for students to come in to Katherine High School, and it is really pleasing to see those who do board and attend the school.
With many of the issues that we talked about regarding why children do not go to school, I can also relate to some of those, because where I live in Katherine I am surrounded by children in houses. However, some of them do not have the best home life and there is a lot of violence and a drunken behaviour that goes on all hours of the night during the week. Unfortunately, in one situation, I have experienced several times a mother having to run from the house in the middle of the night with her children to try to escape from the terrible violence that was happening there, who was calling out to get the police. There have been many times, unfortunately, when I have had to do that. I used to look at those children and wonder how in the hell they were expected to go school the next day and learn. Well, it was impossible; I do not know how on earth they ever did because they had not had much sleep at all. Those are factors that we have to take into consideration.
We all know that the way out of poverty and these terrible situations is education and opportunity. When the Substance Abuse committee visited many of the communities, it became obvious to us that substance abuse was a very significant factor and one of the reasons why the children were not going to school. For the sake of the record, I am going to read what our findings were as far as education in the communities was concerned. This was handed down in our report last year. I quote from it:
- The Committee finds that substance abuse is a significant factor in limiting the take up of educational opportunities in remote communities. Clearly, education is of key importance in positioning community members for employment. The Committee finds, as well as the other disincentives to school attendance, that too often the importance of formal schooling is not appreciated and this needs to be addressed to reduce truancy.
- The committee also finds that educational services face challenges in attracting, housing, and retaining staff.
Recommendation 14 in the report was:
- The committee recommends that in recognition of the key links between participation and attainment in education and problems with substance abuse, programs to address substance abuse be linked to and supported by programs to address the shortfalls in educational take up, including proactive action against truancy and heightened awareness of the importance of education.
That was one of our recommendations from the substance abuse report last year. The minister, from what I can read in here, has taken up some of those issues, and they should be addressed in the future. It is good to see that one of those recommendations from that report is being taken up.
Minister, it is going to be a long, hard road; there is no question about that. However, I have no doubt that you are sincerely committed to making a change for regional and, especially, remote community children. I certainly look forward with interest to you keeping up ongoing reports on the web and keeping that up-to-date so that people can see how it is progressing. Obviously, as things are progressing, if some part of it is not working out, you will, obviously, reassess it and put something else in place that will.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her statement. I would like to see some positive outcomes from it.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s statement, Transforming Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory. The heading speaks for itself: Transforming Indigenous Education. The minister has highlighted the cold, hard facts - and has spoken publicly, as has the Chief Minister - that we do have a crisis in education regarding what level of education our children are at in our remote regions.
Having said that, one of the most exciting things I find in regard to this particular statement is how there is a consistent pattern of continuity between our previous and current Education ministers in the challenge of overcoming the diverse differences of our children in the bush in what they learn, where they live, and the desire of needing to go to school.
Those are cold, hard facts and I have to begin with those, because they are facts that are now going to be released publicly on the website. That, in itself, is quite an extraordinary step for our government, so that every single person, not only in this House, but right across the Northern Territory, is going to be acutely aware of where we stand as people here in the Northern Territory, compared with each other and also in comparison with fellow Australians across the country in our education performance. That is not a bad thing; that is a very good thing. It is time for that sort of accountability and transparency to be so apparent that we have no excuses - no excuses whatsoever; not only as members of this Assembly, but also as parents, as family, as teachers, as members in a bureaucracy, and all those staff who work in education centres right across the Northern Territory. We now know that we have reached a particular point in the history of education in the Northern Territory that says we are turning the corner; that change is here, it is happening.
Let us have a look at the multilevel assessment program for 2007. I have to read through these because we need to highlight the appalling statistics here, and the comparisons of indigenous students to non-indigenous students. In Year 3 at reading level, provincial 85.7%; in remote areas, it is 71.8%, and in very remote areas it is 37.6%. I have 16 schools in the electorate of Arnhem and they are largely considered very remote. My schools would fall into these categories. For Year 5, in provincial - 85.1%; in remote - 77.9%; in very remote - 36.8%. These are, again, schools which are in my electorate. In Year 7 provincial - 83.7%; in remote 61.3%; in very remote 33.6% - again, schools in the Arnhem electorate.
So the numbers go on for numeracy and for writing. The figures for numeracy go up slightly in Year 3; they fall back down again in Year 5 and Year 7. For writing, in Year 3 - 28.3% for very remote areas. In Year 5 - 27.3% for very remote areas. In Year 7 - 27%. These in comparison with provincial schools in our towns and city - 80.9%.
We no longer can say we do not know what is going on in our communities. It is one thing for the teachers and parents in a community and, indeed, for the particular local member of those communities to be aware of the educational statistics; it is another to have those statistics so broadly expressed for every eye to see - for every single Territorian and every Australian to see. I commend the minister on such a courageous step.
I also commend the minister for taking the department and, indeed, the school system, on a new direction which, again, as I said in the beginning, has been a consistent pattern of our government with previous ministers, in particular the former minister for Education, the member for Nhulunbuy.
One of the other things that really interested me in the transformation of indigenous education in this statement is the welcome involvement of the Menzies School of Health in a formal evaluation process. We talked about the education plans and strategies, and what we would like to see. Indeed, we heard from each of the members here about their own personal experiences. This step of involving Menzies is an interesting one - certainly a very different one - where we are calling on an internationally-renowned research facility to walk in partnership with the Northern Territory government in the area of education now, as it already does in health, to oversee and monitor how we go. How are we going to go over the coming years and, indeed, decades, as we try to break through this enormous gap that has been there out of sheer neglect because our students were not given the opportunity to have the benefits of an education system that our students in our towns and in the Darwin city have had as a right of life?
I commend the minister for including Menzies, and I look forward to seeing how that partnership is going to evolve and grow. No doubt, with Menzies’ track record in health research in Aboriginal areas, they will not be shy in revealing how well or how badly we are going as a government in the steps that we want to see improved in our regions.
At Menzies, a newly developed Aboriginal unit has been established under the leadership of Bilawara Lee, a local Larrakia woman of great integrity. I am encouraged to know that Menzies and, indeed, people like Bilawara, will be watching and working very closely with our government in the evaluation process.
The Community Partnership Education Boards is another area that is quite exciting. To have two at this stage is very good. I am very conscious of having the issue of quality rather than quantity. It is important that we are not overloading ourselves with boards at this particular stage. It may happen down the track. I say to the minister and the staff of the department that having these two education boards in the two regions that have been announced will be good – in the Warlpiri and East Arnhem regions. By having the boards we can encourage decentralisation of power. It is about responsibility and accountability, where the groups of communities work under one governance structure. That is a very exciting concept for education. We have yet to really see the fruition of that work.
There have been small groups over the years, but this is an actual concentrated effort in line with the health models, for example, the Katherine West Health Board. We see the Sunrise Medical Health in the Katherine East region. They are important models that we can learn from, borrow what has proven productive and useful, and perhaps leave aside those things that have not been so good. This will allow us to embrace a model for the education system in these two boards that can actually see fundamental, real change on the ground in those communities that they represent. That is not to say that those communities that do not have a board are going to be any less better off. In fact, we need to be aware that, talking about quality, let us get the quality of these boards right, and then seek to expand and emulate these boards across the Northern Territory where appropriate.
The only suggestion I have in regard to the board is the naming of them. I notice we have called it the Community Partnership Education Board. I say to the minister and her staff that CPEB is perhaps a little too close to CDEP. What I suggest is that once these boards are established, they may wish to have their own names – very individual, reflective of their region, and may be in language. That will, obviously, be a decision by the members of the board. I encourage the minister to ensure that members have the opportunity to properly own boards so they feel from the very beginning that it does reflect the diversity of their communities.
I heard here today discussion on regional residential hostels. That is an area we have yet to explore thoroughly. If we look at the non-government schools, say, for example, Marrara Christian College, they have 15 group homes in Darwin. In those homes, they take on 10 children from Top End communities. They have what is called house-parent home-style living. It is not a boarding school; it is a boarding house, but in a family environment. With the many children that our family have cared for over the past 10 years, we have been able to see our children go through these homes. When we talk about residential hostels with a family-type atmosphere, these group homes are an outstanding, solid example. I believe they can be appraised and emulated in our communities. Once these two boards are set up, they will, no doubt, have a look at the residential hostels themselves.
What about those communities that do not have boards? They will certainly want to be looking at the hostels for themselves. I know that there are communities in my electorate that talk about that quite a lot. We are all aware of the difficulties that children have in leaving home to go to a boarding school, or just to leave their community to attend a nearby school. They suffer from feelings of homesickness, alienation, and trying to adjust to something different. These are not unique feelings. It does not matter whether you are Aboriginal; we all have those feelings. I am sure people can speak of their own experiences if they have had to leave home to live at school.
To know that the federal government, together with the Northern Territory government, is seriously looking at residential hostels in our communities is an exciting thought. The federal government’s offer of $44m over four years gives scope to people across the Northern Territory who are keen to see hostels or boarding-type situations in their communities. They now can think about whether this is an opportunity for their community. This an opportunity for their community to establish a school system where they can keep their kids there; where they can have the option of being surrounded safely with a bed, sporting recreation facilities, and the knowledge that they are safe. They go to bed at night feeling safe.
