2006-08-29
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, yesterday I announced that a proposal for an expansion of the McArthur River Mine and a change in its operations from underground to open cut could proceed subject to stringent safeguards on the protection of the environment.
Members will well remember that, in February this year, I recommended to my colleague, the Minister for Mines and Energy, that the proposal could not proceed because, in my opinion, it did not reach minimum environmental standards. The Mines minister agreed with that view. The company, as requested, submitted an amended proposal as a public environment report to address identified concerns. I received the assessment report for the EPA and considered it and McArthur River Mining’s Public Environmental Report and other submissions.
The company’s amended proposal has satisfied me that the river diversion, in engineering terms, will now not fail in a major flood event, as was the case with the original proposal under which there was a 20% to 50% chance of failure in any given year. However, I have advised the Minister for Mines and Energy that there are considerable environmental risks that I would like to be addressed in any mine management plan. My advice is clear: an expansion of the mine at McArthur River can go ahead; however, there are remaining outstanding concerns with the management of the project, and I do not think the risks identified with the expansion can properly be managed as MRM has outlined in their PER.
The main areas that I continue to have concerns regarding the way in which the issues would be, or were to be managed, are revegetation of the diversion channel; the risk of contaminants from the tailings dam; the overburden emplacement facility entering the groundwater and, therefore the river; and the social impact on the local community.
For this reason, I have advised the Mines minister that a very substantial security bond ought to be set including provisions for post-mine environmental management; properly researched management of the vegetation of the river diversion, including retaining the existing channel until vegetation of the diversion channel is shown to have worked; their arrangements for proper management of contaminants from both mine site and tailings facilities well beyond the projected life of the mine; a mine-funded monitoring and regulatory agency should be established; and a legal agreement or legislation to guarantee positive social and economic benefits for the Gulf community should be formulated.
I appreciate that some may argue that I have sold out the environment. Others will argue that I have set the bar too high. As I have said consistently, my decision is based on science and not emotion. The fact remains that the expanded McArthur River Mine will go ahead and the special environment of this region will not be compromised.
Had I given the go ahead of the mine six months ago on the basis of the original EIS and assessment report, I could not have said this with confidence. The physical, social and economic environment of the region would have been placed at great risk and long term risk to Territory taxpayers. I am now pleased to say that the company has worked with us and has amended their proposal sufficiently to address the major concerns.
I am keeping my promise to the people of Borroloola, and will shortly be travelling there to discuss these outcomes at a public meeting. In the final analysis, it is the long term wellbeing of the people, lands and seas of the Gulf region that is paramount.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her report. The McArthur River Mine has certainly been a topic of hot discussion this year especially from the time the minister announced that she would not support the open cut mine development.
I visited the McArthur River Mine in March, with the member for Nelson, and had a good inspection of it. I was quite impressed by McArthur River Mine management and the way they were handling the environmental issues the minister has talked about. All I can say is that it is about time they have been given the reassurance that they can go ahead. It is also very reassuring for all of the workers, the community, and the township of Borroloola that there will be this economic development for at least the next 25 years.
McArthur River Mine is a good corporate company and takes the considerations of the environment well into their care. The minister said she was concerned about the revegetation of the diversion of the river. My fears regarding that were allayed when I visited in March. All I can say is that it is about time the Minister for Mines and Energy put the stamp on this so that the McArthur River Mine can go ahead with full confidence.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I also thank the minister for her statement. I am not sure whether McArthur River will go ahead; they have to overcome the issues you put before them. Listening to the radio this morning, there is no guarantee the mine will go ahead. They might find it is too expensive to take on some of the conditions that have been put to them.
The minister’s report today has highlighted the confusion that surrounded this whole process. If one is to bring out the environmental impact statement from February 2006, you will see that it has been stamped by an EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. The latest environmental assessment report has a stamp on it saying EPA Program. Straightaway, if a person was to look at that, knowing full well that at the moment we have an interim board looking at the establishment of an EPA, they would really wonder what the government is doing. To me, this is part of the confusing way in which the government has gone about setting up an EPA.
The second point of confusion is that the government has said, and the minister stated in her media release in October last year, that an EPA will have a core function of making sure developments adhere to regulations. In other words, the EPA will be a regulator of a development. As well as that, you have the Department of Mines environmental section which has regulations too, and can check and monitor a particular mining operation.
In this case, the minister said: ‘Company, we want you not only to have those two forms of regulation, but we want you to pay for your own monitoring and regulatory agency’. That is over the top. That is why we have an EPA. That is why we have a Department of Mines with an environmental section. They do that job. I do not think it is the function that is required of mining development. The company will do its own monitoring, but it should not have to set up an agency as the minister is requiring.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, picking up quickly on the member for Nelson’s confusion, we have had a number of motions and we have discussed this at length. The only confusion appears to be with the member for Nelson.
I thank the shadow minister for her comments. The simple truth is we asked MRM to go back to the drawing board and get it right. Six months later, according to Professor Erskine, they achieved that. I said at the time, engineering the diversion for a 20% to 50% failure in any one year was not good enough. They have now re-engineered that to withstand a 500-year event. We moved on from this. That has been passed to my colleague, the Minister for Mines and Energy. There has been much criticism, and certainly robust debate. The Environment Protection Agency produced a professional PER; there has been a lot of work across those government agencies to get it right.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 7 students from Marrara Christian College, accompanied by Ms Jennifer Edwards. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, before I begin my ministerial report, it is with deep regret I advise the House that the department has just informed my office of the passing of young Aidan Bott, the St Mary’s student involved in a tragic accident at his school.
On behalf of all members of this parliament, I pass on to his mother, Robyn, his father, his family, and his school the deepest condolences of this House, and assure them that our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very difficult time.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, this week is the start of Education Week, but the reality is every week is education week for this government. We have focused on education as a major priority since our first day in office. In that time, we have made great strides in the quality of education across the Northern Territory.
To cite highlights, we have: increased the education budget by 33% to $631m; employed 100 specialist teachers above formula; established the Teacher Registration Board; provided every classroom teacher with a laptop computer; provided students with a $50 back-to-school bonus; provided recurrent funding for schools to update equipment and teacher housing; doubled the level of inclusion support assistance funding; added 38 new positions for students with special needs; introduced accelerated literacy to 27 schools and 3300 students; provided secondary education to remote communities and achieved 32 Northern Territory Certificates of Education over the past three years; and built new schools at Emu Point and Manyallaluk and secondary facilities at Minyerri, Kalkarindji, Maningrida and Shepherdson College.
They are a few of the notable achievements, and that is before we talk about record levels of young people with apprenticeships and traineeships. We have achieved much in five years but we still have much ground to make up.
The next phase of improvements will see full implementation of the $42m Building Better Schools package; middle years schooling providing improved opportunities for our secondary students to compete with other states and territories; regionalisation - with leadership and specialist teachers returning to the regions; accelerated literacy extended to 100 schools and 10 000 students; secondary education further extended to remote communities; the establishment of a world-class distance education service; and extensive community engagement exercise across 15 large remote communities.
Other initiatives are: an equity-based staff formula; a revision of the Education Act; expansion of VET in Schools; and homelands schools education. The government is committed to quality education for all Territorians, no matter where they live.
Education Week is an appropriate time to thank our teachers for the job they do. I am not among those who criticise teachers - which seems to be an increasing national pastime these days. I think they do an excellent job, often in very difficult circumstances.
This week, we open nominations for our Teacher of Excellence Awards, an award system I am happy and proud to introduce. Nominations are called for:
Teacher of the Year, with a $1000 prize and certificate of recognition;
Early Career Teacher of the Year Award: nominees within their first three years of teaching;
Teaching Excellence Awards: four awards to successful teachers from urban, remote, primary and secondary sectors; and
School of the Year Award, with a $2500 prize for professional learning or resources, and a certificate of recognition for the school.
These awards are a fit and proper recognition of the efforts of teachers and schools and now hold an important place in the celebration of education by the government and community.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Speaker, at the outset, the opposition passes on its sincere condolences to the family and to the school, and particularly to the students. I trust that all the counselling and grief management will proceed well.
I welcome the minister’s statement. It is good that we stop and focus on education during Education Week. You have listed the initiatives to strengthen the profile and the purpose of education in our community. Yesterday’s debate on the need to value the teaching profession was interesting. At one time it was commonly referred to as a vocation. With the increasing pressures placed on the profession it is fitting that we stop to think how we can add value to the profession.
I welcome the comments made by the minister earlier on this session that there will be a focus on the curriculum. It is my view that if the curriculum was strengthened and focused it would provide greater means for a teacher to actually teach. Many teachers spend their time with a very broad and ambiguous curriculum, writing endless lesson plans and creating curriculum on a bit-by-bit basis. If the curriculum were focused and tightened, it would allow the teacher more time to actually teach and spend their energies on engaging the young people before them. If the curriculum were tightened, it would provide a greater means to actually measure the progress and performance, not only of teachers but of students. We should not be afraid of that.
I would like to talk more about performance pay. I believe there are teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty - after hours duties - and they should be recognised for that.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Blain, your time has expired.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I echo the remarks made by the minister and the member for Blain, and express sympathy to the family and the school concerned on what was a very tragic and sad accident.
Speaking to the minister’s statement, Education Week is the time for celebration and a time to highlight the good things that occur in our schools. The member for Blain mentioned the curriculum. Let us face it, it is too crowded, there is too much for teachers to take on. Let us go through it and concentrate on the core subjects that are important for our children to learn, and then add things that are important for Northern Territory schools to concentrate on. If you want to achieve anything in your time as minister for Education, you should look at streamlining the curriculum and get rid of all the unnecessary demands upon teachers.
Regarding compulsory uniforms, I would much rather you concentrate on children being at school than what children wear at school. You have talked about bringing in the provisions to address truancy. You have been saying it for a long time; perhaps you might soon announce the exact measures you are introducing to deal with that.
Lastly, when you are looking at rerouting the buses of Year 10s to senior secondary schools, would you please - in Alice Springs, in particular - make sure those buses provide a service to the town camps because there are still too many children not attending school, and still too many who have never attended school. Do not forget in this celebration of what is happening in town schools to concentrate a little on what happens in those one and two teacher remote schools, where teachers often battle in isolation from the big department, and are not rewarded for their tremendous efforts, often in very difficult circumstances. Yes, let us celebrate Education Week, and let us say well done to our teachers.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their comments. In relation to the curriculum, I have advised previously that the Northern Territory curriculum framework - which I happen to think has served the Territory and the system well in the time it has been in place - will undergo a significant review later this year. I will ensure that people like the member for Blain, and others who have an interest in education, have an opportunity to have their input into that review. I expect it would probably take over the succeeding 12 months.
I share the member for Braitling’s concern about attendance. However, I happen to believe that uniforms are part of that, in the sense of ownership and commitment that you will build, hopefully, more regular attendance, where attendance is an issue across our schools. I do not see them as unrelated.
In relation to town camps and buses, there is a body of work going on right now. As soon as there is an outcome to that, I will advise the member for Braitling.
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to advise the House of the success of Water Safety Month 2005. The Water Safety Month is again taking place in 2006, and an exciting range of activities are planned.
It is my pleasure to remind members that Water Safety Month is on, and I seek your support in promoting the activities in your electorate in an effort to keep the Northern Territory drowning rates down this Wet Season.
Water Safety Month is an initiative of the Northern Territory Water Safety Advisory Council, which was formed in 2002 as part of the NT government’s 5 Point Plan to Water Safety. The 5 Point Plan was developed to address the Northern Territory’s higher drowning statistics following a string of child drownings in the 1990s. At that time, the Northern Territory had the highest per capita drowning rate for children under five years old. This record was three times the national average, and one of the worst in the western world. The Northern Territory now leads the nation with no children under five years old having drowned since Easter 2002.
Water Safety Month promises to be very informative with a range of events planned for across the Northern Territory, including school-based training, fun days, and come and try events for swimming, canoeing and fishing will also be held around the Territory taking in regional and remote areas. In cooperation with Sun newspapers, a special promotional feature to highlight Water Safety Month will appear in the Darwin Sun and Palmerston Sun on Wednesday, 30 September. The Darwin Sun and Palmerston Sun are currently running a competition to reinforce Boof the Barra’s safety message. The prize is a night’s accommodation at Lake Bennett at the opening of Water Safety Month.
Water Safety Month 2006 begins on Sunday, 17 September, with what promises to be a fun filled day of activities at the Lake Bennett Wilderness Resort. The event launch includes an open water swim of either 1.2 km, or 5 km, coordinated by Swimming NT. Surf Lifesaving NT is providing a lake patrol to ensure the safety of all who attend the event, and free camping is available for those wishing to make it a family weekend away.
You may recall that last year the theme for Water Safety Month was ‘Swim Smart, Swim Safe’. In 2006, the theme is: ‘Safe Fun, Near Water’, which broadens the month away from just swimming to include all our beautiful aquatic environments, the beach, inland waterways, and, of course, swimming pools. The primary target market for Water Safety Month is Northern Territory primary schools. A purpose written book called Boof’s Book about Water Safety, which was introduced in 2005, has been extended to include three units of work which are mapped to the NT curriculum framework and offers teachers an easy and extremely useful resource for their classrooms. Water Safety Month is being taken to the regions with visits planned to Nhulunbuy, Maningrida, Daly River, Jabiru, Santa Teresa, and Areyonga.
I note that Water Safety Month 2006 has only been possible with the support of our water safety partners who have assisted with travel, promotion, and merchandise. I take this opportunity to extend a thank you to all the water safety partners who have joined with the department, namely GS Marine; Airnorth Airlines; Imparja Television; Palmerston and Darwin Sun newspapers; Swimming NT; Kids Safe; Help NT; the Jabiru Rag; Lake Bennett Wilderness Resort; the Darwin City Council; Centralian Advocate; Sunday Territorian; Royal Lifesaving NT; and Paul Hassett Real Estate and Auctioneers.
It is also pleasing to report that the Under five Voucher Program has been officially awarded to the Royal Lifesaving Society of the NT, and promotion of water safety awareness programs will begin in earnest during September and October as Territory families start to use their pools.
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the work of the NT Water Safety Advisory Council which continues to offer valuable advice on water related issues, and all the hard work of staff at the Water Safety Unit in my department.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. It is good to see government embark on a program to waterproof our children. Speaking particularly from a Central Australian perspective, it is good to waterproof our children who live inland where they are not normally exposed to the ocean as you would be if living on the coast. I applaud the government for this initiative.
The issue of back yard swimming pool fencing continues to be very troublesome. The minister says we need water safety, so he needs to ensure that resources are put in place to enable all back yard pools to be fenced according to the legislation the Chief Minister passed not so few years ago despite the hype and disaster.
There are not enough resources to ensure there are enough inspectors to inspect premises in a timely fashion. Over recent months, we have heard complaints from conveyancers and house vendors that they cannot get their pool fences inspected. That holds up completion of housing deals, and it is not appropriate where people’s livelihoods are concerned and people are selling or buying the most expensive investment of their lives.
Minister, by all means promote water safety, but your pool fencing legislation needs to be adequately enforced and policed by your staff. Make sure they get the resources to do it.
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his comments. Clearly, the swimming pool inspectors issue has become just that, and there are some reasons for that. Number one is that there has been a preference of the property owners to choose the option of the Australian modified standards rather than self-certification. Of course, that means there is an increase.
You should also be aware that there has been something like 20-odd pools per week coming onto the market. So clearly there is an increase in demand. We have made an announcement and will be putting on four new inspectors immediately. One has already started, two will start by September, and one will start in October. I have been advised that we will bring the time frame for inspection down to two to three weeks by Christmas time. I also give the assurance that I will continue to monitor this particular matter as it is important. We will receive timely reports from the department.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Reports noted.
Continued from 29 March 2006.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, under the relevant legislation, which was the previously repealed Remuneration Tribunal Act and now the Assembly Members and Statutory Officers (Remuneration and Other Entitlements) Act 2006, the Remuneration Tribunal is required to, at least once a year, inquire into and determine the salary, allowances and other benefits that persons are entitled to receive in respect to their services as magistrates appointed under section 4(3) of the Magistrates Act.
The Remuneration Tribunal report dated 29 March 2006 was tabled in the Assembly on 29 March, and the period for disallowance expires on 23 August this year. When I tabled that report in March, I made a few comments and I would like to expand on those this morning.
The Remuneration Tribunal, in its report, deals with a range of issues including salary levels and the possibility of a salary nexus with judges, travelling allowance rates, superannuation, extended usage rights in respect of motor vehicles, and relocation expenses.
The accompanying Determination No 1 of 2006 dated 21 March, which is to take effect from 1 December 2005, adjusted some rates whilst generally continuing the entitlements previously determined. Those are salary and allowances, travel, vehicle and telephone, leave, superannuation and relocation expenses.
New salary rates for the various offices of magistrate were set, reflecting an increase of 4.1% and the rates for travel allowance and relocation expenses were also adjusted. I advised at the outset that the government does not propose disallowance of any part of the Remuneration Tribunal’s determination.
I now turn to a number of matters raised by the tribunal in its report. The first is the issue of the salary nexus. The tribunal expresses in its report the view that a nexus should be determined between the salaries of magistrates and judges, but there is doubt that this can or should be done without legislative amendment. The Magistrates Act contains a no-detriment provision, as does the Supreme Court Act. The tribunal suggests that setting, say, a 75% relativity could not lead to a future detrimental change for magistrates, except, crucially, in the case where new judges were appointed on a lower salary than the current ones.
This can happen because the federal remuneration nexus for Territory judges is set in individual determinations upon appointment, rather than by legislation or in a determination that covers all of them. Government is aware of this issue and continues to consider it but, as the tribunal itself notes, there are complexities which will take some time to resolve, along with considerable consultation with a range of parties.
Another point I would like to talk about is the travelling allowance rates. The tribunal notes its inability to reduce travelling allowance rates commensurate with reductions which might occur in respect of members of the judiciary in other jurisdictions due to the no detriment provision in the Magistrates Act. The government sought the advice of the Solicitor-General when this matter was first raised last year, 2005, and accepts that advice. The tribunal notes this interpretation will lead, and has led, to the standing of some travel allowance rates at higher levels than may be the case in other jurisdictions, but has sought to limit the impact of this by adopting the lower travelling allowance rates or conditions for subsequently appointed magistrates, and has done so on this occasion.
Madam Speaker, I thank the tribunal for its work, noting that each year the tribunal looks at those rates and the conditions applying to magistrates, reviews them and presents them to this House.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I will be brief, as was the Chief Minister. I am aware of the ongoing difficulties in relation to the nexus issue and the travel allowance, and have been informally lobbied sitting on aeroplanes and elsewhere in the Territory by various magistrates. I understand the difficulties, Chief Minister, and sincerely wish you well in working them all out, for reasons that are reasonably obvious.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her comments. Yes, in any of those issues there has to be considerable consultation. They may not be easily sorted out, however, we are determined and we will continue those discussions.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
Mr VATSKALIS (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to inform the House about a Territory success story – our Northern Territory pastoral industry.
The pastoral industry of the Northern Territory supports 1.8m cattle, which is about 6.4% of the Australian herd. Until the mid-1960s, the cattle industry was the backbone of the Northern Territory economy, although mining and tourism has since surpassed it. Nevertheless, it continues as a key and important contributor in our regional centres. In fact, the cattle industry is worth in excess of $300m to the Territory economy, or 1.5% of total GSP. It operates on 216 properties and directly employs over 1600 people throughout the Northern Territory.
Our cattle producers turn off 500 000 head a year, on 620 000 km2 of first class grazing country. That means that 55% of the land mass of the Territory is given over to the pastoral industry. The result is that more than 40% of Australia’s South-East Asian cattle exports come from the Territory, and last year saw 216 000 head of cattle go through the Port of Darwin.
How do we know all this? Earlier this year, at the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Conference, I launched the first full pastoral survey ever to have been undertaken in the Northern Territory. Regional surveys have been undertaken in the Barkly and Alice Springs regions in 1980 and the Victoria River District in 1982; however, a comprehensive Territory-wide survey of the pastoral industry had never been attempted. Now we have the results, we know a lot more about our pastoral industry, the regional differences that influence it, together with the views of those in the pastoral industry about the key challenges ahead.
Extension and Research Officers in my Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines undertook the survey, region by region. It involved 75% of the pastoralists in the Northern Territory. The results are interesting and very encouraging:
growth is anticipated in the carrying capacity of pastoral properties and it is estimated to increase by almost 30% over the next three years, and 54% by 2014. Most of this will be in the Top End;
The information gathered also allows us to more accurately focus our programs across the entire Territory, taking into account specific regional issues. The ‘one size fits all’ model simply will not work. The survey also revealed there is continued confidence in the future of the industry. This indicates that the Territory’s pastoral industry is strong, looking to the future, and performing well. It is just as well the Territory’s industry is focused for the future, as a number of forums held earlier this year, including the World Meat Conference, the Rockhampton Beef Week, and the Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association annual conference have indicated steady and solid increase in the demand for meat on a global scale.
With this increasing demand comes the opportunity for our Territory’s cattle industry to grow. At the same time, our competitors in the global market have significant potential to also increase their supply. Demand for beef is steadily increasing in Indonesia and Malaysia, being our two main Asian markets. It is expected that the change in consumer preferences to a higher protein-based diet and, hence, increased demand for beef, will be seen in other Asian countries such as Vietnam in the near future.
It has been stated that, whilst price will always be a factor, consumer confidence in food safety is an emerging issue. Whilst the most mature markets in Europe, America and Japan are already demanding a high degree of demonstrated food safety, this will be an increasing trend in markets supplied by the north Australian export trade, albeit at a different level. For example, Indonesia is free of foot and mouth disease, and Malaysia plans to eradicate foot and mouth disease by 2009. The Northern Territory is well placed to provide a quality product to international markets including the South-East Asian trade. We provide a large number of cattle from a relatively small producer base, backed up by a solid accountability system.
It is true the Northern Territory industry is unique in that the relatively small number of producers have combined into a cohesive and solid industry group with a common set of goals. It is this sort of approach that allows the industry to address significant challenges and issues in a coordinated and highly responsive way. The quality of Northern Territory cattle now is equivalent to and, in many cases, better than other suppliers to the South-East Asian export and interstate feedlot trades. This situation, combined with a joint industry and government commitment to accountability, give us a competitive marketing edge. Our distance to market is competitive in the South-East Asian sector, and the corporate pastoral houses within the Northern Territory have appropriate internal structures to enable them to competitively supply cattle to the eastern feedlot sector.
Part of this accountability is our ability to trace an animal from ‘gate to plate’. This government’s solid commitment is illustrated in the uptake of the National Livestock Identification System, or NLIS. NLIS is the national system for the identification and tracing of livestock, to provide confidence to consumers and markets that our food is safe, and to minimise the impact of a disease or food safety incident should it ever occur. In the Territory, there will be full implementation of NLIS from July 2007. A detailed plan has been developed in conjunction with the various pastoral industry sectors. It is a partnership between the Territory government and the Australian government, providing $1.57m over three years to assist in the implementation of NLIS. The Northern Territory spent $150 000 last financial year, $320 000 this financial year, and will provide a further $320 000 in 2007-08. As you can see, we are putting our money where our mouth is to ensure the Territory is in line with the best practices, both nationally and internationally. The implementation of NLIS in our pastoral industry will go a long way towards ensuring that we retain the ‘clean green image’ for Territory produce.
As I mentioned earlier, the Territory’s pastoral industry is doing very well and nothing shows this fact better than the record live cattle exports through the port of Darwin. Even with a ‘late’ and ‘wet’ finish holding up mustering and the movement of cattle, we bucked the trend of national declining exports. Around 216 000 head of live cattle were exported through the port of Darwin in 2005, with a vast majority of them being Territory cattle. To the end of July this year, 137 500 head of cattle have been exported, despite the late finish to the Wet Season. The bulk of our live cattle exports are still to Indonesia, and the signs are good for increased markets there.
The success of the Indonesian market does mean that all our eggs are in one basket. Government and industry is focused on exploring new market opportunities as part of a committed plan to developing our live export markets.
I would like to touch on one component of our plan: increased export to Sabah, with their government indicating an increase in cattle imports from 2000 head to 6000 head this year. This is to a great degree due to the work undertaken by Territory research officers, including exporting our expertise. A departmental officer is based in Sabah to assist with feedlots and abattoir technologies. This was achieved under a formal memorandum of understanding agreement centred on building their cattle industry, with the Territory now well placed as supplier of both cattle and buffalo. Add to this the fact that we are assisting the Malaysians with technical advice to allow them to expand their local feedlot industry, and it becomes clear that the future for the live cattle export sector of the Territory is bright.
Recent sales in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine, as a key part of the regional show circuit, have seen strong prices paid for cattle in the interstate export and breeder bull markets. This further indicates the strength of the industry across all sectors.
While I am on the subject of assisting our neighbours with their feedlots and cattle industries, I take the opportunity to answer a question often asked: why are there currently not commercial feedlots in the Territory? The answer is simple: successful cattle finishing feedlots are located near slaughter facilities, major markets and sources of cheap feed. None of these conditions currently apply in the Territory for finishing cattle in a feedlot. This means that a finishing cattle feedlot in the Territory is not an economic proposition. It is also why we are assisting our neighbours to establish them, because as the capacity to house and grow cattle increases so does the export market for our cattle. The success of our live cattle export is reliant on finishing cattle in an Indonesian feedlot in around 100 days, with weight gains of about 100 kg to 150 kg achieved.
My department is undertaking an experimental feedlot program at Katherine Research Station. This research program seeks to mimic or copy South-East Asian feedlots, to road test the Northern Territory product right up to the final consumer. It is all part of the plan to ensure we are providing what feedlot buyers are seeking. As a sideline, the results from local trials confirm that finishing feedlots in the Territory would operate at a loss - the cost of feed exceeds the value of the additional weight gain.
Another possible string to the industry’s bow is developing our local abattoir capacity. An independent report on the commercial viability of a multi-species abattoir was completed in October 2005. Following feedback from industry bodies, the report is to be made available to all potential abattoir investors. The report provides a serious overview of the potential risks and opportunities for the development of a multi-species abattoir in the Northern Territory; the type of information those investors are seeking. The abattoir business is a high volume and low margin industry. Experienced operators will be encouraged to take a good look at the potential in the Territory. For instance, a quota for 2250 tonne of buffalo meat into Europe still exists and the demand is high in Germany. These are niche market opportunities we could fill.
From the background work carried out by the Northern Territory Buffalo Industry Council and my department, a Buffalo Import Protocol has been agreed with the Indonesian and Commonwealth governments. The protocol now allows feeder and slaughter buffalo from Australia access to the Indonesian markets. Initial market intelligence has revealed a demand for these animals. The new protocol has the added bonus in that exports of buffalo destined for Malaysia can now be transhipped through Indonesian ports, particularly when larger vessels are available that carry out a two or three port discharge in the region. Prior to the new protocol, buffalo were prohibited from transiting Indonesia. There is now more opportunity for the Territory’s fledgling buffalo industry to grow.
Whilst the majority of the Northern Territory has received exceptionally positive seasonal conditions this year, areas to the east and south-east of Alice Springs are very dry. Of the 52 properties declared in drought last year, 11 of those were declared severely in drought this year, which enables them to access financial assistance from my department through the Northern Territory Drought Assistance arrangements. The financial assistance provided through this arrangement will ease some of the burden in undertaking proactive measures to combat drought as it arises.
While all this is happening, we are continuing with the raft of world-class research through my department’s research and development programs. Research in the pastoral sector underpins our extension services which enhance the sustainable development of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. Basically, our research falls into two areas: plants and animals. Our land-based research effort is focused on looking at the ability of the land to provide fodder for production on a sustainable basis. In addition, it looks at creating predictive tools to quantify available fodder under various seasonal conditions. A key outcome of this research is that there are smart ways that the Northern Territory pastoral industry can greatly increase its output without causing adverse environmental effects. The responses from the cattle industry survey show that the industry is ready to adopt these changes. Additionally, drought preparedness is a must and, with the endorsement of industry, is becoming a central part of research undertaken by my department.
On the animal side of the research, we are looking at the improved nutritional management and breeding performance of cattle, breeding to suit future market opportunities, and a range of animal welfare issues. The productivity improvements in our cattle herds over the last 20 years have been dramatic. Researchers believe that there are still major production gains possible, as well as changes that will safeguard the industry against future threats to our market and husbandry systems. We are also looking at improving buffalo reproduction and issues related to the handling and processing of livestock.
This research combines with my department’s extension services to address the government’s priorities in this sector. These are: innovative risk management; improving economic sustainability through improved natural resource usage; increased production efficiencies; and indigenous economic development through the Indigenous Pastoral Program. This program, known as IPP, has been achieving outstanding results. IPP is a multi-agency program which seeks to address the needs of industry for more viable pastoral land and labour, and the needs of indigenous people for sustainable economic and social developments. The program often involves the bringing of land back into production which is under the control of indigenous communities. IPP is a great example of cooperation achieved under this government and involves the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council, the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, the Indigenous Land Corporation, the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines.
In its first three years, the IPP has achieved outstanding results, including developing country for an additional 25 000 head of cattle. This year, more country has been brought into production for another 20 000 head of cattle. IPP has created jobs in indigenous communities with 18 seasonal stock camp positions and 25 short-term fencing positions filled by indigenous people throughout the Territory. It has also seen the establishment of an indigenous trainee scheme, initially training and placing a number of young men from the Barkly region last year, with nine people in jobs on corporate pastoral properties this year. It has also seen significant integration of external agencies into the program, including training support from FarmBis, funding for indigenous training from DEET, and additional funding for core employees of the IPP from the National Landcare Program. IPP is a pastoral success story. A new memorandum of understanding was signed on Freedom Day at Kalkarindji earlier this month. The new memorandum of understanding provides for this successful program to continue for another five years.
In this brief snapshot of the Territory’s pastoral industry, I trust that I have demonstrated the potential of our industry, highlighted that the industry is a major contributor to the Territory’s economy, and shown that this contribution is set to grow considerably in the future.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this statement.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Madam Speaker, I support the statement. The pastoral industry plays a significant role in my electorate, and there are dozens of stations throughout the electorate.
The survey the minister spoke about is the most comprehensive study undertaken thus far in the Territory. The study covered a whole range of areas: the size of stations; the infrastructure; the ownership arrangements, whether they were owner-managed or corporate stations; how many staff; where those staff came from; the number of cattle and the breakdown of those cattle on stations; what sort of turn off they have each year and where they sell those cattle; the main types of cattle enterprise; and cattle management - breeder management, the management of young stock, the nutritional arrangements and the animal health which has been undertaken on those areas.
One of the important parts is the grazing management and carrying capacity, which is a concern for people all across the Territory about the impact on the country, so the carrying capacity was also studied. Watering points were examined, including grazing strategies that each of the stations undertook.
Management is a key issue for the general public and the landholders, and the improved pastures strategy that these stations adopt was also studied. Natural resource management was a key aspect of this government’s focus and there was work done on native trees and the shrub build up, the approaches various properties have for tackling weeds and feral animals. They also looked at an area, which I will go into later, about the business arrangements for these cattle stations - their planning, their financial aspects, their staffing, information delivery, and general management.
I will give a bit of an overview. In the survey, they studied 149 producers in four regions. That only covered 71% of the stations within the Northern Territory. I believe it has been quoted that there are 216 properties across the Northern Territory. The average size of these stations is incredible - 3122 km2 - and the herd within that number is 1.4 million. If you extrapolate that out, you realise there are over two million cattle in the Northern Territory, which works out to be about ten beasts per human being in the Northern Territory, which is quite incredible.
The ownership arrangements are quite interesting as well: 32% of producers are owner/managers; 25% are privately owned and managed; and another 25% are company managers. Only 6% of the pastoral properties are indigenous, which is a bit of an anomaly as well, when something like 40% to 50% of the land within the Northern Territory is Aboriginal owned.
The majority of the properties in the Northern Territory, about 20%, have a herd size of 2000 to 5000, and 18% have a herd size of more than 20 000 head. The most common breeder herd size in the Northern Territory was between 2000 and 5000 head, which made up 22% of that total herd.
Some other interesting information produced from the report – it asked the producers about the major hurdles they faced in running their cattle enterprises. They did it across those four regions of Alice Springs, the Top End, Katherine and the Barkly. In Alice Springs, the most significant hurdle was staff availability. The pastoral industry, like so many other industries, is suffering from the mining boom and the drawing away of staff into much more lucrative careers within the mining industry. Time was seen as a factor as well with 53% of respondents indicating that. Distance from markets is a key aspect for Alice Springs being in the centre of Australia; getting their produce to market which, for Alice Springs, is the eastern and southern states.
Within the Top End, again, staff availability was high. Road access and erosion were the other two key areas. With the high rainfall in the Top End, erosion is quite an obvious aspect of that. So roads and easy and cheap access to markets were key areas. It would be nice to get some more help from the federal government with our beef roads so that we have a more viable market.
Within Katherine, staff availability was crucial. The cost of production, with petrol prices increasing and subsequent nutritional products, has an impact on your bottom line. That was a key aspect. Interestingly, the lack of cash flow came out fairly strong as well. Being able to upgrade your stations is one of those factors. Other key aspects were the seasons within the Barkly region, which were seen as one of the hurdles they faced.
Other information gathered was the factors which most affect the economic sustainability of these stations. Confined to Alice Springs was the seasons within Alice Springs; for Alice Springs it is the droughts which most affect them. Cattle prices, obviously, are something of concern right across the Northern Territory, as well as the staffing. If you cannot get staff, you cannot produce as many cattle. The Top End saw cattle prices as a problem, but the cost of production kept on coming home - those increasing prices and having to push prices up and affect their bottom line.
Market issues were a concern both in the Top End and the Katherine region. I will go in to those later. Natural resource management issues were very strong in the Katherine region. The Barkly region saw that the climate was a contributing factor along with staffing and the cattle prices.
That is a snapshot of a very thorough report, and an industry and government which is focused on improving this sector of our economy. It has been something that I have witnessed regarding this government’s approach to this sector.
Last year, I accompanied the minister on a trip to Pigeon Hole for their open day. The NT government is involved in the Pigeon Hole project at a certain level, but the joint venture is between Heytesbury Beef, which is owned by Janet Holmes Court, and Meat and Livestock Australia. It is a joint venture between them researching various areas. Other agencies which are supporting this project are the Northern Territory government, CSIRO, the University of Queensland, Tropical Savannah CRC, and the Victoria River District Conservation Association. They were all represented at a fantastic roll-up. I was extremely impressed with the diversity of the people who attend. That project is covering five key areas of research and development. They are conducting a range of experiments across that station. The station has been very generous in providing their station and assuming some of the in-kind costs involved. They are getting a great deal of valuable information back to them.
The first of the five key areas is optimising the levels of pasture utilisation. That covered plant and plot scale pasture utilisation research, paddock size research, and utilisation and grazing distribution on a commercial scale for those very large stations.
The second strategy involves achieving uniform grazing distribution. We had an interesting presentation where the cattle had GPS collars attached to them and were plotted every half hour or hour, day and night. You could see where they disappear to at night, and where they move around. You could see that a fairly large paddock only gets used in small corridors or corners where cattle drift out from the bores. That was a very interesting experiment, and the outcomes informed many of the producers who attended. Within that strategy, there is the impact of paddock size, grazing radius, and the number of cattle per watering point, as well as the impact of multiple watering points, and strategies to reduce the patch grazing within these commercial paddocks. The outcome of that was that more watering points produced more uniformed grazing across the paddock so you were able to hold more cattle on those properties.
The third research area was the alternative grazing system, which was comparing alternative systems to conventional ones. This included set stocking, consistent pasture utilisation, strategic spelling, and cell grazing. One of the key aspects of the research was conservation biodiversity. Janet Holmes Court, who was at the field day, gave a lovely speech and that was her key point. She talked about her kids and her grandkids - I think she said she had some of the grandkids there. She saw them taking over the station. She wanted the station to be in as good, if not better condition, when those kids took up the reins. The experiments on biodiversity and conservation are quite interesting and producing outcomes which will go towards the way the station is managed.
The last area was the commercial evaluation looking at the more efficient use of infrastructure design. Items such as new paddocks, fence lines, and yards cost money, so it was about looking at the most efficient and the cheapest way of getting those outcomes. That was last year, and I was very happy to be along for that one.
The last one I went to was only a couple of weeks ago and this emphasises the continual research and development which is going on within the Northern Territory government and the pastoral sector to improve the product we have in the Northern Territory. The Victoria River Research Station is situated on Kidman Springs, a lovely station set on a hill in the middle of the VRD. It is a lovely drive down there.
The day was hosted by a range of speakers. I firstly thank Tony Moran, the station manager, for his hospitality and his staff’s hospitality. They provided all the meals and the smokos. It was a lovely couple of days for those people who came along. Meat and Livestock Australia play a key role in this industry and certainly with the relationship they have with the Northern Territory government. It was good to have representatives along there for the day.
John Carroll took the opportunity to launch their business plan at the day. It was an unusual business plan in that it was pocket sized and it was very well thought out. Many departmental business plans are produced and sit on shelves. This one fits in your pocket so any one of the DPI staff can pull it out and say: ‘Where are we going today?’ I believe pocket size business plans are the way of the future. Thanks to John for coming down and opening that day.
These days are very informative and build up the capacity of the industry within the Territory. One of the most interesting presentations was by Don Nicol. He is an international consultant on breeding and he provided some perspective on the industry for Australia. I have just described how we perhaps have two million head of cattle in the Territory and we are obviously trying to improve the quality of the turn off we get into those markets within Asia. Don Nicol talked about Brazil. Brazil currently has a cattle heard of 180 million and that is expected to grow to 200 million. Luckily for us, their primary market is America and Europe. They have knocked Australia off as the number one global beef exporter. So we are not only competing with the quality, but we are looking out for those competitors who are considerably larger than us, some 100 times. We have to be quite careful in what we do within Australia.
One of the problems that Brazil has is the quality of their beef. They supposedly have some issues around foot and mouth prevention. The description we got from Don was that the safeguards associated with that are not very stringent, so whilst they are a big competitor, they still do not have their quality and their safeguards in place. That is something that we need to be looking at. He talked about their breed of cattle over there, which was Zebu Nelore and about hybrid vigour. That was one of the most informative sessions we had about the breeding of cattle and getting the most out of them.
Don spoke a bit about the future of DNA and the gene revolution, about how you will not go to the market and look at a cow any more; you will actually ask for its DNA profile and determine the purchase of a bull or a cow based on that DNA profile. It is something that …
Mr Wood: We could bring that in for the next election.
Mr KNIGHT: Well, you might be in trouble, member for Nelson.
It is an opportunity for the Northern Territory. Our department should be looking at establishing a DNA testing industry within the Northern Territory. Currently, it is cost-prohibitive. Results are sent south for analysis. We could look at establishing an industry here with the size of our herds. Certainly, I believe it is the way of the future.
One of the other presentations was by some consultants – I believe they were from country New South Wales - talking about succession planning. This is something that apparently every family cringes about discussing; however, another speaker, young Pat Underwood, was very interested in discussing. Pat had his parents there from Riveren Station, and I think he was quite delighted that the subject of succession planning came up for his own sake! It is about professionalism, the long term future of these stations, and about planning for the future. What happens to that next generation? When do they assume the roles? When does the old fella or the old lady step out of running the station and the son or the daughter come through? What are the ownership arrangements? There are not too many superannuation packages offered on those stations.
I will just mention some of the other areas that were talked about on these field days run by the minister’s department. There was much work done on incorporating scientific and local knowledge to protect the future of a rangeland with grassland management. This was presented by Mark Tarrant, the Grazing Land Management Officer at the Katherine Research Station. They are offering workshops for producers in this area. The workshops provide an understanding of the ecosystems, soil types and plants that the pastoralists can use as a tool. They attend the workshop, learn the information, and return to their station to apply it. The research station can work with them in applying those lessons on their own station. It produces real outcomes for their own stations rather than just being a broad study. That covers managing grazing, managing with fire, balancing trees and grasses, pasture improvement, and managing weeds.
One of the other new initiatives – I believe it is new - was the BOSSS system, the Bovine Syndromic Surveillance System. It was a great presentation from Sue Fitzpatrick, who is with Animal Biosecurity at Katherine Research Station. Basically, with the outbreaks of any sort of disease or suspected disease, you are able to log onto the Internet, which a lot of these stations now have, and report, or see digital photos so you can diagnose how an animal died. That information is protected, your identity is protected. It is something that is improving this industry; it is about better protection, safeguards on disease, and providing more information to producers. The government is supportive of greater professionalism in the industry.
Weeds is a key topic at all these field days. The Weeds Branch gave a presentation on what they are currently doing across the Northern Territory. They have developed a Northern Territory weed risk assessment process, and are reviewing the Northern Territory Weed Management Strategy. They are developing an individual weed species plan, and releasing an updated version of the Weeds Toolkit CD. They have also developed the NT Weed Control Handbook and are producing the Weed All About It newsletter, which keeps producers informed about what is happening with weed production.
They have also developed a weed spatial database and data collection techniques, and research and development of integrated control management. Within the Katherine region itself, although it was reported earlier on, the Katherine Regional Weed ID desk and the continued support of the range of programs through the community groups as well. Weeds ranked highly in the survey on issues associated with managing a station. Obviously, if your station succumbs to weeds you lose productive areas of your station, and you also are up for a lot of costs to tackle that problem as it grows each year.
It was great to have the Meat and Livestock Association present. The MLA does a great job within Australia, and also outside Australia. As I indicated, Pat Underwood was there to talk about a whole range of issues, and about what they are doing across Asia. Pat looks after the Asia Pacific area. They are doing a considerable amount of work in Malaysia and other countries on issues of animal welfare and accessing markets for our producers. It was a great presentation.
Other areas that were covered, and this might interest the member for Nelson, was why people analysis can be useful, that was quite informative and I might even table that for you, member for Nelson. I will cover a few of the remaining topics. Improving the herd profitability in the Victoria River district; more work being done by the Katherine Research Station. Other initiatives included the relative breeding herd efficiency of adult Charolais cross Brahman and Brahman cow grazing on native pasture in the Victoria River district. Those producers in the Victoria River district had more research provided to them.
Another research area from Berrimah Research Station was improving heifer fertility in the Northern Territory. One of the last studies presented at the field day was the multi-breed composite and Brahman improvement project.
These field days are another sign of the government’s support for this industry. The producers I speak to at these days appreciate that. I believe the survey will go a long way in enabling them to get a snapshot of where the industry is at the moment and where it needs to go.
I go back to the comments of Don Nicol about ‘we have to get better’. We have some very big competitors, and we have to look at our place in the world and how we can improve things.
I will make a couple of final comments on the indigenous pastoral production area. The minister has given an outline of who is involved. From my perspective, this is a key area of regional development. Many Aboriginal people live on outstations and are surrounded by cattle stations - certainly in the VRD area. Job opportunities are on those stations, and their fathers and their grandfathers worked on them and talk very proudly of their life on those stations. The young guys I have seen move into Newry, Auvergne, and Argyle certainly enjoy the work. They come back with a greater sense of pride, and it is incumbent on us to continue along those lines. It is incumbent on us to work cooperatively with the Northern Land Council and traditional owners to open up more Aboriginal land for cattle production or other production. This will be welcomed and I will be moving down that line.
Madam Speaker, I support this statement. I thank the minister for it. His department is doing a fantastic job. The research that has been done through the survey is a benchmark as to where we go from here with that information. I thank the minister and I support the statement.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Marrara Christian College Year 7 students. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement. It is always a relief to hear something about our primary industry as it is one area of the economy the government tends to deal with as a poor cousin.
I was interested to hear about the work going on in relation to the pastoral survey: the demands for beef; the quality of our beef; the National Livestock Identification System; looking for new market opportunities to move away from our heavy reliance on Indonesia; the feedlot experiments in Katherine; a possible multi-species abattoir, which I would have hoped the minister could have expanded on; buffalo exports; fodder production; improved nutritional management; animal welfare issues; the Indigenous Pastoral Program; bringing some Aboriginal land back into production; and the indigenous training scheme. That is all very wonderful.
We know that our live cattle is in a healthy state; however, surely when the minister makes such a short statement on the pastoral industry, you would have to ask whether something is missing. The member for Daly gave a very interesting recitation about the pastoral industry. He went for his full-time allocation. This is a very short statement and on a very important industry. I ask: what is missing? What areas could you have covered to make this a fuller statement?
This is important, for sure, but the pastoral industry is a big industry that has many issues - for instance, roads. We know that roads are a major problem with cattle, especially with moving live cattle around the Northern Territory. It would have been good to hear what the government’s policy is. I know roads are not your specific portfolio but, if we are going to talk about the pastoral industry, we cannot just keep it in little compartments and say: ‘That is not mine; that is someone else’s’. In presenting this statement, it would have been much better if it had contained some of those issues. Tell us how much the NT government is spending this financial year; how much the Commonwealth government is spending; where it is being spent; and how these roads will be maintained. It would be good to hear what is happening in those areas.
A question that could follow on from road funding is: what is the government’s policy on local government on pastoral properties? It is an issue I know that is prominent at the present time and has been for a while. I know the NT Cattlemen’s Association is opposed to local government. I spoke to Stuart Kenny the other day. It is not that it is new to me, but it is an issue that is current. The Cattlemen’s Association say it will cost station owners too much money to have to pay rates, and will mean some people will lose their jobs. I question again: will local government attract road maintenance from the government? My argument to the association is that if you want money for continual maintenance of roads, you will only get that through some form of local government incorporation.
It may not be the type of local government we know in other parts of the Territory; it might be something else. It would be great to have the minister talking about those issues. Maybe you do not have a policy yet; maybe you are looking at various options. That is all part of a good debate about the pastoral industry. Is there another way to attract Commonwealth funds? I know we attract Commonwealth funds sometimes for one-off programs to do this bit of road and that bit of road. That is no good if you do not have a continual backup of maintenance funding. I think that would have made this statement more fulsome.
What is happening on the Douglas Daly? The Douglas Daly has been a controversial area for the last five or six years, but nothing is happening. When I say nothing is happening, I know that people are doing reports on the water, and biodiversity, and reports on this and reports on that. However, it is sort of sitting there and many people are asking: ‘Where are we going?’ I heard a report from Bill Freeland on the Country Hour the other day. I did not catch it all, but I heard part of it. He was being interviewed about some of the issues on the Douglas Daly. I would like to know what is happening with the issues of land clearing and water allocation. Where are we going? Does the government have a program which will develop the Douglas Daly? It is something that is important, because the Douglas Daly is not only cattle; it is also fodder and other crops. I would have liked the minister to have expanded on those areas that are important.
The member for Daly spoke about research stations, especially the Victoria River Research Station. That event happened to clash with a few Seniors Week matters I had to deal with in my electorate. I would have liked to have gone down to see what is going on. Kidman Springs is close to my heart because my daughter worked there for some years. It would have been good to hear the government’s policy on the future of these research stations. Where are they going? What is their focus? How many research stations do we have in the Northern Territory which deal with cattle and pasture matters? That would have been important. Give us some reports on how the government is going on these matters so that we are not just sitting here thinking everything is nice and rosy. Well, it might be nice and rosy. The report could have been more fulsome.
There are other issues that involve the pastoral industry: education for children who work on those cattle stations or in the outback area. How is the Rural College going? Is the Rural College providing enough people for employment on our cattle stations? A report in that area would have been good. Energy – now, that must be hitting every cattle station very hard with the price of fuel going up and up and up. What effect does that have on the pastoral industry, for transport, for running the homesteads, and all the work that is done around a cattle station? This report on the pastoral industry does not touch on the cost of energy and the alternatives, and how we are helping the pastoral industry overcome some of those issues. It is an area that we missed.
Employment prospects: what are the employment prospects in the industry? Are they gone from just a ringer who used to turn up for the Dry Season and get kicked out for the Wet Season to more full-time employment? I know with some of the big pastoral companies these days you can have a career in the pastoral industry, rather than just a Dry Season job and a Wet Season to spend all the money you earned in the Dry Season. Let us know how that is changing.
Who are the big people in the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory? I gather about three quarters of the pastoral properties in the Northern Territory are owned by companies and the rest are owned by families. It would be good to hear where we are going regarding ownership of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. Who are the big players? What are they saying about the future of the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry? Some of those issues were just lost in the dust and they should have been included in today’s statement.
The Ord River: I know we discussed other things but it would have been good to hear what its role is in relation to the pastoral industry. Is it going to be an area for irrigated pastures? Are we going to be using it for fattening cattle, or is it not going to be part of the pastoral industry at all? It would be nice to hear about that.
What is the government’s view on the future of gamba grass? I know that you have said: ‘It is great feed’; and the person next door to you would be saying: ‘Oh no, it is a terrible weed’. We have a major issue with gamba grass. I know it is important fodder for the agriculture industry, but as I have said to many people, if you really believe in sustainable agriculture, if that is what the focus of this government is, someone else cannot pay for controlling a weed from pastoral properties. It is not sustainable if people in Litchfield Shire have to pay to kill gamba grass that that has come from the introduction of a fodder crop for the pastoral industry. It is a difficult debate, and one that we need to talk about more often in here. On the one hand we are spending money through Greening Australia - we have the war on gamba - on the other hand, we have the pastoral industry saying it is still important to have it because it is a great feed for fattening cattle.
Minister, you also only touched lightly on cattle on Aboriginal land. For a long time, when Aboriginal interests took back pastoral properties, many parts of properties died away as regards production of cattle. Now that is coming back into focus. You mentioned the agreement between the land councils and the cattlemen’s association, and that is good. It would be good to hear which Aboriginal stations are starting to produce cattle. Give us the good story from that point of view, and how you are trying to encourage other people to use cattle to help their livelihoods and the local economy.
I am sure there are many more issues. I have touched on those matters while I was thinking about this issue last night. It is no good coming out with bits and pieces. We need to the look at the broader pastoral industry. Do not tell us the wonderful stories, the ones that people want to hear; talk about the controversial issues that we do not have answers for yet. We need to know what they are. I am not knocking you because you have a problem with gamba; I am saying let us hear what government has to say. This is a House of debate, and it is nice to hear about those issues.
This statement has been covered in aftershave to make it smell nice, but if you dig below the surface, you realise the statement is like beauty – only skin deep - and the real statement that should have been read today has been hidden from view. Surely, if we want a good and productive debate on the pastoral industry, we need to be brave enough to throw in the difficult issues with the easy ones.
Mr HENDERSON (Business and Economic Development): Madam Speaker, I support the quality statement by my colleague, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries. Ministerial statements are all about putting information out to interested parties about what the government is doing in specific policy areas and initiatives that government is working on. They do not have to be a tome of War and Peace.
Mr Wood: I did not say that.
Mr HENDERSON: Member for Nelson, if the thing was this thick, no one would read it. I congratulate the minister on his statement.
I know the current Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries took over after I had carriage of the portfolio for a few years. My colleague is a very enthusiastic and hard-working minister who has won the respect of the pastoral industry in his time as minister for this portfolio.
I am Minister for Regional Development and Indigenous Economic Development in this government, and the pastoral industry is a very significant regional industry for the Territory. It creates significant opportunities for increased indigenous employment in the industry, and increased opportunities for indigenous people to participate in the industry from a land ownership point of view, owning their own pastoral properties and becoming part of the industry as owners and operators as well as having people employed in the industry. It creates many exciting opportunities and there is much exciting work happening at the moment.
The value of the industry, as my colleague stated, is worth in excess of $300m to the Territory economy. That is the direct contribution. Obviously, the indirect contribution, the spin-offs from that $300m, is significantly more, and employs over 1600 people throughout the Territory. As an industry that is an employer of people directly in our regional communities, it is a significant industry. There are many more opportunities that we can gain from further growing that particular industry.
It is interesting that the department has conducted a significant pastoral survey, where they have talked to pastoralists - whether they are family properties, or parts of big corporations and corporate properties - about their future growth plans. There is an enormous amount of work done through research in the department of Primary Industry to improve productivity of the land, and people are taking that research and working it through their own business plans. It is fantastic to see that pastoralists are looking to increase the carrying capacity of their properties by almost 30% over the next three years, and 54% by 2014, most of this in the Top End.
That is being done in a sustainable way. That is being done as a result of the research that has been conducted by the department on the sustainable use of that land, the regrowth of the feed for the cattle, the watering that is required at different watering points, and technology to improve watering points around cattle properties. All of that research is being done and it is following through to increased investment in the region and increased productivity, and, of course, increased value for the Gross Domestic Product of our region.
It is good to see the pastoralists of the Northern Territory have confidence in the industry. They have confidence in the Northern Territory. The prices those properties are exchanging hands for at the moment are really quite extraordinary. It is a huge vote of confidence from the pastoral industry and the Cattlemen’s Association, as the peak body for that industry, in the Northern Territory. As Minister for Regional Development, I am very pleased to see that.
I know my colleague has been working with the industry in the region trying to promote further exports from the Northern Territory. I believe the government and the industry has to focus on diversifying the number of countries to which we export cattle. The vast majority of our cattle go to a single market in Indonesia and, for whatever reason, whether it is economic, or as a result of the financial markets or political issues that occur from time to time between Australia and Indonesia, there are risk factors there that go to the heart of our export industry. We certainly need to be looking at diversifying our live export marketplace as part of an overall risk management plan for the industry.
My colleague is working hard on that. He has just come back from Sabah. Much work has gone on over many years in Sabah in encouraging Sabah to import more cattle from the Northern Territory. The minister’s statement says we are going to increase our live cattle exports to Sabah from 2000 head to 6000 head this year. I am aware from my time in that portfolio, and also visiting Sabah, that a number of the countries in the region are looking at other opportunities for the cattle industry, not just an opportunity to purchase beef cattle from the Northern Territory for food and protein for the people of the countries in the region. There is an increasing focus on how they value-add to those cattle in the areas of animal husbandry opportunities, feedlot opportunities, abattoir opportunities for processing the meat and ensuring that all parts of the animal are used, and using the cattle as part of a poverty alleviation program.
There was a trial in Sabah - I do not know if there has been an extension of that - where cattle were bought at a younger age and not as well developed to be allocated to small farmers, not put into feedlots, where they could breed from the cattle, fatten the cattle up and then sell those cattle through the abattoirs for processing, therefore adding value and helping the poorer people in the region gain some income from their husbandry of the animals before processing. It was very inspiring and a unique way of looking at value adding. The Asian Development Bank was looking at financing those particular trials. It is that type of innovation where it is win/win in the trading situation; both parties can win from the contractual arrangements which are going to strengthen and deepen the trade in our region.
It is good to see that the minister is pushing full steam ahead on this and that we have an officer from the department in Sabah at the moment helping them with the design and construction of abattoir and feedlot facilities.
This government continues to work with the industry to diversify markets and add value to our product in the region. When we do have price shocks in currency fluctuations, when there are political issues between countries that arise from time to time, if both sides are winning from the trade that is taking place, that trade should continue. It is good to see that that is moving on.
The member for Nelson spoke about roads. I am sure my colleague will respond to some of his concerns regarding why roads were not mentioned in this statement. We have had this debate over and over again in this parliament. I recall in the last sittings of parliament, this House agreed unanimously to the terms of a motion which was forwarded to the federal government which recognised that all parties in this House - government, opposition and Independent members - recognised that the Commonwealth was failing in its responsibilities to adequately fund the Northern Territory for roads, particularly for unincorporated roads which, in this case, were most of those beef cattle roads the member for Nelson was talking about. This House identified that this was, predominantly, a Commonwealth government responsibility and that, as a result of the unincorporated status of local government councils in our remote parts of the Territory and the funding formulas used by the Commonwealth, the Territory was being disadvantaged. This House recognised that and the member for Nelson was part of that motion.
I am advised with a great deal of confidence that the former minister for Roads, Ian Campbell, promised the Northern Territory cattlemen prior to the last federal election that, if the Liberal National Party Coalition were re-elected, there would be a significant injection of $40m into our cattle roads across the Northern Territory. The election came, went, the federal National Party and Liberal Party Coalition was returned, and that promise, like a number of other promises that were made - probably a non-core promise - was not honoured by the good Senator. Again, the Territory government, the cattlemen’s association and the pastoral industry misses out on its fair share of Commonwealth funding. I urge the member for Nelson, whenever he gets the opportunity and meets with federal ministers, to get into them about the total neglect that the Territory has in funding for these remote roads. The Commonwealth, with a $13bn surplus, should certainly be stepping up to the mark.
The Territory government made election commitments of increased funding for our beef roads. I do not have the names of the roads and what we spent on them, but I am sure my colleague will respond when he sums up in this statement. However, I believe we committed and met our election commitments of an additional $10m into our beef roads. We are doing our part; it is just a pity that the Commonwealth government broke its promise and is not playing its part in its responsibilities.
I will now talk about what has been happening in indigenous employment in the industry. This is one of the great success stories and gives us a path and a way forward in partnerships between industry, government, land councils representing traditional owners, and people living in the remote parts of the Northern Territory, to get people into employment. It is fantastic to see the change that is occurring across the Northern Territory in regard to everybody coming together to improve economic outcomes, enterprise outcomes and job outcomes in our remote parts of the Territory.
I refer members to the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy which was launched by the Chief Minister in May 2005, auspiced by the previous Minister for Community Development, Jack Ah Kit. This is one of the best strategic documents the government has produced; a focused development strategy across 13 sectors, where the government and indigenous people believe there are opportunities for enterprise creation and job creation. One of those sectors is the pastoral sector and the Indigenous Pastoral Program has been borne out of this strategy. The aims of the strategy in the pastoral sector are to increase the amount of indigenous land used for pastoral purposes; increase employment within the industry through sector specific training; and indigenous businesses to resume control over time of pastoral operations on their land. It is very pleasing to see that significant strides have been made in regard to that strategy.
The Indigenous Pastoral Program started off as a multi-agency partnership between the Northern and Central Land Councils, DBERD and the Indigenous Land Corporation. In fact, the Indigenous Land Corporation had a board meeting in Darwin last week. I invited Shirley McPherson, the chair, and other board members to meet in Darwin at Parliament House. I had the opportunity to speak with the board and pledge my support to work with the Indigenous Land Corporation in advancing a number of projects in the Northern Territory. They have been a key part of this project from day one. I thank them for supporting this from day one and the work that they are doing now and ongoing with the government and with industry as we move forward.
We have seen an additional 15 000 head of cattle stocked on Aboriginal land since February 2003. I see that number is now up to an additional 10 000 - 25 000 head of cattle - and with aspirations of another 20 000 head to be stocked on Aboriginal land. That is a huge success story and credit to everybody involved.
Since the original program ran for two years, we had a very auspicious occasion at Kalkarindji just last week celebrating the Wave Hill walk-off where the cattlemen’s association has now joined and is part of the Indigenous Pastoral Program in a formal way, with an MOU, and also the Commonwealth government’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has also joined. Who would have thought five or six years ago that the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association would enter into a formal agreement with the land councils to develop the industry in the Northern Territory? The political climate was certainly poisonous. The Territory is moving on and we are moving ahead. We are becoming more mature and we are finally working out that the future for the Territory is everybody working together rather than playing with politics.