I also notice that it has been an issue in the national press with regard to Galarrwuy Yunupingu and his calls for boarding schools. We have, perhaps, come full circle in some sense because we know that we can actually have a look at these issues now. The difference at looking at those issues now is not because, as some might think, we are reverting to the past. The difference is that we can actually have a look at these things from the vantage point of choice. We now have a choice. As Aboriginal people in Australia today, we have a choice like our fellow Australians to think about the kind of future we want, not only for ourselves but for our children, unlike the policies of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s where children were taken away. There was no choice. Let us not forget that if we are going to have a discussion and debate about boarding schools, homes or missionary styles, let us not get lost in the debate and think that we are reverting to the past.
The difference is choice. We can now, as equal Australians, stand at the table and say: ‘These are the things and decisions we want to make based on who we are now and how we are respected within Australian society now with equal rights’. We can stand up now for our children and say, ‘This is a good thing for our child’, or ‘This is not a good thing for our child’ whereas, in the past, we have had no choice. Those decisions were made for and on our behalf without any consultation or discussion.
I urge members in future discussions on this area - and there will be - that that is the most important point in all of this: the issue of choice. As parents, the same as any parents across the country, we want to be able to choose what is best for our children. I believe that that is an exciting area, minister, in transforming indigenous education. It is another area of indigenous education that is going to be quite exciting to talk about. Some parents who will love it and there will be some parents who will hate it, but hey, they have a choice and that will be a good thing.
The thing that comes through with all of this for me now, in particular, is that I gave examples in the three years that I have been in parliament of having to go out to the 16 schools continuously, to see how staff and students are going. For example, in places like Ngukurr we have had huge problems with many children and not enough desks, chairs or classrooms. In fact, Ngukurr school was using the library and the computer room as a full-time classroom. Also, there are places like Bulman where the staffroom was used as a secondary classroom because there were just no more classrooms available.
I can say how absolutely wonderful it feels to go to Ngukurr now and to see that they have four new classrooms that our kids can be fitted in, seated in, quite adequately. We still need more classrooms, but I can tell you it is fantastic. The feeling in the school with the teachers and the students was something I have not seen. I know it was because there was this great sense of change; something was happening. Those classrooms are because of the Closing the Gap monies. That is the reason why those classrooms are there. Two of those classrooms have come from Beswick.
Beswick is another fantastic story, thanks to our former Chief Minister and our former Education minister who pushed hard to ensure that the children of Beswick did not go through another Wet Season of flooding where their school, year after year without fail - and sometimes it was almost three times a year in that particular Wet Season – and not only would the flood go through the school, but there would be sewage as well. It would take literally weeks to clean the carpets. Who would dare go in there? Not to mention the houses of the teachers.
In the next couple of weeks - I believe it is happening in May - we are going to be seeing the official opening of a school costing approximately $2m at Beswick, housing all the students. It is one of the most heartening structures. When I go out there, I think, yes, this is a government that believes in all of our children right across the Northern Territory. That change is happening - it is happening right now. You can go into those classrooms to see the change, to feel it, to see the smiles on the children’s faces, knowing that the big hurdle of just the physical structure has been jumped; that now we get down to business. Now we get down to the reading levels, the numeracy levels, the writing levels …
Mr HAMPTON: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the member receive an extension of time to complete her remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms McCARTHY: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Now that we have the structure in place, and have this beaut new school, the real challenge is to ensure that it actually works for the benefit of the kids there. We have to ensure, now that we have a great new school, that we do not just sit back and relax and think that the job is done. Now the job really begins. Now it is about ensuring that our teachers are adequately provided for, that there are houses for our staff, and houses also for the indigenous staff who have worked long and hard in these communities and want to be appreciated and valued for the contribution they make to the future of their children.
Now is the time to really ensure we improve our statistics. I do not want to see 37.6% in reading for kids in Arnhem. I do not want to see 36.8% or 33.6%. I want to see 80%, 85.1% - hell, I want to see 100%.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for this statement to the House. I send this particular message to the staff of the Northern Territory Education department and teachers right across the Northern Territory: change is happening, it is happening right now; go with us on this.
Mr HAMPTON (Stuart): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s statement, Transforming Indigenous Education. Since self-government, the report card on indigenous education is not a good one for all parliamentarians. The issue and the statement that we have heard today and the contribution from other members is above politics. While the report card to date is not good, there is certainly room for improvement. This statement goes a long way in improving that and, hopefully, one day we can all stand up and say: ‘Let us give ourselves an A or an A+ on the report card for indigenous education’.
I also congratulate the minister on her honesty, frankness and preparedness to put these statistics on the public record, not only in parliament, but on the department’s website. That is a great first step in us being honest and frank about this issue and improving on that report card. Regarding her pervious life in the health sector, her experience and her knowledge is still well respected in my electorate, in communities such as Yarralin, Pigeon Hole, Kalkarindji and Lajamanu, in particular, for putting the health sector in the hands of community control. Your work in that area is certainly still well recognised. The first principle that the minister announced today in relation to putting education in community control, along with strong working relationships with the government and department, will also go a long way in the future years in terms of recognition.
On that, the two levels of the seven principles that the minister announced are the two that I would like to mention early in my contribution. Principle one that will guide this transformation - and I put it on public record again - is that of community ownership and control to increase respect for value and support of services. The other one is the last one; that is, new models of delivery will operate within accountability frameworks and the service level agreements that include quality assurance measures. We see in a lot of public policy, particularly regarding the intervention, those two principles still missing. One is putting some of those measures in the hands of the community in dealing with such a huge change. The other is we, as government and as politicians, can make these announcements of policy decisions but, unless there is some sort of formal agreement in what we are trying to do with the community, then we hold ourselves in a position that may lack a bit of accountability on both ends, and we do not know what our relationship with each other is. In the emergency response, the intervention, those two measures, in particular, are still missing. It is good to see in the transformation of education that those two principles are fair and squarely in there.
As previous speakers have said, this statement on transforming indigenous education is very timely, given the changes to indigenous affairs over the last 10 months. We have had the new focus by COAG since the new federal government has come in, with that overarching agreement and various other agreements over the past 12 months at least. I believe this statement today on how we are going to transform education for indigenous people is very timely, and picks up and builds on those other announcements and those other policy issues.
Also, the important aspects that impact on indigenous education are health and housing, particularly for the children. We talk about many barriers, but one of the biggest barriers we have in education and improving those levels of achievement that we are hearing about is health. I have always strongly advocated that one of the positive and strong points of the intervention has been the child health checks. To date, during Phase 1 of the health checks, 1195 children have had these health checks done throughout the Northern Territory by Australian government volunteer health teams. With Phase 2 of these health checks, it includes completion of child health checks and follow-up treatment of problems identified through the checks. Something like 1800 children in Central Australia have had health checks completed. I understand the team is currently going through my electorate at Ti Tree, Kings Canyon and permanent outstations currently to undertake Phase 2.
A few weeks ago, we saw some of the follow-up treatment, which is vitally important as well, with children from remote communities coming to the hospital in Alice Springs and undergoing operations or further treatment for hearing and eye problems. For this statement, that particular aspect of the intervention is very important. It plays an important role when we talk about improving attendance and enrolment in our schools and, in particular, those seven principles of transformation that the minister has mentioned.
Regarding housing, we have had the recent housing announcement, and the joint announcement by both levels of government, the Territory and Commonwealth. Once again, we heard in the House today the impact overcrowded housing has on indigenous attendance and enrolments through our schools, in the bush particularly, and also in the urban areas, such as Alice Springs and the town camps. This statement by the minister is very timely regarding those two important areas of health and housing that impact on education. It is going to coordinate very well with those two important announcements and policy shifts.
There is no doubt that, over the coming year and into the future, any Education minister is going to have a fair number of challenges, despite this statement. Education, particularly indigenous education, is such a huge challenge for this government to take forward. I wish the minister well. No doubt, there are changes and issues within the Education Act that will need to be looked at. With the intervention, we know about the positives and negatives we have talked about, particularly those such as health. There are also the issues of CDEP and transferring the Aboriginal assistant teachers over into full-time employment. Those discussions of CDEP and getting assistant teachers into real jobs would also be another challenge in the future.
The member for Millner - and I think the member for Braitling as well as a couple of other members - touched on the fact that, during the history of self-government in the Northern Territory in this parliament, we have had something like nine indigenous members. That is a great achievement in itself. It does reflect on each one of us in terms of our education, where we have come from, and our family backgrounds. Many of those nine indigenous members have come from remote communities and have not had to lose their culture and their language. They can balance both worlds here in parliament, as well as back home in their communities, whether they are participating in ceremonies or just community life.
The minister said, on the one hand, the system of education in the Territory has produced individual student performances which are amongst the best in the nation, yet, there are other students who have fallen through gaps and struggle. The same can be said of indigenous people themselves. We have the high achievers, such as those who have reached the high point of being a member of parliament but, then there are the kids out bush or in town today, who are really struggling to be able to read and write and to leave schools with a good standard of education. That is just another comparison to add to what the minister was saying in her statement.
We are seeing the domino effect in our communities throughout the Territory. The minister said that we cannot shrink from the effort of finding solutions. However, we are seeing the results of a set of bad report cards of this parliament on indigenous education with the high incarceration rates amongst indigenous people in the Territory, as well as the poor health statistics that we see and hear about all the time. One of the issues that I am continuously raising is that of indigenous men. Obviously, being an indigenous male myself, I often see a lot of my brothers and relations who are suffering because they have fallen through the gap in our education system. I know the Congress men’s health unit in Alice Springs is seeing close to 200 to 300 men a week, whether they are there just looking for support or help, or just to have a shower or to wash their clothes. There is a big gap and I truly hope that this transformation in indigenous education goes a long way in addressing that gap that exists for indigenous men in the Territory.
One of the programs that has had a positive effect on increasing male enrolments and attendance in our schools is the Clontarf Football Academy. The member for Millner talked about that. I know, through my own personal experience of my two boys participating in the Clontarf Football Academy at ANZAC High and at Centralian College, it is certainly delivering some very worthwhile early outcomes for indigenous men in the education system. One particular case in point is Yirara College, where retention rates were up last year around 80%, which is what we want to see and achieve. Sometimes, we have to think outside the square, and programs like the Clontarf Football Academy are doing exactly that and we have seen some good early results.
I acknowledge the work that that particular academy is doing and also acknowledge this government for taking on that particular program. It was something that was outside the box. We knew of the successes it was having in Western Australia. To take that program on did take some courage, and I acknowledge the former Chief Minister for that. I attended the first opening of the program in Alice Springs about a year-and-a-half ago. It is those sorts of programs that we need to look at. The member for Nelson said we need to keep it basic but our community has changed from the 1930s, 1970s and even the late 1990s. Darwin has changed. Members who grew up here can tell you that. I can certainly tell you that Alice Springs has changed. Young people today are looking for and needing different things to get them involved. I believe the Clontarf Football Academy deserves an early pat on the back and, particularly, all those indigenous men who are working in it.
The other side of the scene to it is that it is engaging many indigenous men into the education system, which has been missing for many years. Many men I know in Alice Springs are now part of the Clontarf Football Academy teaching staff, and that is great to see because they are the role models that young indigenous men in school need.
The member for Nelson mentioned me and what I had achieved in education. I suppose my inspiration is my grandparents - I talked about them in my first speech to parliament - Tim and Sarah Hampton. They had 11 sons and in the early days, in the 1930s, I suppose the luxury of what we are talking about nowadays of school facilities, programs and resources were not there. They travelled around the Territory in the 1930s to get the best education and employment opportunities for their 11 sons. That meant moving from Roper River Mission to Groote Eylandt, into Darwin and into places like Hatches Creek, Barrow Creek and then, finally, on to Alice Springs. It even meant sending some of their sons away, I suppose during the Stolen Generations era. There were many Aboriginal parents back then who sent their kids away - we are talking about the 1930s and1940s - to get a better education in places like Adelaide or in New South Wales.
That is my inspiration: people back then took on those challenges despite the geographical, economical and social challenges that they had. It puts our challenges into insignificance really because we do have many more resources and the money now to try to meet the challenges that we have. I suppose it is a different challenge, but my inspiration in getting a good education and ensuring my sons get a good education were my grandparents. I look back in that time in the history of the Northern Territory and the challenges we have now are nowhere near as hard as they had with 11 sons in remote places like Roper River, Groote Eylandt, Hatches Creek, and Barrow Creek. Sending your kids away in the 1930s to get a good education provided a really strong role model and inspiration for me.
For me, growing up at The Gap, I attended Traeger Park Primary School and that was a public education school in the 1970s. Obviously, the government at the time made a decision to close that school, but it was a school where many Aboriginal kids who grew up in Alice Springs, particularly down The Gap area, gained a very valuable education. It was a shame to see that school close down in the mid-1980s. Traeger Park was a very important first stage of my education life. It was a school that even many white kids from low socioeconomic families attended. Many of those families still live in Alice Springs today. It crossed racial barriers and it was a school that was there for all Alice Springs’ residents. To see that public school close down was a real shame.
In those days, we started to see family structures change, in Alice Springs particularly. We started to see movement of many of the community people into Alice Springs - this was in the mid-1970s. We talk about migration from communities into Alice today, but it has been going on since the 1970s, and it is just the result of the political policies of the time. For me, obviously, moving to Adelaide with my father in the late 1970s, attending some public schools in Adelaide and, then, going on to Emmanuel College, a private boarding school, was probably the second most important step in my education life.
At the time, we were fortunate there was Austudy and it actually covered a lot of the school fees for parents of indigenous kids who wanted to go that next step. I spent five years at Emmanuel College boarding school, and had tutors who helped me reach a very good level of education. There were programs such as Austudy - and I do not know whether they are still around - which had a boarding allowance component in it which allowed many parents, to send their children, particularly some from Central Australia. The Williams family from Hermannsburg went to Emmanuel College, along with the Lechleitners and McCormacks. Austudy opened the door for many Aboriginal children from Central Australia. It kept me in Emmanuel College for five years, where I completed Year 12.
Then I went on to adult education. The Institute for Aboriginal Development enabled me to complete an Associate Diploma externally through partnership with the South Australian University. There are opportunities that exist through good, strong community organisations and training providers like IAD. They also play a valuable part in filling the gap for some of those kids who do get through. I suppose that was the third step in my education history.
Traeger Park, Emmanuel College and IAD all played important roles in my education and getting me to where I am, as well as the inspiration of my grandparents and the challenges they went through in their life.
For my sons, I suppose that has rubbed off on me; it is a generational thing. What your parents …
Dr BURNS: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the member be granted 10 minutes extra time to conclude his remarks, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HAMPTON: I will not be much longer. In my personal life, that certainly is the influences for me. As I said, we have different challenges.
I will just go back to the minister’s statement. I mention the other five new major projects that the minister has announced, in particular the Community Partnership Education Boards. I am particularly excited and overwhelmed that one of the two sites for proposed boards is going to be the Warlpiri triangle or the Warlpiri Patu Kurlangu Jaru region of Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Nyirripi, and Willowra. It is well deserved; it has been around for a long time – they have worked. It has been a community-driven education region.
I feel for those people like Jeannie Egan, Thomas Rice, Nancy Oldfield, Barbara Martin, Enid Gallagher, Maisie Kitson from Willowra and Pauline Gallagher and Fiona Gibson from Nyirripi, who, for a long time, have worked tirelessly, and often with little reward in remuneration or thanks by the wider community, for the work they have done. I feel really overwhelmed that this is one of the two sites that have been recommended. It is certainly well deserved, and I look forward to working closely with the minister and the department in ensuring that it is a success.
I have talked about for residential college for a long time. Regarding a business case, there were strong arguments for that to happen. Their long association with the mining industry in that region puts them in good stead, and their decision, some time ago, to set up the Warlpiri Education Training Trust, also put in a stronger argument for their business case. One of the ideas I have had is to start to run a Clontarf Football Academy based in this college. That would go a long way to improving attendance and enrolments, particularly for indigenous men in the region. They are just some ideas that I will talk to the minister about. In terms of that project, I feel very overwhelmed about it and I am looking forward to that becoming a success, which I am sure it will be.
Another announcement is the $2m for the Utopia homelands. Another challenge in the future is the outstations in the Northern Territory. We have some 600 outstations. I know we are working on an outstations policy. A big part of that policy framework should be based around education. Places like Utopia are getting some really good results in education outcomes. I know the school and clinic. I went there a couple of months ago to see the new classroom. While it may be a small building the reaction and flow-on effects to the rest of the community are bigger than any building can be. That has taken a long time. I thank the minister for the new classroom at Utopia, and the announcement that $2m will go into that region to set up a middle schools program as well, which is very welcomed.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the minister on her honesty and her courage. As I said, the report card of this parliament on indigenous education is not good since self-government, but this is a very good step forward. I hope all members of this parliament put politics aside, and let us make some really big improvements into the future.
Ms ANDERSON (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend and support the Education minister, the Deputy Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, on the very brave statement she made today. I commend her for not just thinking about Aboriginal education, but for thinking about all Territory children. This is not about making the lives of indigenous kids better; it is about making all children’s education better in the whole of the Territory. We govern for the whole of the Territory. The minister’s statement quite clearly states that, in true partnership with the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory governments, our aims and aspirations are to improve the educational quality of all kids in the whole of the Territory. They are our future.
I also commend the minister for Education, and all of my colleagues in Cabinet, because without the support of Cabinet, no doubt, the minister would not have succeeded in her policy. I thank the Chief Minister, the Treasurer, and all the ministers - the Ministers for Health, Primary Industry, and Local Government - for putting your beliefs and support behind the minister for Education. It is the belief that you have in your Territory children that has made this statement possible. I commend you again, minister.
In my contribution, I will talk about the fact that governments can only do so much. As indigenous politicians in this House, it is up to us to talk to our communities and tell our communities and the parents of these children that they have to take education very seriously. It is the failure of our community leaders and of parents that has created the results that the members for Arnhem and Stuart, the minister, the Treasurer and everybody else who has contributed to this statement has spoken about. It is the failure of parents to force their children to go to school. There are no ethics inside the family structure any more.
I will just go back to my childhood. I did not live in a government provided $300 000, $400 000 or $500 000 house with a toilet, shower and three bedrooms. I went to school every day from a humpy, and I loved going to school. I remember every morning we would go to school in what was called our camp clothes, and we would have school uniforms waiting for us at school. We would have a shower and put on our school uniforms and enjoy the six hours contact that we had with our teachers. That was a time for us to have something that we did not have outside the school yard; that was, the love and attention that the teachers gave us. I believe they still give our children that love and attention today.