I would like to read from the media release put out by David Ross, Director of the Central Land Council. David said in his media release that the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the Indigenous Pastoral Program will significantly boost Aboriginal employment and economic development. He went on to say that these are exactly the types of programs we need to build the bush and get Aboriginal people back into work and on to the path for a better future. I am just selectively reading from this media release because I believe this is historical in terms of the relationship between Aboriginal people and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, David Ross went on to say that Aboriginal people in the bush and the entire Territory pastoral industry will benefit from it. Mr Ross said it was significant that the NT Cattlemen’s Association had joined the partnership:
As I said earlier, Madam Speaker, regional development is a path for a way forward, a memorandum of understanding between industry, the landholders through the land councils, and the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments. We have our part to play in employment and training, and education and infrastructure. The Commonwealth has its part to play in infrastructure and training dollars. Aboriginal people are obviously the key to all of this in terms of their willingness and enthusiasm to participate. The key to this is having the industry on board and industry wanting to work with indigenous people to create the opportunities not only for investment and enterprise, but for jobs.
I congratulate the minister on his statement. We are looking at very exciting times. As my colleague, the member for Daly, said, for many of those young Aboriginal people to go through the training programs and get a job that pays real wages is something that we all take for granted in our urban centres. For many Aboriginal people in the bush, that aspiration has never really been a reality for them for many, many years. This is a start. I congratulate everyone involved. This is a government that will keep pursuing similar partnerships for even better outcomes into the future.
Debate suspended.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Parliament House public program visitors. On behalf of all members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have given my personal leave to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure to make a personal explanation.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Madam Speaker, last Thursday, in relation to a question on builders’ licensing, I stated that approximately 300 people had been licensed as restricted builders, and approximately 100 people or companies had been licensed as unrestricted builders. In fact, the figures are a total of approximately 300 individuals and approximately 140 companies that have received builders’ licensing to that date over both categories.
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on the pastoral industry. In recent weeks, people in the Northern Territory have had the opportunity to come together to celebrate a very significant event south west of Darwin at Kalkarindji. It is to this particular area that I would like to refer in my response.
Mrs BRAHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker. What statement are we speaking to? I thought we were still speaking on primary industry.
Madam SPEAKER: We are.
Mrs BRAHAM: I thought you were talking about arts.
Ms McCARTHY: No.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Continue, please.
Ms McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the minister’s statement, he made reference to 1.8 million cattle, or about 6.4% of the Australian herd, being in the Northern Territory. Until the mid 1960s, the cattle industry was the backbone of the Northern Territory economy, although mining and tourism have since surpassed it. It is this to which I would like to make reference in my response to the minister’s statement. Yes, indeed, the cattle industry was certainly the backbone of the Northern Territory.
In recent weeks we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Wave Hill walk-off, where it was the Aboriginal people who decided that, for their own rights and for their own reasons, they needed to make a stand.
In the lead up to those celebrations, there was much written about the upcoming celebrations at Kalkarindji and the reasons why Vincent Lingiari led his people off Wave Hill against what he saw as injustices in the treatment of Aboriginal people under Lord Vestey at that time. In those articles and the media coverage, there were many questions raised about just what had been achieved and to where did the people of Kalkarindji walk when they left Wave Hill Station.
Many people have questioned just where the cattle industry is, especially when there was such a huge participation of Aboriginal people in the cattle industry. It is here that I would like to focus on our government’s intent on encouraging indigenous participation back into the cattle industry. Those were questions that were significantly and rightly raised when we look back in history and try to judge where we have come and where we are going. Those questions that were raised are questions that we as a government look at. With the minister’s push in encouraging indigenous participation in the cattle industry, it was an issue that was discussed at Kalkarindji, that brought together the land councils, the cattle industry and the government to focus on getting indigenous participation back into the cattle industry.
In the lead-up to when those questions were raised, I would like to address some of those issues about the questions of the walk off, and why people felt it was important to walk off Wave Hill, and whether walking off has affected those descendants who believe that the cattle industry is still very much a part of their life. That belief is still fundamental and still exists in our communities across the Northern Territory. We only have to look at the many rodeos that take place in the Northern Territory and the many young men and women from these Aboriginal communities who take part in the rodeos. Indeed, we have some people from around the Bulman area and even in the Gulf region who are very strong and very passionate about the cattle industry competing in rodeo events.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it appears that this time clock is stuck on 20 minutes, but this one is working. There is something about the chairs and the clocks today. Please refer to that clock.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, throughout Arnhem, I have a number of cattle stations, from McMinn Station, Big River Station, Lonesome Dove, Flying Fox, Moroak and Elsey Station, and even on the Central Arnhem Road Mountain Valley with Ben and Tracey Tapp who I have been able to spend some time with, talking to them about the industry, some of the concerns and some of the good things that are happening.
In reference to the indigenous participation as our government has been focused on, especially with what was announced at Kalkarindji, we know that Aboriginal people have a strong affinity to the land and want to be able to achieve an economic outcome with land and on land and the businesses they would like to get into.
I commend the minister and his staff for wanting to pursue that wholeheartedly and vigorously with the land councils, both the Northern and Central Land Council and, indeed, with the cattlemen’s association. I believe that when you take the time out to talk to members of the cattlemen’s association, and especially in my conversations with people throughout Arnhem and the many stations that I have in Arnhem Land, there is a deep desire to learn from the history of Wave Hill, but to acknowledge that we do need to look at things in a new direction now and for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to come together, working on the land, respecting the land for the betterment of all citizens of this country and, indeed, the Northern Territory, and how we can work together to pursue and forge a new direction.
There has been a lot of pain and a lot of hurt in looking at the history of black and white relations in the cattle industry. Every person who lives on the land and, indeed, those stations where we have dynasties, if you like, certainly in the west, has a story - and not all of those stories are good stories. We need to reap and grab hold of the experiences learnt from the past and embrace it to channel it into positive energy for the future. There are many things occurring, certainly in the Gulf district and on the Roper Road, where you can now see the new beginnings of all of these things.
On my recent trip to Minyerri, some of the stations that I have mentioned like Moroak, Flying Fox and McMinns are along the Roper Road, and at Minyerri, which was also known as Hodgson Downs Station in a previous life before the Aboriginal people were able to move back and claim it as a community of their own. It was a thriving cattle station and the people of Minyerri would like to continue that as an economic development and business. I know that our government is acutely aware of the needs and aspirations of these communities, where they do want to be able to get back into the cattle industry and move forward and become a thriving participant in the Northern Territory economy.
Some of the suggestions made to me during my travel in Arnhem, and in particular around the Minyerri Jilkminggan region, was the request for an abattoir, and their own cattle industry and station to work with other stations in the region. I recognise that our focus and our strength in the Northern Territory is our live cattle export and our trade to Asia, which is growing at an incredible rate. When we look at the indigenous participation of what could be done, I know there are other avenues that our government will certainly be exploring if it already is not exploring it in regard to the interest out there in our communities.
The minister also talked about product integrity as an emerging issue. Product integrity is important because it is about people feeling confident about the food they eat. The product integrity of our cattle and our live export trade is what sells for us, not just in Australia, but certainly overseas and in Asia, which is one of our greatest export markets. It is our reputation and our credibility as producers in being able to sell the cattle that we do overseas. We have to be very careful, when we are discussing the future of the Northern Territory and looking at cattle stations around the region, of that clean green image that we sell overseas with our products, and the product’s integrity, which I am very proud to say is at the forefront of our government, and certainly the minister and his department.
I have been asked questions about the waste dump on numerous occasion as I have travelled the Central Arnhem Road and the Roper Road. People on those cattle stations are asking what image we will have, and how will we look if we progress down this path to a nuclear waste dump? These were important questions being asked of me, especially around the time of the Katherine Show last year when this was quite a powerful and passionate issue. And it still is to the people of Katherine and those cattle stations in the Katherine region who are very alarmed at the thought of a waste dump in those areas.
The issue of product integrity is what this comes down to. How far do we go in challenging the integrity of the cattle we produce here and the reputation we have here in the Northern Territory - that we have safe products to be able to sell and export to our neighbours? I am consistently asked about the integrity of our product, and I know that the government is acutely aware of this issue. I certainly know that the minister and his staff are aware of that.
Going on from there, we need to be free of diseases such as foot and mouth disease. Being disease free adds to the quality and the integrity of the product that we are selling. Our government is conscious of these issues and does not want to go down a path that damages our reputation in that sense. I commend the minister in the work that is being done in that area.
I would like to talk about the buffalo industry. In Arnhem, there are two communities interested in the buffalo industry: Bulman, which is active in the industry, and Numbulwar, which would like to be more active. I can remember back in the 1980s, with the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign and the enormous cost to the buffalo industry. The buffalo industry now wants to forge ahead. I recommend our government look closely at some of the smaller communities which are keen to be actively involved in the economic side of the buffalo industry.
It is interesting talking about the buffalo industry. Last year, as you may be aware, an elderly man was lost in the Bulman region. His son-in-law, Lazarus Murray, works at the Bulman Council. The buffaloes are everywhere at Bulman and I suggest that people be very careful when there. It is certainly something that people are aware of when they drive on the Central Arnhem Road in the Nhulunbuy direction. This man was out fishing and lost his way after he was chased by a buffalo. It was his dog - quite a small dog –which jumped in to save him against the buffalo. They are everywhere out there. I would hesitate to camp in that region. I would be pretty conscious of the buffaloes being everywhere. It is because of this that the Aboriginal communities can see the resources around them. They can see the buffaloes in the area and they would like to become more actively involved in the buffalo industry.
Of the 52 properties declared in drought last year, 11 were declared severely in drought this year. This enabled them to access financial assistance from the Northern Territory government, which is tremendous. I commend the minister and his department on that. Eleven may not seem many out of the 52, but it recognised the important contribution of these stations and these areas to the Northern Territory economy, and the dire consequences they were going through as a result of something that is totally beyond our control. The fact that our government recognised the seriousness of the situation for these families and station owners is something that should be commended and recognised; that we are conscious of the good work being done on the cattle stations and the hard efforts against things that you cannot control such as drought.
The minister mentioned research in his statement. Research is something we can all be involved in, especially in these areas with the cattle industry. The cattle stations in Arnhem want to be involved in the future research of issues that are important to them such as the countryside, any potential damage to the areas of their stations, how they can look at the future, and some of the ways they can build on, and research does that. Other issues are improved nutritional management and breeding performance of cattle; and looking at the genetics of improving buffalo reproduction. These areas allow those people who want to participate in the cattle industry in the Northern Territory to look beyond just mustering cattle and become involved in the technical side of the research of cattle marketing in the Northern Territory.
I would like to finish with indigenous economic development through the Indigenous Pastoral Program because it is here that hits closest to home for me with the many stations in the Arnhem electorate as I have outlined earlier in my statement. I know with the push with indigenous participation, we can indeed see the next 40 years. We look at the past 40 years and ask the question of where have Aboriginal people come since they walked off Wave Hill Station? The question should be also be put: ‘Where are we going to be in the next 40 years, and where are these Aboriginal people and these stations going to be?’, where these stations are being returned, and where there is Aboriginal participation, but joint participation so it is not just about Aboriginal people, but indeed the Northern Territory coming of age where we can learn from the good and bad things of our past, and put it in to positive energy for the future. Aboriginal people want to be thriving on their own homelands, on their stations out in these communities.
In closing, it is the roads, it is the access. I commend the minister for roads in his decision to announce today what is happening on the Central Arnhem Road which will bring great news to those cattle stations along there which have had severe problems trying to bring their cattle in from Central Arnhem up to Darwin. That is good news for those people out there.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the statement to the House.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries’ ministerial statement on the pastoral industry. The minister spent a considerable amount of time discussing the various aspects of the industry, and I commend him for his speech. It was well presented and all encompassing. All other speakers have put in their own praise of the cattle industry, and I also share their positive sentiments.
However, I am going to take a bit of an eclectic approach in my supporting statement. I want to pay tribute to some of the lesser known aspects of our great pastoral industry.
With all the appropriate praise we are giving to the current status of the pastoral industry, we should not forget our past, our history, because that is where it really all started in the earliest days. Over the past 150 years, the Northern Territory has drawn a significant part of our identity, character, and our uniqueness from our pastoral industry; a pastoral industry which operates across our vast rural expanses. Much of the image that is perceived about what it means to be a Territorian is derived from this industry.
Since John McDouall Stuart’s 1860s epic crossing of the country of the country from Adelaide to Point Stuart, much emphasis has been placed on the pastoral and agricultural potential of the Northern Territory. During the late 19th century, a substantial part of the Territory was acquired by pastoralists under pastoral leases issued by the South Australian government. It has been on these very pastoral leases that the Territory has based much of its economic and social development. The pastoral industry made a cautious start in the Top End. The first pastoral lease was not taken up until 1876. They were not able to be stocked until 1879 when the first cattle arrived at Glencoe near Grove Hill.
Glencoe was owned by the Victorian pastoralist, C B Fisher, who leased an extensive area that included the Alligator Rivers region. Fisher and his partner, M Lyon, first attempted to run cattle in the Beatrice Hill, Marrakai and Humpty Doo areas or what is now the eastern extremities of my electorate of Goyder. They later extended their pastoral interests eastwards to what is now Kakadu. The Kakadu area was progressively abandoned from 1889 because Victoria River and the Barkly Tablelands proved to be somewhat better pastoral regions.
Paddy Cahill, of Cahill’s Crossing fame, at Oenpelli and Fred Smith at Kapalga also attempted pastoralism in the Alligator Rivers region. Cahill was particularly successful. His Oenpelli Station, established in 1906, was prospering by 1913 and was officially described as a model for what could be achieved in the Top End of the Territory.
In southern Kakadu, much of Goodparla and Gimbat were claimed in mid-1870s by two pastoralists, Roderick Travis and A W Sergison. The leases were subsequently passed on to a series of owners, all of whom unfortunately were unable or did not have the skills to make a go of it. Pastoralism in these areas first began to produce a meagre return in 1907 for George Cooke at Goodparla and in 1937 for Joseph Callanan at Gimbat. When Cooke died in 1937, Goodparla was sold and subsequently passed through a number of owners until in 1965 it was sold to two Americans who brought stockmen from the United States to work with local indigenous labour. A period of more intensive development followed and both cattle and buffalo were grazed. Despite the American owners’ optimism, the demise of Goodparla as a cattle station finally eventuated by 1975, mainly due to a slump in the beef market. As we all know, in 1987, the station was acquired by the Commonwealth and incorporated into Kakadu National Park.
As for Gimbat, it was bought by Sir William Gunn in 1964, but by the late 1960s Gunn’s ventures were in financial difficulty and Gimbat was virtually abandoned. In 1980, Helmut Schimmell bought Gimbat to exploit the large number of buffalo that were now roaming the station wild. Finally, the Commonwealth also bought Gimbat Station in 1987 and incorporated it into Kakadu National Park.
No speakers so far have touched on the men of the pastoral industry. Some have spoken of the very important part played by indigenous Territorians. They are still playing a very important part, as fellow speakers have enunciated, ensuring the continued success of our great pastoral industry, but let us not forget our women.
Territory women have always figured prominently in the Australian government’s Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation’s Rural Women of the Year awards. This year’s Northern Territory Rural Woman of the Year went to Janette Hintze. Janette is one of the Territory’s pioneers of the cut flower industry and was instrumental in establishing the Northern Territory Horticultural Association’s Cut Flower Group.
Let us not forget Pippa Clark, who was runner-up for 2006. Pippa is typical of modern rural women who are engaged in the Northern Territory pastoral industry. Pippa has worked as a Rangelands Officer and the Stud Registrar at Newcastle Waters Station, where she was responsible for environmental planning and the development of strategic projects, such as reducing the impact of weed encroachment into riparian areas. As well, she was responsible for the recording and reporting of performance and fertility data of the Brahman Stud. She has also worked as a technical rangelands officer for the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, where she was involved in grazing management projects, focusing on the impact of natural phenomena, including fire and drought, on stock and the pastoral lands themselves. Pippa has since opened her own agribusiness consultancy, specialising in natural resource management and planning for pastoral businesses. The minister will be pleased to know that she is also involved in the National Livestock Identification System Support and Training for the cattle industry.
Pippa has also been an active member of the Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association, which fosters support for projects involved in the preservation of the tablelands environment. Pippa’s vision is for vibrant, successful rural communities within regional Australia and, in particular, the Northern Territory. She firmly believes that the long term success of rural business is through strong, economic management closely affiliated with environmental and social responsibility.
Pippa is going to continue her study in business and change management and further investigate the success of business in other industries. She plans to undertake the Macquarie Graduate School of Management’s Leading Change program and travel to Alice Springs and East Gippsland to study environmental management adopted by the regional beef groups. She plans to use her knowledge and skills gained to help pastoral and rural business improve their financial stability and success. She also plans to develop a pilot workshop, specifically designed for rural women within the pastoral industry, to engage them in discussions and new learnings into property and catchment management planning, leadership and change management.
I now turn my attention to the great pastoral initiatives being carried out at Taminmin High School at Humpty Doo. Taminmin High School is a registered training organisation, delivering nationally accredited vocational education and training courses in a range of industry areas, not only to Taminmin students, but also to students enrolled in other high schools in the Darwin region. Students complete industry qualifications, in such areas as Certificate I in Rural Operations, which are recognised Australia wide and which link it to entry level employment, apprenticeships or traineeships and further training. As well as off-the-job training, programs typically involve one or more structured work placements where students have the opportunity to further their training in the workplace. Most importantly, qualifications and statements of attainments issued by Taminmin High School are recognised by registered training organisations in all Australian states and territories.
Let me tell the House a little about Certificate I in Rural Operations, plus units from Certificate II in Agriculture. Certificate I in Rural Operations is a broad-based, general qualification that will provide an easy transition to Level 2 training in more specialised areas in rural production, agriculture and horticulture. The program gives students the opportunity to gain experience working on a mixed produce farm, acquiring basic skills and knowledge in livestock handling, and feeding cattle and buffalo in particular. It gives the students valuable experience in horticultural production, nursery work, operating tractors, and fencing. During the program, students have the opportunity to complete up to three weeks of structured work placement, typically on a cattle station, government research station, or in a horticultural business.
The Certificate in Rural Operations requires successful completion of the one core unit and five elective units - at least four of which must be aligned with Level 1 outcomes. Five Level 2 units from the training package are also delivered in this year-long program. A statement of attainment is awarded at the end for successful completion of these units. The competencies obtained as part of this program include: work preparation; support for nursery work; operating basic farm machinery and equipment; assisting with routine maintenance of machinery and equipment; support for horticultural production work; following basic chemical safety rules; handling livestock; using basic techniques, providing basic first aid; feeding livestock; and carrying out basic electric fencing - all valuable and important farm skills. For those who are interested in the farm environment, Taminmin also conducts a certificate course Level 1 in Conservation and Land Management.
I cannot let this opportunity pass without acknowledging the cooperation between Taminmin High School and Katherine Rural College, as well as industry partnerships. One such partnership recently involved 15 Brahman steers which were provided by Coodardie Brahmans for agistment at Taminmin High School farm. The steers were agisted at the school until after the completion of the Freds Pass Show recently. The project provided students with both practical skills in handling and feeding cattle, and the current knowledge of the live cattle export industry in Australia’s north. I join with Taminmin High School in acknowledging the generous support of Ms Moira O’Brien, Director of Coodardie Brahmans, and secretary of the Northern Territory Branch of the Darwin Breeders Association, in making this training project possible. This was a very good example of partnership between the school and industry.
As I said before, the school has an ongoing and expanding joint venture agreement with the Katherine Rural College. In the Top End, this shows the kind of arrangements that can be made between two of our existing rural colleges - or college and school in this case – which could be to the benefit of our rural kids. Basically, it means that students can start to learn some agricultural courses, the basic training and the VET programs at the school level. They can then look to continuing that at Katherine Rural College. The courses have provided a lease of life for Taminmin High School, as well as Katherine Rural College. It has been very innovative. I congratulate Tony Considine, the principal at Taminmin, for his effort in ensuring that this joint venture was taken forward.
Recently, we had the Freds Pass Rural Show in the rural area and every year Taminmin High School is noted for its pastoral, horticultural and other farm exhibits. This year was no exception. In fact, Taminmin High School excelled at the 2006 Freds Pass Rural Show, winning the annual Bob Shewring Outstanding Achievement Award. This is a great achievement and acknowledgement of the good work that it is being done by Taminmin High School at the show. I understand that they also participated in a number of other shows where they made us all very proud.
While I was at the show, Mr Deputy Speaker, I took the opportunity - like yourself and other members here - to look at many of those exhibits. I was very proud of the statesmanship that the students portrayed during that. It really showed that rural students have that make-up that they can present themselves and present the modern look of the farming industry and the pastoral industry. I believe these students are going to go a long way to endeavouring and ensuring that we have a proud and ongoing level of commitment to the pastoral industry.
I am coming to the conclusion of my speech, which I am sure you have all been enthralled with so far, and I would like to draw to a conclusion by commending the minister, particularly on the approach that the department has taken with regard to the feedlot technologies internationally. It really shows maturity. Many other governments could have taken the approach of trying to cut each other’s throat and selling the beef at a cheaper price. We have taken the approach of that may occur, but we also have to help our customers, to nurture that development, something that we learned from the Japanese in they way they dealt with the fish markets, the way they deal with their customers, and both organisations of both countries have taken that approach. The Northern Territory government has taken the approach that we need to foster the encouragement of customers to make sure that they are long term customers. We have entered that partnership. I commend the minister on that.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I am starting to run out of time. I am sure I could speak more on this particular subject.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have a special affection for the Northern Territory pastoral industry being someone who has come from the land and someone who lives in a regional area. I have a great affection for the people who work on the land, knowing just how hard it is, and the amount of effort that they put into their industry.
The minister’s statement highlights the professionalism of the members of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory and the amount of research that is going on to ensure the future sustainability of their industry. Too often in the past, the industry has been accused of undue care of the land by over-clearing of land, overstocking and causing damage to the environment. The results of the recent survey carried out throughout the industry have clearly shown that Northern Territory pastoralists are aware of the need to balance environmental needs with future economic growth. The Northern Territory Cattle News in the May 2006 edition supports that by highlighting major future growth of beef cattle production to rise by 30% over the next three years and by 50% by 2014. That is a significant increase.
I also read with interest a Farm Institute Insights article in their quarterly newsletter in July 2006 titled ‘Clearing the Air on Land Clearing’. Land clearing in the Northern Territory, and especially in the Daly River area, which is greatly underdeveloped, is viewed with great reservation. I am certain that is due to the claims that are constantly put into the public domain that are purely scaremongering. The environment has to be considered at all times, and the preservation of our natural resources is vital for future generations. There is no doubt that the scaremongering has not covered all the facts and it is important to get things in perspective.
I want to quote from the article about land clearing. Some of these comments will pertain to some of the pastoral areas in the Northern Territory. This is put out by Mike Keogh, the Executive Director of the Australian Farm Institute. He states:
and it goes on to state when other states progressively regulated their native vegetation clearing over the past 30 years. The Northern Territory introduced it in 2002. This part of the article finishes by saying:
I want to talk about large scale clearing. That has been a criticism thrown at a former Territorian, Warren Anderson, when he cleared extensively on Tipperary Station. I flew across it yesterday, and there are extensive ribbons of native vegetation that are obvious from the air. It was interesting to note on the drive from the Daly River Research Station, where we landed, to Douglas Daly Park, there were kilometres of bulldozed native scrub. I believe the new owners of Tipperary and several surrounding stations are fencing to ensure that the cattle do not wander from their property onto the roads. Fencing, of course, is important in protecting both the stock and motorists, but what I found quite interesting is the width of the cleared land area. It was incredibly wide, and certainly would be among the widest fire breaks that I could ever have considered.
The question I have for the minister, and it will probably be referred to the minister for the Environment, but I would like to know if the landowner had to seek permission to clear such extensive native vegetation in this area. As I said earlier, the Daly region has had so many restrictions placed on it over the past few years I wonder how this extensive clearing over many kilometres was allowed to happen when other landowners are barely allowed to move in any areas of development on their land in the Daly.
I believe that Tipperary is going again into full scale cattle production. That can only be positive for the Northern Territory. I thank Warren Anderson for developing Tipperary to the stage that he did before being so controversially accused of mistreating his animals and finally leaving the Territory. His legacy at Tipperary will be well utilised and, hopefully, the Territory will benefit from its continual development into a cattle property.
There is still potential to develop around 30% of the Douglas Daly region, Mr Deputy Speaker, as you would be well aware, and this has been identified from research. This government needs to support the development of the small amount of the usable land that can contribute to the economic growth to that area, and ultimately build up the rural industry in the Northern Territory.
The importance of the economic benefit from the pastoral industry to regional towns in the Northern Territory is very significant. Naturally, it is the regional towns that are the service centres for pastoralists. In the case of Katherine, our economy is boosted by a business which provides cattle feed in the form of hay cubes for the live export trade and services cattle carriers from Townsville to Broome. This business predicts future sales of 15 000 tonnes of their cubed product from cavalcade hay. That is a significant industry for Katherine, for the production of cavalcade hay by growers and for the business which employs locals to make these cubes.
Another industry that would certainly assist the regional economy and the pastoral industry would be the establishment of a multi-species abattoir. I note the minister said in his statement that the report on the multi-species abattoirs was completed in October 2005. Could I ask where the report is, and why it has not been released? I, and others, who are very interested in establishing an abattoir, and in my case, looking at utilising the Katherine meatworks area, are keenly looking forward to reading this report. The economy of Katherine would certainly benefit from the establishment of a multi-species abattoir in our region. Katherine is centrally located for most species maybe with the exception of camel, and we have the ability to use the railway as a freight outlet.
While I am on Katherine, I will also mention the Northern Territory Rural College, known as Charles Darwin University Annex. Brian Heim and his staff at the rural college have been doing a great job. They can only be commended for the high standard of beef cattle that they have bred, and the success they had at the Katherine Show, and also Darwin Show, was testament to that. Congratulations to them. The rural college gives many young men and women from not only the Territory, but from across Australia, who are interested in primary production and the pastoral industry the opportunity to learn the skills to gain their rural industry certificates and to be able to contribute positively to the industry. These young people are a happy bunch. We are very happy to have the Charles Darwin University Katherine centre so close to our town, and to be able to contribute towards that part of the pastoral industry.
The member for Nelson referred to the lack of discussion on roads in the minister’s statement. That was followed by the Leader of Government Business putting his bit in about the federal government not addressing their responsibility for Northern Territory roads. The Northern Territory Cattlenews, in the May 2006 volume, gives a report under the heading of the NTCA Annual Conference 2006. The heading says, ‘Feds Commit New NT Roads Funding’ and for the purposes of Hansard I will quote the article:
It was very unfair of the Leader of Government Business to imply that the federal government does not contribute any money to roads within the Northern Territory.
I remember, very clearly, the previous Leader of the Opposition, Mr Denis Burke, saying that we would have a bipartisan agreement with the Northern Territory government, that we would push for additional road funding for the Northern Territory - and that still stands. We understand the importance of it, so please do not try to make political mileage out of something where there is none.
The Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association annual conference this year, 2006, saw the end after three years as president for John Amstrong from Gilnockie Station. John has been involved in the cattle industry for many years, as those people in the industry know, he has contributed much over those three years. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend; I happened to be just a little indisposed in hospital following my accident. However, I also noticed there were some other people who had a little difficulty getting to that conference because the flood had restricted people being able to attend. There were a few people less at that NTCA annual conference. Looking at the photos of the cattlemen’s dinner held during that conference, they obviously had a wonderful time, as country people always do. They are always a pleasure to be around. John has contributed so much to the industry, and I would like to read the last part of what he said at the annual conference, Looking to the Future:
John’s final words at this meeting were:
I thank John Armstrong for what he and other members of the cattle industry have done to raise the standard of the cattle industry and production in the Northern Territory. I also pay tribute to the families who contribute to the pastoral industry. They are stretched out over vast areas of land with great distances separating them. They have many more challenges than we who live in suburban and regional townships could possibly imagine. Yet, they accept those. They manage to be able to look on the bright side of it and overcome it. I am delighted to be involved with the pastoral industry and I congratulate them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement. I can only see good things for the cattle industry. I attribute much of that to them making sure that their industry is sustainable and they need to be given a big pat on the back for that.
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the statement on the Northern Territory pastoral industry by my colleague, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries.
I am very proud to represent the Barkly electorate in this Assembly. Historically, the great contributions of the Barkly to economic growth in the Territory, and Australia, have been in the industries of mining and beef cattle. It is well known that the rich gold mines of Tennant Creek, particularly Peko, saved Australia during the Great Depression. The post-war years were also good for mining in the Barkly, but the downturn in gold prices contributed to a significant decrease in activity in the years 1980 to early 1990s. I am delighted that in recent times, the mining sector has recovered much of its verve and the opening of the Bootu Creek manganese mine will only enhance the Barkly’s fine reputation as one of Australia’s great mining regions.
From shortly after Stuart’s historic crossing of the continent, and Nat Buchanan’s trail blazing journey from Queensland across the Barkly to the Victoria River district, the Barkly has caught the attention of Australia’s great pastoral properties and companies. Properties were quickly taken up in the early 1880s and have been producing prime beef cattle for the domestic and international markets ever since.
For a large part of the history of pastoral properties in the Barkly as in other parts of the Territory, indigenous cattlemen and women have been at the forefront of making the pastoral industry the success it has been. I would like to especially note some of these indigenous stockmen and stockwomen for their fine contributions to the development of the industry in the Barkly. Unfortunately, many of these great people have passed on, men like Phar Lap Dixon; Nuggett Collins and his brother, Jumbo; Fred Taylor; and George Bostock; and women like Edna Zigginbine, and Olive Coombs, and a whole host of others.
There have been equally so today many other women and men who are contributing immensely. I pay particular attention to three people who I believe have contributed much to the industry in the Northern Territory, not only in the past, but they continue to do so today. I refer to Robin Peeking at Alexandria Downs, Wendy Murrell from Helen Springs Station, and Bernadette Burke from Brunette Downs Station.
Although the Barkly Tablelands are largely semi-arid and has a one in 10 chance of having drought conditions, pastoralists are blessed with substantial underground waters and their judicious handling of bores means that it is very rare for Barkly properties not to turn off large numbers of cattle each year. The last four to five years have been relatively good seasons and rising prices have contributed to a degree of prosperity for Barkly properties that is welcome.
However, rising input costs especially associated with the rising costs of fuel will have an impact on the bottom line of many properties. These days, most properties in the Barkly region are company owned and in general are larger than other pastoral properties in the Territory. Properties range in size from 4000 km to 14 000 km. The average property stocks approximately 24 000 head of cattle. Those properties that are company owned value-add by moving stock to grain fed operations in other states and particularly to Queensland.
The minister for Primary Industry has outlined the progress of the Indigenous Pastoral Program. This forward thinking plan is an outstanding example of cooperation between a variety of government agencies, the Northern and Central Land Council, and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. The program has recognised the need to engage indigenous pastoralists in a long term plan, both the industry and indigenous communities to increase ties to the herd on indigenous land, and to increase indigenous participation in the pastoral workforce. As the minister has outlined, this program is kicking real goals with an increase already of 25 000 head of cattle run on indigenous land with a further increase expected of 20 000 head over the coming year.
I welcome the improvements in employment of indigenous pastoral workers throughout the industry. As the minister outlined, the key to the success of any program is a close, hard-working relationship of all parties involved. I am delighted that this has been the case in the Indigenous Pastoral Program. I wish to congratulate the land councils, Indigenous Land Corporation, Northern Territory agencies and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association for their foresight and vision in signing a new memorandum of understanding for this worthy program to continue for another five years.
Last year, the minister for Primary Industry, in close cooperation with one of the Barkly’s largest and oldest cattle companies, the Australian Agricultural Company, introduced to the Northern Territory the award winning brand 1824 Premium Beef. I am informed that this beef is available now at the recently opened Char Restaurant at Old Admiralty House on the Esplanade. This premium quality beef is produced from cattle born and raised on the green natural grasses of the pristine Australian Agricultural Company properties on the Barkly, properties such as Brunette Downs and some of the others. Only a small percentage of Australian Agricultural Company cattle are selected for this speciality brand. Cattle bred for the 1824 Premium Beef program are value-added by finishing on quality grains for a minimum of 120 days to ensure consistent premium quality beef is delivered according to specifications for 52 weeks of the year. With a fully integrated supply chain, this green and clean beef is able to be traced back to the property on which it is raised using electronic identification and stringent quality controls.
The Australian Agricultural Company has identified a niche market for the award-winning beef product. Their successful marketing of the 1824 Premium Beef is dependent on the market being assured that the Australian Agricultural Company herd is clean and not subject to any potential pollutions from the grasslands on which the herd grazes.
Other pastoral properties, notably the Kidman properties, also value-add to their premium beef product by the judicious movement of cattle between stations and feedlots across their vast pastoral holdings. They and other pastoral properties across the Barkly are working hard to establish a unique clean, green beef product that is well on its way to being the best in the world. Clean green Barkly beef will secure the future of the pastoral industry in the Barkly for decades to come. I extend my sincere congratulations to all involved in developing the clean, green image so essential for the future of the pastoral industry.
There is one really serious blight on the horizon for the pastoral industry of the Northern Territory, more so the Barkly, a blight that could jeopardise the hard work of the Australian Agricultural Company and the Kidmans as well as other pastoral owners and producers in the Barkly. That serious blight is the prospect of a nuclear waste dump being sited by the Australian government on the Muckaty Pastoral property in the Barkly.
Muckaty is a large pastoral property developed over many years by the Hagan family. In recent years, it has reverted to an indigenous land trust and regularly, that land trust enters into agistment arrangements with other pastoralists, including from Queensland. There is a very real prospect that the minister’s Indigenous Pastoral Program will be able to assist the Muckaty landholders with returning the property to peak production and with substantial employment prospects for the young people of the region.
S Kidman and Company Limited is Australia’s second largest beef producer and its Helen Springs aggregation, which adjoins the Muckaty Station, is an integral part of their present and future beef production enterprise. The Chief Executive Officer of Kidmans wrote to me in June and I would like to quote from that correspondence:
Stuart Kenny, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, said late last year, and I quote:
As well, property values will suffer from a nuclear waste dump site, especially those of neighbouring properties. As Martin Gore, a director with McGees Property Valuers, said on ABC radio this month:
How has it come to this? How can it be that we would risk so much? How can we risk our hard established clean, green beef image? How can we risk the property values of neighbours’ premium beef producing stations? Has an environmental assessment been done for Muckaty Station in advance of the site selection, or does the Australian government propose to do one after? The CEO of Kidman had this to say about an environmental assessment of Muckaty:
The possible selection of Muckaty has not come about through a well managed scientific process complete with an environmental assessment of a high order. It has come about generally because the Country Liberal Party is all over the shop on this issue, changing their position with monotonous regularity. In June of last year, CLP’s Nigel Scullion said:
Of course, the Howard government, shortly after that statement, trotted out Brendan Nelson to announce that the NT is to be the Commonwealth’s nuclear waste dump site. So again, Senator Scullion said in July last year:
However, the Howard government had its way with Nigel and the CLP. He and his party were simply overruled and the Australian government nuclear waste was on its way to the Territory, courtesy of the most draconian and antidemocratic legislation the Australian parliament has ever passed. Did this standard bearer of the CLP, the Territory party, stand up for the Territory? No, he simply rolled over.
Then, this year, he began a process of ignoring the three sites selected on Australian government land and began talking up a site, or sites, that may be nominated by the land councils. He admitted that there was no scientific basis for the selection of the three sites of Australian government land, but said that the Northern Land Council’s proposed site, or sites, would be suitable because the NLC is:
The land councils, as part of their charter, must consult with all traditional owners about developing their land. Their expertise is in the area of anthropology and the law, specifically within the requirements of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. I would argue they have little or no experience in the science or the storage of nuclear waste materials, and for Senator Scullion to suggest otherwise, is simply dishonest.
Not only have neighbouring pastoralists been in touch with me about the CLP proposed waste dump at Muckaty, I have had several discussions with traditional owners of the Muckaty Lands Trust. They are absolutely unequivocal about the dump. They do not want a nuclear waste dump on their land, just as neighbouring pastoralists do not want it in their neighbourhood. The traditional owners have called on the Northern Land Council to hear their concerns, speak direct to them and take up their case.
I am hopeful that the NLC will respond as their charter demands, and consult thoroughly with the affected traditional owners. I hope that Senator Scullion, his CLP mates, and the Howard government, will listen to the Muckaty traditional owners and the neighbouring pastoralists, and this nonsense of a nuclear waste dump in the middle of this prime, clean, green, beef producing area would be forgotten forever.
As I said, we have the best and cleanest beef in the world. There is potential for young people to become involved in the cattle industry in the way their fathers and grandfathers were, and for our regional economies to grow on the back of value-adding to our famous beef exports. The good work being done by the minister for Primary Industry to grow our pastoral industry is under direct threat from Senator Scullion and the CLP. Their plans for a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory should be rejected out of hand immediately.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, I make a couple of comments. I was not really going to say much until I was provoked by the comments of the previous member bringing politics into this. There is plenty on your side of the fence, honourable member, that you would well benefit from reflecting on. The silly business of politicking that is brought into a statement like this at the best is frothy - all froth and no beer.
It is an interesting statement, but it causes me to reflect on members of a Cabinet who have held the position that you have plenty of legislation and business to conduct within this parliament. We have a statement today which has provided the opportunity for us all to reflect, in fairly benign ways, on a very important industry, but in a very superficial way. There is no clear articulation of a strategy or a vision that is longer term; it is just a reference to all the things that are happening in the industry, which is fairly ordinary, and the sort of business that government should be involved in. I was wondering whether I should actually speak because I have heard plenty of nice speeches around the Chamber reflecting on the importance of the cattle industry.
I am a passionate supporter of the cattle industry. I was in the industry myself at some stage. My son is in the industry. I have a lot of interest in the industry. However, for a government and members of Cabinet who articulated the view that we have serious business to attend to in this Chamber - plenty of legislation - we have had very little of that, and have had much politicking from the previous speaker, whose comments bear little on the issue that affects the cattle industry at its core, but more in the interests of politicking.
I am pretty well uninspired to continue on because there are plenty of meaty things that could be discussed in this matter that would allow members in this Chamber to participate and to explore the possibilities that we have in the cattle industry, to look at some of those problems that face the pastoral industry, address them soundly and try to find a path through.
The reference to the good work that is being conducted within the region is good to see. As I have mentioned before in response to the minister’s comments about the different activities within the region, it is all good stuff. I would like, for one, to hear a central drive to where this is actually going to go in the five-, 10-, 15-year time frame. It is a report on activity largely driven by the industry itself, with the government coming in around the sides. That is good, but I would like to see something a little stronger that is pushing us further, exploring and testing the possibilities.
The issue of the feedlot was discussed. I am pleased that you have raised the question of the feedlot. It is a question I have been asked a number of times, and you have answered it well regarding what is possible on the face of things.
There are some fairly innovative thinkers out there looking at possibilities which are currently not on the table, such as the production of cassava. The Northern Territory is well suited to the growing of cassava, a very high carbohydrate crop which returns something to the soil. It does not need good quality soil to grow and it can be processed to provide a high quality food for a feedlot. It is the product used in other countries in similar climatic zones. If we were to investigate that, it has two possibilities: one for the production of good quality feed for a feedlot in soil which is suitable; and also for the production of ethanol, I understand.
Those sorts of things would add a bit more grist to these statements. It seems to clear to me that there is other business on the mind of government at this point, obviously with the retirement announcement of the member for Stuart. So we are using this opportunity in this parliament, which takes considerable Territory resources to run, to do minimal legislation and make very long, pithy statements.
There is no disrespect for anybody who works in the cattle industry. I do not think they would be taking much time to read all of these speeches. They are nice, but for hard-working cattlemen out there, probably more concerned about the sense of vision, strategic plan, how we are going to inspire young people, that wonderful resource that we have seen locked up in urban communities, how we are going to inspire them to get on to the land and help support and grow this industry. Let us have a look at some gutsy plans to try to shake things up so we get young people connected to the industry in a comprehensive way – acknowledging the reference to the indigenous programs, and they are good.
There is really a fundamental problem and anyone who has had access to the industry and to walk alongside a pastoralist knows that there really is a very serious problem in the shortage of manpower, and it seems to be petering out. There is competition, one from the mining companies offering great money, and they just love taking these young stockmen because they know how to work hard. The competing side of it is that many of the young lads who live in towns do not like that kind of hard work. It takes a special kind of person who wants to get out there and live that kind of lifestyle. That is a real challenge, and probably the greatest impediment we have to the growth of the pastoral industry.
We could talk about weeds, water access, and the future when we talk about climatic change and it appears that the Territory and the north of Western Australia is shaping up to be a place that is going to receive a lot of attention because it appears that water will be more abundant in this region than in other places on our continent.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this has just been a general touching on of the relevant issues to do with the pastoral industry. I thank my colleague, the member for Katherine, for the contribution she made on behalf of the opposition. With those comments, I note the statement.
Mr VATSKALIS (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the members for their contributions. The pastoral industry in the Territory is important because it contributes a significant amount of money to the gross state product and employs thousands of people. Yes, the industry is dynamic; yes, the industry is out there promoting itself; but the industry also needs the assistance of the government in many areas, not only promoting and finding new markets, not only backing the industry when they go out to find new markets, but also research and development.
The difference between this government and the previous CLP government is the fact that we are putting in place now the things we need to develop a strategic framework for the next five to 10 years. The first thing you do if you want to develop a program is go out and do nothing more than a simple survey: find out where you are; find out what your clients want; and find out how you can achieve what they want.
Under the previous CLP government there were two surveys, in 1980 and in 1982, covering only three regions in the Northern Territory. Under this Labor government, there has been a complete survey which surveyed the whole of the Northern Territory, questioning 75% of the pastoralists.
I have to say that many people in the Territory and in other places said to me that pastoralists are conservative voters; they are not going to help your government, and what is the point of having the survey. The reality is when I took over the portfolio and worked with the pastoralists, we did not care about the politics. We cared about the future of the industry: how we can promote the industry and how we are going to expand the industry. We worked very closely together, we worked very hard together, we travelled together, and we developed partnerships in Australia and overseas together. Irrespective of the politics of the people who own the stations, what they have in their mind is the future of their family, the welfare of their family and, broader, the welfare and the development of the Territory.
We are focused. We are not travelling for the sake of travelling. We are not travelling because we are going to take part in great dinners with leaders of other countries as happened in the past. We are travelling and we are talking to the people who count, to the people on the ground, the people who buy the cattle, the people who raise the cattle, the industries and the departments that will work with us to develop the cattle industry in their country and, at the same, time developing our export industry from this country.
That is why I was referring to Sabah. Sabah for us has become an example. The Sabah government is prepared to expand its pastoral industry. They sought our assistance and we have provided assistance, not only by exporting live cattle, but also exporting our expertise in farm management, animal husbandry, feedlotting, meat processing, abattoir construction, animal handling, and even to food hygiene.
I personally authorised the relocation of one of my department officers to Sabah for six months to oversee the development of the abattoir because development of that abattoir is significant for us in the Territory. If we provide the expertise, the method of management and the abattoir, we immediately acquire one market. On my other trips in other regions, I have used the Sabah example. It is one of the best examples we have to provide the incentive to other governments to follow the Sabah example, to seek assistance from us to form this partnership that will ensure the viability of the live cattle export in the future.
I have always been worried about having all our eggs in one basket in Indonesia. We were very lucky that the economic meltdown in South East Asia a few years back did not severely affect the live cattle export industry here in the Territory. We do not know what is going to happen in the future, but we were very lucky because our industry is a clean and green industry. It is free of foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease and other diseases. That gives us an unfair advantage over our competitors. There are many of them out there trying to take a piece of the cake, a share of our market. Two years ago, the European police discovered containers of meat in Germany and Russia in boxes that were falsely labelled as Australian product. They had fake Australian meat brands. They were trying to flog off Brazilian and Indian meat and buffalo meat to those countries as good quality Australian meat. You can see how far these people will go to break into our markets. They know very well that we hold a competitive advantage despite the high price of our meat because of the good quality of the product.
The department is working very hard to develop a new framework. We are currently in the development stage. I am very pleased to say that in the next few months, I will be able to present to this House the whole framework: how the department is actually working to developing new market strategies, and to develop a five and 10 year outlook for the industry so that we make sure that we broaden the market share, we broaden the destination of our meat, and we increase our live cattle exports.
As I said before, we have formed partnerships. We have signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Sabah government. I am pleased to say that in the next few days, the Sabah Abattoir will be officially opened by the Chief Minister of Sabah who advised me that he will officially invite me to be the one and only foreign dignitary to be there. He recognises the significant contribution of the Northern Territory and my department to the development of that abattoir and the development of the meat market in Sabah.
We are working actively to find out what is happening in the Territory, and what can happen. The report on the abattoir, done by DBERD, is freely available. My belief is that a copy was handed to the member for Katherine - and I might be wrong - but I am happy to provide another copy of that report any time so she can find out about the work that has been done by DBERD people to identify the problems for the abattoirs in the Northern Territory. The biggest problem for the construction and running of an abattoir in the Northern Territory is the high price of live cattle exports. When somebody can sell cattle for $1.95 live weight for the export market, I do not think they will be very keen to sell their cattle to the abattoir for $1.20, or $1.30, or $1.40. The difference is in the price of the cattle that you can get for live cattle exports.
We have done extensive research and development on feedlotting, on grass, on fields of breeding cattle, creating composite breeds, and we have worked very closely with the pastoral industry because, after all, our pastoral industry is our client. The pastoral industry has contributed significantly to our own research and development through their own expertise, and I am very pleased to say that that will continue.
None of our research stations are going to close. The government has no intention to close our research station at Kidman Springs or anywhere else. They are a vital part of the department in the research and development area. Without these research stations, we cannot find out about the sustainability of the land, about the improved husbandry of animals, and breeding of animals.
I commend the pastoralists working, not only with my department, but also through Australian government funding and Northern Territory government funding to develop some of the reports. The latest one is the report on Adapted Management of Ecologically Sustainable Development in the Douglas Daly Region, one of the few reports developed by the cattlemen’s association anywhere in Australia, and they should be congratulated. As they told me many times, it is in their interest to maintain the land; it is in their interest not to destroy the land. That land provides them income year after year.
We know there are problems and, as I said before, the biggest problem is increased competition. There are countries like Brazil, India and other countries which are expanding their pastoral sector and they will certainly threaten our industry. The member for Blain mentioned ‘politicking’. Well, the reality is there is politics in here, especially with the competition. One of the biggest problems is biosecurity threats. In the past, I heard about the possibility of the introduction of diseases that will severely affect our pastoral industry through illegal fishing. I have said many times that the people who come here illegally in boats, carrying dogs, carrying food, carrying animals, carrying birds, can really create havoc for the industry.
We have asked for a significant increase in funding. I acknowledge that the federal government has allocated $380m over the next few years, but some of it is not directed to the right place. I have argued before that funds should be allocated for the indigenous marine rangers because they are the frontline of defence in Australia with regards to biosecurity. We have not seen this money. In contrast, the Northern Territory government is allocating money. The Northern Territory government will include two more groups of indigenous marine rangers next year, funded by the Northern Territory government. Recently, the Northern Territory government provided the Groote Eylandt Marine Rangers with a new, powerful vessel in order to police their island. They told me that they are worried about people bringing animals into their area and the possibility of introducing diseases that we do not have yet in Australia.
The member for Blain claimed that the member for Barkly was politicising the debate because he introduced the issue of the nuclear waste dump. When I first mentioned that this nuclear waste dump can work against us, against our image of a clean, green producer, some of the pastoralists came up and said: ‘Do not talk about it. You will create problems with our product’. A few months later, the same pastoralists came up and said that they recognised that locating this dump in the Territory would definitely create problems with our clean, green image because that dump would not be put here for scientific reasons, not for scientific research, not because it was the best place to put it, it is because they did not have to worry about public backlash. After all, we are only a territory and, to put it cynically, there are only two seats they can lose. If you put it in South Australia, New South Wales or Victoria, the backlash would be bigger due to a bigger population, and more Liberal or National seats would be under threat.
The member for Nelson talked about road funding. Boy, can we play politics here! I was the minister for roads from 2001 to 2003. In that period, I went to Canberra many times and argued with the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, about funding of unincorporated roads to serve the people who were like him - he was a pastoralist. There were people up here who were screaming about the condition of the roads, thanks to the CLP and the incredible deficit they left us when we won the election. We could not address all of these roads - 13 000 km of unincorporated roads have to be done and they cannot be done by the Territory; there has to be some assistance from the Commonwealth.
A minimum amount of money was allocated to us. I was very angry when I found out that John Anderson, prior to the last election, provided $41m to his own electorate for roads, but not one cent for the Territory. I was having dinner with John Anderson and Ron Boswell, the National Senator from Queensland. When I was talking to them about the roads, Ron Boswell turned around and said to John Anderson that I was right; there was no way the Territory government could provide all this money for the roads, and he had to give us some money. Did we get any? No.
Before the previous federal election, it was Senator Campbell who promised $40m to the Territory. I know that John Armstrong, the then president of the cattlemen’s association, was very pleased about it. I was pleased also, because $40m could do a lot of good for the Territory. Let me tell you how much money we received from the federal government from that promise – zilch, nothing, nada, not even a dollar.
In the Roads to Recovery, round one, Northern Territory received nothing again. The pastoralists pleaded with us to do something about the roads, and we agreed with them. We spent $10m over two years on the roads. We asked them to give us a list of roads, as prioritised by their own industry. Stuart Kenny, the executive officer, delivered to me a list of those roads. Let me tell you, we spent $10m, nearly $11m, over two years on the roads that were identified: the Plenty Highway, $2m; the Buntine Highway, we spent $1m; the Buchanan Highway, $800 000; Barkly Stock Route, $800 000; Rankin Road, $0.5m; Sandover Highway, $0.5m; the Central Arnhem Road, we provided about $0.5m; the Roper, $0.5m; Finke Road, $490 000; Point Stuart Road, $2m; Ringwood Road, $300 000; and Mary River Road, $1.3m.
The Territory government, despite the fact that we have to cater for incorporated roads, provided money for these roads because we believed these roads are important for the cattle industry. Should the cattlemen’s association or the pastoralists come to us and request something similar, I am sure this government will look favourably on a very similar scheme in the future. We believe in the industry and we want to grow the industry. We are prepared to work closely with the cattlemen and the pastoralists to achieve that.
The member for Nelson mentioned gamba grass. Gamba grass is an interesting situation. When it is on a pastoral property and controlled well, it can be good for the cattle industry. The problem arises when there is a change of use and gamba grass is not controlled by animals grazing on it, nobody controls it, and then it becomes a severe threat and hazard for the environment and surroundings properties. My department no longer supports the planting of new pastures of gamba grass as an improved pasture.
We know that, for most, there is responsible management of current pastures of gamba within existing pastoral properties. In addition to that, we are currently working with NRETA in a joint program for weed risk analysis for the Weed Risk Assessment Committee. Something similar applies to buffel grass. Some pastoralists will tell you the only reason the cattle survive the Dry Season is because of the availability of buffel grass. However, we also know if it remains unchecked, if it escapes, it becomes a severe fire hazard. So we work together with the pastoral industry to make sure we do not have any more examples. Let us not forget that these were brought into the Territory years ago for a very good reason at the time. Obviously, it was not very well thought out, and from beneficial grasses they have become threats, especially if they are not used for the purpose they were imported for.
Energy: how many times have we spoken about the renewable energy on indigenous communities and pastoral stations? Many times; time after time. Education: my statement on the pastoral industry was not specifically education, but many times the minister for Education has outlined and highlighted some of the programs that are in place to attract young people into the pastoral industry and educate them appropriately.
The drought conditions, for the information of the member for Blain, are a very peculiar situation. Some of the CSIRO information I have seen has predicted that Western Australia and east Queensland will become drier and surprise, surprise, Central Australia will become wetter. That is a long term prediction. We do not know if it would be true or not, but this is something that the CSIRO studies have indicated in the past few months. They made a presentation, too, at the cattlemen’s conference.
One of the things that I am very proud of being the minister for Primary Industry is the development and implementation of the Indigenous Pastoral Project. I have said many times that I have felt very sorry to find out all these people living on land that can be used productively but not having jobs for various reasons. Let us not forget that some of these reasons go back to the 1940s: the first walk out from the Pilbara properties in 1948, and of course the Wave Hill walk out in the 1960s. People wanting jobs wanted the land back. Things have changed now. Pastoralists have recognised that indigenous-owned land can be brought back to production. I was very pleased to have this agreement between the land councils, the indigenous land corporation, the federal government, the cattlemen’s association and my department to bring back the land into production to provide jobs to many indigenous Territorians.
Two examples: we produce this fantastic book and everywhere I go, I provide it to people. We have to tell people about the good news. Everybody knows about the bad things, but let us talk about these …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, you have one minute remaining.
Mr VATSKALIS: I will try to finish. This is the good news and we should be able provide good news everywhere. Two good stories here are the agreement with the Gurindji people with Riveren Station and Elsey Station.
Mr WARREN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the minister be given an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr VATSKALIS: Thank you. The partnership between Riveren Station and the Gurindji people signed in 2005 provides Riveren Station with 500 km for grazing. The Gurindji get something out of it. They have experienced pastoralists looking after their land, improving it, putting infrastructure in place, but also the Underwoods are getting something out of it. They now have a workforce with the Gurindji people they can call upon as stockmen or for mustering, and they are always there. I was very pleased that John Underwood was at Kalkarindji the other day representing the pastoral industry when we signed the memorandum of understanding. That is very important.
At Elsey Station in 2004, the Mangarrayi Aboriginal Land Trust granted the Aboriginal-owned Banibi company an innovative 10 year pastoral land use agreement. I quote from the book:
The pastoral industry has developed the Territory from the 18th and 19th century and continues to play a significant role in the development of the Territory: $300m a year; 240 000 cattle exported live cattle exported last year; and 1600 jobs. I am very proud to be the minister for Primary Industry. I am very proud to be able to support my industry, to support our industry.
Members: Hear, hear!
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arts and Museums): Mr Deputy Speaker, last Sunday night saw the finish of this year’s Darwin Festival and it seems appropriate to deliver what I believe is the first ministerial statement on the importance of our diverse calendar of festival events to the Northern Territory community.
It is almost a clich to characterise the Northern Territory by its diversity. As a unique patchwork of communities from the deserts of Central Australia to the wetlands and islands of the north, the Territory is a rich mix of cultures and languages, and from those of the world’s oldest living cultures to those who have settled here more recently.
Our arts festivals reflect that, from our major cities and towns to our remote communities and townships. It is hard to imagine another part of Australia that can host such a wide variety of community celebrations as we do here in the Territory.
Since 2002, this government has significantly increased funding support to these celebrations in order to boost the level of art activities, to give greater access to all Territorians to the wide range of cultural experiences festivals can provide us, and to promote cultural development in our regions. Furthermore, it is recognised that the staging of festivals has significant regional economic impacts.
Preliminary research carried out two years ago for the Garma festival at Gulkula near Nhulunbuy demonstrated significant economic benefits for north-east Arnhem Land for both the indigenous and non-indigenous business sectors. As well as local economic effects of spending by Territorians, there is increasing interest from tourists in many of our key festivals. From the Beanie Festival in Alice Springs back in June to the Telstra awards component of the Darwin Festival two weeks ago, there is now evidence of major visitation from Australian and international tourists. The uniqueness of our arts and cultural life here in the Territory will increasingly give us competitive advantages over interstate destinations.
As part of this government’s arts funding program, and as a promise in the lead-up to the election last year, Arts NT provides $400 000 towards the staging of festivals in the Territory. This funding includes strategic investments for the major and regional festivals, including the Darwin Festival; Katherine’s Flying Fox Festival; the Marbilil Festival in Jabiru; Desert Harmony in Tennant Creek; the Gove Festival; and the Alice Desert Festival. In addition, direct investment has been made in ongoing festival events or programs such as the Garma and International Guitar festivals; the Darwin Fringe Festival; Wordstorm run by the Northern Territory Writer’s Centre; and the Fistful of Films Festival hosted by Browns Mart.
$200 000 has been allocated specifically to assist in the staging of festivals in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. This is designed to create opportunities for the development of art and culture, but also to develop strong destinations for cultural tourism as evidenced by events such as the Merrepen and Barunga festivals. As such, the remote festivals contribute to sustainable economic, social and regional development, creating employment for artists, and encouraging the celebration of historical, cultural and regional diversity.
Since April this year, there have been an astonishing 20-plus art festivals funded through our Festivals Support Program. They include suburban community festivals to major events with national and international visiting artists; and range from the wonderfully eccentric to the intellectually serious; from the dizzying heights of an air show to the ethereal beauty of night time art displays in the middle of a stringybark forest. They have been a fabulous reflection of all that it is to be a Territorian.
The festivals have included the Katherine Country Muster; the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival; Wordstorm 2006; the Merrepen Arts Open Day; Batchelor’s Lingalonga Festival; the Barunga Festival of Culture and Sport; the Borroloola Arts and Cultural Festival; the Pine Creek Gold Rush; the Alice Springs Beanie Festival; Purlapa Wiri Festival at Ali Curung; Darwin Fringe 2006; Walking with the Spirits; the 2006 Croc Festival; the 2006 Garma Festival of Traditional Culture; the Gove Festival; the Fistful of Films Short Film Festival; the Darwin Festival; the Yarralin Air Show and Arts Festival; the Gunbalanya Open Day; Katherine’s Flying Fox Arts and Cultural Festival; and Tennant Creek’s Desert Harmony Festival.
If that is not enough, this weekend we see the Jabiru Marbilil Festival and the start of the Alice Desert Festival, followed later in the year by the Maningrida Recovery Festival and Milingimbi’s Gatjirk Cultural Festival.
Time obviously will not allow me to describe all of these festivals. Indeed, one could not possibly hold down a job as a politician and visit them all, but I will take the time to talk about a few of them and, hopefully, my parliamentary colleagues from both sides of the House can add to this vibrant picture of arts festivals in the Territory.
The first, of course, is Alice Springs’ fabulous Beanie Festival. I will admit, this took me by surprise at first, being a saltwater girl, but it is a wonderfully eccentric idea that took off 10 years ago and is now one of Central Australia’s most important festive events. Based around the humble beanie, an absolute necessity in desert winters, what has developed is a fabulously creative event. Beanies, thousands of them, arrive in Alice Springs every June from the Territory, interstate and overseas. They are woollen beanies, beanies from recycled materials, beanies decorated with emu feathers and desert seeds. There are beanies that are sculptural delights, others that are exquisite works of fine art, and the link between the bush and town is everywhere evident. Women, and some men, from Aboriginal communities throughout the Centre have been the mainstay of contributors since the very first festival and remain so to this day.
There are natural links, hands across the desert, between these remote communities in Alice Springs. Mr Deputy Speaker, if I may, with your permission, I have two beautiful pieces from Ernabella in South Australia that clearly demonstrate how far the humble beanie can go at the Beanie Festival, if I can just show members the great beanie.
Mr Kiely: For the record, can we have a description minister.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I think you should try it on, member for Sanderson. They are very creative.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Seek permission to wear the beanie, minister?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Deputy Speaker, would you like to put the beanie on? It just shows you how creative and fantastic these beanies are.
Mr Mills: Do not go walking around the bush with that on!
Mr Stirling: He would get shot!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Deputy Speaker, there is a growing national interest in this unique Alice Springs event, with increasing numbers of visitors travelling to and staying in Central Australia, with the Beanie Festival as their major destination. As part of its 10th anniversary, the festival organisers are now in the process of touring beanies they have collected over the first decade. May I say to the Beanie Festival mob, more power to your needles and crochet hooks.