To reflect on my past, it was a time for me to live inside a book that my teachers read. If they read any books inside the classroom, I would imagine that I was the character inside that book, and that helped me to escape from the things outside the classroom and in the community. If you look at my community’s history in the early 1970s, Papunya was a very violent community. School allowed me to escape to something much nicer.
I take this opportunity to congratulate this government; this is a really revolutionary statement. It is a revolution in the history of Territory education, not just indigenous education. We have to ensure that we focus on all our children because, whether an urban school is getting 71% or 65%, we need to increase those numbers to 90%. There are bad results in all areas and we need to increase them.
As Territorians we are responsible for ensuring that we look after the future generations of our children. We, as politicians and parents, should go into our communities and encourage our community leaders and the parents of these children to take education seriously and ensure they send their children to school five days a week, unless those children are sick. I see in the statement that, in all this, we are going to be looking after our teachers. As the minister’s statement says, they are our foot soldiers. They are the backbone behind all our children. Inside every single classroom we have, whether it is at Docker River, Kintore, Milingimbi, or in Karama, they are the backbone of our children’s education. For six hours a day, these people are committed to our children. We probably have the children as parents and grandparents for four, five hours a day before we send them to bed. I take my hat off to all our Territory teachers, all over the Northern Territory, and commend them for all the love and compassion they give to our children.
It is really important that we must have a strategy to send a message to all the parents in remote Aboriginal communities to take education seriously. They cannot load their children up in cars and take them to a sports weekend across to Yuendumu without going to school on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. That is a clear indication that those children are only getting three days a week, if not two days a week, education inside a classroom. During the winter in Central Australia, this will happen every week. You will probably get some children who will go to school five days a week whose parents are really not interested in following the sports weekends around. However, you will get the majority of the children whose results quite clearly show in that statement, who will travel around with parents to every sports weekend in every community, and maybe, go to school twice if not three times a week.
We have a duty of care, an obligation as politicians, as parents, as local members of our communities, to ensure that we send this message to those communities loud and clear. Governments can only do so much. You have a responsibility to your child to send your child to school, to ensure that your child is educated so that that child can have a future, and to ensure that that child is healthy. If we cannot do that, then collectively, along with the parents, we fail the future generations of Territorians as well.
It is not about whether the minister, together with her colleagues, will implement this. I believe the minister and this government is very brave to take the steps in confronting what we have seen and heard about for many decades. It is a failure of all of us, not just the previous government and previous ministers who have been in this House, because, as parents and leaders before we became politicians, we were out in communities and we knew these appalling results.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister for being so brave. I also commend this Labor government for being so brave and moving forward to ensure that there is a revolution in the future of our Territory kids.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all members who have responded to my statement on indigenous education, Transforming Indigenous Education.
I welcome the generally bipartisan responses to my statement. As the member for Blain said, he looks forward to a robust debate. All of us must not be shy to have that robust debate and not get touchy when we tend to point fingers in this place, and say: ‘You were to blame’. We have to move beyond that. I often said regarding child protection and those areas I had with Family and Community Services, that there are issues that are too important. When it comes to our kids, we have to get beyond our bickering, how we might feel in our partisan CLP versus ALP. We have to get beyond it. It is about our children, their future, and having the robust debate.
Everybody tonight contributed to that statement. It does not have all of the solutions in it. I did not say I was presenting in a statement that was going to be the panacea or the solution to what we know has been an eroding problem for a long time. Yes, we are in the right climate; it is time to bite the bullet. It is time to say to our communities, enough is enough, we cannot continue doing this. I remember about eight years ago, prior to coming into parliament actually, talking about parents neglecting to give their child access to an education is a form of child abuse. I was shouted down and I criticised and told: ‘You are wrong, that is not true’. Well, in my books, I am sorry, the way I was brought up, if parents failed to give their child access to an education, I believe it was a form of child abuse – they were neglecting that child’s right to an education. All of the contributions of members in this House today reflected that.
We have come a long way. The days of political correctness - I was listening to the member for Araluen when she spoke. We need to call a spade a spade and have a look at these issues and address them. For all of us who represent the bush communities, it is not about standing here as an Aboriginal person as the only one who can talk about Aboriginal education. That is not true. I think all of us agree; it is not about whether you are black or white, it is about what is right. It is about restorative justice. It is about doing what is right.
I, and many of my colleagues including the former minister, enjoy listening to members opposite such as the member for Braitling, because every time she speaks about education, it is genuine. It is about bringing the knowledge, experience and skill that she had before she came into politics, as a former principal and teacher. Sometimes, she treats us like former students in class, but that is not a bad thing. I enjoyed her contribution. Listening to some of it, we might not necessarily always agree, but I respect her view and I will certainly take on board her contribution to the debate.
The member for Blain was talking about personal responsibility. The Community Partnership Education Boards will decentralise some of that. It will put the responsibility and accountability back into those communities. We have commenced some of that work with the Remote Partnership Agreement, but this is going beyond that where a group of communities can work under one governance structure to manage delivery of quality education and training, as well as social and emotional support services to their children.
The member for Blain also talked about having qualified teachers in every classroom. Well, we do have very qualified teachers. Like all members who spoke, I take my hat off to those teachers because they are out there doing the hard slog. We all know that. I have gone out, like all members who get out to their electorates, go into their schools, and watch teachers teaching our little ones - whether it is in an urban setting or a remote setting. In a remote setting, I often feel sorry for our young teachers out there. When you have grown up on the eastern seaboard and then you are brought up here. I have met so many of them who had rose-tinted glasses; they wanted to fix the whole world. They do it with all the right intentions. They want to make those inroads. They want to do the best job that they can with our kids. Then, the reality sets in and they become disillusioned and hardened. Some of them walk away, but some of them will stay and they will continue working in that system to try to make those changes.
We do have valued, qualified teachers. The Growing Our Own strategy is looking at the sustainability into the future of education, where we have to get serious about looking at our Aboriginal Teacher Assistants, our tutors, and about putting the resources and the support behind those teachers, getting them upskilled so that they can work with our children in communities. We will always have teachers coming and going out of communities but, at some stage, we have to have our own teachers in the classrooms teaching our kids with the same level of qualification as a non-indigenous teacher.
People might think that that is ambitious, but I do not think so. I believe that is an important part of the strategy. It is about getting our Aboriginal teachers skilled. People thought it was ambitious with Aboriginal Health Workers. Well, guess what? You go into any remote community, any remote clinic, and an essential part in that clinic is that multidisciplinary person, an Aboriginal Health Worker. If you can skill those people to the right level, anything is possible and we can turn that around. We need to get our indigenous people trained as teachers to work in our remote communities.
The member for Blain also talked about the curriculum. He has mentioned it a couple of times. Just recently, there was the MCEETYA - Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Training and Youth Affairs - meeting in Melbourne. One of the agenda items supported by all the state governments and the Australian government was the development of a national curriculum. Everybody supported it, everyone voted on it. We will now move towards a national curriculum. The work has started on this. The chair who has been conducting the review over the last 12 months, Dr Barry McGaw, said English, Mathematics, Geography and Science will be the first subjects to be developed that will be put nationally across Australia. So, in the near future, all Australian teachers will be planning teaching programs from the same curriculum, with the same standard.
Furthermore, the national testing will be happening for the first time in May this year. Every Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 student will be tested. As I said in my statement, I have directed the department to put the attendance and MAP results on the website. From the testing in May, we will have the results much earlier than we have had in previous years. I think it is August when all of those results of the testing that happens in May for this year, will be ready; whereas, previously, we would wait until the end of the year. It would not be until the next year that we got the results. The target of publishing those results is the need to have a clear and transparent understanding of these figures. This information needs to become a permanent feature of disclosure in the future. It is the kind of disclosure we all require if we are to measure our progress.
The member for Araluen - I thank her - was saying she basically supports the framework of that 100% attendance. I welcome that. I do not believe there was any disagreement that there needs to be a carrot and stick approach to ensure our kids are going to school every day, and I have touched on some of that. I have been on record to say that, if kids are being neglected or harmed, it is mandatory to report and whatever is required should occur, because it is the law. She talked of - and a couple of the other speakers talked about – the authorised person. I think the member for Braitling also talked about it. I looked at the Education Act in my office. When I said I was studying the Education Act, I think there was a bit of a shudder from my staff, when I was pulling down acts and having a look at it.
I was looking at that part on compulsory education and the mechanisms under the Education Act. There are mechanisms; it says it there. However, the mechanisms to actually implement them are not there. If we can look at how parts of that system and that mechanism work under the VSA, which has been reviewed, then we might be able to translate it with that. Nothing is off the table. They are things that we will work through and, I believe, should happen, if we talk about how education is compulsory and every child should be attending.
Member for Braitling, I agree that teaching can be a difficult profession, and I take my hat off, as I said to our hard-working, committed teachers. Since being minister for Education, and even before I was elected to parliament, I have had the opportunity to visit the many schools in most members’ electorates at different times. In looking at those schools, talking to the teaching staff, sitting down with our little ones, but also taking note of the environment in which those kids are growing up, I saw that we are expecting them to learn, with wonderful programs of accelerated literacy being taught. I have witnessed that and it is a fantastic initiative and should be expanded. You talked about the fines and the lack of attendance or truant officers. As I said, there are some mechanisms and we can look at some of that and address it.