As Arts minister, I naturally get involved with the occasional exhibition opening, but nothing really prepared me for the plethora of events that surrounded this year’s Telstra Awards. The awards themselves, now firmly in place as one of the features of the Darwin Festival, has become something of a festival within a festival, with just about every gallery space and a few temporary spaces as well devoted to the works of individual and community Aboriginal artists. At one point, I counted 18 separate exhibitions in Darwin, scattered from the inner city to the Charles Darwin University.
Of particular note, and of great personal interest, was the Tiwi Art Network exhibition held in the Mall. The exhibition carries a wealth of artists from all three of the Tiwi art centres, Tiwi Designs, Munupi and Jilamara. The work was truly inspiring for me and it was so pleasing to see the three art centres get together in this way to support each other, and the different, but linked, artistic traditions and histories that have developed at the three communities on the Islands.
These various art exhibitions across Darwin serve an important role in introducing a national, even international, focus on the Northern Territory, with hundreds of people visiting Darwin for the specific purpose of attending the awards and the many art events surrounding them.
The Darwin Festival: in my view, the festival has well and truly come of age and ranks with the other major capital city-based festivals around the nation. Media reports attest to many sell-out shows throughout the festival, especially for performances at the Star Shell. It was great to see both local and interstate acts receiving strong local support. The Festival Club, for many years something of an orphan in the past at different venues, now has really established a home at the Botanic Gardens, with displays of brilliant visual arts in the gardens and at the Wesleyan Church - fine food and a pleasant place to unwind under the trees and the stars.
One of the highlights for me at the festival this year was the third Indigenous Music Awards; this year held at the Garden’s Amphitheatre. It was a brilliant night with fantastic music drawn from all over the Territory. It was especially good to see women becoming more involved as musicians and singers in the contemporary indigenous music scene. My congratulations to all the winners on the night. My thanks and congratulations also to the organisers of this event: the Music NT crew. Running such a large event, balancing so many acts on and off stage, was a major achievement.
I may be getting myself into trouble here, but I really think it is getting to the stage where the Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin should be thought of as a national award rather than Northern Territory awards. The depth and breadth of talent in the Territory, the strength of its recording industry through CAAMA and Skinnyfish, and the organisational capacity of Music NT is of national standard, without any doubt.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I have some packs to hand around. I think we have about 16. If we can provide some of those to the opposition and Independents and to some of our members.
I said at the outset that the Territory’s arts festivals do much to define us and our diversity. That is true, but we cannot look at festivals as a single event or spectacle as in some way coming into being through miracles. Behind the scenes are hundreds of volunteers. While some of our larger festivals such as the Darwin and Alice Desert Festivals now have professionally employed staff, all are dependent on voluntary committees as well as many other willing hands. Many individual events that come under the umbrella of festivals also depend very heavily on volunteers who contribute many hours of work to our arts festivals. These people are the unsung heroes of art festivals, but are also their lifeblood. Without them, our arts scene would be far the poorer. I am sure every one in this place joins me in thanking so many of our fellow Territorians for what really is a labour of love.
Similarly, the other hidden heroes of our art festivals are their sponsors, big and small. Raising sponsorship in the Northern Territory is very difficult. It is rare that art festivals or, indeed art organisations, attract national sponsors. By virtue of our small economy, sponsorship dollars are limited. Nationally, the major sponsors to the arts are financial institutions and major retailers - none of which, other than TIO, are headquartered within 3000 km of here. Therefore, in a sense, the sponsors who do support the arts are very special and precious to our arts scene. Whether the sponsors support festivals with cash or in-kind support, their patronage is critical. I am sure all members join me in thanking these people and organisations for their generosity in supporting not just the art festivals but, through them, the broader community.
While I believe the future of our art festivals is bright, there is much to be done. I believe there should be stronger strategic interfaces with business and the tourism industry in particular; something which I am pleased to report is growing. The level of artistic activity in the Territory is growing but, at times, our festivals compete against each other and other activities in the community. For this reason, some festivals may wish to consider spreading themselves into earlier and later times of the year. The Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival is a good example of a group that is experimenting with this. By no means, however, am I saying that our major events should move. After all, they have created the interest that is increasingly attracting visitors to the Territory.
Festivals, particularly in the Top End, may also wish to consider extending their relationships with our neighbours to the north; something already firmly established by the Darwin Festival, as well as the Wordstorm Writers Festival.
Festivals are an ancient form of community celebration, very often religious in origin. In these more secular times, they continue to celebrate the achievements and joys of our community. As well as being an affirmation of the past, they are an expression of hope for the future. For the Northern Territory, the future is something we can look forward to and celebrate through our festivals.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, the opposition supports the statement recognising the importance of festivals. Festivals are a way for a healthy community to express themselves. Festivals take many forms as has been described in the minister’s statement. There were the top of the ticket ones, the big ones that attract national attention, and go right down to very small communities and their celebrations.
It caused me to reflect on that issue as you were speaking, minister. There are, in every robust community, a festival of some kind, whether it is a school with their fair and celebration of who that school is, right up to a whole community, or a nation when it comes to an Olympic Games which is a mega-festival. It caused me to reflect on the range of festivals we have across the Territory. I did not hear any reference to, and I cannot think of the name of it, but is it the Pig and Pussy Festival in Pine Creek? Something like that. Every community has its own way of celebrating.
I appreciate at the end of your statement you made specific reference to sponsors who support these enterprises of the community, but most importantly, the volunteers. It is easy to get caught up in the festivities and fun of an event and for those of us who have the responsibility of serving our community, we are able to detect the hard-working, tired person behind the scenes at any of these events. Whether it is a school fair, or the Telstra Art Awards, there is always some person behind the scenes, or a small group, who has carried the weight of it, the anxiety, and the concerns of the event. They are just relieved that this whole thing is over, and genuinely you hear them say: ‘I do not know whether I will do this again’. Then a few days pass by and, of course, they rest and are back at it again.
My hat goes off to those volunteers, whether it is the big events, or the very small events. They are the ones who make all of this possible, and there would be no festival or celebration if there was not some vitality and spark of life within communities, and that is the case.
I was pleased to hear the minister refer to a stronger strategic interface. They are words I like to hear, they are welcomed and to have that expressed in this statement. If we are going to strengthen our community we need to think strategically and ensure that the activities of all of our different groups at different levels have an increased level of dialogue so we have a stronger focus in every one of those different celebrations, feeding and strengthening every other activity, which is all about vision of community - our whole community having a central or a common purpose. We can link those things up and I urge the minister to continue with that building of a stronger strategic interface. Elements of it are already there, but work needs to be done to strengthen that because we will all benefit from that kind of approach.
The volunteers: it is the larger events which receive the larger amounts of help, but it is the smaller groups that are in smaller communities that equally, and arguably, need a greater level of support. There was a policy position put forward by the CLP at the last Territory election which I think has merit if the minister would like to consider elements of that. You may be able to argue that it does exist in some form within your brief - also the Minister for Sport and Recreation may be interested - but it is an agency specifically dedicated to the support of volunteers who run community activities at a more grassroots community level.
For things like the V8 Supercars, we would have Major Events supporting them, but if it comes to the Adelaide River Talent Quest, is there a dedicated agency to support the smaller group? These are the ones who have less resources to draw upon, and without that core support, that event may not strengthen. I ask if the minister could consider strengthening the support for the smaller activities within our community. It is the smaller things that ultimately make the bigger difference if they are supported.
It makes the bigger difference because if they do not receive that core support, that administrative support, there is so much red tape that goes on these days and you speak to any small group and their first question is one that they do not even know the answer to. They know that insurance is an issue, but they do not know much about insurance. They do not know much about the requirements the government places on volunteers these days, and they are becoming increasingly discouraged. I ask if we could bring attention to bear on that issue: support to smaller activities and festivals within our community.
In listening to all the different activities that have gone on, I felt a bit tired as a member of a small opposition in this Chamber and as the only member north of Katherine, I wondered where the festival had gone. I did not get a chance to get to much. There has been so much going on and, come the day when I can just go to these festivals and just enjoy it. Sadly, I missed most of it. I had a look back at my diary to see why that is the case. It certainly was not because I was sitting at home watching television - I welcome the day when that can happen. Sadly, this year I missed the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. It is something that I do enjoy. I appreciate indigenous art and have some prized possessions of my own. It is an award that I like to go to and I was not able to this time around.
As that receives national prominence and recognition, and it strengthens all of those involved in this industry by having it in the Northern Territory, it is tremendous that it is supported by Telstra. I will give you support, minister, in your referring to the indigenous music awards being made the national indigenous music awards. I have long been a supporter of music and indigenous music in particular. I have done a fair bit of work with Kakadu Studios in the past and have had a number of discussions around the place, recognising the immense value and the untapped talent of indigenous musicians.
I am just a guitar strummer myself. I do not know a lot about music of different forms. I cannot play much, but I can recognise talent and quality. To have musician friends travel through different regions and come back amazed at the musical ability of indigenous Territorians that is so different from one community to another, whether it is rock and roll, the blues, to reggae, or a mix of all of those elements - country and western, too, I should mention. The ability, the sheer talent that is within our indigenous communities is a resource that must be tapped, and one that would feed into raising the indigenous music awards to a national level. I happily support you in that endeavour.
I note, too, the role that these festivals play in strengthening our appeal to tourists, which is very important, going back to the need for a stronger strategic interface between all the different stakeholders so that we can strengthen and enlarge that appeal.
In closing, there is something that always has stuck in my craw a bit about this Labor government. That is, as a member of the CLP, I would go year by year to the review, the knock-em-down theatre, Gail Evans, and forgive me, I forget the name of the other outstanding gentleman who was involved in writing those reviews year by year. They provided a look back at what had occurred in any year and, if it was to be done this year, for example, just for illustrative purposes, the member for Sanderson would probably be a part of that. In any year, there would always be …
Mr Kiely: I believe I would be, member for Blain.
Mr MILLS: Just for illustrative purposes only, I am probably wrong! But, as a member of the CLP, and even before I became a member of this Chamber, I would happily go along to watch these productions because, as a community, it helps you to look back and have a bit of a laugh about the things that happened in that year.
Mr Kiely: Used to go myself.
Mr MILLS: I know, of course, that was where I was going, that the Labor Party members would go there and they would have a good old chuckle about the CLP and enjoy it immensely. It was actually doing a job for the Labor Party to draw attention to the Country Liberal Party and all their foibles and so on, great old, grand old time it was, and they would all laugh and carry on. And I thought, I am a member of this community too and I would go along and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny, sometimes it hurt a bit; in fact, there was a song that I helped write - I did the music for the railway song. They warned me that they were going to ham that up a bit and make a bit of fun of it. I was there and aware of that, but had a laugh anyway.
What surprised me was a Labor government which really appreciated the arts, and how the arts can reflect on a society and a community as it develops and grows, cut the funding that prevented that year in review occurring once Labor came to office. They did not mind looking and poking fun at the then government whilst they were in opposition, but when it came to an opportunity for the activities of a then Labor government to be reflected upon, the funding tap was turned off. There was then no opportunity for that cultural reflection on the activities and the antics of a then Labor government. I find that to be the height of hypocrisy, that that sort of thing could occur.
I think it is the sign of a very healthy person that can laugh at themselves. Therefore, if a government is unable to support a theatre group that can have a reasonably harmless look back at the foibles and the fun of the year before, cannot allow that to occur, cuts the funding off, it is therefore unhealthy. It is an unhealthy reflection on the attitude of government if they do not allow that kind of reflection. Many have noted that, filed it away quietly, and we will wait for another day to see what that actually does mean. Whether, in fact, this is a government that is so sensitive it would prefer not to have that kind of attention drawn to itself and have people laughing at them, because they are a little sensitive and would prefer to look good than to be good.
With those comments, I support the statement, while acknowledging that this has been a very interesting day. There have been some big statements that are nice, it is really good. I do not mind getting up and talking about this sort of stuff, but it is clear there is something else going on behind the scenes. We drag these things out, you probably have about 15 speakers on this and we are going to fill the day in.
Mrs Braham: You have people popping in and out.
Mr MILLS: Yes, popping in and out, whispering and carrying on, and we have had very little legislation, which is the business of the parliament - very, very little legislation. Oh, serious work, the earnest Chief Minister …
Mr Kiely: We are planning the end of year review!
Mr MILLS: … we have serious business to attend to, we have legislation and a very heavy agenda, and we are going to run this through the Chamber.
Well, you can jolly well say that, but to any Territorian out there, the truth is, have a look at the business paper, not just today, but for any of the sessions that we have had here, except for business days that are run by the opposition and the Independents, then we have long days and big discussions, then a few of you get wheeled out.
It must be pretty disappointing for you poor fellows over there who are backbenchers. There was a time in this Chamber where backbenchers would speak their own mind and talk about things that would reflect on their own constituencies. It seems to be we have a chorus of silence when it comes to these sorts of things. Unless they have some really patronising little talk that says how wonderful the statement is and how courageous it is that the minister would bring such an earth-shattering statement before the Chamber. This is fantastic. This is a pretty expensive place to run, so let us have our nice little talks and, hopefully, we will all get home nice and early. Gee whiz, it is after 4.21 – whatever …
Ms Scrymgour: You do not care about the arts or festivals. That is clear.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: Oh, now you may say that. What a shallow comment! I have given you genuine support. I have given you genuine support on a couple of key issues. Do not take this personally. This is a reflection on the tendencies of this Labor government with the managing of the affairs of the House; that being, there was once a statement made here and reasserted and believed, that there was serious business to attend to – legislation. I would most like to say, bugger all, but I will be picked up. So …
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Point of order.
Mr MILLS: … withdraw that before I even said it …
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Surely, we have ruled that word out as unparliamentary.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I believe the member has withdrawn it.
Mr MILLS: I came to my senses, as I said it, and pulled it back. My apologies. I got a bit carried away there.
With those comments, I support the statement, but I am making another reflection. Please, do not take it personally, minister.
Ms LAWRIE (Sport and Recreation): Mr Deputy Speaker, I contribute as minister for Sport because, as the minister has pointed out in the statement and the shadow minister in his support of the statement, sport plays a fundamental role in our festivals in our communities. I thank the minister for Arts for bringing this statement to the House. I note the cynicism of the opposition but this is a genuine statement to reflect on the value festivals provide to our community.
I have been enjoying the fantastic Darwin Festival. Even though we lead busy lives as parliamentarians and I am also a mother of three, I have had the opportunity to enjoy quite a few of the festival’s performances at the Star Shell at the gardens. What a spectacular setting that is. I congratulate the Festival of Darwin committee and the staff. They make an enormous effort to pull the festival together - an incredibly diverse, stimulating and entertaining program, showcasing local talent in fantastic venues. I have been impressed by just how much of a tourism attraction our Festival of Darwin is. I have run across at least half a dozen people in the last two weeks who have said to me they are here to see the festival. I want to stress that festivals, whilst they are a great celebration of community, also provide an economic boon to the communities that host them.
One such festival, of course, is the very famous Merrepen Arts Festival. People come from all around to get to the Merrepen Arts Festival. There is an opportunity to purchase the most magnificent art by local artists. I know quite a few people who make the trek to the Merrepen Arts Festival from right across the Territory, and also people who come up from interstate looking for something unique to the Territory; something that reflects the Territory’s culture. The Merrepen Arts Festival does that in a great way.
The Merrepen Arts Festival has developed a strong sports component over the years. They embrace their sport and it is great for the community; it enhances the festival. I congratulate organisers of that festival. It has grown in stature over the years; a reflection right across Australia that it is a fantastic festival to attend.
I put in that category as well the terrific Barunga Sports Festival that has been supported by government in the past. The Barunga Community has shown that they are very good at organising their festival. It is an enjoyable, diverse and stimulating festival for all the people who participate at Barunga. I am delighted at the strength that sports plays in the Barunga Sports Festival. We know that sport can be an important fabric of society, bringing people of all ages together, of all variety of abilities to get down and enjoy a sense of family and community in a fun environment and atmosphere. We know it is important right across our regions and the Gunbalanya Open Day reflects the importance of the role that our communities have in creating festivals which are unique to their environment and community, and their desires, and the day incorporates a strong sports component which people enjoy.
I congratulate these communities which step up and say we are going to embrace our community and we are going to showcase our community. They produce a first-class festival product which enhances the entire Territory and puts us on the map for tourists looking for a unique Territory experience.
It is great to see that with a combination of both art and sport, we create a diversity of events and experience. There is something for everyone to enjoy, whether they are a dramatic artist, a singer, or a sportsperson. They reflect the broader way the culture operates within our community. It has very important health and social outcomes in each of the communities, whether they are remote communities or regional communities, or our larger urban communities in the Territory.
Our festivals develop a healthier society both in terms of physical health, but also importantly in terms of mental wellbeing. We can never underestimate the importance to mental wellbeing of feeling good and seeing something that is inspirational, and being touched by an experience that brings you out of the mundane aspects of day-to-day life and day-to-day struggles. I felt that during the Festival of Darwin when I went to quite a few of the concerts and visited the venues and saw some art. It lifts you out of your daily struggles and gives you that euphoric feeling of wellbeing. That is the mental wellbeing aspect that plays a very important role in our communities, and the festivals deliver that to us in such an important way.
The social outcome is a coming together, a bringing together, of the people, whether they are local people involved in organising the festival - and anyone who has been involved in organising anything like a festival, or as the shadow minister mentioned down to the level of a school fair, it is a lot of hard work. Camaraderie, you come together, there tends to be a core group of people who get stuck in and do the organising, the preparation. You divvy up the tasks, and at the end of the day you are only as good as everyone else on the organising team.
I know from my own personal experience of being involved in organising the Holy Family School fete in my electorate of Karama, on many occasions, it often falls on the shoulders of very few to do an enormous amount of work. Apart from the very large festivals which have budgets to support some paid staff, most of our festivals run on the sheer hard work of the volunteers. The social outcome of that is that they create their friendships, they strengthen their friendships through the volunteer work they do alongside each other. Whilst they are putting in completely selflessly to their community to produce a festive occasion for their community where people can come together and rejoice and celebrate, enjoy life and get that sense of mental wellbeing and the cohesion within community, the volunteers who do it get a great social outcome as well. They form bonds and friendships that last often for a lifetime.
Many people return to being volunteers because of that relationship they create with the other volunteers. We see that with the Arafura Games. That is run on the back of volunteers. It is volunteers who return every two years to support the Arafura Games because of the strength of the friendships that they create. There is a bond amongst the volunteers, the friendships they make with the people who visit to enjoy the labours of their hard work. You see that in our festivals, that the volunteers are so proud, so delighted with the product they are able to deliver to their community, the celebration of their community, enjoyment they see that people have, and it brings to their lives. So whilst I take my hat off to the volunteers, I also know through experience that the volunteers themselves grow and prosper in a very strong social way as a result of that volunteer work. If anyone out there is feeling lonely, or feeling as though they need something else in their life, I would always encourage them to become a volunteer and choose your festival.
Volunteers at Rotary, I have to say, do a fantastic job, for example, at the Tropical Garden Spectacular. Year in year out they are there. They are taking people through the entrance, they are helping with the setup, and the Tropical Garden Spectacular is a magnificent festival showcasing the beauty of the Top End and the tropics. I take my hat off to the organising committee of the Tropical Garden Spectacular. It has grown year in year out, with government support. The Martin Labor government has thrown enormous support behind the Tropical Garden Spectacular and, as a novice gardener, I get many fantastic ideas when I visit the spectacular. The people who move through there get that sense of wellbeing, of there being beauty and sustenance in our life. The variety and diversity of our festivals bring that to us.
Part of what we are seeing evolve through our festivals, which is a really lovely evolution within, particularly, our remote communities, is they are also using them to underline those messages of wellbeing and social cohesion.
I want to commend the Yuendumu Sports Festival this year, which went alcohol free and encouraged people to live life free of alcohol. I was delighted to provide $500 in funding towards this festival because the message of alcohol free is such a critically important message in our remote communities. It is being embraced by the organisers of these festivals who say: ‘Is it just enough to come together, is it just enough to have our sporting and our art celebration?’, and invariably over the years, the organisers are saying: ‘No. We can send stronger and better messages through coming together’.
This really started with the Barunga Festival and the Merrepen Arts Festival, which have sent a very important message in that respect, and Yuendumu has joined in with an alcohol-free emphasis. I absolutely take my hat off to those festivals that are sending an important social message about we can enjoy our life, we can be active and healthy participants in our life and our daily lives, and we can do that without alcohol. You do not have to have alcohol to have fun. It is such a simple but incredibly important message that these festivals send to their communities. I take my hat off to those festival organisers who have embraced this idea of alcohol-free festivals.
I congratulate the Minister for Arts and Museums for her grants program because she gives access to a great variety of arts funding through this grants program. We do have our strong core festivals that are recognised and supported, but through a grants program, you allow for growth and diversity. Congratulations to the minister for that grants program. It is a good opportunity for people who are trying to grow and develop their ideas or their smaller festivals. The grants program is there to support that. It is great to see a grants program in place.
In the context of the Top End, which is largely my experience, you cannot have a debate on festivals without raising the importance of our multicultural festivals. The Chung Wah Society starts off with a fantastic New Year celebration and the Dragon Ball has come to be a special event on the calendar. I know the Chung Wah Society work tirelessly to celebrate their particular festivals, and through that, they are keeping their culture alive. I have seen how the troupe of Lion dancers has grown and developed over the years. They are professional, and use the opportunity of celebrating their festivals to bring Chinese artists to town, who run training and workshops and work with the local Chung Wah society troupe members to enhance their skills and their culture. I was delighted this year to see a group of local Chinese girls, whose families are third, fourth, fifth generation Territorians, performing traditional Chinese dance.
I believe that, each of the communities, in January starting off with Chung Wah Society’s pursuit and enjoyment of Chinese New Year celebrations, is such a lovely way to start the year and highlights our cultural diversity and the importance of festivals and the celebrating of festivals to retaining culture and encouraging culture within the community.
I remember the four-and-a-half years I spent living in Hong Kong. Festivals were such an intrinsically important part of every second month of the year. You knew which festival it was by the way people started to come alive with anticipation and excitement. One of my most favourite festivals was the festival where they recognised their ancestors. They would say prayers and offer gifts to their ancestors, at their temples and within their homes, also the local temple and then at the graveyards. Festivals can be a way of acknowledging your roots and where you come from. Certainly, the Chinese community in Darwin prove, at the start of every year, that they are very proud of not just the significant contribution they have made to the Territory over the many, many years they have been here, but that they can retain the celebration of that through their festivals.
In March, we had a series of small festivals for the celebration of Harmony Day. One example of that is the Dragon Boat Regatta, an enjoyable, colourful event. It brings a diversity of people together. People who have never got in a dragon boat get roped into a team at the last minute. I have had the experience of being in a dragon boat team and, I guess, the humiliation of the CLP team being so far in front of us, it looked as though we were just starting and they were finishing. I take my hat off to the fact that they have some fantastic dragon boat racers. Daryl Manzie has shown that the celebration of dragon boat racing can take him right across the world.
In Alice Springs, in April, there is the Alice Springs Cup and the Songkran Festival held by the Buddhist Society. These are diverse festivals in diverse parts of the Territory reflecting intrinsically the nature of their particular communities. In May, we have the Back to Never Never Festival at Mataranka, which has a special place in my heart. I am very close to a family who have some very strong ties to Mataranka. The Back to Never Never Festival is a great celebration at Mataranka.
In June, as I mentioned before, we had the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival. And, in the Top End, a showstopper for everyone, I do not know of anyone who has never been to one, is the famous Greek Glenti Festival. What a great celebration of the Greek culture within the Territory. Thousands and thousands of people go to that festival. They sit and drink ouzo - probably the only time of the year they drink ouzo. I work behind the bar as a volunteer and I cannot believe how much ouzo we sell that day. Greek beer – it is phenomenal how much people are into the Greek beer at Glenti. The octopus is fantastic. And then there are the many performances. I see local kids - I went to school with their parents - dressed in their national costumes dancing. It is a great feeling of excitement and celebration, and a beautiful opportunity for the Greek community to come together, all work hard, all fundraise for their community, but enjoy it. It is coming together and enjoying it, and being proud of their culture. Many of us enjoy the Glenti. I make sure I go every year. My kids are starting to ask: ‘Mum, is Glenti coming up soon?’ And I say: ‘No, no. It has come and gone. Mum will take you next year’. It is fantastic.
The Cypriots are not to be outdone; they have their mini-Glenti. I love that Glenti because it is just down the street from where I live. It is a fantastic celebration and it is very professionally run. The standout aspect for me is - and I will put my hand up and confess - I love the food, I love the drinks, I love the performances and great dances. The Cypriots have such a dedicated, professional - really, I would put them in the category of a professional team of dancers. I have supported them as local member in the work they do. They are awe-inspiring in the way they provide traditional Cypriot dancing.
This month, in fact, just last weekend we enjoyed the Barrio Festival, which is the highlight of the Filipino community calendar. I know the Filipino community has quite a few significant festivals through the year. They celebrate Independence Day and they have embraced Harmony Day, significantly, with a large concert at the Filipino Community Hall at Batten Road, but the big celebration of the Filipino community is the Barrio Fiesta. What a fantastic fiesta we had again last weekend. Dancers came from the Philippines for the second year in a row – there was magnificent dancing and great food. I congratulate John and Edna Rivas for organising that great Barrio Fiesta.
On the note of volunteers - a subject that has been discussed in this debate - I take my hat off and thank Lisa Greenslade. I have lost count of the number of organisations and charities she volunteers for. She is a stalwart on the Filipino organising committee. She had a bad fall at Casuarina recently but she was at the Barrio Fiesta on her crutches, selling raffle tickets and organising things behind the scene. The set of crutches did not stop Lisa. She was there working hard to make Barrio Fiesta a success. I am looking forward to seeing her moving around as hard and as fast she does.
September is the Jabiru Wind festival and, in October, is the Moon Festival - a great time for everyone.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, you have one minute left.
Ms LAWRIE: The Territory is full of fantastic outdoor activities and opportunities. We are enriched by our festivals.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the minister for Arts on her statement. It is good to see us take time to celebrate what works in our society and what enhances our society.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, it is good to get a statement that summarises the many things that are going on in this area. Quite often, we take things for granted and do not look at the whole picture. Minister, it was good that you made us realise that the Territory is such a rich place when it comes to art and craft.
I believe that festivals really celebrate the life in that particular space. I am not a very creative person; I would love to be but I even dream in words not pictures. I get envious of people who dream in coloured pictures. It is out of my league completely. I am not bad at stick figures, but I could not do much else. I enjoy the arts and I find it amazing that people can do so much.
I am particularly pleased that you mentioned the Beanie Festival because it has grown like Topsy. You probably noticed the world’s largest beanie there, being the cover for the stage. If any member has not been to the Beanie Festival, please make an effort to go. Each year you buy another one and another one, and you end up with this great collection of the most weird beanies you could ever imagine. However, the talent and imagination of the people who participated in that has to be applauded. It is getting worldwide success and people are coming from everywhere. One particular time, there was some Europeans - I think they were from Sweden - who were just staggered by what they saw on display. It is a credit to the organisers that that has taken off so well.
I must talk about the Alice Desert Festival because that is coming up very shortly. Could the minister tell us in her summary just how much she gave the Desert Festival? As she said in her statement, it is so hard to get sponsorship for the arts. Sometimes, people do not think arts are important but they are. Therefore, minister, if you could tell us how much you gave to the Desert Festival, I will acknowledge some of the sponsors later.
Last year, they trialled The HUB, which was on the bank of the Todd River. This year, it has expanded and grown. There are going to be a whole range of activities and workshops in The HUB. If you are a music lover or an art lover, try to get along to some of the workshops there. They are far too numerous for me to comment on, but there will be dance, trapeze acts, circus, and interstate and local performers. It is a great place to meet. Leading up to the festival parade, which this year will close the festival, there are many activities that you can join in to be part of the festival parade. Drum Atweme will be there, and there are workshops in drumming. I take my hat off to Peter Lowson for the tremendous work he has done with his young drummers. The Ntaria School Choir, who sing in both Arrernte and English, will be there and they have the most beautiful voices. There will be Cinema in the River as well and that is quite amazing.
I also want to mention the Desert Song. For those of you who know the beautiful Central Australian Aboriginal choirs and the wonderful sound they produce, to hear it in the Todd River brings goose bumps to you. This year the Darwin Symphony Orchestra will be there to play in the river. It is an amazing setting and just one of the most beautiful places to hear some of the talent that will be available.
I also have to mention the other venues where activities are going on. Club Todd is going to have a Latin dance party, and have managed to bring in Marcia Pinheiro Percival and Jaime Jesus. Many of you will recognise those names from the ballroom dancing program on ABC television. They will show you how to do it and because we have had a lot of interest in dancing in Alice Springs it will certainly draw a big crowd.
Before the festival started there was a screening of A Town Like Alice – are you too young to remember that, Mr Deputy Speaker? I am not quite sure whether you are, it was 50 years ago. I thought it was great that they brought it back and screened it in the old Walk-In Theatre. It attracted many people because many of us do remember it.
One of the events after the festival is the Wearable Works of Art. I hope the minister this year can get to the Wearable Works of Art. It is amazing to see what people can do. The awards given out on the night are all sponsored by local businesses. They give awards for creativity and other areas are the Noisy Art award, the Recycled and Found Object award; this year we are going to have the Territory Chinese Medicine People’s Choice award; and the Natural Fibre award, and so on. I do not know how these people do this but they produce gowns and accessories that are just staggering. Usually they are acquired but I think their acquisition is probably getting too much fro many of them. Whether they will continue to acquire, I do not know. I urge people if you can get to that, please do so. It is a tremendous evening and I know you will love it.
I commend the organisers and put their names on record. The volunteer management committee is Susan Lee; Robyn Van Dok, my electorate officer; Jen Standish-White; David Curl - most you will know David from his films; Scott Large; Adrian Scholtes; Margeurite Baptist-Rooke; Peter Yates; Kalikamurti Suich; and Julia Winterflood. They brought in a new general manager this year, Eugene Ragghianti, who is very enthusiastic and has been working hard to make sure this is a success. The project director of the HUB Space is Clive Scollay. The project administrator is Jonathon Braun, and many of you know him. The Wearable Works of Art coordinator is Nicky Schonkala, the Wildfoods coordinator is Fran Stoops, and the music coordinator is Vincent Lamberti. They put hours into this festival and I have to admit there must be a huge sense of satisfaction and relief for them when it is finally over. I wish them well.
I hope it is as successful as it has been in the past. It certainly has grown. Like many things we start off small in the Territory and suddenly we find they have grown bigger and bigger, and more and more successful. It has been getting a worldwide reputation and the people who are now joining in our Desert Festival come from all walks of life. Good luck to the Alice Desert Festival people.
We were talking about funding and we had Senior’s Month in August. The minister may recall that the Rotary Club applied for funding for our Seniors Dinner Dance. This morning I showed the minister some photos from the Seniors Dinner Dance. I urge her to give us some more funding than she did last year because we had to go begging to get some. We had a photo of two 86 year-olds, Telka Williams and Joan Nienaber up dancing, really enjoying themselves at age 86 …
Ms Scrymgour: And fantastic photos they are, member for Braitling.
Mrs BRAHAM: … and that is fabulous. The Bridge Club ladies really wowed everyone with their Can-Can dance. They sat on chairs to begin with to do the kicking of the Can-Can and at the end they whipped up their dresses and showed us what they had written across the back of their pants: SENIORS. It was a fantastic night, we had 220 people there. We could have had more but, to be honest, because we subsidise it heavily, we ran out of money. The Rotary Club and I subsidised the tickets. As well as that my office did the advertising and the printing and even with all the work we do voluntarily, it would have probably cost $2000. It probably cost the Rotary Club around $2000 because they paid for the band as well.
So if the minister can look to increasing the funding - we squeezed $1200 out of the Office of Senior Territorians grants this year - but we would really like to be able to continue subsiding the seniors who go to that dance. If we put the price up, we might lose them. I hope the minister can also get down to that next year because she would really enjoy it. People love to do the old-time progressive dances and meet different people as they go around. Our band, Double Up, are great; they play those old tunes, they play some slow, some fast and we had other entertainers like the rock ‘n roll group. We had the group that meets on Sundays who do the different old time dances. We had the line dancers as well. We had variety all night. We start at 6 pm because seniors like to eat early. Their first course came on at 6:30 pm and we say to them: ‘Ten o’clock – bed time’. So by 10.30 pm most of them have gone home, but this year they wanted to stay so we went to 11 pm. If they could have got the band to go longer, they would have.
It is a great night and we acknowledged the minister and the government for helping us out, but it is always worth another plug, Mr Deputy Speaker, to make sure that we do get our funding next year. It was great.
I enjoy going, as does the minister, to many of these different festivals. Like all of us, I cannot get to them all. I still have a couple of paintings on my wall from the Merrepen Arts Open Day, which I treasure very much. I also have many other works of art in my home; the latest one was one of Doug Abbot’s from the Herrmansberg Art Exhibition. It gives you a sense of what the Territory is about when you have in your home different works of art from the Top End, the Centre, or wherever.
Mr Deputy Speaker, as I said, I am not terribly artistic myself, but I can appreciate art and I can appreciate the skills and expertise of other people. Good luck to the minister. Keep it up, keep funding because it is hard, as you know, to get funding and the more we can support the arts, the better.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Arts minister and what is going on with the arts across Arnhem Land. I am delighted to be able to stand in parliament to give a creative description of all the events I have been able to take part in over the last couple of months, beginning with the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival held over the June long weekend.
It was an amazing event. You have all the communities in the region from Wugullar to Eva Valley, the Jilkminggan mob, Ngukurr, Minyerri, all the way across to the Gulf region and over to the west up to Daly River attending. We had a tremendous amount of people attend the event. It is a cultural and sporting event. You have all the football teams taking part. In the women’s sports, they have basketball as well as softball, which is quite a popular sport amongst many of the women in our communities. I would say softball is perhaps the game that is played right across the Northern Territory.
At Barunga, the Nyirranggulung Mardrulk Ngadberre Regional Council was behind the setting up of the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival. I pay special tribute to Sharon Hillen, Michael Berto and Anne-Marie Lee at Barunga. They do a tremendous job with the numbers of people who come to Barunga over that three day weekend. In fact, it actually starts a lot earlier for some of the people who arrive a couple of days prior to that just to find somewhere to camp. Most of the communities who do come have a regular camping spot. It is an opportunity to see family and celebrate and feel good about the things that are going on and the artwork that is available.
It is a time when artists come together to show off their work, the women, in particular, with the pandanus work and the weaving that they do. They are able to put their works on display, and show pride in their accomplishments. One of the important things about culture and in the arts is that, particularly for Aboriginal people, it is an expression of one’s identity and way of life. The artwork expresses a person’s relationship to country, a person’s relationship to family and kin, and you can see this displayed through their artwork. As you travel around Arnhem Land and, indeed, any of the communities in the Northern Territory, each of the pieces of artwork you may witness, whether it be pandanus work, carved work or painted work, all the materials of the women in the desert, is a complete expression of identity and a person’s background, which is shared favourably and honestly with those who wish to see the artwork.
At the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival, we are able to see firsthand the works of those from Bulman, from Wugularr and, in particular, Eva Valley. No festival is complete without the women and the men from Numbulwar and the Ngukurr mob as well. That month, Tom E Lewis, has certainly hit the public life again with his creative expression through his song and dance, and through his artistic work with Walking with Spirits at Wugularr Falls, which was supported by the Northern Territory government. The Arts minister mentioned in her statement that the Walking with Spirits was supported by her and her department. It gives one an opportunity to see theatre near the waterfalls of Wugularr at night under lighting. From all reports, it was very successful.
I also had the opportunity to represent the member for Barkly at the Borroloola Arts and Cultural Festival. It was a first for Borroloola. I pay special tribute to the Art Centre, to Miriam Charlie and Peter Callinan. In particular, Miriam Charlie, who spent a considerable amount of time in the last five to six months preparing artists for this very first time exhibition, not only of their artwork but, just as importantly, of dance. They were able to display the many different dances of the four language groups, the Yanyula, Garrawa, Gudanji and Marra peoples. For the first time, the town really did come alive with an expression of artistic culture and absolute pride in that culture.
From that followed the NAIDOC Festival with Lizzie Hogan who was a real foot soldier in all of this and a tremendous pusher of getting people coordinated and organised. As many people know who have been involved trying to coordinate projects of a huge kind, it is those coordinators who really make it happen. People like Lizzie Hogan need tremendous applause because it was, again, quite a successful festival where bands were able to come to the town and perform. I had the privilege of representing the member for Barkly at that event.
I also went across to the Garma Festival. The Garma Festival is an extraordinary event. It is more than just an artistic display of culture; it is an opportunity for non-Aboriginal people to get a good insight into the thinking, the laws, the kujika, the songs and stories of the Yolgnu culture. Each day, we attended lectures under a bough shade, where people from across southern Australian - mainly from universities - were able to be involved and listen to the discussions taking place. The theme of this year’s Garma Festival was focused on indigenous education. It was a theme that attracted many people from across Australia and from overseas. We had people from New Zealand and one representative from the United Nations who attended to listen to the discussion taking place about indigenous education across the Northern Territory.
That festival is unique because it caters for the opportunity to study, learn and listen on a particular theme of the festival. This year, as I said, it was indigenous education. In the evenings, you have all of the different language groups or clan groups of the Yolngu, as well as the Numbulwar mob, the Red Flag Dancers, who would perform each evening on dusk in the main area where everyone would gather to watch the dancers perform. You would have the Yolgnu people, main speakers explaining the dance, what particular dancers were doing, what particular singers were singing. All of that was about the learning. This learning was not just for non-Aboriginal people or Balanda people, it was also for those Aboriginal people from another part of the Northern Territory, or from anywhere in Australia, who wanted to learn about the Yolgnu and what was important to the Yolngu.
The Garma Festival is a tremendous example of the sharing of knowledge - knowledge shared willingly and given in such a way as to enlighten those who are receiving that information. Those people go back to their respective places - Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal; it did not matter - quite enriched for the experience.
It was here at the Garma Festival that I had the pleasure of representing the Arts minister, in this particular instance, for a contest on ghost nets. This was a good example of showing the economic side of the festivals, the ideas that are coming through. With the ghost nets, there are real concerns for our waterways, especially for the sea rangers who look after the coastlines. The ghost nets are nets that are left behind and not used, but float around in our seas and our waters causing a great deal of damage to marine life, such as dugongs, sea turtles and other marine animals. There are not just the nets but things that come with the nets - lots of plastic, and all kinds of rubbish that is discarded. The Gulf of Carpentaria and the Carpentaria ghost nets program has collected nearly 10 000 m of net over the past year. What Dhimurru Land Management - which is a Yolngu organisation in Nhulunbuy - did was to have a contest at this festival because they thought if we are going to have this festival and yes, we are sharing knowledge, well knowledge about the sea and the protection of our seas, the waterways and the marine life in it is also an important part of that knowledge and that learning. So that those people who are learning not just about indigenous education had an opportunity to learn about the importance of the sea country and why that is so important to those who live by the sea and in this case, important for the Yolgnu people.
With this ghost net program they decided to have a contest at the Garma Festival about how to re-use or recycle the nets found in waterways. Dhimurru received about 26 applications; photographs mainly, some written descriptions, others had items on display to show what people were doing with recycled ghost nets. I was one of the judges along with Mandawuy Yunupingu. We judged those 26 items and the winning one was a guitar strap. It was quite an interesting design and the reason why we ended up choosing the guitar strap, because you also had a hammock, a chair designed out of the ghost nets and they were unique and quite creative designs that we were judging, but we settled on the guitar strap and Mandawuy probably had a bit of a leaning in that direction being a guitarist in Yothu Yindi but we did discuss it and had a bit of a laugh. The guitar strap had a unique way about it simply because the design of the guitar strap reminded us of the design of weaving and we thought part of this contest was about how we could generate a business or an economic base in the recycling of ghost nets. We looked at the guitar strap and thought if people can weave ghost nets using all the different colours, because this was quite a colourful guitar strap, plus bits of plastic and other items that were found for use in recycling, then the weaving pattern that we saw in the guitar strap, we could see that that was a pattern that could be used in the weaving of baskets, placemats, and all kinds of items that can be sold. That can generate income to those communities who live by the sea and who are deeply concerned about the ghost nets they find floating in their waters killing the marine life.
This design won and it just goes to show that the next step then for the Yolngu people is how to translate those ghost nets into a small business for that area.
This gives you an insight into the uniqueness of the Garma Festival and that it does move on to something else. It was tremendous to be a part of that festival. I appreciated representing the minister on this occasion because it gave me a lot of ideas that you do not often think about or have the chance to think about and you could see the creativity the festival generated in this area.
It was again at the Garma Festival that we witnessed the youth in action. So many young people, very proud to know their language and culture, very proud to get up on stage and sing to their hearts content, sing all night. I was especially impressed with and proud of the young women. It has been a long road for young people but for the young women to feel confident enough to get up to sing and to dance, and this is not just traditional dancing I am talking about, this is being able to go from the traditional dancing arena and then get on a stage and belt their vocal cords out with rhythm and blues or with country music style singing. To see the diversity of our youth and the opportunities that they have in front of them, of being able to balance the rich cultures of their own people and grabbing a hold of what the western world has to offer with the opportunity of playing guitars or drums or saxophones, as some of them of them were.
The Garma experience is one I would certainly encourage every member of parliament to experience at some stage. It is quite an awesome event and one that attracts thousands and thousands of people. As political leaders in the Northern Territory parliament, we ought to be singing their praises quite loudly.
I pay special tribute to those who organised the Darwin Festival and to Music NT for the brilliant night at the Gardens Amphitheatre with the Indigenous Music Awards. It is the third time the Indigenous Music Awards have been held, and it was quite spectacular, from the staging, to the lighting, to the artistic designs on the stage. It was quite awesome. It made me feel incredibly proud of the Territory. On stage, we had bands and teams of bands coming on and off over a period of a couple of hours, in between the naming of many awards for best singer, best male singer, best female singer, best school band, best band, best CD, and artistic design.
We had such a wealth of indigenous talent on stage from the very young - we had a nine-year-old old drummer, the son of one of my favourite singers, Warren H Williams. Warren won an award. It was great to see him play live to the audience. I believe it is his son or nephew who is his drummer. He is nine, and he won an encouragement award to keep going because that is quite an awesome experience for a nine-year-old to get in front of thousands of people on stage behind a pretty famous singer, his dad. That was a pretty amazing role model for some of the young kids in the audience who were pretty happy to see this young fellow up on stage playing the drums.
We also saw the Milingimbi students, the Djambang Band, who won School Band of the Year. It was an incredibly proud moment. I do not mind saying here, that many of the awards were won by those from my electorate of Arnhem. I am very proud to say that, if I may, to the member for Arafura.
Ms Scrymgour: A bit biased! Wildflower.
Ms McCARTHY: Wildflower are very good, yes. So we had Yilila, the Numbulwar mob. They are outstanding role models, examples for all people to be proud that we have such a rich culture. Grant Nundhirribala is a nationally renowned musician and dancer, lead singer and songwriter of Yilila, and a song man and leader of the Red Flag Dancers from Numbulwar. He also took out a very special award, an individual award and I congratulate Grant on that. I also congratulate Tony Gray who is behind the Yilila mob for his efforts in trying to get the exposure and the funding together for Yilila to travel as extensively as they do.
They also have been nominated in The Deadlys which will be on in Sydney, and I sincerely wish Yilila all the best. They are outstanding role models to all people, and a group that we in the Northern Territory should be incredibly proud of, just as we have been of Yothu Yindi and others, such as the Sunrise Band. We heard from the Saltwater Band – look, it blows me away. Saltwater Band, too, because Jeremy Manduwuy is an outstanding role model. He is blind. He is the guitarist and a singer, and when he comes on stage there is absolute quiet because we just know we are going to witness quite an amazing spectacle. When he sang on Friday night in the Amphitheatre …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your time has expired, member for Arnhem.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the member be granted an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms McCARTHY: Thank you. When he sang on Friday night, you could hear a pin drop. He sang along with Shellie Morris. Shellie Morris belted out words in Yolngu, words that she has learnt in the last couple of months to be able to stand beside Jeremy and sing, and also Michael Honan, a quiet achiever who has just consistently been there behind them, with music, with the celebration and learning of music in all our communities with our young people and our old people. Michael has been a fantastic example to all of us, but his love for music has been expressed in his love for sharing it with so many people.
Also that night, Tom E Lewis again, George Rrurrambu, these were outstanding acts and they were applauded for the effort that they had put into the music scene in the Northern Territory and the festivals all around. And a special tribute to Keith Lapalung whose contribution to the arts and music area was definitely recognised, well worth recognising, and I certainly look forward to seeing Keith and all the mob at Milingimbi when I head over for the Gattjirrk Cultural Festival there next month. Well done and I certainly commend the minister for her statement.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on arts festivals. This statement highlights, and other speakers today have highlighted, what the Northern Territory Labor government is doing in this area, and the significant injection of additional money into regional festivals, remote festivals and the arts area in general. There has been some $200 000 injected into the regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory through support from the Northern Territory government. Much of this money goes to festivals within my electorate and although those festivals have been touched on briefly by previous speakers, I will add my comments.
The Pine Creek Gold Rush is one of those events which the Pine Creek community has carried for so long and it is strongly supported by the local community. It has become an event which I know many Territorians from Darwin through to south of Katherine make their way to Pine Creek to participate in the gold panning championships and didgeridoo festivals. I remember many years ago, the now Deputy Chief Minister and I were there panning for gold, and he was very enthusiastic about it. I have certainly won my fair share of trophies at the gold panning championships. It puts Pine Creek on the map and supports that town. All the businesses in the town get spin-offs through accommodation, and the use of restaurants and cafes. The small injection of money provided by the Northern Territory government goes a long way in supporting these events.
The Adelaide River community has had several functions this year – its races, its talent quest and its show. They are continually improving things in that community and I can certainly see the support provided by the government.
One of the new festivals which has come on line this year is the Lingalonga Festival in Batchelor. This year being its first, it was new and the community was getting used to it. It was great to see that the government is not only supporting existing regional festivals but providing money to new festivals. I believe the Lingalonga Festival for next year will be bigger and better. There will be some changes made to the line-up of performers. It was fairly well patronised this year, but I believe next year it will be even more so.
These festivals in remote towns and communities are more than just an economic spinner for the local area; as has been highlighted before, they bring the whole township together. They bring local residents together, not just for the day, but prior to for setting up and organising. They allow school groups, senior citizens groups and a whole range of sectors within a community to come together and present shows or exhibits, or whatever it may be. It adds to the social cohesion of the community. The Lingalonga Festival, in a community which has been a little segregated in the past, is one of those tools that has brought that community together and will continue to do so.
A few other speakers today spoke about the Merrepen Arts Festival. It has really been two festivals in one. You find that the sports area of the day is becoming as popular as the art auction on the Sunday. As highlighted by the member for Arnhem, these functions are a catalyst for many different groups - especially Aboriginal groups - to come together for a particular reason and sport. Softball, basketball, and football are the main sports played at Merrepen. We had teams this year come from Newcastle Waters, Robinson River, Tiwi Islands, Port Keats, Palumpa, and Peppimenarti. For those groups to continually come together is one way of breaking down potential conflicts; a way of sharing knowledge; a way for those groups to participate in those events.
I made comment on that day at the presentations that, in a climate where the federal Aboriginal Affairs minister, Mr Mal Brough, had slammed these communities and, through the media from a lot of other events, there had been a great deal of criticism of Aboriginal people, in general, for a range of issues. Those issues are real and serious. However, that day was a day when people came together. There was no violence, there was great participation. It was just a great day for Aboriginal people to come together and celebrate away from all those other concerns. In general, those events are great. It was great to see the Merrepen Arts Festival happening. It had been under a bit of a cloud with problems with the art centre, but it was worked through and, I believe it will be one of those events which are great to support.
I hope that, perhaps, some additional money might be found from the minister’s bucket of money so that we can get the Darwin Symphony Orchestra back there. Several years ago, when they were there, it was a spectacular event and increased the visitor numbers. One year, it was up in the community, next year was down on the bed of the Daly River, which was just a great evening. If there is any possibility of it happening again, I would be totally supportive of it and the community would greatly appreciate that being the case.
Those comments are in support of an area within this government which is very significant to bush and regional communities. Every weekend through the Dry Season and even through the build-up, you have these festivals happening that make the towns come alive. You look forward to them. People in caravans coming up and down the track certainly talk about them, and you see people arriving ready to spend the weekend in those communities. I might be just coming from my own perspective, but it is a sign of the old Territory, the old festivals, the old bush races, and those unique festivals we have down the Track.
This is not to disregard the events in Darwin. Certainly the Darwin Festival has been a huge success. I know many of my constituents from the rural area travelled in on a daily basis to attend all the functions at the Darwin Festival. It would be nice to see some of those events brought out into the rural area a little more. Perhaps we should call it the Darwin and the Rural Area Festival. There is a huge population in the rural area who would appreciate some of those events. There are some great venues in the rural area within Berry Springs Nature Reserve, or the Litchfield Reserve. There are some great venues and perhaps the organisers for next year might give consideration to hosting some of those events in the rural area.
I will just wind up my statement this evening by thanking the minister. I thank the government for their continued support of the arts and festival events. The government support is generally unnoticed, however, if it were taken away, the Territory would be a lesser place, and those bush communities and those regional towns would be a lot quieter and a lot less recognised than they are. I support the minister’s statement to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, this gives me an opportunity to say a few things about arty things which are happening in the Litchfield area.
Just last Saturday morning, we had the Seniors Poetry Lunch. It is a unique art occasion because people from Palmerston and the rural area get together at Taminmin High School to read poetry that they have put together. You have people who have been writing poetry for quite some time, and you also have people who have been writing poetry for the first time. This is the third year this little lunch has occurred. There is some terrific poetry. There is poetry that would make you cry it is so emotional. There is some funny and rude poetry, and there are just some great yarns. The member for Goyder was there. He gave us his contribution and I gave my contribution. I modestly have not brought it with me but it was called the Pain by the Pool. It was an ode to the YMCA boot camp at Palmerston. I wrote it one morning when my legs were just about falling off and my arms felt like they were broken.
You had a whole range of poetry. The poems read on that day will be put into an anthology to be published. This will be the third anthology the group has put together. It is getting bigger. People are starting to know about it. You are finding people who have been a little shy in bringing their poetry forth but because it is such an informal and happy group of people they do not have any problem getting up and sprouting their bit of poetry.
We have rhyming poetry, we have non-rhyming poetry. We had a little singing. Di Lucas is a songwriter and a poet. You cannot stop Waldo; you give him five minutes and he takes 15, but he loves that poetry and he had some great poems this time. He launched his new CD as well. This is the second volume of children’s poems. I would be in trouble if I did not remember to say that he has his grandchildren on the front cover of that CD. Di Lucas also has a CD. So out of two local people, we are getting people who are moving ahead with their love of poetry or music and developing it accordingly.
The rural area has a couple of other things that are always popular, and they are the pottery days. From memory, they have one for Mothers Day and they also have one just before Christmas. There are quite a number potters in the rural area and it always attracts many people. I am always looking for a new clay chook, and I must admit every year someone comes up with something new. I have clay book ends that are chooks. I have some beautiful chooks made by the lady at Lambell’s Lagoon whose name escapes me - the Chief Minister will tell me off for not remembering. This year, I also acquired a clay chook from which you can remove the top part and use it for cooking casseroles.
There are some very clever people out there when it comes to pottery, and it just goes to show you that there are many very skilful artists in the rural area. One of the problems with pottery is that materials are becoming more expensive and that is making it a little harder for people to continue in that line of artistic work, but there still seems to be plenty of pottery around. I know everyone loves looking for a gift around Mothers Day or Christmas.
We also have the weaving group at Humpty Doo. Every Wednesday, a group of people sit together and knit and crochet and all sorts of fibre work, you might call it, and they use it as a social occasion. If you go to one of those meetings at the Humpty Doo Village Green, there are the usual cakes and tea and scones and jam and cream and all that sort of thing there. It is not just an occasion for people enjoying their art and craft work, but they are also getting together. That is an important thing, especially for older people in a community.
One of the things about the Territory is that many people do not have a wide family network, especially non-Aboriginal people. By having groups like this, you encourage people to work together, to be able to have a chat about things that are occurring in their home life or in the area and they can do that while they do some of their craft work. That is important.
Just recently we also had the Darwin Symphony Orchestra come down to the Territory Wildlife Park, but unfortunately there was so much on that night, I am not sure what I went to. You possibly would not call it art, but I was selling hamburgers at the Bulldogs and Port match that night. There were a huge number of events. I think Tracks Dance Theatre had Mr Big on the same night, and I was supposed to be going there, but Southern Districts were a bit short on people to help with the hamburgers that night.
So there was a massive amount on, and I am not trying to be critical here, but I say it as positive criticism: I wonder whether there is too much on. Just physically there is so much on, and I think it is great, but if you try to go to everything that is on, there are a massive number of concerts and dance. It is great and it is putting the Territory on the map when it comes to art, but, by gee, you have trouble trying to get to them all.
From what I was told, it was a great night at the Territory Wildlife Park. The DSO is very popular and I believe all tickets were sold. I hope that the DSO can one day come back to Freds Pass. About three years ago, it performed at the Freds Pass Reserve. Many people set up there and were able to wine and dine and listen to the lovely sounds of the DSO and watch the fireworks display. We were hoping it would come back every two years but unfortunately it has not come back – yet. It would be good if the DSO came back out to the rural area.
There are small groups in my area that call themselves crafters. They operate in the rural area. There are other fibre craft people, smaller groups, operating in the rural area. There are many people in the arts areas in Litchfield Shire. We may not have what you might call a festival, and maybe there is an opportunity for someone out there who thinks we could have a festival. There are quite a few painters and I have some of those paintings on my wall in my office. If someone was capable of bringing all these people together, we could have a Litchfield Art Exhibition and bring a lot of these things together.
Of course, the shows encourage people to enter their arts and crafts, anything from cooking to painting to tapestry. Our shows are part of a cultural awareness and, of course, people from all ages could be involved in that. I thought I would add that in just to say that, although Litchfield does not have a formal art exhibition or festival, it has certainly has many people involved in the art industry and it makes our community in the rural area much richer to have all those people.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arts and Museums): Mr Deputy Speaker, I say thank you to everyone for their replies to this statement. It was the first statement on our Northern Territory festivals and it was certainly pleasing to get so much positive support from all side of politics.
The member for Blain, in his response, pointed out the importance of festivals contributing to a healthy and robust community life. I was pleased to hear his support for sponsors and volunteers, because they are often, as I said in my statement, the unsung heroes in all of this. He also talked of the CLP policy on an agency specifically dedicated to support grassroots volunteers. I would like to inform the member for Blain that we already have an agency to provide support for volunteers and this program has been running since 2003. The attendance is subsidised and courses are accredited.
Creative Volunteering is offering two new models. Arts NT has been offering, in conjunction with Regional Arts Australia, a skills development program to enhance skills in business planning, developing funds and resources, undertaking marketing, networks within communities, planning and programming events, and working with collections. There are two new units: the people factory and good governance. That program began in 2003 and is the first nationally recognised and coordinated training program for volunteers in regional, rural and remote Australia. In 2005-06, courses have been running in Alice Springs, Katherine, Nyinkka Nyunyu, Palmerston and Darwin. If he wants to get the number we could certainly provide that further, but is not his policy, there is already an agency in place.
It is good to hear the member for Blain also praising the Telstra Art Awards, I am sorry he could not attend it this year. It is good to see him also support the Indigenous Music Awards as a national event. Picking up on his accusation that this government cut funding to annual comedy reviews, I want to make it very clear to the member for Blain that this government actually introduced the independent Arts Grants Board, and it was the Arts Grants Board, through an independent process, that made the decision on the funds. I am not aware of the details but do understand the review returned the grant they were given as it was not enough.
He used it as a means that we were trying to cut out the political satire that was around under the days of the CLP, but you look at that, it is often anti-ALP. It is still alive and well in the Northern Territory, for example, Darwin’s Fourth Estate songs. There was also the Clare Martin Show at the Throb Nightclub, which I went to with the Chief Minister and thought was fantastic. It is great to be able to look at something about yourself and see the funny side of it and have a good laugh. The Chief Minister and I, the member for Arnhem and the member for Port Darwin, thought it was a fantastic show. So, for the member for Blain to say that we have stopped funding, and that we are the government to blame for all of this, it is certainly stretching it a little and he needs to get some facts.
The member for Karama drew attention to the links between sports and arts at our festivals, with Merrepen, Barunga, and Yuendumu. Her agency, Alcohol and Other Drugs, supports many of these festivals, particularly Barunga, as being grog free. I remember the rejuvenation in that community the first year when that community approached our government to make it a grog-free event. It was not just from the Barunga community but also other communities which used to visit the festival but stayed away - a lot of them were saying - because of the grog. I share with both the members for Arnhem and Karama in acknowledging the efforts of Sharon Hillen and, in particular, Anne-Marie Lee who does a lot of work on the ground in that community and was behind that rejuvenated festival and bringing it back in memory of her father to have it alcohol free.
The member for Karama also drew our attention to the importance of the multicultural festivals, from the Chinese New Year to the Glenti, to the Filipino Barrio Fiesta. We often forget that in Darwin and throughout the Northern Territory we are a multicultural Territory, and that is what makes this place so unique and special. It is about celebrating and joining with those other cultures and celebrating that.
I thank the member for Braitling for her contribution. It is great to see such great support of the Beanie Festival. I look forward to seeing her at this year’s Alice Desert Festival. I would like to reassure her about the Alice Desert Festival’s funding; in 2003 they received $20 000; in 2006, $160 000. That is about 800% in four years. That is quite substantial funding.
The member for Arnhem gave a great account of the importance of the Garma Festival; likewise her passionate support for the Indigenous Music Festival and her praise for the organisers. I join with her as well regarding the talent, the rich culture, the creativity for Garma, all the way through to where she described the Indigenous Music Awards. She mentioned Keith and his contribution to the arts and music industry. I would also like to just mention Sammy Butcher and his contribution. It was a moving part where his two daughters came up and received his certificate for his contribution. The band Soft Sands were entered into the Hall of Fame with George Rrurrambu.
The member for Daly talked about the Lingalonga Festival in Batchelor. I am going to have to get down and have a look at that. I have talked to people around Batchelor who said that the first one was a fantastic little event. Hopefully, we will try to get there. Regarding Merrepen, which is also in his electorate, young Aaron and all the staff and others who have worked very hard to make that festival what it is today need to be recognised and congratulated.
The member for Nelson talked about the small rural festivals and events that were happening. Unfortunately, I could not make it for the DSO at the wildlife park. I was sorry about that, because you are right: there were so many events but, if you had listened to my statement, I did say that it was something that we need to look at, at some stage. There is so much on, and the content so good that you feel stretched to go to all the different events. Sometimes it can tire you out because you can only go to one or two of them and cannot get to all of them. I share that same sentiment, but it is what makes that month so fantastic to be in Darwin and the Territory.
Six hundred and eighty people bought tickets and that is good. My office is talking to Tourism NT and the Department of Chief Minister to develop long term event calendars so that we can look at groups like the DSO and others and plan these events well ahead to try to avoid some of these clashes. That is still being worked on and we can move on that.