Our Fit for Learning project will work with local agencies such as FACS, Safe Families, Aboriginal Medical Services, Allied Health Services and Youth Services in order to provide timely and appropriate services for our students as required. We will be having a look at the Education Act to see how we can make it a bit more contemporary to pick up some of those areas.
I thank the member for Karama for her contribution. She spoke of the importance of the pathways from Year 12 to training through to employment in the Territory. She talked about the 24 000 students enrolled in VET courses and how we have to keep these programs strong. She also spoke about indigenous education not being a bush issue - and she is absolutely right; there are significant numbers of indigenous students in our urban schools. The member for Karama has significant numbers in the schools in her electorate.
The strategy, Fit for Learning, is very important, and this strategy will provide services and support for our town camp and town-based indigenous kids, which goes some way to getting some of these students ready to attend mainstream classes.
The member for Millner talked about his electorate very passionately, and of other areas. He also talked about Charles Perkins, a hero of mine. There are many things that he achieved that I have a lot of admiration for.
I thank the member for Brennan for his contribution. He talked about the Clontarf Football Academy getting results in Alice Springs, with the attendance being 80% and all the Year 9 Clontarf boys moving on to Year 10. He also talked of the retention of students through to Year 12, which is very important. Both he and the member for Nelson raised the issue of, whilst we have Clontarf for our young men, we certainly need to look at our young women - and I recognise that there is certainly a gap there. Both the members for Nelson and Brennan raised that. It is something we need to look at. There is a program in Central Australia for young women and it is working. We need to look at the Top End because there is a bit of a gap there.
The member for Arnhem, as always, is very passionate – she talks from the heart. I thank her for her support and will certainly take on board her suggestions about the name of the board. I like her idea of the boards coming up with an appropriate name rather than the acronyms. I believe that is important.
Having Dr Jonathon Carapetis and the Menzies team involved from the start in a formal evaluation process is very important for all of this. Whilst there has been much research - and the reading I have done since having the Education portfolio has been interesting, with all the research I have had a look at - the research that has actually gone back to the communities has almost been zero. That is what is needed. When you look at that research, all of it is anecdotal; none of it is real evidence. Part of bringing Menzies in from the start to put in place an evaluation framework is so that we can begin gathering the real evidence in relation to indigenous education. I am quite excited that Jonathon Carapetis and his team are going to take up the offer to do that. I am sure that all members of this parliament will agree that they have done some fantastic work.
I thank the member for Stuart for his contribution. Part of this transforming education will be with the Warlpiri trial. It is exciting; we can build on what is happening there. He talked about the outstation policy and, yes, I can say education is central to that because, unless we get that right, we are never going to get anywhere.
I thank the member for Macdonnell. She is absolutely right. We do have to get our parents to take more of a responsibility for getting kids to school. Many members spoke of rights and opportunities, and this is what it is all about. Our indigenous students have a right to a quality education just like every child. Our government will provide the opportunity.
The kids in this lift-out - and I do not know how many members of this parliament saw this lift-out, but do you want to know what the stark reality is? You look at those little kids in this photo. These are the kids whose results we are going to be looking at in two years’ time. These are the little ones in some of our remote communities, but also our urban and regional centres. They are the ones whose MAP test results we will be looking at in four years’ time, when they are tested as part of our commitment to Closing the Gap. That is why it is urgent. It is for these little ones in this lift-out that we have to turn it around. These kids will be literate. All parents want this for their children.
The member for Macdonnell was talking about what I will speak of before I finish. I grew up in a house with 11 siblings - eight sisters and three brothers. Both of my parents had access to very basic education. Both of them did it very tough growing up. My father was a member of the Stolen Generations, and I have talked about that a number of times in this parliament, and also my mother. It was not until recently that we found a piece of paper which showed that, if there had not been an intervention of some sort, my mother would have grown up in Victoria, unbeknownst to members of her family. She was removed from the Tiwi Islands, sent to Victoria and then, when she was in Victoria, she was diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease. The Victorians panicked so they sent her back to the Territory. She came back, so it was a miracle intervention.
She was strong in her identity as a Tiwi and strong in her cultural obligations. My father had his problems and, up until his death, he was a chronic alcoholic. When I stand in this Chamber and ask who I owe or give credit to for being in the position that I am in, it is both of my parents - my mother before her premature death and my father - who were both very strict and strong disciplinarians when it came to going to school. With my father there was never anything black or white, it was: you had to go to school. It was him who instilled the value of schooling and that, if you did not go to school and learn, you could not get an education and you would not have been able to have become what you are.
Being a mother, when I can get Sundays off I pick up my granddaughter. I am very lucky being a grandmother of five. When I pick up my eldest granddaughter, we buy a book which is her reward for the week when she has been very good in school. What brings home the stark reality is my granddaughter, all of eight years old, is able to sit down and read a book. I can translate that by sitting down with any child in my electorate and, with the same book, they are not able to read at the same level as my eight-year-old granddaughter who has access to the same education in Nightcliff. We do have to turn a number of things around and to get our parents to send their kids to school.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all members who have contributed to this statement. There is much hard work ahead. I am not saying that we are going to fix this overnight. There is never any magic wand to this. If we had the magic wand, we would all wave it and hope that it goes away. I thank every member sincerely. There is a lot of work ahead.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms LAWRIE (Leader of Government Business): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, yesterday, I reported to the House on my travel to China, the focus of which was my Tourism portfolio. Today, I report on my trip to Singapore where the focus was my portfolio of Asian Relations and Business.
During this visit, I spoke with several key economic and business players. My first appointment was with the Jurong Town Corporation - the JTC Corporation - which operates the Jurong Industrial Estate which contains 3200 ha of development. The JTC is a government body operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Trade and Industry. It consists of a board made up of private industry and government representatives. Like everything else in Singapore, this is a phenomenal outcome of careful planning, massive government investment, and a determination to provide a strong economic future for the nation - planned from the 1960s.
What overwhelms you about Singapore is its long-term view. This industrial estate was planned in the 1960s, with a board in place charged with the responsibility to put into place manufacturing, research and development programs, and infrastructure aimed at attracting the industries of the future. Today, the JTC contains refineries, petrochemical industries, and is leading the world in biomedical technology research, having set into place a biopolis for researches.
I am grateful to Mr Heah Soon Poh, Director of Specialised Park Development, for his briefing session and time. One of the sister boards of the Jurong Town Corporation is the Economic Development Board. In fact, it was through this board Lew Kwan Yu first began the momentous task of planning the future of Singapore. This board was the original one and has now evolved into many separate boards and quasi government authorities. The Economic Development Board and its subsidiary, Economic Investments, have collectively planned and guided Singapore’s development.
I am grateful to Mr Tan Choon Shian, who is responsible for Economic Development Board’s global operations, and Ms Lynette Tan, Centre Director for Asia Pacific, for their briefing. I was particularly impressed with the fact that the advisory board is made up of people who are from the private sector and contains a number of people who are not even from Singapore. I also met one of those people, Mr David Ross, the Vice President of FedEx. He is a strong advocate of the EDB model. He is also a strong advocate of Darwin, having travelled here. He is very optimistic about our future and has factored our development into his company plan.
I met the Australian High Commissioner, Mr Miles Kupa. Miles and I have met on numerous occasions and it was good to catch up with this most effective Australian representative. I also caught up with Penny Burtt, Deputy High Commissioner, and Maureen Lam, Austrade Senior Commissioner. The support of the High Commission, including the Defence staff, for my visit was greatly appreciated.
On Thursday afternoon, I travelled to the Boat Asia Exhibition. Members interested in boats would have been in heaven at that show. The growth of the super yacht and yachting industry is phenomenal. The Northern Territory and Western Australia joined forces and hosted an exhibition. My department made a small financial contribution to the stand, and Mr Jeff Norton from my department did a great job supporting the guys at the stand. My thanks go to Mr Jeff Dunn of Darwin Shipstores for his work, and also Tony Thiele from Pearl Marine Engineering. They did a great job selling the Territory, and I am grateful for their effort. It is people like Tony who help build and grow business so effectively in the Territory.
I met Mr Hermann Ho, the Director of Boat Asia, and had a wonderful opportunity discussing with him the issues around marinas. He introduced me to Mr Tony Siddique who is responsible for designing the Keppell Marina. I can only urge honourable members to have a look at it one day if they go to Singapore. It is developing some unique architectural buildings. Mr Siddique was interested in what I had to say about Darwin and, hopefully, we will get him over here to have a look.
Perhaps the highlight of my trip to Singapore was my participation in the Anzac Day dawn service at Kranji War Memorial and the honour of representing the Territory and the Darwin Sub-branch of the RSL alongside young Joshua Bowling. World War II had a direct impact on the Territory and its people, and I was proud to honour the memory of those who served and the many who fell during the defence of Australia. I suggested I stay in Singapore for the dawn service rather than flying to Darwin, as it was impossible to be in time for the Darwin Anzac dawn service. It was suggested that we take to Singapore a young person who had a connection with the events of that nation.
Joshua Bowling is the great-grandson of the late George Reid, a World War II veteran who was a prisoner of war at the Changi camp in Singapore. Mr Reid also served on the notorious Burma Railway. Joshua’s grandparents, Kevin and Karen Jurek accompanied him to Singapore and together, he and I laid a wreath at the dawn service.