In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, it has been a positive debate and when we look at the statement and the contributions, it is clear that we probably have the most creative Territory. It is about our rich diversity, it is about our rich living cultures. I thank all members for their contribution. The festival’s funding, because that was picked up by a couple of speakers over there, has increased by 451%. That is substantial funding. That is over $900 000 in the Northern Territory since 2003. I have been the minister for a year, and I know the Chief Minister was in the role before me and did a lot of the pushing for the funding. It is about celebrating our Territory and it is about acknowledging what a creative Territory we have. I thank all members for their contribution to the statement.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Deputy Speaker, early this month I led a delegation on a three day mission to Brunei and Malaysia to talk about opportunities in the area of education, trade and sport. The impetus for the mission came from meeting with the second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for Brunei Darussalam, Pehin Lim Jock Seng, during the second BIMP-EAGA Darwin dialogue early this year in May. During that meeting, he proposed I visit Brunei with Professor Helen Garnett, Vice Chancellor of CDU, to help build educational links with the University of Brunei Darussalam. As I had also invited to opening of the Sabah International Expo on 10 August, the invitation to visit Brunei was certainly timely. Professor Garnett and I were also accompanied by the Chief Executive of DEET, Margaret Banks.
Our meeting with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Brunei Darussalam was extremely productive. We discussed a number of key initiatives including possible twinning programs. We are already following up on these discussions; we are putting in place a business plan to ensure we see action.
I also met with the Brunei Darussalam Minister for Sports and Culture, Pehin Mohammed, and invited him to send a team of athletes to next year’s Arafura Games. He assured me that Brunei would again be well represented at the games.
The highlight of my visit was my audience at the Palace with members of the Royal Family including His Majesty, the Sultan of Brunei and their Royal Highnesses, the Crown Prince and Prince Mohammed Bolkiah, the First Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. I spoke with His Majesty about a number of issues including the strong growth we are experiencing in the Territory. He was particularly interested in the progress of a number of our infrastructure projects and about the growth of our LNG industry. His Majesty was highly supportive of the efforts we are making to expand our educational ties with Brunei, and can I just say that is not only at tertiary level but secondary as well. His Majesty made a point of commending our efforts in staging the Arafura Games and said that there would be a delegation from Brunei.
Following my visit to Brunei Darussalam, we travelled to Kota Kinabalu to the opening of the Sabah International Expo. This is one of the major regional trade events, one that the Territory has supported and participated in since its inception. I accompanied the Chief Minister of Sabah, the Right Honourable Datuk Musa Haji Aman, to the opening and introduced him to members of our large Territory delegation which included: Chris Young, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Commerce and two of his key staff, Greg Bicknell, Manager of the International Business Council and Jennifer Xi, Manager of the Tradestart Program; Lord Mayor Peter Adamson and Frank Crawley who were representing of the Darwin City Council; Mrs Ana C de Clouett of Australian Business Training and Support; Lisa Quinnell from the Time Out Fitness Centre; David Gyles, Managing Director of Safaritrek International Leisure Group, who was promoting Territory-made mosquito machines, fly traps and high-end camping tents; Christine Wicks of the promotional group Stickers and Stuff; Carrie Altimera representing the Northern Gateway Group, one of Darwin’s leading travel providers, Bell Huang of Australian Spirilina, and Ian Donaldson of Mailfast.
While in Sabah, Professor Garnett and I met with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaysia Sabah and his staff. The discussions were productive and I am confident the relationship between our universities will grow into the future. We also received an undertaking from the Sabah Minister for Sports that a team from Sabah would be attending the Arafura Games.
I also met with the Honourable Tan Sri Chong Kah Kit, the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, who, like me, holds the tourism portfolio. I spoke with the minister about the Territory’s representation at the third BIMP-EAGA Tourism Cluster Meeting in the Philippines and our proposal to market World Heritage destinations across the region as a combined ecotourism package. The minister was very supportive and expressed a real interest in increasing tourism numbers between the Territory and Sabah.
The visit to Brunei and Sabah was good for business and good for the Territory. While solid trade outcomes in the region are the long term goal for us, the strengthening of our friendship with our neighbours and BIMP–EAGA partners is equally as important. It is these links that help create trust and cooperation, the foundation on which trade and economic growth is built. As these friendships in the region grow, so, too, do our economic, trade, sporting and cultural ties.
As part of our ongoing strategy for the region, we will be undertaking more visits like this one in the future and we will be focusing on areas such as cultural activities to raise our profile regionally. The increased activity by the Territory, the rapid growth of the regional economies and the manner in which the Territory is received by its friends and trading partners, bodes well for the future of the Territory economy and our place in this rapidly growing region.
In closing, I make a special note for the record of the assistance given to me and my delegation by Dr Ruth Adler, the Australian High Commissioner to Brunei, and her staff. Their assistance in the planning and execution of my visit was invaluable. A special thank you to Ruth.
Mr Deputy Speaker, just when you thought that we could not possibly come up with any more exciting Dry Season activities, along came a truly unique event. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of helping the Walangeri Community Council and Ngarinman owners officially open the inaugural Yarralin Outback Air Show. The air show, which was held at Yarralin on the edge of the beautiful Gregory National Park, was a memorable experience and everyone who attended had a great time.
There was no shortage of things to see and do and the whole atmosphere was something special. The action was relentless all day. There was sky diving, formation flying, balloon rides, and no shortage of genuine bush tucker to keep the energy levels up. I lunched on the bush turkey, which was cooked in a big underground pit all morning, and being my first time having bush turkey, it certainly was delicious.
The art on display at the air show was very popular and proved a perfect place to showcase the talent of the local people. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day was the aerobatic champion, Chris Sperou’s death defying exploits. His piece de resistance was when he flew his plane 25 feet above the airstrip towards two poles with a string attached to them with some balloons in the middle. He came down the airstrip, not far from the poles, flipped the plane - so he is going upside down - takes out those balloons and heads off. That might sound simple when you are just describing it, but let me say to see that was an awesome thing. His skill in the sky and what he did with that plane, a wonderful little bright red bi-plane, was really the star event of the day. There were many other great contributions from both Territory and interstate aerobatic performers. We had a wonderful day watching what people can do with their planes in the sky.
I take this opportunity to congratulate the event’s major sponsors Coca Cola Zero, Direct Air, Aboriginal Airlines and Helimuster, as well as all the other sponsors and supporters of the air show. I acknowledge and congratulate the Walangeri Community Council for their hard work and commitment and the Ngarinman people for their wonderful hospitality. In particular, I single out council president George Campbell and CEO, Nick Ladd, for their hard work and vision. They have helped to create an event to be proud of, and I certainly thank them.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I acknowledge 36 years of valued service and commitment to the Northern Territory public sector by Mr Lyle Thompson.
Lyle Thompson has been involved for many years in marine safety, and it is only fitting that, as minister with responsibility for that particular area, I acknowledge Lyle’s great commitment and service over 36 years.
In 1985, Lyle Thompson began work as the department’s first Boating Safety Officer. In that time, Lyle has been responsible for implementing many of the recreational boating safety initiatives that exist today, including designing and producing the NT’s Pleasure Craft Safety Guide, Pleasure Craft Safety Signage, and numerous safety publications, designing training courses for pleasure craft safety, educating kids in school about pleasure craft safety requirements and, very significantly, training over 50 Aboriginal rangers to become boating safety inspectors on their own communities.
Lyle has also been involved in implementing and maintaining the navigational buoyage system in Northern Territory hazardous waters. I know that the boating communities speak very highly of the dedication that Lyle Thompson has provided to improve recreational boating safety in the Northern Territory over many years. I am sure members join me in congratulating Lyle and applauding him for the great work that he has done over those 36 years.
I understand that Lyle may be retiring to Queensland. It would be a real pity to lose Lyle from the Northern Territory. I know Lyle has a great hobby – he has an aviary and he particularly likes the beautiful birds he keeps there. Some of them are extremely beautiful. I have had the privilege of visiting Lyle’s house and looking at the birds. Lyle has a great hobby and a great knowledge of birds. I commend Lyle Thompson on his 36 years of service to the Territory.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to report on my trip to the United States. It probably will take longer than 15 minutes allocated, so I imagine it will be over the next few days. I was hoping to give this as a PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately, the Speaker has said, no, you cannot have a PowerPoint presentation, so I will have to do a PowerPoint presentation without the power. I do have some photographs here to help people understand where I am coming from. I suppose I should just make the point that I believe one day it would be of great benefit to this parliament if we did have IT as part of the delivery of speeches. It would enhance parliament, both from the public’s point of view and from those who use this Chamber as politicians. Be that as it may, the Speaker has at this time said that I cannot use a PowerPoint presentation so I will do the best I can. The reason I wanted to use photographs was because it would have helped people understand where I have been and why I had such a great time in the United States.
I would like to start, naturally, at the beginning. In July, I had my first trip outside of Australia to the United States. My original reason for going was to visit Judi Green and her family in Marysville, Ohio in the Midwest. Judi and Paden Green are the niece and grandniece of Captain Al Strauss, the United States Air Force pilot who was shot down and killed over Fannie Bay during the bombing of Darwin. These are the two people who came to the Northern Territory about two years ago for Anzac Day. That is a photograph of them on their front porch in Ohio.
This trip would give me an opportunity to learn about another country whose politics, history and geography I had studied back in my school days. Surely Desperate Housewives is not typical of America. I also wanted to see how another country deals with two areas of particular interest to me, the prison system and energy systems.
I left Australia on Sunday, 25 June, arriving in Ohio 31 hours later. Judi and her husband, Dave, were there to meet me and housed me in a condominium in Marysville, which was very comfortable. Marysville is a small town of 17 000 people just outside of Columbus, Ohio. Judi and Dave Green live on a farm on Blues Creek Road, which is about 10 miles out of town. That is fairly typical of the country you see in Ohio which is, basically, corn - and lots of corn everywhere. I am sure the Treasurer will be pleased to see the motor car which is a convertible Corvette, something similar to his but which goes a lot faster.
My first day in Ohio, Judi and her sister, Nancy, and Paden took me to the local restaurant so I could watch the Italy versus Australia World Cup match. I was the only person watching the game, as the US had lost the week before. When Italy received that penalty, I do not think anyone noticed my tears. Applebee’s Restaurant, Marysville, will be remembered for the fateful match when we ‘was robbed’.
As I said, the town of Marysville has a population of 17 000 people. It was originally settled in the 1820s. It is situated in Union County and is about 20 minutes north-east of Columbus. Ohio is flat because that is the way the glaciers made it. It is a very rich agricultural region where corn, soya bean and wheat are grown in abundance. In the Marysville School District there are five elementary, one intermediate, one middle, and one high school. The total number of students is over 5000, and over 300 teachers and 200 support staff are employed.
Judi and Paden teach at Marysville High. All the schools in the district come under the control of the Board of Education, which is similar to our school councils, but there is just one board for all the eight schools – not separate councils for each school as in the Northern Territory. I met Superintendent Larry Zimmerman and his deputy Neil Handler of the Board of Education. On my little picture they are here. A bigger picture would have helped, but I just could not afford anymore colour photographs. The Board of Education discusses a whole range of issues in the area. Whereas we have separate school councils, they have one Board of Education which covers all those schools in that area.
Next stop was Marysville High School which was in quiet mode because it was summer vacation. Some students were in attendance, as classes continue for those who would like to make up credits to graduate if they are behind schedule. I was introduced to principal Marysville High School, Greg Hanson, and was able to present him with a montage of Taminmin High School, an Aussie Rules football, and a Southern Districts football jumper. That was Mr Greg Hanson on his day off in summer vacation. He was in his office and we presented him with that nice montage of Taminmin High School which Tony Considine from Taminmin had put together for me.
On day four, two of the locals, John and Corky Burton, who managed the condominiums where I stayed, organised a day at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. I felt a bit important when I had my own reserved car parking space at the museum. There it is. I turned up at this place that I have never been to in my life and found I had a reserved car parking space. That made me feel rather important. I was met by a Retired Lieutenant Nick Apple who greeted us at the front entrance. The museum is enormous. If you like aeroplanes, the museum is worth a trip to the United States alone. Nick showed us around the memorial park and then located a large park which showed Al Strauss’s name as a member of a flying school in Texas in 1940. The museum has a huge display of balloons, gliders, planes including a Curtis P40E similar to the type of plane which Strauss flew, and even some of the rockets and missiles used as part of the space program. It has a cinema and a great gift shop. There was also a display of Air Force One planes used by various American Presidents, but we ran out of time – too much to see.
Day five and off to the West Central Community Correctional facility. Sorry, I do not have a big photo of that, but there is a little one there. This facility is something out of the ordinary; it is not your usual prison. It is called a ‘therapeutic community’. West Central is a six-month program for men who might otherwise spend their felony sentence in prison. The therapeutic community model is designed to provide a 24-hour learning experience during which individual changes in conduct and attitude are monitored and reinforced. Responsible, respectful behaviour is expected as residents participate in a daily regimen of classes, chores, peer groups, assignments and recreation. The therapeutic community offers opportunities to strengthen character, interpersonal skills, and community connections, which help the resident be successful in his home community after discharge. All residents volunteer to live at this facility.
I stayed here for most of the day and watched an encounter program and met six residents who spoke about their backgrounds and how they got in trouble with the law. It was a very emotional, confronting and yet inspiring visit. Here were men who were trying to turn their lives around, a family trying to support one another; it is a very disciplined environment and no easy road. A number of the residents are employed by local businesses and many businesses find the residents are excellent workers.
There is much more I could say but I just do not have the time. I hope that our government will look at this program and I would recommend that the new Minister for Justice go to Ohio and assess the program. I will just give you some idea about this program; here is the book that they use as part of the whole program in this prison. It is not a prison, it is a correctional facility. As I said, people call themselves residents. It is very much based on the principle of ‘my brother’s keeper’. Those people regard themselves as part of the family. They all try to support one another to overcome some of the problems they have. You can only be in that facility if you have a felony 3, 4 or 5 which I think goes from domestic violence down to drug abuse. It is a very regimented time there but it is about helping one another. They have programs like the Encounter program where if someone is slipping, they as a group are able to pull that person back and help him.
I should read from one of the basic books that are used, Why we do what we do: the rationale and theoretical applications for the therapeutic community activities in Ohio. These are some of the enduring principles, and they have some relationship with things like AA and GROW:
(2) search for meaning;
(3) challenge and admonish with love;
(6) public expiation for wrongs done;
(8) leadership by elders by models.
That is just touching on the huge range of programs within this type of therapeutic community.
It has a lot going for it in the Northern Territory. It certainly would not be as large as this one but seeing firsthand how these men were trying to turn their lives around encouraged me to believe that this is a program that we should look at in the Territory. You need dedicated staff. It is not run as part of a prison system. There are security people. It needs staff who are willing, who want to help these people, who are great believers in the therapeutic community system.
Judi and I were there for most of the day. We had lunch there and six prisoners sat down opposite us at a table. All those prisoners told us exactly why they were in prison. Each one had a difficult childhood where they either did not know their parents and were brought up by a grandparent or an aunty, or had parents who were never home, and they also were involved in drugs from a very early age. Many of them were involved with marijuana at the age of 8, 9, 10, or alcohol. You could see the theme right through there that all these men basically had no family life when they were young and had been involved with drugs at a very early age. When you see that in some of our young people today in our part of the world, you worry about where they are going to end up as well.
I have some copies of these programs, and I suggest to the government that they consider going to America to look at these programs. It was purely by accident. I went to America to see the family of Strauss and I mentioned to them that I was interested in prisons and it is amazing that there are two prisons around Marysville which both have these programs.
The next day I was on the move again, this time to the Union County Sheriff’s Office in Marysville where I met Sheriff Rocky Nelson and his Deputy, Mike Burton. I presented Sheriff Nelson with an NT badge. He presented me with a Union County Star pin and a Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff’s badge. He had a room full of badges. I looked around and, sure enough, there was a badge up in the corner with a kangaroo, To Serve and Honour, I think our motto is, and it was a Northern Territory badge. Amongst all those badges, it was good to see something from the Territory there.
Deputy Burton showed me around the building, explaining where prisoners were processed, the communication centre and staff facilities. I had a look inside a standard police car and all I can say is: ‘Do not mess with the police’. One interesting thing about the police car in Marysville is they have a series of aerials on the roof and they are able to track a stolen car if you have put a little beeper somewhere in the car. You do not know where it is. It is put in, I think, when you buy the car. You do not put any stickers on the car to say: ‘I have one of these in my car’. It is activated if someone says: ‘My car has been stolen’, and they can track that car within about a five mile radius and by helicopter by about a 12 mile radius. I would like to know a little more about it. We did not have time that day, but it may be something that could be used in the Territory to reduce the number of cars that are stolen.
We then visited the court house adjacent to the sheriff’s office. I met Judge Charlotte Coleman-Eufinger who runs the Union County Probate and Juvenile Court. The judge showed me around the court house and we talked about her role dealing with youth in the Union County. One interesting difference from the NT is that Judge Eufinger is elected, not appointed.
Mr DEPTY SPEAKER: Member for Nelson, you have 30 seconds.
Mr WOOD: Okay. I will finish off there. I think she is regarded as a Democrat and the State of Ohio is regarded as Republican. That shows you how much people respect her because they elected her as their local magistrate in the Probate and Juvenile Court. Mr Deputy Speaker, I will continue this on another date.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, today I inform the Assembly of a wonderful community event I attended in my neighbourhood late last month. The recent Fringe Festival Soccer event, held on Saturday, 29 July, at Malak Oval, was based on a concept introduced by Andrish Saint-Clare of Darwin Fringe. His idea was a sports and arts event organised around a soccer game with music, dance and food before and after the game.
The Africa Australia Friendship Association Northern Territory Incorporated was asked to implement this event on behalf of the Fringe, and I am accurately informed they were delighted to do so. As I arrived at the event, I was pleased to see the CEO of Football NT, Mr Bill Miller, was opening the event. To me, this spoke volumes for the support his association gives to the range of cultures within our community whose preferred code of football is the world game.
At this event, predominantly African cultures were featured, but the association advised me that a future event may include other cultures, especially depending on who is playing on the teams. What a wonderful idea for something like this to happen in our suburbs. I commend the association for this initiative.
During the event, the teams featured were Afro-Oz and Darwin City Buffaloes in the Division Two Senior Men’s League. The final score at the end of the game was 8-3 in favour of Afro-Oz. This is the first time this particular event had been held and so it was a trial in a sense, a trial which I feel could be hailed a success.
The Africa Australia Friendship Association NT is now working to expand the event to include a greater variety of activity and displays and thus attract a bigger audience. This year’s event had the strong support of the Sports minister and, in fact, the member for Karama, who contributed towards the cost of running of the event, stated that she hoped it would become an annual event.
I would like, with your indulgence Mr Deputy Speaker, to place on the public record how the Afro-Oz Football Club came into being and the good work they do with youth. The Afro-Oz Football Club was formed in 2006 by a group of young people in the African community. Through their representatives - James Justo, Albert Cosmas John, Christine Kute, Edmond Kanzi amongst them, the group that approached the Africa Australia Friendship Association to find out what assistance AAFA could give them in their quest to form a club.
AAFA formed a working group consisting of three members of the association who investigated the requirements for entering a club in the Northern Zone League. AAFA consulted with the Football Federation NT, the Darwin City Council and the Department of Sport and Recreation to find out what resources would be required and what legal requirements have to be taken into account for the formation and running of the club, and also to seek general advice on how best to manage a club. After much hard work and preparation, the youth managed to enter a senior male team and a female team into the 2006 Northern Zone League competition.
The club has been a very successful platform for these young people to come together with other youth from other communities in the Territory, and to give the newly arrived young people an opportunity to learn about the Australian way of life and how to be part of the local community. Other cultural activities such as hip-hop and dancing have been born through the soccer club and all of these have been initiated by the youth themselves.
The youth have learned how to organise themselves to conduct fundraising activities and there has been a remarkable change in the levels of individual self-esteem and general confidence. They are constantly coming up with new ideas about other activities they would like to do. It is also about developing and refining the talents they have and skills they have learned so far. They understand that there is still a lot of work to be done before the club becomes established, but they have shown a good capacity to keep working to goals and overcome obstacles and difficulties by working together as an organised unit.
Mr Fezile Mpehle, President of the Africa Australia Friendship Association Northern Territory Inc, has let me know that the association is prepared to keep supporting these young people and that the association appreciates the assistance they received from the Football Federation NT, the Darwin City Council, the Department of Sport and Recreation, and support of the general community in the Territory.
There is no doubt that football, the world game, is big in Darwin. I am proud to be patron of the Marrara Dragons Junior Football Club. I enjoy going to my son’s games on Sunday mornings at Bagot Oval, Millner. However, I am disappointed to inform the Assembly of the poor state of the pitch located in the middle of the velodrome on which quite a number of junior clubs are forced to play and which, I am informed, is forcing them to play the rest of the year’s fixtures away at grounds in the Palmerston and Litchfield area. I have written to the Darwin City Council in regard to watering of the internal pitch of the velodrome. The surface is considered to be unsafe by community clubs that play there. It is like playing on cement. Every time the kids get into a bit of a scrum kicking the ball, great puffs of dust come up. This can affect their respiratory systems and kids with a slight touch of asthma or a bit of cold really suffer, and if they fall over in a tackle, the gravel rash or the skinning of the knees that can happen is pretty bad.
The ground is in pretty crook repair. The grass covering is nearly worn off but not gone. We all know that if you pump a whole lot of water into any surface around here in Darwin it comes back pretty strong. The council may not be able to cover the full surface this season, but it is never too late to start watering that. There is a tap at the end of the velodrome on the Old McMillans Road end, and I urge council to act upon the representations I have made to them on behalf of Olympic, of Marrara, of Casuarina football clubs, of the parents, who are pretty disappointed I believe, that the ground has got to the state it is in. They are unhappy about having to move. They feel that it is an unnecessary move; they enjoy that ground. The clubs like the ground in the middle of the velodrome. I am asking the council, on behalf of all these parents, the kids in the clubs, to water it, to get that surface back up so that it is thoroughly enjoyable for all to use. I know that the Darwin City Council and its aldermen are all supporters of the world game of soccer as is demonstrated with the recently-erected pavilion that they have put at the Bagot Oval. So let us get behind it. Let us just start watering it up, council.
Finally, on Wednesday, there is going to be a community forum at O’Loughlin College, organised by Mr David Tollner MP. He has invited the Waters Ward aldermen, and a whole range of people. I recently received my own invitation as the MLA in Sanderson, but they are talking about antisocial behaviour in the Karama and Malak areas. From the tone of it, I feel that they are targeting youth and saying that youth are rampaging out of control.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we do have issues with some youth, but we do not have issues with all youth. I would like to hold up the Africa Australia Association as an example of what they are doing to assist youth. There are activities like this going on in the Karama and Malak area, and these need to be brought to the attention of Mr Tollner, who believes that nothing is being done. These are just normal associations, normal everyday people, trying to get on with their life and trying to do things for kids. There are many good kids out there. By all means, let us have a look at the issues out there – and they are, no-one is walking away from that – but things are being addressed, not only at the government level but also at the community level. I believe that while criticism may be warranted in some areas, we should look to raise the profile of these other individuals, clubs and associations that are working with youth to make it a better place for everyone.
Ms SACILOTTO (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I will speak on a number of interesting events I have been involved in since my last adjournment. Firstly, I had the opportunity to host two luncheons for visiting dignitaries from overseas. The first was His Excellency Mr Mohmed Tawfik, Ambassador for the Arab Republic of Egypt. Guests attending were Ms Michelle Menzies from the Chamber of Commerce; Mr Ian Smith, Northern Territory Seafood Council; Mr John McCue, Senior Projects Officer from Trade and Major Projects; David Blenheim, Department of Chief Minister’s Protocol Unit; and Sue Shearer, the Chief Minister’s Business Advisor. All were excellent lunch companions, and the fascinating conversation kept flowing all day. I thank Jimmy Shu and his staff at Hanuman for the fine food and service on this occasion.
My second event was also hosting an official luncheon for His Excellency Mr Karel Pazourek, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic. Guests attending this function were Honorary Consul for the Czech Republic; Brian O’Gallagher, International Trade, Department of Trade and Major Projects; Kezia Purick, Executive Officer NT Minerals Council; Mr Chris Young, Chief Executive Officer NT Chamber of Commerce; and Karen and Shaun from Protocol with the Department of Chief Minister. Le Chaumiere provided the very tasty French cuisine and I congratulate chef, John LaMotte, and his wife, Christine, on their very successful restaurant which has been operating for around 27 years next month - a fantastic service to the Darwin community.
Both restaurants are in the electorate of Port Darwin and this made me a very proud local member. I thank the Chief Minister’s Department Protocol officers who did a fine job in organising and supporting me at these functions.
As we all know, June, July, and August are prime times in Darwin. All the rellies are here and we present our city and outlying tourist attractions with great pride and vigour. The pinnacle of this period is the Darwin Cup Carnival. I say ‘hats off’ to Darlene Chin, who staged a brilliant Ladies Day fashion parade. It showcased a range of city fashion, including Gallery 8, Stomp Shoes, Attitude X, Attitude for Men, Just Looking, Crystal Wave Swimwear, Animale, Just Formals and the House of Pearls. All are very successful city businesses. Hearty congratulations to Des Friedreich, supported by his wife, Lou, and his hard-working crew from the Darwin Turf Club for a fabulous carnival.
I am told that this year Darwin Cup was bigger and better than previous years. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year due to my son, Luka, having an accident while participating in his favourite sport of motocross on Saturday. Our family, including my visiting mother-in-law, Mrs Anna Sacilotto, spent the next three days in Royal Darwin Hospital. I sincerely thank the St John Ambulance paramedics and the entire staff of the Emergency Department of Royal Darwin Hospital for their attentive and professional care of my son.
I attended the Young Professionals ball on 15 July at the SKYCITY ballroom, and was very impressed with the guest speaker, Ms Anya Lorimer. Ms Lorimer is a Director of Sprout Creative and is an inspiration to all young people, especially those who want to start their own business. I identified with much of her advice, having started my own business with very limited experience and not much in the way of financial backing. The Northern Territory presents great opportunities to people who want to have a go.
I welcome a new business into Darwin city. Earth Collection has commenced trading in the Vic Complex. Lexie and John Sherren are the owners, and their merchandise is a collection of women’s, men’s and children’s clothing all made from natural fibres such as silk and cotton - perfect for our hot climate. Good luck, Lexie and John. It is great to see business confidence strong in the mall.
Over the last two months, I have also been presented with two great opportunities to travel interstate. I attended the Growing Regions Conference in Brisbane in mid-July, with the member for Katherine, Fay Miller, and Ms Pat Hancock from the Legislative Assembly.
My second trip was to Sydney to represent minister Burns on a ministerial council for procurement. I thank Mr Richard Galton, Chief Executive, Department of Corporate and Information Services, who offered great support and advice at this meeting. Procurement is of great importance to the people in my electorate, and I am very pleased to report that, in many ways, the Territory is leading the way with its procurement processes. Both of these trips have been of substantial benefit to me as the local member and member of the select committee on substance misuse. I thank all concerned for the opportunities.
The Garden Fair on the weekend of 12 and 13 August presented me with a great chance to get in touch with many of my constituents. My electorate officer, Sandra, and helpers, Senator Trish Crossin, the member for Brennan, Mr James Burke, Gwenda Thomson, Maria Patarakis, Brian Hilder, Kathy McDonald and John White helped on the stall. Please accept my thanks for giving up much needed weekend time. It was truly appreciated.
Last Sunday, I held a community sausage sizzle at Tipperary Waters. I thank Dephania and Lock Master, Peter Dermoudy, for making the boardwalk available for this function. I also acknowledge the support shown to me by two of my colleagues, the member for Wanguri and the member for Macdonnell, who attended and spoke with a number of my constituents and cooked a couple of sausages. It was a fantastic afternoon and we all enjoyed the beautiful breeze on a great Dry Season day.
I take this opportunity to thank and farewell Jo Wynn, the past principal of Larrakeyah Primary School, on a job well done. Jo has moved on to Durack Primary School in the Palmerston area and I am told she is embracing her new school community. I welcome Mr Graham Chadwick who is a long term Territorian. Graham completed his secondary and tertiary education in the Northern Territory. Graham comes to the position with a wealth of experience having acted as principal at Maningrida, Nhulunbuy and Ludmilla schools. Graham has extensive experience in music and has been involved in the Beat and is a past member of the NT Music School. I look forward to continuing my strong working relationship with Larrakeyah Primary School and our new principal, Mr Graham Chadwick.
Lastly, I encourage all my colleagues to congratulate Mr Bernie Bree, principal at Stuart Park Primary School and his staff and the students of Stuart Park Primary School. I was very fortunate to attend today’s 40th anniversary celebrations with the Chief Minister and the minister for Education. Stuart Park Primary School is and was a fantastic school. Today’s ceremony was MC’d by school council Chair, Mr Ian O’Reilly, and included stories from a past student, Mrs Jenny Darben, then Jenny Sutton, who was a member of the original student body. Mrs Dorothy Green, an ex-parent of Stuart Park told of an emotional story of starting and participating in the Stuart Park Welfare Club. Mrs Green also told of the strong friendships made and the great support provided by the tight knit community.
Mr Wally Mauger gave a great talk about the teaching history of the school. The school choir sang ‘We are One’ which really sums up the past and present school and community spirit surrounding the school. The song was signed in honour of the Hearing Impaired Unit which operated from the school until 2003. A fantastic birthday cake was cut by minister Stirling, minister for Education, and Mrs Poppy Melas a current parent and former student of the school. Mr Peter Forrest told interesting stories of Stuart Park Primary and the community.
To say the least, history is rich in Darwin and even more so in that wonderful area of Stuart Park. To finish off there was a delightful performance by student Greek dancers. Many thanks to Mrs Sylvia Siskamanis for organising their performance. A special thanks to the Chung Wah Society who performed a lion dance. A sincere thanks to Mr Bernie Bree and all of the school council members, teachers, parents, past and current students. There were also many displays made by each class depicting some of the history of the school. Well done to all involved. Well done, Stuart Park Primary.
Mr NATT (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will talk about a couple of things that have happened in my electorate in the last month or so. We have not had sittings for over a month now and back on Friday, 30 June, I was lucky enough to represent the Minister for Employment, Education and Training to open the Under 16 Boys Commonwealth Cricket Championships at the Marrara Oval No. 1. We had three countries playing in the championships, Australia, India and the United Arab Emirates. It was pleasing to see that the United Arab Emirates did make the grade to get over here. I understand they really had to work hard to get a team together and get some funds to get across. I understand they competed quite admirably. As it turned out, Australia was far too strong although India put up a great fight.
It was a very special moment for me to welcome the interstate and international visitors to Darwin for these championships.
I thank Kormilda College for providing the accommodation for the week-and-a-half of the championships. As you know, at that time of the year in Darwin, accommodation is quite scarce due to the many events on around the place, so Kormilda College was asked to provide the accommodation and they gladly did so. I thank them for their participation in the championships and for providing that accommodation.
Sport plays a vital role, as we all know, in our children’s development within the sporting arena, also in setting values and attitudes that will be important to whichever role the students fulfil as members of our society in the future. Sport is an integral part of our everyday life; it gets us outdoors and promotes healthy living. It also encourages self-confidence and a sense of fair play. This goes hand in hand with the Commonwealth Youth Sports Council Mission Statement of Youth Empowerment Through Sport.
I thank the Indian and Islamic communities for their support of the two visiting teams. I understand that they provided a lot of assistance through interpretation and they put on a couple of welcoming nights for the visiting teams, which was much appreciated.
I congratulate the organisers of the event, Brian Deslandes, who convenes the Commonwealth Cricket Series, and also attending that day was the Honourable Ted Egan, Administrator of the Territory; Margaret Banks, the Chief Executive for the Department of Employment, Education and Training; Grahame Barrett, the representative for the Commonwealth Youth Sports Council; Andrew Ramsay, the Chief Executive of Cricket NT; and Bruce Walker, president of Cricket NT.
It was great to see all of the competitors, umpires, scorers, officials and players on the day. It was a terrific carnival. I congratulate everyone involved, and thank the organisers again for their great efforts.
As we know Seniors Month is held annually throughout the Territory during August and it aims to promote active, healthy ageing. Small grants are available to assist activities that promote positive understanding of the ageing in the community and they encourage seniors to enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle and enable community groups and organisations to work together to organise events and activities that can be enjoyed by all senior Territorians.
I was lucky enough to represent the Minister for Senior Territorians at the start of Seniors Month. Charles Darwin University Sport held a Young-at-Heart Week during the first week of Seniors Month, which reflected on the principles of active ageing. The opening was at the Charles Darwin University Gymnasium. A session of Chi Kung, led by Chris Austin, was undertaken by around about 15 to 20 seniors. It was a very interesting afternoon. I watched them for the 45 minute session. It is a little like Tai Chi; it is slow moving, but the mind plays a big part in the movement and how the body works. I spoke to a couple of the seniors when they had finished, and they were really quite rejuvenated after having spent 45 minutes with the session and were looking forward to further sessions. I thank the organisers of the event. The Office of Senior Territorians did a wonderful job in setting all that up. I know many of the seniors within the Palmerston area got involved in a lot of the events run over that period.
On Tuesday, 8 August, I was asked to act as the scrutineer for the Palmerston and Regional Business Association Annual General Meeting. I was honoured to be asked by Wayne Zerbe, the president, to undertake that role. The Annual General Meeting was held at the Karawa Restaurant at the Palmerston Campus of Charles Darwin University. It was a terrific evening. Probably 80 or 90 people attended the evening. The catering by the university was absolutely fantastic. They do a terrific job out there, and the food was spectacular and everyone on the night commented on it.
I would like to give the Palmerston Region Business Association a little plug because they do promote and support our local businesses in a great way. Businesses around Palmerston and the rest of Darwin use their networking and monthly meetings quite extensively, and they have a really good website which I invite everyone to have a look at on www.prba.com.au. They also offer business advice. Wayne Zerbe and the many other members have some good contacts.
On the night, president Wayne Zerbe was re-elected. I could not see anyone standing in the way of Wayne because he does a wonderful job with the organisation. He is always out and about working the system, meeting people and promoting the businesses. He does a fantastic job and was renominated and elected unopposed. The vice president is Leon Loganathan. Leon has held that role before and he is a great support to Wayne. He spoke in glowing terms of Wayne’s contribution to the association on the night. The treasurer was again nominated as Paul Chin. Paul is the National Bank representative in Darwin. He has been nominated as treasurer. The six committee members are Andrew Byrne, Mark Olivetta, Matthew Baker, Kym Menzies, Amanda Lohman and Teresa Chang. I understand Kym Menzies and Amanda Lohman are two new members of the committee, and the other four members are current members and re-standing again. I congratulate everyone who has undertaken those positions and wish them the best of luck for the next 12 months.
Geoff Goodrich is staying on as the executive officer. He, in collaboration with Wayne Zerbe, does a wonderful job in promoting the association throughout the Darwin and Palmerston region. So congratulations to everyone and best of luck for your term on the committee. I hope it all goes well and I am only too happy to help out wherever I can. I look forward to getting involved again.
The Office of Youth Affairs manages the STS Leeuwin II Top End Explorer Voyage each year. I was lucky enough to represent the Minister for Young Territorians at the presentation of certificates at the last STS Leeuwin sailing when they came in after their final sail. The program has taken a little shift to what has happened in previous years. I understand in previous years, there were about 40 youths on the boat for up to 14 days. This year they did it a little differently. They undertook two groups of 40. The first group went out for five days and four nights, the second group went out for seven days and six nights. The whole idea of these courses is for the participants to develop teamwork and leadership, and communication skills, and it really develops their self-esteem and confidence working as a group and working as a team, as you could imagine, working on an outrigger out in the ocean making sure that everything fits into place and everyone works as a team.
Everyone I spoke to on the final day of the presentation of certificates was absolutely over the moon about the week they had on the vessel and the training that they had received from the crew of the boat and the captain. They even had the confidence to climb the high masts. They took some of the parents, we had a bit of a sail around for a couple of hours in the bay and some of the parents got their safety harnesses on and climbed to the top of the mast. It was a terrific sight to see, the children helping their parents, and talking them into a confident attitude to get up the masts. The parents could not let their children down, and they actually did it and it was just fantastic to see. Unfortunately, I was just about to put the harness on and we had to turn around and come back in, so I will have to do it another time. It is a great course.
As I said, at the culmination of this voyage the participants were presented with their certificates of participation and every one of them was glowing in their praise of the program. I know that this government has signed an agreement with the Top End Explorer Voyager people, the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation. They have signed on for another three years and the government will provide approximately $30 000 for each year to ensure that this course does run again.
I thank Sarah Jane Saltmarsh for looking after me while I was onboard. Sarah Jane was a previous and outstanding student of the Palmerston High School. She has also been on the Chief Minister’s Round Table and is an outstanding individual. She has a lot to look forward to in the future. Along with Chris Dias, the principal of the Palmerston High School, I was shown around the vessel by Sarah Jane. She was just terrific. She accomplished much on the course and is looking forward to furthering her career. I understand she is at university and doing quite well. I wish her all the best and thank her for her efforts.
Congratulations must go to Debra Zupp and the Office of Youth Affairs and the captain and the crew. Everyone I spoke to, as I said earlier, has spoken in glowing terms of the support they received on the vessel. I thank them, and I am sure everyone really did enjoy the outings. I know I enjoyed my couple of hours on the vessel as well.
Just to finish up, as I said in my adjournment last week, as the new Patron of the Palmerston Golf Club, we had our Patrons Day at the Palmerston Golf Club on Sunday afternoon. I am not going to talk about my round of golf because it was absolutely atrocious. If there was a ‘Naga’ trophy to be presented, I would have received it. I would like to thank Merv McMaster and John Tedford for their support throughout the afternoon. I took a close friend of mine, Mark Hough, out with me for the round and Merv and John looked after us and put up with our bad golf for the afternoon. It was a terrific afternoon. Well done, everyone involved. I congratulate Gordon Pascoe, who won the event; he was the winner with 65 strokes. The runner up was Graham Morrison, and third was Adam Temple. The Best Ladies Nett Score for the day was Maz Simpkins, so I congratulate her as well.
As I said, it was just a terrific day, and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. Afterwards, we sat down and talked about the round and had a few beers. The camaraderie at that club is terrific. There was a lot of skylarking going on and you can imagine a lot of the little quips that go back and forth between each of the groups. It was fantastic and, I thank the committee for asking me to be patron. I am looking forward to remaining involved with the club.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I wish to do part two of my overseas trip that I spoke about recently, and concentrate on the area of public housing.
I met with officers of the Deputy Prime Minister, who were generous in the time they spent with me and with the documents they allowed me to bring with me. We all need to be prepared to adopt new approaches and learn from each other, and I learned a lot from them.
Like all members in this House I have problems in some of the public housing within my electorate. I have been fortunate that the department has been quite active in addressing these problems. However, sometimes, we feel they take too long to do that. I put it down to the fact that, in Alice Springs alone, there are over 1000 public houses and/or units and very few officers to look after them. It is a big ask for them and they do tend to be reactive to concerns that are raised, rather than be a landlord and a little more proactive.
The system that I was impressed with overseas was that they have taken on landlords to handle their public housing. As you could imagine, there are many more public housing tenants than we have here. I did have the number but, with all the papers I have here I seem to have lost it. They have problems just the same as we do.
The government has concentrated on giving these landlords the means to address antisocial behaviour. There is a paper they have put out recently which talks about respect, and what they are saying about respect applies everywhere. It says:
We all would like to see respect in many of the areas in which we go.
The social landlords are the ones I was interested in, and that is why I have said publicly that it is something I would like the minister to investigate. I was very pleased when he mentioned in this House that he would be putting in a manager to handle the Keith Lawrie Complex when it is completed in Alice Springs, and that he had also put out a tender for a self-managed complex as well. That is a step similar to what I have seen happen in London.
They have four different sorts of landlords. One is the local authority. It would be a little like saying to the Alice Springs Town Council, you are the authority to look after all the public housing of this town. These local authorities have the legal power to place injunctions on tenants; to seek possession; and to put an antisocial behaviour order upon them. It is the antisocial behaviour order also that the minister should investigate because it is one means by which you can control the tenants and tell them clearly what are the parameters of behaviour, if they have done something to upset people.
The other particular social landlord was the arm’s length management organisation; it means that there is a separate housing company that has control. The registered social landlords are the ones that I think we could look at. It is the non-profit making organisation providing accommodation and regulated by the house incorporated and these registered social landlords also can seek injunctions, possession or ASBOs as they are called. There is also the housing trust which can do much the same.
The social landlords can bring in these acceptable behaviour agreements that the minister has already introduced and they can also take out antisocial behaviour orders on tenants. Some of the different behaviours that can be tackled by these antisocial behaviour orders are ones that we are very familiar with: harassment of residents; verbal abuse; criminal damage; vandalism; noise and nuisance; writing graffiti; engaging in threatening behaviour; racial abuse; smoking or drinking alcohol; substance misuse; and so on. They are behaviours, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that you and I see many times.
These ASBOs are civil orders to protect the public from behaviour that causes or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress. An ASBO contains conditions prohibiting the offender from carrying out specific antisocial acts, or even from entering a defined area, and is effective for a minimum of two years. The orders are not criminal sanctions and are not intended punish the offender, purely to put parameters on what they can do.
I have a copy of the act, and under section 1 of the act it says that the legal definition is that the defendant behaved in an antisocial manner and an order is necessary for the protection of people from further antisocial behaviour by the defendant. There is also the need for a standard of proof. Part of the act describes acting in an antisocial manner as acting in a manner which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the perpetrator.
Whenever I keep reading these things in this material given to me I feel as though it is very familiar. Against whom can an order be made? An order can be made against anyone aged 10 years or over who has acted in an antisocial way. Who can apply for an order? The landlords can apply, police can apply, and the local authorities can apply.
It seems as though these antisocial behaviour orders that have been introduced are effective in saying to someone: ‘You cannot go to that flat. You must stay away from that person. You must not do this’. It seems to be quite effective in that way.
On the other side of the coin, while I was there I collected some of the newspaper clippings that may indicate that perhaps they were not always right. There was a man who was given an ASBO to stop him feeding pigeons in his back yard. It seems a little absurd that you would put an antisocial behaviour order on someone for that. The comments from the people who were interviewed said: ‘Yes, it is a little over the top’. ‘I think ASBOs should be used for other things’. ‘It devalues ASBOs’. ‘I think it is ridiculous and it sounds crazy’. There is another heading which says: ‘We do not need ASBOs’, say the Housing Association. There are arguments for and against them but, for the most part, it is for.
Also headlines, ‘The neighbours no one wants’, and we have all had the neighbours from hell. ‘Violence in home reports rocketing’. One of the Cabinet ministers said while I was there: ‘A lot of these young teenagers that we consider are hoodlums, we are really taking the wrong approach. We should be …’, and the term was, ‘… hugging a hoodie’. Many young teenagers have these garments that they put over their heads, these hoods. We see them petrol sniffing in communities and whatever, and his idea was that these kids really need to be loved; these kids need attention, these kids need to be put on the right track. He was into diversionary programs, activities for young children, young teenagers, and giving them a feeling of self-worth rather than clamping down on them, throwing them in gaol, throw them in detention, making them feel that the way to get attention is to do something bad when in fact the way to get attention was to do something good. So ‘hug a hoodie’ became a bit of a slogan. I think we sometimes deal with juveniles in the wrong way. Perhaps we are always so anti- them rather than looking for other ways to address their problems, although if I were a victim of one of these ‘hoodies’, I would be wanting retribution of some sort.
It was an interesting debate, and ‘hug a hoodie’ is something that I will be thinking about, and whether we can provide better ways to address those teenagers who cause havoc on our street. Rather than putting them through a court system, perhaps we do need to make sure that they have a life that is valuable in some way.
Another thing I was interested in is that the housing people reward good tenants. It is something that I have never thought about until I came across it. They said they often do it in the way of vouchers. It is true, we have many good tenants in our public housing units and houses, but we never say to them: ‘Well done, you have been a good tenant for 15 years, or 20 years’. I came across an elderly couple the other day who had been in their unit for 15 years. They cared for it as their home. They see it as their home because they have been there for so long. Unfortunately, they had the misfortune of having their car stolen and trashed. All they are asking is for some sort of protection for their car so they do not have to go through it again. If you were a tenant for that long, and you had been a good tenant, perhaps you should be rewarded and helped to safeguard their car so that it does not get trashed and stolen again.
I am going to write to the minister and suggest that he should look at rewarding ways. Do not always say: ‘No, we cannot do that’; say: ‘Yes, you have been a good tenant and you do need to be helped in this particular situation’.
They had multi-agency support partnerships. I believe it is important, that when we do come across antisocial people, we do not treat them by one means, but use a multi-agency approach. That is what they were saying: even though we are going to put them on acceptable behaviour contracts, we would also give them the support they needed. They also had warden patrols in housing estates, and it is something we do not do at the moment. We have security patrols that are called out when they are needed, or when we identify hot spots. Perhaps we should be looking at having patrols as the norm, just as you have a security patrol in a shopping centre, we should be establishing a mechanism where people know their particular street, or their particular complex, will be visited on a regular basis for that reason. There are probably other measures we should be looking at rather than just trying to kick people out. This is usually our solution to things; you know, let us get rid of them, because to be honest, they make life unbearable in a neighbourhood for people. We just want to move them on.
Landlords are also able to take out injunctions through civil court orders. These orders can prohibit a person from engaging in specific behaviour or from going to specific places. A breach of an order can result in a fine. The court has discretion on whether it is appropriate to issue an order, and it is increasingly used to control antisocial behaviour rather than evict or just shift the behaviour. As you know, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, when we have a problem, to evict is perhaps wrong because it is often the tenant not doing something wrong, it is often the visitors. If you move that particular tenant, you are likely to move the visitors with them, so you are continually moving the problem. What I am saying is, let us really think about how we are being good landlords to people in public housing.
As I said, I was glad to hear what the minister said about the Keith Lawrie flats, and there are other complexes like the Head Street Complex which has a large number of seniors in it. We could look at the way we manage those as well. I will be interested to see which way this minister goes with his management of complexes in the future. I believe there is much to be said about looking at different ways of managing tenants.
My time is running out, but I do have copies of the Antisocial Behaviour Policy and Procedure document; the Antisocial Behaviour Act; Respect Standard for Housing Management; and Tackling Antisocial Tenants from the department I visited.
I felt it was worthwhile, and if we can gather ideas from other places then we should seriously consider them and adopt them if we think they are going to improve the lifestyle of our people. I urge all members, if they get an opportunity, to do likewise.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, I take the opportunity to inform the House that Jessica Mauboy, the young Darwin lady who represents the Northern Territory in Australian Idol, has made it to the last round of 12. I am sure the House and members wish her well on her continued journey.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about sport in Alice Springs and say how passionate the community of Alice Springs is when it comes to sport. This is demonstrated in a number of ways, particularly in the Masters Games, which will be under way in only a couple of months.
I met recently with a delegation from the Alice Springs Tennis Association, and they outlined their desire to expand their tennis facility by relocating to a purpose-built facility. The present one sits within the electorate of Araluen, and other options also sit within the electorate of Araluen. In its existing facility, the Alice Springs Tennis Association has ten floodlit hard courts and clubhouse, incorporating a bar, kiosk and barbecue facilities. The proposed complex will consist of 16 international standard tennis courts, meeting room, clubhouse incorporating bar, kiosk and barbecue facilities, as well as appropriate car parking.
I am a supporter of tennis and a supporter of sport in Alice Springs. Tennis in Alice Springs has grown incredibly quickly and the management of the Alice Springs Tennis Association advised me that they are unable to keep up with the demand from seniors and juniors with the current facilities.
Participation in tennis in Alice Springs has grown to record levels, increasing its membership by 300%. Junior members have increased by 500% and senior participation has increased by 350%. The Alice Springs Tennis Association has more members and activities than any tennis centre in the Northern Territory per capita of population. The Alice Springs Tennis Association is among the top tennis centres in Australia.
Tennis is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular sports in Alice Springs, and the tennis club is experiencing considerable wear and tear on its facilities. The club is simply not big enough and does not have enough courts to cater for the demand. The tennis courts are truly a community facility that can be used and shared by people of all skills levels and members, tourists and visitors alike. There are few sports that can boast of being able to actively cater for all ages and skill levels. Tennis is a gender equal sport played by men and women and boys and girls all year around. Tennis encourages activity and it also encourages people to spend their recreational time outdoors.
Tennis has a successful development program in schools. In 2005, over 1000 primary school students and 650 high school students participated in Alice Springs tennis programs. The junior tennis development program in Alice Springs is at the cutting edge. The Red Centre Tennis Academy produced a record 41 nationally ranked players in 2005-06. The academy works closely with the Tennis NT state coach and the Northern Territory Institute of Sport coach to ensure that staff of the club are aware of the latest ideas, techniques and strategies. The Alice Springs Tennis Association has an impressive coaching education program in place, with five accredited coaches working at the club in 2006.
The Tennis Association has also introduced Over 40s tennis, which is growing considerably in popularity, especially in the lead-up to the Alice Springs Masters Games. Over 40s tennis is now very active in the community and conducts regular get togethers.
The Alice Springs Tennis Association hosts a number of major events. The annual Optus Junior Tour Event is a national event held in April and the annual $10 000 Schweppes Red Centre Open is held in November. The association also holds eight other localised tournaments. These events provide considerable cash injections to the local economy, and consistently attract players from across Australia.
The government says that sport is a major part of our great Central Australian lifestyle, and the Territory government often boasts that it is proud to support our great sporting organisation and facilities in Alice Springs. I encourage the government to consider the proposal by the Alice Springs Tennis Association and help them to help the community to be active and participate in tennis. I am assuming that the government is aware of the present proposal. If the minister for Sport is not, she should be. Any minister for Sport worth his or her salt would be aware of the proposal.
Continuing with the sporting theme, I put on the Parliamentary Record the disappointment of many Alice Springs residents. The government has let Alice Springs down again and failed to consult, once again, with the Alice Springs community. There has been an expression of outrage by an overwhelming number of people in the Alice Springs community about the decision to name the newly constructed Traeger Park grandstand, which stands where the demolished Ted Hayes Stand once stood, the Bowden McAdam Stand. The whole process of naming the stand has been, quite frankly, shifty and completely devoid of community consultation or integrity. In recent correspondence from the Minister for Sport and Recreation, I was advised that the government believes that the new grandstand should have a name that reflects and acknowledges current use. AFL is the largest tenant of the sporting ground, so two of Central Australia’s football families were recognised.
The Hayes family believed that the newly constructed grandstand was going to bear the same name, that is, the Ted Hayes Stand, and so too did the population of Alice Springs. Indeed, it appears that the Mayor of Alice Springs held that view. It goes without saying that the Hayes family and many other people in Alice Springs were extremely upset when it was revealed that the new stand would be known as the Bowden McAdam Stand.
The Hayes family is a very well respected pioneering family of Alice Springs and Central Australia. The wife of the late Ted Hayes, the late Mrs Jean Hayes, made a considerable donation to the construction of the original stand. Members of the Assembly will recall that I have spoken about Mrs Jean Hayes before and after her death last year. Mrs Hayes considered the original stand to be a gift to the people of Alice Springs.
It is important to acknowledge the pioneers of Alice Springs and not be too keen to dismiss history and rewrite it. That is, I fear, the path that was undertaken by this Territory Labor government. If the Hayes family members who have passed on were alive today they would be as appalled as members of the Hayes family are now, indeed as appalled as are the greater community of Alice Springs.
The issue for the Alice Springs community is not that the original Ted Hayes stand was demolished but rather that the new grandstand that has been built on the old grandstand site bears a new name; a name that was simply decided on by the minister for Sport or alternatively members of Cabinet.
The lack of community consultation continues. Not only was a decision to change the name made but to change it to the Bowden McAdam Stand. Clearly the change is not what the community wants. Anyone with a passing interest in how the people of Alice Springs feel - and I do not include members of this Labor government in that group, with the exception of the member for Stuart, as they are unable to recognise the very important contribution of a significant pioneering family, the Hayes family. In other words, the Hayes family and the greater Alice Springs community has been dealt with in a contemptuous and disrespectful manner by the minister for Sport and her government and it is to their eternal shame.
Having said that, I am aware that the McAdam family is heavily involved in sport. However, there is a widespread community perception that the McAdam family may not have always played football and sport generally in the spirit that it is intended. Furthermore, many family members over many generations have been suspended from AFL and other codes of football for violence. The process of naming community facilities should be a community process complete with the appropriate level of community consultation. The government has behaved and, in particular, the Minister for Sport and Recreation has behaved in a thoroughly obnoxious manner. I ask that in future this government engage in even a little community consultation, although the people of Alice Springs deserve far more than that. In future I ask that this Minister for Sport and Recreation and indeed other ministers determine whether the community wants to change the names of some of its long-standing icons and it should consult the community.
The level of outrage in Alice Springs was compounded when members of the community found out that the official cocktail party opening the grandstand took place on 15 July. The Minister for Sport and Recreation advised that representatives of the Alice Springs Town Council were invited and no further invitations were requested by the council. I ask how was it that the Mayor and some aldermen were aware of the function and other aldermen were not. How was it that the local member, that is me, was unaware of the function and not invited to it. It is rude in the extreme. It is obnoxious in the extreme not to invite all members of council, or indeed the local member. It is also obnoxious that the minister for Sport conducted herself in the way that she did, that is, with a genuine contempt for the people of Alice Springs.
I am a fierce advocate for the people of Alice Springs. I share with them their collective outrage at the decision and the lack of consultation, the lack of transparency. It signifies the increasing arrogance of this government, directed by its Chief Minister who is under threat from a number of quarters. In any event, the fact is that the Chief Minister said to the people of Alice Springs that she would swing by Alice Springs for a week every quarter. I am unaware that that has occurred; dropping in for photo opportunities is simply enough. I would have thought that any leader worth his or her salt would instruct his or her colleagues to treat all Territorians the same and simply not pitch to those voters in the northern suburbs of Darwin.
I suggest that had a grandstand of such historical and iconic significance as the Ted Hayes Stand been renamed in Darwin, that not only would people be taking to the streets, but government ministers would have quickly changed their minds and, indeed, one wonders whether any such decision would have been made. I say this because it is illustrative of the contemptuous way in which members of this government and in particular Cabinet ministers, and in particular the Chief Minister and the Minister for Sport and Recreation, conduct themselves.
The importance of sport to the Alice Springs community is paramount and a carefully considered invitation list, together with consultation, was what was required in the first instance, particularly the consultation. There was none of that in this instance and the people of Alice Springs are left angry and perplexed at the manner in which the Minister for Sport and Recreation conducted herself.
It is an indictment that members of this government behave in the way that they do. As I have said, it is an increasing sign of arrogance. I sound a note of caution: that this government, any of its ministers, ought not replicate behaviour of this order again. The people of Alice Springs certainly will not stand for it. I, as a local member of parliament based in Alice Springs, will not stand for it. I will with vigour, enthusiasm and passion come into the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory and represent them and their views.
The naming of the stand and the manner in which it was done is an indictment on the way this government treats the people of Alice Springs and it is to their detriment if they continue. I urge the Minister for Sport and Recreation never to do anything like this again. I am speaking in fairly strong tones because I feel very strongly about this. No one likes it when the people they represent have been treated in the most appalling manner imaginable.
The disrespect shown to the Hayes family is truly incredible. It demonstrates that the Minister for Sport and Recreation treats people generally very badly, treats the people of Alice Springs even more badly, and is not able to perform her functions as the Minister for Sport and Recreation with any measure of integrity or dedication.
I fully intend to send my remarks to the Hayes family members as well as to interested parties in Alice Springs. I cannot express in a more passionate way the level of their outrage or, indeed, mine and I ask the minister for Sport to note the comments that I have made tonight and learn from them.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
McArthur River Mine – Expansion to
Open Cut Operation
McArthur River Mine – Expansion to
Open Cut Operation
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, yesterday I announced that a proposal for an expansion of the McArthur River Mine and a change in its operations from underground to open cut could proceed subject to stringent safeguards on the protection of the environment.
Members will well remember that, in February this year, I recommended to my colleague, the Minister for Mines and Energy, that the proposal could not proceed because, in my opinion, it did not reach minimum environmental standards. The Mines minister agreed with that view. The company, as requested, submitted an amended proposal as a public environment report to address identified concerns. I received the assessment report for the EPA and considered it and McArthur River Mining’s Public Environmental Report and other submissions.
The company’s amended proposal has satisfied me that the river diversion, in engineering terms, will now not fail in a major flood event, as was the case with the original proposal under which there was a 20% to 50% chance of failure in any given year. However, I have advised the Minister for Mines and Energy that there are considerable environmental risks that I would like to be addressed in any mine management plan. My advice is clear: an expansion of the mine at McArthur River can go ahead; however, there are remaining outstanding concerns with the management of the project, and I do not think the risks identified with the expansion can properly be managed as MRM has outlined in their PER.
The main areas that I continue to have concerns regarding the way in which the issues would be, or were to be managed, are revegetation of the diversion channel; the risk of contaminants from the tailings dam; the overburden emplacement facility entering the groundwater and, therefore the river; and the social impact on the local community.
For this reason, I have advised the Mines minister that a very substantial security bond ought to be set including provisions for post-mine environmental management; properly researched management of the vegetation of the river diversion, including retaining the existing channel until vegetation of the diversion channel is shown to have worked; their arrangements for proper management of contaminants from both mine site and tailings facilities well beyond the projected life of the mine; a mine-funded monitoring and regulatory agency should be established; and a legal agreement or legislation to guarantee positive social and economic benefits for the Gulf community should be formulated.
I appreciate that some may argue that I have sold out the environment. Others will argue that I have set the bar too high. As I have said consistently, my decision is based on science and not emotion. The fact remains that the expanded McArthur River Mine will go ahead and the special environment of this region will not be compromised.
Had I given the go ahead of the mine six months ago on the basis of the original EIS and assessment report, I could not have said this with confidence. The physical, social and economic environment of the region would have been placed at great risk and long term risk to Territory taxpayers. I am now pleased to say that the company has worked with us and has amended their proposal sufficiently to address the major concerns.
I am keeping my promise to the people of Borroloola, and will shortly be travelling there to discuss these outcomes at a public meeting. In the final analysis, it is the long term wellbeing of the people, lands and seas of the Gulf region that is paramount.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her report. The McArthur River Mine has certainly been a topic of hot discussion this year especially from the time the minister announced that she would not support the open cut mine development.
I visited the McArthur River Mine in March, with the member for Nelson, and had a good inspection of it. I was quite impressed by McArthur River Mine management and the way they were handling the environmental issues the minister has talked about. All I can say is that it is about time they have been given the reassurance that they can go ahead. It is also very reassuring for all of the workers, the community, and the township of Borroloola that there will be this economic development for at least the next 25 years.
McArthur River Mine is a good corporate company and takes the considerations of the environment well into their care. The minister said she was concerned about the revegetation of the diversion of the river. My fears regarding that were allayed when I visited in March. All I can say is that it is about time the Minister for Mines and Energy put the stamp on this so that the McArthur River Mine can go ahead with full confidence.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I also thank the minister for her statement. I am not sure whether McArthur River will go ahead; they have to overcome the issues you put before them. Listening to the radio this morning, there is no guarantee the mine will go ahead. They might find it is too expensive to take on some of the conditions that have been put to them.
The minister’s report today has highlighted the confusion that surrounded this whole process. If one is to bring out the environmental impact statement from February 2006, you will see that it has been stamped by an EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. The latest environmental assessment report has a stamp on it saying EPA Program. Straightaway, if a person was to look at that, knowing full well that at the moment we have an interim board looking at the establishment of an EPA, they would really wonder what the government is doing. To me, this is part of the confusing way in which the government has gone about setting up an EPA.
The second point of confusion is that the government has said, and the minister stated in her media release in October last year, that an EPA will have a core function of making sure developments adhere to regulations. In other words, the EPA will be a regulator of a development. As well as that, you have the Department of Mines environmental section which has regulations too, and can check and monitor a particular mining operation.
In this case, the minister said: ‘Company, we want you not only to have those two forms of regulation, but we want you to pay for your own monitoring and regulatory agency’. That is over the top. That is why we have an EPA. That is why we have a Department of Mines with an environmental section. They do that job. I do not think it is the function that is required of mining development. The company will do its own monitoring, but it should not have to set up an agency as the minister is requiring.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, picking up quickly on the member for Nelson’s confusion, we have had a number of motions and we have discussed this at length. The only confusion appears to be with the member for Nelson.
I thank the shadow minister for her comments. The simple truth is we asked MRM to go back to the drawing board and get it right. Six months later, according to Professor Erskine, they achieved that. I said at the time, engineering the diversion for a 20% to 50% failure in any one year was not good enough. They have now re-engineered that to withstand a 500-year event. We moved on from this. That has been passed to my colleague, the Minister for Mines and Energy. There has been much criticism, and certainly robust debate. The Environment Protection Agency produced a professional PER; there has been a lot of work across those government agencies to get it right.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
_____________________
Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of Year 7 students from Marrara Christian College, accompanied by Ms Jennifer Edwards. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
____________________
Statement
Expression of Sympathy to
Family of Aidan Bott
Statement
Expression of Sympathy to
Family of Aidan Bott
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, before I begin my ministerial report, it is with deep regret I advise the House that the department has just informed my office of the passing of young Aidan Bott, the St Mary’s student involved in a tragic accident at his school.
On behalf of all members of this parliament, I pass on to his mother, Robyn, his father, his family, and his school the deepest condolences of this House, and assure them that our thoughts and prayers are with them at this very difficult time.
Members: Hear, hear!
_____________________
Education Week
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, this week is the start of Education Week, but the reality is every week is education week for this government. We have focused on education as a major priority since our first day in office. In that time, we have made great strides in the quality of education across the Northern Territory.
To cite highlights, we have: increased the education budget by 33% to $631m; employed 100 specialist teachers above formula; established the Teacher Registration Board; provided every classroom teacher with a laptop computer; provided students with a $50 back-to-school bonus; provided recurrent funding for schools to update equipment and teacher housing; doubled the level of inclusion support assistance funding; added 38 new positions for students with special needs; introduced accelerated literacy to 27 schools and 3300 students; provided secondary education to remote communities and achieved 32 Northern Territory Certificates of Education over the past three years; and built new schools at Emu Point and Manyallaluk and secondary facilities at Minyerri, Kalkarindji, Maningrida and Shepherdson College.
They are a few of the notable achievements, and that is before we talk about record levels of young people with apprenticeships and traineeships. We have achieved much in five years but we still have much ground to make up.
The next phase of improvements will see full implementation of the $42m Building Better Schools package; middle years schooling providing improved opportunities for our secondary students to compete with other states and territories; regionalisation - with leadership and specialist teachers returning to the regions; accelerated literacy extended to 100 schools and 10 000 students; secondary education further extended to remote communities; the establishment of a world-class distance education service; and extensive community engagement exercise across 15 large remote communities.
Other initiatives are: an equity-based staff formula; a revision of the Education Act; expansion of VET in Schools; and homelands schools education. The government is committed to quality education for all Territorians, no matter where they live.
Education Week is an appropriate time to thank our teachers for the job they do. I am not among those who criticise teachers - which seems to be an increasing national pastime these days. I think they do an excellent job, often in very difficult circumstances.
This week, we open nominations for our Teacher of Excellence Awards, an award system I am happy and proud to introduce. Nominations are called for:
Teacher of the Year, with a $1000 prize and certificate of recognition;
Early Career Teacher of the Year Award: nominees within their first three years of teaching;
Teaching Excellence Awards: four awards to successful teachers from urban, remote, primary and secondary sectors; and
School of the Year Award, with a $2500 prize for professional learning or resources, and a certificate of recognition for the school.
These awards are a fit and proper recognition of the efforts of teachers and schools and now hold an important place in the celebration of education by the government and community.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Speaker, at the outset, the opposition passes on its sincere condolences to the family and to the school, and particularly to the students. I trust that all the counselling and grief management will proceed well.
I welcome the minister’s statement. It is good that we stop and focus on education during Education Week. You have listed the initiatives to strengthen the profile and the purpose of education in our community. Yesterday’s debate on the need to value the teaching profession was interesting. At one time it was commonly referred to as a vocation. With the increasing pressures placed on the profession it is fitting that we stop to think how we can add value to the profession.
I welcome the comments made by the minister earlier on this session that there will be a focus on the curriculum. It is my view that if the curriculum was strengthened and focused it would provide greater means for a teacher to actually teach. Many teachers spend their time with a very broad and ambiguous curriculum, writing endless lesson plans and creating curriculum on a bit-by-bit basis. If the curriculum were focused and tightened, it would allow the teacher more time to actually teach and spend their energies on engaging the young people before them. If the curriculum were tightened, it would provide a greater means to actually measure the progress and performance, not only of teachers but of students. We should not be afraid of that.
I would like to talk more about performance pay. I believe there are teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty - after hours duties - and they should be recognised for that.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Blain, your time has expired.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I echo the remarks made by the minister and the member for Blain, and express sympathy to the family and the school concerned on what was a very tragic and sad accident.
Speaking to the minister’s statement, Education Week is the time for celebration and a time to highlight the good things that occur in our schools. The member for Blain mentioned the curriculum. Let us face it, it is too crowded, there is too much for teachers to take on. Let us go through it and concentrate on the core subjects that are important for our children to learn, and then add things that are important for Northern Territory schools to concentrate on. If you want to achieve anything in your time as minister for Education, you should look at streamlining the curriculum and get rid of all the unnecessary demands upon teachers.
Regarding compulsory uniforms, I would much rather you concentrate on children being at school than what children wear at school. You have talked about bringing in the provisions to address truancy. You have been saying it for a long time; perhaps you might soon announce the exact measures you are introducing to deal with that.
Lastly, when you are looking at rerouting the buses of Year 10s to senior secondary schools, would you please - in Alice Springs, in particular - make sure those buses provide a service to the town camps because there are still too many children not attending school, and still too many who have never attended school. Do not forget in this celebration of what is happening in town schools to concentrate a little on what happens in those one and two teacher remote schools, where teachers often battle in isolation from the big department, and are not rewarded for their tremendous efforts, often in very difficult circumstances. Yes, let us celebrate Education Week, and let us say well done to our teachers.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their comments. In relation to the curriculum, I have advised previously that the Northern Territory curriculum framework - which I happen to think has served the Territory and the system well in the time it has been in place - will undergo a significant review later this year. I will ensure that people like the member for Blain, and others who have an interest in education, have an opportunity to have their input into that review. I expect it would probably take over the succeeding 12 months.
I share the member for Braitling’s concern about attendance. However, I happen to believe that uniforms are part of that, in the sense of ownership and commitment that you will build, hopefully, more regular attendance, where attendance is an issue across our schools. I do not see them as unrelated.
In relation to town camps and buses, there is a body of work going on right now. As soon as there is an outcome to that, I will advise the member for Braitling.
Water Safety Month
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to advise the House of the success of Water Safety Month 2005. The Water Safety Month is again taking place in 2006, and an exciting range of activities are planned.
It is my pleasure to remind members that Water Safety Month is on, and I seek your support in promoting the activities in your electorate in an effort to keep the Northern Territory drowning rates down this Wet Season.
Water Safety Month is an initiative of the Northern Territory Water Safety Advisory Council, which was formed in 2002 as part of the NT government’s 5 Point Plan to Water Safety. The 5 Point Plan was developed to address the Northern Territory’s higher drowning statistics following a string of child drownings in the 1990s. At that time, the Northern Territory had the highest per capita drowning rate for children under five years old. This record was three times the national average, and one of the worst in the western world. The Northern Territory now leads the nation with no children under five years old having drowned since Easter 2002.
Water Safety Month promises to be very informative with a range of events planned for across the Northern Territory, including school-based training, fun days, and come and try events for swimming, canoeing and fishing will also be held around the Territory taking in regional and remote areas. In cooperation with Sun newspapers, a special promotional feature to highlight Water Safety Month will appear in the Darwin Sun and Palmerston Sun on Wednesday, 30 September. The Darwin Sun and Palmerston Sun are currently running a competition to reinforce Boof the Barra’s safety message. The prize is a night’s accommodation at Lake Bennett at the opening of Water Safety Month.
Water Safety Month 2006 begins on Sunday, 17 September, with what promises to be a fun filled day of activities at the Lake Bennett Wilderness Resort. The event launch includes an open water swim of either 1.2 km, or 5 km, coordinated by Swimming NT. Surf Lifesaving NT is providing a lake patrol to ensure the safety of all who attend the event, and free camping is available for those wishing to make it a family weekend away.
You may recall that last year the theme for Water Safety Month was ‘Swim Smart, Swim Safe’. In 2006, the theme is: ‘Safe Fun, Near Water’, which broadens the month away from just swimming to include all our beautiful aquatic environments, the beach, inland waterways, and, of course, swimming pools. The primary target market for Water Safety Month is Northern Territory primary schools. A purpose written book called Boof’s Book about Water Safety, which was introduced in 2005, has been extended to include three units of work which are mapped to the NT curriculum framework and offers teachers an easy and extremely useful resource for their classrooms. Water Safety Month is being taken to the regions with visits planned to Nhulunbuy, Maningrida, Daly River, Jabiru, Santa Teresa, and Areyonga.
I note that Water Safety Month 2006 has only been possible with the support of our water safety partners who have assisted with travel, promotion, and merchandise. I take this opportunity to extend a thank you to all the water safety partners who have joined with the department, namely GS Marine; Airnorth Airlines; Imparja Television; Palmerston and Darwin Sun newspapers; Swimming NT; Kids Safe; Help NT; the Jabiru Rag; Lake Bennett Wilderness Resort; the Darwin City Council; Centralian Advocate; Sunday Territorian; Royal Lifesaving NT; and Paul Hassett Real Estate and Auctioneers.
It is also pleasing to report that the Under five Voucher Program has been officially awarded to the Royal Lifesaving Society of the NT, and promotion of water safety awareness programs will begin in earnest during September and October as Territory families start to use their pools.
Madam Speaker, I acknowledge the work of the NT Water Safety Advisory Council which continues to offer valuable advice on water related issues, and all the hard work of staff at the Water Safety Unit in my department.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report. It is good to see government embark on a program to waterproof our children. Speaking particularly from a Central Australian perspective, it is good to waterproof our children who live inland where they are not normally exposed to the ocean as you would be if living on the coast. I applaud the government for this initiative.
The issue of back yard swimming pool fencing continues to be very troublesome. The minister says we need water safety, so he needs to ensure that resources are put in place to enable all back yard pools to be fenced according to the legislation the Chief Minister passed not so few years ago despite the hype and disaster.
There are not enough resources to ensure there are enough inspectors to inspect premises in a timely fashion. Over recent months, we have heard complaints from conveyancers and house vendors that they cannot get their pool fences inspected. That holds up completion of housing deals, and it is not appropriate where people’s livelihoods are concerned and people are selling or buying the most expensive investment of their lives.
Minister, by all means promote water safety, but your pool fencing legislation needs to be adequately enforced and policed by your staff. Make sure they get the resources to do it.
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex for his comments. Clearly, the swimming pool inspectors issue has become just that, and there are some reasons for that. Number one is that there has been a preference of the property owners to choose the option of the Australian modified standards rather than self-certification. Of course, that means there is an increase.
You should also be aware that there has been something like 20-odd pools per week coming onto the market. So clearly there is an increase in demand. We have made an announcement and will be putting on four new inspectors immediately. One has already started, two will start by September, and one will start in October. I have been advised that we will bring the time frame for inspection down to two to three weeks by Christmas time. I also give the assurance that I will continue to monitor this particular matter as it is important. We will receive timely reports from the department.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Reports noted.
MOTION
Note Paper - Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Salary, Allowances and Other Benefits to Magistrates, Determination No 1 of 2006
Note Paper - Remuneration Tribunal Report on the Salary, Allowances and Other Benefits to Magistrates, Determination No 1 of 2006
Continued from 29 March 2006.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, under the relevant legislation, which was the previously repealed Remuneration Tribunal Act and now the Assembly Members and Statutory Officers (Remuneration and Other Entitlements) Act 2006, the Remuneration Tribunal is required to, at least once a year, inquire into and determine the salary, allowances and other benefits that persons are entitled to receive in respect to their services as magistrates appointed under section 4(3) of the Magistrates Act.
The Remuneration Tribunal report dated 29 March 2006 was tabled in the Assembly on 29 March, and the period for disallowance expires on 23 August this year. When I tabled that report in March, I made a few comments and I would like to expand on those this morning.
The Remuneration Tribunal, in its report, deals with a range of issues including salary levels and the possibility of a salary nexus with judges, travelling allowance rates, superannuation, extended usage rights in respect of motor vehicles, and relocation expenses.
The accompanying Determination No 1 of 2006 dated 21 March, which is to take effect from 1 December 2005, adjusted some rates whilst generally continuing the entitlements previously determined. Those are salary and allowances, travel, vehicle and telephone, leave, superannuation and relocation expenses.
New salary rates for the various offices of magistrate were set, reflecting an increase of 4.1% and the rates for travel allowance and relocation expenses were also adjusted. I advised at the outset that the government does not propose disallowance of any part of the Remuneration Tribunal’s determination.
I now turn to a number of matters raised by the tribunal in its report. The first is the issue of the salary nexus. The tribunal expresses in its report the view that a nexus should be determined between the salaries of magistrates and judges, but there is doubt that this can or should be done without legislative amendment. The Magistrates Act contains a no-detriment provision, as does the Supreme Court Act. The tribunal suggests that setting, say, a 75% relativity could not lead to a future detrimental change for magistrates, except, crucially, in the case where new judges were appointed on a lower salary than the current ones.
This can happen because the federal remuneration nexus for Territory judges is set in individual determinations upon appointment, rather than by legislation or in a determination that covers all of them. Government is aware of this issue and continues to consider it but, as the tribunal itself notes, there are complexities which will take some time to resolve, along with considerable consultation with a range of parties.
Another point I would like to talk about is the travelling allowance rates. The tribunal notes its inability to reduce travelling allowance rates commensurate with reductions which might occur in respect of members of the judiciary in other jurisdictions due to the no detriment provision in the Magistrates Act. The government sought the advice of the Solicitor-General when this matter was first raised last year, 2005, and accepts that advice. The tribunal notes this interpretation will lead, and has led, to the standing of some travel allowance rates at higher levels than may be the case in other jurisdictions, but has sought to limit the impact of this by adopting the lower travelling allowance rates or conditions for subsequently appointed magistrates, and has done so on this occasion.
Madam Speaker, I thank the tribunal for its work, noting that each year the tribunal looks at those rates and the conditions applying to magistrates, reviews them and presents them to this House.
Ms CARNEY (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I will be brief, as was the Chief Minister. I am aware of the ongoing difficulties in relation to the nexus issue and the travel allowance, and have been informally lobbied sitting on aeroplanes and elsewhere in the Territory by various magistrates. I understand the difficulties, Chief Minister, and sincerely wish you well in working them all out, for reasons that are reasonably obvious.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for her comments. Yes, in any of those issues there has to be considerable consultation. They may not be easily sorted out, however, we are determined and we will continue those discussions.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Northern Territory Pastoral Industry
Northern Territory Pastoral Industry
Mr VATSKALIS (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to inform the House about a Territory success story – our Northern Territory pastoral industry.
The pastoral industry of the Northern Territory supports 1.8m cattle, which is about 6.4% of the Australian herd. Until the mid-1960s, the cattle industry was the backbone of the Northern Territory economy, although mining and tourism has since surpassed it. Nevertheless, it continues as a key and important contributor in our regional centres. In fact, the cattle industry is worth in excess of $300m to the Territory economy, or 1.5% of total GSP. It operates on 216 properties and directly employs over 1600 people throughout the Northern Territory.
Our cattle producers turn off 500 000 head a year, on 620 000 km2 of first class grazing country. That means that 55% of the land mass of the Territory is given over to the pastoral industry. The result is that more than 40% of Australia’s South-East Asian cattle exports come from the Territory, and last year saw 216 000 head of cattle go through the Port of Darwin.
How do we know all this? Earlier this year, at the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Conference, I launched the first full pastoral survey ever to have been undertaken in the Northern Territory. Regional surveys have been undertaken in the Barkly and Alice Springs regions in 1980 and the Victoria River District in 1982; however, a comprehensive Territory-wide survey of the pastoral industry had never been attempted. Now we have the results, we know a lot more about our pastoral industry, the regional differences that influence it, together with the views of those in the pastoral industry about the key challenges ahead.
Extension and Research Officers in my Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines undertook the survey, region by region. It involved 75% of the pastoralists in the Northern Territory. The results are interesting and very encouraging:
growth is anticipated in the carrying capacity of pastoral properties and it is estimated to increase by almost 30% over the next three years, and 54% by 2014. Most of this will be in the Top End;
The information gathered also allows us to more accurately focus our programs across the entire Territory, taking into account specific regional issues. The ‘one size fits all’ model simply will not work. The survey also revealed there is continued confidence in the future of the industry. This indicates that the Territory’s pastoral industry is strong, looking to the future, and performing well. It is just as well the Territory’s industry is focused for the future, as a number of forums held earlier this year, including the World Meat Conference, the Rockhampton Beef Week, and the Northern Territory Cattleman’s Association annual conference have indicated steady and solid increase in the demand for meat on a global scale.
With this increasing demand comes the opportunity for our Territory’s cattle industry to grow. At the same time, our competitors in the global market have significant potential to also increase their supply. Demand for beef is steadily increasing in Indonesia and Malaysia, being our two main Asian markets. It is expected that the change in consumer preferences to a higher protein-based diet and, hence, increased demand for beef, will be seen in other Asian countries such as Vietnam in the near future.
It has been stated that, whilst price will always be a factor, consumer confidence in food safety is an emerging issue. Whilst the most mature markets in Europe, America and Japan are already demanding a high degree of demonstrated food safety, this will be an increasing trend in markets supplied by the north Australian export trade, albeit at a different level. For example, Indonesia is free of foot and mouth disease, and Malaysia plans to eradicate foot and mouth disease by 2009. The Northern Territory is well placed to provide a quality product to international markets including the South-East Asian trade. We provide a large number of cattle from a relatively small producer base, backed up by a solid accountability system.
It is true the Northern Territory industry is unique in that the relatively small number of producers have combined into a cohesive and solid industry group with a common set of goals. It is this sort of approach that allows the industry to address significant challenges and issues in a coordinated and highly responsive way. The quality of Northern Territory cattle now is equivalent to and, in many cases, better than other suppliers to the South-East Asian export and interstate feedlot trades. This situation, combined with a joint industry and government commitment to accountability, give us a competitive marketing edge. Our distance to market is competitive in the South-East Asian sector, and the corporate pastoral houses within the Northern Territory have appropriate internal structures to enable them to competitively supply cattle to the eastern feedlot sector.
Part of this accountability is our ability to trace an animal from ‘gate to plate’. This government’s solid commitment is illustrated in the uptake of the National Livestock Identification System, or NLIS. NLIS is the national system for the identification and tracing of livestock, to provide confidence to consumers and markets that our food is safe, and to minimise the impact of a disease or food safety incident should it ever occur. In the Territory, there will be full implementation of NLIS from July 2007. A detailed plan has been developed in conjunction with the various pastoral industry sectors. It is a partnership between the Territory government and the Australian government, providing $1.57m over three years to assist in the implementation of NLIS. The Northern Territory spent $150 000 last financial year, $320 000 this financial year, and will provide a further $320 000 in 2007-08. As you can see, we are putting our money where our mouth is to ensure the Territory is in line with the best practices, both nationally and internationally. The implementation of NLIS in our pastoral industry will go a long way towards ensuring that we retain the ‘clean green image’ for Territory produce.
As I mentioned earlier, the Territory’s pastoral industry is doing very well and nothing shows this fact better than the record live cattle exports through the port of Darwin. Even with a ‘late’ and ‘wet’ finish holding up mustering and the movement of cattle, we bucked the trend of national declining exports. Around 216 000 head of live cattle were exported through the port of Darwin in 2005, with a vast majority of them being Territory cattle. To the end of July this year, 137 500 head of cattle have been exported, despite the late finish to the Wet Season. The bulk of our live cattle exports are still to Indonesia, and the signs are good for increased markets there.
The success of the Indonesian market does mean that all our eggs are in one basket. Government and industry is focused on exploring new market opportunities as part of a committed plan to developing our live export markets.
I would like to touch on one component of our plan: increased export to Sabah, with their government indicating an increase in cattle imports from 2000 head to 6000 head this year. This is to a great degree due to the work undertaken by Territory research officers, including exporting our expertise. A departmental officer is based in Sabah to assist with feedlots and abattoir technologies. This was achieved under a formal memorandum of understanding agreement centred on building their cattle industry, with the Territory now well placed as supplier of both cattle and buffalo. Add to this the fact that we are assisting the Malaysians with technical advice to allow them to expand their local feedlot industry, and it becomes clear that the future for the live cattle export sector of the Territory is bright.
Recent sales in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine, as a key part of the regional show circuit, have seen strong prices paid for cattle in the interstate export and breeder bull markets. This further indicates the strength of the industry across all sectors.
While I am on the subject of assisting our neighbours with their feedlots and cattle industries, I take the opportunity to answer a question often asked: why are there currently not commercial feedlots in the Territory? The answer is simple: successful cattle finishing feedlots are located near slaughter facilities, major markets and sources of cheap feed. None of these conditions currently apply in the Territory for finishing cattle in a feedlot. This means that a finishing cattle feedlot in the Territory is not an economic proposition. It is also why we are assisting our neighbours to establish them, because as the capacity to house and grow cattle increases so does the export market for our cattle. The success of our live cattle export is reliant on finishing cattle in an Indonesian feedlot in around 100 days, with weight gains of about 100 kg to 150 kg achieved.
My department is undertaking an experimental feedlot program at Katherine Research Station. This research program seeks to mimic or copy South-East Asian feedlots, to road test the Northern Territory product right up to the final consumer. It is all part of the plan to ensure we are providing what feedlot buyers are seeking. As a sideline, the results from local trials confirm that finishing feedlots in the Territory would operate at a loss - the cost of feed exceeds the value of the additional weight gain.
Another possible string to the industry’s bow is developing our local abattoir capacity. An independent report on the commercial viability of a multi-species abattoir was completed in October 2005. Following feedback from industry bodies, the report is to be made available to all potential abattoir investors. The report provides a serious overview of the potential risks and opportunities for the development of a multi-species abattoir in the Northern Territory; the type of information those investors are seeking. The abattoir business is a high volume and low margin industry. Experienced operators will be encouraged to take a good look at the potential in the Territory. For instance, a quota for 2250 tonne of buffalo meat into Europe still exists and the demand is high in Germany. These are niche market opportunities we could fill.
From the background work carried out by the Northern Territory Buffalo Industry Council and my department, a Buffalo Import Protocol has been agreed with the Indonesian and Commonwealth governments. The protocol now allows feeder and slaughter buffalo from Australia access to the Indonesian markets. Initial market intelligence has revealed a demand for these animals. The new protocol has the added bonus in that exports of buffalo destined for Malaysia can now be transhipped through Indonesian ports, particularly when larger vessels are available that carry out a two or three port discharge in the region. Prior to the new protocol, buffalo were prohibited from transiting Indonesia. There is now more opportunity for the Territory’s fledgling buffalo industry to grow.
Whilst the majority of the Northern Territory has received exceptionally positive seasonal conditions this year, areas to the east and south-east of Alice Springs are very dry. Of the 52 properties declared in drought last year, 11 of those were declared severely in drought this year, which enables them to access financial assistance from my department through the Northern Territory Drought Assistance arrangements. The financial assistance provided through this arrangement will ease some of the burden in undertaking proactive measures to combat drought as it arises.
While all this is happening, we are continuing with the raft of world-class research through my department’s research and development programs. Research in the pastoral sector underpins our extension services which enhance the sustainable development of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. Basically, our research falls into two areas: plants and animals. Our land-based research effort is focused on looking at the ability of the land to provide fodder for production on a sustainable basis. In addition, it looks at creating predictive tools to quantify available fodder under various seasonal conditions. A key outcome of this research is that there are smart ways that the Northern Territory pastoral industry can greatly increase its output without causing adverse environmental effects. The responses from the cattle industry survey show that the industry is ready to adopt these changes. Additionally, drought preparedness is a must and, with the endorsement of industry, is becoming a central part of research undertaken by my department.
On the animal side of the research, we are looking at the improved nutritional management and breeding performance of cattle, breeding to suit future market opportunities, and a range of animal welfare issues. The productivity improvements in our cattle herds over the last 20 years have been dramatic. Researchers believe that there are still major production gains possible, as well as changes that will safeguard the industry against future threats to our market and husbandry systems. We are also looking at improving buffalo reproduction and issues related to the handling and processing of livestock.
This research combines with my department’s extension services to address the government’s priorities in this sector. These are: innovative risk management; improving economic sustainability through improved natural resource usage; increased production efficiencies; and indigenous economic development through the Indigenous Pastoral Program. This program, known as IPP, has been achieving outstanding results. IPP is a multi-agency program which seeks to address the needs of industry for more viable pastoral land and labour, and the needs of indigenous people for sustainable economic and social developments. The program often involves the bringing of land back into production which is under the control of indigenous communities. IPP is a great example of cooperation achieved under this government and involves the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council, the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, the Indigenous Land Corporation, the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations and the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines.
In its first three years, the IPP has achieved outstanding results, including developing country for an additional 25 000 head of cattle. This year, more country has been brought into production for another 20 000 head of cattle. IPP has created jobs in indigenous communities with 18 seasonal stock camp positions and 25 short-term fencing positions filled by indigenous people throughout the Territory. It has also seen the establishment of an indigenous trainee scheme, initially training and placing a number of young men from the Barkly region last year, with nine people in jobs on corporate pastoral properties this year. It has also seen significant integration of external agencies into the program, including training support from FarmBis, funding for indigenous training from DEET, and additional funding for core employees of the IPP from the National Landcare Program. IPP is a pastoral success story. A new memorandum of understanding was signed on Freedom Day at Kalkarindji earlier this month. The new memorandum of understanding provides for this successful program to continue for another five years.
In this brief snapshot of the Territory’s pastoral industry, I trust that I have demonstrated the potential of our industry, highlighted that the industry is a major contributor to the Territory’s economy, and shown that this contribution is set to grow considerably in the future.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this statement.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Madam Speaker, I support the statement. The pastoral industry plays a significant role in my electorate, and there are dozens of stations throughout the electorate.
The survey the minister spoke about is the most comprehensive study undertaken thus far in the Territory. The study covered a whole range of areas: the size of stations; the infrastructure; the ownership arrangements, whether they were owner-managed or corporate stations; how many staff; where those staff came from; the number of cattle and the breakdown of those cattle on stations; what sort of turn off they have each year and where they sell those cattle; the main types of cattle enterprise; and cattle management - breeder management, the management of young stock, the nutritional arrangements and the animal health which has been undertaken on those areas.
One of the important parts is the grazing management and carrying capacity, which is a concern for people all across the Territory about the impact on the country, so the carrying capacity was also studied. Watering points were examined, including grazing strategies that each of the stations undertook.
Management is a key issue for the general public and the landholders, and the improved pastures strategy that these stations adopt was also studied. Natural resource management was a key aspect of this government’s focus and there was work done on native trees and the shrub build up, the approaches various properties have for tackling weeds and feral animals. They also looked at an area, which I will go into later, about the business arrangements for these cattle stations - their planning, their financial aspects, their staffing, information delivery, and general management.
I will give a bit of an overview. In the survey, they studied 149 producers in four regions. That only covered 71% of the stations within the Northern Territory. I believe it has been quoted that there are 216 properties across the Northern Territory. The average size of these stations is incredible - 3122 km2 - and the herd within that number is 1.4 million. If you extrapolate that out, you realise there are over two million cattle in the Northern Territory, which works out to be about ten beasts per human being in the Northern Territory, which is quite incredible.
The ownership arrangements are quite interesting as well: 32% of producers are owner/managers; 25% are privately owned and managed; and another 25% are company managers. Only 6% of the pastoral properties are indigenous, which is a bit of an anomaly as well, when something like 40% to 50% of the land within the Northern Territory is Aboriginal owned.
The majority of the properties in the Northern Territory, about 20%, have a herd size of 2000 to 5000, and 18% have a herd size of more than 20 000 head. The most common breeder herd size in the Northern Territory was between 2000 and 5000 head, which made up 22% of that total herd.
Some other interesting information produced from the report – it asked the producers about the major hurdles they faced in running their cattle enterprises. They did it across those four regions of Alice Springs, the Top End, Katherine and the Barkly. In Alice Springs, the most significant hurdle was staff availability. The pastoral industry, like so many other industries, is suffering from the mining boom and the drawing away of staff into much more lucrative careers within the mining industry. Time was seen as a factor as well with 53% of respondents indicating that. Distance from markets is a key aspect for Alice Springs being in the centre of Australia; getting their produce to market which, for Alice Springs, is the eastern and southern states.
Within the Top End, again, staff availability was high. Road access and erosion were the other two key areas. With the high rainfall in the Top End, erosion is quite an obvious aspect of that. So roads and easy and cheap access to markets were key areas. It would be nice to get some more help from the federal government with our beef roads so that we have a more viable market.
Within Katherine, staff availability was crucial. The cost of production, with petrol prices increasing and subsequent nutritional products, has an impact on your bottom line. That was a key aspect. Interestingly, the lack of cash flow came out fairly strong as well. Being able to upgrade your stations is one of those factors. Other key aspects were the seasons within the Barkly region, which were seen as one of the hurdles they faced.
Other information gathered was the factors which most affect the economic sustainability of these stations. Confined to Alice Springs was the seasons within Alice Springs; for Alice Springs it is the droughts which most affect them. Cattle prices, obviously, are something of concern right across the Northern Territory, as well as the staffing. If you cannot get staff, you cannot produce as many cattle. The Top End saw cattle prices as a problem, but the cost of production kept on coming home - those increasing prices and having to push prices up and affect their bottom line.
Market issues were a concern both in the Top End and the Katherine region. I will go in to those later. Natural resource management issues were very strong in the Katherine region. The Barkly region saw that the climate was a contributing factor along with staffing and the cattle prices.
That is a snapshot of a very thorough report, and an industry and government which is focused on improving this sector of our economy. It has been something that I have witnessed regarding this government’s approach to this sector.
Last year, I accompanied the minister on a trip to Pigeon Hole for their open day. The NT government is involved in the Pigeon Hole project at a certain level, but the joint venture is between Heytesbury Beef, which is owned by Janet Holmes Court, and Meat and Livestock Australia. It is a joint venture between them researching various areas. Other agencies which are supporting this project are the Northern Territory government, CSIRO, the University of Queensland, Tropical Savannah CRC, and the Victoria River District Conservation Association. They were all represented at a fantastic roll-up. I was extremely impressed with the diversity of the people who attend. That project is covering five key areas of research and development. They are conducting a range of experiments across that station. The station has been very generous in providing their station and assuming some of the in-kind costs involved. They are getting a great deal of valuable information back to them.
The first of the five key areas is optimising the levels of pasture utilisation. That covered plant and plot scale pasture utilisation research, paddock size research, and utilisation and grazing distribution on a commercial scale for those very large stations.
The second strategy involves achieving uniform grazing distribution. We had an interesting presentation where the cattle had GPS collars attached to them and were plotted every half hour or hour, day and night. You could see where they disappear to at night, and where they move around. You could see that a fairly large paddock only gets used in small corridors or corners where cattle drift out from the bores. That was a very interesting experiment, and the outcomes informed many of the producers who attended. Within that strategy, there is the impact of paddock size, grazing radius, and the number of cattle per watering point, as well as the impact of multiple watering points, and strategies to reduce the patch grazing within these commercial paddocks. The outcome of that was that more watering points produced more uniformed grazing across the paddock so you were able to hold more cattle on those properties.
The third research area was the alternative grazing system, which was comparing alternative systems to conventional ones. This included set stocking, consistent pasture utilisation, strategic spelling, and cell grazing. One of the key aspects of the research was conservation biodiversity. Janet Holmes Court, who was at the field day, gave a lovely speech and that was her key point. She talked about her kids and her grandkids - I think she said she had some of the grandkids there. She saw them taking over the station. She wanted the station to be in as good, if not better condition, when those kids took up the reins. The experiments on biodiversity and conservation are quite interesting and producing outcomes which will go towards the way the station is managed.
The last area was the commercial evaluation looking at the more efficient use of infrastructure design. Items such as new paddocks, fence lines, and yards cost money, so it was about looking at the most efficient and the cheapest way of getting those outcomes. That was last year, and I was very happy to be along for that one.
The last one I went to was only a couple of weeks ago and this emphasises the continual research and development which is going on within the Northern Territory government and the pastoral sector to improve the product we have in the Northern Territory. The Victoria River Research Station is situated on Kidman Springs, a lovely station set on a hill in the middle of the VRD. It is a lovely drive down there.
The day was hosted by a range of speakers. I firstly thank Tony Moran, the station manager, for his hospitality and his staff’s hospitality. They provided all the meals and the smokos. It was a lovely couple of days for those people who came along. Meat and Livestock Australia play a key role in this industry and certainly with the relationship they have with the Northern Territory government. It was good to have representatives along there for the day.
John Carroll took the opportunity to launch their business plan at the day. It was an unusual business plan in that it was pocket sized and it was very well thought out. Many departmental business plans are produced and sit on shelves. This one fits in your pocket so any one of the DPI staff can pull it out and say: ‘Where are we going today?’ I believe pocket size business plans are the way of the future. Thanks to John for coming down and opening that day.
These days are very informative and build up the capacity of the industry within the Territory. One of the most interesting presentations was by Don Nicol. He is an international consultant on breeding and he provided some perspective on the industry for Australia. I have just described how we perhaps have two million head of cattle in the Territory and we are obviously trying to improve the quality of the turn off we get into those markets within Asia. Don Nicol talked about Brazil. Brazil currently has a cattle heard of 180 million and that is expected to grow to 200 million. Luckily for us, their primary market is America and Europe. They have knocked Australia off as the number one global beef exporter. So we are not only competing with the quality, but we are looking out for those competitors who are considerably larger than us, some 100 times. We have to be quite careful in what we do within Australia.
One of the problems that Brazil has is the quality of their beef. They supposedly have some issues around foot and mouth prevention. The description we got from Don was that the safeguards associated with that are not very stringent, so whilst they are a big competitor, they still do not have their quality and their safeguards in place. That is something that we need to be looking at. He talked about their breed of cattle over there, which was Zebu Nelore and about hybrid vigour. That was one of the most informative sessions we had about the breeding of cattle and getting the most out of them.
Don spoke a bit about the future of DNA and the gene revolution, about how you will not go to the market and look at a cow any more; you will actually ask for its DNA profile and determine the purchase of a bull or a cow based on that DNA profile. It is something that …
Mr Wood: We could bring that in for the next election.
Mr KNIGHT: Well, you might be in trouble, member for Nelson.
It is an opportunity for the Northern Territory. Our department should be looking at establishing a DNA testing industry within the Northern Territory. Currently, it is cost-prohibitive. Results are sent south for analysis. We could look at establishing an industry here with the size of our herds. Certainly, I believe it is the way of the future.
One of the other presentations was by some consultants – I believe they were from country New South Wales - talking about succession planning. This is something that apparently every family cringes about discussing; however, another speaker, young Pat Underwood, was very interested in discussing. Pat had his parents there from Riveren Station, and I think he was quite delighted that the subject of succession planning came up for his own sake! It is about professionalism, the long term future of these stations, and about planning for the future. What happens to that next generation? When do they assume the roles? When does the old fella or the old lady step out of running the station and the son or the daughter come through? What are the ownership arrangements? There are not too many superannuation packages offered on those stations.
I will just mention some of the other areas that were talked about on these field days run by the minister’s department. There was much work done on incorporating scientific and local knowledge to protect the future of a rangeland with grassland management. This was presented by Mark Tarrant, the Grazing Land Management Officer at the Katherine Research Station. They are offering workshops for producers in this area. The workshops provide an understanding of the ecosystems, soil types and plants that the pastoralists can use as a tool. They attend the workshop, learn the information, and return to their station to apply it. The research station can work with them in applying those lessons on their own station. It produces real outcomes for their own stations rather than just being a broad study. That covers managing grazing, managing with fire, balancing trees and grasses, pasture improvement, and managing weeds.
One of the other new initiatives – I believe it is new - was the BOSSS system, the Bovine Syndromic Surveillance System. It was a great presentation from Sue Fitzpatrick, who is with Animal Biosecurity at Katherine Research Station. Basically, with the outbreaks of any sort of disease or suspected disease, you are able to log onto the Internet, which a lot of these stations now have, and report, or see digital photos so you can diagnose how an animal died. That information is protected, your identity is protected. It is something that is improving this industry; it is about better protection, safeguards on disease, and providing more information to producers. The government is supportive of greater professionalism in the industry.
Weeds is a key topic at all these field days. The Weeds Branch gave a presentation on what they are currently doing across the Northern Territory. They have developed a Northern Territory weed risk assessment process, and are reviewing the Northern Territory Weed Management Strategy. They are developing an individual weed species plan, and releasing an updated version of the Weeds Toolkit CD. They have also developed the NT Weed Control Handbook and are producing the Weed All About It newsletter, which keeps producers informed about what is happening with weed production.
They have also developed a weed spatial database and data collection techniques, and research and development of integrated control management. Within the Katherine region itself, although it was reported earlier on, the Katherine Regional Weed ID desk and the continued support of the range of programs through the community groups as well. Weeds ranked highly in the survey on issues associated with managing a station. Obviously, if your station succumbs to weeds you lose productive areas of your station, and you also are up for a lot of costs to tackle that problem as it grows each year.
It was great to have the Meat and Livestock Association present. The MLA does a great job within Australia, and also outside Australia. As I indicated, Pat Underwood was there to talk about a whole range of issues, and about what they are doing across Asia. Pat looks after the Asia Pacific area. They are doing a considerable amount of work in Malaysia and other countries on issues of animal welfare and accessing markets for our producers. It was a great presentation.
Other areas that were covered, and this might interest the member for Nelson, was why people analysis can be useful, that was quite informative and I might even table that for you, member for Nelson. I will cover a few of the remaining topics. Improving the herd profitability in the Victoria River district; more work being done by the Katherine Research Station. Other initiatives included the relative breeding herd efficiency of adult Charolais cross Brahman and Brahman cow grazing on native pasture in the Victoria River district. Those producers in the Victoria River district had more research provided to them.
Another research area from Berrimah Research Station was improving heifer fertility in the Northern Territory. One of the last studies presented at the field day was the multi-breed composite and Brahman improvement project.
These field days are another sign of the government’s support for this industry. The producers I speak to at these days appreciate that. I believe the survey will go a long way in enabling them to get a snapshot of where the industry is at the moment and where it needs to go.
I go back to the comments of Don Nicol about ‘we have to get better’. We have some very big competitors, and we have to look at our place in the world and how we can improve things.
I will make a couple of final comments on the indigenous pastoral production area. The minister has given an outline of who is involved. From my perspective, this is a key area of regional development. Many Aboriginal people live on outstations and are surrounded by cattle stations - certainly in the VRD area. Job opportunities are on those stations, and their fathers and their grandfathers worked on them and talk very proudly of their life on those stations. The young guys I have seen move into Newry, Auvergne, and Argyle certainly enjoy the work. They come back with a greater sense of pride, and it is incumbent on us to continue along those lines. It is incumbent on us to work cooperatively with the Northern Land Council and traditional owners to open up more Aboriginal land for cattle production or other production. This will be welcomed and I will be moving down that line.
Madam Speaker, I support this statement. I thank the minister for it. His department is doing a fantastic job. The research that has been done through the survey is a benchmark as to where we go from here with that information. I thank the minister and I support the statement.
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of the Marrara Christian College Year 7 students. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement. It is always a relief to hear something about our primary industry as it is one area of the economy the government tends to deal with as a poor cousin.
I was interested to hear about the work going on in relation to the pastoral survey: the demands for beef; the quality of our beef; the National Livestock Identification System; looking for new market opportunities to move away from our heavy reliance on Indonesia; the feedlot experiments in Katherine; a possible multi-species abattoir, which I would have hoped the minister could have expanded on; buffalo exports; fodder production; improved nutritional management; animal welfare issues; the Indigenous Pastoral Program; bringing some Aboriginal land back into production; and the indigenous training scheme. That is all very wonderful.
We know that our live cattle is in a healthy state; however, surely when the minister makes such a short statement on the pastoral industry, you would have to ask whether something is missing. The member for Daly gave a very interesting recitation about the pastoral industry. He went for his full-time allocation. This is a very short statement and on a very important industry. I ask: what is missing? What areas could you have covered to make this a fuller statement?
This is important, for sure, but the pastoral industry is a big industry that has many issues - for instance, roads. We know that roads are a major problem with cattle, especially with moving live cattle around the Northern Territory. It would have been good to hear what the government’s policy is. I know roads are not your specific portfolio but, if we are going to talk about the pastoral industry, we cannot just keep it in little compartments and say: ‘That is not mine; that is someone else’s’. In presenting this statement, it would have been much better if it had contained some of those issues. Tell us how much the NT government is spending this financial year; how much the Commonwealth government is spending; where it is being spent; and how these roads will be maintained. It would be good to hear what is happening in those areas.
A question that could follow on from road funding is: what is the government’s policy on local government on pastoral properties? It is an issue I know that is prominent at the present time and has been for a while. I know the NT Cattlemen’s Association is opposed to local government. I spoke to Stuart Kenny the other day. It is not that it is new to me, but it is an issue that is current. The Cattlemen’s Association say it will cost station owners too much money to have to pay rates, and will mean some people will lose their jobs. I question again: will local government attract road maintenance from the government? My argument to the association is that if you want money for continual maintenance of roads, you will only get that through some form of local government incorporation.
It may not be the type of local government we know in other parts of the Territory; it might be something else. It would be great to have the minister talking about those issues. Maybe you do not have a policy yet; maybe you are looking at various options. That is all part of a good debate about the pastoral industry. Is there another way to attract Commonwealth funds? I know we attract Commonwealth funds sometimes for one-off programs to do this bit of road and that bit of road. That is no good if you do not have a continual backup of maintenance funding. I think that would have made this statement more fulsome.
What is happening on the Douglas Daly? The Douglas Daly has been a controversial area for the last five or six years, but nothing is happening. When I say nothing is happening, I know that people are doing reports on the water, and biodiversity, and reports on this and reports on that. However, it is sort of sitting there and many people are asking: ‘Where are we going?’ I heard a report from Bill Freeland on the Country Hour the other day. I did not catch it all, but I heard part of it. He was being interviewed about some of the issues on the Douglas Daly. I would like to know what is happening with the issues of land clearing and water allocation. Where are we going? Does the government have a program which will develop the Douglas Daly? It is something that is important, because the Douglas Daly is not only cattle; it is also fodder and other crops. I would have liked the minister to have expanded on those areas that are important.
The member for Daly spoke about research stations, especially the Victoria River Research Station. That event happened to clash with a few Seniors Week matters I had to deal with in my electorate. I would have liked to have gone down to see what is going on. Kidman Springs is close to my heart because my daughter worked there for some years. It would have been good to hear the government’s policy on the future of these research stations. Where are they going? What is their focus? How many research stations do we have in the Northern Territory which deal with cattle and pasture matters? That would have been important. Give us some reports on how the government is going on these matters so that we are not just sitting here thinking everything is nice and rosy. Well, it might be nice and rosy. The report could have been more fulsome.
There are other issues that involve the pastoral industry: education for children who work on those cattle stations or in the outback area. How is the Rural College going? Is the Rural College providing enough people for employment on our cattle stations? A report in that area would have been good. Energy – now, that must be hitting every cattle station very hard with the price of fuel going up and up and up. What effect does that have on the pastoral industry, for transport, for running the homesteads, and all the work that is done around a cattle station? This report on the pastoral industry does not touch on the cost of energy and the alternatives, and how we are helping the pastoral industry overcome some of those issues. It is an area that we missed.
Employment prospects: what are the employment prospects in the industry? Are they gone from just a ringer who used to turn up for the Dry Season and get kicked out for the Wet Season to more full-time employment? I know with some of the big pastoral companies these days you can have a career in the pastoral industry, rather than just a Dry Season job and a Wet Season to spend all the money you earned in the Dry Season. Let us know how that is changing.
Who are the big people in the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory? I gather about three quarters of the pastoral properties in the Northern Territory are owned by companies and the rest are owned by families. It would be good to hear where we are going regarding ownership of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. Who are the big players? What are they saying about the future of the Northern Territory’s pastoral industry? Some of those issues were just lost in the dust and they should have been included in today’s statement.
The Ord River: I know we discussed other things but it would have been good to hear what its role is in relation to the pastoral industry. Is it going to be an area for irrigated pastures? Are we going to be using it for fattening cattle, or is it not going to be part of the pastoral industry at all? It would be nice to hear about that.
What is the government’s view on the future of gamba grass? I know that you have said: ‘It is great feed’; and the person next door to you would be saying: ‘Oh no, it is a terrible weed’. We have a major issue with gamba grass. I know it is important fodder for the agriculture industry, but as I have said to many people, if you really believe in sustainable agriculture, if that is what the focus of this government is, someone else cannot pay for controlling a weed from pastoral properties. It is not sustainable if people in Litchfield Shire have to pay to kill gamba grass that that has come from the introduction of a fodder crop for the pastoral industry. It is a difficult debate, and one that we need to talk about more often in here. On the one hand we are spending money through Greening Australia - we have the war on gamba - on the other hand, we have the pastoral industry saying it is still important to have it because it is a great feed for fattening cattle.
Minister, you also only touched lightly on cattle on Aboriginal land. For a long time, when Aboriginal interests took back pastoral properties, many parts of properties died away as regards production of cattle. Now that is coming back into focus. You mentioned the agreement between the land councils and the cattlemen’s association, and that is good. It would be good to hear which Aboriginal stations are starting to produce cattle. Give us the good story from that point of view, and how you are trying to encourage other people to use cattle to help their livelihoods and the local economy.
I am sure there are many more issues. I have touched on those matters while I was thinking about this issue last night. It is no good coming out with bits and pieces. We need to the look at the broader pastoral industry. Do not tell us the wonderful stories, the ones that people want to hear; talk about the controversial issues that we do not have answers for yet. We need to know what they are. I am not knocking you because you have a problem with gamba; I am saying let us hear what government has to say. This is a House of debate, and it is nice to hear about those issues.
This statement has been covered in aftershave to make it smell nice, but if you dig below the surface, you realise the statement is like beauty – only skin deep - and the real statement that should have been read today has been hidden from view. Surely, if we want a good and productive debate on the pastoral industry, we need to be brave enough to throw in the difficult issues with the easy ones.
Mr HENDERSON (Business and Economic Development): Madam Speaker, I support the quality statement by my colleague, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries. Ministerial statements are all about putting information out to interested parties about what the government is doing in specific policy areas and initiatives that government is working on. They do not have to be a tome of War and Peace.
Mr Wood: I did not say that.
Mr HENDERSON: Member for Nelson, if the thing was this thick, no one would read it. I congratulate the minister on his statement.
I know the current Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries took over after I had carriage of the portfolio for a few years. My colleague is a very enthusiastic and hard-working minister who has won the respect of the pastoral industry in his time as minister for this portfolio.
I am Minister for Regional Development and Indigenous Economic Development in this government, and the pastoral industry is a very significant regional industry for the Territory. It creates significant opportunities for increased indigenous employment in the industry, and increased opportunities for indigenous people to participate in the industry from a land ownership point of view, owning their own pastoral properties and becoming part of the industry as owners and operators as well as having people employed in the industry. It creates many exciting opportunities and there is much exciting work happening at the moment.
The value of the industry, as my colleague stated, is worth in excess of $300m to the Territory economy. That is the direct contribution. Obviously, the indirect contribution, the spin-offs from that $300m, is significantly more, and employs over 1600 people throughout the Territory. As an industry that is an employer of people directly in our regional communities, it is a significant industry. There are many more opportunities that we can gain from further growing that particular industry.
It is interesting that the department has conducted a significant pastoral survey, where they have talked to pastoralists - whether they are family properties, or parts of big corporations and corporate properties - about their future growth plans. There is an enormous amount of work done through research in the department of Primary Industry to improve productivity of the land, and people are taking that research and working it through their own business plans. It is fantastic to see that pastoralists are looking to increase the carrying capacity of their properties by almost 30% over the next three years, and 54% by 2014, most of this in the Top End.
That is being done in a sustainable way. That is being done as a result of the research that has been conducted by the department on the sustainable use of that land, the regrowth of the feed for the cattle, the watering that is required at different watering points, and technology to improve watering points around cattle properties. All of that research is being done and it is following through to increased investment in the region and increased productivity, and, of course, increased value for the Gross Domestic Product of our region.
It is good to see the pastoralists of the Northern Territory have confidence in the industry. They have confidence in the Northern Territory. The prices those properties are exchanging hands for at the moment are really quite extraordinary. It is a huge vote of confidence from the pastoral industry and the Cattlemen’s Association, as the peak body for that industry, in the Northern Territory. As Minister for Regional Development, I am very pleased to see that.
I know my colleague has been working with the industry in the region trying to promote further exports from the Northern Territory. I believe the government and the industry has to focus on diversifying the number of countries to which we export cattle. The vast majority of our cattle go to a single market in Indonesia and, for whatever reason, whether it is economic, or as a result of the financial markets or political issues that occur from time to time between Australia and Indonesia, there are risk factors there that go to the heart of our export industry. We certainly need to be looking at diversifying our live export marketplace as part of an overall risk management plan for the industry.
My colleague is working hard on that. He has just come back from Sabah. Much work has gone on over many years in Sabah in encouraging Sabah to import more cattle from the Northern Territory. The minister’s statement says we are going to increase our live cattle exports to Sabah from 2000 head to 6000 head this year. I am aware from my time in that portfolio, and also visiting Sabah, that a number of the countries in the region are looking at other opportunities for the cattle industry, not just an opportunity to purchase beef cattle from the Northern Territory for food and protein for the people of the countries in the region. There is an increasing focus on how they value-add to those cattle in the areas of animal husbandry opportunities, feedlot opportunities, abattoir opportunities for processing the meat and ensuring that all parts of the animal are used, and using the cattle as part of a poverty alleviation program.
There was a trial in Sabah - I do not know if there has been an extension of that - where cattle were bought at a younger age and not as well developed to be allocated to small farmers, not put into feedlots, where they could breed from the cattle, fatten the cattle up and then sell those cattle through the abattoirs for processing, therefore adding value and helping the poorer people in the region gain some income from their husbandry of the animals before processing. It was very inspiring and a unique way of looking at value adding. The Asian Development Bank was looking at financing those particular trials. It is that type of innovation where it is win/win in the trading situation; both parties can win from the contractual arrangements which are going to strengthen and deepen the trade in our region.
It is good to see that the minister is pushing full steam ahead on this and that we have an officer from the department in Sabah at the moment helping them with the design and construction of abattoir and feedlot facilities.
This government continues to work with the industry to diversify markets and add value to our product in the region. When we do have price shocks in currency fluctuations, when there are political issues between countries that arise from time to time, if both sides are winning from the trade that is taking place, that trade should continue. It is good to see that that is moving on.
The member for Nelson spoke about roads. I am sure my colleague will respond to some of his concerns regarding why roads were not mentioned in this statement. We have had this debate over and over again in this parliament. I recall in the last sittings of parliament, this House agreed unanimously to the terms of a motion which was forwarded to the federal government which recognised that all parties in this House - government, opposition and Independent members - recognised that the Commonwealth was failing in its responsibilities to adequately fund the Northern Territory for roads, particularly for unincorporated roads which, in this case, were most of those beef cattle roads the member for Nelson was talking about. This House identified that this was, predominantly, a Commonwealth government responsibility and that, as a result of the unincorporated status of local government councils in our remote parts of the Territory and the funding formulas used by the Commonwealth, the Territory was being disadvantaged. This House recognised that and the member for Nelson was part of that motion.
I am advised with a great deal of confidence that the former minister for Roads, Ian Campbell, promised the Northern Territory cattlemen prior to the last federal election that, if the Liberal National Party Coalition were re-elected, there would be a significant injection of $40m into our cattle roads across the Northern Territory. The election came, went, the federal National Party and Liberal Party Coalition was returned, and that promise, like a number of other promises that were made - probably a non-core promise - was not honoured by the good Senator. Again, the Territory government, the cattlemen’s association and the pastoral industry misses out on its fair share of Commonwealth funding. I urge the member for Nelson, whenever he gets the opportunity and meets with federal ministers, to get into them about the total neglect that the Territory has in funding for these remote roads. The Commonwealth, with a $13bn surplus, should certainly be stepping up to the mark.
The Territory government made election commitments of increased funding for our beef roads. I do not have the names of the roads and what we spent on them, but I am sure my colleague will respond when he sums up in this statement. However, I believe we committed and met our election commitments of an additional $10m into our beef roads. We are doing our part; it is just a pity that the Commonwealth government broke its promise and is not playing its part in its responsibilities.
I will now talk about what has been happening in indigenous employment in the industry. This is one of the great success stories and gives us a path and a way forward in partnerships between industry, government, land councils representing traditional owners, and people living in the remote parts of the Northern Territory, to get people into employment. It is fantastic to see the change that is occurring across the Northern Territory in regard to everybody coming together to improve economic outcomes, enterprise outcomes and job outcomes in our remote parts of the Territory.
I refer members to the Indigenous Economic Development Strategy which was launched by the Chief Minister in May 2005, auspiced by the previous Minister for Community Development, Jack Ah Kit. This is one of the best strategic documents the government has produced; a focused development strategy across 13 sectors, where the government and indigenous people believe there are opportunities for enterprise creation and job creation. One of those sectors is the pastoral sector and the Indigenous Pastoral Program has been borne out of this strategy. The aims of the strategy in the pastoral sector are to increase the amount of indigenous land used for pastoral purposes; increase employment within the industry through sector specific training; and indigenous businesses to resume control over time of pastoral operations on their land. It is very pleasing to see that significant strides have been made in regard to that strategy.
The Indigenous Pastoral Program started off as a multi-agency partnership between the Northern and Central Land Councils, DBERD and the Indigenous Land Corporation. In fact, the Indigenous Land Corporation had a board meeting in Darwin last week. I invited Shirley McPherson, the chair, and other board members to meet in Darwin at Parliament House. I had the opportunity to speak with the board and pledge my support to work with the Indigenous Land Corporation in advancing a number of projects in the Northern Territory. They have been a key part of this project from day one. I thank them for supporting this from day one and the work that they are doing now and ongoing with the government and with industry as we move forward.
We have seen an additional 15 000 head of cattle stocked on Aboriginal land since February 2003. I see that number is now up to an additional 10 000 - 25 000 head of cattle - and with aspirations of another 20 000 head to be stocked on Aboriginal land. That is a huge success story and credit to everybody involved.
Since the original program ran for two years, we had a very auspicious occasion at Kalkarindji just last week celebrating the Wave Hill walk-off where the cattlemen’s association has now joined and is part of the Indigenous Pastoral Program in a formal way, with an MOU, and also the Commonwealth government’s Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has also joined. Who would have thought five or six years ago that the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association would enter into a formal agreement with the land councils to develop the industry in the Northern Territory? The political climate was certainly poisonous. The Territory is moving on and we are moving ahead. We are becoming more mature and we are finally working out that the future for the Territory is everybody working together rather than playing with politics.
I would like to read from the media release put out by David Ross, Director of the Central Land Council. David said in his media release that the signing of a memorandum of understanding for the Indigenous Pastoral Program will significantly boost Aboriginal employment and economic development. He went on to say that these are exactly the types of programs we need to build the bush and get Aboriginal people back into work and on to the path for a better future. I am just selectively reading from this media release because I believe this is historical in terms of the relationship between Aboriginal people and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, David Ross went on to say that Aboriginal people in the bush and the entire Territory pastoral industry will benefit from it. Mr Ross said it was significant that the NT Cattlemen’s Association had joined the partnership:
‘I think this is the first time that we have ever stood together in a spirit of cooperation and equity with the other significant stakeholders in land in the Northern Territory – the pastoralists;’ he said.
‘The CLC has moved to a focus on land management and the NT Cattlemen's Association, who were often our most trenchant and hardened foes, have now recognised that land rights are here to stay.
…
‘We all recognise that there is much to be gained by working for a common purpose and much to be lost if we do not,’ Mr Ross said.
As I said earlier, Madam Speaker, regional development is a path for a way forward, a memorandum of understanding between industry, the landholders through the land councils, and the Northern Territory and Commonwealth governments. We have our part to play in employment and training, and education and infrastructure. The Commonwealth has its part to play in infrastructure and training dollars. Aboriginal people are obviously the key to all of this in terms of their willingness and enthusiasm to participate. The key to this is having the industry on board and industry wanting to work with indigenous people to create the opportunities not only for investment and enterprise, but for jobs.
I congratulate the minister on his statement. We are looking at very exciting times. As my colleague, the member for Daly, said, for many of those young Aboriginal people to go through the training programs and get a job that pays real wages is something that we all take for granted in our urban centres. For many Aboriginal people in the bush, that aspiration has never really been a reality for them for many, many years. This is a start. I congratulate everyone involved. This is a government that will keep pursuing similar partnerships for even better outcomes into the future.
Debate suspended.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Parliament House public program visitors. On behalf of all members, I extend to you a very warm welcome.
Members: Hear, hear!
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have given my personal leave to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure to make a personal explanation.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Madam Speaker, last Thursday, in relation to a question on builders’ licensing, I stated that approximately 300 people had been licensed as restricted builders, and approximately 100 people or companies had been licensed as unrestricted builders. In fact, the figures are a total of approximately 300 individuals and approximately 140 companies that have received builders’ licensing to that date over both categories.
MOTION
Note Statement - Northern Territory
Pastoral Industry
Note Statement - Northern Territory
Pastoral Industry
Continued from earlier this day.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on the pastoral industry. In recent weeks, people in the Northern Territory have had the opportunity to come together to celebrate a very significant event south west of Darwin at Kalkarindji. It is to this particular area that I would like to refer in my response.
Mrs BRAHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker. What statement are we speaking to? I thought we were still speaking on primary industry.
Madam SPEAKER: We are.
Mrs BRAHAM: I thought you were talking about arts.
Ms McCARTHY: No.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Continue, please.
Ms McCARTHY: Thank you, Madam Speaker. In the minister’s statement, he made reference to 1.8 million cattle, or about 6.4% of the Australian herd, being in the Northern Territory. Until the mid 1960s, the cattle industry was the backbone of the Northern Territory economy, although mining and tourism have since surpassed it. It is this to which I would like to make reference in my response to the minister’s statement. Yes, indeed, the cattle industry was certainly the backbone of the Northern Territory.
In recent weeks we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Wave Hill walk-off, where it was the Aboriginal people who decided that, for their own rights and for their own reasons, they needed to make a stand.