Karen Jurek is George Reid’s daughter. Mr Reid died only last year at the age of 86. I learned directly from Karen of the bravery of her father and the many others who protected this nation and the principles of democracy and freedom. I was very impressed with Joshua. He is a sensible, mature and intelligent young man. The future of the Territory bodes well if Joshua is an example of our young Territorians.
Also at the dawn service, I was very pleased to meet up with Lance Corporal Cedric John from Borroloola and NORFORCE. He was accompanied by Lieutenant Adam Goodall from Alice Springs. Lance Corporal John played the didgeridoo at the dawn service and, in the half light of the humid Singaporean morning, it was haunting and beautiful. I also met up with representatives of 3 RAR from Robertson Barracks who were doing an overseas rotation at Butterworth, Malaysia, and who formed the honour guard at the Kranji service. The Territory can be very proud of our military representatives.
I was very impressed with the number of Territorians and other Australians who attended this service. Together with Joshua and the Jureks, I was privileged to be taken to the Kranji War Memorial and, later, made a tour of the Changi Museum and Chapel. I am grateful to the Director of the Changi Museum and Kranji War Memorial, Jeyathurai A and Assistant Curator, Mr Razeen Chan. Jeyathurai and I discussed the possibility of closer collaboration between our two museums, a matter I will take up with my colleague, the Deputy Chief Minister. I will assist in whatever way I can for this to occur.
I am also grateful for the efforts of Mr Jeff Norton from DBERD and Mr Brendan Doran from DCM for putting this together and making it happen smoothly on the ground in Singapore.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I also congratulate four Power and Water apprentices on receiving Group Training Northern Territory Awards for Darwin-based apprentices and trainees.
The training awards were held recently at SKYCITY. The Power and Water Corporation apprentices who received awards were: Luke Garrett, Outstanding Apprentice Stage 1; Richard Baldock, Outstanding Apprentice Stage 2; Jason Holland, Indigenous Apprentice of the Year; and Brendan Killalea, Runner Up, Apprentice of the Year. Jason is a cable joiner and the other three are line workers. All are undertaking, or have completed, Certificate III in Electrical Supply Industry Distribution.
To be considered for an award, nominees have to demonstrate a high quality of performance on the job, including commitment to safe work practices, completion of on- and off-the-job training, excellent personal qualities, and have identified their future career goals.
Luke Garrett is currently undertaking his second trade as he is already a qualified refrigeration mechanic. Richard Baldock was the NECA Electrical Apprentice of the Year last year at the Territory Construction Awards, and Jason Holland completed four years of theory in just 18 months.
Apprenticeships are not just for young people straight out of school. Brendan Killalea was a mature-age apprentice who also completed a Frontline Management Course while completing his apprenticeship.
In March, Power and Water Corporation’s Alice Springs apprentice linesman, Robert Cheslett, was announced as the Outstanding Apprentice Stage 2 in the southern region awards. The Katherine awards will be announced tonight, with Power and Water apprentice Ben Howard nominated for Outstanding Apprentice Stage 2, and Power and Water nominated as Host Employer of the Year.
With a nationwide skill shortage facing organisations, Power and Water believes investing in skilled staff is critical to providing current and future essential services for Territorians. To this end, Power and Water has employed 12 new apprentices this year, bringing the total to 16 to the southern region and 45 in the Top End.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, congratulations to all the apprentices and to Power and Water for investing in our apprentices.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I have pleasure in placing on the Parliamentary Record a bit of history about a wonderful lady in Katherine whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for 18 years. This lovely lady, Merle Wright, is 82 years young and was the Katherine Citizen of the Year in 2007. Merle is described as being 82 years young because youth is what this lady has in energy, attitude and enthusiasm, generally found in a person much younger than herself.
Merle was born in Alberton, South Australia, the eldest of four children. She went to school at Largs Bay and Port Adelaide Primary Schools and Port Adelaide Girls Technical School. Merle left school at 13 years of age during the Depression and worked at the Lions Food Factory on North Terrace, Adelaide in the test kitchen, where her pay was 7/6d per week. At that time, it cost 5d per week on the bus, so Merle rode her bike to work for five years to save the money. I do not know the exact distance she rode her bike, but it was a long way from Alberton into the city - many miles in those days.
Merle met her husband, Campbell Wright, at a Cheer-up Hut behind the Adelaide Railway Station. After they married, Merle and Campbell moved to Bridgewater in the Adelaide hills before returning to Alberton, where their first son, John, was born.
Campbell served in World War II and, when he returned home, he applied for what was known then as Soldier’s Settlement Land. There were three locations around South Australia and Merle, Campbell, and John were allocated land at Kangaroo Island along with 30 other soldier settlers. They and their sister-in-law were the seventh and eighth families to be located. They lived in second-hand huts in long rows for three years waiting for their land location, which was 1306 acres when they were finally able to move into their cottage. The land had to be cleared first.
Campbell had suffered injuries during the war and was in and out of the Repatriation Hospital in Daw Park, Adelaide continuously. Merle and Campbell’s other three sons, Colin, Greg and Mitchell, were born on Kangaroo Island. Merle said they were poor but they had a great life fishing, camping and playing sport, and were never hungry.
Campbell died of his war injuries when he was only 52 years of age. It took three years for Merle to get the War Widow’s Pension and, during that time, she and the boys moved into Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, where Merle worked in the hardware store. Eventually, the family moved back to Adelaide.
Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin in 1974, and that changed the Wright family’s movements. John had already moved to Katherine to work prior to the cyclone. Colin was in Western Australia and Mitchell in Adelaide, along with Greg. Greg was offered work rebuilding Darwin and, when he had completed the months of rebuilding in Darwin, he visited his brother, John, in Katherine before returning to Adelaide. It was not long before Merle and Greg were on the dirt road heading for Katherine, joining brother, John, and his family. Greg was involved in building around Katherine where he met Peter Semrau and they formed a partnership, Semrite Constructions. In 1990, I became their office manager and worked for these great guys for several years until I moved into the tourism industry. This is also, of course, where I first met Merle, who is affectionately known by all people around Katherine as Nanna Merle.
Merle now lives on Gorge Road in a lovely cottage on Greg’s property. She is deeply involved in the community with seniors, Red Cross trolley at the hospital, St Vincent’s op shop, Rotary, hospital visits, Rocky Ridge Care, and was first President of the Lioness Club - not to mention being highly in demand as a house sitter. Her wonderful sense of fun and adventure keeps her on the go; for example: wearing clothing the colours of the house team that her grandchildren play sport for, decorating her red Suzuki as a Christmas tree for the car rally, wearing a tattoo of the Australian flag on her cheek for Australia Day ceremony - and the list goes on and on.
Merle has a wonderful attitude to life. Recently, she had a hip replacement in Darwin hospital, and I have to say that it still has not slowed her down very much at all. She now has 11 grandchildren and two great-granddaughters and her highest priority is her family, despite all the other commitments that she has.
It was wonderful to see Merle acknowledged as the Senior Citizen of the Year for Katherine in 2007. It is thoroughly deserved for all the voluntary work that she does so willingly and with so much enthusiasm. Nothing is ever too much trouble to be involved in for Nanna Merle, especially if it is helping someone disadvantaged. Well done, Merle. Keep up the energy, drive and enthusiasm; you put a lot of younger people to shame.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 2 April this year, one of my constituents, Jean Vickery, celebrated the 60th anniversary of her arrival in Darwin. Jean remembers that day clearly. It had taken two days to fly to Darwin from Perth, and Jean and her husband arrived in what she described as a dreadful storm and the rain continued for 10 days straight.
Darwin in 1948 is still vivid in Jean’s memory. She said it looked as though the bombing six years earlier had just taken place: bombed houses, the Post Office destroyed, and sunken ships in the harbour. Housing was Sydney Williams huts, and Jean and her husband lived in such a hut between Mitchell and Smith Streets.
The Darwin community was full of young people, none with much money, but there was a lively social life. Jean, as a dressmaker, was kept busy producing dresses on her Singer treadle machine, usually from pictures taken from newspapers or magazines. Jean told me that the sewing machine was a gift from the Army to help get back into business when she left the Defence Forces in 1946.
Four years after arriving here, the Vickery family bought land at Parap which, in the early 1950s, was way out of town and part of the Vestey’s estate. Jean still lives on that land today where an elevated house was built, part of which is there today. Cyclone Tracy took a big swipe at the Vickery house and the upstairs blew away while the family huddled in the bathroom. The downstairs was rebuilt, a rebuilding that took two years while the family lived in a caravan and built beneath the floorboards - cypress ones that live on in the roof now. Jean says those floorboards keep her lovely house wonderfully cool.
Jean loves her house, which today, has all the 21st century amenities, none of which she had in the 1950s, as she was raising her three children, Cathy, Kerry and Gary. Jean remembers those days with much affection, although there were no fans, no flywire, no fridge, a tiny, little stove and, of course, the much-heralded flaming fury.
It was a great delight to sit with Jean over afternoon tea and hear her recollections of not only those years, but the decades following. Jean has played a significant role in so many community organisations and activities, as well as working for our public sector for 22 years in a variety of areas, some of which took her into Arnhem Land on a regular basis in the early 1960s.
Jean was a foundation and active member of the Darwin Bowls Club. Then the green was actually black, made of rubber, but she remembers it worked well. She also remembers the restrictions on women bowlers. Dresses had to be mid-calf length, stockings had to be worn, and those requirements were carefully policed. One of the committee would emerge with a tape measure from time to time and check on the dresses.