In the lead up to those celebrations, there was much written about the upcoming celebrations at Kalkarindji and the reasons why Vincent Lingiari led his people off Wave Hill against what he saw as injustices in the treatment of Aboriginal people under Lord Vestey at that time. In those articles and the media coverage, there were many questions raised about just what had been achieved and to where did the people of Kalkarindji walk when they left Wave Hill Station.
Many people have questioned just where the cattle industry is, especially when there was such a huge participation of Aboriginal people in the cattle industry. It is here that I would like to focus on our government’s intent on encouraging indigenous participation back into the cattle industry. Those were questions that were significantly and rightly raised when we look back in history and try to judge where we have come and where we are going. Those questions that were raised are questions that we as a government look at. With the minister’s push in encouraging indigenous participation in the cattle industry, it was an issue that was discussed at Kalkarindji, that brought together the land councils, the cattle industry and the government to focus on getting indigenous participation back into the cattle industry.
In the lead-up to when those questions were raised, I would like to address some of those issues about the questions of the walk off, and why people felt it was important to walk off Wave Hill, and whether walking off has affected those descendants who believe that the cattle industry is still very much a part of their life. That belief is still fundamental and still exists in our communities across the Northern Territory. We only have to look at the many rodeos that take place in the Northern Territory and the many young men and women from these Aboriginal communities who take part in the rodeos. Indeed, we have some people from around the Bulman area and even in the Gulf region who are very strong and very passionate about the cattle industry competing in rodeo events.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, it appears that this time clock is stuck on 20 minutes, but this one is working. There is something about the chairs and the clocks today. Please refer to that clock.
Ms McCARTHY: Madam Speaker, throughout Arnhem, I have a number of cattle stations, from McMinn Station, Big River Station, Lonesome Dove, Flying Fox, Moroak and Elsey Station, and even on the Central Arnhem Road Mountain Valley with Ben and Tracey Tapp who I have been able to spend some time with, talking to them about the industry, some of the concerns and some of the good things that are happening.
In reference to the indigenous participation as our government has been focused on, especially with what was announced at Kalkarindji, we know that Aboriginal people have a strong affinity to the land and want to be able to achieve an economic outcome with land and on land and the businesses they would like to get into.
I commend the minister and his staff for wanting to pursue that wholeheartedly and vigorously with the land councils, both the Northern and Central Land Council and, indeed, with the cattlemen’s association. I believe that when you take the time out to talk to members of the cattlemen’s association, and especially in my conversations with people throughout Arnhem and the many stations that I have in Arnhem Land, there is a deep desire to learn from the history of Wave Hill, but to acknowledge that we do need to look at things in a new direction now and for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to come together, working on the land, respecting the land for the betterment of all citizens of this country and, indeed, the Northern Territory, and how we can work together to pursue and forge a new direction.
There has been a lot of pain and a lot of hurt in looking at the history of black and white relations in the cattle industry. Every person who lives on the land and, indeed, those stations where we have dynasties, if you like, certainly in the west, has a story - and not all of those stories are good stories. We need to reap and grab hold of the experiences learnt from the past and embrace it to channel it into positive energy for the future. There are many things occurring, certainly in the Gulf district and on the Roper Road, where you can now see the new beginnings of all of these things.
On my recent trip to Minyerri, some of the stations that I have mentioned like Moroak, Flying Fox and McMinns are along the Roper Road, and at Minyerri, which was also known as Hodgson Downs Station in a previous life before the Aboriginal people were able to move back and claim it as a community of their own. It was a thriving cattle station and the people of Minyerri would like to continue that as an economic development and business. I know that our government is acutely aware of the needs and aspirations of these communities, where they do want to be able to get back into the cattle industry and move forward and become a thriving participant in the Northern Territory economy.
Some of the suggestions made to me during my travel in Arnhem, and in particular around the Minyerri Jilkminggan region, was the request for an abattoir, and their own cattle industry and station to work with other stations in the region. I recognise that our focus and our strength in the Northern Territory is our live cattle export and our trade to Asia, which is growing at an incredible rate. When we look at the indigenous participation of what could be done, I know there are other avenues that our government will certainly be exploring if it already is not exploring it in regard to the interest out there in our communities.
The minister also talked about product integrity as an emerging issue. Product integrity is important because it is about people feeling confident about the food they eat. The product integrity of our cattle and our live export trade is what sells for us, not just in Australia, but certainly overseas and in Asia, which is one of our greatest export markets. It is our reputation and our credibility as producers in being able to sell the cattle that we do overseas. We have to be very careful, when we are discussing the future of the Northern Territory and looking at cattle stations around the region, of that clean green image that we sell overseas with our products, and the product’s integrity, which I am very proud to say is at the forefront of our government, and certainly the minister and his department.
I have been asked questions about the waste dump on numerous occasion as I have travelled the Central Arnhem Road and the Roper Road. People on those cattle stations are asking what image we will have, and how will we look if we progress down this path to a nuclear waste dump? These were important questions being asked of me, especially around the time of the Katherine Show last year when this was quite a powerful and passionate issue. And it still is to the people of Katherine and those cattle stations in the Katherine region who are very alarmed at the thought of a waste dump in those areas.
The issue of product integrity is what this comes down to. How far do we go in challenging the integrity of the cattle we produce here and the reputation we have here in the Northern Territory - that we have safe products to be able to sell and export to our neighbours? I am consistently asked about the integrity of our product, and I know that the government is acutely aware of this issue. I certainly know that the minister and his staff are aware of that.
Going on from there, we need to be free of diseases such as foot and mouth disease. Being disease free adds to the quality and the integrity of the product that we are selling. Our government is conscious of these issues and does not want to go down a path that damages our reputation in that sense. I commend the minister in the work that is being done in that area.
I would like to talk about the buffalo industry. In Arnhem, there are two communities interested in the buffalo industry: Bulman, which is active in the industry, and Numbulwar, which would like to be more active. I can remember back in the 1980s, with the Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign and the enormous cost to the buffalo industry. The buffalo industry now wants to forge ahead. I recommend our government look closely at some of the smaller communities which are keen to be actively involved in the economic side of the buffalo industry.
It is interesting talking about the buffalo industry. Last year, as you may be aware, an elderly man was lost in the Bulman region. His son-in-law, Lazarus Murray, works at the Bulman Council. The buffaloes are everywhere at Bulman and I suggest that people be very careful when there. It is certainly something that people are aware of when they drive on the Central Arnhem Road in the Nhulunbuy direction. This man was out fishing and lost his way after he was chased by a buffalo. It was his dog - quite a small dog –which jumped in to save him against the buffalo. They are everywhere out there. I would hesitate to camp in that region. I would be pretty conscious of the buffaloes being everywhere. It is because of this that the Aboriginal communities can see the resources around them. They can see the buffaloes in the area and they would like to become more actively involved in the buffalo industry.
Of the 52 properties declared in drought last year, 11 were declared severely in drought this year. This enabled them to access financial assistance from the Northern Territory government, which is tremendous. I commend the minister and his department on that. Eleven may not seem many out of the 52, but it recognised the important contribution of these stations and these areas to the Northern Territory economy, and the dire consequences they were going through as a result of something that is totally beyond our control. The fact that our government recognised the seriousness of the situation for these families and station owners is something that should be commended and recognised; that we are conscious of the good work being done on the cattle stations and the hard efforts against things that you cannot control such as drought.
The minister mentioned research in his statement. Research is something we can all be involved in, especially in these areas with the cattle industry. The cattle stations in Arnhem want to be involved in the future research of issues that are important to them such as the countryside, any potential damage to the areas of their stations, how they can look at the future, and some of the ways they can build on, and research does that. Other issues are improved nutritional management and breeding performance of cattle; and looking at the genetics of improving buffalo reproduction. These areas allow those people who want to participate in the cattle industry in the Northern Territory to look beyond just mustering cattle and become involved in the technical side of the research of cattle marketing in the Northern Territory.
I would like to finish with indigenous economic development through the Indigenous Pastoral Program because it is here that hits closest to home for me with the many stations in the Arnhem electorate as I have outlined earlier in my statement. I know with the push with indigenous participation, we can indeed see the next 40 years. We look at the past 40 years and ask the question of where have Aboriginal people come since they walked off Wave Hill Station? The question should be also be put: ‘Where are we going to be in the next 40 years, and where are these Aboriginal people and these stations going to be?’, where these stations are being returned, and where there is Aboriginal participation, but joint participation so it is not just about Aboriginal people, but indeed the Northern Territory coming of age where we can learn from the good and bad things of our past, and put it in to positive energy for the future. Aboriginal people want to be thriving on their own homelands, on their stations out in these communities.
In closing, it is the roads, it is the access. I commend the minister for roads in his decision to announce today what is happening on the Central Arnhem Road which will bring great news to those cattle stations along there which have had severe problems trying to bring their cattle in from Central Arnhem up to Darwin. That is good news for those people out there.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the statement to the House.
Mr WARREN (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries’ ministerial statement on the pastoral industry. The minister spent a considerable amount of time discussing the various aspects of the industry, and I commend him for his speech. It was well presented and all encompassing. All other speakers have put in their own praise of the cattle industry, and I also share their positive sentiments.
However, I am going to take a bit of an eclectic approach in my supporting statement. I want to pay tribute to some of the lesser known aspects of our great pastoral industry.
With all the appropriate praise we are giving to the current status of the pastoral industry, we should not forget our past, our history, because that is where it really all started in the earliest days. Over the past 150 years, the Northern Territory has drawn a significant part of our identity, character, and our uniqueness from our pastoral industry; a pastoral industry which operates across our vast rural expanses. Much of the image that is perceived about what it means to be a Territorian is derived from this industry.
Since John McDouall Stuart’s 1860s epic crossing of the country of the country from Adelaide to Point Stuart, much emphasis has been placed on the pastoral and agricultural potential of the Northern Territory. During the late 19th century, a substantial part of the Territory was acquired by pastoralists under pastoral leases issued by the South Australian government. It has been on these very pastoral leases that the Territory has based much of its economic and social development. The pastoral industry made a cautious start in the Top End. The first pastoral lease was not taken up until 1876. They were not able to be stocked until 1879 when the first cattle arrived at Glencoe near Grove Hill.
Glencoe was owned by the Victorian pastoralist, C B Fisher, who leased an extensive area that included the Alligator Rivers region. Fisher and his partner, M Lyon, first attempted to run cattle in the Beatrice Hill, Marrakai and Humpty Doo areas or what is now the eastern extremities of my electorate of Goyder. They later extended their pastoral interests eastwards to what is now Kakadu. The Kakadu area was progressively abandoned from 1889 because Victoria River and the Barkly Tablelands proved to be somewhat better pastoral regions.
Paddy Cahill, of Cahill’s Crossing fame, at Oenpelli and Fred Smith at Kapalga also attempted pastoralism in the Alligator Rivers region. Cahill was particularly successful. His Oenpelli Station, established in 1906, was prospering by 1913 and was officially described as a model for what could be achieved in the Top End of the Territory.
In southern Kakadu, much of Goodparla and Gimbat were claimed in mid-1870s by two pastoralists, Roderick Travis and A W Sergison. The leases were subsequently passed on to a series of owners, all of whom unfortunately were unable or did not have the skills to make a go of it. Pastoralism in these areas first began to produce a meagre return in 1907 for George Cooke at Goodparla and in 1937 for Joseph Callanan at Gimbat. When Cooke died in 1937, Goodparla was sold and subsequently passed through a number of owners until in 1965 it was sold to two Americans who brought stockmen from the United States to work with local indigenous labour. A period of more intensive development followed and both cattle and buffalo were grazed. Despite the American owners’ optimism, the demise of Goodparla as a cattle station finally eventuated by 1975, mainly due to a slump in the beef market. As we all know, in 1987, the station was acquired by the Commonwealth and incorporated into Kakadu National Park.
As for Gimbat, it was bought by Sir William Gunn in 1964, but by the late 1960s Gunn’s ventures were in financial difficulty and Gimbat was virtually abandoned. In 1980, Helmut Schimmell bought Gimbat to exploit the large number of buffalo that were now roaming the station wild. Finally, the Commonwealth also bought Gimbat Station in 1987 and incorporated it into Kakadu National Park.
No speakers so far have touched on the men of the pastoral industry. Some have spoken of the very important part played by indigenous Territorians. They are still playing a very important part, as fellow speakers have enunciated, ensuring the continued success of our great pastoral industry, but let us not forget our women.
Territory women have always figured prominently in the Australian government’s Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation’s Rural Women of the Year awards. This year’s Northern Territory Rural Woman of the Year went to Janette Hintze. Janette is one of the Territory’s pioneers of the cut flower industry and was instrumental in establishing the Northern Territory Horticultural Association’s Cut Flower Group.
Let us not forget Pippa Clark, who was runner-up for 2006. Pippa is typical of modern rural women who are engaged in the Northern Territory pastoral industry. Pippa has worked as a Rangelands Officer and the Stud Registrar at Newcastle Waters Station, where she was responsible for environmental planning and the development of strategic projects, such as reducing the impact of weed encroachment into riparian areas. As well, she was responsible for the recording and reporting of performance and fertility data of the Brahman Stud. She has also worked as a technical rangelands officer for the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, where she was involved in grazing management projects, focusing on the impact of natural phenomena, including fire and drought, on stock and the pastoral lands themselves. Pippa has since opened her own agribusiness consultancy, specialising in natural resource management and planning for pastoral businesses. The minister will be pleased to know that she is also involved in the National Livestock Identification System Support and Training for the cattle industry.
Pippa has also been an active member of the Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association, which fosters support for projects involved in the preservation of the tablelands environment. Pippa’s vision is for vibrant, successful rural communities within regional Australia and, in particular, the Northern Territory. She firmly believes that the long term success of rural business is through strong, economic management closely affiliated with environmental and social responsibility.
Pippa is going to continue her study in business and change management and further investigate the success of business in other industries. She plans to undertake the Macquarie Graduate School of Management’s Leading Change program and travel to Alice Springs and East Gippsland to study environmental management adopted by the regional beef groups. She plans to use her knowledge and skills gained to help pastoral and rural business improve their financial stability and success. She also plans to develop a pilot workshop, specifically designed for rural women within the pastoral industry, to engage them in discussions and new learnings into property and catchment management planning, leadership and change management.
I now turn my attention to the great pastoral initiatives being carried out at Taminmin High School at Humpty Doo. Taminmin High School is a registered training organisation, delivering nationally accredited vocational education and training courses in a range of industry areas, not only to Taminmin students, but also to students enrolled in other high schools in the Darwin region. Students complete industry qualifications, in such areas as Certificate I in Rural Operations, which are recognised Australia wide and which link it to entry level employment, apprenticeships or traineeships and further training. As well as off-the-job training, programs typically involve one or more structured work placements where students have the opportunity to further their training in the workplace. Most importantly, qualifications and statements of attainments issued by Taminmin High School are recognised by registered training organisations in all Australian states and territories.
Let me tell the House a little about Certificate I in Rural Operations, plus units from Certificate II in Agriculture. Certificate I in Rural Operations is a broad-based, general qualification that will provide an easy transition to Level 2 training in more specialised areas in rural production, agriculture and horticulture. The program gives students the opportunity to gain experience working on a mixed produce farm, acquiring basic skills and knowledge in livestock handling, and feeding cattle and buffalo in particular. It gives the students valuable experience in horticultural production, nursery work, operating tractors, and fencing. During the program, students have the opportunity to complete up to three weeks of structured work placement, typically on a cattle station, government research station, or in a horticultural business.
The Certificate in Rural Operations requires successful completion of the one core unit and five elective units - at least four of which must be aligned with Level 1 outcomes. Five Level 2 units from the training package are also delivered in this year-long program. A statement of attainment is awarded at the end for successful completion of these units. The competencies obtained as part of this program include: work preparation; support for nursery work; operating basic farm machinery and equipment; assisting with routine maintenance of machinery and equipment; support for horticultural production work; following basic chemical safety rules; handling livestock; using basic techniques, providing basic first aid; feeding livestock; and carrying out basic electric fencing - all valuable and important farm skills. For those who are interested in the farm environment, Taminmin also conducts a certificate course Level 1 in Conservation and Land Management.
I cannot let this opportunity pass without acknowledging the cooperation between Taminmin High School and Katherine Rural College, as well as industry partnerships. One such partnership recently involved 15 Brahman steers which were provided by Coodardie Brahmans for agistment at Taminmin High School farm. The steers were agisted at the school until after the completion of the Freds Pass Show recently. The project provided students with both practical skills in handling and feeding cattle, and the current knowledge of the live cattle export industry in Australia’s north. I join with Taminmin High School in acknowledging the generous support of Ms Moira O’Brien, Director of Coodardie Brahmans, and secretary of the Northern Territory Branch of the Darwin Breeders Association, in making this training project possible. This was a very good example of partnership between the school and industry.
As I said before, the school has an ongoing and expanding joint venture agreement with the Katherine Rural College. In the Top End, this shows the kind of arrangements that can be made between two of our existing rural colleges - or college and school in this case – which could be to the benefit of our rural kids. Basically, it means that students can start to learn some agricultural courses, the basic training and the VET programs at the school level. They can then look to continuing that at Katherine Rural College. The courses have provided a lease of life for Taminmin High School, as well as Katherine Rural College. It has been very innovative. I congratulate Tony Considine, the principal at Taminmin, for his effort in ensuring that this joint venture was taken forward.
Recently, we had the Freds Pass Rural Show in the rural area and every year Taminmin High School is noted for its pastoral, horticultural and other farm exhibits. This year was no exception. In fact, Taminmin High School excelled at the 2006 Freds Pass Rural Show, winning the annual Bob Shewring Outstanding Achievement Award. This is a great achievement and acknowledgement of the good work that it is being done by Taminmin High School at the show. I understand that they also participated in a number of other shows where they made us all very proud.
While I was at the show, Mr Deputy Speaker, I took the opportunity - like yourself and other members here - to look at many of those exhibits. I was very proud of the statesmanship that the students portrayed during that. It really showed that rural students have that make-up that they can present themselves and present the modern look of the farming industry and the pastoral industry. I believe these students are going to go a long way to endeavouring and ensuring that we have a proud and ongoing level of commitment to the pastoral industry.
I am coming to the conclusion of my speech, which I am sure you have all been enthralled with so far, and I would like to draw to a conclusion by commending the minister, particularly on the approach that the department has taken with regard to the feedlot technologies internationally. It really shows maturity. Many other governments could have taken the approach of trying to cut each other’s throat and selling the beef at a cheaper price. We have taken the approach of that may occur, but we also have to help our customers, to nurture that development, something that we learned from the Japanese in they way they dealt with the fish markets, the way they deal with their customers, and both organisations of both countries have taken that approach. The Northern Territory government has taken the approach that we need to foster the encouragement of customers to make sure that they are long term customers. We have entered that partnership. I commend the minister on that.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I am starting to run out of time. I am sure I could speak more on this particular subject.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have a special affection for the Northern Territory pastoral industry being someone who has come from the land and someone who lives in a regional area. I have a great affection for the people who work on the land, knowing just how hard it is, and the amount of effort that they put into their industry.
The minister’s statement highlights the professionalism of the members of the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory and the amount of research that is going on to ensure the future sustainability of their industry. Too often in the past, the industry has been accused of undue care of the land by over-clearing of land, overstocking and causing damage to the environment. The results of the recent survey carried out throughout the industry have clearly shown that Northern Territory pastoralists are aware of the need to balance environmental needs with future economic growth. The Northern Territory Cattle News in the May 2006 edition supports that by highlighting major future growth of beef cattle production to rise by 30% over the next three years and by 50% by 2014. That is a significant increase.
I also read with interest a Farm Institute Insights article in their quarterly newsletter in July 2006 titled ‘Clearing the Air on Land Clearing’. Land clearing in the Northern Territory, and especially in the Daly River area, which is greatly underdeveloped, is viewed with great reservation. I am certain that is due to the claims that are constantly put into the public domain that are purely scaremongering. The environment has to be considered at all times, and the preservation of our natural resources is vital for future generations. There is no doubt that the scaremongering has not covered all the facts and it is important to get things in perspective.
I want to quote from the article about land clearing. Some of these comments will pertain to some of the pastoral areas in the Northern Territory. This is put out by Mike Keogh, the Executive Director of the Australian Farm Institute. He states:
- It is somewhat ironic that the posters are appearing in suburban areas where ‘land clearing’ removed even the smallest vestiges of native vegetation perhaps 100 years ago, and are attached to wooden electricity poles - a product of land clearing. Invariably, campaigns are accompanied by a media report quantifying the rate of land clearing - the most recent stating that in New South Wales alone, ‘farmers are clearing the equivalent of six Sydney Cricket Grounds every hour’, (The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 2006).
It should not be a surprise that clearing of native vegetation on farms has remained a contentious issue. Farmers have long recognised the value of conserving limited areas of native vegetation. However, there is a fundamental clash between farm production and the preservation of landscapes in their natural state. Beyond a minimum threshold, the greater the requirement to retain native plant and animal species, the less productive and profitable a farm can be. As the New South Wales Auditor-General has observed, without land clearing, ‘Australia would not be the developed economy it is, nor would we enjoy the standing of living that we do’ (Audit Office of NSW, 2002)..
- Adding to this fundamental clash is the reality that, except for South Australia, land clearing restrictions have been imposed without any form of compensation. Such harsh regulatory measures - estimated to be forcing farmers in one region of New South Wales to be forgoing $460m in income over 15 years - are unprecedented in the farm policy of any other developed economy.
The history of control over native vegetation on Australian farms is a long one …
and it goes on to state when other states progressively regulated their native vegetation clearing over the past 30 years. The Northern Territory introduced it in 2002. This part of the article finishes by saying:
Over time, it has become clear that the two main reasons for implementing land clearing controls are biodiversity conservation and greenhouse emissions abatement - both largely public good objectives.
I want to talk about large scale clearing. That has been a criticism thrown at a former Territorian, Warren Anderson, when he cleared extensively on Tipperary Station. I flew across it yesterday, and there are extensive ribbons of native vegetation that are obvious from the air. It was interesting to note on the drive from the Daly River Research Station, where we landed, to Douglas Daly Park, there were kilometres of bulldozed native scrub. I believe the new owners of Tipperary and several surrounding stations are fencing to ensure that the cattle do not wander from their property onto the roads. Fencing, of course, is important in protecting both the stock and motorists, but what I found quite interesting is the width of the cleared land area. It was incredibly wide, and certainly would be among the widest fire breaks that I could ever have considered.
The question I have for the minister, and it will probably be referred to the minister for the Environment, but I would like to know if the landowner had to seek permission to clear such extensive native vegetation in this area. As I said earlier, the Daly region has had so many restrictions placed on it over the past few years I wonder how this extensive clearing over many kilometres was allowed to happen when other landowners are barely allowed to move in any areas of development on their land in the Daly.
I believe that Tipperary is going again into full scale cattle production. That can only be positive for the Northern Territory. I thank Warren Anderson for developing Tipperary to the stage that he did before being so controversially accused of mistreating his animals and finally leaving the Territory. His legacy at Tipperary will be well utilised and, hopefully, the Territory will benefit from its continual development into a cattle property.
There is still potential to develop around 30% of the Douglas Daly region, Mr Deputy Speaker, as you would be well aware, and this has been identified from research. This government needs to support the development of the small amount of the usable land that can contribute to the economic growth to that area, and ultimately build up the rural industry in the Northern Territory.
The importance of the economic benefit from the pastoral industry to regional towns in the Northern Territory is very significant. Naturally, it is the regional towns that are the service centres for pastoralists. In the case of Katherine, our economy is boosted by a business which provides cattle feed in the form of hay cubes for the live export trade and services cattle carriers from Townsville to Broome. This business predicts future sales of 15 000 tonnes of their cubed product from cavalcade hay. That is a significant industry for Katherine, for the production of cavalcade hay by growers and for the business which employs locals to make these cubes.
Another industry that would certainly assist the regional economy and the pastoral industry would be the establishment of a multi-species abattoir. I note the minister said in his statement that the report on the multi-species abattoirs was completed in October 2005. Could I ask where the report is, and why it has not been released? I, and others, who are very interested in establishing an abattoir, and in my case, looking at utilising the Katherine meatworks area, are keenly looking forward to reading this report. The economy of Katherine would certainly benefit from the establishment of a multi-species abattoir in our region. Katherine is centrally located for most species maybe with the exception of camel, and we have the ability to use the railway as a freight outlet.
While I am on Katherine, I will also mention the Northern Territory Rural College, known as Charles Darwin University Annex. Brian Heim and his staff at the rural college have been doing a great job. They can only be commended for the high standard of beef cattle that they have bred, and the success they had at the Katherine Show, and also Darwin Show, was testament to that. Congratulations to them. The rural college gives many young men and women from not only the Territory, but from across Australia, who are interested in primary production and the pastoral industry the opportunity to learn the skills to gain their rural industry certificates and to be able to contribute positively to the industry. These young people are a happy bunch. We are very happy to have the Charles Darwin University Katherine centre so close to our town, and to be able to contribute towards that part of the pastoral industry.
The member for Nelson referred to the lack of discussion on roads in the minister’s statement. That was followed by the Leader of Government Business putting his bit in about the federal government not addressing their responsibility for Northern Territory roads. The Northern Territory Cattlenews, in the May 2006 volume, gives a report under the heading of the NTCA Annual Conference 2006. The heading says, ‘Feds Commit New NT Roads Funding’ and for the purposes of Hansard I will quote the article:
- Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, used his NTCA conference address to announce significant new federal roads funding for the Northern Territory.
Mr Turnbull said the Australian government fully acknowledged the importance of good roads to the Territory cattle industry and contributed to them. He reminded conference delegates that the responsibility for maintaining unincorporated Territory roads rested with the Northern Territory government, but said the Australian government would provide funding over the next few years in addition to the funding provided for major highways.
It includes: $20m directly to councils over the four years from July 2005 under the AusLink Roads to Recovery Program; $16m to the NT government for unincorporated areas over four years from July 2005, also under Roads to Recovery on the basis of road length and population; $120m over five years from 2004-05 for regional strategic projects, including $10m for the Outback Highway which passes through the unincorporated area of the Territory. He said the Northern Territory government would provide new or upgraded floodways on the Ranken Road, Barkly Stock Route and Larrimah West Creek Link Road. Mr Turnbull said the NTCA and NT parliamentarians must be commended for taking the roads fight to Canberra on behalf of local cattle producers.
Mr Turnbull also announced major funding for programs to better understand major Top End rivers. ‘The Territory has the potential for greater sustainable exploitation of its water resources’, he said. ‘But we have to be careful not to repeat the errors that were made in southern Australia’.
It was very unfair of the Leader of Government Business to imply that the federal government does not contribute any money to roads within the Northern Territory.
I remember, very clearly, the previous Leader of the Opposition, Mr Denis Burke, saying that we would have a bipartisan agreement with the Northern Territory government, that we would push for additional road funding for the Northern Territory - and that still stands. We understand the importance of it, so please do not try to make political mileage out of something where there is none.
The Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association annual conference this year, 2006, saw the end after three years as president for John Amstrong from Gilnockie Station. John has been involved in the cattle industry for many years, as those people in the industry know, he has contributed much over those three years. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend; I happened to be just a little indisposed in hospital following my accident. However, I also noticed there were some other people who had a little difficulty getting to that conference because the flood had restricted people being able to attend. There were a few people less at that NTCA annual conference. Looking at the photos of the cattlemen’s dinner held during that conference, they obviously had a wonderful time, as country people always do. They are always a pleasure to be around. John has contributed so much to the industry, and I would like to read the last part of what he said at the annual conference, Looking to the Future:
- Of late, our industry is benefiting from many innovations that will make our future rosy: FarmBis sponsored courses; economy and infrastructure; the single wire electric laneways; solar powered generation; our NT genetics and cross-breeding programs are amongst the best in Australia; the adoption of supplemental feeding for production rather than maintenance; controlled mating and rotational grazing; competent, professional mustering contractors; user-friendly tertiary studies in rangeland management with Rangelands Australia; the $1.50 cattle transaction levy increase to fund extra marketing and promotion; access to modern, competitive finance that fits our business and grows our capital.
John’s final words at this meeting were:
- All governments must focus on infrastructure and market security for industry to facilitate greater production. The distribution of wealth will only occur after it is created by industry, not by minority groups of activists destroying it. We are focused on advancing and protecting the interests of our members, challenging new researchers on the horizon.
Our members, with their proven resilience and premium class cattle, will reinforce the Northern Territory cattle game as a blue chip, reliable GDP earner. The future looks good. Farewell and thank you.
I thank John Armstrong for what he and other members of the cattle industry have done to raise the standard of the cattle industry and production in the Northern Territory. I also pay tribute to the families who contribute to the pastoral industry. They are stretched out over vast areas of land with great distances separating them. They have many more challenges than we who live in suburban and regional townships could possibly imagine. Yet, they accept those. They manage to be able to look on the bright side of it and overcome it. I am delighted to be involved with the pastoral industry and I congratulate them.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for his statement. I can only see good things for the cattle industry. I attribute much of that to them making sure that their industry is sustainable and they need to be given a big pat on the back for that.
Mr McADAM (Local Government): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the statement on the Northern Territory pastoral industry by my colleague, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries.
I am very proud to represent the Barkly electorate in this Assembly. Historically, the great contributions of the Barkly to economic growth in the Territory, and Australia, have been in the industries of mining and beef cattle. It is well known that the rich gold mines of Tennant Creek, particularly Peko, saved Australia during the Great Depression. The post-war years were also good for mining in the Barkly, but the downturn in gold prices contributed to a significant decrease in activity in the years 1980 to early 1990s. I am delighted that in recent times, the mining sector has recovered much of its verve and the opening of the Bootu Creek manganese mine will only enhance the Barkly’s fine reputation as one of Australia’s great mining regions.
From shortly after Stuart’s historic crossing of the continent, and Nat Buchanan’s trail blazing journey from Queensland across the Barkly to the Victoria River district, the Barkly has caught the attention of Australia’s great pastoral properties and companies. Properties were quickly taken up in the early 1880s and have been producing prime beef cattle for the domestic and international markets ever since.
For a large part of the history of pastoral properties in the Barkly as in other parts of the Territory, indigenous cattlemen and women have been at the forefront of making the pastoral industry the success it has been. I would like to especially note some of these indigenous stockmen and stockwomen for their fine contributions to the development of the industry in the Barkly. Unfortunately, many of these great people have passed on, men like Phar Lap Dixon; Nuggett Collins and his brother, Jumbo; Fred Taylor; and George Bostock; and women like Edna Zigginbine, and Olive Coombs, and a whole host of others.
There have been equally so today many other women and men who are contributing immensely. I pay particular attention to three people who I believe have contributed much to the industry in the Northern Territory, not only in the past, but they continue to do so today. I refer to Robin Peeking at Alexandria Downs, Wendy Murrell from Helen Springs Station, and Bernadette Burke from Brunette Downs Station.
Although the Barkly Tablelands are largely semi-arid and has a one in 10 chance of having drought conditions, pastoralists are blessed with substantial underground waters and their judicious handling of bores means that it is very rare for Barkly properties not to turn off large numbers of cattle each year. The last four to five years have been relatively good seasons and rising prices have contributed to a degree of prosperity for Barkly properties that is welcome.
However, rising input costs especially associated with the rising costs of fuel will have an impact on the bottom line of many properties. These days, most properties in the Barkly region are company owned and in general are larger than other pastoral properties in the Territory. Properties range in size from 4000 km to 14 000 km. The average property stocks approximately 24 000 head of cattle. Those properties that are company owned value-add by moving stock to grain fed operations in other states and particularly to Queensland.
The minister for Primary Industry has outlined the progress of the Indigenous Pastoral Program. This forward thinking plan is an outstanding example of cooperation between a variety of government agencies, the Northern and Central Land Council, and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. The program has recognised the need to engage indigenous pastoralists in a long term plan, both the industry and indigenous communities to increase ties to the herd on indigenous land, and to increase indigenous participation in the pastoral workforce. As the minister has outlined, this program is kicking real goals with an increase already of 25 000 head of cattle run on indigenous land with a further increase expected of 20 000 head over the coming year.
I welcome the improvements in employment of indigenous pastoral workers throughout the industry. As the minister outlined, the key to the success of any program is a close, hard-working relationship of all parties involved. I am delighted that this has been the case in the Indigenous Pastoral Program. I wish to congratulate the land councils, Indigenous Land Corporation, Northern Territory agencies and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association for their foresight and vision in signing a new memorandum of understanding for this worthy program to continue for another five years.
Last year, the minister for Primary Industry, in close cooperation with one of the Barkly’s largest and oldest cattle companies, the Australian Agricultural Company, introduced to the Northern Territory the award winning brand 1824 Premium Beef. I am informed that this beef is available now at the recently opened Char Restaurant at Old Admiralty House on the Esplanade. This premium quality beef is produced from cattle born and raised on the green natural grasses of the pristine Australian Agricultural Company properties on the Barkly, properties such as Brunette Downs and some of the others. Only a small percentage of Australian Agricultural Company cattle are selected for this speciality brand. Cattle bred for the 1824 Premium Beef program are value-added by finishing on quality grains for a minimum of 120 days to ensure consistent premium quality beef is delivered according to specifications for 52 weeks of the year. With a fully integrated supply chain, this green and clean beef is able to be traced back to the property on which it is raised using electronic identification and stringent quality controls.
The Australian Agricultural Company has identified a niche market for the award-winning beef product. Their successful marketing of the 1824 Premium Beef is dependent on the market being assured that the Australian Agricultural Company herd is clean and not subject to any potential pollutions from the grasslands on which the herd grazes.
Other pastoral properties, notably the Kidman properties, also value-add to their premium beef product by the judicious movement of cattle between stations and feedlots across their vast pastoral holdings. They and other pastoral properties across the Barkly are working hard to establish a unique clean, green beef product that is well on its way to being the best in the world. Clean green Barkly beef will secure the future of the pastoral industry in the Barkly for decades to come. I extend my sincere congratulations to all involved in developing the clean, green image so essential for the future of the pastoral industry.
There is one really serious blight on the horizon for the pastoral industry of the Northern Territory, more so the Barkly, a blight that could jeopardise the hard work of the Australian Agricultural Company and the Kidmans as well as other pastoral owners and producers in the Barkly. That serious blight is the prospect of a nuclear waste dump being sited by the Australian government on the Muckaty Pastoral property in the Barkly.
Muckaty is a large pastoral property developed over many years by the Hagan family. In recent years, it has reverted to an indigenous land trust and regularly, that land trust enters into agistment arrangements with other pastoralists, including from Queensland. There is a very real prospect that the minister’s Indigenous Pastoral Program will be able to assist the Muckaty landholders with returning the property to peak production and with substantial employment prospects for the young people of the region.
S Kidman and Company Limited is Australia’s second largest beef producer and its Helen Springs aggregation, which adjoins the Muckaty Station, is an integral part of their present and future beef production enterprise. The Chief Executive Officer of Kidmans wrote to me in June and I would like to quote from that correspondence:
- More than 80% of our beef production is exported into markets which highly value Australia’s reputation as a clean and green producer. Food safety and the perception of food safety is our largest selling point within very competitive world markets. Any real or perceived threat to this safety is a threat to our business and to Australia’s beef export industry.
Stuart Kenny, Chief Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, said late last year, and I quote:
- … that the Cattlemen’s Association has concerns with the clean green image that we have. We have a very sustainable industry and we would like to keep it that way.
As well, property values will suffer from a nuclear waste dump site, especially those of neighbouring properties. As Martin Gore, a director with McGees Property Valuers, said on ABC radio this month:
- And if you had a choice of saying am I possibly going to be affected by this. Why would I buy an adjoining property if I can buy another property that isn’t going to be affected by it? You’d be saying, I'm not going to run that risk, and you’re only prepared to run that risk if I get it at a reduced value, therefore it has created values to go down.
How has it come to this? How can it be that we would risk so much? How can we risk our hard established clean, green beef image? How can we risk the property values of neighbours’ premium beef producing stations? Has an environmental assessment been done for Muckaty Station in advance of the site selection, or does the Australian government propose to do one after? The CEO of Kidman had this to say about an environmental assessment of Muckaty:
- It is entirely improper for any site selection to occur in advance of, or separate to, environmental impact assessments. The general location of Muckaty is remote from specialist services, lacks power, and sealed road access, is prone to seismic disturbances, suffers high bushfire frequency and experiences periodical rainfall deluges onto permeable, sandy desert loam soils. How can these issues and their risks be separated from site selection?
The possible selection of Muckaty has not come about through a well managed scientific process complete with an environmental assessment of a high order. It has come about generally because the Country Liberal Party is all over the shop on this issue, changing their position with monotonous regularity. In June of last year, CLP’s Nigel Scullion said:
- But most importantly the Country Liberal Party’s position hasn’t changed. I am their representative in Canberra and I can assure you that the CLP policy is that we’re not having anybody’s waste in our back yard at the moment.
Of course, the Howard government, shortly after that statement, trotted out Brendan Nelson to announce that the NT is to be the Commonwealth’s nuclear waste dump site. So again, Senator Scullion said in July last year:
- I rang up Brendan Nelson and I said: ‘Look mate, you know I'm opposed to have any materials from Lucas Heights as is every other Territorian, and we’re very concerned about high level radioactive waste coming to be stored in the Territory’. And I said, ‘Not on my watch’, and it is not going to happen.
However, the Howard government had its way with Nigel and the CLP. He and his party were simply overruled and the Australian government nuclear waste was on its way to the Territory, courtesy of the most draconian and antidemocratic legislation the Australian parliament has ever passed. Did this standard bearer of the CLP, the Territory party, stand up for the Territory? No, he simply rolled over.
Then, this year, he began a process of ignoring the three sites selected on Australian government land and began talking up a site, or sites, that may be nominated by the land councils. He admitted that there was no scientific basis for the selection of the three sites of Australian government land, but said that the Northern Land Council’s proposed site, or sites, would be suitable because the NLC is:
- … bringing a very scientific and rigorous approach … to this situation.
The land councils, as part of their charter, must consult with all traditional owners about developing their land. Their expertise is in the area of anthropology and the law, specifically within the requirements of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. I would argue they have little or no experience in the science or the storage of nuclear waste materials, and for Senator Scullion to suggest otherwise, is simply dishonest.
Not only have neighbouring pastoralists been in touch with me about the CLP proposed waste dump at Muckaty, I have had several discussions with traditional owners of the Muckaty Lands Trust. They are absolutely unequivocal about the dump. They do not want a nuclear waste dump on their land, just as neighbouring pastoralists do not want it in their neighbourhood. The traditional owners have called on the Northern Land Council to hear their concerns, speak direct to them and take up their case.
I am hopeful that the NLC will respond as their charter demands, and consult thoroughly with the affected traditional owners. I hope that Senator Scullion, his CLP mates, and the Howard government, will listen to the Muckaty traditional owners and the neighbouring pastoralists, and this nonsense of a nuclear waste dump in the middle of this prime, clean, green, beef producing area would be forgotten forever.
As I said, we have the best and cleanest beef in the world. There is potential for young people to become involved in the cattle industry in the way their fathers and grandfathers were, and for our regional economies to grow on the back of value-adding to our famous beef exports. The good work being done by the minister for Primary Industry to grow our pastoral industry is under direct threat from Senator Scullion and the CLP. Their plans for a nuclear waste dump in the Northern Territory should be rejected out of hand immediately.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, I make a couple of comments. I was not really going to say much until I was provoked by the comments of the previous member bringing politics into this. There is plenty on your side of the fence, honourable member, that you would well benefit from reflecting on. The silly business of politicking that is brought into a statement like this at the best is frothy - all froth and no beer.
It is an interesting statement, but it causes me to reflect on members of a Cabinet who have held the position that you have plenty of legislation and business to conduct within this parliament. We have a statement today which has provided the opportunity for us all to reflect, in fairly benign ways, on a very important industry, but in a very superficial way. There is no clear articulation of a strategy or a vision that is longer term; it is just a reference to all the things that are happening in the industry, which is fairly ordinary, and the sort of business that government should be involved in. I was wondering whether I should actually speak because I have heard plenty of nice speeches around the Chamber reflecting on the importance of the cattle industry.
I am a passionate supporter of the cattle industry. I was in the industry myself at some stage. My son is in the industry. I have a lot of interest in the industry. However, for a government and members of Cabinet who articulated the view that we have serious business to attend to in this Chamber - plenty of legislation - we have had very little of that, and have had much politicking from the previous speaker, whose comments bear little on the issue that affects the cattle industry at its core, but more in the interests of politicking.
I am pretty well uninspired to continue on because there are plenty of meaty things that could be discussed in this matter that would allow members in this Chamber to participate and to explore the possibilities that we have in the cattle industry, to look at some of those problems that face the pastoral industry, address them soundly and try to find a path through.
The reference to the good work that is being conducted within the region is good to see. As I have mentioned before in response to the minister’s comments about the different activities within the region, it is all good stuff. I would like, for one, to hear a central drive to where this is actually going to go in the five-, 10-, 15-year time frame. It is a report on activity largely driven by the industry itself, with the government coming in around the sides. That is good, but I would like to see something a little stronger that is pushing us further, exploring and testing the possibilities.
The issue of the feedlot was discussed. I am pleased that you have raised the question of the feedlot. It is a question I have been asked a number of times, and you have answered it well regarding what is possible on the face of things.
There are some fairly innovative thinkers out there looking at possibilities which are currently not on the table, such as the production of cassava. The Northern Territory is well suited to the growing of cassava, a very high carbohydrate crop which returns something to the soil. It does not need good quality soil to grow and it can be processed to provide a high quality food for a feedlot. It is the product used in other countries in similar climatic zones. If we were to investigate that, it has two possibilities: one for the production of good quality feed for a feedlot in soil which is suitable; and also for the production of ethanol, I understand.
Those sorts of things would add a bit more grist to these statements. It seems to clear to me that there is other business on the mind of government at this point, obviously with the retirement announcement of the member for Stuart. So we are using this opportunity in this parliament, which takes considerable Territory resources to run, to do minimal legislation and make very long, pithy statements.
There is no disrespect for anybody who works in the cattle industry. I do not think they would be taking much time to read all of these speeches. They are nice, but for hard-working cattlemen out there, probably more concerned about the sense of vision, strategic plan, how we are going to inspire young people, that wonderful resource that we have seen locked up in urban communities, how we are going to inspire them to get on to the land and help support and grow this industry. Let us have a look at some gutsy plans to try to shake things up so we get young people connected to the industry in a comprehensive way – acknowledging the reference to the indigenous programs, and they are good.
There is really a fundamental problem and anyone who has had access to the industry and to walk alongside a pastoralist knows that there really is a very serious problem in the shortage of manpower, and it seems to be petering out. There is competition, one from the mining companies offering great money, and they just love taking these young stockmen because they know how to work hard. The competing side of it is that many of the young lads who live in towns do not like that kind of hard work. It takes a special kind of person who wants to get out there and live that kind of lifestyle. That is a real challenge, and probably the greatest impediment we have to the growth of the pastoral industry.
We could talk about weeds, water access, and the future when we talk about climatic change and it appears that the Territory and the north of Western Australia is shaping up to be a place that is going to receive a lot of attention because it appears that water will be more abundant in this region than in other places on our continent.
Mr Deputy Speaker, this has just been a general touching on of the relevant issues to do with the pastoral industry. I thank my colleague, the member for Katherine, for the contribution she made on behalf of the opposition. With those comments, I note the statement.
Mr VATSKALIS (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank the members for their contributions. The pastoral industry in the Territory is important because it contributes a significant amount of money to the gross state product and employs thousands of people. Yes, the industry is dynamic; yes, the industry is out there promoting itself; but the industry also needs the assistance of the government in many areas, not only promoting and finding new markets, not only backing the industry when they go out to find new markets, but also research and development.
The difference between this government and the previous CLP government is the fact that we are putting in place now the things we need to develop a strategic framework for the next five to 10 years. The first thing you do if you want to develop a program is go out and do nothing more than a simple survey: find out where you are; find out what your clients want; and find out how you can achieve what they want.
Under the previous CLP government there were two surveys, in 1980 and in 1982, covering only three regions in the Northern Territory. Under this Labor government, there has been a complete survey which surveyed the whole of the Northern Territory, questioning 75% of the pastoralists.
I have to say that many people in the Territory and in other places said to me that pastoralists are conservative voters; they are not going to help your government, and what is the point of having the survey. The reality is when I took over the portfolio and worked with the pastoralists, we did not care about the politics. We cared about the future of the industry: how we can promote the industry and how we are going to expand the industry. We worked very closely together, we worked very hard together, we travelled together, and we developed partnerships in Australia and overseas together. Irrespective of the politics of the people who own the stations, what they have in their mind is the future of their family, the welfare of their family and, broader, the welfare and the development of the Territory.
We are focused. We are not travelling for the sake of travelling. We are not travelling because we are going to take part in great dinners with leaders of other countries as happened in the past. We are travelling and we are talking to the people who count, to the people on the ground, the people who buy the cattle, the people who raise the cattle, the industries and the departments that will work with us to develop the cattle industry in their country and, at the same, time developing our export industry from this country.
That is why I was referring to Sabah. Sabah for us has become an example. The Sabah government is prepared to expand its pastoral industry. They sought our assistance and we have provided assistance, not only by exporting live cattle, but also exporting our expertise in farm management, animal husbandry, feedlotting, meat processing, abattoir construction, animal handling, and even to food hygiene.
I personally authorised the relocation of one of my department officers to Sabah for six months to oversee the development of the abattoir because development of that abattoir is significant for us in the Territory. If we provide the expertise, the method of management and the abattoir, we immediately acquire one market. On my other trips in other regions, I have used the Sabah example. It is one of the best examples we have to provide the incentive to other governments to follow the Sabah example, to seek assistance from us to form this partnership that will ensure the viability of the live cattle export in the future.
I have always been worried about having all our eggs in one basket in Indonesia. We were very lucky that the economic meltdown in South East Asia a few years back did not severely affect the live cattle export industry here in the Territory. We do not know what is going to happen in the future, but we were very lucky because our industry is a clean and green industry. It is free of foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease and other diseases. That gives us an unfair advantage over our competitors. There are many of them out there trying to take a piece of the cake, a share of our market. Two years ago, the European police discovered containers of meat in Germany and Russia in boxes that were falsely labelled as Australian product. They had fake Australian meat brands. They were trying to flog off Brazilian and Indian meat and buffalo meat to those countries as good quality Australian meat. You can see how far these people will go to break into our markets. They know very well that we hold a competitive advantage despite the high price of our meat because of the good quality of the product.
The department is working very hard to develop a new framework. We are currently in the development stage. I am very pleased to say that in the next few months, I will be able to present to this House the whole framework: how the department is actually working to developing new market strategies, and to develop a five and 10 year outlook for the industry so that we make sure that we broaden the market share, we broaden the destination of our meat, and we increase our live cattle exports.
As I said before, we have formed partnerships. We have signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Sabah government. I am pleased to say that in the next few days, the Sabah Abattoir will be officially opened by the Chief Minister of Sabah who advised me that he will officially invite me to be the one and only foreign dignitary to be there. He recognises the significant contribution of the Northern Territory and my department to the development of that abattoir and the development of the meat market in Sabah.
We are working actively to find out what is happening in the Territory, and what can happen. The report on the abattoir, done by DBERD, is freely available. My belief is that a copy was handed to the member for Katherine - and I might be wrong - but I am happy to provide another copy of that report any time so she can find out about the work that has been done by DBERD people to identify the problems for the abattoirs in the Northern Territory. The biggest problem for the construction and running of an abattoir in the Northern Territory is the high price of live cattle exports. When somebody can sell cattle for $1.95 live weight for the export market, I do not think they will be very keen to sell their cattle to the abattoir for $1.20, or $1.30, or $1.40. The difference is in the price of the cattle that you can get for live cattle exports.
We have done extensive research and development on feedlotting, on grass, on fields of breeding cattle, creating composite breeds, and we have worked very closely with the pastoral industry because, after all, our pastoral industry is our client. The pastoral industry has contributed significantly to our own research and development through their own expertise, and I am very pleased to say that that will continue.
None of our research stations are going to close. The government has no intention to close our research station at Kidman Springs or anywhere else. They are a vital part of the department in the research and development area. Without these research stations, we cannot find out about the sustainability of the land, about the improved husbandry of animals, and breeding of animals.
I commend the pastoralists working, not only with my department, but also through Australian government funding and Northern Territory government funding to develop some of the reports. The latest one is the report on Adapted Management of Ecologically Sustainable Development in the Douglas Daly Region, one of the few reports developed by the cattlemen’s association anywhere in Australia, and they should be congratulated. As they told me many times, it is in their interest to maintain the land; it is in their interest not to destroy the land. That land provides them income year after year.
We know there are problems and, as I said before, the biggest problem is increased competition. There are countries like Brazil, India and other countries which are expanding their pastoral sector and they will certainly threaten our industry. The member for Blain mentioned ‘politicking’. Well, the reality is there is politics in here, especially with the competition. One of the biggest problems is biosecurity threats. In the past, I heard about the possibility of the introduction of diseases that will severely affect our pastoral industry through illegal fishing. I have said many times that the people who come here illegally in boats, carrying dogs, carrying food, carrying animals, carrying birds, can really create havoc for the industry.
We have asked for a significant increase in funding. I acknowledge that the federal government has allocated $380m over the next few years, but some of it is not directed to the right place. I have argued before that funds should be allocated for the indigenous marine rangers because they are the frontline of defence in Australia with regards to biosecurity. We have not seen this money. In contrast, the Northern Territory government is allocating money. The Northern Territory government will include two more groups of indigenous marine rangers next year, funded by the Northern Territory government. Recently, the Northern Territory government provided the Groote Eylandt Marine Rangers with a new, powerful vessel in order to police their island. They told me that they are worried about people bringing animals into their area and the possibility of introducing diseases that we do not have yet in Australia.
The member for Blain claimed that the member for Barkly was politicising the debate because he introduced the issue of the nuclear waste dump. When I first mentioned that this nuclear waste dump can work against us, against our image of a clean, green producer, some of the pastoralists came up and said: ‘Do not talk about it. You will create problems with our product’. A few months later, the same pastoralists came up and said that they recognised that locating this dump in the Territory would definitely create problems with our clean, green image because that dump would not be put here for scientific reasons, not for scientific research, not because it was the best place to put it, it is because they did not have to worry about public backlash. After all, we are only a territory and, to put it cynically, there are only two seats they can lose. If you put it in South Australia, New South Wales or Victoria, the backlash would be bigger due to a bigger population, and more Liberal or National seats would be under threat.
The member for Nelson talked about road funding. Boy, can we play politics here! I was the minister for roads from 2001 to 2003. In that period, I went to Canberra many times and argued with the then Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson, about funding of unincorporated roads to serve the people who were like him - he was a pastoralist. There were people up here who were screaming about the condition of the roads, thanks to the CLP and the incredible deficit they left us when we won the election. We could not address all of these roads - 13 000 km of unincorporated roads have to be done and they cannot be done by the Territory; there has to be some assistance from the Commonwealth.
A minimum amount of money was allocated to us. I was very angry when I found out that John Anderson, prior to the last election, provided $41m to his own electorate for roads, but not one cent for the Territory. I was having dinner with John Anderson and Ron Boswell, the National Senator from Queensland. When I was talking to them about the roads, Ron Boswell turned around and said to John Anderson that I was right; there was no way the Territory government could provide all this money for the roads, and he had to give us some money. Did we get any? No.
Before the previous federal election, it was Senator Campbell who promised $40m to the Territory. I know that John Armstrong, the then president of the cattlemen’s association, was very pleased about it. I was pleased also, because $40m could do a lot of good for the Territory. Let me tell you how much money we received from the federal government from that promise – zilch, nothing, nada, not even a dollar.
In the Roads to Recovery, round one, Northern Territory received nothing again. The pastoralists pleaded with us to do something about the roads, and we agreed with them. We spent $10m over two years on the roads. We asked them to give us a list of roads, as prioritised by their own industry. Stuart Kenny, the executive officer, delivered to me a list of those roads. Let me tell you, we spent $10m, nearly $11m, over two years on the roads that were identified: the Plenty Highway, $2m; the Buntine Highway, we spent $1m; the Buchanan Highway, $800 000; Barkly Stock Route, $800 000; Rankin Road, $0.5m; Sandover Highway, $0.5m; the Central Arnhem Road, we provided about $0.5m; the Roper, $0.5m; Finke Road, $490 000; Point Stuart Road, $2m; Ringwood Road, $300 000; and Mary River Road, $1.3m.
The Territory government, despite the fact that we have to cater for incorporated roads, provided money for these roads because we believed these roads are important for the cattle industry. Should the cattlemen’s association or the pastoralists come to us and request something similar, I am sure this government will look favourably on a very similar scheme in the future. We believe in the industry and we want to grow the industry. We are prepared to work closely with the cattlemen and the pastoralists to achieve that.
The member for Nelson mentioned gamba grass. Gamba grass is an interesting situation. When it is on a pastoral property and controlled well, it can be good for the cattle industry. The problem arises when there is a change of use and gamba grass is not controlled by animals grazing on it, nobody controls it, and then it becomes a severe threat and hazard for the environment and surroundings properties. My department no longer supports the planting of new pastures of gamba grass as an improved pasture.
We know that, for most, there is responsible management of current pastures of gamba within existing pastoral properties. In addition to that, we are currently working with NRETA in a joint program for weed risk analysis for the Weed Risk Assessment Committee. Something similar applies to buffel grass. Some pastoralists will tell you the only reason the cattle survive the Dry Season is because of the availability of buffel grass. However, we also know if it remains unchecked, if it escapes, it becomes a severe fire hazard. So we work together with the pastoral industry to make sure we do not have any more examples. Let us not forget that these were brought into the Territory years ago for a very good reason at the time. Obviously, it was not very well thought out, and from beneficial grasses they have become threats, especially if they are not used for the purpose they were imported for.
Energy: how many times have we spoken about the renewable energy on indigenous communities and pastoral stations? Many times; time after time. Education: my statement on the pastoral industry was not specifically education, but many times the minister for Education has outlined and highlighted some of the programs that are in place to attract young people into the pastoral industry and educate them appropriately.
The drought conditions, for the information of the member for Blain, are a very peculiar situation. Some of the CSIRO information I have seen has predicted that Western Australia and east Queensland will become drier and surprise, surprise, Central Australia will become wetter. That is a long term prediction. We do not know if it would be true or not, but this is something that the CSIRO studies have indicated in the past few months. They made a presentation, too, at the cattlemen’s conference.
One of the things that I am very proud of being the minister for Primary Industry is the development and implementation of the Indigenous Pastoral Project. I have said many times that I have felt very sorry to find out all these people living on land that can be used productively but not having jobs for various reasons. Let us not forget that some of these reasons go back to the 1940s: the first walk out from the Pilbara properties in 1948, and of course the Wave Hill walk out in the 1960s. People wanting jobs wanted the land back. Things have changed now. Pastoralists have recognised that indigenous-owned land can be brought back to production. I was very pleased to have this agreement between the land councils, the indigenous land corporation, the federal government, the cattlemen’s association and my department to bring back the land into production to provide jobs to many indigenous Territorians.
Two examples: we produce this fantastic book and everywhere I go, I provide it to people. We have to tell people about the good news. Everybody knows about the bad things, but let us talk about these …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, you have one minute remaining.
Mr VATSKALIS: I will try to finish. This is the good news and we should be able provide good news everywhere. Two good stories here are the agreement with the Gurindji people with Riveren Station and Elsey Station.
Mr WARREN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the minister be given an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr VATSKALIS: Thank you. The partnership between Riveren Station and the Gurindji people signed in 2005 provides Riveren Station with 500 km for grazing. The Gurindji get something out of it. They have experienced pastoralists looking after their land, improving it, putting infrastructure in place, but also the Underwoods are getting something out of it. They now have a workforce with the Gurindji people they can call upon as stockmen or for mustering, and they are always there. I was very pleased that John Underwood was at Kalkarindji the other day representing the pastoral industry when we signed the memorandum of understanding. That is very important.
At Elsey Station in 2004, the Mangarrayi Aboriginal Land Trust granted the Aboriginal-owned Banibi company an innovative 10 year pastoral land use agreement. I quote from the book:
- This is the pinnacle of an Aboriginal-owned company minding other people’s cattle in return for lease fees and cattle management fees as well as achieving significant job outcomes and land management improvements.
The pastoral industry has developed the Territory from the 18th and 19th century and continues to play a significant role in the development of the Territory: $300m a year; 240 000 cattle exported live cattle exported last year; and 1600 jobs. I am very proud to be the minister for Primary Industry. I am very proud to be able to support my industry, to support our industry.
Members: Hear, hear!
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Arts and Cultural Festivals
Arts and Cultural Festivals
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arts and Museums): Mr Deputy Speaker, last Sunday night saw the finish of this year’s Darwin Festival and it seems appropriate to deliver what I believe is the first ministerial statement on the importance of our diverse calendar of festival events to the Northern Territory community.
It is almost a clich to characterise the Northern Territory by its diversity. As a unique patchwork of communities from the deserts of Central Australia to the wetlands and islands of the north, the Territory is a rich mix of cultures and languages, and from those of the world’s oldest living cultures to those who have settled here more recently.
Our arts festivals reflect that, from our major cities and towns to our remote communities and townships. It is hard to imagine another part of Australia that can host such a wide variety of community celebrations as we do here in the Territory.
Since 2002, this government has significantly increased funding support to these celebrations in order to boost the level of art activities, to give greater access to all Territorians to the wide range of cultural experiences festivals can provide us, and to promote cultural development in our regions. Furthermore, it is recognised that the staging of festivals has significant regional economic impacts.
Preliminary research carried out two years ago for the Garma festival at Gulkula near Nhulunbuy demonstrated significant economic benefits for north-east Arnhem Land for both the indigenous and non-indigenous business sectors. As well as local economic effects of spending by Territorians, there is increasing interest from tourists in many of our key festivals. From the Beanie Festival in Alice Springs back in June to the Telstra awards component of the Darwin Festival two weeks ago, there is now evidence of major visitation from Australian and international tourists. The uniqueness of our arts and cultural life here in the Territory will increasingly give us competitive advantages over interstate destinations.
As part of this government’s arts funding program, and as a promise in the lead-up to the election last year, Arts NT provides $400 000 towards the staging of festivals in the Territory. This funding includes strategic investments for the major and regional festivals, including the Darwin Festival; Katherine’s Flying Fox Festival; the Marbilil Festival in Jabiru; Desert Harmony in Tennant Creek; the Gove Festival; and the Alice Desert Festival. In addition, direct investment has been made in ongoing festival events or programs such as the Garma and International Guitar festivals; the Darwin Fringe Festival; Wordstorm run by the Northern Territory Writer’s Centre; and the Fistful of Films Festival hosted by Browns Mart.
$200 000 has been allocated specifically to assist in the staging of festivals in regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. This is designed to create opportunities for the development of art and culture, but also to develop strong destinations for cultural tourism as evidenced by events such as the Merrepen and Barunga festivals. As such, the remote festivals contribute to sustainable economic, social and regional development, creating employment for artists, and encouraging the celebration of historical, cultural and regional diversity.
Since April this year, there have been an astonishing 20-plus art festivals funded through our Festivals Support Program. They include suburban community festivals to major events with national and international visiting artists; and range from the wonderfully eccentric to the intellectually serious; from the dizzying heights of an air show to the ethereal beauty of night time art displays in the middle of a stringybark forest. They have been a fabulous reflection of all that it is to be a Territorian.
The festivals have included the Katherine Country Muster; the Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival; Wordstorm 2006; the Merrepen Arts Open Day; Batchelor’s Lingalonga Festival; the Barunga Festival of Culture and Sport; the Borroloola Arts and Cultural Festival; the Pine Creek Gold Rush; the Alice Springs Beanie Festival; Purlapa Wiri Festival at Ali Curung; Darwin Fringe 2006; Walking with the Spirits; the 2006 Croc Festival; the 2006 Garma Festival of Traditional Culture; the Gove Festival; the Fistful of Films Short Film Festival; the Darwin Festival; the Yarralin Air Show and Arts Festival; the Gunbalanya Open Day; Katherine’s Flying Fox Arts and Cultural Festival; and Tennant Creek’s Desert Harmony Festival.
If that is not enough, this weekend we see the Jabiru Marbilil Festival and the start of the Alice Desert Festival, followed later in the year by the Maningrida Recovery Festival and Milingimbi’s Gatjirk Cultural Festival.
Time obviously will not allow me to describe all of these festivals. Indeed, one could not possibly hold down a job as a politician and visit them all, but I will take the time to talk about a few of them and, hopefully, my parliamentary colleagues from both sides of the House can add to this vibrant picture of arts festivals in the Territory.
The first, of course, is Alice Springs’ fabulous Beanie Festival. I will admit, this took me by surprise at first, being a saltwater girl, but it is a wonderfully eccentric idea that took off 10 years ago and is now one of Central Australia’s most important festive events. Based around the humble beanie, an absolute necessity in desert winters, what has developed is a fabulously creative event. Beanies, thousands of them, arrive in Alice Springs every June from the Territory, interstate and overseas. They are woollen beanies, beanies from recycled materials, beanies decorated with emu feathers and desert seeds. There are beanies that are sculptural delights, others that are exquisite works of fine art, and the link between the bush and town is everywhere evident. Women, and some men, from Aboriginal communities throughout the Centre have been the mainstay of contributors since the very first festival and remain so to this day.
There are natural links, hands across the desert, between these remote communities in Alice Springs. Mr Deputy Speaker, if I may, with your permission, I have two beautiful pieces from Ernabella in South Australia that clearly demonstrate how far the humble beanie can go at the Beanie Festival, if I can just show members the great beanie.
Mr Kiely: For the record, can we have a description minister.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I think you should try it on, member for Sanderson. They are very creative.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Seek permission to wear the beanie, minister?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Deputy Speaker, would you like to put the beanie on? It just shows you how creative and fantastic these beanies are.
Mr Mills: Do not go walking around the bush with that on!
Mr Stirling: He would get shot!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Deputy Speaker, there is a growing national interest in this unique Alice Springs event, with increasing numbers of visitors travelling to and staying in Central Australia, with the Beanie Festival as their major destination. As part of its 10th anniversary, the festival organisers are now in the process of touring beanies they have collected over the first decade. May I say to the Beanie Festival mob, more power to your needles and crochet hooks.
As Arts minister, I naturally get involved with the occasional exhibition opening, but nothing really prepared me for the plethora of events that surrounded this year’s Telstra Awards. The awards themselves, now firmly in place as one of the features of the Darwin Festival, has become something of a festival within a festival, with just about every gallery space and a few temporary spaces as well devoted to the works of individual and community Aboriginal artists. At one point, I counted 18 separate exhibitions in Darwin, scattered from the inner city to the Charles Darwin University.
Of particular note, and of great personal interest, was the Tiwi Art Network exhibition held in the Mall. The exhibition carries a wealth of artists from all three of the Tiwi art centres, Tiwi Designs, Munupi and Jilamara. The work was truly inspiring for me and it was so pleasing to see the three art centres get together in this way to support each other, and the different, but linked, artistic traditions and histories that have developed at the three communities on the Islands.
These various art exhibitions across Darwin serve an important role in introducing a national, even international, focus on the Northern Territory, with hundreds of people visiting Darwin for the specific purpose of attending the awards and the many art events surrounding them.
The Darwin Festival: in my view, the festival has well and truly come of age and ranks with the other major capital city-based festivals around the nation. Media reports attest to many sell-out shows throughout the festival, especially for performances at the Star Shell. It was great to see both local and interstate acts receiving strong local support. The Festival Club, for many years something of an orphan in the past at different venues, now has really established a home at the Botanic Gardens, with displays of brilliant visual arts in the gardens and at the Wesleyan Church - fine food and a pleasant place to unwind under the trees and the stars.
One of the highlights for me at the festival this year was the third Indigenous Music Awards; this year held at the Garden’s Amphitheatre. It was a brilliant night with fantastic music drawn from all over the Territory. It was especially good to see women becoming more involved as musicians and singers in the contemporary indigenous music scene. My congratulations to all the winners on the night. My thanks and congratulations also to the organisers of this event: the Music NT crew. Running such a large event, balancing so many acts on and off stage, was a major achievement.
I may be getting myself into trouble here, but I really think it is getting to the stage where the Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin should be thought of as a national award rather than Northern Territory awards. The depth and breadth of talent in the Territory, the strength of its recording industry through CAAMA and Skinnyfish, and the organisational capacity of Music NT is of national standard, without any doubt.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I have some packs to hand around. I think we have about 16. If we can provide some of those to the opposition and Independents and to some of our members.
I said at the outset that the Territory’s arts festivals do much to define us and our diversity. That is true, but we cannot look at festivals as a single event or spectacle as in some way coming into being through miracles. Behind the scenes are hundreds of volunteers. While some of our larger festivals such as the Darwin and Alice Desert Festivals now have professionally employed staff, all are dependent on voluntary committees as well as many other willing hands. Many individual events that come under the umbrella of festivals also depend very heavily on volunteers who contribute many hours of work to our arts festivals. These people are the unsung heroes of art festivals, but are also their lifeblood. Without them, our arts scene would be far the poorer. I am sure every one in this place joins me in thanking so many of our fellow Territorians for what really is a labour of love.
Similarly, the other hidden heroes of our art festivals are their sponsors, big and small. Raising sponsorship in the Northern Territory is very difficult. It is rare that art festivals or, indeed art organisations, attract national sponsors. By virtue of our small economy, sponsorship dollars are limited. Nationally, the major sponsors to the arts are financial institutions and major retailers - none of which, other than TIO, are headquartered within 3000 km of here. Therefore, in a sense, the sponsors who do support the arts are very special and precious to our arts scene. Whether the sponsors support festivals with cash or in-kind support, their patronage is critical. I am sure all members join me in thanking these people and organisations for their generosity in supporting not just the art festivals but, through them, the broader community.
While I believe the future of our art festivals is bright, there is much to be done. I believe there should be stronger strategic interfaces with business and the tourism industry in particular; something which I am pleased to report is growing. The level of artistic activity in the Territory is growing but, at times, our festivals compete against each other and other activities in the community. For this reason, some festivals may wish to consider spreading themselves into earlier and later times of the year. The Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival is a good example of a group that is experimenting with this. By no means, however, am I saying that our major events should move. After all, they have created the interest that is increasingly attracting visitors to the Territory.
Festivals, particularly in the Top End, may also wish to consider extending their relationships with our neighbours to the north; something already firmly established by the Darwin Festival, as well as the Wordstorm Writers Festival.
Festivals are an ancient form of community celebration, very often religious in origin. In these more secular times, they continue to celebrate the achievements and joys of our community. As well as being an affirmation of the past, they are an expression of hope for the future. For the Northern Territory, the future is something we can look forward to and celebrate through our festivals.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, the opposition supports the statement recognising the importance of festivals. Festivals are a way for a healthy community to express themselves. Festivals take many forms as has been described in the minister’s statement. There were the top of the ticket ones, the big ones that attract national attention, and go right down to very small communities and their celebrations.
It caused me to reflect on that issue as you were speaking, minister. There are, in every robust community, a festival of some kind, whether it is a school with their fair and celebration of who that school is, right up to a whole community, or a nation when it comes to an Olympic Games which is a mega-festival. It caused me to reflect on the range of festivals we have across the Territory. I did not hear any reference to, and I cannot think of the name of it, but is it the Pig and Pussy Festival in Pine Creek? Something like that. Every community has its own way of celebrating.
I appreciate at the end of your statement you made specific reference to sponsors who support these enterprises of the community, but most importantly, the volunteers. It is easy to get caught up in the festivities and fun of an event and for those of us who have the responsibility of serving our community, we are able to detect the hard-working, tired person behind the scenes at any of these events. Whether it is a school fair, or the Telstra Art Awards, there is always some person behind the scenes, or a small group, who has carried the weight of it, the anxiety, and the concerns of the event. They are just relieved that this whole thing is over, and genuinely you hear them say: ‘I do not know whether I will do this again’. Then a few days pass by and, of course, they rest and are back at it again.
My hat goes off to those volunteers, whether it is the big events, or the very small events. They are the ones who make all of this possible, and there would be no festival or celebration if there was not some vitality and spark of life within communities, and that is the case.
I was pleased to hear the minister refer to a stronger strategic interface. They are words I like to hear, they are welcomed and to have that expressed in this statement. If we are going to strengthen our community we need to think strategically and ensure that the activities of all of our different groups at different levels have an increased level of dialogue so we have a stronger focus in every one of those different celebrations, feeding and strengthening every other activity, which is all about vision of community - our whole community having a central or a common purpose. We can link those things up and I urge the minister to continue with that building of a stronger strategic interface. Elements of it are already there, but work needs to be done to strengthen that because we will all benefit from that kind of approach.
The volunteers: it is the larger events which receive the larger amounts of help, but it is the smaller groups that are in smaller communities that equally, and arguably, need a greater level of support. There was a policy position put forward by the CLP at the last Territory election which I think has merit if the minister would like to consider elements of that. You may be able to argue that it does exist in some form within your brief - also the Minister for Sport and Recreation may be interested - but it is an agency specifically dedicated to the support of volunteers who run community activities at a more grassroots community level.
For things like the V8 Supercars, we would have Major Events supporting them, but if it comes to the Adelaide River Talent Quest, is there a dedicated agency to support the smaller group? These are the ones who have less resources to draw upon, and without that core support, that event may not strengthen. I ask if the minister could consider strengthening the support for the smaller activities within our community. It is the smaller things that ultimately make the bigger difference if they are supported.
It makes the bigger difference because if they do not receive that core support, that administrative support, there is so much red tape that goes on these days and you speak to any small group and their first question is one that they do not even know the answer to. They know that insurance is an issue, but they do not know much about insurance. They do not know much about the requirements the government places on volunteers these days, and they are becoming increasingly discouraged. I ask if we could bring attention to bear on that issue: support to smaller activities and festivals within our community.
In listening to all the different activities that have gone on, I felt a bit tired as a member of a small opposition in this Chamber and as the only member north of Katherine, I wondered where the festival had gone. I did not get a chance to get to much. There has been so much going on and, come the day when I can just go to these festivals and just enjoy it. Sadly, I missed most of it. I had a look back at my diary to see why that is the case. It certainly was not because I was sitting at home watching television - I welcome the day when that can happen. Sadly, this year I missed the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award. It is something that I do enjoy. I appreciate indigenous art and have some prized possessions of my own. It is an award that I like to go to and I was not able to this time around.
As that receives national prominence and recognition, and it strengthens all of those involved in this industry by having it in the Northern Territory, it is tremendous that it is supported by Telstra. I will give you support, minister, in your referring to the indigenous music awards being made the national indigenous music awards. I have long been a supporter of music and indigenous music in particular. I have done a fair bit of work with Kakadu Studios in the past and have had a number of discussions around the place, recognising the immense value and the untapped talent of indigenous musicians.
I am just a guitar strummer myself. I do not know a lot about music of different forms. I cannot play much, but I can recognise talent and quality. To have musician friends travel through different regions and come back amazed at the musical ability of indigenous Territorians that is so different from one community to another, whether it is rock and roll, the blues, to reggae, or a mix of all of those elements - country and western, too, I should mention. The ability, the sheer talent that is within our indigenous communities is a resource that must be tapped, and one that would feed into raising the indigenous music awards to a national level. I happily support you in that endeavour.
I note, too, the role that these festivals play in strengthening our appeal to tourists, which is very important, going back to the need for a stronger strategic interface between all the different stakeholders so that we can strengthen and enlarge that appeal.
In closing, there is something that always has stuck in my craw a bit about this Labor government. That is, as a member of the CLP, I would go year by year to the review, the knock-em-down theatre, Gail Evans, and forgive me, I forget the name of the other outstanding gentleman who was involved in writing those reviews year by year. They provided a look back at what had occurred in any year and, if it was to be done this year, for example, just for illustrative purposes, the member for Sanderson would probably be a part of that. In any year, there would always be …
Mr Kiely: I believe I would be, member for Blain.
Mr MILLS: Just for illustrative purposes only, I am probably wrong! But, as a member of the CLP, and even before I became a member of this Chamber, I would happily go along to watch these productions because, as a community, it helps you to look back and have a bit of a laugh about the things that happened in that year.
Mr Kiely: Used to go myself.
Mr MILLS: I know, of course, that was where I was going, that the Labor Party members would go there and they would have a good old chuckle about the CLP and enjoy it immensely. It was actually doing a job for the Labor Party to draw attention to the Country Liberal Party and all their foibles and so on, great old, grand old time it was, and they would all laugh and carry on. And I thought, I am a member of this community too and I would go along and I really enjoyed it. I thought it was funny, sometimes it hurt a bit; in fact, there was a song that I helped write - I did the music for the railway song. They warned me that they were going to ham that up a bit and make a bit of fun of it. I was there and aware of that, but had a laugh anyway.
What surprised me was a Labor government which really appreciated the arts, and how the arts can reflect on a society and a community as it develops and grows, cut the funding that prevented that year in review occurring once Labor came to office. They did not mind looking and poking fun at the then government whilst they were in opposition, but when it came to an opportunity for the activities of a then Labor government to be reflected upon, the funding tap was turned off. There was then no opportunity for that cultural reflection on the activities and the antics of a then Labor government. I find that to be the height of hypocrisy, that that sort of thing could occur.
I think it is the sign of a very healthy person that can laugh at themselves. Therefore, if a government is unable to support a theatre group that can have a reasonably harmless look back at the foibles and the fun of the year before, cannot allow that to occur, cuts the funding off, it is therefore unhealthy. It is an unhealthy reflection on the attitude of government if they do not allow that kind of reflection. Many have noted that, filed it away quietly, and we will wait for another day to see what that actually does mean. Whether, in fact, this is a government that is so sensitive it would prefer not to have that kind of attention drawn to itself and have people laughing at them, because they are a little sensitive and would prefer to look good than to be good.
With those comments, I support the statement, while acknowledging that this has been a very interesting day. There have been some big statements that are nice, it is really good. I do not mind getting up and talking about this sort of stuff, but it is clear there is something else going on behind the scenes. We drag these things out, you probably have about 15 speakers on this and we are going to fill the day in.
Mrs Braham: You have people popping in and out.
Mr MILLS: Yes, popping in and out, whispering and carrying on, and we have had very little legislation, which is the business of the parliament - very, very little legislation. Oh, serious work, the earnest Chief Minister …
Mr Kiely: We are planning the end of year review!
Mr MILLS: … we have serious business to attend to, we have legislation and a very heavy agenda, and we are going to run this through the Chamber.
Well, you can jolly well say that, but to any Territorian out there, the truth is, have a look at the business paper, not just today, but for any of the sessions that we have had here, except for business days that are run by the opposition and the Independents, then we have long days and big discussions, then a few of you get wheeled out.
It must be pretty disappointing for you poor fellows over there who are backbenchers. There was a time in this Chamber where backbenchers would speak their own mind and talk about things that would reflect on their own constituencies. It seems to be we have a chorus of silence when it comes to these sorts of things. Unless they have some really patronising little talk that says how wonderful the statement is and how courageous it is that the minister would bring such an earth-shattering statement before the Chamber. This is fantastic. This is a pretty expensive place to run, so let us have our nice little talks and, hopefully, we will all get home nice and early. Gee whiz, it is after 4.21 – whatever …
Ms Scrymgour: You do not care about the arts or festivals. That is clear.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MILLS: Oh, now you may say that. What a shallow comment! I have given you genuine support. I have given you genuine support on a couple of key issues. Do not take this personally. This is a reflection on the tendencies of this Labor government with the managing of the affairs of the House; that being, there was once a statement made here and reasserted and believed, that there was serious business to attend to – legislation. I would most like to say, bugger all, but I will be picked up. So …
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Point of order.
Mr MILLS: … withdraw that before I even said it …
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. Surely, we have ruled that word out as unparliamentary.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I believe the member has withdrawn it.
Mr MILLS: I came to my senses, as I said it, and pulled it back. My apologies. I got a bit carried away there.
With those comments, I support the statement, but I am making another reflection. Please, do not take it personally, minister.
Ms LAWRIE (Sport and Recreation): Mr Deputy Speaker, I contribute as minister for Sport because, as the minister has pointed out in the statement and the shadow minister in his support of the statement, sport plays a fundamental role in our festivals in our communities. I thank the minister for Arts for bringing this statement to the House. I note the cynicism of the opposition but this is a genuine statement to reflect on the value festivals provide to our community.
I have been enjoying the fantastic Darwin Festival. Even though we lead busy lives as parliamentarians and I am also a mother of three, I have had the opportunity to enjoy quite a few of the festival’s performances at the Star Shell at the gardens. What a spectacular setting that is. I congratulate the Festival of Darwin committee and the staff. They make an enormous effort to pull the festival together - an incredibly diverse, stimulating and entertaining program, showcasing local talent in fantastic venues. I have been impressed by just how much of a tourism attraction our Festival of Darwin is. I have run across at least half a dozen people in the last two weeks who have said to me they are here to see the festival. I want to stress that festivals, whilst they are a great celebration of community, also provide an economic boon to the communities that host them.
One such festival, of course, is the very famous Merrepen Arts Festival. People come from all around to get to the Merrepen Arts Festival. There is an opportunity to purchase the most magnificent art by local artists. I know quite a few people who make the trek to the Merrepen Arts Festival from right across the Territory, and also people who come up from interstate looking for something unique to the Territory; something that reflects the Territory’s culture. The Merrepen Arts Festival does that in a great way.
The Merrepen Arts Festival has developed a strong sports component over the years. They embrace their sport and it is great for the community; it enhances the festival. I congratulate organisers of that festival. It has grown in stature over the years; a reflection right across Australia that it is a fantastic festival to attend.
I put in that category as well the terrific Barunga Sports Festival that has been supported by government in the past. The Barunga Community has shown that they are very good at organising their festival. It is an enjoyable, diverse and stimulating festival for all the people who participate at Barunga. I am delighted at the strength that sports plays in the Barunga Sports Festival. We know that sport can be an important fabric of society, bringing people of all ages together, of all variety of abilities to get down and enjoy a sense of family and community in a fun environment and atmosphere. We know it is important right across our regions and the Gunbalanya Open Day reflects the importance of the role that our communities have in creating festivals which are unique to their environment and community, and their desires, and the day incorporates a strong sports component which people enjoy.
I congratulate these communities which step up and say we are going to embrace our community and we are going to showcase our community. They produce a first-class festival product which enhances the entire Territory and puts us on the map for tourists looking for a unique Territory experience.
It is great to see that with a combination of both art and sport, we create a diversity of events and experience. There is something for everyone to enjoy, whether they are a dramatic artist, a singer, or a sportsperson. They reflect the broader way the culture operates within our community. It has very important health and social outcomes in each of the communities, whether they are remote communities or regional communities, or our larger urban communities in the Territory.
Our festivals develop a healthier society both in terms of physical health, but also importantly in terms of mental wellbeing. We can never underestimate the importance to mental wellbeing of feeling good and seeing something that is inspirational, and being touched by an experience that brings you out of the mundane aspects of day-to-day life and day-to-day struggles. I felt that during the Festival of Darwin when I went to quite a few of the concerts and visited the venues and saw some art. It lifts you out of your daily struggles and gives you that euphoric feeling of wellbeing. That is the mental wellbeing aspect that plays a very important role in our communities, and the festivals deliver that to us in such an important way.
The social outcome is a coming together, a bringing together, of the people, whether they are local people involved in organising the festival - and anyone who has been involved in organising anything like a festival, or as the shadow minister mentioned down to the level of a school fair, it is a lot of hard work. Camaraderie, you come together, there tends to be a core group of people who get stuck in and do the organising, the preparation. You divvy up the tasks, and at the end of the day you are only as good as everyone else on the organising team.
I know from my own personal experience of being involved in organising the Holy Family School fete in my electorate of Karama, on many occasions, it often falls on the shoulders of very few to do an enormous amount of work. Apart from the very large festivals which have budgets to support some paid staff, most of our festivals run on the sheer hard work of the volunteers. The social outcome of that is that they create their friendships, they strengthen their friendships through the volunteer work they do alongside each other. Whilst they are putting in completely selflessly to their community to produce a festive occasion for their community where people can come together and rejoice and celebrate, enjoy life and get that sense of mental wellbeing and the cohesion within community, the volunteers who do it get a great social outcome as well. They form bonds and friendships that last often for a lifetime.
Many people return to being volunteers because of that relationship they create with the other volunteers. We see that with the Arafura Games. That is run on the back of volunteers. It is volunteers who return every two years to support the Arafura Games because of the strength of the friendships that they create. There is a bond amongst the volunteers, the friendships they make with the people who visit to enjoy the labours of their hard work. You see that in our festivals, that the volunteers are so proud, so delighted with the product they are able to deliver to their community, the celebration of their community, enjoyment they see that people have, and it brings to their lives. So whilst I take my hat off to the volunteers, I also know through experience that the volunteers themselves grow and prosper in a very strong social way as a result of that volunteer work. If anyone out there is feeling lonely, or feeling as though they need something else in their life, I would always encourage them to become a volunteer and choose your festival.
Volunteers at Rotary, I have to say, do a fantastic job, for example, at the Tropical Garden Spectacular. Year in year out they are there. They are taking people through the entrance, they are helping with the setup, and the Tropical Garden Spectacular is a magnificent festival showcasing the beauty of the Top End and the tropics. I take my hat off to the organising committee of the Tropical Garden Spectacular. It has grown year in year out, with government support. The Martin Labor government has thrown enormous support behind the Tropical Garden Spectacular and, as a novice gardener, I get many fantastic ideas when I visit the spectacular. The people who move through there get that sense of wellbeing, of there being beauty and sustenance in our life. The variety and diversity of our festivals bring that to us.
Part of what we are seeing evolve through our festivals, which is a really lovely evolution within, particularly, our remote communities, is they are also using them to underline those messages of wellbeing and social cohesion.
I want to commend the Yuendumu Sports Festival this year, which went alcohol free and encouraged people to live life free of alcohol. I was delighted to provide $500 in funding towards this festival because the message of alcohol free is such a critically important message in our remote communities. It is being embraced by the organisers of these festivals who say: ‘Is it just enough to come together, is it just enough to have our sporting and our art celebration?’, and invariably over the years, the organisers are saying: ‘No. We can send stronger and better messages through coming together’.
This really started with the Barunga Festival and the Merrepen Arts Festival, which have sent a very important message in that respect, and Yuendumu has joined in with an alcohol-free emphasis. I absolutely take my hat off to those festivals that are sending an important social message about we can enjoy our life, we can be active and healthy participants in our life and our daily lives, and we can do that without alcohol. You do not have to have alcohol to have fun. It is such a simple but incredibly important message that these festivals send to their communities. I take my hat off to those festival organisers who have embraced this idea of alcohol-free festivals.
I congratulate the Minister for Arts and Museums for her grants program because she gives access to a great variety of arts funding through this grants program. We do have our strong core festivals that are recognised and supported, but through a grants program, you allow for growth and diversity. Congratulations to the minister for that grants program. It is a good opportunity for people who are trying to grow and develop their ideas or their smaller festivals. The grants program is there to support that. It is great to see a grants program in place.
In the context of the Top End, which is largely my experience, you cannot have a debate on festivals without raising the importance of our multicultural festivals. The Chung Wah Society starts off with a fantastic New Year celebration and the Dragon Ball has come to be a special event on the calendar. I know the Chung Wah Society work tirelessly to celebrate their particular festivals, and through that, they are keeping their culture alive. I have seen how the troupe of Lion dancers has grown and developed over the years. They are professional, and use the opportunity of celebrating their festivals to bring Chinese artists to town, who run training and workshops and work with the local Chung Wah society troupe members to enhance their skills and their culture. I was delighted this year to see a group of local Chinese girls, whose families are third, fourth, fifth generation Territorians, performing traditional Chinese dance.
I believe that, each of the communities, in January starting off with Chung Wah Society’s pursuit and enjoyment of Chinese New Year celebrations, is such a lovely way to start the year and highlights our cultural diversity and the importance of festivals and the celebrating of festivals to retaining culture and encouraging culture within the community.
I remember the four-and-a-half years I spent living in Hong Kong. Festivals were such an intrinsically important part of every second month of the year. You knew which festival it was by the way people started to come alive with anticipation and excitement. One of my most favourite festivals was the festival where they recognised their ancestors. They would say prayers and offer gifts to their ancestors, at their temples and within their homes, also the local temple and then at the graveyards. Festivals can be a way of acknowledging your roots and where you come from. Certainly, the Chinese community in Darwin prove, at the start of every year, that they are very proud of not just the significant contribution they have made to the Territory over the many, many years they have been here, but that they can retain the celebration of that through their festivals.
In March, we had a series of small festivals for the celebration of Harmony Day. One example of that is the Dragon Boat Regatta, an enjoyable, colourful event. It brings a diversity of people together. People who have never got in a dragon boat get roped into a team at the last minute. I have had the experience of being in a dragon boat team and, I guess, the humiliation of the CLP team being so far in front of us, it looked as though we were just starting and they were finishing. I take my hat off to the fact that they have some fantastic dragon boat racers. Daryl Manzie has shown that the celebration of dragon boat racing can take him right across the world.
In Alice Springs, in April, there is the Alice Springs Cup and the Songkran Festival held by the Buddhist Society. These are diverse festivals in diverse parts of the Territory reflecting intrinsically the nature of their particular communities. In May, we have the Back to Never Never Festival at Mataranka, which has a special place in my heart. I am very close to a family who have some very strong ties to Mataranka. The Back to Never Never Festival is a great celebration at Mataranka.
In June, as I mentioned before, we had the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival. And, in the Top End, a showstopper for everyone, I do not know of anyone who has never been to one, is the famous Greek Glenti Festival. What a great celebration of the Greek culture within the Territory. Thousands and thousands of people go to that festival. They sit and drink ouzo - probably the only time of the year they drink ouzo. I work behind the bar as a volunteer and I cannot believe how much ouzo we sell that day. Greek beer – it is phenomenal how much people are into the Greek beer at Glenti. The octopus is fantastic. And then there are the many performances. I see local kids - I went to school with their parents - dressed in their national costumes dancing. It is a great feeling of excitement and celebration, and a beautiful opportunity for the Greek community to come together, all work hard, all fundraise for their community, but enjoy it. It is coming together and enjoying it, and being proud of their culture. Many of us enjoy the Glenti. I make sure I go every year. My kids are starting to ask: ‘Mum, is Glenti coming up soon?’ And I say: ‘No, no. It has come and gone. Mum will take you next year’. It is fantastic.
The Cypriots are not to be outdone; they have their mini-Glenti. I love that Glenti because it is just down the street from where I live. It is a fantastic celebration and it is very professionally run. The standout aspect for me is - and I will put my hand up and confess - I love the food, I love the drinks, I love the performances and great dances. The Cypriots have such a dedicated, professional - really, I would put them in the category of a professional team of dancers. I have supported them as local member in the work they do. They are awe-inspiring in the way they provide traditional Cypriot dancing.
This month, in fact, just last weekend we enjoyed the Barrio Festival, which is the highlight of the Filipino community calendar. I know the Filipino community has quite a few significant festivals through the year. They celebrate Independence Day and they have embraced Harmony Day, significantly, with a large concert at the Filipino Community Hall at Batten Road, but the big celebration of the Filipino community is the Barrio Fiesta. What a fantastic fiesta we had again last weekend. Dancers came from the Philippines for the second year in a row – there was magnificent dancing and great food. I congratulate John and Edna Rivas for organising that great Barrio Fiesta.
On the note of volunteers - a subject that has been discussed in this debate - I take my hat off and thank Lisa Greenslade. I have lost count of the number of organisations and charities she volunteers for. She is a stalwart on the Filipino organising committee. She had a bad fall at Casuarina recently but she was at the Barrio Fiesta on her crutches, selling raffle tickets and organising things behind the scene. The set of crutches did not stop Lisa. She was there working hard to make Barrio Fiesta a success. I am looking forward to seeing her moving around as hard and as fast she does.
September is the Jabiru Wind festival and, in October, is the Moon Festival - a great time for everyone.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Minister, you have one minute left.
Ms LAWRIE: The Territory is full of fantastic outdoor activities and opportunities. We are enriched by our festivals.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the minister for Arts on her statement. It is good to see us take time to celebrate what works in our society and what enhances our society.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, it is good to get a statement that summarises the many things that are going on in this area. Quite often, we take things for granted and do not look at the whole picture. Minister, it was good that you made us realise that the Territory is such a rich place when it comes to art and craft.
I believe that festivals really celebrate the life in that particular space. I am not a very creative person; I would love to be but I even dream in words not pictures. I get envious of people who dream in coloured pictures. It is out of my league completely. I am not bad at stick figures, but I could not do much else. I enjoy the arts and I find it amazing that people can do so much.
I am particularly pleased that you mentioned the Beanie Festival because it has grown like Topsy. You probably noticed the world’s largest beanie there, being the cover for the stage. If any member has not been to the Beanie Festival, please make an effort to go. Each year you buy another one and another one, and you end up with this great collection of the most weird beanies you could ever imagine. However, the talent and imagination of the people who participated in that has to be applauded. It is getting worldwide success and people are coming from everywhere. One particular time, there was some Europeans - I think they were from Sweden - who were just staggered by what they saw on display. It is a credit to the organisers that that has taken off so well.
I must talk about the Alice Desert Festival because that is coming up very shortly. Could the minister tell us in her summary just how much she gave the Desert Festival? As she said in her statement, it is so hard to get sponsorship for the arts. Sometimes, people do not think arts are important but they are. Therefore, minister, if you could tell us how much you gave to the Desert Festival, I will acknowledge some of the sponsors later.
Last year, they trialled The HUB, which was on the bank of the Todd River. This year, it has expanded and grown. There are going to be a whole range of activities and workshops in The HUB. If you are a music lover or an art lover, try to get along to some of the workshops there. They are far too numerous for me to comment on, but there will be dance, trapeze acts, circus, and interstate and local performers. It is a great place to meet. Leading up to the festival parade, which this year will close the festival, there are many activities that you can join in to be part of the festival parade. Drum Atweme will be there, and there are workshops in drumming. I take my hat off to Peter Lowson for the tremendous work he has done with his young drummers. The Ntaria School Choir, who sing in both Arrernte and English, will be there and they have the most beautiful voices. There will be Cinema in the River as well and that is quite amazing.
I also want to mention the Desert Song. For those of you who know the beautiful Central Australian Aboriginal choirs and the wonderful sound they produce, to hear it in the Todd River brings goose bumps to you. This year the Darwin Symphony Orchestra will be there to play in the river. It is an amazing setting and just one of the most beautiful places to hear some of the talent that will be available.
I also have to mention the other venues where activities are going on. Club Todd is going to have a Latin dance party, and have managed to bring in Marcia Pinheiro Percival and Jaime Jesus. Many of you will recognise those names from the ballroom dancing program on ABC television. They will show you how to do it and because we have had a lot of interest in dancing in Alice Springs it will certainly draw a big crowd.
Before the festival started there was a screening of A Town Like Alice – are you too young to remember that, Mr Deputy Speaker? I am not quite sure whether you are, it was 50 years ago. I thought it was great that they brought it back and screened it in the old Walk-In Theatre. It attracted many people because many of us do remember it.
One of the events after the festival is the Wearable Works of Art. I hope the minister this year can get to the Wearable Works of Art. It is amazing to see what people can do. The awards given out on the night are all sponsored by local businesses. They give awards for creativity and other areas are the Noisy Art award, the Recycled and Found Object award; this year we are going to have the Territory Chinese Medicine People’s Choice award; and the Natural Fibre award, and so on. I do not know how these people do this but they produce gowns and accessories that are just staggering. Usually they are acquired but I think their acquisition is probably getting too much fro many of them. Whether they will continue to acquire, I do not know. I urge people if you can get to that, please do so. It is a tremendous evening and I know you will love it.
I commend the organisers and put their names on record. The volunteer management committee is Susan Lee; Robyn Van Dok, my electorate officer; Jen Standish-White; David Curl - most you will know David from his films; Scott Large; Adrian Scholtes; Margeurite Baptist-Rooke; Peter Yates; Kalikamurti Suich; and Julia Winterflood. They brought in a new general manager this year, Eugene Ragghianti, who is very enthusiastic and has been working hard to make sure this is a success. The project director of the HUB Space is Clive Scollay. The project administrator is Jonathon Braun, and many of you know him. The Wearable Works of Art coordinator is Nicky Schonkala, the Wildfoods coordinator is Fran Stoops, and the music coordinator is Vincent Lamberti. They put hours into this festival and I have to admit there must be a huge sense of satisfaction and relief for them when it is finally over. I wish them well.
I hope it is as successful as it has been in the past. It certainly has grown. Like many things we start off small in the Territory and suddenly we find they have grown bigger and bigger, and more and more successful. It has been getting a worldwide reputation and the people who are now joining in our Desert Festival come from all walks of life. Good luck to the Alice Desert Festival people.
We were talking about funding and we had Senior’s Month in August. The minister may recall that the Rotary Club applied for funding for our Seniors Dinner Dance. This morning I showed the minister some photos from the Seniors Dinner Dance. I urge her to give us some more funding than she did last year because we had to go begging to get some. We had a photo of two 86 year-olds, Telka Williams and Joan Nienaber up dancing, really enjoying themselves at age 86 …
Ms Scrymgour: And fantastic photos they are, member for Braitling.
Mrs BRAHAM: … and that is fabulous. The Bridge Club ladies really wowed everyone with their Can-Can dance. They sat on chairs to begin with to do the kicking of the Can-Can and at the end they whipped up their dresses and showed us what they had written across the back of their pants: SENIORS. It was a fantastic night, we had 220 people there. We could have had more but, to be honest, because we subsidise it heavily, we ran out of money. The Rotary Club and I subsidised the tickets. As well as that my office did the advertising and the printing and even with all the work we do voluntarily, it would have probably cost $2000. It probably cost the Rotary Club around $2000 because they paid for the band as well.
So if the minister can look to increasing the funding - we squeezed $1200 out of the Office of Senior Territorians grants this year - but we would really like to be able to continue subsiding the seniors who go to that dance. If we put the price up, we might lose them. I hope the minister can also get down to that next year because she would really enjoy it. People love to do the old-time progressive dances and meet different people as they go around. Our band, Double Up, are great; they play those old tunes, they play some slow, some fast and we had other entertainers like the rock ‘n roll group. We had the group that meets on Sundays who do the different old time dances. We had the line dancers as well. We had variety all night. We start at 6 pm because seniors like to eat early. Their first course came on at 6:30 pm and we say to them: ‘Ten o’clock – bed time’. So by 10.30 pm most of them have gone home, but this year they wanted to stay so we went to 11 pm. If they could have got the band to go longer, they would have.
It is a great night and we acknowledged the minister and the government for helping us out, but it is always worth another plug, Mr Deputy Speaker, to make sure that we do get our funding next year. It was great.
I enjoy going, as does the minister, to many of these different festivals. Like all of us, I cannot get to them all. I still have a couple of paintings on my wall from the Merrepen Arts Open Day, which I treasure very much. I also have many other works of art in my home; the latest one was one of Doug Abbot’s from the Herrmansberg Art Exhibition. It gives you a sense of what the Territory is about when you have in your home different works of art from the Top End, the Centre, or wherever.
Mr Deputy Speaker, as I said, I am not terribly artistic myself, but I can appreciate art and I can appreciate the skills and expertise of other people. Good luck to the minister. Keep it up, keep funding because it is hard, as you know, to get funding and the more we can support the arts, the better.
Ms McCARTHY (Arnhem): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the Arts minister and what is going on with the arts across Arnhem Land. I am delighted to be able to stand in parliament to give a creative description of all the events I have been able to take part in over the last couple of months, beginning with the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival held over the June long weekend.
It was an amazing event. You have all the communities in the region from Wugullar to Eva Valley, the Jilkminggan mob, Ngukurr, Minyerri, all the way across to the Gulf region and over to the west up to Daly River attending. We had a tremendous amount of people attend the event. It is a cultural and sporting event. You have all the football teams taking part. In the women’s sports, they have basketball as well as softball, which is quite a popular sport amongst many of the women in our communities. I would say softball is perhaps the game that is played right across the Northern Territory.
At Barunga, the Nyirranggulung Mardrulk Ngadberre Regional Council was behind the setting up of the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival. I pay special tribute to Sharon Hillen, Michael Berto and Anne-Marie Lee at Barunga. They do a tremendous job with the numbers of people who come to Barunga over that three day weekend. In fact, it actually starts a lot earlier for some of the people who arrive a couple of days prior to that just to find somewhere to camp. Most of the communities who do come have a regular camping spot. It is an opportunity to see family and celebrate and feel good about the things that are going on and the artwork that is available.
It is a time when artists come together to show off their work, the women, in particular, with the pandanus work and the weaving that they do. They are able to put their works on display, and show pride in their accomplishments. One of the important things about culture and in the arts is that, particularly for Aboriginal people, it is an expression of one’s identity and way of life. The artwork expresses a person’s relationship to country, a person’s relationship to family and kin, and you can see this displayed through their artwork. As you travel around Arnhem Land and, indeed, any of the communities in the Northern Territory, each of the pieces of artwork you may witness, whether it be pandanus work, carved work or painted work, all the materials of the women in the desert, is a complete expression of identity and a person’s background, which is shared favourably and honestly with those who wish to see the artwork.
At the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival, we are able to see firsthand the works of those from Bulman, from Wugularr and, in particular, Eva Valley. No festival is complete without the women and the men from Numbulwar and the Ngukurr mob as well. That month, Tom E Lewis, has certainly hit the public life again with his creative expression through his song and dance, and through his artistic work with Walking with Spirits at Wugularr Falls, which was supported by the Northern Territory government. The Arts minister mentioned in her statement that the Walking with Spirits was supported by her and her department. It gives one an opportunity to see theatre near the waterfalls of Wugularr at night under lighting. From all reports, it was very successful.
I also had the opportunity to represent the member for Barkly at the Borroloola Arts and Cultural Festival. It was a first for Borroloola. I pay special tribute to the Art Centre, to Miriam Charlie and Peter Callinan. In particular, Miriam Charlie, who spent a considerable amount of time in the last five to six months preparing artists for this very first time exhibition, not only of their artwork but, just as importantly, of dance. They were able to display the many different dances of the four language groups, the Yanyula, Garrawa, Gudanji and Marra peoples. For the first time, the town really did come alive with an expression of artistic culture and absolute pride in that culture.
From that followed the NAIDOC Festival with Lizzie Hogan who was a real foot soldier in all of this and a tremendous pusher of getting people coordinated and organised. As many people know who have been involved trying to coordinate projects of a huge kind, it is those coordinators who really make it happen. People like Lizzie Hogan need tremendous applause because it was, again, quite a successful festival where bands were able to come to the town and perform. I had the privilege of representing the member for Barkly at that event.
I also went across to the Garma Festival. The Garma Festival is an extraordinary event. It is more than just an artistic display of culture; it is an opportunity for non-Aboriginal people to get a good insight into the thinking, the laws, the kujika, the songs and stories of the Yolgnu culture. Each day, we attended lectures under a bough shade, where people from across southern Australian - mainly from universities - were able to be involved and listen to the discussions taking place. The theme of this year’s Garma Festival was focused on indigenous education. It was a theme that attracted many people from across Australia and from overseas. We had people from New Zealand and one representative from the United Nations who attended to listen to the discussion taking place about indigenous education across the Northern Territory.
That festival is unique because it caters for the opportunity to study, learn and listen on a particular theme of the festival. This year, as I said, it was indigenous education. In the evenings, you have all of the different language groups or clan groups of the Yolngu, as well as the Numbulwar mob, the Red Flag Dancers, who would perform each evening on dusk in the main area where everyone would gather to watch the dancers perform. You would have the Yolgnu people, main speakers explaining the dance, what particular dancers were doing, what particular singers were singing. All of that was about the learning. This learning was not just for non-Aboriginal people or Balanda people, it was also for those Aboriginal people from another part of the Northern Territory, or from anywhere in Australia, who wanted to learn about the Yolgnu and what was important to the Yolngu.
The Garma Festival is a tremendous example of the sharing of knowledge - knowledge shared willingly and given in such a way as to enlighten those who are receiving that information. Those people go back to their respective places - Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal; it did not matter - quite enriched for the experience.
It was here at the Garma Festival that I had the pleasure of representing the Arts minister, in this particular instance, for a contest on ghost nets. This was a good example of showing the economic side of the festivals, the ideas that are coming through. With the ghost nets, there are real concerns for our waterways, especially for the sea rangers who look after the coastlines. The ghost nets are nets that are left behind and not used, but float around in our seas and our waters causing a great deal of damage to marine life, such as dugongs, sea turtles and other marine animals. There are not just the nets but things that come with the nets - lots of plastic, and all kinds of rubbish that is discarded. The Gulf of Carpentaria and the Carpentaria ghost nets program has collected nearly 10 000 m of net over the past year. What Dhimurru Land Management - which is a Yolngu organisation in Nhulunbuy - did was to have a contest at this festival because they thought if we are going to have this festival and yes, we are sharing knowledge, well knowledge about the sea and the protection of our seas, the waterways and the marine life in it is also an important part of that knowledge and that learning. So that those people who are learning not just about indigenous education had an opportunity to learn about the importance of the sea country and why that is so important to those who live by the sea and in this case, important for the Yolgnu people.
With this ghost net program they decided to have a contest at the Garma Festival about how to re-use or recycle the nets found in waterways. Dhimurru received about 26 applications; photographs mainly, some written descriptions, others had items on display to show what people were doing with recycled ghost nets. I was one of the judges along with Mandawuy Yunupingu. We judged those 26 items and the winning one was a guitar strap. It was quite an interesting design and the reason why we ended up choosing the guitar strap, because you also had a hammock, a chair designed out of the ghost nets and they were unique and quite creative designs that we were judging, but we settled on the guitar strap and Mandawuy probably had a bit of a leaning in that direction being a guitarist in Yothu Yindi but we did discuss it and had a bit of a laugh. The guitar strap had a unique way about it simply because the design of the guitar strap reminded us of the design of weaving and we thought part of this contest was about how we could generate a business or an economic base in the recycling of ghost nets. We looked at the guitar strap and thought if people can weave ghost nets using all the different colours, because this was quite a colourful guitar strap, plus bits of plastic and other items that were found for use in recycling, then the weaving pattern that we saw in the guitar strap, we could see that that was a pattern that could be used in the weaving of baskets, placemats, and all kinds of items that can be sold. That can generate income to those communities who live by the sea and who are deeply concerned about the ghost nets they find floating in their waters killing the marine life.
This design won and it just goes to show that the next step then for the Yolngu people is how to translate those ghost nets into a small business for that area.
This gives you an insight into the uniqueness of the Garma Festival and that it does move on to something else. It was tremendous to be a part of that festival. I appreciated representing the minister on this occasion because it gave me a lot of ideas that you do not often think about or have the chance to think about and you could see the creativity the festival generated in this area.
It was again at the Garma Festival that we witnessed the youth in action. So many young people, very proud to know their language and culture, very proud to get up on stage and sing to their hearts content, sing all night. I was especially impressed with and proud of the young women. It has been a long road for young people but for the young women to feel confident enough to get up to sing and to dance, and this is not just traditional dancing I am talking about, this is being able to go from the traditional dancing arena and then get on a stage and belt their vocal cords out with rhythm and blues or with country music style singing. To see the diversity of our youth and the opportunities that they have in front of them, of being able to balance the rich cultures of their own people and grabbing a hold of what the western world has to offer with the opportunity of playing guitars or drums or saxophones, as some of them of them were.
The Garma experience is one I would certainly encourage every member of parliament to experience at some stage. It is quite an awesome event and one that attracts thousands and thousands of people. As political leaders in the Northern Territory parliament, we ought to be singing their praises quite loudly.
I pay special tribute to those who organised the Darwin Festival and to Music NT for the brilliant night at the Gardens Amphitheatre with the Indigenous Music Awards. It is the third time the Indigenous Music Awards have been held, and it was quite spectacular, from the staging, to the lighting, to the artistic designs on the stage. It was quite awesome. It made me feel incredibly proud of the Territory. On stage, we had bands and teams of bands coming on and off over a period of a couple of hours, in between the naming of many awards for best singer, best male singer, best female singer, best school band, best band, best CD, and artistic design.
We had such a wealth of indigenous talent on stage from the very young - we had a nine-year-old old drummer, the son of one of my favourite singers, Warren H Williams. Warren won an award. It was great to see him play live to the audience. I believe it is his son or nephew who is his drummer. He is nine, and he won an encouragement award to keep going because that is quite an awesome experience for a nine-year-old to get in front of thousands of people on stage behind a pretty famous singer, his dad. That was a pretty amazing role model for some of the young kids in the audience who were pretty happy to see this young fellow up on stage playing the drums.
We also saw the Milingimbi students, the Djambang Band, who won School Band of the Year. It was an incredibly proud moment. I do not mind saying here, that many of the awards were won by those from my electorate of Arnhem. I am very proud to say that, if I may, to the member for Arafura.
Ms Scrymgour: A bit biased! Wildflower.
Ms McCARTHY: Wildflower are very good, yes. So we had Yilila, the Numbulwar mob. They are outstanding role models, examples for all people to be proud that we have such a rich culture. Grant Nundhirribala is a nationally renowned musician and dancer, lead singer and songwriter of Yilila, and a song man and leader of the Red Flag Dancers from Numbulwar. He also took out a very special award, an individual award and I congratulate Grant on that. I also congratulate Tony Gray who is behind the Yilila mob for his efforts in trying to get the exposure and the funding together for Yilila to travel as extensively as they do.
They also have been nominated in The Deadlys which will be on in Sydney, and I sincerely wish Yilila all the best. They are outstanding role models to all people, and a group that we in the Northern Territory should be incredibly proud of, just as we have been of Yothu Yindi and others, such as the Sunrise Band. We heard from the Saltwater Band – look, it blows me away. Saltwater Band, too, because Jeremy Manduwuy is an outstanding role model. He is blind. He is the guitarist and a singer, and when he comes on stage there is absolute quiet because we just know we are going to witness quite an amazing spectacle. When he sang on Friday night in the Amphitheatre …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Your time has expired, member for Arnhem.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the member be granted an extension of time pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Ms McCARTHY: Thank you. When he sang on Friday night, you could hear a pin drop. He sang along with Shellie Morris. Shellie Morris belted out words in Yolngu, words that she has learnt in the last couple of months to be able to stand beside Jeremy and sing, and also Michael Honan, a quiet achiever who has just consistently been there behind them, with music, with the celebration and learning of music in all our communities with our young people and our old people. Michael has been a fantastic example to all of us, but his love for music has been expressed in his love for sharing it with so many people.
Also that night, Tom E Lewis again, George Rrurrambu, these were outstanding acts and they were applauded for the effort that they had put into the music scene in the Northern Territory and the festivals all around. And a special tribute to Keith Lapalung whose contribution to the arts and music area was definitely recognised, well worth recognising, and I certainly look forward to seeing Keith and all the mob at Milingimbi when I head over for the Gattjirrk Cultural Festival there next month. Well done and I certainly commend the minister for her statement.
Mr KNIGHT (Daly): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the minister’s statement on arts festivals. This statement highlights, and other speakers today have highlighted, what the Northern Territory Labor government is doing in this area, and the significant injection of additional money into regional festivals, remote festivals and the arts area in general. There has been some $200 000 injected into the regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory through support from the Northern Territory government. Much of this money goes to festivals within my electorate and although those festivals have been touched on briefly by previous speakers, I will add my comments.
The Pine Creek Gold Rush is one of those events which the Pine Creek community has carried for so long and it is strongly supported by the local community. It has become an event which I know many Territorians from Darwin through to south of Katherine make their way to Pine Creek to participate in the gold panning championships and didgeridoo festivals. I remember many years ago, the now Deputy Chief Minister and I were there panning for gold, and he was very enthusiastic about it. I have certainly won my fair share of trophies at the gold panning championships. It puts Pine Creek on the map and supports that town. All the businesses in the town get spin-offs through accommodation, and the use of restaurants and cafes. The small injection of money provided by the Northern Territory government goes a long way in supporting these events.
The Adelaide River community has had several functions this year – its races, its talent quest and its show. They are continually improving things in that community and I can certainly see the support provided by the government.
One of the new festivals which has come on line this year is the Lingalonga Festival in Batchelor. This year being its first, it was new and the community was getting used to it. It was great to see that the government is not only supporting existing regional festivals but providing money to new festivals. I believe the Lingalonga Festival for next year will be bigger and better. There will be some changes made to the line-up of performers. It was fairly well patronised this year, but I believe next year it will be even more so.
These festivals in remote towns and communities are more than just an economic spinner for the local area; as has been highlighted before, they bring the whole township together. They bring local residents together, not just for the day, but prior to for setting up and organising. They allow school groups, senior citizens groups and a whole range of sectors within a community to come together and present shows or exhibits, or whatever it may be. It adds to the social cohesion of the community. The Lingalonga Festival, in a community which has been a little segregated in the past, is one of those tools that has brought that community together and will continue to do so.
A few other speakers today spoke about the Merrepen Arts Festival. It has really been two festivals in one. You find that the sports area of the day is becoming as popular as the art auction on the Sunday. As highlighted by the member for Arnhem, these functions are a catalyst for many different groups - especially Aboriginal groups - to come together for a particular reason and sport. Softball, basketball, and football are the main sports played at Merrepen. We had teams this year come from Newcastle Waters, Robinson River, Tiwi Islands, Port Keats, Palumpa, and Peppimenarti. For those groups to continually come together is one way of breaking down potential conflicts; a way of sharing knowledge; a way for those groups to participate in those events.
I made comment on that day at the presentations that, in a climate where the federal Aboriginal Affairs minister, Mr Mal Brough, had slammed these communities and, through the media from a lot of other events, there had been a great deal of criticism of Aboriginal people, in general, for a range of issues. Those issues are real and serious. However, that day was a day when people came together. There was no violence, there was great participation. It was just a great day for Aboriginal people to come together and celebrate away from all those other concerns. In general, those events are great. It was great to see the Merrepen Arts Festival happening. It had been under a bit of a cloud with problems with the art centre, but it was worked through and, I believe it will be one of those events which are great to support.
I hope that, perhaps, some additional money might be found from the minister’s bucket of money so that we can get the Darwin Symphony Orchestra back there. Several years ago, when they were there, it was a spectacular event and increased the visitor numbers. One year, it was up in the community, next year was down on the bed of the Daly River, which was just a great evening. If there is any possibility of it happening again, I would be totally supportive of it and the community would greatly appreciate that being the case.
Those comments are in support of an area within this government which is very significant to bush and regional communities. Every weekend through the Dry Season and even through the build-up, you have these festivals happening that make the towns come alive. You look forward to them. People in caravans coming up and down the track certainly talk about them, and you see people arriving ready to spend the weekend in those communities. I might be just coming from my own perspective, but it is a sign of the old Territory, the old festivals, the old bush races, and those unique festivals we have down the Track.
This is not to disregard the events in Darwin. Certainly the Darwin Festival has been a huge success. I know many of my constituents from the rural area travelled in on a daily basis to attend all the functions at the Darwin Festival. It would be nice to see some of those events brought out into the rural area a little more. Perhaps we should call it the Darwin and the Rural Area Festival. There is a huge population in the rural area who would appreciate some of those events. There are some great venues in the rural area within Berry Springs Nature Reserve, or the Litchfield Reserve. There are some great venues and perhaps the organisers for next year might give consideration to hosting some of those events in the rural area.
I will just wind up my statement this evening by thanking the minister. I thank the government for their continued support of the arts and festival events. The government support is generally unnoticed, however, if it were taken away, the Territory would be a lesser place, and those bush communities and those regional towns would be a lot quieter and a lot less recognised than they are. I support the minister’s statement to the House.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, this gives me an opportunity to say a few things about arty things which are happening in the Litchfield area.
Just last Saturday morning, we had the Seniors Poetry Lunch. It is a unique art occasion because people from Palmerston and the rural area get together at Taminmin High School to read poetry that they have put together. You have people who have been writing poetry for quite some time, and you also have people who have been writing poetry for the first time. This is the third year this little lunch has occurred. There is some terrific poetry. There is poetry that would make you cry it is so emotional. There is some funny and rude poetry, and there are just some great yarns. The member for Goyder was there. He gave us his contribution and I gave my contribution. I modestly have not brought it with me but it was called the Pain by the Pool. It was an ode to the YMCA boot camp at Palmerston. I wrote it one morning when my legs were just about falling off and my arms felt like they were broken.
You had a whole range of poetry. The poems read on that day will be put into an anthology to be published. This will be the third anthology the group has put together. It is getting bigger. People are starting to know about it. You are finding people who have been a little shy in bringing their poetry forth but because it is such an informal and happy group of people they do not have any problem getting up and sprouting their bit of poetry.
We have rhyming poetry, we have non-rhyming poetry. We had a little singing. Di Lucas is a songwriter and a poet. You cannot stop Waldo; you give him five minutes and he takes 15, but he loves that poetry and he had some great poems this time. He launched his new CD as well. This is the second volume of children’s poems. I would be in trouble if I did not remember to say that he has his grandchildren on the front cover of that CD. Di Lucas also has a CD. So out of two local people, we are getting people who are moving ahead with their love of poetry or music and developing it accordingly.
The rural area has a couple of other things that are always popular, and they are the pottery days. From memory, they have one for Mothers Day and they also have one just before Christmas. There are quite a number potters in the rural area and it always attracts many people. I am always looking for a new clay chook, and I must admit every year someone comes up with something new. I have clay book ends that are chooks. I have some beautiful chooks made by the lady at Lambell’s Lagoon whose name escapes me - the Chief Minister will tell me off for not remembering. This year, I also acquired a clay chook from which you can remove the top part and use it for cooking casseroles.
There are some very clever people out there when it comes to pottery, and it just goes to show you that there are many very skilful artists in the rural area. One of the problems with pottery is that materials are becoming more expensive and that is making it a little harder for people to continue in that line of artistic work, but there still seems to be plenty of pottery around. I know everyone loves looking for a gift around Mothers Day or Christmas.
We also have the weaving group at Humpty Doo. Every Wednesday, a group of people sit together and knit and crochet and all sorts of fibre work, you might call it, and they use it as a social occasion. If you go to one of those meetings at the Humpty Doo Village Green, there are the usual cakes and tea and scones and jam and cream and all that sort of thing there. It is not just an occasion for people enjoying their art and craft work, but they are also getting together. That is an important thing, especially for older people in a community.
One of the things about the Territory is that many people do not have a wide family network, especially non-Aboriginal people. By having groups like this, you encourage people to work together, to be able to have a chat about things that are occurring in their home life or in the area and they can do that while they do some of their craft work. That is important.
Just recently we also had the Darwin Symphony Orchestra come down to the Territory Wildlife Park, but unfortunately there was so much on that night, I am not sure what I went to. You possibly would not call it art, but I was selling hamburgers at the Bulldogs and Port match that night. There were a huge number of events. I think Tracks Dance Theatre had Mr Big on the same night, and I was supposed to be going there, but Southern Districts were a bit short on people to help with the hamburgers that night.
So there was a massive amount on, and I am not trying to be critical here, but I say it as positive criticism: I wonder whether there is too much on. Just physically there is so much on, and I think it is great, but if you try to go to everything that is on, there are a massive number of concerts and dance. It is great and it is putting the Territory on the map when it comes to art, but, by gee, you have trouble trying to get to them all.
From what I was told, it was a great night at the Territory Wildlife Park. The DSO is very popular and I believe all tickets were sold. I hope that the DSO can one day come back to Freds Pass. About three years ago, it performed at the Freds Pass Reserve. Many people set up there and were able to wine and dine and listen to the lovely sounds of the DSO and watch the fireworks display. We were hoping it would come back every two years but unfortunately it has not come back – yet. It would be good if the DSO came back out to the rural area.
There are small groups in my area that call themselves crafters. They operate in the rural area. There are other fibre craft people, smaller groups, operating in the rural area. There are many people in the arts areas in Litchfield Shire. We may not have what you might call a festival, and maybe there is an opportunity for someone out there who thinks we could have a festival. There are quite a few painters and I have some of those paintings on my wall in my office. If someone was capable of bringing all these people together, we could have a Litchfield Art Exhibition and bring a lot of these things together.
Of course, the shows encourage people to enter their arts and crafts, anything from cooking to painting to tapestry. Our shows are part of a cultural awareness and, of course, people from all ages could be involved in that. I thought I would add that in just to say that, although Litchfield does not have a formal art exhibition or festival, it has certainly has many people involved in the art industry and it makes our community in the rural area much richer to have all those people.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arts and Museums): Mr Deputy Speaker, I say thank you to everyone for their replies to this statement. It was the first statement on our Northern Territory festivals and it was certainly pleasing to get so much positive support from all side of politics.
The member for Blain, in his response, pointed out the importance of festivals contributing to a healthy and robust community life. I was pleased to hear his support for sponsors and volunteers, because they are often, as I said in my statement, the unsung heroes in all of this. He also talked of the CLP policy on an agency specifically dedicated to support grassroots volunteers. I would like to inform the member for Blain that we already have an agency to provide support for volunteers and this program has been running since 2003. The attendance is subsidised and courses are accredited.
Creative Volunteering is offering two new models. Arts NT has been offering, in conjunction with Regional Arts Australia, a skills development program to enhance skills in business planning, developing funds and resources, undertaking marketing, networks within communities, planning and programming events, and working with collections. There are two new units: the people factory and good governance. That program began in 2003 and is the first nationally recognised and coordinated training program for volunteers in regional, rural and remote Australia. In 2005-06, courses have been running in Alice Springs, Katherine, Nyinkka Nyunyu, Palmerston and Darwin. If he wants to get the number we could certainly provide that further, but is not his policy, there is already an agency in place.
It is good to hear the member for Blain also praising the Telstra Art Awards, I am sorry he could not attend it this year. It is good to see him also support the Indigenous Music Awards as a national event. Picking up on his accusation that this government cut funding to annual comedy reviews, I want to make it very clear to the member for Blain that this government actually introduced the independent Arts Grants Board, and it was the Arts Grants Board, through an independent process, that made the decision on the funds. I am not aware of the details but do understand the review returned the grant they were given as it was not enough.
He used it as a means that we were trying to cut out the political satire that was around under the days of the CLP, but you look at that, it is often anti-ALP. It is still alive and well in the Northern Territory, for example, Darwin’s Fourth Estate songs. There was also the Clare Martin Show at the Throb Nightclub, which I went to with the Chief Minister and thought was fantastic. It is great to be able to look at something about yourself and see the funny side of it and have a good laugh. The Chief Minister and I, the member for Arnhem and the member for Port Darwin, thought it was a fantastic show. So, for the member for Blain to say that we have stopped funding, and that we are the government to blame for all of this, it is certainly stretching it a little and he needs to get some facts.