Golf was another sport that Jean was actively involved in. The Darwin Golf Club was established in 1957 at East Point, with the clubhouse near to where the toilet block is now at Fannie Bay beach. It began with nine holes, extended to 18, and Jean says it was a great course - certainly a very special place for a game of golf. Jean still laments the decision to move the course from East Point to Marrara, and I must say I agree.
Another activity that Jean was keenly involved in was the Darwin Garden Club set up by one of her neighbours in Parap, May Fitzpatrick. Jean says that in the 1950s Darwin people did not talk about being in the tropics, the plants of the town were crotons and aralias, and there was barely a palm in sight, except at Government House. The garden club set about planting trees in Darwin, sometimes in conjunction with the Darwin City Council. Sadly, most of the trees the club planted were knocked down in Tracy. The garden club is no longer, but Jean has taken her passion for gardening to her own garden, which is a delight, and to advocating for a greener and better planned Darwin.
She describes herself as being a problem for a lot of people, whether that is the government, the council or the local member, but I strongly disagree. Jean is a fighter and puts her energy into making her suburb and her city a more attractive place to live. Whether it is a local park and its maintenance, or the appropriateness of a proposed development, Jean’s voice will be strong and coherent. She has been a member of the Parap Residents’ Association since its start. Add to that membership of the National Trust and the Fannie Bay History and Heritage Society, and it is so clear that Jean, even in her 80s, is still making a difference.
I cannot leave this tribute to Jean without mentioning bridge. She loves bridge. She plays regularly and does so with much energy and, for someone in her mid-80s, a lot of success.
As Jean’s local member and friend, I thank her for her contribution to Darwin over 60 years. Her life here in Darwin embodies much of the history of this city. We would most certainly be a lesser place today without her contribution.
I know a pretty extraordinary long-time Territorian Fannie Bay constituent, Mary Joyce, who, rather like Jean, achieved a very special milestone recently. Mary Joyce turned 90. Mary was born in England. As a young woman, she joined the British Army as part of the Women’s Voluntary Service and left England aboard a ship carrying 6000 men and only 20 women, bound for Burma, where she undertook troop welfare work with Indian troops. From Burma, she was transferred to Japan, where she met Brian, her husband, who was in Japan with the Australian Army. Mary and Brian were married in Yokohama, Japan, in December 1947 and have enjoyed 60 wonderful years of marriage. After leaving Japan and living in Sydney, Mt Isa, Townsville and Adelaide, Mary and the family moved to Darwin in December 1978, and she and Brian have been here ever since.
Mary is a very talented artist and, after arriving in Darwin, completed her degree of Bachelor of Arts (Fine Arts) at the university which was then known as the Darwin Community College. Her work has been displayed in numerous art exhibitions over the years in venues such as the Darwin Art Gallery and Museum, 24 HR Art, and her own art exhibition at the Lindsay Street Gallery.
Today, Mary remains active in the community and is a member of 24 HR Art, the Wood Street Gallery and the Fannie Bay History and Heritage Society. She is often nicknamed ‘Auntie’ or ‘Queen’.
Mary and Brian flew to Townsville for her 90th birthday and, to celebrate, Mary’s daughter, Susan, hosted a birthday party. Mary’s three children, Susan, John and Robert, and their partners were there to celebrate, as were Mary’s four grandchildren, Renee, Bree, Alice Mary and Christopher George. Many of Mary’s long-time friends from Townsville were also there to celebrate her special day.
Happy birthday to Mary Joyce; 90 is a wonderful effort. Here’s to many more birthdays!
I also talk this evening about a small but committed group of Darwin people, the Friends of the Gardens Road Cemetery. The friends have been around for 18 months now, and their mission is to work with the Darwin City Council and government to maintain and restore a most important and significant part of Darwin’s history. I do not know how many members have actually walked through the Gardens Road Cemetery or know its story, but it is well worth taking the time to do so.
The cemetery was gazetted in April 1919 and took over as the burial place for Top End people from the Palmerston Cemetery in Goyder Road. There was a very good reason for the change. The Palmerston Cemetery began its operation in 1873. Many people from Darwin were buried in the site. However, the site is rock and digging graves was difficult and costly. As the Administrator, Dr Gilruth, wrote in 1918: ‘In the Wet Season each open grave is simply a tank full of water’, which meant that if you had a burial in the Wet Season, you actually had to put holes in the bottom of the coffin so it would sink and you could carry out the burial. It was no wonder that the Gardens Road took over from the Palmerston Cemetery on the hill and, for 51 years, it was where hundreds of people were buried and their stories were told on the sometimes very brief inscriptions on their headstones.
A walk through the Gardens Road Cemetery is fascinating because it is a walk through our history. Strolling past the headstones, you walk past the grave sites of Japanese, Malay and Filipino pearl divers, men who died so far from home; and of some of the Territory’s pioneers: Chinese merchant Chin Toy; Daly River settlers Charles Dargie and James Fleming; and the simple grave of policeman Constable McColl who was buried there in 1934 in one of the largest funerals ever seen in Darwin. Especially poignant are the graves of the many babies and young children who died way before their time, alongside the headstones of people with family names that are well known today: Kailis, Ah Mat, Chin, Cubillo, Nudl and Paspalis. Australian servicemen were buried there, as were their United States counterparts, although the American servicemen were exhumed after the war and returned to the States.
Records for just who is buried at the Gardens Road Cemetery were not well kept and, although there are some 240 graves recorded there, many more are known to have been interred on the site. Working through the records, researchers have established that over the 51 years of its operation, some 848 adults and 83 children were actually buried there.
A walk through the cemetery will also demonstrate quite quickly that many of the graves need extensive repair: headstones fallen, concrete cracked, vegetation taking over, even a bush turkey mound growing by the months. There is a conservation and management plan for the cemetery done nine years ago by heritage consultant, Bob Alford. His recommendations are still relevant today, and the Friends are keen to get going on them. They cover conservation, interpretation and management.
There is a remarkable amount of goodwill towards the Friends from both council and government, and an enthusiasm to work with them. Michael Nilon is the convenor of the group, and he has brought together a diverse group of mostly Darwin people who share his interest in protecting a unique place of remembrance and history in our city. A first and most important task for the protection of the cemetery is a fence around it, as was done with the Palmerston Cemetery and the Darwin Cemetery in McMillans Road. Darwin City Council has taken on this task and the Friends are looking forward to a positive response from our new council on that proposal.
I chose to speak about the Friends tonight because I am delighted, as local member, that they have taken up the cause of the cemetery. I certainly look forward to their next meeting and, particularly, their first working day at the cemetery.
Anzac Day services were held in most Top End schools last Thursday, and I acknowledge all staff and students who participated in the services I attended last Thursday at Stuart Park and Parap Primary Schools. Stuart Park Primary held a very moving service, introduced by Principal, Bernie Bree, who explained to students the importance of Anzac Day and their role during the service.
Students P J Hassing, Jessica Bowling, Joseph White and Chelsea Moyd recited Ted Egan’s Greater Love Than This, and Aircraftwoman Cindy Baines from the 321 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron then delivered her address to the children about the values of the Anzacs.
Many students brought flowers with them to school and, each grade, assisted by School Captains Caterina Savvas, Samantha Piper, Arran Barker and Isaac Hinchliffe placed their flowers underneath the Australian flag. The colour and variety of flowers was just beautiful – one of the many advantages of living in a tropical environment.
I also recognise Raz de Jongh and the Stuart Park Primary School Choir for their beautiful performance of Lest We Forget; Millie Cummings for delivering The Ode of Remembrance; and bugler, Brian Manning, for playing The Last Post and Reveille. The service concluded with everyone proudly singing the National Anthem.
Parap Primary School and Principal, Mick Myers, also held a moving service that began with Leta Smith and Richard Smith entering the assembly area playing the bagpipes and side drum, followed closely by those students involved in the order of service. The MCs for the service, Jo Guthridge and Adam Phelps, introduced the service, and Tahnee Cvirn spoke about the significance of Anzac Day. Dayna Bonson and Ray Ronganni gave an explanation of the symbol of remembrance, the poppy, and Clarinta Gardiner and Sam Adam told the story of John Simpson Kirkpatrick, who became known as ‘the man with the donkey’ at Gallipoli. Well done to you all. I also recognise Alex Rafferty and India Cavanagh who laid the wreath, Grace Bruxner for delivering the Ode of Remembrance, the Parap School Choir for their performance of Lest We Forget, and bugler, Jo Clark, for playing the Last Post and Reveille. After two verses of the National Anthem, everyone took their seats for a tribute written by Kemal Atatrk, the first President of the Republic of Turkey and spoken by Lachlan Hatty and Ray Ronganni. The conclusion of the ceremony was delivered by Adam Phelps. After Adam’s conclusion, the wreath and poppies were laid by the school’s memorial stone to the poignant sound of the bagpipes.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate both schools for their efforts in organising the commemorative services, and to all students who participated - you did a wonderful job and should be very proud. I wish both primary schools all the best for the remainder of the 2008 year.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme and, in particular, its effect on those living in Central Australia in the electorate of Greatorex. I recognise the Minister for Health for at least attempting to address some of the issues that have been raised many times before and, in particular those concerns brought to my attention since I have been the shadow spokesperson for Health.
Some of those concerns have been earmarked for improvement by the minister in the upcoming 2008-09 Health budget, such as the rate of assistance from $33 through to $35 which is a step in the right direction. This is still not enough if a patient is forced to seek commercial accommodation, which they quite often do due to the lack of beds available in supportive accommodation. It does not go very far.
Another area that the minister thought he should address after much public scrutiny was the issue of a taxi fare to help with airport transfers. I think it was $40, not a lot of money when you consider the amount of travel some patients are required to do, particularly when they find themselves on public transport for two hours heading home from treatment. It is not a great place to find yourself when you are sick, away from home, frail and frightened on a bus. But still, at the very least, it is a step in the right direction.
Perhaps the most significant part of the minister’s PATS announcement is the provision of carers to travel with patients. This has been a source of some constant stress and frustration by not only those suffering from cancer, but their loved ones, their family, their spouse, and their kids who are left behind in so many cases. This is a significant step and, certainly, a step in the right direction.
The biggest disappointment in the announcement of some PATS reform by the minister with a $2m injection into the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme in the upcoming budget is the continued lack of choice for Central Australians. When, or if, an oncology unit is built in Darwin, the minister has made it very clear that cancer sufferers in Central Australia will not receive travel assistance if they want to continue to utilise an Adelaide hospital as a treatment option. This is a very disappointing decision by the Health Minister and this government. It has not been well thought through. If this government had the will and the desire to achieve this goal, then it could.
The Barton-Frommer report commissioned by the Northern Territory government, and released in 2004, clearly states - and I will quote from this report:
- NT cancer patients living in Central Australia wish to retain the choice of travelling to Adelaide rather than Darwin for radiotherapy. However, the Darwin caseload is likely to be boosted by referrals from northern parts of Western Australia (the Pilbara and Kimberley Health Zones).
It also says, among other things, at recommendation 6 that Northern Territory cancer patients from Central Australia should retain the right to choose whether they receive radiotherapy in Darwin or Adelaide, regardless of whether the Adelaide service or another radiation oncology service becomes linked with the Darwin unit.
There it is: the Barton-Frommer report, commissioned by the government of the Northern Territory of Australia and released in July 2004. This report is often referred to by the Northern Territory government and the Health Minister. It is certainly referred to when it suits the government, but dismissed out of hand when it does not. In this case, it is clearly dismissed out of hand.
The refusal by the Northern Territory government to not allow the option of Adelaide for oncology treatment clearly demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding about the people of Central Australia. As I have said on many occasions, we are all proud to be Territorians, to live here in the Northern Territory. However, the Top End and the Centre are two very different parts of the Northern Territory. To lump them together in this particular issue is insensitive and displays ignorance of anything below that famous Berrimah Line.
Central Australians have a unique bond with South Australia and, as someone who is originally from Queensland, this bond was omnipresent when I first arrived in the Northern Territory. There are many clinical areas that can aid in the recovery of cancer, but the fundamental emotional issue is family and the surrounds. If someone is forced to spend their treatment periods in an unfamiliar city surrounded by strangers, it does compound the stress and frustration for them and their families, over and above other concerns relating to recovery for these patients. One of these concerns that has been brought to my attention by many cancer sufferers - patients and their families - and cancer organisations such as Bosom Buddies and the Cancer Council is the high levels of humidity in the Top End.
Territorians deserve the best possible treatment. They should be able to expect that their government will do whatever it can to aid in their recovery. A $2m injection into the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme is, as I said, a step in the right direction with boosting the rate from $33 to $35. The taxi fare allowance, while it is certainly helpful to aid in airport transfers, does not help those patients who are receiving daily treatment and must travel to and from either their hotel, supportive accommodation, or their friend’s or family’s house and the treatment centre. This can be several times and the cost adds up. If they cannot afford it, they have to resort to public transport. Again, I say when you find yourself after treatment, particularly chemotherapy when you are alone, frail and frightened and, perhaps in a strange city, that does not go very far to aid in that treatment and is a little insensitive. Nevertheless, a taxi fare from the airport is a good start.
I have to say it is a significant announcement by the Minister for Health for the provision of carers to travel with patients, and is a step in the right direction. I am sure it will be welcomed by many cancer sufferers and their families in Central Australia. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, while the minister has shown some compassion in some areas of PATS reform, I still feel that he is still well short of the mark.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Greatorex. He and I both knew that we would be talking about PATS and oncology during these sittings. I did not know until he spoke that, in fact, we were going to be talking about it on the same night. Such is the depth of passion about this issue, and the commitment of two out of the five members from Central Australia, that we will argue the case for the people of Central Australia as often as we possibly can.
I received a copy of a letter from the Bosom Buddies NT Inc group. That letter was addressed to the Minister for Health and was dated 4 April 2008. My colleague, the member for Greatorex, received that as well. It was sent, I note, to all members of the Legislative Assembly from the Central Australian region. I will quote from that letter. The authors are Lesley Reilly, Ann South and Cherie Zaleski. As members know, Bosom Buddies NT is a well-respected advocacy group for breast cancer sufferers in particular. However, their level of expertise and experience in the area of cancer, generally, cannot be underestimated and they are incredibly well regarded.
Returning to the letter to the Minister for Health, I will quote a couple of parts of it as follows:
- With current NT government policy now firmly against allowing choice for Central Australians to access treatment interstate, we are being treated as simply economic numbers/statistics, (not seriously ill individuals), in an attempt to justify the existence of an expensive treatment facility 1500 km away. A belief of the Bosom Buddies group is: the majority of the cancer patients in Central Australia past and projected have no family connections or emotional support in the Darwin metropolitan district.
My colleague, the member for Greatorex, touched on that in his contribution as well. The letter to the Minister for Health went on to say as follows:
- This plan disadvantages Central Australian residents by denial of choice and access to essential emotional and psychosocial support, at a critical time of crisis and dislocation from home and community.
- Our membership and other consumers in Central Australia have stated categorically that they need to retain choice of where to go for radiation treatment, should any radiation unit be built in Darwin. This opinion is supported by the Government’s own consultancy, and by health professionals including senior oncologists.
- In our opinion, with current demographics in Central Australia, the Darwin facility will not achieve the desired number of patients for radiation treatment. The residents with the financial capacity will depart by choice to southern hospitals (and possibly never return). It will be left to the most economically disadvantaged residents who have no options left due to this proposed policy.
I do not propose to read the rest of the letter, which was a good letter to the Minister for Health. I hope that the Minister for Health has given the authors the courtesy which he infrequently shows me; that is, of delivering a reply to the letter in a timely manner.
The matters raised by Bosom Buddies NT are not new to the Health Minister nor, indeed, his Cabinet colleagues. I note in passing the irony that Bosom Buddies NT – and, of course, they are not the only ones of this view - noted that, as a result of the disadvantage created by the government’s inability - or refusal, I should say - to provide the people of Central Australia with a choice - as Bosom Buddies say in the letter - that is: ‘left to the most economically disadvantaged residents who have no options left due to this proposed policy’.
An interesting policy from a Labor government, do you not think, member for Greatorex and other members? A very interesting policy for a Labor government. Members in this Chamber who are members of the Australian Labor Party, with their hearts on their sleeves at every opportunity, say that they are championing the causes for the disadvantaged and, yet, stand by and say, ‘Well, you get that’, in essence, to the people of Central Australia, disadvantaged people who have no option as a result of this pernicious government policy.
My colleague, the member for Greatorex, referred to the Barton Frommer report. Indeed, he quoted extracts from it. It is somewhat extraordinary that a government would commission a report and, then, ignore much of it. Parts of the report are very straightforward and say that NT cancer patients living in Central Australia should retain the choice of travelling to Adelaide rather than Darwin for radiotherapy.
I also refer members to a Senate committee report dated September 2007. That was the Legislative and General Purpose Standing Committee, Community Affairs, Highway to health: better access for rural, regional and remote patients. There is a series of recommendations. Many of them, of course, refer to the relatively paltry amount of money provided under the PATS scheme. I know that this government has made some recent changes. That is good. I have to say, however, that increasing the allowance from $33 to $35 is not what I would regard as generous. If a person interstate needs to provide himself or herself with accommodation in facilities other than that which is traditionally used by cancer patients in Adelaide which are well known, they would be hard-pressed - would they not? – to get a commercial accommodation place for $35 a day.
In any event, I digress. I wanted to quote a part of the Senate committee report to which I have referred, and I do so now as follows:
- Patients should be provided the option to access interstate services if these are the closest or provide the most appropriate care. There should also be flexibility in the schemes to allow patients to access facilities where they may have family or friends able to provide support – in the long-term this may provide cost savings for jurisdictions as there is significant evidence that support assists patient wellbeing.
However, many of us are of the view that the majority of them do not. Not only does the government’s insistence that these people be deprived, if you like, of the opportunity of travelling south; the fact is that they will simply be forced to come up to a place where many of them do not have friends and family, and that is a critical issue in the care and ongoing treatment of those afflicted with cancer.
So, serious issues, serious stuff, yet, despite the facts, the government’s own report, the Senate Committee report, and what we would regard as doing the right thing by the people of Central Australia, this government still refuses to do so. I am glad that the member for Greatorex leapt to his feet before I did. I believe it is important that, as members representing Alice Springs and, in a broader sense, Central Australia, we both argue the case for those we represent. I am very pleased to have joined him in his efforts tonight. We implore the government to get it back together, do the decent thing, and treat the people of Alice Springs and Central Australia in a fair and respectful manner.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016