The member for Karama drew attention to the links between sports and arts at our festivals, with Merrepen, Barunga, and Yuendumu. Her agency, Alcohol and Other Drugs, supports many of these festivals, particularly Barunga, as being grog free. I remember the rejuvenation in that community the first year when that community approached our government to make it a grog-free event. It was not just from the Barunga community but also other communities which used to visit the festival but stayed away - a lot of them were saying - because of the grog. I share with both the members for Arnhem and Karama in acknowledging the efforts of Sharon Hillen and, in particular, Anne-Marie Lee who does a lot of work on the ground in that community and was behind that rejuvenated festival and bringing it back in memory of her father to have it alcohol free.
The member for Karama also drew our attention to the importance of the multicultural festivals, from the Chinese New Year to the Glenti, to the Filipino Barrio Fiesta. We often forget that in Darwin and throughout the Northern Territory we are a multicultural Territory, and that is what makes this place so unique and special. It is about celebrating and joining with those other cultures and celebrating that.
I thank the member for Braitling for her contribution. It is great to see such great support of the Beanie Festival. I look forward to seeing her at this year’s Alice Desert Festival. I would like to reassure her about the Alice Desert Festival’s funding; in 2003 they received $20 000; in 2006, $160 000. That is about 800% in four years. That is quite substantial funding.
The member for Arnhem gave a great account of the importance of the Garma Festival; likewise her passionate support for the Indigenous Music Festival and her praise for the organisers. I join with her as well regarding the talent, the rich culture, the creativity for Garma, all the way through to where she described the Indigenous Music Awards. She mentioned Keith and his contribution to the arts and music industry. I would also like to just mention Sammy Butcher and his contribution. It was a moving part where his two daughters came up and received his certificate for his contribution. The band Soft Sands were entered into the Hall of Fame with George Rrurrambu.
The member for Daly talked about the Lingalonga Festival in Batchelor. I am going to have to get down and have a look at that. I have talked to people around Batchelor who said that the first one was a fantastic little event. Hopefully, we will try to get there. Regarding Merrepen, which is also in his electorate, young Aaron and all the staff and others who have worked very hard to make that festival what it is today need to be recognised and congratulated.
The member for Nelson talked about the small rural festivals and events that were happening. Unfortunately, I could not make it for the DSO at the wildlife park. I was sorry about that, because you are right: there were so many events but, if you had listened to my statement, I did say that it was something that we need to look at, at some stage. There is so much on, and the content so good that you feel stretched to go to all the different events. Sometimes it can tire you out because you can only go to one or two of them and cannot get to all of them. I share that same sentiment, but it is what makes that month so fantastic to be in Darwin and the Territory.
Six hundred and eighty people bought tickets and that is good. My office is talking to Tourism NT and the Department of Chief Minister to develop long term event calendars so that we can look at groups like the DSO and others and plan these events well ahead to try to avoid some of these clashes. That is still being worked on and we can move on that.
In conclusion, Mr Deputy Speaker, it has been a positive debate and when we look at the statement and the contributions, it is clear that we probably have the most creative Territory. It is about our rich diversity, it is about our rich living cultures. I thank all members for their contribution. The festival’s funding, because that was picked up by a couple of speakers over there, has increased by 451%. That is substantial funding. That is over $900 000 in the Northern Territory since 2003. I have been the minister for a year, and I know the Chief Minister was in the role before me and did a lot of the pushing for the funding. It is about celebrating our Territory and it is about acknowledging what a creative Territory we have. I thank all members for their contribution to the statement.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Deputy Speaker, early this month I led a delegation on a three day mission to Brunei and Malaysia to talk about opportunities in the area of education, trade and sport. The impetus for the mission came from meeting with the second Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for Brunei Darussalam, Pehin Lim Jock Seng, during the second BIMP-EAGA Darwin dialogue early this year in May. During that meeting, he proposed I visit Brunei with Professor Helen Garnett, Vice Chancellor of CDU, to help build educational links with the University of Brunei Darussalam. As I had also invited to opening of the Sabah International Expo on 10 August, the invitation to visit Brunei was certainly timely. Professor Garnett and I were also accompanied by the Chief Executive of DEET, Margaret Banks.
Our meeting with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Brunei Darussalam was extremely productive. We discussed a number of key initiatives including possible twinning programs. We are already following up on these discussions; we are putting in place a business plan to ensure we see action.
I also met with the Brunei Darussalam Minister for Sports and Culture, Pehin Mohammed, and invited him to send a team of athletes to next year’s Arafura Games. He assured me that Brunei would again be well represented at the games.
The highlight of my visit was my audience at the Palace with members of the Royal Family including His Majesty, the Sultan of Brunei and their Royal Highnesses, the Crown Prince and Prince Mohammed Bolkiah, the First Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. I spoke with His Majesty about a number of issues including the strong growth we are experiencing in the Territory. He was particularly interested in the progress of a number of our infrastructure projects and about the growth of our LNG industry. His Majesty was highly supportive of the efforts we are making to expand our educational ties with Brunei, and can I just say that is not only at tertiary level but secondary as well. His Majesty made a point of commending our efforts in staging the Arafura Games and said that there would be a delegation from Brunei.
Following my visit to Brunei Darussalam, we travelled to Kota Kinabalu to the opening of the Sabah International Expo. This is one of the major regional trade events, one that the Territory has supported and participated in since its inception. I accompanied the Chief Minister of Sabah, the Right Honourable Datuk Musa Haji Aman, to the opening and introduced him to members of our large Territory delegation which included: Chris Young, Chief Executive of the Chamber of Commerce and two of his key staff, Greg Bicknell, Manager of the International Business Council and Jennifer Xi, Manager of the Tradestart Program; Lord Mayor Peter Adamson and Frank Crawley who were representing of the Darwin City Council; Mrs Ana C de Clouett of Australian Business Training and Support; Lisa Quinnell from the Time Out Fitness Centre; David Gyles, Managing Director of Safaritrek International Leisure Group, who was promoting Territory-made mosquito machines, fly traps and high-end camping tents; Christine Wicks of the promotional group Stickers and Stuff; Carrie Altimera representing the Northern Gateway Group, one of Darwin’s leading travel providers, Bell Huang of Australian Spirilina, and Ian Donaldson of Mailfast.
While in Sabah, Professor Garnett and I met with the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaysia Sabah and his staff. The discussions were productive and I am confident the relationship between our universities will grow into the future. We also received an undertaking from the Sabah Minister for Sports that a team from Sabah would be attending the Arafura Games.
I also met with the Honourable Tan Sri Chong Kah Kit, the Sabah Deputy Chief Minister, who, like me, holds the tourism portfolio. I spoke with the minister about the Territory’s representation at the third BIMP-EAGA Tourism Cluster Meeting in the Philippines and our proposal to market World Heritage destinations across the region as a combined ecotourism package. The minister was very supportive and expressed a real interest in increasing tourism numbers between the Territory and Sabah.
The visit to Brunei and Sabah was good for business and good for the Territory. While solid trade outcomes in the region are the long term goal for us, the strengthening of our friendship with our neighbours and BIMP–EAGA partners is equally as important. It is these links that help create trust and cooperation, the foundation on which trade and economic growth is built. As these friendships in the region grow, so, too, do our economic, trade, sporting and cultural ties.
As part of our ongoing strategy for the region, we will be undertaking more visits like this one in the future and we will be focusing on areas such as cultural activities to raise our profile regionally. The increased activity by the Territory, the rapid growth of the regional economies and the manner in which the Territory is received by its friends and trading partners, bodes well for the future of the Territory economy and our place in this rapidly growing region.
In closing, I make a special note for the record of the assistance given to me and my delegation by Dr Ruth Adler, the Australian High Commissioner to Brunei, and her staff. Their assistance in the planning and execution of my visit was invaluable. A special thank you to Ruth.
Mr Deputy Speaker, just when you thought that we could not possibly come up with any more exciting Dry Season activities, along came a truly unique event. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of helping the Walangeri Community Council and Ngarinman owners officially open the inaugural Yarralin Outback Air Show. The air show, which was held at Yarralin on the edge of the beautiful Gregory National Park, was a memorable experience and everyone who attended had a great time.
There was no shortage of things to see and do and the whole atmosphere was something special. The action was relentless all day. There was sky diving, formation flying, balloon rides, and no shortage of genuine bush tucker to keep the energy levels up. I lunched on the bush turkey, which was cooked in a big underground pit all morning, and being my first time having bush turkey, it certainly was delicious.
The art on display at the air show was very popular and proved a perfect place to showcase the talent of the local people. Undoubtedly, the highlight of the day was the aerobatic champion, Chris Sperou’s death defying exploits. His piece de resistance was when he flew his plane 25 feet above the airstrip towards two poles with a string attached to them with some balloons in the middle. He came down the airstrip, not far from the poles, flipped the plane - so he is going upside down - takes out those balloons and heads off. That might sound simple when you are just describing it, but let me say to see that was an awesome thing. His skill in the sky and what he did with that plane, a wonderful little bright red bi-plane, was really the star event of the day. There were many other great contributions from both Territory and interstate aerobatic performers. We had a wonderful day watching what people can do with their planes in the sky.
I take this opportunity to congratulate the event’s major sponsors Coca Cola Zero, Direct Air, Aboriginal Airlines and Helimuster, as well as all the other sponsors and supporters of the air show. I acknowledge and congratulate the Walangeri Community Council for their hard work and commitment and the Ngarinman people for their wonderful hospitality. In particular, I single out council president George Campbell and CEO, Nick Ladd, for their hard work and vision. They have helped to create an event to be proud of, and I certainly thank them.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I acknowledge 36 years of valued service and commitment to the Northern Territory public sector by Mr Lyle Thompson.
Lyle Thompson has been involved for many years in marine safety, and it is only fitting that, as minister with responsibility for that particular area, I acknowledge Lyle’s great commitment and service over 36 years.
In 1985, Lyle Thompson began work as the department’s first Boating Safety Officer. In that time, Lyle has been responsible for implementing many of the recreational boating safety initiatives that exist today, including designing and producing the NT’s Pleasure Craft Safety Guide, Pleasure Craft Safety Signage, and numerous safety publications, designing training courses for pleasure craft safety, educating kids in school about pleasure craft safety requirements and, very significantly, training over 50 Aboriginal rangers to become boating safety inspectors on their own communities.
Lyle has also been involved in implementing and maintaining the navigational buoyage system in Northern Territory hazardous waters. I know that the boating communities speak very highly of the dedication that Lyle Thompson has provided to improve recreational boating safety in the Northern Territory over many years. I am sure members join me in congratulating Lyle and applauding him for the great work that he has done over those 36 years.
I understand that Lyle may be retiring to Queensland. It would be a real pity to lose Lyle from the Northern Territory. I know Lyle has a great hobby – he has an aviary and he particularly likes the beautiful birds he keeps there. Some of them are extremely beautiful. I have had the privilege of visiting Lyle’s house and looking at the birds. Lyle has a great hobby and a great knowledge of birds. I commend Lyle Thompson on his 36 years of service to the Territory.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to report on my trip to the United States. It probably will take longer than 15 minutes allocated, so I imagine it will be over the next few days. I was hoping to give this as a PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately, the Speaker has said, no, you cannot have a PowerPoint presentation, so I will have to do a PowerPoint presentation without the power. I do have some photographs here to help people understand where I am coming from. I suppose I should just make the point that I believe one day it would be of great benefit to this parliament if we did have IT as part of the delivery of speeches. It would enhance parliament, both from the public’s point of view and from those who use this Chamber as politicians. Be that as it may, the Speaker has at this time said that I cannot use a PowerPoint presentation so I will do the best I can. The reason I wanted to use photographs was because it would have helped people understand where I have been and why I had such a great time in the United States.
I would like to start, naturally, at the beginning. In July, I had my first trip outside of Australia to the United States. My original reason for going was to visit Judi Green and her family in Marysville, Ohio in the Midwest. Judi and Paden Green are the niece and grandniece of Captain Al Strauss, the United States Air Force pilot who was shot down and killed over Fannie Bay during the bombing of Darwin. These are the two people who came to the Northern Territory about two years ago for Anzac Day. That is a photograph of them on their front porch in Ohio.
This trip would give me an opportunity to learn about another country whose politics, history and geography I had studied back in my school days. Surely Desperate Housewives is not typical of America. I also wanted to see how another country deals with two areas of particular interest to me, the prison system and energy systems.
I left Australia on Sunday, 25 June, arriving in Ohio 31 hours later. Judi and her husband, Dave, were there to meet me and housed me in a condominium in Marysville, which was very comfortable. Marysville is a small town of 17 000 people just outside of Columbus, Ohio. Judi and Dave Green live on a farm on Blues Creek Road, which is about 10 miles out of town. That is fairly typical of the country you see in Ohio which is, basically, corn - and lots of corn everywhere. I am sure the Treasurer will be pleased to see the motor car which is a convertible Corvette, something similar to his but which goes a lot faster.
My first day in Ohio, Judi and her sister, Nancy, and Paden took me to the local restaurant so I could watch the Italy versus Australia World Cup match. I was the only person watching the game, as the US had lost the week before. When Italy received that penalty, I do not think anyone noticed my tears. Applebee’s Restaurant, Marysville, will be remembered for the fateful match when we ‘was robbed’.
As I said, the town of Marysville has a population of 17 000 people. It was originally settled in the 1820s. It is situated in Union County and is about 20 minutes north-east of Columbus. Ohio is flat because that is the way the glaciers made it. It is a very rich agricultural region where corn, soya bean and wheat are grown in abundance. In the Marysville School District there are five elementary, one intermediate, one middle, and one high school. The total number of students is over 5000, and over 300 teachers and 200 support staff are employed.
Judi and Paden teach at Marysville High. All the schools in the district come under the control of the Board of Education, which is similar to our school councils, but there is just one board for all the eight schools – not separate councils for each school as in the Northern Territory. I met Superintendent Larry Zimmerman and his deputy Neil Handler of the Board of Education. On my little picture they are here. A bigger picture would have helped, but I just could not afford anymore colour photographs. The Board of Education discusses a whole range of issues in the area. Whereas we have separate school councils, they have one Board of Education which covers all those schools in that area.
Next stop was Marysville High School which was in quiet mode because it was summer vacation. Some students were in attendance, as classes continue for those who would like to make up credits to graduate if they are behind schedule. I was introduced to principal Marysville High School, Greg Hanson, and was able to present him with a montage of Taminmin High School, an Aussie Rules football, and a Southern Districts football jumper. That was Mr Greg Hanson on his day off in summer vacation. He was in his office and we presented him with that nice montage of Taminmin High School which Tony Considine from Taminmin had put together for me.
On day four, two of the locals, John and Corky Burton, who managed the condominiums where I stayed, organised a day at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. I felt a bit important when I had my own reserved car parking space at the museum. There it is. I turned up at this place that I have never been to in my life and found I had a reserved car parking space. That made me feel rather important. I was met by a Retired Lieutenant Nick Apple who greeted us at the front entrance. The museum is enormous. If you like aeroplanes, the museum is worth a trip to the United States alone. Nick showed us around the memorial park and then located a large park which showed Al Strauss’s name as a member of a flying school in Texas in 1940. The museum has a huge display of balloons, gliders, planes including a Curtis P40E similar to the type of plane which Strauss flew, and even some of the rockets and missiles used as part of the space program. It has a cinema and a great gift shop. There was also a display of Air Force One planes used by various American Presidents, but we ran out of time – too much to see.
Day five and off to the West Central Community Correctional facility. Sorry, I do not have a big photo of that, but there is a little one there. This facility is something out of the ordinary; it is not your usual prison. It is called a ‘therapeutic community’. West Central is a six-month program for men who might otherwise spend their felony sentence in prison. The therapeutic community model is designed to provide a 24-hour learning experience during which individual changes in conduct and attitude are monitored and reinforced. Responsible, respectful behaviour is expected as residents participate in a daily regimen of classes, chores, peer groups, assignments and recreation. The therapeutic community offers opportunities to strengthen character, interpersonal skills, and community connections, which help the resident be successful in his home community after discharge. All residents volunteer to live at this facility.
I stayed here for most of the day and watched an encounter program and met six residents who spoke about their backgrounds and how they got in trouble with the law. It was a very emotional, confronting and yet inspiring visit. Here were men who were trying to turn their lives around, a family trying to support one another; it is a very disciplined environment and no easy road. A number of the residents are employed by local businesses and many businesses find the residents are excellent workers.
There is much more I could say but I just do not have the time. I hope that our government will look at this program and I would recommend that the new Minister for Justice go to Ohio and assess the program. I will just give you some idea about this program; here is the book that they use as part of the whole program in this prison. It is not a prison, it is a correctional facility. As I said, people call themselves residents. It is very much based on the principle of ‘my brother’s keeper’. Those people regard themselves as part of the family. They all try to support one another to overcome some of the problems they have. You can only be in that facility if you have a felony 3, 4 or 5 which I think goes from domestic violence down to drug abuse. It is a very regimented time there but it is about helping one another. They have programs like the Encounter program where if someone is slipping, they as a group are able to pull that person back and help him.
I should read from one of the basic books that are used, Why we do what we do: the rationale and theoretical applications for the therapeutic community activities in Ohio. These are some of the enduring principles, and they have some relationship with things like AA and GROW:
- (1) concern for our soul and our physical survival;
(2) search for meaning;
(3) challenge and admonish with love;
- (4) be invasive, accountable to the community;
- (5) public disclosure of acts, fears, hopes and guilts;
(6) public expiation for wrongs done;
- (7) banishment is possible, done with concern; and
(8) leadership by elders by models.
That is just touching on the huge range of programs within this type of therapeutic community.
It has a lot going for it in the Northern Territory. It certainly would not be as large as this one but seeing firsthand how these men were trying to turn their lives around encouraged me to believe that this is a program that we should look at in the Territory. You need dedicated staff. It is not run as part of a prison system. There are security people. It needs staff who are willing, who want to help these people, who are great believers in the therapeutic community system.
Judi and I were there for most of the day. We had lunch there and six prisoners sat down opposite us at a table. All those prisoners told us exactly why they were in prison. Each one had a difficult childhood where they either did not know their parents and were brought up by a grandparent or an aunty, or had parents who were never home, and they also were involved in drugs from a very early age. Many of them were involved with marijuana at the age of 8, 9, 10, or alcohol. You could see the theme right through there that all these men basically had no family life when they were young and had been involved with drugs at a very early age. When you see that in some of our young people today in our part of the world, you worry about where they are going to end up as well.
I have some copies of these programs, and I suggest to the government that they consider going to America to look at these programs. It was purely by accident. I went to America to see the family of Strauss and I mentioned to them that I was interested in prisons and it is amazing that there are two prisons around Marysville which both have these programs.
The next day I was on the move again, this time to the Union County Sheriff’s Office in Marysville where I met Sheriff Rocky Nelson and his Deputy, Mike Burton. I presented Sheriff Nelson with an NT badge. He presented me with a Union County Star pin and a Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff’s badge. He had a room full of badges. I looked around and, sure enough, there was a badge up in the corner with a kangaroo, To Serve and Honour, I think our motto is, and it was a Northern Territory badge. Amongst all those badges, it was good to see something from the Territory there.
Deputy Burton showed me around the building, explaining where prisoners were processed, the communication centre and staff facilities. I had a look inside a standard police car and all I can say is: ‘Do not mess with the police’. One interesting thing about the police car in Marysville is they have a series of aerials on the roof and they are able to track a stolen car if you have put a little beeper somewhere in the car. You do not know where it is. It is put in, I think, when you buy the car. You do not put any stickers on the car to say: ‘I have one of these in my car’. It is activated if someone says: ‘My car has been stolen’, and they can track that car within about a five mile radius and by helicopter by about a 12 mile radius. I would like to know a little more about it. We did not have time that day, but it may be something that could be used in the Territory to reduce the number of cars that are stolen.
We then visited the court house adjacent to the sheriff’s office. I met Judge Charlotte Coleman-Eufinger who runs the Union County Probate and Juvenile Court. The judge showed me around the court house and we talked about her role dealing with youth in the Union County. One interesting difference from the NT is that Judge Eufinger is elected, not appointed.
Mr DEPTY SPEAKER: Member for Nelson, you have 30 seconds.
Mr WOOD: Okay. I will finish off there. I think she is regarded as a Democrat and the State of Ohio is regarded as Republican. That shows you how much people respect her because they elected her as their local magistrate in the Probate and Juvenile Court. Mr Deputy Speaker, I will continue this on another date.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, today I inform the Assembly of a wonderful community event I attended in my neighbourhood late last month. The recent Fringe Festival Soccer event, held on Saturday, 29 July, at Malak Oval, was based on a concept introduced by Andrish Saint-Clare of Darwin Fringe. His idea was a sports and arts event organised around a soccer game with music, dance and food before and after the game.
The Africa Australia Friendship Association Northern Territory Incorporated was asked to implement this event on behalf of the Fringe, and I am accurately informed they were delighted to do so. As I arrived at the event, I was pleased to see the CEO of Football NT, Mr Bill Miller, was opening the event. To me, this spoke volumes for the support his association gives to the range of cultures within our community whose preferred code of football is the world game.
At this event, predominantly African cultures were featured, but the association advised me that a future event may include other cultures, especially depending on who is playing on the teams. What a wonderful idea for something like this to happen in our suburbs. I commend the association for this initiative.
During the event, the teams featured were Afro-Oz and Darwin City Buffaloes in the Division Two Senior Men’s League. The final score at the end of the game was 8-3 in favour of Afro-Oz. This is the first time this particular event had been held and so it was a trial in a sense, a trial which I feel could be hailed a success.
The Africa Australia Friendship Association NT is now working to expand the event to include a greater variety of activity and displays and thus attract a bigger audience. This year’s event had the strong support of the Sports minister and, in fact, the member for Karama, who contributed towards the cost of running of the event, stated that she hoped it would become an annual event.
I would like, with your indulgence Mr Deputy Speaker, to place on the public record how the Afro-Oz Football Club came into being and the good work they do with youth. The Afro-Oz Football Club was formed in 2006 by a group of young people in the African community. Through their representatives - James Justo, Albert Cosmas John, Christine Kute, Edmond Kanzi amongst them, the group that approached the Africa Australia Friendship Association to find out what assistance AAFA could give them in their quest to form a club.
AAFA formed a working group consisting of three members of the association who investigated the requirements for entering a club in the Northern Zone League. AAFA consulted with the Football Federation NT, the Darwin City Council and the Department of Sport and Recreation to find out what resources would be required and what legal requirements have to be taken into account for the formation and running of the club, and also to seek general advice on how best to manage a club. After much hard work and preparation, the youth managed to enter a senior male team and a female team into the 2006 Northern Zone League competition.
The club has been a very successful platform for these young people to come together with other youth from other communities in the Territory, and to give the newly arrived young people an opportunity to learn about the Australian way of life and how to be part of the local community. Other cultural activities such as hip-hop and dancing have been born through the soccer club and all of these have been initiated by the youth themselves.
The youth have learned how to organise themselves to conduct fundraising activities and there has been a remarkable change in the levels of individual self-esteem and general confidence. They are constantly coming up with new ideas about other activities they would like to do. It is also about developing and refining the talents they have and skills they have learned so far. They understand that there is still a lot of work to be done before the club becomes established, but they have shown a good capacity to keep working to goals and overcome obstacles and difficulties by working together as an organised unit.
Mr Fezile Mpehle, President of the Africa Australia Friendship Association Northern Territory Inc, has let me know that the association is prepared to keep supporting these young people and that the association appreciates the assistance they received from the Football Federation NT, the Darwin City Council, the Department of Sport and Recreation, and support of the general community in the Territory.
There is no doubt that football, the world game, is big in Darwin. I am proud to be patron of the Marrara Dragons Junior Football Club. I enjoy going to my son’s games on Sunday mornings at Bagot Oval, Millner. However, I am disappointed to inform the Assembly of the poor state of the pitch located in the middle of the velodrome on which quite a number of junior clubs are forced to play and which, I am informed, is forcing them to play the rest of the year’s fixtures away at grounds in the Palmerston and Litchfield area. I have written to the Darwin City Council in regard to watering of the internal pitch of the velodrome. The surface is considered to be unsafe by community clubs that play there. It is like playing on cement. Every time the kids get into a bit of a scrum kicking the ball, great puffs of dust come up. This can affect their respiratory systems and kids with a slight touch of asthma or a bit of cold really suffer, and if they fall over in a tackle, the gravel rash or the skinning of the knees that can happen is pretty bad.
The ground is in pretty crook repair. The grass covering is nearly worn off but not gone. We all know that if you pump a whole lot of water into any surface around here in Darwin it comes back pretty strong. The council may not be able to cover the full surface this season, but it is never too late to start watering that. There is a tap at the end of the velodrome on the Old McMillans Road end, and I urge council to act upon the representations I have made to them on behalf of Olympic, of Marrara, of Casuarina football clubs, of the parents, who are pretty disappointed I believe, that the ground has got to the state it is in. They are unhappy about having to move. They feel that it is an unnecessary move; they enjoy that ground. The clubs like the ground in the middle of the velodrome. I am asking the council, on behalf of all these parents, the kids in the clubs, to water it, to get that surface back up so that it is thoroughly enjoyable for all to use. I know that the Darwin City Council and its aldermen are all supporters of the world game of soccer as is demonstrated with the recently-erected pavilion that they have put at the Bagot Oval. So let us get behind it. Let us just start watering it up, council.
Finally, on Wednesday, there is going to be a community forum at O’Loughlin College, organised by Mr David Tollner MP. He has invited the Waters Ward aldermen, and a whole range of people. I recently received my own invitation as the MLA in Sanderson, but they are talking about antisocial behaviour in the Karama and Malak areas. From the tone of it, I feel that they are targeting youth and saying that youth are rampaging out of control.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we do have issues with some youth, but we do not have issues with all youth. I would like to hold up the Africa Australia Association as an example of what they are doing to assist youth. There are activities like this going on in the Karama and Malak area, and these need to be brought to the attention of Mr Tollner, who believes that nothing is being done. These are just normal associations, normal everyday people, trying to get on with their life and trying to do things for kids. There are many good kids out there. By all means, let us have a look at the issues out there – and they are, no-one is walking away from that – but things are being addressed, not only at the government level but also at the community level. I believe that while criticism may be warranted in some areas, we should look to raise the profile of these other individuals, clubs and associations that are working with youth to make it a better place for everyone.
Ms SACILOTTO (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I will speak on a number of interesting events I have been involved in since my last adjournment. Firstly, I had the opportunity to host two luncheons for visiting dignitaries from overseas. The first was His Excellency Mr Mohmed Tawfik, Ambassador for the Arab Republic of Egypt. Guests attending were Ms Michelle Menzies from the Chamber of Commerce; Mr Ian Smith, Northern Territory Seafood Council; Mr John McCue, Senior Projects Officer from Trade and Major Projects; David Blenheim, Department of Chief Minister’s Protocol Unit; and Sue Shearer, the Chief Minister’s Business Advisor. All were excellent lunch companions, and the fascinating conversation kept flowing all day. I thank Jimmy Shu and his staff at Hanuman for the fine food and service on this occasion.
My second event was also hosting an official luncheon for His Excellency Mr Karel Pazourek, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic. Guests attending this function were Honorary Consul for the Czech Republic; Brian O’Gallagher, International Trade, Department of Trade and Major Projects; Kezia Purick, Executive Officer NT Minerals Council; Mr Chris Young, Chief Executive Officer NT Chamber of Commerce; and Karen and Shaun from Protocol with the Department of Chief Minister. Le Chaumiere provided the very tasty French cuisine and I congratulate chef, John LaMotte, and his wife, Christine, on their very successful restaurant which has been operating for around 27 years next month - a fantastic service to the Darwin community.
Both restaurants are in the electorate of Port Darwin and this made me a very proud local member. I thank the Chief Minister’s Department Protocol officers who did a fine job in organising and supporting me at these functions.
As we all know, June, July, and August are prime times in Darwin. All the rellies are here and we present our city and outlying tourist attractions with great pride and vigour. The pinnacle of this period is the Darwin Cup Carnival. I say ‘hats off’ to Darlene Chin, who staged a brilliant Ladies Day fashion parade. It showcased a range of city fashion, including Gallery 8, Stomp Shoes, Attitude X, Attitude for Men, Just Looking, Crystal Wave Swimwear, Animale, Just Formals and the House of Pearls. All are very successful city businesses. Hearty congratulations to Des Friedreich, supported by his wife, Lou, and his hard-working crew from the Darwin Turf Club for a fabulous carnival.
I am told that this year Darwin Cup was bigger and better than previous years. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this year due to my son, Luka, having an accident while participating in his favourite sport of motocross on Saturday. Our family, including my visiting mother-in-law, Mrs Anna Sacilotto, spent the next three days in Royal Darwin Hospital. I sincerely thank the St John Ambulance paramedics and the entire staff of the Emergency Department of Royal Darwin Hospital for their attentive and professional care of my son.
I attended the Young Professionals ball on 15 July at the SKYCITY ballroom, and was very impressed with the guest speaker, Ms Anya Lorimer. Ms Lorimer is a Director of Sprout Creative and is an inspiration to all young people, especially those who want to start their own business. I identified with much of her advice, having started my own business with very limited experience and not much in the way of financial backing. The Northern Territory presents great opportunities to people who want to have a go.
I welcome a new business into Darwin city. Earth Collection has commenced trading in the Vic Complex. Lexie and John Sherren are the owners, and their merchandise is a collection of women’s, men’s and children’s clothing all made from natural fibres such as silk and cotton - perfect for our hot climate. Good luck, Lexie and John. It is great to see business confidence strong in the mall.
Over the last two months, I have also been presented with two great opportunities to travel interstate. I attended the Growing Regions Conference in Brisbane in mid-July, with the member for Katherine, Fay Miller, and Ms Pat Hancock from the Legislative Assembly.
My second trip was to Sydney to represent minister Burns on a ministerial council for procurement. I thank Mr Richard Galton, Chief Executive, Department of Corporate and Information Services, who offered great support and advice at this meeting. Procurement is of great importance to the people in my electorate, and I am very pleased to report that, in many ways, the Territory is leading the way with its procurement processes. Both of these trips have been of substantial benefit to me as the local member and member of the select committee on substance misuse. I thank all concerned for the opportunities.
The Garden Fair on the weekend of 12 and 13 August presented me with a great chance to get in touch with many of my constituents. My electorate officer, Sandra, and helpers, Senator Trish Crossin, the member for Brennan, Mr James Burke, Gwenda Thomson, Maria Patarakis, Brian Hilder, Kathy McDonald and John White helped on the stall. Please accept my thanks for giving up much needed weekend time. It was truly appreciated.
Last Sunday, I held a community sausage sizzle at Tipperary Waters. I thank Dephania and Lock Master, Peter Dermoudy, for making the boardwalk available for this function. I also acknowledge the support shown to me by two of my colleagues, the member for Wanguri and the member for Macdonnell, who attended and spoke with a number of my constituents and cooked a couple of sausages. It was a fantastic afternoon and we all enjoyed the beautiful breeze on a great Dry Season day.
I take this opportunity to thank and farewell Jo Wynn, the past principal of Larrakeyah Primary School, on a job well done. Jo has moved on to Durack Primary School in the Palmerston area and I am told she is embracing her new school community. I welcome Mr Graham Chadwick who is a long term Territorian. Graham completed his secondary and tertiary education in the Northern Territory. Graham comes to the position with a wealth of experience having acted as principal at Maningrida, Nhulunbuy and Ludmilla schools. Graham has extensive experience in music and has been involved in the Beat and is a past member of the NT Music School. I look forward to continuing my strong working relationship with Larrakeyah Primary School and our new principal, Mr Graham Chadwick.
Lastly, I encourage all my colleagues to congratulate Mr Bernie Bree, principal at Stuart Park Primary School and his staff and the students of Stuart Park Primary School. I was very fortunate to attend today’s 40th anniversary celebrations with the Chief Minister and the minister for Education. Stuart Park Primary School is and was a fantastic school. Today’s ceremony was MC’d by school council Chair, Mr Ian O’Reilly, and included stories from a past student, Mrs Jenny Darben, then Jenny Sutton, who was a member of the original student body. Mrs Dorothy Green, an ex-parent of Stuart Park told of an emotional story of starting and participating in the Stuart Park Welfare Club. Mrs Green also told of the strong friendships made and the great support provided by the tight knit community.
Mr Wally Mauger gave a great talk about the teaching history of the school. The school choir sang ‘We are One’ which really sums up the past and present school and community spirit surrounding the school. The song was signed in honour of the Hearing Impaired Unit which operated from the school until 2003. A fantastic birthday cake was cut by minister Stirling, minister for Education, and Mrs Poppy Melas a current parent and former student of the school. Mr Peter Forrest told interesting stories of Stuart Park Primary and the community.
To say the least, history is rich in Darwin and even more so in that wonderful area of Stuart Park. To finish off there was a delightful performance by student Greek dancers. Many thanks to Mrs Sylvia Siskamanis for organising their performance. A special thanks to the Chung Wah Society who performed a lion dance. A sincere thanks to Mr Bernie Bree and all of the school council members, teachers, parents, past and current students. There were also many displays made by each class depicting some of the history of the school. Well done to all involved. Well done, Stuart Park Primary.
Mr NATT (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will talk about a couple of things that have happened in my electorate in the last month or so. We have not had sittings for over a month now and back on Friday, 30 June, I was lucky enough to represent the Minister for Employment, Education and Training to open the Under 16 Boys Commonwealth Cricket Championships at the Marrara Oval No. 1. We had three countries playing in the championships, Australia, India and the United Arab Emirates. It was pleasing to see that the United Arab Emirates did make the grade to get over here. I understand they really had to work hard to get a team together and get some funds to get across. I understand they competed quite admirably. As it turned out, Australia was far too strong although India put up a great fight.
It was a very special moment for me to welcome the interstate and international visitors to Darwin for these championships.
I thank Kormilda College for providing the accommodation for the week-and-a-half of the championships. As you know, at that time of the year in Darwin, accommodation is quite scarce due to the many events on around the place, so Kormilda College was asked to provide the accommodation and they gladly did so. I thank them for their participation in the championships and for providing that accommodation.
Sport plays a vital role, as we all know, in our children’s development within the sporting arena, also in setting values and attitudes that will be important to whichever role the students fulfil as members of our society in the future. Sport is an integral part of our everyday life; it gets us outdoors and promotes healthy living. It also encourages self-confidence and a sense of fair play. This goes hand in hand with the Commonwealth Youth Sports Council Mission Statement of Youth Empowerment Through Sport.
I thank the Indian and Islamic communities for their support of the two visiting teams. I understand that they provided a lot of assistance through interpretation and they put on a couple of welcoming nights for the visiting teams, which was much appreciated.
I congratulate the organisers of the event, Brian Deslandes, who convenes the Commonwealth Cricket Series, and also attending that day was the Honourable Ted Egan, Administrator of the Territory; Margaret Banks, the Chief Executive for the Department of Employment, Education and Training; Grahame Barrett, the representative for the Commonwealth Youth Sports Council; Andrew Ramsay, the Chief Executive of Cricket NT; and Bruce Walker, president of Cricket NT.
It was great to see all of the competitors, umpires, scorers, officials and players on the day. It was a terrific carnival. I congratulate everyone involved, and thank the organisers again for their great efforts.
As we know Seniors Month is held annually throughout the Territory during August and it aims to promote active, healthy ageing. Small grants are available to assist activities that promote positive understanding of the ageing in the community and they encourage seniors to enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle and enable community groups and organisations to work together to organise events and activities that can be enjoyed by all senior Territorians.
I was lucky enough to represent the Minister for Senior Territorians at the start of Seniors Month. Charles Darwin University Sport held a Young-at-Heart Week during the first week of Seniors Month, which reflected on the principles of active ageing. The opening was at the Charles Darwin University Gymnasium. A session of Chi Kung, led by Chris Austin, was undertaken by around about 15 to 20 seniors. It was a very interesting afternoon. I watched them for the 45 minute session. It is a little like Tai Chi; it is slow moving, but the mind plays a big part in the movement and how the body works. I spoke to a couple of the seniors when they had finished, and they were really quite rejuvenated after having spent 45 minutes with the session and were looking forward to further sessions. I thank the organisers of the event. The Office of Senior Territorians did a wonderful job in setting all that up. I know many of the seniors within the Palmerston area got involved in a lot of the events run over that period.
On Tuesday, 8 August, I was asked to act as the scrutineer for the Palmerston and Regional Business Association Annual General Meeting. I was honoured to be asked by Wayne Zerbe, the president, to undertake that role. The Annual General Meeting was held at the Karawa Restaurant at the Palmerston Campus of Charles Darwin University. It was a terrific evening. Probably 80 or 90 people attended the evening. The catering by the university was absolutely fantastic. They do a terrific job out there, and the food was spectacular and everyone on the night commented on it.
I would like to give the Palmerston Region Business Association a little plug because they do promote and support our local businesses in a great way. Businesses around Palmerston and the rest of Darwin use their networking and monthly meetings quite extensively, and they have a really good website which I invite everyone to have a look at on www.prba.com.au. They also offer business advice. Wayne Zerbe and the many other members have some good contacts.
On the night, president Wayne Zerbe was re-elected. I could not see anyone standing in the way of Wayne because he does a wonderful job with the organisation. He is always out and about working the system, meeting people and promoting the businesses. He does a fantastic job and was renominated and elected unopposed. The vice president is Leon Loganathan. Leon has held that role before and he is a great support to Wayne. He spoke in glowing terms of Wayne’s contribution to the association on the night. The treasurer was again nominated as Paul Chin. Paul is the National Bank representative in Darwin. He has been nominated as treasurer. The six committee members are Andrew Byrne, Mark Olivetta, Matthew Baker, Kym Menzies, Amanda Lohman and Teresa Chang. I understand Kym Menzies and Amanda Lohman are two new members of the committee, and the other four members are current members and re-standing again. I congratulate everyone who has undertaken those positions and wish them the best of luck for the next 12 months.
Geoff Goodrich is staying on as the executive officer. He, in collaboration with Wayne Zerbe, does a wonderful job in promoting the association throughout the Darwin and Palmerston region. So congratulations to everyone and best of luck for your term on the committee. I hope it all goes well and I am only too happy to help out wherever I can. I look forward to getting involved again.
The Office of Youth Affairs manages the STS Leeuwin II Top End Explorer Voyage each year. I was lucky enough to represent the Minister for Young Territorians at the presentation of certificates at the last STS Leeuwin sailing when they came in after their final sail. The program has taken a little shift to what has happened in previous years. I understand in previous years, there were about 40 youths on the boat for up to 14 days. This year they did it a little differently. They undertook two groups of 40. The first group went out for five days and four nights, the second group went out for seven days and six nights. The whole idea of these courses is for the participants to develop teamwork and leadership, and communication skills, and it really develops their self-esteem and confidence working as a group and working as a team, as you could imagine, working on an outrigger out in the ocean making sure that everything fits into place and everyone works as a team.
Everyone I spoke to on the final day of the presentation of certificates was absolutely over the moon about the week they had on the vessel and the training that they had received from the crew of the boat and the captain. They even had the confidence to climb the high masts. They took some of the parents, we had a bit of a sail around for a couple of hours in the bay and some of the parents got their safety harnesses on and climbed to the top of the mast. It was a terrific sight to see, the children helping their parents, and talking them into a confident attitude to get up the masts. The parents could not let their children down, and they actually did it and it was just fantastic to see. Unfortunately, I was just about to put the harness on and we had to turn around and come back in, so I will have to do it another time. It is a great course.
As I said, at the culmination of this voyage the participants were presented with their certificates of participation and every one of them was glowing in their praise of the program. I know that this government has signed an agreement with the Top End Explorer Voyager people, the Leeuwin Ocean Adventure Foundation. They have signed on for another three years and the government will provide approximately $30 000 for each year to ensure that this course does run again.
I thank Sarah Jane Saltmarsh for looking after me while I was onboard. Sarah Jane was a previous and outstanding student of the Palmerston High School. She has also been on the Chief Minister’s Round Table and is an outstanding individual. She has a lot to look forward to in the future. Along with Chris Dias, the principal of the Palmerston High School, I was shown around the vessel by Sarah Jane. She was just terrific. She accomplished much on the course and is looking forward to furthering her career. I understand she is at university and doing quite well. I wish her all the best and thank her for her efforts.
Congratulations must go to Debra Zupp and the Office of Youth Affairs and the captain and the crew. Everyone I spoke to, as I said earlier, has spoken in glowing terms of the support they received on the vessel. I thank them, and I am sure everyone really did enjoy the outings. I know I enjoyed my couple of hours on the vessel as well.
Just to finish up, as I said in my adjournment last week, as the new Patron of the Palmerston Golf Club, we had our Patrons Day at the Palmerston Golf Club on Sunday afternoon. I am not going to talk about my round of golf because it was absolutely atrocious. If there was a ‘Naga’ trophy to be presented, I would have received it. I would like to thank Merv McMaster and John Tedford for their support throughout the afternoon. I took a close friend of mine, Mark Hough, out with me for the round and Merv and John looked after us and put up with our bad golf for the afternoon. It was a terrific afternoon. Well done, everyone involved. I congratulate Gordon Pascoe, who won the event; he was the winner with 65 strokes. The runner up was Graham Morrison, and third was Adam Temple. The Best Ladies Nett Score for the day was Maz Simpkins, so I congratulate her as well.
As I said, it was just a terrific day, and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. Afterwards, we sat down and talked about the round and had a few beers. The camaraderie at that club is terrific. There was a lot of skylarking going on and you can imagine a lot of the little quips that go back and forth between each of the groups. It was fantastic and, I thank the committee for asking me to be patron. I am looking forward to remaining involved with the club.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I wish to do part two of my overseas trip that I spoke about recently, and concentrate on the area of public housing.
I met with officers of the Deputy Prime Minister, who were generous in the time they spent with me and with the documents they allowed me to bring with me. We all need to be prepared to adopt new approaches and learn from each other, and I learned a lot from them.
Like all members in this House I have problems in some of the public housing within my electorate. I have been fortunate that the department has been quite active in addressing these problems. However, sometimes, we feel they take too long to do that. I put it down to the fact that, in Alice Springs alone, there are over 1000 public houses and/or units and very few officers to look after them. It is a big ask for them and they do tend to be reactive to concerns that are raised, rather than be a landlord and a little more proactive.
The system that I was impressed with overseas was that they have taken on landlords to handle their public housing. As you could imagine, there are many more public housing tenants than we have here. I did have the number but, with all the papers I have here I seem to have lost it. They have problems just the same as we do.
The government has concentrated on giving these landlords the means to address antisocial behaviour. There is a paper they have put out recently which talks about respect, and what they are saying about respect applies everywhere. It says:
- Respect is a value; it is about all of us being considerate of the needs of others around us, being decent, honest and caring about the community as well as our own individual concerns. It is essential in creating sustainable communities where people feel safe, secure and happy to live.
We all would like to see respect in many of the areas in which we go.
The social landlords are the ones I was interested in, and that is why I have said publicly that it is something I would like the minister to investigate. I was very pleased when he mentioned in this House that he would be putting in a manager to handle the Keith Lawrie Complex when it is completed in Alice Springs, and that he had also put out a tender for a self-managed complex as well. That is a step similar to what I have seen happen in London.
They have four different sorts of landlords. One is the local authority. It would be a little like saying to the Alice Springs Town Council, you are the authority to look after all the public housing of this town. These local authorities have the legal power to place injunctions on tenants; to seek possession; and to put an antisocial behaviour order upon them. It is the antisocial behaviour order also that the minister should investigate because it is one means by which you can control the tenants and tell them clearly what are the parameters of behaviour, if they have done something to upset people.
The other particular social landlord was the arm’s length management organisation; it means that there is a separate housing company that has control. The registered social landlords are the ones that I think we could look at. It is the non-profit making organisation providing accommodation and regulated by the house incorporated and these registered social landlords also can seek injunctions, possession or ASBOs as they are called. There is also the housing trust which can do much the same.
The social landlords can bring in these acceptable behaviour agreements that the minister has already introduced and they can also take out antisocial behaviour orders on tenants. Some of the different behaviours that can be tackled by these antisocial behaviour orders are ones that we are very familiar with: harassment of residents; verbal abuse; criminal damage; vandalism; noise and nuisance; writing graffiti; engaging in threatening behaviour; racial abuse; smoking or drinking alcohol; substance misuse; and so on. They are behaviours, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that you and I see many times.
These ASBOs are civil orders to protect the public from behaviour that causes or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress. An ASBO contains conditions prohibiting the offender from carrying out specific antisocial acts, or even from entering a defined area, and is effective for a minimum of two years. The orders are not criminal sanctions and are not intended punish the offender, purely to put parameters on what they can do.
I have a copy of the act, and under section 1 of the act it says that the legal definition is that the defendant behaved in an antisocial manner and an order is necessary for the protection of people from further antisocial behaviour by the defendant. There is also the need for a standard of proof. Part of the act describes acting in an antisocial manner as acting in a manner which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the perpetrator.
Whenever I keep reading these things in this material given to me I feel as though it is very familiar. Against whom can an order be made? An order can be made against anyone aged 10 years or over who has acted in an antisocial way. Who can apply for an order? The landlords can apply, police can apply, and the local authorities can apply.
It seems as though these antisocial behaviour orders that have been introduced are effective in saying to someone: ‘You cannot go to that flat. You must stay away from that person. You must not do this’. It seems to be quite effective in that way.
On the other side of the coin, while I was there I collected some of the newspaper clippings that may indicate that perhaps they were not always right. There was a man who was given an ASBO to stop him feeding pigeons in his back yard. It seems a little absurd that you would put an antisocial behaviour order on someone for that. The comments from the people who were interviewed said: ‘Yes, it is a little over the top’. ‘I think ASBOs should be used for other things’. ‘It devalues ASBOs’. ‘I think it is ridiculous and it sounds crazy’. There is another heading which says: ‘We do not need ASBOs’, say the Housing Association. There are arguments for and against them but, for the most part, it is for.
Also headlines, ‘The neighbours no one wants’, and we have all had the neighbours from hell. ‘Violence in home reports rocketing’. One of the Cabinet ministers said while I was there: ‘A lot of these young teenagers that we consider are hoodlums, we are really taking the wrong approach. We should be …’, and the term was, ‘… hugging a hoodie’. Many young teenagers have these garments that they put over their heads, these hoods. We see them petrol sniffing in communities and whatever, and his idea was that these kids really need to be loved; these kids need attention, these kids need to be put on the right track. He was into diversionary programs, activities for young children, young teenagers, and giving them a feeling of self-worth rather than clamping down on them, throwing them in gaol, throw them in detention, making them feel that the way to get attention is to do something bad when in fact the way to get attention was to do something good. So ‘hug a hoodie’ became a bit of a slogan. I think we sometimes deal with juveniles in the wrong way. Perhaps we are always so anti- them rather than looking for other ways to address their problems, although if I were a victim of one of these ‘hoodies’, I would be wanting retribution of some sort.
It was an interesting debate, and ‘hug a hoodie’ is something that I will be thinking about, and whether we can provide better ways to address those teenagers who cause havoc on our street. Rather than putting them through a court system, perhaps we do need to make sure that they have a life that is valuable in some way.
Another thing I was interested in is that the housing people reward good tenants. It is something that I have never thought about until I came across it. They said they often do it in the way of vouchers. It is true, we have many good tenants in our public housing units and houses, but we never say to them: ‘Well done, you have been a good tenant for 15 years, or 20 years’. I came across an elderly couple the other day who had been in their unit for 15 years. They cared for it as their home. They see it as their home because they have been there for so long. Unfortunately, they had the misfortune of having their car stolen and trashed. All they are asking is for some sort of protection for their car so they do not have to go through it again. If you were a tenant for that long, and you had been a good tenant, perhaps you should be rewarded and helped to safeguard their car so that it does not get trashed and stolen again.
I am going to write to the minister and suggest that he should look at rewarding ways. Do not always say: ‘No, we cannot do that’; say: ‘Yes, you have been a good tenant and you do need to be helped in this particular situation’.
They had multi-agency support partnerships. I believe it is important, that when we do come across antisocial people, we do not treat them by one means, but use a multi-agency approach. That is what they were saying: even though we are going to put them on acceptable behaviour contracts, we would also give them the support they needed. They also had warden patrols in housing estates, and it is something we do not do at the moment. We have security patrols that are called out when they are needed, or when we identify hot spots. Perhaps we should be looking at having patrols as the norm, just as you have a security patrol in a shopping centre, we should be establishing a mechanism where people know their particular street, or their particular complex, will be visited on a regular basis for that reason. There are probably other measures we should be looking at rather than just trying to kick people out. This is usually our solution to things; you know, let us get rid of them, because to be honest, they make life unbearable in a neighbourhood for people. We just want to move them on.
Landlords are also able to take out injunctions through civil court orders. These orders can prohibit a person from engaging in specific behaviour or from going to specific places. A breach of an order can result in a fine. The court has discretion on whether it is appropriate to issue an order, and it is increasingly used to control antisocial behaviour rather than evict or just shift the behaviour. As you know, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, when we have a problem, to evict is perhaps wrong because it is often the tenant not doing something wrong, it is often the visitors. If you move that particular tenant, you are likely to move the visitors with them, so you are continually moving the problem. What I am saying is, let us really think about how we are being good landlords to people in public housing.
As I said, I was glad to hear what the minister said about the Keith Lawrie flats, and there are other complexes like the Head Street Complex which has a large number of seniors in it. We could look at the way we manage those as well. I will be interested to see which way this minister goes with his management of complexes in the future. I believe there is much to be said about looking at different ways of managing tenants.
My time is running out, but I do have copies of the Antisocial Behaviour Policy and Procedure document; the Antisocial Behaviour Act; Respect Standard for Housing Management; and Tackling Antisocial Tenants from the department I visited.
I felt it was worthwhile, and if we can gather ideas from other places then we should seriously consider them and adopt them if we think they are going to improve the lifestyle of our people. I urge all members, if they get an opportunity, to do likewise.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, I take the opportunity to inform the House that Jessica Mauboy, the young Darwin lady who represents the Northern Territory in Australian Idol, has made it to the last round of 12. I am sure the House and members wish her well on her continued journey.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about sport in Alice Springs and say how passionate the community of Alice Springs is when it comes to sport. This is demonstrated in a number of ways, particularly in the Masters Games, which will be under way in only a couple of months.
I met recently with a delegation from the Alice Springs Tennis Association, and they outlined their desire to expand their tennis facility by relocating to a purpose-built facility. The present one sits within the electorate of Araluen, and other options also sit within the electorate of Araluen. In its existing facility, the Alice Springs Tennis Association has ten floodlit hard courts and clubhouse, incorporating a bar, kiosk and barbecue facilities. The proposed complex will consist of 16 international standard tennis courts, meeting room, clubhouse incorporating bar, kiosk and barbecue facilities, as well as appropriate car parking.
I am a supporter of tennis and a supporter of sport in Alice Springs. Tennis in Alice Springs has grown incredibly quickly and the management of the Alice Springs Tennis Association advised me that they are unable to keep up with the demand from seniors and juniors with the current facilities.
Participation in tennis in Alice Springs has grown to record levels, increasing its membership by 300%. Junior members have increased by 500% and senior participation has increased by 350%. The Alice Springs Tennis Association has more members and activities than any tennis centre in the Northern Territory per capita of population. The Alice Springs Tennis Association is among the top tennis centres in Australia.
Tennis is, undoubtedly, one of the most popular sports in Alice Springs, and the tennis club is experiencing considerable wear and tear on its facilities. The club is simply not big enough and does not have enough courts to cater for the demand. The tennis courts are truly a community facility that can be used and shared by people of all skills levels and members, tourists and visitors alike. There are few sports that can boast of being able to actively cater for all ages and skill levels. Tennis is a gender equal sport played by men and women and boys and girls all year around. Tennis encourages activity and it also encourages people to spend their recreational time outdoors.
Tennis has a successful development program in schools. In 2005, over 1000 primary school students and 650 high school students participated in Alice Springs tennis programs. The junior tennis development program in Alice Springs is at the cutting edge. The Red Centre Tennis Academy produced a record 41 nationally ranked players in 2005-06. The academy works closely with the Tennis NT state coach and the Northern Territory Institute of Sport coach to ensure that staff of the club are aware of the latest ideas, techniques and strategies. The Alice Springs Tennis Association has an impressive coaching education program in place, with five accredited coaches working at the club in 2006.
The Tennis Association has also introduced Over 40s tennis, which is growing considerably in popularity, especially in the lead-up to the Alice Springs Masters Games. Over 40s tennis is now very active in the community and conducts regular get togethers.
The Alice Springs Tennis Association hosts a number of major events. The annual Optus Junior Tour Event is a national event held in April and the annual $10 000 Schweppes Red Centre Open is held in November. The association also holds eight other localised tournaments. These events provide considerable cash injections to the local economy, and consistently attract players from across Australia.
The government says that sport is a major part of our great Central Australian lifestyle, and the Territory government often boasts that it is proud to support our great sporting organisation and facilities in Alice Springs. I encourage the government to consider the proposal by the Alice Springs Tennis Association and help them to help the community to be active and participate in tennis. I am assuming that the government is aware of the present proposal. If the minister for Sport is not, she should be. Any minister for Sport worth his or her salt would be aware of the proposal.
Continuing with the sporting theme, I put on the Parliamentary Record the disappointment of many Alice Springs residents. The government has let Alice Springs down again and failed to consult, once again, with the Alice Springs community. There has been an expression of outrage by an overwhelming number of people in the Alice Springs community about the decision to name the newly constructed Traeger Park grandstand, which stands where the demolished Ted Hayes Stand once stood, the Bowden McAdam Stand. The whole process of naming the stand has been, quite frankly, shifty and completely devoid of community consultation or integrity. In recent correspondence from the Minister for Sport and Recreation, I was advised that the government believes that the new grandstand should have a name that reflects and acknowledges current use. AFL is the largest tenant of the sporting ground, so two of Central Australia’s football families were recognised.
The Hayes family believed that the newly constructed grandstand was going to bear the same name, that is, the Ted Hayes Stand, and so too did the population of Alice Springs. Indeed, it appears that the Mayor of Alice Springs held that view. It goes without saying that the Hayes family and many other people in Alice Springs were extremely upset when it was revealed that the new stand would be known as the Bowden McAdam Stand.
The Hayes family is a very well respected pioneering family of Alice Springs and Central Australia. The wife of the late Ted Hayes, the late Mrs Jean Hayes, made a considerable donation to the construction of the original stand. Members of the Assembly will recall that I have spoken about Mrs Jean Hayes before and after her death last year. Mrs Hayes considered the original stand to be a gift to the people of Alice Springs.
It is important to acknowledge the pioneers of Alice Springs and not be too keen to dismiss history and rewrite it. That is, I fear, the path that was undertaken by this Territory Labor government. If the Hayes family members who have passed on were alive today they would be as appalled as members of the Hayes family are now, indeed as appalled as are the greater community of Alice Springs.
The issue for the Alice Springs community is not that the original Ted Hayes stand was demolished but rather that the new grandstand that has been built on the old grandstand site bears a new name; a name that was simply decided on by the minister for Sport or alternatively members of Cabinet.
The lack of community consultation continues. Not only was a decision to change the name made but to change it to the Bowden McAdam Stand. Clearly the change is not what the community wants. Anyone with a passing interest in how the people of Alice Springs feel - and I do not include members of this Labor government in that group, with the exception of the member for Stuart, as they are unable to recognise the very important contribution of a significant pioneering family, the Hayes family. In other words, the Hayes family and the greater Alice Springs community has been dealt with in a contemptuous and disrespectful manner by the minister for Sport and her government and it is to their eternal shame.
Having said that, I am aware that the McAdam family is heavily involved in sport. However, there is a widespread community perception that the McAdam family may not have always played football and sport generally in the spirit that it is intended. Furthermore, many family members over many generations have been suspended from AFL and other codes of football for violence. The process of naming community facilities should be a community process complete with the appropriate level of community consultation. The government has behaved and, in particular, the Minister for Sport and Recreation has behaved in a thoroughly obnoxious manner. I ask that in future this government engage in even a little community consultation, although the people of Alice Springs deserve far more than that. In future I ask that this Minister for Sport and Recreation and indeed other ministers determine whether the community wants to change the names of some of its long-standing icons and it should consult the community.
The level of outrage in Alice Springs was compounded when members of the community found out that the official cocktail party opening the grandstand took place on 15 July. The Minister for Sport and Recreation advised that representatives of the Alice Springs Town Council were invited and no further invitations were requested by the council. I ask how was it that the Mayor and some aldermen were aware of the function and other aldermen were not. How was it that the local member, that is me, was unaware of the function and not invited to it. It is rude in the extreme. It is obnoxious in the extreme not to invite all members of council, or indeed the local member. It is also obnoxious that the minister for Sport conducted herself in the way that she did, that is, with a genuine contempt for the people of Alice Springs.
I am a fierce advocate for the people of Alice Springs. I share with them their collective outrage at the decision and the lack of consultation, the lack of transparency. It signifies the increasing arrogance of this government, directed by its Chief Minister who is under threat from a number of quarters. In any event, the fact is that the Chief Minister said to the people of Alice Springs that she would swing by Alice Springs for a week every quarter. I am unaware that that has occurred; dropping in for photo opportunities is simply enough. I would have thought that any leader worth his or her salt would instruct his or her colleagues to treat all Territorians the same and simply not pitch to those voters in the northern suburbs of Darwin.
I suggest that had a grandstand of such historical and iconic significance as the Ted Hayes Stand been renamed in Darwin, that not only would people be taking to the streets, but government ministers would have quickly changed their minds and, indeed, one wonders whether any such decision would have been made. I say this because it is illustrative of the contemptuous way in which members of this government and in particular Cabinet ministers, and in particular the Chief Minister and the Minister for Sport and Recreation, conduct themselves.
The importance of sport to the Alice Springs community is paramount and a carefully considered invitation list, together with consultation, was what was required in the first instance, particularly the consultation. There was none of that in this instance and the people of Alice Springs are left angry and perplexed at the manner in which the Minister for Sport and Recreation conducted herself.
It is an indictment that members of this government behave in the way that they do. As I have said, it is an increasing sign of arrogance. I sound a note of caution: that this government, any of its ministers, ought not replicate behaviour of this order again. The people of Alice Springs certainly will not stand for it. I, as a local member of parliament based in Alice Springs, will not stand for it. I will with vigour, enthusiasm and passion come into the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory and represent them and their views.
The naming of the stand and the manner in which it was done is an indictment on the way this government treats the people of Alice Springs and it is to their detriment if they continue. I urge the Minister for Sport and Recreation never to do anything like this again. I am speaking in fairly strong tones because I feel very strongly about this. No one likes it when the people they represent have been treated in the most appalling manner imaginable.
The disrespect shown to the Hayes family is truly incredible. It demonstrates that the Minister for Sport and Recreation treats people generally very badly, treats the people of Alice Springs even more badly, and is not able to perform her functions as the Minister for Sport and Recreation with any measure of integrity or dedication.
I fully intend to send my remarks to the Hayes family members as well as to interested parties in Alice Springs. I cannot express in a more passionate way the level of their outrage or, indeed, mine and I ask the minister for Sport to note the comments that I have made tonight and learn from them.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016